7 – A Walk in the Dark

Ron looked at his watch. It was 10 o'clock. Time to meet Nickolas. Outside, the sky was dark. Ron glanced around the common room. There were still a few people working. Harry and Hermione were sitting next to him, bent over their homework. Ron started packing his stuff up.

'You're not done,' said Harry. 'Where are you going?'

'I've got a meeting,' said Ron.

'This is to do with Nickolas, isn't it?' Hermione said suspiciously. At dinner, Nickolas had visited the Gryffindor table to tell Ron to meet him outside Dumbledore's office at 9, then disappeared, much to the annoyance of Malfoy and Harry.

'Yeah,' said Ron. He carried his stuff upstairs, grabbed the broomstick Fred had leant him and headed back down.

'Why do you have a broomstick?' asked Harry.

'No idea,' said Ron. 'He just told me to bring one.'

'Where are you going?' said Hermione.

'Don't know that either,' said Ron. He turned to Harry. 'Look, mate, I know this must be annoying you, but don't follow me, OK?'

Harry did his best to look insulted. Ron guessed he'd been planning to do exactly that.

'Harry, I'm meeting him outside Dumbledore's office. If Dumbledore catches you, you'll be in serious trouble, and if Nickolas catches you you've got no chance of becoming his friend. Let me hang out with him by myself, and hopefully I'll be able to get all four of us together without Malfoy around, alright?'

'Fine,' said Harry. 'Go enjoy your nighttime stroll.'

Ron shrugged and left, hoping he wouldn't run into any teachers on the way. He wasn't sure how he'd explain wandering around the castle carrying a broomstick at this hour of the night.

. . .

Nickolas, and to Ron's surprise, Dumbledore, were waiting outside his office. Ron prayed that Hermione had kept Harry in the common room. Nickolas had Sundavar draped over his shoulders. He grinned when he saw Ron.

'Let's go,' he said, and the three of them set off through the castle.

. . .

It wasn't long before they passed through the Entrance Hall and out onto the front lawn. Nickolas unwrapped Sundavar from his shoulder and put him on the ground. The little dragon ran off as fast as his little legs could carry him, a patch of darker shadow in the night. The three of them followed him towards the Quidditch pitch.

When they were a good distance from the school Nickolas looked at Dumbledore and raised his eyebrows. Dumbledore nodded. Nickolas turned back to Ron.

'Ron,' he said. Ron looked up, surprised by how serious he sounded. 'I need to tell you about my magic,' said Nickolas.

'Alright,' said Ron, trying not to show his curiosity too much.

'I'm a shapeshifter,' said Nickolas.

Ron nodded. 'Alright,' he said again. 'I don't really know anything about shapeshifting, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm dealing with.'

'Every time I see a new species, a new animal appears in my head,' said Nickolas. 'I can shift into any animal I've seen. Well, one from each species.'

'So could you shift into me?' asked Ron.

'No. My brothers could, but like I said, one animal from each species, so this is my human form.' Ron looked up at the mention of brothers, but Nickolas kept going. 'I can do different ages, but it's still me. Then if I wanted to turn into say, a dingo, well there's heaps of different dingos - black, white, yellow, black and tan, but I can only turn into one specific yellow dingo, and that's it.'

Ron pulled in a deep breath. 'OK.'

'Don't tell anyone yet, alright?' said Nickolas.

'Sure,' said Ron, giving a shaky smile. 'I doubt anyone'd believe me anyway.' He thought for a minute. 'McGonagall—' He stopped, glanced at Dumbledore, and started again. 'Professor McGonagall said we weren't to annoy you because any retaliation would be without warning. That's pretty cool magic and all, but I don't really see how there's no warning.'

Nickolas smiled. 'I'd guess she probably meant that you wouldn't have time to react properly. Could you imagine arguing with someone, expecting them to go for their wand or jump at you, and suddenly instead of facing a teenage boy you were facing a silverback gorilla? It's quite a shock to recover from.'

Ron nodded. 'Fair enough.' He tried to think of something else to say, but they arrived at the Quidditch pitch and for some reason Nickolas started taking his shirt off.

'What are you doing?' asked Ron.

Nickolas dropped his t-shirt on the ground and sat down to remove his shoes. 'Sundavar needs more than a run around,' he said. 'He needs to fly, to get his wing muscles strong, and I don't like him up in the air by himself. That's why you've got a broomstick. We're both going up with him to give him some exercise.'

'You don't have a broomstick,' Ron pointed out.

Nickolas stood up, barefoot and shirtless. 'True,' he said. 'I don't know how to ride one. Luckily, I've got my own way to fly.' His body seemed to flicker, and a pair of large black wings appeared on his back.

Ron started, then stared.

'It's easier to land in bare feet,' said Nickolas. 'And I don't like ruining my shirts.' With that he ran forward, bringing his wings together at full stretch above his head. He jumped, pushing off the ground as hard as he could, and his wings came down, lifting him into the air. He flapped again and whistled. 'Come on, Sundavar,' he called. Ron saw a small black shadow separate itself from the ground and follow Nickolas into the sky.

'Go on, Ron,' said Dumbledore. 'You don't want to keep them waiting.'

Ron dragged his eyes away from Nickolas and Sundavar and mounted his broomstick. He kicked off and flew after them.

In the air, Nickolas pulled a tennis ball out of his pocket. 'Hey, Ron,' he called. 'Catch.' He threw the tennis ball. Ron grabbed it out of the air a split second before a small black torpedo barrelled into him.

'Chuck it back,' called Nickolas. Ron threw it, and Sundavar went racing off after it. Nickolas caught it and went pelting away as fast as his wings could carry him. Just before the little dragon caught up, he turned and threw it back to Ron. Ron grabbed it and shot towards the hoops at the far end of the pitch. When he sensed the little dragon behind him he spun and threw it as hard as he could at Nickolas, who had to dive for it. He went racing along the ground, dodging the dragon. Ron bent over his broomstick and raced after the two of them.

The three of them kept up their game for the best part of an hour. By the time they'd finished both the boys were coated in sweat, and even Sundavar seemed to be slowing down.

Once they were back on the ground, Nickolas turned to Ron, grinning. 'Thanks for coming,' he said. 'It's a lot harder to wear him out when it's just me.'

Ron grinned back. 'No worries,' he said. 'Playing keep-away with a dragon is the best thing I've done in ages.'

Sundavar draped himself over Nickolas's shoulders, and the two of them followed Dumbledore back to the school, smiling and laughing together.