Part 2: Ze Bet
Kalle fixed the compound in her mind and the next moment the dark Transylvanian forest was replaced with the landscaped lawn of the compound. Charlie was still next to her, but the other wizards were already strolling to the dormitories. Charlie indicated the main building with his hand, and they walked up the path towards it. There was a loud rumbling from the dark gray clouds above them, and suddenly large drops of rain splattered down on them. They broke into a run and Charlie jerked open the door as they slipped inside, soaked.
"I sure hope Timberdrake is in his office." The wizard wiped water from his forehead with his hand. "And has some towels. I am drenched!"
Kalle laughed as she shook her arms and water droplets flew everywhere. "Zat is Romanian veather. It snovs in ze vinter and rains in ze summer, but I love it."
"It is kind of like England in that way." Charlie led the way down the hall of offices, nearly slipping as his wet shoes found no traction on the polished floor. Kalle grabbed his arm but slipped as well, and they caught themselves just in time to prevent a nasty spill. "Cursed floors" the Weasley mumbled under his breath.
The door to the Warden's office was closed, but light could be seen through the space beneath it. Charlie knocked on the wood door with his knuckles, and they could hear an exasperated sigh from inside.
"What?" a deep, agitated voice demanded after a brief moment of silence.
"Eh, it is Charlie Weasley and Kalle Oskar," the dragon handler explained.
"Oh, do come in!" the voice was suddenly more friendly, and Charlie opened the door.
The office was the largest on the compound, though that did not say much, and was definitely not the neatest. There was one desk, one chair for visitors, and the walls were covered with books, scrolls, parchments, and strange artifacts that depicted dragons. Meldon Timberdrake himself was an imposing figure and his six feet five inch frame was evident even when he remained seated (as he did now). His once brown hair was now completely dark gray, and the right side of his face was criss-crossed with scars, but his blue eyes were as sharp as ever. Despite his age, Timberdrake was even more muscular and robust than in his youth, fitting his surname well. It was obvious just from his appearance why he was considered the greatest dragon keeper in history, and some of the stories of him wrestling dragons might also be true. One could never tell with those types of things.
"What is it you two young wizards came to talk to me about?" Timberdrake's voice boomed pleasantly, a hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. A resounding rumble from the thunder outside could be heard through the walls and seemed to be in perfect timing with the Warden's speech.
"Well, you see, Timberdrake, I received a letter from my youngest brother and there appears to be a baby dragon at Hogwarts that is almost too big to hide," Charlie began to explain. Kalle could see that he was scratching the back of his hand, something he only did when he was slightly nervous.
To Charlie's relief, the Warden seemed very interested. "A baby dragon, eh? What type is it?"
"A Norwegian Ridgeback."
Timberdrake leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It has been almost ten years since the last Ridgeback was relocated to this preserve, and the Ridgebacks are one of the slowest dragons to reproduce. Introducing a new, young drake—It is a drake, right?—to the Ridgeback population here would increase the chance of little Ridgebacks within the next decade or so."
Charlie nodded, a relieved smile on his freckled face. "Great. I will write Ron back to set up a day for the Ridgeback to be picked up."
"And how do you suppose to do that, my boy?" Timberdrake's blue eyes were sparkling with interest. Charlie paused, eyes scanning the office as he tried to think of a way.
"Charlie," Kalle suddenly spoke up as she remembered something that might help. "Didn't you tell me zat you have some friends coming to visit soon? From England?"
"Yes…" the red-headed dragon keeper said slowly, suddenly seeing where she was going. "And they could pick up the Ridgeback and bring it here with them."
"Ze brooms are strong enough to haul a baby Ridgeback zat distance, and all zey vood need is a harness of some type." Kalle finished for him.
Charlie grabbed her in a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Kalle Oskar, you are a genius! That is exactly what we can do. They will be leaving England this Saturday night. I can send them a letter to stop by Hogwarts first, get the Ridgeback, and fly here."
Timberdrake seemed very amused, and his large fingers were interlaced as he peered at the two dragon handlers. "One little thing, Weasley. Do any of your friends know how to handle dragons? Baby or no, Ridgebacks are not easy animals to handle, especially for a long period of flying without a sleeping drought."
"No problem. Two of them have experience with dragon handling, and the other two work with other magical beasts. I think one does griffins and their varieties…like hippogriffs, and the other sea creatures."
"Very well then. I give my permission for this little endeavor. Remember that if your friends are caught carrying an illegal dragon, the Ministry of Magic will be difficult to work with. Not to mention the European Wizarding Council, the International Confederation of Wizards, and the Ministries of the countries that they might pass through on their way here." The Warden's voice was dead serious, and Charlie nodded gravely.
"They will be careful. Thank you, sir."
"No, thank you, my boy. Another Ridgeback is a wonderful thing. We will take care of the rest of the details after it arrives. Have a good night, both of you."
Charlie and Kalle said good night to the Warden before leaving his office. As they walked down the hall, Kalle chuckled.
"And you zought he vood be hard to deal vith. You knoo he loves you, Charlie," Kalle said with a smile. "Everyvon loves you. You are great vith ze dragons, and vith ze handlers. You make everyvon feel velcome and, I zink, zat you vill be ze next Varden here at ze preserve."
"You think so, eh?" Charlie grinned. He draped one arm over her slender shoulders. "Timberdrake still has ten or so good decades ahead of him as Warden, I would say. That old bugger never seems to age at all. I heard some of the older handlers say that no dragon would even try to eat him, because he is too tough to chew. Bad luck for me and your vision."
Kalle laughed and gave the red-head a playful punch in the stomach. "You joke about zat, but I knoo you are as fond of Timberdrake as ze rest of us are."
"Right-o. Honestly, Kail, I would hate to see him go, and I hope it will not be for a long time."
Charlie opened the door to the building, and they looked out. The sky was pitch black and rain was falling from the sky as hard as hail. He gave a grimace and sigh.
"Looks like we must make a run for it. Cursed weather." He gave Kalle a wink.
"Ve can alvays Apparate," Kalle suggested, though she already knew his answer.
"But what fun is avoiding the rain?" Charlie demanded playfully. "As I always say: when in Romania, ran through the rain!"
"Do you alvays say zat?" Kalle asked dubiously.
"Oh, c'mon!" He grabbed her arm and together they dashed from the dry safety of the main building. They splashed their way down the muddy stream that earlier that day had been the path down to the dormitories, kicking up the water nearly to their waists. The rain pelted them from above, and the dark sky brightened as a streak of white lightening shot across the black clouds. Charlie's free arm was shielding his eyes from the raindrops as he guided them to the building. Kalle was laughing as she ran beside him.
When they had reached the dormitories, Charlie slammed into the door and it swung wildly open. They were soaked to the bone, but neither seemed to care.
"Nowv, zat vas Romanian fun!" Kalle exclaimed as she gasped for breath amidst fits of laughter.
"I'll say. Hey, Kail?"
Kalle was wringing the excess water from her chin length hair with her fingers. "Yes?"
"Have you ever thought of visiting England?"
"Vell, no. Romania is my home and I never really zought about leaving. I mean, even ven I vent to school, ze school vas in Romania."
"How can you be so sure that the Carpathia Institute for Wizardry is in Romania and not the Ukraine?" Charlie countered.
Kalle gave him a funny look. "I never really zought about zat. Perhaps it vas in ze Ukraine. Aren't you going to vite ur brozer?"
"Write my brother?" Kalle's accent had thickened during her few moments of confusion, making her last words a bit difficult to understand, but Charlie had been in Romania for almost seven years was used to her different accent. "Yeah. Where did you say that owl was?"
"Eizer your room or mine."
"Right."
They found the snowy owl perched on the back of a chair in Charlie's room, large yellow eyes staring unblinking as they entered. As Charlie went to the desk to write the letter, Kalle petted the owl. It ruffled its feathers in a friendly yet dignified manner, peering at the red-head. Charlie quickly signed his name, folded the letter, and reached for another parchment. A few minutes later, he was finished.
"Tell me what you think," Charlie told Kalle as he handed the two letters to her. Kalle scanned them over, nodding. "Zey sound good to me."
Charlie tied the letters to the owl's leg. "Take the small letter back to Ron, and take the larger one to Rhett Stoker, 17 Bruton Street, Carlisle, England." The owl gave a deep hoot to show it understood the instructions before launching off the chair, and soaring out of the window (which Charlie opened with his wand).
The red-haired handler turned to Kalle, grinning. "The night is still young. Would you like to play a game of chess?"
"I vood love to. By ze vay, I heard today zat ze Wales vill be coming here to Romania next monz." Kalle's eyes sparkled as she shared the news. Charles placed the chess board on the board between them.
"Wales will so beat Transylvania," the English wizard boasted with a grin. It was a tradition for them to put down the other's favored Quidditch teams, especially since it was close to the World Cup playoffs.
His companion leaned forward, eyes narrowed and a mischievous grin on her face. "Vant to play on it, English boy?"
"You know I'm going to win, Romanian gypsy." The chess pieces wandered out of their boxes and found their places on the board. Charlie's were the white set and Kalle's were the black.
"Ve vill see. Ve vill see."
THE END