Chapter One
The Dragon
When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.
"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.
The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath. All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.
"Bless him, look, he knows his Mummy!" said Hagrid.
"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"
Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
"What's the matter?"
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."
Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
Malfoy had seen the dragon."*
* Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. PDF version. Pp 187-188.
xXx
Harry stood at the doorway in fear. Malfoy was sure to tell a teacher about what he had seen. What were they supposed to do? They couldn't exactly confront the Slytherin and threaten him to keep his mouth shut. They'd be lucky to avoid detention for the rest of their lives. Hell, they'd be lucky if they weren't expelled for this; and Hagrid. Hagrid would be out of a job for sure, and he loved Hogwarts almost as much as Harry did. Hagrid would be devastated.
The dragon was still hissing on the table. It sounded like an overflowing teapot left to boil too long. Already the skinny body with its wet leathery skin was drying and hardening into jet black scales that glistened in the firelight; and was it Harry's imagination, or was the dragon bigger already? Hagrid was feeding it from a bucket that sloshed as he moved it. Harry didn't want to know what was in the bucket. It smelt metallic and like Uncle Vernon's bottle of amber medicine that he kept for Bad Day's at the office.
Those were the days Harry hid in the backyard.
"We need to do something," Hermione exclaimed, as she turned to Harry and Ron. Neither boy was sure if she meant they had to do something about the dragon or about Malfoy.
"Do what, exactly?" Ron demanded, knowing that anything they did would only endanger Hagrid's job. Keeping pet dragons had been outlawed for a reason. Not the least of which was because the beasts had a tendency to eat their owners. "Malfoy's Dad is on the School board. He could have us all thrown out and no one would say anything. The Malfoy's are loaded, Hermione!"
Hermione huffed, "well, we have to do something!" She told them waspishly, and Harry exchanged an exasperated glance with Ron. He was coming up empty and the redhead wasn't doing much better.
Harry couldn't help but shrug as both Ron and Hermione turned to him expectantly. He had no idea what to do. Everything, - magic, dragons, flying brooms - it was all becoming a bit much for him. For the first time since entering the magical world, Harry felt his mind grind to a stop and shriek that this was all 'impossible'. He couldn't do this!
Harry stared helplessly at the baby dragon and wished, for the first time in a very long time, that he had a Mum or Dad or brother- like lightning, an idea struck him. "Charlie!" Harry breathed in relief as he turned to Ron. Relief swelled in his chest.
Ron let out a strangled laugh, "you've gone mental," the redhead told Harry, looking hurt by Harry's words. "I'm Ron, remember?"
"What?" Harry stared at him in confusion, "of course you're Ron. No, I'm saying we give the dragon to Charlie! DIdn't you say he worked with dragons?"
Ron gaped at him, "Harry," he told his best friend seriously, "you're a genius!"
Hermione went to ask the two boys exactly how they were going to get an illegal baby dragon to Charlie Weasley, who Ron had said was living in Romania, when the dragon in question belched a fireball just over her head. Hermione screamed and the three First Years hit the floor, arms covering their heads in shock and fear.
There was no mistaking that the dragon was growing unnaturally fast. Already it's tail and wings were draped over the edge of Hagrid's table that could fit all three children comfortable along one side. It's glowing orange eyes were fixed determinedly upon the trio and its fangs were bared in silent threat.
"Norbert!" Hagrid scolded, finally remembering that he had guests. "Do not harm the children!"
"Hagrid, it's dangerous!" Hermione shrilled at the giant man, cowering next to Harry with her arms above her head.
"Nonsense," Hagrid refuted loudly and turned away to refill the bucket he'd been feeding the dragon with. Harry and Ron barely managed to refrain from gagging as more blood and brandy was mixed together using a large spoon. "He's just a baby."
Just a baby, Harry thought faintly, staring at the dragon in horror. Already the baby had doubled in length and filled out in size. It would be barely a week before it wouldn't be able to fit in Hagrid's hut any longer; and that wasn't counting the terrible and fierce intelligence that burned in the dragons gaze.
Ron, who knew all about dragons because of his brother Charlie, was staring at the dragon with a mixture of fascination and repulsion. Charlie had told him all about dragons. Most of which was 'sanitised' for his young audience; but even then, Ron knew just how dangerous dragons were. There had been a reason for the magical population rounding up the dragon race and slaughtering the beasts until they near to extinction; and it wasn't because they were used in a million different potions and poisons.
No, dragons were feared in wizarding culture and with good reason; and it had everything to do with how intelligent they were. Dragons were well known as evil, predatory creatures that preferred to eat human flesh than than lesser animals like horses or cows; and they knew exactly how to gain access to their human prey. Strong and fast though dragons were, it was their terrible magic that made them more than dangerous. It was without control. Without rein. A dragon knew nothing but hunger and blood lust and destruction; and they gloried in all three to excess.
This dragon, Ron could tell, was no different. Already it's nostrils flared and it's eyes gleamed with untamed hunger. Hagrid was fooling himself; and Ron almost hated himself for agreeing with Malfoy in that the giant Groundskeeper was a danger to himself and others. The dragon let out a rumbling purr and Ron shivered as it drew itself upwards, head curving around in search of the one who fed it blood and brandy.
Hermione clutched at Ron's shirt, tugging slightly. "What's wrong with it?" She whispered fearfully, "what's it doing?"
Ron met Harry's wide eyed gaze, "it's hungry," Ron rasped. "New dragons aren't born very often. Most eggs are culled before they can hatch." Ron stopped and winced as the dragon snapped at Hagrid's hand.
"Why?" Harry asked, wondering why anything would be killed so young.
Ron met his gaze solidly, "because dragon babies need highly magical food to grow properly; and dragons prefer to eat people, Harry. Humans."
Hagrid snorted from where he was standing next to the table, "codswallop, Ron; seriously misunderstood creatures, dragons. He's no danger to you."
"Of course not," Hermione said faintly, "he can just bite us or send us all up into flame!"
"Remember, remember," Harry couldn't help quip, his eyes dancing with ill placed humour.
Hermione turned on him, "Harry! It isn't funny!" She scolded, obviously afraid.
Ron nodded, swallowing heavily, "dragon breedings been outlawed for centuries. You can't control it, Hagrid. You work at a school!"
Hagrid dismissed the preteen with a shrug of his massive shoulders, "nothing will happen, Ron."
"And when Dumbledore finds out?" Ron argued, "Hagrid, it has to go! Send it to Charlie, or if the Ministry finds out…"
Hagrid stared helplessly at Ron, "I can't give him up. He's just a baby!"
"A baby?" Harry exclaimed, aghast, "in a week it'll be bigger than your house! Look at it, Hagrid! It's already too big to sit on your table!"
Hermione eyed the dragon cautiously, "it does seem to be growing abnormally fast," she agreed worriedly.
The dragon in question hulked over the tabletop, it's head now the length of Harry's forearm and it's tail barbed with deadly hand-long spikes. It's wings unfurled and furled repeatedly, almost as though the creature was preparing for flight. The keen orange eyes flared with hunger and rage, and the dragon's head sloughed to the side, pinning Harry, Ron and Hermione in place. It saw them and it hungered.
"Harry…" Hermione whimpered, and Harry felt a frisson of ice bleed through his veins.
"I see it, Hermione," Harry said as the trio slowly stood and began to edge their way to the door. Ron's warnings about dragons being man-eaters playing out through their minds.
The dragon snarled wrathfully, aware that its prey was fleeing, and belched a gout of flame. Harry ducked, shoving his friends to the side, and could have sworn that a hundred voices shouted in unison deep within his mind; but that was impossible. Hagrid let out a mighty, wordless roar and caught the dragon around its neck and shoved the beast backwards, sending it tumbling to the floor.
The dragon, now well over a metre in length, let out a roar that rattled the window panes and made dust drift down from the rafters. Harry stared at the dragon, absolutely certain that he heard words within that roar; but dragons couldn't speak, could they?
Any further attempt at puzzling that out was flattened when Harry dove under Hagrid's bed, Hermione and Ron following his shortly thereafter, as another gout of flame lanced above where his head had been moments before. This time, Harry knew he had heard a word.
A word that was repeated: "YOL!" The dragon Shouted right before another gout of flame caught the curtains above the sink alight. Outside, they could see people streaming out and down from the castle. At their head, his robes hiking up over skinny, pale legs, was Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Malfoy had told someone; and Harry had never been so happy at the thought. Forget expulsion, he was just going to be happy to be alive!
Harry stared at Ron incredulously, "it's speaking," he shrilled in terror, "the dragon's speaking, Ron!"
"What?" Ron asked, utterly confused, "dragon's can't talk, Harry!"
"Well this one does!" Harry shouted as the three first years lunged back onto their feet and ran for the door way. Deep within his mind, Harry could feel the beating of drums and the chanting of hundreds of voices, not all of which were human. Yol, Harry knew with utter certainty, meant "fire". How he knew this, Harry had no idea. It was terrifying
Fire sprayed along the wall and they would have run directly into it had Hagrid not appeared behind them and caught them all in a tight embrace. "I've got you, easy, easy now," the giant man tried to sooth as Hermione screamed and Ron swung wildly behind him. Harry cried out as Ron's elbow caught him in his face, his cheekbone radiating pain.
"Ow," Harry moaned, dazed and confused.
Hagrid spun them around, still holding onto them tightly, and all around them, the cottage burned. It was hot. The flames were incandescent and danced vibrantly behind the lanky dragons body. The dragon's eyes gleamed with feral cunning as it crawled forwards, looking comfortable in the heat in a way that the four humans were not.
"Dovah," Harry rasped, fear racing through him and he watched as the dragon cocked it's head to the side and paused. The word echoed something deep inside him. A feeling -no, a memory surfaced. Fire burned him and Harry quailed at the great black beast that hung motionless in the sky.
The world exploded.
Light whited out his vision.
"Zu'l Dovah!"
The Dragon's voice rumbled like a distant storm on the horizon, for it was definitely speaking now. There could be no mistake. It's mouth opened and closed as it spoke and sharp, white fangs were bared to the bright and hungry flames that licked their way up the walls. Harry felt something deep inside him roar in defiance and he opened his mouth to scream - but no sound came out.
"Dovahkiin'li," the Dragon snarled at Harry - and Harry had no idea how he knew that the dragon was talking to him. At him. Naming him, because he knew that name. He knew that word. Dovahkiin. Dragonborn. His vision doubled as the dragon breathed fire above their heads and he could have sworn that the beast before him reminded him of another; but that was crazy. This was the first dragon he had seen - wasn't it?
"Is it speaking?" Hermione asked, fear making her voice high pitched in her disbelief.
Ron shook his head wildly, "no, no, dragon's can't talk," he said in complete denial, clearly unable to deal with an intelligent dragon, "dragons can't talk!"
"That one is, Ronald!" Hermione shrilled loudly, making Harry's head spike with pain.
"Zu'l Nahrelmaar*!" The Dragon's roar battered the windows and shook the very foundations of the cottage.
From outside, they could hear the shouts and screams of teachers and students as they tried to put out the dragon fire with magic. The sky crackled with thunder and lightning but nothing was dousing the magical flames. Hermione and Ron were screaming for help and Hagrid was holding them tightly, his eyes affixed on the dragon with awe.
"Amazin'," Hagrid breathed above their heads, "Norbert, you can talk!"
Harry was barely able to make out the hubbub outside, his frozen gaze affixed upon the increasingly irate dragon. It had just named itself. How did the dragon know to name itself? How did Harry know that it had just named itself? What was happening to him? What was wrong with him?
The dragon arched up onto its hindquarters and belched fire above its head, shattering through the roof like a hammer shattered through plaster. Hermione screamed and turned her face into Hagrid's great coat, pressing in tighter to the giants body; while the two boys flung their arms above their head in fear. The dragon snarled wrathfully and beat its wings, half-lifting its body into flight.
Poised above them, mid-flight, the dragon opened its fanged maw and roared - No, it Shouted at them… and as the wind howled and bore down upon them, Harry felt something… rip… tear… split… and then…
and then…
and then…
then…
He fell.
There was darkness…
Time stood still.
A light.
No, not one light, but two.
No, there was three lights…
A million lights, maybe more, appeared. They danced. In an infinitive array, they danced and whirled and whipped past. Time. Life. It was all meaningless here. Nothing remained but the stars and the light and the magic. A thousand colours swirled, too vast to comprehend.
To the beat of ancient music the stars danced and swayed.
Had he a voice, he would have laughed in sheer joy.
The universe hung before him.
And he was alone…
No.
No…
And Harry knew without seeing that Ron was on his right and that Hermione was on Ron's right and that Hagrid stood behind them all. Holding them tightly. Protecting them. Staring around in wonder.
He was not alone. He never had been… or… he never would be?
Time passed.
A Shout echoed deep within his soul, where the voices of hundreds of others chanted…
Dov.
There came a great rush and on that tidal wave, he watched the ages pass…
Ah.
Men came. Dragons fell. A great collapse. An even greater rise…
Kiin.
He breathed.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
And in.
He exhaled; and with his exhale, a world drew breath.
He inhaled; and with his inhale, the scent of spring flowers tickled his nose.
He blinked.
The sky was blue.
He blinked.
There were clouds.
And Birds.
It was quiet.
And then…
It wasn't.
A great, terrible, hungry voice sounded:
Dov. Ah. Kiin!
xXx
Helloooo!
I'm back. Have you all missed me?
Now. For the Bad News. This is just a teaser chapter. Terribly sorry about that, but I'm crazy busy right now and am juggling quite a number of personal things.
That Said: I am hoping to have the COMPLETE First Part uploaded by March, 2018. As in, there will be an enormous Chapter Dump right here for your reading pleasure.
Hopefully.
Commitments willing.
So, R&R and get ready. Fics are coming.
Cheers,
Sar'Kalu