Surveying the landscape in front of her, Rose was wowed by the beauty of the mountains, taking in the majestic view as birds careened through the sky. The endless blue sky was interrupted by snow-capped mountain peaks, each of which she knew was inhabited by some of the most interesting magical creatures and beautiful nature that she could have ever imagined to see.
Sighing, she bent down and picked up what looked like a discarded cap and checked her watch. Five minutes to three. Rose drank up the scenery as she shouldered her pack. It had been months of traveling solo, and this by far had been the most beautiful location that she had found a Portkey.
Rose loved travelling internationally, but Apparition often gave her motion-sickness and flying on broomsticks across the continent really made her sore, so she sought out Portkeys to get her from place to place. Often, she could just chat up a fellow traveller who would give her a Portkey location, and if she was lucky, a good suggestion of what to do when she arrived wherever the Portkey took her. She had travelled through most of the European continent by this point, and even managed to cross the Mediterranean and have a few adventures in Egypt and Morocco. She smiled at the thought of the bazaars she had been to in Egypt, and the delicious food she had in Morocco. For Rose, while the sights and museums were interesting, especially the Muggle museums that had really interesting artifacts (and were often magical or held references to magic- which fascinated the Ancient Runes nerd in Rose to no end), she loved just walking around and being able to interact with the locals- Muggle and Wizard communities alike.
She was pulled back out of her memories when an owl hooted down at her, sounding insistent and a bit peeved that it had just flown up a mountain. In the middle of the day. Blast. She would have recognized that obnoxious owl anywhere. It was her dad's owl, Pig. She thought by now that they had given up on trying to contact her. It had been months since she had responded to one of their letters in any great length, often glancing over them to make sure that no tragedy had befallen her family before stuffing them in her pack and continuing on her journeys. It's not that she didn't want to talk to them, she did after all send them quick notes ever couple of weeks to tell them that A.) she was still alive and B.) to not be concerned because she was an adult and could handle most anything that could happen on her travels. But that didn't stop them, her father especially, from sending Pig out every few days with a long letter from home.
Ignoring the owl, as she always did, she glanced down at her watch again. One minute to three. She planted her feet firmly in the ground beneath her and tried to mentally prepare herself for the trip. While she did prefer using a Portkey from place to place, it made her nauseous every single time that she used it. Nausea, according to Rose, was preferred to the intense motion-sickness and dizziness (and potential for splinching) of Apparition.
Her watch dinged and she felt a sudden tug in her stomach as she was pulled towards a new place. Before she could even form a cohesive thought, she was plopped down in the middle of a dry field. The birds continued chirping around her as she stood up, nonplussed by the witch who had appeared out of nowhere, brushing debris off her jeans and hiking her pack firmly on her shoulders. Looking around her, all she saw was field, except for one slightly hazy patch of land that sometimes appeared to be a field and other times looked a little bit like a circle of tents. Nodding her head, she headed towards this odd patch of land, hoping that this was where she could find someone to tell her where the nearest town was.
As she tramped across the field, her pack as light as a feather thanks to some spells her mum had helped her with, she took in the beautiful fresh scents of the world around her. London had nothing on this. It was completely uncomparable. There was almost nothing Rose loved more than being outside, and by far her favorite activity was sitting outside with a good book and letting time pass her by as she was absorbed into the book. Tramping about in a field was very much up her alley, since she could enjoy the fresh air, endless blue sky, and gentle sounds of the birds around her.
Rose focused harder on the weird haze in front of her that marred the perfect landscape that she was trying to enjoy. Pulling her wand out of the pocket of her jacket, she tapped it gently against her chin, thinking of the best spell to use to figure out what exactly this strange haze could possibly be. She had an idea of what it was supposed to be, but of course, she needed to be certain before she kept walking and stumbled into a potentially dangerous situation. She was nothing if not careful when it came to travelling along, especially when she was faced with what seemed to be something covered in a concealing charm.
"Revelio." she murmured and smiled when a new scene unfolded in front of her.
Before her stood an expanse of buildings and tents, a riotous mix of colors that made her grin like a child. While the small buildings were colored an innocent beige and modestly topped with dark wood roofs, the tents ran the gamut of colors. From the darkest of blues to brightest of yellows, each tent was adorned with flags and banners, some in English and others in languages that she couldn't recognize from the distance. She continued on, speeding up as she neared the site.
Rose was startled by a roar that shook her to her bones. Looking around, she saw a tuft of smoke arise on her left as something seemed to catch on fire. Never one to shy away from her natural curiosity, she altered her path to take her to where the smoke was coming from. Still outside the circle of tents and buildings, she quickened her pace to take her around the perimeter of the encampment. Gasping in amazement, Rose took a step back as a giant green dragon appeared as she turned the corner of the encampment, smoke rising from its nostrils as it swished its tail back and forth, seemingly irritated at the wizards who swarmed around its feet. The dragon shook its head, and Rose noted the impressive gold horns that protruded from the top of its head. The dragon's nostrils flared as she got closer, and she took an involuntary step backward when its head swung menacingly in her direction.
Before she could even think, a fireball was hurtling in her direction, hot and containing the ability to turn her into ash in mere seconds.
Without thinking she shouted, "Protego Duo!" and winced as the fire crept its way over the edges of her shield, feeling the immense heat of the dragon's fire as it charred the ground in front of her.
Looking around, she saw the dragon being reigned in by ropes as stunning spells were hurtled at the dragon, who was growing angrier by the second. One person approaching her, projecting a steady stream of water that put out the fire that had sprung up around her, the field turning to wet ashy ground around her shield. As soon as the fires were out, she took down her shield and put her hand over her eyes, squinting into the sunlight to see the person approaching her. As they got closer, she broke out into a humongous grin as a familiar shock of bright red hair came into focus.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, approaching her.
Walking quickly, almost running, Rose shouted back, "Hiya! It's me! Rose!"
As the two got closer, both grinned even wider and Rose was soon enveloped in a bear hug from her dearest uncle.
"Well hello there Rosie," her Uncle Charlie said, holding her at arms length as he inspected her for cuts and bruises. "I certainly didn't expect to be seeing you around here, and especially not to be the cause of a dragon to set most of a field aflame."
Rose laughed and shrugged, following her Uncle Charlie as he led her towards the tents and buildings that she now realized must be a part of his dragon sanctuary.
"Well I wasn't exactly planning to come here," she responded, "I was supposed to be in Slovakia."
Charlie looked down at his niece and chuckled. "Well you're a few countries off, welcome to Romania. You're welcome to stay here for a bit if you want. We can have dinner and I can show you around the sanctuary," he paused, "and I can introduce you to the dragon who just tried to make you his dinner."
Rose smiled back at him and responded, "I would love to stay for a night, and to meet a dragon, but maybe after I've fully recovered from the shock of having one try to burn me to a crisp."
"Alright, sounds good," Charlie said as they entered the encampment. "I'm glad to see you Rosie, and if you need any help getting to Slovakia, let me know. I'm sure I could help you whip up a Portkey to get you there. It might not be the most legal thing in the world," he smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders, "but it'll get you where you want to be."