Setting: During Book 1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Disclaimer: All characters from Harry Potters series are the property of JK Rowling and used without permission. This includes: Ron and Charlie Weasley.
Reason for this Fanfic: I am the type of person that always wonders what happens 'behind the scenes'...you know, the part that is left to your imagination? So here is my very first Charlie Weasley fanfiction that deals with what I imagined happened 'behind the scenes' in Book 1.
Date Written: 9 April 2003
Relocating a Ridgeback
Part 1: Ze Owvl
It was late afternoon on the Transylvanian Basin, and there were dark, heavy clouds on the eastern horizon over the distant Carpathian Mountains. Even though it was spring in Romania, the temperature of the air was dropping quickly. Though Kalle Oskar was not dressed for cold in her hide pants and sleeveless shirt, the chill or the new wind did not bother her. Her and her crew of six experienced dragon handlers had just finished herding a Romanian Longhorn back into the preserve and away from the muggle town of Sibiu where it had wandered. Luckily, none of them had been seriously injured, but Kalle was sporting a new bruise on the inside of her right arm where the Longhorn's tail had slipped passed her defensives and Gregor had to go visit the Mediwizard for burnt hands.
Kalle left the main building of the preserve, which housed the offices and hospital and walked across the compound to the dormitories. Even though she could spell herself clean, Kalle had taken a liking to long, hot muggle showers and she knew that would relax her tense muscles. Working with dragons was not an easy task; it was like working with a giant five-year-old who could breath fire. Not that Kalle would change her occupation; she enjoyed her job and did not think that was anything else like it in the world. After all, the Romania preserve was one of the last places that European dragons could live without being slaughtered.
If you can keep the dragons in the preserve.
The young woman chuckled and looked up at the horizon one more time. There was definitely a storm brewing in the east, and from the look of the ominous clouds, it would be a bad one. Just as she was about to enter the dormitory, Kalle's attention was drawn by a gorgeous snowy owl who suddenly perched on a chair near the door. Large yellow eyes studied Kalle for a moment and then the owl gave a deep, throated hoo?
"My, you are a pretty owvl," Kalle complimented. She had never seen that owl before, but she guessed it belonged to one of the preserve members' family. There was a letter tied to the owl's leg. "May I?" The snowy owl willingly brought its leg forward and Kalle quickly untie it. The only thing written on the small, somewhat crumpled envelope was Charlie.
Kalle grinned. "So you are vooking for Charlie Veasley?" The owl gave a dignified affirmative hoot and blinked. "Zen you better stay here for avhile. He is still out in ze preserve, but if you vood like, I can fly out and get him?" The owl gave one bob of its head and replied with another hoo. Kalle nodded as well. "I vill be vight back, zen. Oh, if it starts vaining, you are free to go inside. My voom is the second on the left and Charlie's is the next vone."
The owl blinked slowly as Kalle disappeared inside the dormitory to fetch her broomstick from her room. It was an reliable Nimbus One Thousand, old now that the Two Thousand series came out last fall. Once outside, she jumped on her broomstick and pushed off the ground. The compound was left as she soared high into the air, scanning what she could see of the Transylvanian Basin for any sign of Charlie's team. From what she had heard that morning before they had left, Charlie's team was going to make sure a mating flight between two Ukrainian Ironbellies did not turn ugly.
And the Ironbellies were kept in the northeastern section of the preserve. She swung her Nimbus in that direction and her broomstick sped quickly over the treetops. After a few minutes, Kalle caught the first sign of an Ironbelly, the loud trumpet-like roar that seemed to be echoing in an iron canyon. It was best not to attract a mating dragon's attention, especially one a broomstick where it was hard to out fly the dragon. Kalle immediately dove into the cover of the trees, ducking the thick branches, and landed on the leaf-covered floor. She crouched on the ground to look for footprints, as flares were never a good idea on a dragon preserve, and she found a faint indentation. It was an adult male, by the size, so she surmised that Charlie's team had passed that way recently. She slipped through the woods in the same direction, pausing now and then to be sure the Ironbellies were not too close.
Five minutes later, she caught sight of her target. Charlie Weasley's red hair could be seen through the trees, and Kalle smiled. She whistled lightly, so not to startle the team into spelling her, and then approached. Charlie's brow was furled slightly as he shifted his attention from the forest (and the loud snorting of the Ironbellies only about a kilometer away) to her. Even with the darken sky and thick canopy above them, it was easy to see the concentration on the British wizard's face.
"Is something wrong at the compound, Kalle? Or the Hatchery?" he asked in a low voice. He waved his hand to his seven team members for them to keep alert as he walked over to Kalle. Kalle shook her head, chin length black hair bouncing.
"Nozing at ze compound or ze Hatchery, Charlie. But a strange owvl arrived at ze dormitory vith a letter to you. I vas insure if it vas urgent but ze owvl seemed to zink it vas." Kalle told him. She had been speaking English since she was thirteen, but her voice still had a Romanian accent to it. Charlie did not seem to notice it. He nodded and took the offered envelope. Quickly he opened it and scanned the short letter, an amused grin suddenly appearing on his freckled face…a face so covered with freckles that it gave the illusion of a tan. His chuckled aroused Kalle's curiosity.
"Vas it important?"
"It is from my youngest brother, Ron, who is a first year at Hogwarts. It seems that an old friend of mine has acquired a Norwegian Ridgeback egg and it hatched. Ron asked if I could take the Ridgeback off their hands before someone discovers there is an illegal dragon at the school."
"Hmm…but howv can you get a Ridgeback from England to Romania vizout drawving attention?" Kalle demanded. Charlie pocketed the letter and shrugged.
"I think we should go see the Warden about this," Charlie suggested. "If I cannot think of a way, I am sure he will. The old bugger loves these animals even more than I do."
Kalle raised an eyebrow. "Ve?"
The red-head flashed one of his charming smiles. "Warden Timberdrake likes dark-haired Romanian women more than he likes red-headed English men."
Kalle caught the teasing tone of his voice and chuckled. "Good point, I zink. Oh, by ze vay. Ze owvl is vaiting for your reply to ze letter." Charlie merely nodded at one of his team members, a short man with scars covering his face from an old dragon incident, approached.
"Charlie, the Ironbellies have returned to their lair."
"Alright, then our babysitting is over. The female should lay a clutch by fall, and the eggs should be hardened by next spring. Let us return to the compound before that nasty storm breaks," Charlie ordered calmly. The wizard nodded and went to tell the others on the team as Charlie turned back to Kalle. "I'll write Ron back tonight after we get the go-ahead from Timberdrake. You going back by broom?"
One of the two most predictable things about Charlie Weasley was his sense of humor, which he often shared by teasing his team members and other dragon keepers. The other was his obsession with the wizarding sport Quidditch. Kalle was tempted to stick her tongue out at the British wizard, but refrained as the other seven dragon keepers joined them.
"No. I vill Apparate vith you and your team," she replied calmly. She moved her Nimbus to her other hand and nodded.
"Everyone ready?" Charlie asked. He received affirmatives from the seven wizards on his team. "When we reach the compound, you can go wash up and get some dinner."
"A large mug o' mulled mead sounds good to me," an Irish wizard commented with a broad grin.
"Right-o."