I own neither Franchise! An updated guide to plot relevant dragons is posted after the chapter. I admit to not having named most of the whelps, though some might get names eventually. Thanks again to hkurtz2013 at for helping me edit new chapters!
Chapter 16: 'I Command You to Live!'
Harry did in fact fall asleep quickly upon returning to Hogwarts, exhaustion taking its toll now that all the day's necessities were taken care of. Aurogos, still in command of the Room of Requirement, called for Stine and Alira. Using the Room and his knowledge of temporal magic, Stine was able to fashion another time-dilation field. This one would only turn seven minutes into seven hours, but that ought to be enough for their Lord to get some rest before dawn. With a nod to those remaining inside, the Blue drake led everyone save Alira and Hermione out, trusting Harry to their tender care.
Carefully following instructions, Hermione and Alira activated the magic to speed up time after Dobby had provided a bountiful breakfast under charms to keep it fresh until needed. Both of them then helped an unconscious Harry out of his clothes and into a bath. Though horribly embarrassed, Hermione agreed that Harry could really use it, and being clean would certainly help him sleep better. At the Green drake's suggestion, Hermione helped bathe Harry while nude, in a large hot tub. But only after the express promise that Harry would absolutely not wake up during his bath.
Hermione was slightly alarmed when her new 'sister' poured a vial into the water and the water turned a light shade of green. After a few moments exposed to the substance, the teen offered no arguments against the herbal mix that gave her such a peaceful, calm feeling as it seeped through the skin. Between herself and Alira, now in her elven form, Harry was soon clean and soaking in the healing, calming water.
After applying sticking charms to Harry to ensure his head remained above the water, Hermione offered to take part in the Draconic custom of helping each other bathe. It really was a necessity, their quadrupedal form entailed more than a little difficulty reaching a lot of areas. And to be honest, Alira's memories of comfort and companionship from those earlier times in her life were... pleasant for a girl who'd not had a single friend before Hogwarts and not many after.
Fully embracing the mental link, Hermione used gentle and firm strokes of a provided brush to cleanse the drake's scales. It turned out children were messy regardless of species, but the substances in the water soothed tired muscles even as Hermione worked. When it was her turn, things became a little awkward when the teenager saw some of Alira's fantasies regarding the three people in the water and a possible future.
I'm sorry Hermione. I don't mean to upset you, but my people often have polygamous relationships. If all involved care for each other and are willing, I really don't see what the problem is. If two women love the same man, and are willing to put their loved ones happiness above their own, a family of three individuals can work.
You're worried about jealousy Hermione? Do you think if my fantasy ever comes to life I would be jealous of you and our mate? Green scales or pink flesh, both blushed powerfully at the images that burst forth from Alira's imagination of the three of them on a massive bed, Hermione on her back with a slightly older, slightly more confident Harry making love to her, before Alira's nude elven from came to snuggle with both of them in the afterglow.
Hermione, all I ask is that you think carefully about the possibilities. I will neverbetray thetrust you've given to me. As your healer and your friend, I think that you will not regret choosing Harry as your mate, whether or not I join the two of you. It would notbe rightfor me to dictate anything to my Lord or the woman at his side.
However, I'm firmly convinced that the three of uswould be very happy together. You know a lot of reasons why I'm for it, but consider his tenacity earlier tonight. As one of his healersI know he was in agony by the fifteenth whelp, but not only did he keep going, he taxed his throat even more when comforting and soothing every young one he could. If he's willing to do that for children not his own, imagine what he would do for his own offspring and their mothers.
If we chose to share him, do you ever think he would let us feel unloved or miserable? Or do you think he would move heaven and earth just to see us smile?
With a smile on her face Hermione relaxed as elven hands, being very careful not to be amorous, cleansed the day's grime from her skin responded back in the shared mental dialogue. I don't think there's anything that can stand between a determined Harry Potter and what he's after. He's been my best friend since he refused to let the fact he knew almost no magic stop him from saving me from a troll. I wish I had seen what was being done to him sooner, I wish I could have done something to help him.
'Speaking' up, Alira interjected. You tried, sister. I can't show you yet, but if he ever doubts himself, I'm planning to drag him into this place and show him a memory that was taken from you. We'll do everything we can to help him. For now just relax, we'll soak a little longer in here and then rinse the herbs off and sleep. An extra seven hours will give Harry enough time to rest, and us as well.
Leaning against Hermione, Alira spoke a bit more as they lazed in the warm water. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow Hermione. The hardest lesson a healer has to learn is that sometimes you do everything right and you can and still losea patient.
The Netherwing Flight began as Black eggs that survived the explosion of Draenor. I have no idea how or why a magical explosion powerful enough to tear a planet apart alteredthem, but it wasn't a 'clean' mutation. In a few generations problems like little Bavaku has will probably be gone, but… the little guy isn't likely to survive. The biological-magical process we use to store nutrients isn't quite right with him, but his body is still past due to change. It was probably cruel to Harry to bond him to the whelp, but it should help tomorrow. And if Bavaku doesn't make it, at least he'll have a good memory of being welcomed, of being wanted to take with him into the next life.
From that sobering thought, conversation between them shifted to happier topics for a time, until they exited the warm water, rinsed the herbal concoction off, and slipped Harry into bed. Hermione had spelled some sleepwear onto the boy, and used the Room to provide something suitable for both her and Alira.
That night, the two of them curled up around Harry and began their attempts to stymie the parasite infecting him. Five hours later the two had only loosened a tiny bit of its hold and smoothed out a place where it had attacked Harry's mind. But progress was progress, and Hermione accepted Alira's guidance to use a useful trick that Alira's people had figured out. Hermione used the Green Dragonflight's magic now within her to fall into a trance that rejuvenated a creature in only a few hours at the cost of being completely unable to wake during that time.
Alira remained inside Harry's mind, however. The parasite was fluctuating oddly, and something seemed to be using it as a conduit now. Hermione would be useful in mental combat like this after some training, but for now it was safer for both of them to keep her out of the line of fire. Wrapping herself in power pulled from the Earth's version of the Dream, she waited. Obscuring her form in the shape of a gold and red gryphon the size of a full-grown dragon, the borrowed power formed a second shape both protecting and obscuring her own.
If this was a foreign intruder, she wanted nothing to link Harry to 'Ral Elsington' just yet. The supposed animagus form's vastly different coloring, slight differences in build, and gender would mean nothing on this world. And so, with the enormous gryphon's form bringing to mind a vague memory from Hermione of fictional battle machines, shaped after and piloted by humans, Alira waited as that pressure she had felt continued to build. Eventually she felt a presence within the very edge of this mental realm, one that did not belong. It would not be allowed to even probe her Lord's defenses.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Lord Voldemort was not having a good day. The initial amusement at Dumbledore fleeing for his life had ebbed the evening after the battle when Lucius, upon returning, had informed him that Severus Snape was scheduled to be interrogated under veritaserum. Apparently his spy had a long list of people that wanted to see him hang even at the ministry. Lucius told his Lord that he had used a patsy to push back the interrogation for health reasons. Severus had, after all, been hit with so many cruel bits of magic during the battle. (And more than one after the battle.)
As a Dark Lord, he could appreciate the eagerness in Lucius's voice when he offered to see to Serverus's demise, a simple matter of two potions interacting after being consumed, how sad. That the proposed poison would have left Severus screaming for hours as his own body's magic slowly converted every drop of blood into fiery acid without any chance of reprieve was inspired, and something to remember for later.
Sadly, the potion master's value was still greater than what could be gained by his death. With a promise to leave the man's death to Lucius if it became necessary, he ordered the man to get Severus released at all costs and return with him to the mansion.
That had been a rather large hassle in the making. As it turned out, Dumbledore's clout had been the only thing keeping the spiteful man out of Azkaban since the destruction of his body. Lucius had returned and admitted that the amount of gold needed to keep the spy from spilling everything would be exceedingly cost-prohibitive. Not even the Malfoy vaults could afford to bribe everyone needed. The Aurors hated the man for his inadvertent diminishment of their numbers by refusing to teach all but the highest scores past their O.W.L.s while his abysmal teaching skills kept that number low. Nearly everyone else hated him for the hateful manner in which he had treated their children.
In the end, the man had been sprung with careful use of a shrunken trunk, an invisibility cloak, and a portkey. Lucius had even arranged for a Junior Auror, a Mr. Flint, to claim he saw Dumbledore's phoenix swoop in and remove the man. A handy misdirection to be sure, but somehow the trunk only had the illusion of a ladder after the first few rungs. In a further fit of pique, the Head of the Malfoy family had actually charmed the interior of the trunk into an efficient, automated torture device. It was only the fact that it was carefully enchanted not to kill those within that spared Lucius the full force of his Lord's wrath.
Needless to say, it had been only today that Severus Snape had regained consciousness enough to give his report. In the end, the Dark Lord had not spared Severus Snape the lash, holding back only enough to prevent permanent damage to his talented hands. The fool had thrown away his position at Hogwarts for a petty grudge! Voldemort had trouble believing the man had ever earned a place in Slytherin if his first response to a user of unknown and powerful magic was to needlessly antagonize him! Throwing himself against an unknown? That was what you used other people for!
So, the man once known as Tom Riddle really ought to have known that his day wasn't going to improve at that point. Using the connection to Harry Potter, his goal was to gradually manipulate the boy into fetching his prize from the Ministry. It would be subtle, slow work to break down the boy's defenses to nothing and deprive him of restful sleep until his ability to make good decisions was gone. Now, pushing his will through the connection between him and the boy, after the little fool had finally gotten to sleep sometime near three in the morning, he found an unknown creature standing between him and the boy's mind.
Both stood in a mental plane, though his physical manifestation lacked a true form, here he simply existed as a black cloud. Before him a gryphon in the colors of the house of lions stood, between himself and the boy's mind. However, I've never seen one that large or muscled. Or breathing some green vapor. What the hell is going on here?
The enormous beast was obviously standing guard, and it's eyes were dull, like glass or cut gems. He'd assume it wasn't alive except for the fact that it was breathing, and exhaling some kind of green gas. At first it was standing still, doing nothing. Then its head swiveled to him, and its posture changed. It's just standing there, watching me. What the fuck has Potter done now?
Deciding to attempt to assault the boy's mind in spite of this complication, Voldemort willed his form to move around the gryphon blocking the pathway to Potter's mind. While a good idea in theory, and almost appearing successful, it did not work. The towering creature waited until he was close to its side, and when he was in range it spewed a torrent of green mist on him. As it turned out, that mist was highly corrosive acid.
After bathing him in the substance, the creature repositioned itself between him and Harry Potter's mind. Also, it was taking a deep breath. Darting forward, as much as was possible in this mental form, Voldemort attempted to directly attack the creature. Instead of tearing the gryphon apart however, the substance it was made of grabbed the destructive tendrils he sent out and pulled.
About then, Lord Voldemort's vaunted survival instinct reared up and demanded retreat. Thinking quickly, the amorphous cloud attempted to reel in the caught parts and when that wasn't possible, he severed them. Luckily, this decision wouldn't cost him memories or any truly important part of himself. The only cost to leaving those parts of his mental representation behind was a significant loss of magic, but nothing that wouldn't replenish within a few days.
Damn you Harry Potter! This isn't over! Voldemort thought as he fled down the link to his own mind. To his servant's dismay, for the next few days the man once known as Tom Riddle suffered an enormously painful migraine which he assumed to be a result of the mental battle. In fact, he was lucky to only suffer a bit of pain as a result of pushing most of his conscious mind into and out of a Temporal Acceleration Field. Unknown to anyone, the magic he expended to push through was absorbed by the surprisingly robust field and used to prolong the interior effect by several hours.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
If Alira was in her physical body, she would be sweating as that foul presence drifted away from her. (Well, maybe. Mental constructs could be weird, especially for Green dragons. Their power over the Dream tended to blur what was real and what they only thought was real at times.) Well, something else to speak to Aurogos about come morning. That creature left a good deal of unshaped magic behind, I'll just store it away for now. Guess Hermione's learning mental combat. It seems I'll need a sparring partner anyway.
For the rest of the night, Alira maintained her vigil at the edge of Harry's mind. When she felt Harry's mental defenses reinforced by his conscious mind as he woke, she slipped into a resting trance of her own, trusting Hermione and her Lord to watch over her.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Harry's eyes snapped wide open when he woke. He felt rested. That shouldn't have been possible between his exhaustion and the scarce few hours he had to sleep. Slipping out of the full bed, carefully ignoring the two female forms nestled against him, he looked around. There was the portal to Azeroth behind its defenses and he found himself wondering how Hedwig was doing.
Becoming angry that he'd been allowed to sleep in, that he had missed the attempt to save Bavaku's life, he found his new wand sitting on a bedside table and snapped out a 'Tempus' spell. Then, however, he had to stop and think about the results. Either he had slept the day away and it was tomorrow, or something strange was going on. Given that the seventy-three day stint in the Dream had been his idea, (Well, sort of. He had just figured out a way to use the drake's powers in a way they hadn't thought of.) he decided to wait until the other two woke up.
Going over to the available food he poured himself with a hot cup of tea, looking at the girls. He had tried to alter the Room, but wasn't surprised to find himself unable. His guess was that it was under Hermione's control, judging by the current layout's style. Harry found himself slightly concerned about the implications of the bathtub that could seat ten, the fact that he was clean, and the entirely new clothes he was wearing.
Partway through his cup of tea, he helped himself to the food. Not enough for a meal, just enough to tamp down his hunger so he could focus. First, he sunk into his own mind and examined his mental defenses. With them checking out, he reshaped a few weak points that he came across before pulling back to himself. Feeling only a few moments had passed he again cast the Tempus spell, but it returned exactly the same result it did earlier.
Taking a few more moments to finish waking and clearing his mind, he relaxed and focused on the exercises he'd been shown at the ruins of Potter Manor. Sensing even his own magic wasn't easy right now, and it was made harder by the overlapping effects in this room. Turning his focus inward, he could feel something within him, but it kept slipping away when he tried to focus on it.
In retrospect, grabbing that power within himself had been easy while he was fighting Dumbledore. Aurogos's explanation of his own magic an ocean influenced by his emotion, easy to touch when turbulent and harder to grasp when calm, wasn't perfect, but then again it wasn't as if magic was simple to quantify. Oddly, it seemed as if every time he tried to grasp the magic within and failed, the next attempt got a little closer.
He really thought he was getting close when he felt Hermione settle next to him, still wearing the clothes she slept in. Harry wouldn't say her attire was very revealing, but she was showing off more of her figure than usual in silky dark blue pajamas that reached almost to her ankles and wrists. While covering everything, they did provide evidence that Hermione was both a woman and notably perky. In fact, she appeared exceedingly well rested and awake.
"Hello Harry. You've probably noticed, but we're in the Room of Requirement with a rune set Stine set up active. Basically we have seven extra hours in here to rest, in fact the effect should be ending shortly. I think we have a couple hours until we need to leave the Castle." With that, Hermione passed Harry his refilled cup of tea, smiling at returning a favor from the first time she woke in this Room.
Sipping his tea, Harry thought for a moment. Returning her smile, he spent a few moments explaining what he was doing. He knew his best friend had a powerful curiosity to her, and the possibility of an entirely new way to use magic would be something to truly excite her. After getting her started, he asked her to pass him control of the Room.
While he served himself a hearty breakfast he started issuing commands to the Room. Harry was hoping there was something in the archive here, which most of their group believed was able to access either every book that had entered the castle or had ever been in the library. He was determined to find something to help Bavaku. It wasn't even the Oath pushing him to do this, just his desire to help him if there was even a one in a thousand chance it would save his life. (Rather, the Oath would have pushed him to find a way to help, but there was no need. Harry's search was his own. The earlier moments had only been a way to clear his mind.)
Sadly, there was nothing he could find on the specific problem of the little whelp which seemed to be a problem with the process that would see him grow from a whelp into a drake. There was an 'error' in the retrieval process for the needed nutrients that would likely prevent him from surviving the transition; but at the same time his strength was being sapped by the storage process itself and he'd die soon without changing.
After a few moments, Hermione abandoned her attempts to sense magic, seeing the pile of books haphazardly thrown about; she guessed what his thoughts were and offered her help. The problem was that the only texts that could really be of use were scrolls that had obviously been copied from Alira's and Dalistraza's reference materials which, unfortunately, stubbornly remained in Draconic.
An hour later Harry, having only a notepad with only a few scratched out ideas, grew desperate. Not sure what else to try, he closed his eyes and thought hard. Room, I require something to help Bavaku survive in a few hours. I don't know what I need. I don't understand the problem and those that do don't expect him to make it, but there has to be something!
When nothing happened immediately, Harry closed his eyes in frustration. Part of him really wanted to take out his wand and destroy something right then. Instead, a loud thump hit the table in front of him. A large tome was open to a specific page, but Harry could read little of it, as it was written in the language only known as 'Common,' the Azeroth trade tongue that was originally meant to be easy to learn for commerce between different races. (Eventually, the language had been codified by scholars in the city-state of Dalaran to ensure it remained easy to learn and met the needs of humanity going forward.)
It was an odd book, and it took some time to make sense of what he was seeing. He and Hermione had picked up a little Common during their stay in the Dream, Hermione more than he, but neither was exactly fluent. Turning to the witch, he saw that he already had her attention. She was looking from her place next to him, examining the strange book.
Carefully, without losing the open page, Harry shifted the book so she could read the cover, hopefully giving them some idea of what they were looking at. After a moment, Hermione spoke in a disbelieving tone. "Harry, I think it's some kind of children's book. Alira told you a little about the link we share now and I can vaguely remember it from her memories. It's a dragon's children book, something to help them learn different languages.
"If Alira was awake I could tell you everything about it, but we're both still adapting to being in each other's heads. It doesn't help that there's things I'm not allowed to see, but she's going to talk to you about them when she gets a chance and I'm deep asleep. But, back to the book itself. I think the title is 'Big Book of Villain Lines.' There's a way to make recorded sounds play, but I don't know what it is. What specifically were you asking for?"
Harry told his friend, and Hermione in turn described the trance she used to catch up on her sleep. "Like the magic stretching out time in here, it shouldn't be used often. Once in a while won't hurt, but you really don't want to push it. I'm guessing she used it herself since I can't wake her, but I have no idea how long she stayed up after sending me to rest. What are we going to do?"
After a reflexive calling of Dobby failed, and another cast of Tempus failed, Harry realized they had little choice but to wait out the temporal effect. He had no idea of what breaking it early would do. "We'll try to figure out how to get the book to work. That's about all we can do until Alira wakes or the effect runs out."
Half an hour later, the temporal dilation effect ended. By then, Harry and Hermione had gotten the book to say three words, the meaning of which they weren't sure. The tome seemed to be broken. More than a little confused, Harry passed control of the room to Hermione and slipped through a handy doorway to wake Stine. After a bit of prodding, they were back in the Room with a Tol'vir that really looked like he needed a cup of coffee.
A painfully brief discussion took place where Harry fished for but did not demand hints for events that would occur on this day's dawn, no matter how much he wanted to tell Stine to quit with the secrets. In this case, Harry was not quite willing to breach the laws of causality, as he was willing to believe such a thing would be 'bad.' Hermione helpfully repeated warnings given to her with the Time-Turner about possibly writing herself out of existence. Privately, Harry returned to an old thought of how those in authority were absolute idiots for giving a thirteen year old girl an item that dangerous. (Then again, perhaps that had been the point. Hermione had shown up a lot of pureblood children in her first two years at Hogwarts.)
Stine was, however, more talkative about the item in question. "This is 'The Big Book of Villain Lines;' it's a children's toy. Granted, a rather interesting one. It contains recordings of Azeroth's most famous 'bad guys.' Our young often had great debates over which villains were 'the best' or which ones had actual reasons for their evil. Even though the debates sometimes deteriorated into brawls, two wyrms thought the subject was thought-provoking enough to create this. Khanagos the Blue and Janedormi the Bronze created the spell work and many copies; they were very close friends before they disappeared. The book is actually an impressive work of magic, you see it's self-updating. I wasn't aware we had one with us, actually."
"Stine, this copy was produced by the Room when I asked for something to help Bavaku. This is the page it was open to, can you get it to work? And maybe translate as well, neither of us know Common very well so we may have missed something."
With that, the Bronze drake in his fuzzy form moved over to the book and pressed his index finger to the only entry on the first page. Before he activated it with a small pulse of magic, the page held a moving picture of a metal hall in a large structure, with visible patches of frost in some places of the depiction of Icecrown Citadel and several paragraphs of information pertaining to it's place in history. When the magic activated, an elf with gray skin, cloth armor with red accents, and obviously lethal wounds was projected above the page. It spoke one word hatefully. "Blood."
After that word, the enchantment seemed to glitch out temporarily, flickering for a moment. When it came back, there was a Red dragon in its place, but one that had seen better days. From his newfound experience, Harry could tell it was a female, and she'd been through hell. Great patches of her flesh were bruised, runes had been carved deep into her flesh and a creeping contagion of blue was overcoming her red scales. The illusion from the book twitched slightly, stuttering as it produced two words, obviously once part of a longer passage. "Life... Preserve..."
"I'm sorry my Lord. The book isn't working correctly at all. These two entries should be entirely separate, and the real copy I saw years ago had no shuttering."
Harry's mind, however, was thinking. "Get Dali for me please, I think I have an idea, but I'll need her thoughts. Quickly, we don't have a lot of time."
Glad to see Harry taking command, Stine ran off to fetch the Red healer. It was only a moment later that she entered the room. Before she could offer a bleary greeting Harry was asking her the question in his mind. "Dali, does the blood of Azeroth's dragons carry magical properties?"
Letting out an enormous toothy yawn, the drowsy drake replied. "Yes. Red blood will cause life in general to flourish. The other Flights have different properties. I'm not really sure what they are, you want Aurogos? He'd know more. If this is pressing I've had enough sleep to function for half a day or so if you don't mind me passing out later."
A few moments later and the new Headmaster was drinking some very strong tea as they sat around a table and brainstormed. "To help a Nether whelp like Bavaku I think you'd want either Red of Black blood, that gives your thought the best chance of working Harry. The Netherwing were Black dragons at some point, though Bavaku's at least second generation, maybe third or forth because of their short lives. Red dragons shed magic that encourages life with every touch and breath."
Responding to Aurogos, Harry made his decision. "We'll use Red blood. I doubt any of the ones here would hesitate. Bavaku's problem as I understand it involves a metaphysical defect or weakness, right? So a physical donation of blood to encourage life should help him. Part of my thought for doing it at the Potter Estate was that the residual magic might recognize him as a member of the family and aid him. When I first used the Loyal Lord ritual, I changed the oath just a little. It just felt right to acknowledge you all as family. Now, what else can we do to increase his odds?"
Ideas were tossed around for a while, until Dali brought up that she had never done a transfusion before. "With our style of healing such a procedure is not needed. We can force life into a patient and seal the wounds, and at that point if they're alive they can usually be kept alive until the magic stimulates more blood production. I have no experience and no tools to accomplish it with."
Thankfully, Hermione spoke up. "Harry, I think my mother can do it. My parents are dentists, but they thought it was a good idea for at least one person at their dental practice to have emergency nurse training. If we get her on a mirror I can ask."
Moving quickly, Harry pulled out his mirror and called his godfather. A man who looked very much not awake, but was soon trying to blink the sleep from his eyes was soon on the other side. After a hurried explanation, Hermione was talking to her mother on the mirror.
"Hi Mom. I'm going to be visiting you soon, a group of us are coming to where you are. Listen, we need your help. Can you perform a blood transfusion from one person to another?"
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
On the other end of a communication mirror, Daniel and Emma Granger were only slightly less concerned when Hermione insisted she was not in need of a transfusion. Seeing her daughter look very perky at about four in the morning, she held up her hand and tried to use her best 'Mom' voice. "Hermione. Tell me why you need a barely qualified nurse to do a transfusion in ninety minutes. Why on Earth aren't you having a real doctor do this or just using one of those 'Blood Replenishing' potions your books mentioned?"
The Dentist resisted the urge to snap at the male voice that let out a barking laugh after she said the word 'Earth' as she waited for her daughter to explain herself. As her daughter collected herself for what was sure to be a very in-depth explanation, a teenage boy stuck his head into the mirror.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I know Hermione well enough to know we don't have time for a full explanation. Long story short, we're taking care of a group of magical creatures our Ministry would maim, experiment on, and/or kill in awful ways if they found out. They're fully intelligent, thinking creatures that bear an unfortunate resemblance to other magical creatures that are simple beasts as far as we know.
"One of their children is dying, and we've been working on the best way possible to help him, that includes a transfusion and a lot of magic worked at dawn at the base of that tree with the red leaves where you are. Even with this, we don't know the little guy's odds of surviving only that without aid he's going to die. One of the other creatures has magical blood that might help him if we can get enough into him. Please, we don't have anyone else that can do this. Magical healing has been reliant on the Blood Replenishing potion for too long to have any way to help us, and that potion is both toxic and ineffective for this species."
With just a little less sleep in her eyes, Emma recognized the teenager from the previous evening. In a sad tone, she gave him unfortunate news. "I'm sorry, I don't have the equipment I need. We don't have a transfusion kit at our practice either, I can't think of anywhere we could buy one at this time of day either. If we do this later..."
Interrupting her, Harry spoke again. "No. We need this ready by the time the sun rises, there's a magical component to it. If we delay we lose him. Aurogos, get us a portal to Potter Estate. Everyone else, wake up Senastrasz and Valistraza carefully. Send Sen up to get Alira, we think she's in some kind of restful trance but we can't wake her, so he'll have to carry her. Or better yet, we can stick her in a trunk. Mrs. Granger, I'm coming with one of my drakes that's skilled with transportation magic and a guard with you to wherever you tell us has what we need. Remember, we need to take blood from one creature and stick it directly into another. Let's move."
With that, the mirror deactivated, leaving only their reflections. Looking at their 'host,' for a given definition of the term anyway, Emma started to speak when he beat her to it. "Kreacher! We need some strong tea and breakfast, tea first. Dan, Emma, I'll leave you to get ready. Please move quickly. Hermione should be coming soon."
With that, the deranged (Though, after hearing his tale, she felt he was understandably so.) man turned to leave their wizarding tent. Both dentists had to admit it was certainly a very nice tent, given that in medical school their entire apartment had been smaller. Before he left, Dan had grabbed the man's arm to hold him up a moment. "Sirius, what is going on here? I understood when you told us that we might be in danger because of the Headmaster going insane, even if I don't completely believe you. But now my daughter is up to her armpits in something else? Tell me what the hell is going on!"
"Uh, a few days ago, Harry and Hermione welcomed some refugees into Hogwarts castle. Together the two of them cleaned an infected throat wound, many more minor ones, and kept the survivors of unimaginably dark magic from killing themselves in shame for actions they couldn't control. I've talked to them myself, they really seem like decent people. I wasn't lying about the Headmaster, even though some foreign papers are already saying that the whole thing was just some misunderstanding. Which is complete bullshit!"
"Oh, really? If that's true why on Earth did refugees come to school children for help? Why not anyone better suited for it? And why the fuck are you laughing?"
Normally Emma would gently chide her husband in private for his language but in this case she was just as annoyed as he was. The escaped prisoner's next words shut them both up. "Sorry, but did you know there was life on other worlds? Before Saturday morning I didn't. Long story short, opening a portal between worlds is possible if you have an incredibly large amount of magical power. The first group of four dragons, plus a stasis device which is where this little one must have been, were sent here by a 'being of power' after their leader bartered their safe passage for an eternity of service.
"The 'goddess' sent them specifically to Harry, and he woke in the night, grabbed the girl he relies on more than anyone else and snuck into a ritual room of the strongest magical fortress in this hemisphere, sitting on top of the most powerful magical nexus in the world. When he got there, he drained the castle's wards just to receive the incoming portal. Since then, he's made me proud with how honorably he's treated them. They all gave him their trust out of desperate necessity, and from what I can tell they're doing well."
That proved to be a lot for two dentists to take in, sadly the quiet contemplative mood didn't last long. A mostly human head with extremely long ears poked into the tent, and spoke in an accent that honestly reminded both dentists of their daughter's after spending so much time in Hogwarts. "Are you folks nearly ready to go? We have just over ninety minutes to dawn. Mrs. Granger, we're going to do this the easiest way we can. You tell us where to go, Aurogos opens a portal that leads into the air, you, me, and him ride in a shrunken box while Harry gets us into an alley on his broom under an invisibility cloak. We won't even violate the Statute of Secrecy if we get in and out before getting noticed."
"Wait, I said there's nowhere we can buy this right now, at least not open to the public."
"Doesn't matter. I have this." From a pocket, the apparent elf withdrew a golden knife with barbs on it. "Getting what we need is critical, the plan is to demand what we need, steal it only if they don't cooperate. This knife really is gold, and I'm going to sink it into wood so they can't say we didn't pay for what we need. Unless this goes very badly they won't even know you were there. Now throw some clothes on quickly, Hermione is outside with the others."
From within a second tent, a young woman with pink hair looked outside blearily. Understanding that something horribly illegal was about to happen, she groaned and returned to bed after setting an alarm to wake her in an hour. It was too goddamn early for insurrection, sedition, or treason or whatever her distant cousin was planning right now. Nymphadora Tonks would either prevent Harry Potter from overthrowing the Ministry or join him after a little more sleep and some coffee.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Thirty minutes later, Emma Granger stumbled out of an expanded trunk, helped out by Harry. "Well, that didn't go too badly."
Rounding on the teen, Emma almost shouted at him. "Didn't go too badly? And what, pray tell, would it take for you to think that had gone badly?"
Scratching his head as they hurried over to the magical tree that had easily doubled in size since it had been used to craft wands, the teen answered. "Well a pitched battle with the Ministry of Magic, or the mundane army. Maybe some ancient horror attacking us. A horde of Dementors, or a thousand-year old Basilisk. Lord Voldemort forcing me to duel him while dozens of his flunkies watched. Now that I've heard some of what has happened on Azeroth, I have to add an invasion by demonic legions or an attack by evil gods to my list. We'd probably be dead with the last two, but at least it would be something new."
Emma looked at the teen like he was crazy. "What? We got in and out, and only caused a minor injury. That guard guy was way too taser-happy anyway, he's lucky Senastrasz is a nice guy."
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
In the darkness before dawn a few moments later, two healers, one Broodmother and her new apprentice, a dentist with medical training and Harry Potter were carefully working over a weak little whelp. After the healers agreed Bavaku's blood likely wouldn't permanently harm him if removed later, two plastic tubes stretched between the two, Senastrasz calling up healing magic and just holding it, hoping to imbue it into his blood. Harry was carefully stroking the whelp's neck as he laid there on the ground, trying to keep him calm through the pain of the blood-not-his seeping through every vein.
Ƥ: "Broodmother, the flames you're breathing in five minutes, would they burn me?"
Đ: "Yes. They're close, but not quite the life-fire we use to heal. You'll need to step back or be badly burned, and since the flames are magical they might not heal well."
Ƥ: "If heat is the problem, I know a charm to protect myself from flames. It is a handy piece of magic."
Đ: "You should be fine then, just stay out of the way of the direct plume of fire I'm breathing on Bavaku. I don't want the magic to be changed by what's protecting you."
From there, the last five minutes dawn passed slowly. Harry, feeling it was the right thing to do, cast the protective charm on himself and gently touched Bavaku's neck with his right hand. Over the last few days, Harry had begun truly learning magic, the art of imposing his will on the physical world. Here, he focused his magic, which came easily to him with the emotions intertwined with the thought of losing his sworn, a member of his house, a member of his family. This magic he fed slowly, and then faster and faster into the whelp was shaped with a simple command: Heal him, strengthen him where he's weak and keep him alive.
Harry sunk deeply into his simple task. Nether dragons weren't very well understood, but one trait they were known for was the ability to absorb magic. Most times, that would be either magic thrown against them in the form of spells, or magic stolen from other sources, consumed 'raw,' unshaped. Here, the whelp in question was drinking down magic whose entire purpose was to preserve his life.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
One minute before dawn, Emma Granger swiftly removed the needles attached to plastic tubes from the obviously weak baby dragon. She left a small piece of cotton over each hole in his flesh and backed away to where everyone save Harry and the adult dragon watched from a safe distance.
Emma wasn't really sure what to think of Harry Potter. Her daughter's letters had been mostly positive, with a few complaints of their third friend's study habits rubbing off on him. That he worked so hard to save someone he just met spoke well of him in any case. Turning to look at her daughter, she saw Hermione watching intently, biting her lip in nervousness. Then the first rays of dawn came over the horizon and the adult dragon began breathing a torrent of flames onto the whelp.
As the minutes dragged on with nothing happening, Sirius broke the quiet. "Merlin! Can you feel that? All the hairs on my neck are standing up!" She looked at Hermione and was shocked to see her daughter shaking slightly. Ted and Andromeda Tonks stood further back, sweating and unsteady, though it seemed Ted was doing better of the two of them.
"Sirius, how is Harry channeling so much magic? Hell! This is almost as much magic in the air as standing on Azeroth last night!"
It was news to the Grangers that their daughter had visited another world, but not as concerning as what happened in the moment that followed. As the minutes of nothing new happening dragged on, Sirius Black fell to his knees sweating, and Hermione swayed, trembling.
Both parents found themselves cursing the magical world as whatever was happening was beyond them. The Green dragon, which had only awoken a short time ago stepped up next to Hermione and used a wing and forelimb to gently ease her to a sitting position against her. Alira's attention never wavered from what was taking place under the tree. Whatever was happening, Sirius soon passed out completely and Hermione's eyes drooped.
Apparently requiring focus to speak clearly, enunciating every word carefully as if she was drunk, Hermione tried to calm their fears. "I'll be alright mom and dad. It's just magical intoxication, more latent magic in the air than I'm used to, even if I pass out I'll be alright later."
From inside the flames, all those conscious heard a very strained command to keep them up as long as possible. Dan would later tell his wife that he saw the adult dragon breathing in through her nose, then varying the speed of the flames. From her mouth they stuttered as she took in tiny breaths, but because some of the fire was projected faster than the rest, a continuous stream was maintained.
It took ten minutes for the flames to finally sputter out completely. The very large, very Red creature took heaving breaths as she recovered. The observers felt their spirits plummet as what had been described as the most likely scenario played out. It hadn't been enough, no one else made a sound as a tiny, weak voice spoke. Emma and Dan turned to their daughter as she began to sob, burying her head into green scales. When they tried to say something, the drake shushed them.
"He doesn't have long now and he knows it. He's thanking Harry and Valistraza for caring about him, for wanting him, for welcoming him into a family."
Just as the Grangers realized they were watching a child die, everything seemed to go sideways. They could see Harry Potter's face, and he was crying freely. When the whelp finished his goodbye, resolve erupted onto his face, and he opened eyes that glowed like emerald suns. In a voice that shook them down to their bones the teen spoke one word. "NO."
Now the two, even though they had not a drop of magic within themselves, still felt goosebumps spring up over every inch of flesh and every hair stand straight up. Everyone else save the adult dragon fell to the earth unconscious. Even Valistraza was unsteady.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Valistraza was impressed by the amount of magic the teen was now channeling into the whelp. She was tempted to force Harry to stop before he killed himself, but knew he would turn on her before letting her stop him. Even a dragon hesitated to have that much raw, untrained power thrown against them.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Harry refused to give in. As he poured more and more magic into Bavaku, he could almost feel that tiny, physical-yet-not tear that was killing him seal up, but it was healing too slowly. He felt the latent magic of his family's land standing at his side again, like it had when he cast the Fidelius. But it still wasn't enough! Bavaku was dying! It wasn't enough. Harry could remember that feeling of directing the destination rune circle to grab more magic, and of commanding it to pull directly from the ley-lines. He grit his teeth, snarled in his refusal to accept defeat with a life on the line, and with a firm grip on the magic that was already aiding him, reached down into the earth, to the five-point ley-line intersection his family had built on top of centuries ago, and pulled.
He could feel the tear start to close faster, but Bavaku's life fading even faster than that, so he reached again and pulled harder.
Ƥ: "Vali, get ready to breathe again! I can feel the tear closing, it's almost healed. Bavaku, fight just a little longer, that's an order!"
(At the time, Harry neither noticed nor would he have cared that his actions were setting off a 5.2 magnitude earthquake throughout Britain. In the American Southwest, a 5.2 is 'enough to feel' and knock things over if they're near the edge of whatever they're sitting on. Maybe you'll have a picture fall off the wall if you hung it poorly. In Britain, thanks to infrequency of noticeable earthquakes, a 5.2 was actually enough to rattle: shelves, older foundations, brickwork, and even people. For those on that island, Harry Potter set off 'the big one' without even trying to.
By using the helpful magic saturating his family's ancestral home as a glove, Harry was able to (reasonably) safely draw power from the ley-lines that flowed under the ground like a network of rivers. Recklessly pulling as much as he could, he was forcing vast, vast amounts of energy into attempting to correct the fatal defect, draining a part of the ley-line's network faster than more magic could be filtered in. Luckily, the abundance of power flowing through the Azeroth portal would soon restore what was taken out.)
Harry was solely focused on his task, on that desperate struggle not to fail, and he almost had it. He felt Bavaku's body failing and made a split second decision, power that would have killed him a week ago pouring through him.
Ƥ: "Dali! Life-fire now. Vali! Your fire on top of it! NOW!"
It was close, so very close. Thankfully Dalistraza shook off the effects that had brought her to the ground at his call and breathed out nourishing flames. The life-fire did what it needed to and kept the little guy alive just a touch longer. Harry used one last, mighty pull to force even more power into the whelp and finally sealed that tear in his flesh and magic that had been killing him. With that the fires from Valistraza that were calling to Bavaku's flesh, telling him it was time to change, caught hold.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Valistraza smiled around the flames she was pouring out. She could see the whelp was no more. In his place, a silhouette of a new Netherwing drake laid. Still, she kept up the fires as long as she could, refusing to let up any sooner than that. Harry Potter had impressed her today.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Harry felt the flames gradually taper off. He had continually poured magic into the new drake, and now he could see his new form clearly. He smiled as crimson sides took in air greedily. Slowly, he began to taper off the amount of magic he was pouring into Bavaku. Exhaustion was setting in for him now, and he had one last idea before he took a nap. "Dobby! We need some food!, I don't care where it comes from, but Bavaku needs a deer or elk, the whole thing, raw and freshly killed." With that, he slipped into the sleep of the victorious.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
As Harry slid onto the grass, Dalistraza swiftly stepped up and hesitated for just a brief moment over who to check out first. Thankfully Vali gestured her to Harry and she got to work. Đ: "He seems fine, just exhausted. Bavaku?"
Crouching alongside the new drake, Valistraza gently probed him with her magic. After a moment, she gestured him to the elk that had been brought in from who knows where by a small elf. Đ: "Also exhausted and doing well. Bavaku, you need to eat now, keep at it until you can't eat any more, then just rest. You've had a hard time but your Lord has pulled you through. Dali, lean Harry against the tree and then help me start checking the mortals. They're probably fine but we should make sure."
Dali carefully dragged Harry until he was leaning against the tree. As she paid attention to the tree itself, she realized that it must have soaked up loose magic while they worked. It had grown from sixteen feet high to forty.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
Alira beat Hermione to consciousness, a benefit of living most of her life on a world where the Well of Eternity existed. Hermione was quickly checked over, and she smiled at the girl's parents, forgetting after dealing with Harry how most mortals responded to so many teeth. With a sigh, she simply took her Night Elven form as she moved over to Sirius and Nymphadora Tonks, who hadn't had much to say earlier, seeming to be rather shell-shocked with all the surprises.
Speaking to the parents of her new 'sister' as she worked, Alira explained. "Your daughter will be fine, expect her to wake up shortly. I'll arrange headache relief potions soon, they'll be needed. I'm sure you want to know what just happened."
As the Red dragon and drake walked over, melting into a Night Elf and human respectively, Alira gestured Dali towards Sirius, taking 'Dora' Tonks herself. Valistraza nodded and moved off to check on Ted and Andromeda. "We just call it 'magical intoxication.' It happens when magical creatures are exposed to a saturation of magical energy far enough beyond what they're accustomed to. I don't know how Harry did that, but he must have been pulling from this world's ley-lines to accomplish it. Dali, we need to have Aurogos explain, at length, how incredibly stupid an action that would be on Azeroth."
Daniel Granger, eager to get a hold on new information and relieved to know his daughter would be all right, asked the obvious question to follow up that sentence. "Why is that?"
His question was actually answered by his daughter, after her eyes fluttered open with a groan. "It's like the difference in voltage between the current inside a car battery and an electric distribution line. Ugh. This isn't the worst I've felt, but I still don't feel great. Was that worse than stepping onto Azeroth?"
Listening intently, both parents watched the apparently friendly interaction between their daughter and a dragon pretending to be an elf, (Or was it an elf pretending to be a dragon? They weren't completely sure at this point.) even as she walked over to them with hands glowing in what was apparently a diagnostic spell. "I'd say it was worse. That laid me out too. Okay, I think we can say everyone's all right now. We can ask the Headmaster to send over some food and headache potions. I wonder how far away people felt that?"
Alira dismissed herself then, leaving the dentists and their daughter to work on Senastrasz. Between Alira and Dali, the two had him back to one hundred percent within half an hour. While the transfusion had been critical in saving the whelp, the foreign blood wasn't doing him any favors. Dali was more than skilled enough to stimulate blood production while Alira removed what didn't belong. All three were thankful for Hermione rinsing them off with hot water and drying them after, however.
Slowly, more of the group began to come awake, complaining loudly of headaches. Sirius was the next to open his eyes, followed quickly by Andromeda and Ted Tonks. All eyes turned to Sirius as he started to curse and dig through pockets, some of which were obviously magicked to be larger than they appeared. In short order however, there was a young man with blue hair in the mirror.
"What's going on? Whatever that was shook the wards here in Scotland!"
During the brief discussion that followed, Andromeda sat with her daughter. The young woman was shaken by the events of the last few days to be sure, but some time spent with her family today should help. Sadly Andromeda could see the after-effects of loyalty and trust potions at work in her daughter. Sure, the potions could instill instant die-hard loyalty, or a passable imitation, but the intelligent brewer started with a small dose and gradually increased it to mimic natural emotions. When used like that, the victim never had a chance to realize what they felt wasn't genuine. What Dora was going through right then was the difficult task of rejecting long-established mental patterns.
"Dora, come with us to Hogwarts. You'll need help to deal with what's been done to you, and it will be a much easier process if you have someone you can trust. Besides, I bet you never found the Chamber of Secrets when you were in school. Just… watch your fingers around the little dragons."
There was some astonishment on the young woman's face and hair color at that, even more when her mother explained that the Basilisk was still being processed, but getting smaller every day.
Thankfully headache potions arrived shortly. Slowly, the day gained a celebratory atmosphere as those still in the Chamber came through portals cast by Aurogos, laden with the bounty of the Hogwarts kitchens. (Aurogos decided to have more 'special' events, as the Castle's elves clearly enjoyed putting together a 'Little draggy lives!' party.) Various dragons explained it was their tradition for communities to celebrate when whelps grew into drakes. The guest of honor was tired, but growing stronger as the day wore on.
Bavaku was certainly a striking creature now, the donated blood and vast amounts of magic poured into him having caused a physical change. Where before his skin, which was just a covering of extremely fine scales was a purple color, now he was crimson. Bavaku held the shape of a proper Nether drake, shark-like, with a more pointed snout, a single horn on the back of his head, and a vertical fin in place of the other's tail clubs. Except for his horn and the webbing of his wings where his coloring was royal purple, he was entirely crimson. Bavaku's eyes glowed like others of his kind, but his were shining with a bright emerald light.
Oddly, Bavaku was a half again larger than most of the other drakes now, (While the drakes were mostly the same size and shape there were some differences, mostly in build.) not heavily muscled, but taller and longer with a more slight build. He was a drake built for agility and speed, and with so much magic poured into him at a critical time, he was likely destined to be a powerful wielder of magic as well. But that was a concern for another day.
Harry woke up around noon, groaning in the after-effects of both channeling so much power through himself and the ache of thoroughly depleting his own power. It was fairly comical for the assembled group watching Alira sling him over her back like a sack of potatoes and carry him to the transfigured picnic table. Harry enjoyed lunch even with an impromptu lecture from Aurogos. After telling Harry he respected his judgment in this case, the Blue drake expounded at length exactly how suicidal directly tapping a ley-line would be on Azeroth. Not only because so much more energy flowed through them, but to quote the Blue drake: "Those ley-lines don't like to be touched, they tend to snap in a way to kill those who try."
Valistraza excused herself after a time and returned to the school, Aurogos poking in and out as he opened portals. Dora, Sirius and the Grangers got to meet all of the original drakes, save Ralion still sleeping inside a large ice cube. Aurogos mentioned he had his Dragonsworn looking over the equations to not just siphon off excess magic from Ralion, but to prevent the problem from happening again. Aurogos was working on that task as well, but was interested to see what three very different minds came up with mostly on their own.
Eventually Jason Atreides came through to ensure the Fidelius charm was still in place. He and Hermione were soon engrossed in a conversation about the possibilities of the 'Twilight Buffer' spell and what could be done with the excess magic. Harry chimed in to ask them not to do anything permanent until he had some input, but he was simply too tired right then to think straight.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
After eating his fill Harry nodded off again, exhaustion taking its toll. Around him others continued to enjoy a pleasant day, made even better by the liberal use of warming charms. Hermione and her parents caught up, as did the Tonks family. In the warm sun Bavaku was getting used to his new shape with help from Senastrasz, while Sirius spoke with Dali and Alira about Harry's health. (He was much improved, but still had a parasite in him. They were working on that, but had to be careful. Sirius was not as surprised as he expected to be about the mental connection to the Dark Lord.)
As dusk fell a bonfire was lit, the last part of the traditional celebration. The humans, including a drowsy Harry watched from a distance as the drakes stood together in front of the flames and spoke. Hermione actually filled them in on what was being said, though she had yet to explain the mental link (or leash) to her parents. "In their culture a drake is considered of age to begin charting their own path. They're offering general encouragement and suggestions for what kind of career he could take. When the fire burns out we'll head back to the castle."
As the fire collapsed to embers a discussion about enchanting muggle items began, eventually the possibility of enchanting a tank came up; Senastrasz chimed in and asked how much gold was needed to buy one. (Their ability to melt galleon coins into bullion was a bit of a game-changer.) As Dora Tonks was overheard commenting on how incredibly illegal enchanting even a car was, much less a weapon of war, Harry turned to her with fire in his eyes. Though weary down to his aching bones, Harry stood a little straighter and sneered at her.
"Tonks, shut up and think before you decide who to follow! There's four sides you can take right now. Voldemort is gaining power right now, gathering followers. Albus Dumbledore is insane or a Dark Lord himself, I neither know nor care. The Ministry tried to kill me over the summer, then tried to snap my wand for defending myself. Fudge sent his toady to torture students that say anything he doesn't agree with, and no one seemed to care. The Ministry is so corrupt and infected with Pureblood ideology that there's no justice. Look at Sirius! Thrown into Azkaban with Dementors when three drops of Veritaserum would have cleared him instantly.
"I never expected to have to make my own faction Tonks. But when the government is so corrupt, so useless, when it becomes an enemy of the people it governs… There's only once choice. I will not start a war with the Ministry of Magic! But they will never leave me alone, they will never let those I've sworn to protect live their lives in peace. Any chance of the Ministry being a respectable institution died when Voldemort fell and they decided getting back to business was more important than rooting out the Dark Lord's supporters and corruption.
"Never think for a moment Tonks that there isn't going to be a war. But don't be so stupid to assume it will be the noble Ministry against the evil terrorists. Malfoy and his ilk have so much influence Voldemort could walk in tomorrow and most of those there would just follow orders and keep their heads down!
"If I have to, I'll tear down every brick of the Ministry and leave none that serve it alive to protect those I care about. And I refuse to follow the Ministry's ridiculous laws while I do it. Sirius, Dan, Emma. If you can find ways of making better weapons and armor, do it. Our friends from Azeroth have ideas on how to create magical constructs which might help even the scales. In fact, the only thing I want kept off the table is truly dark magic. And I don't mean what the Ministry considers 'dark.'"
Harry's speech was heard by all of his drakes, Sirius, the Granger family, all three Tonks, as well as Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley. With two heavy expenditures of magic within twenty-four hours, Harry didn't remember how he reached a bed and promptly passed out. While he slept, Valistraza shared what Harry had accomplished that day with her charges, who were eagerly swarming Bavaku.
Nymphadora joined her family in stepping through the portal when they returned to Hogwarts. Both of Hermione's parents elected to stay at the Potter Estate, now knowing their daughter was the target of a madman, his political movement, and possibly the majority party of the magical government. With this knowledge, and having heard some of Sirius's tales of modifying a motorcycle with magic, they were eager to create equalizing equipment to balance the scales of war. (Not to mention simply experimenting with enchanting 'muggle' objects in general.)
Among the dragons there had been a lively debate as to what they should call their new group. There was a general disappointment that 'The Chromatic Dragonflight' was already taken, as it was a rather cool name. Had Harry been awake, he would have tried to argue against their final choice, but while the dragons made their decision, he was still recovering, sound asleep. When he woke the next morning, Harry found himself besieged by requests from the remaining whelps to join his group, now formally named the 'Potter Dragonflight.' When he turned to Hermione in dismay, who along with Alira had literally kept his nightmares away by sleeping next to him, his best friend laughed at him.
A/N: Bavaku won't be as big a character as some of the drakes ended up being, just another face in the background. To be honest, he wasn't in any of my notes and just sort of popped up when I was working out how many of the whelps were what kind of dragons. I haven't decided what his 'mortal form' will be, in Warcraft cannon most dragons end up using the shapes of elves or humans.
If you choose to leave a review, I'd welcome suggestions for Bavaku. It doesn't have to be limited to Azeroth/Outland/Draenor either, any upright species with thumbs will do. I'm thinking about making him a Naga/male Lamina thanks to the influence from Harry's parseltongue magic.
(By the way, my Harry Potter isn't a parselmouth simply thanks to the horcrux. In this fic, and probably any others I write, at most the scar at most awakened a recessive gene. I'm assuming that at some point most of magical Britain's family lines have crossed with Salazar Slytherin's or other Parselmouths and the recessive traits are there, just waiting for the chance to become active. Hmm. I wonder if a ritual that activates a magical gift from dormant DNA would be interesting enough to add into the HP fandom? IE: Andromeda Tonks could become a Metamorphmagus, or Draco Malfoy could gain Parseltongue.)
Potter Dragonflight:
Alira: Green Drake. Before she was drafted, she was training to be a professional mother. Alira already feels safer on Earth than she did on her home world ever since the latest war began. As she has come to know them, she'd become fond of Harry and Hermione. Sometimes she cosplays as a Night Elf. Avidly ships Harry/Hermione/OC.
Aurogos: Blue Drake. Now also Headmaster Aurogon Salonar of Hogwarts almost by accident and proud patron of three new Dragonsworn, Aurogos is a busy drake. He's been working on something special for Monday. His mortal form is a human with striking blue eyes and hair of different shades.
Bavaku: Nether drake. He's honestly surprised to be alive, as his honest diagnosis this morning was "We're doing everything we can, but you're probably going to die." Physically and magically he's going to be rather powerful, but he has a lot to learn. His 'How to Drake' studies will include: How to work his new body, including not tripping, bashing others with much larger appendages, etc. He also needs to learn: the 'mortal form' transformation, magic in general, and the abilities specific to Nether Dragons, which include fading out of reality and absorbing magic. Right now, the poor guy is stuck at mildly freaking out every time he sees a whelp and realizes he was that small twelve hours ago. (The whelps are the size of his talons now.) He's also hearing a voice in his head singing "I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alllllliiiiivvvvveeeee!" but isn't quite worried about it yet.
Caliona: Twilight Drake. She's really looking forward to learning proper magic, not just what her friends can figure out on their own. Her mortal form is a human with sharp, aristocratic features, black pigmented eyes, and streaks of blue in her hair. Right now she's increasingly nervous about her role in chapter 17. She's the best candidate for the job, and will do her duty to Harry, but will probably need a cup of chamomile tea (with something a bit stronger mixed in) and a soothing soak in hot water to relax afterwards.
Dalistraza: Red Drake. Currently attending Hogwarts as Dali Lothar. Every adventuring group needs a healer, and she's happy to fill the role. While generally a kind person, her healing training didn't include 'bedside manner.' If she tells you to rest, you will rest. After time spent with Andromeda Tonks, she longer requires your cooperation in your own recovery. If she wants you to have bed rest, you're not escaping unless you're a professional curse-breaker thanks to tips from Andromeda and some simple charms that are easily layered. Her second form is a human with striking red hair and motherly features. She's starting to understand just how much effort it is going to take to keep Harry Potter in one piece.
Ralion: Twilight Drake. At Hogwarts, his alias is Ral Elsington. He would normally be a great leader, but he's been off his game recently, adapting to getting the evil gods out of his mind. He's glad they're gone, but it still takes some getting used to. His human form has black hair, a short beard, and purple eyes. Today he's still an ice cube, but he's going to move from 'popsicle' to 'recovering nicely' before the next chapter.
Senastrasz: Red Drake. Goes by Senas Lothar sometimes. Come Monday, you can call him Professor Senastrasz, master of the Hogwarts forge. He's fairly skilled around a forge, learning what he could ever since he saw his flight's Dragonspawn breathing flame onto weapons before continuing to beat the steel into the proper shape. His second form is a High Elf with red eyes.
Stine: Bronze Drake. When he joined Harry Potter, he officially retired from life as a Time Cop on Azeroth, but it was a mostly thankless job anyway. (Long hours and job hazards aplenty.) Many Bronze Dragons know their fates ahead of time, Stine saw his and didn't like it at all. When given the chance, he chose a different path whose end he couldn't see. His alternate form is a feline centaur called a Tol'vir. His Leatherworking hobby has kept him busy recently, there's a lot of magical snake to process. He isn't overly concerned about what's coming next chapter, but he should be.
Talion: Black Drake. Most certainly a follower, he was thankful for Tendrion bringing him into the group. He was actually the oldest of his group before coming to Earth, but had an especially crappy childhood. Right now he's trying to figure out the theory for raising an island with his volcano powers. "It's just sinking an island in reverse, right?" has not instilled confidence that he has any idea what he's doing. His human form bears a heavily muscled warrior's build, with black hair and burnt orange eyes. He isn't super plot relevant yet, but he's been working hard in the background. Should he ever get sorted, expect him to be a Hufflepuff for sure.
Valistraza: Red Dragon Broodmother. Boy, has she had a rough few months. In brief, during the Nexus War, when the Blue Dragonflight was commanded by Malygos to wage war against, well, everyone else, she met a nice Blue dragon named Tarengos who thought the war was stupid and surrendered himself to a Red Dragonflight settlement far from the front lines. Honestly, Tarengos would have tried to convince others to turn against Malygos, but he was right on the very edge of being strong enough to ignore orders from his Aspect and was rather worried if he got any closer, he'd join the war regardless of lack of desire to. Anyway, Valistraza and Tarengos got to know each other, fell for each other, and procreated in spite of the Titan's Law that says they can't do that.
Vali decided she didn't want to live on this planet anymore to protect her kids and mate, so they started planning to leave. Tarengos didn't make it back from trying to get the last bit of information and supplies they needed to leave Azeroth. In something of a panic, she decided to try for Outland instead, hoping she could find a Draenei settlement (they seem like good people from what she knows) and barter her healing skills for food and secrecy/protection. It wasn't a great idea, Outland is not a very safe place for a single mother, but it was the best idea she had.
Instead, she was captured by a group of Twilight drakes (and Talion) and was offered a place in their escape from Azeroth if she agreed to serve as their Broodmother. Tendrion made an impact on her, so she agreed as long as the group didn't kill 'good guys' on the way. When they found a rogue mage experimenting on whelps, she was happy to help burn him alive, the disgust and rage of the drakes at the human hurting young dragons enough to convince her that her eggs would be safe among them. Accepting a place in the sphere to let the drakes move more swiftly was the least she could do, but now she finds herself missing Tendrion as well.
As far as she can tell, Harry Potter is rather young, a fairly powerful user of magic, and has a good heart. Is he what she hoped for when she joined the rebellion to flee Azeroth? No, but he'll do. Unless Harry really, really screws up he'll be her Lord sooner than later.
Vali's mortal form is a tall Night elf with pale, pink skin, dark purple hair and facial tattoos that look like scaled wings framing her face. While a pleasant form to look at, any Night Elf that got a good look at her would wonder what kind of dragon she was, not if she was an elf or not.
Vespiona: Twilight Drake. Sister to Ralion, she was very close to Tendrion before they parted ways. She's in mourning for a loved one she will never see again. Her mortal form is a Draenei with blue skin and purple eyes. Right now, she's just keeping busy, and to be fair there is a lot to do. She is very much considering asking Valistraza to take her as an apprentice to learn all the many ins and outs of raising young ones. (Valistraza is considering drafting her for the same. Seventy-seven is a lot of kids to keep track of.)