Chapter 4 - Inferno on the Mountain
Conditions were very cramped in the cab of the bread delivery van.
'I didn't expect to be picking up two passengers,' explained Hagrid.
Block's and Hagrid's elbows were almost touching and Harry was totally enveloped between the two of them. He was being squashed firmly down into the seat and the springs in the cushion were becoming very much a pain in the rear. Things got worse when Hagrid pulled out a map and between them, they tried to unfold it and find the part showing the area that they were now flying over.
The three of them peered at sections of the map and compared the scenery below. It turned out that of the three of them Harry had the best knowledge of the lay of the land and as they passed over the jumble of motorways near Birmingham referred to as spaghetti junction Harry was able to pinpoint their location.
Once they had worked out where they were conversation turned to more general topics including the origins of the flying bread van.
'Dumbledore told me to take something incon.er, inconspish. something plain so I went to a scrap yard and found this old van. A little modification by me and it was soon up and running,' explained Hagrid.
'You're not kidding,' mumbled Harry, 'about 500 feet up and running to be exact - still, thanks for rescuing us.'
Harry shuddered at the memory of the chase by police dogs - that had been an experience he'd rather not repeat.
'At least they only had one head each,' chuckled Hagrid.
Being captured at gunpoint by his Uncle Vernon had also been decidedly unpleasant. Now that Harry had had a little time to reflect on recent events, he realized that he was in a considerable amount of trouble. Uncle Vernon was unlikely to be pleased to see that his cage had been returned - especially considering that it had demolished a large part of the roof of No.4 Privet Drive.
Harry's uncle was also sure to notice very soon that Harry was missing and that would lead him to conclude that the events of the evening were very much linked to Harry. Harry hoped that Hedwig would be OK. His cage wasn't shut and the window was open so he would probably have scarpered at the same time that Harry had left.
Things were going to be a little tense to say the least when Harry eventually returned to No.4 Privet Drive.
The police getting involved was also a serious development. There was likely to be publicity and the Ministry of Magic would then find out what had been going on. Considering that they had expressly forbidden Dumbledore to get involved, the fact that Harry and Hagrid quite clearly were involved could land Dumbledore (not to mention Harry and Hagrid) in a seriously large troll sized pile of trouble. All the same, Harry knew deep down that they were doing the right thing.
Block was sitting quietly having calmed down considerably since take-off. He was peering out of the van with a look of wonderment on his face.
They had tried as much as possible to fly within the clouds to provide cover during the getaway part of their escape but now they were well on their way they could fly below the cloud layer and survey the landscape stretching out below. The dawn sky was brightening now at their rear. Hills, towns, roads and rivers could all be seen in the early morning twilight.
'Where are we going,' said Harry to Hagrid.
'Well, first off were heading to Block's home up in the mountains to try and find out what's been going on there,' said Hagrid.
At this news Block beamed a smile across at Hagrid.
'Block's going home now?' said Block.
'Yup, that's the plan although we may have to think again once we get there,' said Hagrid, 'we can't just leave you there on your own if, like you said, all the rest of your folk have gone. I'm hoping we'll get some sort of a clue as to where they've gone but that's about as far as I've got with my plan so far.'
Harry was just glad to be on his way anywhere with Hagrid.
'It shouldn't take long,' said Hagrid, 'we've got bit of a tailwind and this old van doesn't half shift - they don't make'em like this anymore.'
'You're not kidding,' muttered Harry.
In the distance the hills were rearing up higher and higher and turning from green to grey.
'That's the Welsh mountains,' said Hagrid who consulted the mileometer on his dashboard, 'and we've got about 50 miles to go so we should be there in about half an hour.'
The rest of the journey was pleasantly uneventful and Block was looking keenly for a sight of his mountain. Soon they started to climb to clear the first few mountain peaks and Block suddenly exclaimed, 'home! Over there,' pointing towards two of the higher peaks between which there was a very secluded and out of the way valley that had been home for him and his clan.
Hagrid changed course slightly to head straight towards the valley. Once they were there they circled the area once getting their first view of the deserted village.
Hagrid changed down through the gears as they came in to land. Conveniently there was a suitable area that had been cleared by the trolls for a crackit pitch and with a jolt and an alarming skid as Hagrid applied the brakes the van came to a halt in a cloud of dust.
Harry had to wait a few more moments while Block and Hagrid pushed and heaved their respective masses out through the van doors and then he was able to get out and beat some life back into his squashed body. All three of them had been cramped for the journey and initially they spent a few moments stretching and pacing about.
The cloud of dust cleared and they surveyed the scene. The village had been badly damaged during the attack. There were scorch marks around cave entrances and on the ground. There were quite a few trees in and around the village but many of these had been reduced to blackened stumps. The whole place was strewn with wreckage and, worst of all, in several places there were the charred remains, mainly just ash and a few bones, of those trolls who had tried to resist and had been incinerated by the attacking dragons.
Block was clearly dumbstruck and he stood gazing about him with a look of despair on his face. Neither Harry nor Hagrid could think of anything reassuring to say.
To break the silence Hagrid finally said, 'I've got some food in the back for you Block - I expect you're peckish.'
But Block's attention was elsewhere. He was already jogging to one side of the clearing towards a group of caves. He immediately disappeared into one of the openings into the side of the hill. Harry and Hagrid followed at a walk and Harry explained the main points he had learned from Block and from Dumbledore about the kidnapping of the trolls and of Harbaxen the dark magician.
At the mention of Harbaxen Hagrid groaned. 'I remember Harbaxen from Hogwarts. He was a Slytherin of course and a very bad sort - even for them. He was always up to no good but not in the same way as the Weasley twins. Their fun is always near enough harmless and designed to cheer folk up. Harbaxen always looked on other folk as a means of testing some of his nastier new spells. One of his tricks was setting fire to school owls by sending one off with a message that burst into flames and I'm pretty sure he killed Nipper, my pet were-hamster,'
Hagrid paused for a moment reflected on his long lost pet - he sighed to himself and continued... 'he also adapted his broomstick so that it could fire lightening bolts out of it. That was a quiditch game that nobody will forget in a hurry.'
'What position did he play?' asked Harry.
'He was keeper,' said Hagrid, 'and he didn't like to loose, that was for certain. He was stopped from playing quiditch after his antics with his modified broomstick.'
Harry was horrified. Quiditch was dangerous enough already without having lightening shooting broomsticks.
By the time Hagrid and Harry reached the cave that Block had entered, Block was coming back out. His shoulders were drooping and he dragged his club behind him disconsolately.
'Nobody home,' he said before he slumped to sit down and started absentmindedly hitting himself on his forehead with his club. Tock....tock....tock....
Harry and Hagrid exchanged worried glances and tried to console Block as best they could.
'Come on Block, we're going to help you find them, I promise we will!' said Harry.
Tock....tock....
'Tha's right,' said Hagrid.
But at the end of the day both Hagrid and Harry knew that if the trolls had been magically transported away it would be very difficult to find them. Block however was encouraged and with an enormous sniff he stopped clubbing himself. He looked up at Harry and Hagrid and managed a weak smile and a nod.
'When can we leave?' Block asked.
'Er, well, pretty soon,' said Hagrid looking decidedly uncomfortable.
'Block, you'd better gather up some of your things for the journey,' said Harry.
Block picked himself up and headed back into his cave.
'Have we got a plan?' Harry asked Hagrid.
'well, um,,,, no! Not really. Dumbledore was in a great hurry when he gave me my instructions and he didn't really say much about what to do when we got here and I've got to admit I hadn't really given it much thought.'
Harry considered the situation. All they knew was that a wizard riding a red and black dragon, probably a Russian Inferno, had led the attack on the clan. Neither Harry nor Hagrid had any idea where they might find Russian Infernos other than that they presumably came from Russia and that didn't really help. Russia is an extremely large country.
After a few minutes Block reappeared, carrying a large leather backpack strapped across his chest by ropes tied in a large bow. He had an expectant look on his face as if he had every confidence that Hagrid and Harry were ready to set off straight away and take him to his parents.
'I'll talk to him,' said Harry with a sigh.
So, Harry explained to Block that at the moment they didn't know where Block's clan was and furthermore they were struggling to think of an obvious way of finding out. Block sat and listened.
'Harry will stay with Block?,' said Block.
Harry really couldn't see that he had any choice. They couldn't leave Block to fend for himself so he looked up at Block and answered, 'Yes Block. Try not to worry. We'll find your mother and father - it's just that right now we've got some things to find out like, er...... where they are.'
'We must find them,' said Block. 'Mother will be worried about Block and Block is worried about all of his clan.'
Hagrid had been listening and he said, 'I tell you what we'll do for now. We'll camp here tonight and figure out a plan ready fer the morning. In the meantime we'll have a good search around here to see if we can find any clues. I've brought some food and blankets and so on with me and I'll set up a camp in one of the caves if you think that'll be OK,' said Hagrid. Block nodded and pointed to his family cave. 'Right-O,' said Hagrid, 'would you two lads give me a hand with the gear?'
The three of them took what they needed from the back of the van. Hagrid had packed it with a whole range of items including food, bedding, ropes, tools and more.
'I didn't know what to bring so I brought quite a lot of everything I could think of.'
Harry observed that he wasn't kidding.
They set up a fire near the entrance to the cave and Hagrid set to work preparing a lunch of bread, bacon and tea. Harry meanwhile made a couple of beds in the cave for him and Hagrid. Block would sleep in his normal spot at the back of the cave.
After lunch they split up and start searching rather aimlessly around the village. Harry noted that the troll community was well organized with caves that had foods stored in them with cooking areas and he came across a very smelly area on the outskirts of the village. Harry realized that troll pooh was very pungent indeed.
On some flat rocks there were drawings and paintings crudely drawn but depicting scenes of everyday life among the trolls. Harry recognised pictures of hunting parties first bringing down what looked like black and white Friesian cattle with their sling shots and then bringing them back to the camp. There were also pictures of crackit games and when Harry wandered back to where the bread van was parked, he took some time to have a good look around the pitch. There were benched areas on the surrounding slopes and it was easy to imagine the arena full of noise as the somewhat brutal games of crackit were played.
One day, Harry hoped, he would visit the clan to see one of their games. That was if this whole situation could be sorted out. However, he was presently out of ideas completely.
When the three of them regrouped they discussed what they had found and it turned out that none of them had found any clues about what had happened to the rest of the trolls. In fact only Hagrid had found anything of any note at all and that was a half dozen rabbits that he had captured for the evening meal.
It simply looked as if at one moment everything in the camp had been normal, the next moment dragons and the cloaked figure attacked the camp, and then they all disappeared.
Block had noticed that while he had been away something had been foraging in the camp and taking food from various caves but that wasn't very surprising. There were plenty of hungry animals around that would soon realize that the village offered a free meal.
There were still scorch marks on the earth where the dragons had rained fire. At these places the very earth had been turned to glass by the heat and this appeared to confirm Dumbledore's guess that the dragons were Russian Infernos. Other than that, they found nothing new.
The sun was getting low over the peaks to the west and they decided it was time to camp down for the night.
By the time the sun had set they had a large campfire blazing and Hagrid had erected a small cauldron in which a rabbit stew was cooking. There was little chat around the fire because between them they really didn't have much of a plan.
'We should contact Dumbledore,' said Harry.
But Hagrid was not keen, 'we'd be taking a risk. He's busy arranging the summer conference for the Ministry at Hogwarts. If the Ministry is keeping an eye on him then there could be a lot of trouble if we get caught. He could loose his job as headmaster at Hogwarts. No, we must try to sort this one out by ourselves.'
The stew was ready and Hagrid produce three bowls. To Harry the bowls were enormous and even though Hagrid only half filled his he still had a meal that even Dudley would struggle to finish. Some large roughly chopped carrots and a whole skinned rabbit floated in the gravy. However, what the meal lacked in presentation it made up for in flavour and Harry started to eat. Block and Hagrid meanwhile were both gorging themselves on two very full bowls and for some time there was only the sound of munching, slurping and the occasional belch from Block.
When Harry had eaten as much as he could he started to thank Hagrid for a lovely meal when suddenly without any warning out of the night only a few yards away a great plume of fiercely hot flame erupted from the sky. The flame came from an enormous red and black dragon. The jet missed Hagrid although his beard was singed and Harry was so startled that he hadn't even attempted to move. The flame was about to engulf him when he was suddenly picked up and carried to one side by Block. The flames engulfed the rock that Harry had been sitting on and Block who was still carrying Harry, ran for the cave.
'Wait fer me!' called Hagrid who followed them into the cave as the dragon soared over the camp and turned for another attack.
Hagrid, Harry and Block rushed to the back of the cave and immediately realized that in their haste they had made a serious mistake. They were trapped. At the entrance of the cave they could see their campfire now burning very well after the help of the flame from the dragon. Then slowly between the fire and the cave entrance the dragon landed with a couple of huge beats of its wings. Its outline black against the flames it slowly folded his wings and lowered his head to look into the cave entrance. It hissed and snapped its jaws open and shut. Perhaps it wasn't quite sure where its prey was.
Harry took out his wand although he had no idea what he could do against a beast such as this one. Hagrid also had his small pink umbrella which he had taken to carrying with him since he had been expelled from Hogwarts when his wand had been snapped in two.
'Perhaps if we all shouted at the same time we can scare him off,' said Hagrid in a hushed voice.
'Yeah, maybe,' said Harry doubtfully and he felt he really should say said something a bit more convincingly in favour of not shouting.
Then Hagrid whispered 'why don't you lads take cover at the back of the cave and I'll see if I can shoo him off.'
'Hagrid, I don't think saying boo! will achieve very much other than to get you roasted to a crisp,' whispered Harry.
'Perhaps you're right,' replied Hagrid who proceeded to scratch his head in search of an alternative plan.
The Dragon suddenly snapped his head in their direction. They were in the dark and the dragon was blocking out most of the light from the fire so he would be having difficulty seeing them. But, the cave wasn't very big and one blast of fire from the dragon would be enough to turn the place into a kiln from which there would be no escape.
They could see the dragon drawing breath ready to send a fiery blast straight at them. Harry looked desperately around him but in the dark he couldn't see anything of any use.
They were about to be incinerated.
'Quickly, get down!' Block urged them both and a swishing noise could be heard from the back of the cave getting faster and faster. Block had taken off his backpack that was in fact a crackit hurling sling. He had also found a suitably hefty rock and was winding up for a shot at the dragon. As this was the best plan that they'd heard so far, Harry and Hagrid ducked.
Block grunted as he put his full strength into the final swing before letting go of one of the two ropes that were attached to the big leather pouch. The pouch sprang open. Over their heads a large rock flew at incredible speed. The dragon was just about to blast flame at them when it was hit squarely in the chest by the rock. The force made it recoil tumble over backwards onto the campfire. There was a huge eruption of flame.
'Block! You got him!' exclaimed Harry.
Block jumped in the air crunched his head into the roof of the cave and then began doing imaginary high fives.
'I don't think we've hurt him too badly,' said Hagrid who seemed overly concerned about the welfare of the monster that was trying to turn them into charcoal.
'We'd best get going while we've got the chance - come on, let's run fer it. Head for the van!' said Hagrid.
The dragon writhed and kicked in the campfire trying to get back to its feet screaming in anger more than pain. The three of them fled from the cave and started running down the slope towards the van. On the way, Block stooped to pick up another crackit rock. The back doors of the van were still open and rather than waste time trying to squeeze into the front seats Harry and Block jumped into the back. Hagrid rammed himself into the driver's seat and started up the engine.
The dragon rolled out of the fire and righted itself. It crouched and spread its wings ready to launch.
'Its taking off Hagrid!' shouted Harry.
'Hold tight!' called Hagrid.
But from the cab they could only hear the noise of the gears grinding as Hagrid tried desperately to get the van moving.
'It's coming this way!' cried Harry trying not to think about frying pans and fire. Block was loading another rock into his slingshot but there was no room in the back of the van for him to swing the large leather pouch.
Hagrid was not making any progress with the gear stick and the dragon was now in the air and accelerating down towards them. The dragon's yellow eyes were totally focused on them. They were in clear view out in the open and there was no doubt in the dragon's mind where its next blast of fire would hit.
Block jumped out from the van and immediately started to swing the sling shot round over his head. At first the swing was very slow and the dragon was gaining speed faster than Block's slingshot.
'Block, no! Get back in,' Harry shouted as it was obvious that Block was not going to be able to get the necessary speed up for a shot in the short time before the now enraged dragon struck.
Harry couldn't leave Block on his own and so he also jumped out of the van to face the terror that was approaching. There was no way out of this now even if Hagrid did get the van moving.
Harry pointed his wand at the dragon and shouted lumos. The long jet of sparks flew from his wand towards the dragon. Momentarily startled the dragon veered away from them and turned to circle around quickly for another attack. Block's slingshot was gaining speed twirling faster with each revolution and when the dragon was no more than a few seconds away from them Block released the rock. This time though the dragon was ready and simply swerved to one side just enough for the rock to shoot past him. The dragon was back on course in an instant.
'Harry, run!' shouted Hagrid desperately from the van.
Flames started to erupt from the dragon and Harry covered his face and waited for the end.
There was a terrible scream and Harry felt a searing heat.
Harry looked up. He was still alive and while he had been singed, he was not on fire as he had expected. The dragon had been forced off course at the last moment which was evident from the trail of fire on the earth which had initially been heading straight towards Harry and Block but then curved away at the last moment.
To Harry's amazement he saw a second dragon circling. This one was much smaller and was green with red markings. It had attacked the Inferno at the last moment and, whilst it was tiny compared to the huge dragon, it had left a large gash in the neck of the black and red monster.
The Inferno, taken totally by surprise had been knocked out of the sky and had crumpled to the ground having crash-landed some way in front of the van. It was dazed momentarily but already it was getting back onto its feet. It turned its great head to inspect the wound on its neck and then howled a high pitched scream of fury. At first the Inferno crouched and looked about itself to find where the new surprise attack had come from. When it saw the little green dragon it howled in rage. It then turned its attention back to the van and made ready to take off again.
'Sarphin!' shouted Block excitedly. He had already found another rock and had immediately started to twirl his slingshot that was spinning in a blur.
Block moved forwards and released the shot.
This time Block's shot hit the Inferno on the neck exactly where the smaller dragon had wounded it. This drew another scream of fury. Instead of taking off the beast started to walk and then to charge towards Block. Its head was towering above Block who turned and started to run.
There was nothing Harry could do but stand and watch. The green dragon was circling but now the Inferno was wary of him and it was unlikely that it would be caught again in the same way. Without the element of surprise, the smaller green dragon wasn't going to put the Inferno off its chase.
Block ran as hard as he could but there was no chance of him escaping. The Inferno was catching him fast and he was out in the open in the middle of the crackit pitch. The dragon was close behind him and surely about to engulf him in flames.
Suddenly the van surged forwards. Hagrid had finally got it into gear and it took off straight towards the dragon's head. Hagrid punched the van into second gear and put his foot down. The dragon was intent on chasing down Block and so saw the van too late. It turned to look at its new assailant just in time for the front of the van to hit it full in the face. For an instant, the dragon's face was stuck to the front grill of the van. A yellow eye against the cracked windscreen widened in shock just inches from Hagrid's face. Then the eye closed and the dragon's legs crumpled beneath it falling like a like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut.
The inferno was dead.
Harry blinked in disbelief. Hagrid meanwhile was trying to keep the flying van under control. After the impact the van had spun round completely several times in mid air. There was a crater in its front from the impact with the dragon; the windscreen had now shattered completely and the front bumper was hanging down. The engine was spluttering and a plume of black smoke was trailing from the back of the van. Hagrid grimaced behind the steering wheel while steam and oil and smoke rained up from the engine into his face. He somehow managed to regain some sort of control and circled through 180 degrees before landing again with a hard bone jarring thump. The van bounced violently, a wheel flew off and it slewed to one side before finally rolling over onto its side. It skidded a short distance and came to a halt in a cloud of dust and smoke. Then there was silence.
Harry and Block ran over to the van. Two of the remaining three wheels were still spinning and the engine had died. Block lifted the van upright with another crunch and Harry ran around to the driver's side to find Hagrid looking very dusty and covered in oil but otherwise pleased with himself; his white teeth beaming a brilliant smile.
'Well Harry, as me mum used to say, there's more than one way to slay a dragon,' said Hagrid.
Harry grinned, 'well, I think that you've probably just invented a new one.'
The van shuddered one last time and then collapsed into itself as the three remaining wheels splayed outwards.
Meanwhile a short distance away Block was stroking the neck of the welsh green dragon that had come to his rescue.
'That'll be Sarphin,' said Harry more to himself than anyone else.
Sarphin was beautiful unlike the monstrous creature that lay in a heap nearby and Block and the dragon were clearly very pleased to see one another again.
Conditions were very cramped in the cab of the bread delivery van.
'I didn't expect to be picking up two passengers,' explained Hagrid.
Block's and Hagrid's elbows were almost touching and Harry was totally enveloped between the two of them. He was being squashed firmly down into the seat and the springs in the cushion were becoming very much a pain in the rear. Things got worse when Hagrid pulled out a map and between them, they tried to unfold it and find the part showing the area that they were now flying over.
The three of them peered at sections of the map and compared the scenery below. It turned out that of the three of them Harry had the best knowledge of the lay of the land and as they passed over the jumble of motorways near Birmingham referred to as spaghetti junction Harry was able to pinpoint their location.
Once they had worked out where they were conversation turned to more general topics including the origins of the flying bread van.
'Dumbledore told me to take something incon.er, inconspish. something plain so I went to a scrap yard and found this old van. A little modification by me and it was soon up and running,' explained Hagrid.
'You're not kidding,' mumbled Harry, 'about 500 feet up and running to be exact - still, thanks for rescuing us.'
Harry shuddered at the memory of the chase by police dogs - that had been an experience he'd rather not repeat.
'At least they only had one head each,' chuckled Hagrid.
Being captured at gunpoint by his Uncle Vernon had also been decidedly unpleasant. Now that Harry had had a little time to reflect on recent events, he realized that he was in a considerable amount of trouble. Uncle Vernon was unlikely to be pleased to see that his cage had been returned - especially considering that it had demolished a large part of the roof of No.4 Privet Drive.
Harry's uncle was also sure to notice very soon that Harry was missing and that would lead him to conclude that the events of the evening were very much linked to Harry. Harry hoped that Hedwig would be OK. His cage wasn't shut and the window was open so he would probably have scarpered at the same time that Harry had left.
Things were going to be a little tense to say the least when Harry eventually returned to No.4 Privet Drive.
The police getting involved was also a serious development. There was likely to be publicity and the Ministry of Magic would then find out what had been going on. Considering that they had expressly forbidden Dumbledore to get involved, the fact that Harry and Hagrid quite clearly were involved could land Dumbledore (not to mention Harry and Hagrid) in a seriously large troll sized pile of trouble. All the same, Harry knew deep down that they were doing the right thing.
Block was sitting quietly having calmed down considerably since take-off. He was peering out of the van with a look of wonderment on his face.
They had tried as much as possible to fly within the clouds to provide cover during the getaway part of their escape but now they were well on their way they could fly below the cloud layer and survey the landscape stretching out below. The dawn sky was brightening now at their rear. Hills, towns, roads and rivers could all be seen in the early morning twilight.
'Where are we going,' said Harry to Hagrid.
'Well, first off were heading to Block's home up in the mountains to try and find out what's been going on there,' said Hagrid.
At this news Block beamed a smile across at Hagrid.
'Block's going home now?' said Block.
'Yup, that's the plan although we may have to think again once we get there,' said Hagrid, 'we can't just leave you there on your own if, like you said, all the rest of your folk have gone. I'm hoping we'll get some sort of a clue as to where they've gone but that's about as far as I've got with my plan so far.'
Harry was just glad to be on his way anywhere with Hagrid.
'It shouldn't take long,' said Hagrid, 'we've got bit of a tailwind and this old van doesn't half shift - they don't make'em like this anymore.'
'You're not kidding,' muttered Harry.
In the distance the hills were rearing up higher and higher and turning from green to grey.
'That's the Welsh mountains,' said Hagrid who consulted the mileometer on his dashboard, 'and we've got about 50 miles to go so we should be there in about half an hour.'
The rest of the journey was pleasantly uneventful and Block was looking keenly for a sight of his mountain. Soon they started to climb to clear the first few mountain peaks and Block suddenly exclaimed, 'home! Over there,' pointing towards two of the higher peaks between which there was a very secluded and out of the way valley that had been home for him and his clan.
Hagrid changed course slightly to head straight towards the valley. Once they were there they circled the area once getting their first view of the deserted village.
Hagrid changed down through the gears as they came in to land. Conveniently there was a suitable area that had been cleared by the trolls for a crackit pitch and with a jolt and an alarming skid as Hagrid applied the brakes the van came to a halt in a cloud of dust.
Harry had to wait a few more moments while Block and Hagrid pushed and heaved their respective masses out through the van doors and then he was able to get out and beat some life back into his squashed body. All three of them had been cramped for the journey and initially they spent a few moments stretching and pacing about.
The cloud of dust cleared and they surveyed the scene. The village had been badly damaged during the attack. There were scorch marks around cave entrances and on the ground. There were quite a few trees in and around the village but many of these had been reduced to blackened stumps. The whole place was strewn with wreckage and, worst of all, in several places there were the charred remains, mainly just ash and a few bones, of those trolls who had tried to resist and had been incinerated by the attacking dragons.
Block was clearly dumbstruck and he stood gazing about him with a look of despair on his face. Neither Harry nor Hagrid could think of anything reassuring to say.
To break the silence Hagrid finally said, 'I've got some food in the back for you Block - I expect you're peckish.'
But Block's attention was elsewhere. He was already jogging to one side of the clearing towards a group of caves. He immediately disappeared into one of the openings into the side of the hill. Harry and Hagrid followed at a walk and Harry explained the main points he had learned from Block and from Dumbledore about the kidnapping of the trolls and of Harbaxen the dark magician.
At the mention of Harbaxen Hagrid groaned. 'I remember Harbaxen from Hogwarts. He was a Slytherin of course and a very bad sort - even for them. He was always up to no good but not in the same way as the Weasley twins. Their fun is always near enough harmless and designed to cheer folk up. Harbaxen always looked on other folk as a means of testing some of his nastier new spells. One of his tricks was setting fire to school owls by sending one off with a message that burst into flames and I'm pretty sure he killed Nipper, my pet were-hamster,'
Hagrid paused for a moment reflected on his long lost pet - he sighed to himself and continued... 'he also adapted his broomstick so that it could fire lightening bolts out of it. That was a quiditch game that nobody will forget in a hurry.'
'What position did he play?' asked Harry.
'He was keeper,' said Hagrid, 'and he didn't like to loose, that was for certain. He was stopped from playing quiditch after his antics with his modified broomstick.'
Harry was horrified. Quiditch was dangerous enough already without having lightening shooting broomsticks.
By the time Hagrid and Harry reached the cave that Block had entered, Block was coming back out. His shoulders were drooping and he dragged his club behind him disconsolately.
'Nobody home,' he said before he slumped to sit down and started absentmindedly hitting himself on his forehead with his club. Tock....tock....tock....
Harry and Hagrid exchanged worried glances and tried to console Block as best they could.
'Come on Block, we're going to help you find them, I promise we will!' said Harry.
Tock....tock....
'Tha's right,' said Hagrid.
But at the end of the day both Hagrid and Harry knew that if the trolls had been magically transported away it would be very difficult to find them. Block however was encouraged and with an enormous sniff he stopped clubbing himself. He looked up at Harry and Hagrid and managed a weak smile and a nod.
'When can we leave?' Block asked.
'Er, well, pretty soon,' said Hagrid looking decidedly uncomfortable.
'Block, you'd better gather up some of your things for the journey,' said Harry.
Block picked himself up and headed back into his cave.
'Have we got a plan?' Harry asked Hagrid.
'well, um,,,, no! Not really. Dumbledore was in a great hurry when he gave me my instructions and he didn't really say much about what to do when we got here and I've got to admit I hadn't really given it much thought.'
Harry considered the situation. All they knew was that a wizard riding a red and black dragon, probably a Russian Inferno, had led the attack on the clan. Neither Harry nor Hagrid had any idea where they might find Russian Infernos other than that they presumably came from Russia and that didn't really help. Russia is an extremely large country.
After a few minutes Block reappeared, carrying a large leather backpack strapped across his chest by ropes tied in a large bow. He had an expectant look on his face as if he had every confidence that Hagrid and Harry were ready to set off straight away and take him to his parents.
'I'll talk to him,' said Harry with a sigh.
So, Harry explained to Block that at the moment they didn't know where Block's clan was and furthermore they were struggling to think of an obvious way of finding out. Block sat and listened.
'Harry will stay with Block?,' said Block.
Harry really couldn't see that he had any choice. They couldn't leave Block to fend for himself so he looked up at Block and answered, 'Yes Block. Try not to worry. We'll find your mother and father - it's just that right now we've got some things to find out like, er...... where they are.'
'We must find them,' said Block. 'Mother will be worried about Block and Block is worried about all of his clan.'
Hagrid had been listening and he said, 'I tell you what we'll do for now. We'll camp here tonight and figure out a plan ready fer the morning. In the meantime we'll have a good search around here to see if we can find any clues. I've brought some food and blankets and so on with me and I'll set up a camp in one of the caves if you think that'll be OK,' said Hagrid. Block nodded and pointed to his family cave. 'Right-O,' said Hagrid, 'would you two lads give me a hand with the gear?'
The three of them took what they needed from the back of the van. Hagrid had packed it with a whole range of items including food, bedding, ropes, tools and more.
'I didn't know what to bring so I brought quite a lot of everything I could think of.'
Harry observed that he wasn't kidding.
They set up a fire near the entrance to the cave and Hagrid set to work preparing a lunch of bread, bacon and tea. Harry meanwhile made a couple of beds in the cave for him and Hagrid. Block would sleep in his normal spot at the back of the cave.
After lunch they split up and start searching rather aimlessly around the village. Harry noted that the troll community was well organized with caves that had foods stored in them with cooking areas and he came across a very smelly area on the outskirts of the village. Harry realized that troll pooh was very pungent indeed.
On some flat rocks there were drawings and paintings crudely drawn but depicting scenes of everyday life among the trolls. Harry recognised pictures of hunting parties first bringing down what looked like black and white Friesian cattle with their sling shots and then bringing them back to the camp. There were also pictures of crackit games and when Harry wandered back to where the bread van was parked, he took some time to have a good look around the pitch. There were benched areas on the surrounding slopes and it was easy to imagine the arena full of noise as the somewhat brutal games of crackit were played.
One day, Harry hoped, he would visit the clan to see one of their games. That was if this whole situation could be sorted out. However, he was presently out of ideas completely.
When the three of them regrouped they discussed what they had found and it turned out that none of them had found any clues about what had happened to the rest of the trolls. In fact only Hagrid had found anything of any note at all and that was a half dozen rabbits that he had captured for the evening meal.
It simply looked as if at one moment everything in the camp had been normal, the next moment dragons and the cloaked figure attacked the camp, and then they all disappeared.
Block had noticed that while he had been away something had been foraging in the camp and taking food from various caves but that wasn't very surprising. There were plenty of hungry animals around that would soon realize that the village offered a free meal.
There were still scorch marks on the earth where the dragons had rained fire. At these places the very earth had been turned to glass by the heat and this appeared to confirm Dumbledore's guess that the dragons were Russian Infernos. Other than that, they found nothing new.
The sun was getting low over the peaks to the west and they decided it was time to camp down for the night.
By the time the sun had set they had a large campfire blazing and Hagrid had erected a small cauldron in which a rabbit stew was cooking. There was little chat around the fire because between them they really didn't have much of a plan.
'We should contact Dumbledore,' said Harry.
But Hagrid was not keen, 'we'd be taking a risk. He's busy arranging the summer conference for the Ministry at Hogwarts. If the Ministry is keeping an eye on him then there could be a lot of trouble if we get caught. He could loose his job as headmaster at Hogwarts. No, we must try to sort this one out by ourselves.'
The stew was ready and Hagrid produce three bowls. To Harry the bowls were enormous and even though Hagrid only half filled his he still had a meal that even Dudley would struggle to finish. Some large roughly chopped carrots and a whole skinned rabbit floated in the gravy. However, what the meal lacked in presentation it made up for in flavour and Harry started to eat. Block and Hagrid meanwhile were both gorging themselves on two very full bowls and for some time there was only the sound of munching, slurping and the occasional belch from Block.
When Harry had eaten as much as he could he started to thank Hagrid for a lovely meal when suddenly without any warning out of the night only a few yards away a great plume of fiercely hot flame erupted from the sky. The flame came from an enormous red and black dragon. The jet missed Hagrid although his beard was singed and Harry was so startled that he hadn't even attempted to move. The flame was about to engulf him when he was suddenly picked up and carried to one side by Block. The flames engulfed the rock that Harry had been sitting on and Block who was still carrying Harry, ran for the cave.
'Wait fer me!' called Hagrid who followed them into the cave as the dragon soared over the camp and turned for another attack.
Hagrid, Harry and Block rushed to the back of the cave and immediately realized that in their haste they had made a serious mistake. They were trapped. At the entrance of the cave they could see their campfire now burning very well after the help of the flame from the dragon. Then slowly between the fire and the cave entrance the dragon landed with a couple of huge beats of its wings. Its outline black against the flames it slowly folded his wings and lowered his head to look into the cave entrance. It hissed and snapped its jaws open and shut. Perhaps it wasn't quite sure where its prey was.
Harry took out his wand although he had no idea what he could do against a beast such as this one. Hagrid also had his small pink umbrella which he had taken to carrying with him since he had been expelled from Hogwarts when his wand had been snapped in two.
'Perhaps if we all shouted at the same time we can scare him off,' said Hagrid in a hushed voice.
'Yeah, maybe,' said Harry doubtfully and he felt he really should say said something a bit more convincingly in favour of not shouting.
Then Hagrid whispered 'why don't you lads take cover at the back of the cave and I'll see if I can shoo him off.'
'Hagrid, I don't think saying boo! will achieve very much other than to get you roasted to a crisp,' whispered Harry.
'Perhaps you're right,' replied Hagrid who proceeded to scratch his head in search of an alternative plan.
The Dragon suddenly snapped his head in their direction. They were in the dark and the dragon was blocking out most of the light from the fire so he would be having difficulty seeing them. But, the cave wasn't very big and one blast of fire from the dragon would be enough to turn the place into a kiln from which there would be no escape.
They could see the dragon drawing breath ready to send a fiery blast straight at them. Harry looked desperately around him but in the dark he couldn't see anything of any use.
They were about to be incinerated.
'Quickly, get down!' Block urged them both and a swishing noise could be heard from the back of the cave getting faster and faster. Block had taken off his backpack that was in fact a crackit hurling sling. He had also found a suitably hefty rock and was winding up for a shot at the dragon. As this was the best plan that they'd heard so far, Harry and Hagrid ducked.
Block grunted as he put his full strength into the final swing before letting go of one of the two ropes that were attached to the big leather pouch. The pouch sprang open. Over their heads a large rock flew at incredible speed. The dragon was just about to blast flame at them when it was hit squarely in the chest by the rock. The force made it recoil tumble over backwards onto the campfire. There was a huge eruption of flame.
'Block! You got him!' exclaimed Harry.
Block jumped in the air crunched his head into the roof of the cave and then began doing imaginary high fives.
'I don't think we've hurt him too badly,' said Hagrid who seemed overly concerned about the welfare of the monster that was trying to turn them into charcoal.
'We'd best get going while we've got the chance - come on, let's run fer it. Head for the van!' said Hagrid.
The dragon writhed and kicked in the campfire trying to get back to its feet screaming in anger more than pain. The three of them fled from the cave and started running down the slope towards the van. On the way, Block stooped to pick up another crackit rock. The back doors of the van were still open and rather than waste time trying to squeeze into the front seats Harry and Block jumped into the back. Hagrid rammed himself into the driver's seat and started up the engine.
The dragon rolled out of the fire and righted itself. It crouched and spread its wings ready to launch.
'Its taking off Hagrid!' shouted Harry.
'Hold tight!' called Hagrid.
But from the cab they could only hear the noise of the gears grinding as Hagrid tried desperately to get the van moving.
'It's coming this way!' cried Harry trying not to think about frying pans and fire. Block was loading another rock into his slingshot but there was no room in the back of the van for him to swing the large leather pouch.
Hagrid was not making any progress with the gear stick and the dragon was now in the air and accelerating down towards them. The dragon's yellow eyes were totally focused on them. They were in clear view out in the open and there was no doubt in the dragon's mind where its next blast of fire would hit.
Block jumped out from the van and immediately started to swing the sling shot round over his head. At first the swing was very slow and the dragon was gaining speed faster than Block's slingshot.
'Block, no! Get back in,' Harry shouted as it was obvious that Block was not going to be able to get the necessary speed up for a shot in the short time before the now enraged dragon struck.
Harry couldn't leave Block on his own and so he also jumped out of the van to face the terror that was approaching. There was no way out of this now even if Hagrid did get the van moving.
Harry pointed his wand at the dragon and shouted lumos. The long jet of sparks flew from his wand towards the dragon. Momentarily startled the dragon veered away from them and turned to circle around quickly for another attack. Block's slingshot was gaining speed twirling faster with each revolution and when the dragon was no more than a few seconds away from them Block released the rock. This time though the dragon was ready and simply swerved to one side just enough for the rock to shoot past him. The dragon was back on course in an instant.
'Harry, run!' shouted Hagrid desperately from the van.
Flames started to erupt from the dragon and Harry covered his face and waited for the end.
There was a terrible scream and Harry felt a searing heat.
Harry looked up. He was still alive and while he had been singed, he was not on fire as he had expected. The dragon had been forced off course at the last moment which was evident from the trail of fire on the earth which had initially been heading straight towards Harry and Block but then curved away at the last moment.
To Harry's amazement he saw a second dragon circling. This one was much smaller and was green with red markings. It had attacked the Inferno at the last moment and, whilst it was tiny compared to the huge dragon, it had left a large gash in the neck of the black and red monster.
The Inferno, taken totally by surprise had been knocked out of the sky and had crumpled to the ground having crash-landed some way in front of the van. It was dazed momentarily but already it was getting back onto its feet. It turned its great head to inspect the wound on its neck and then howled a high pitched scream of fury. At first the Inferno crouched and looked about itself to find where the new surprise attack had come from. When it saw the little green dragon it howled in rage. It then turned its attention back to the van and made ready to take off again.
'Sarphin!' shouted Block excitedly. He had already found another rock and had immediately started to twirl his slingshot that was spinning in a blur.
Block moved forwards and released the shot.
This time Block's shot hit the Inferno on the neck exactly where the smaller dragon had wounded it. This drew another scream of fury. Instead of taking off the beast started to walk and then to charge towards Block. Its head was towering above Block who turned and started to run.
There was nothing Harry could do but stand and watch. The green dragon was circling but now the Inferno was wary of him and it was unlikely that it would be caught again in the same way. Without the element of surprise, the smaller green dragon wasn't going to put the Inferno off its chase.
Block ran as hard as he could but there was no chance of him escaping. The Inferno was catching him fast and he was out in the open in the middle of the crackit pitch. The dragon was close behind him and surely about to engulf him in flames.
Suddenly the van surged forwards. Hagrid had finally got it into gear and it took off straight towards the dragon's head. Hagrid punched the van into second gear and put his foot down. The dragon was intent on chasing down Block and so saw the van too late. It turned to look at its new assailant just in time for the front of the van to hit it full in the face. For an instant, the dragon's face was stuck to the front grill of the van. A yellow eye against the cracked windscreen widened in shock just inches from Hagrid's face. Then the eye closed and the dragon's legs crumpled beneath it falling like a like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut.
The inferno was dead.
Harry blinked in disbelief. Hagrid meanwhile was trying to keep the flying van under control. After the impact the van had spun round completely several times in mid air. There was a crater in its front from the impact with the dragon; the windscreen had now shattered completely and the front bumper was hanging down. The engine was spluttering and a plume of black smoke was trailing from the back of the van. Hagrid grimaced behind the steering wheel while steam and oil and smoke rained up from the engine into his face. He somehow managed to regain some sort of control and circled through 180 degrees before landing again with a hard bone jarring thump. The van bounced violently, a wheel flew off and it slewed to one side before finally rolling over onto its side. It skidded a short distance and came to a halt in a cloud of dust and smoke. Then there was silence.
Harry and Block ran over to the van. Two of the remaining three wheels were still spinning and the engine had died. Block lifted the van upright with another crunch and Harry ran around to the driver's side to find Hagrid looking very dusty and covered in oil but otherwise pleased with himself; his white teeth beaming a brilliant smile.
'Well Harry, as me mum used to say, there's more than one way to slay a dragon,' said Hagrid.
Harry grinned, 'well, I think that you've probably just invented a new one.'
The van shuddered one last time and then collapsed into itself as the three remaining wheels splayed outwards.
Meanwhile a short distance away Block was stroking the neck of the welsh green dragon that had come to his rescue.
'That'll be Sarphin,' said Harry more to himself than anyone else.
Sarphin was beautiful unlike the monstrous creature that lay in a heap nearby and Block and the dragon were clearly very pleased to see one another again.