Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything in the franchise is the property of J.K. Rowling, Dungeons & Dragons is a property of TSR. Rating is PG-13 for mild violence and swearing, may turn to R in later chapters.
Harry Potter & the Coming of the Dragon
Chapter Ch9-
Ron and Draco had been fighting again and their two friends stood over them looking for all the world as if they would strangle the pair. For the past month Draco had, at Harry's invitation, joined them for mealtimes, studies and even just to sit and talk. Harry now valued Malfoy's friendship as much as his other two friends and was actively working to get them to see it that way as well. It had not been a smashing success as of yet.
Hermione had come to accept the presence of the Slytherin but was far from enthusiastic with his company. Ron and Draco, on the other hand, had taken to each other as oil and water. The last four weeks had been a series of verbal and physical attacks between the two that gave no signs of letting up. The only time they didn't fight was when they would sit down to play chess.
Having spent the last ten minutes chastising the two, Hermione coming to the end of her tirade, "... And you Ronald Weasley, you are a Gryffindor prefect! How can you start a fight in your own common room in front of the people you are supposed to be setting an example for!" She had been going on for what had seemed forever to Harry, not giving the other boys a chance to even speak in their defence. Finally in a huff the enraged young woman stormed into the girl's dorms and slammed her door.
Having watched Ron and Draco through the entire dressing-down, a spark of suspicion had begun to flare in Harry. Whenever Hermione had turned away from the two during her tirade he had noticed them biting their lips in what he could swear was suppressed mirth. It also struck Harry that their fights always seemed to coincide with and interrupt the girls scheduled study times.
Taking Hermione's place over them and crossing his arms before him, he addressed them both. "This has got to stop."
A look of innocent indignation on his face, Draco replied, "But Harry, it wasn't my fault, The Weasel..."
"Oh shut it!" Broke in Harry, "I saw you both, you were barely hitting each other, you've been faking it... Why?"
Ron Grinned, "We really aren't faking it Harry, I mean the Ferret really is a pain, we just..."
Draco continued with a sly grin, "The Weasel and I decided that if we were going to fight we should at least get something useful out of it and avoid her study group."
Harry stared at them, the two sat there grinning like idiots, he shook his head and said, "You know what will happen when she finds out you've been skiving off on her don't you?" He watched with a self-satisfied grin as Malfoy's grin slowly disappeared and Ron turned absolutely green at the horror of the thought. Slouching himself down in a comfortable chair before the fire he left his two friends to contemplate their doom while he re-opened the book he had been reading before all of this had begun.
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The month since the start of school had flown by. All of the classes were far more challenging than the years before and they had all been hard pressed to keep up. The beginning of the quidich season fast approaching and tryouts for the team with Ron as the captain had helped to make their days even more crowded. Harry was truly happy for his red-haired friend. The boy's greater knowledge of the sport and its tactics made him a natural choice and he would have it no other way. Professor Dumbledore surprised everyone the first week of school by changing the class schedules and extending Defence so that it was now a double period.
They all entered that class the next day full of excitement. The legacy of Delores Umbridge had put more than half the school behind in defence and Professor Silverheart had gone to great lengths to repair the situation. He had decided their Classes should cover two separate areas of deficiency and had divided their days to accommodate each separately.
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they would learn Magical defence techniques. The elf's knowledge of the subject seemed boundless. Whether he was teaching to defend against spells or creatures, dark or otherwise, he could lead an entire period without even bothering to look to any notes. Had Harry not known that Hermione had completely fallen for Ron, he would have suspected that this new teacher would be hard pressed to keep her away.
They also met on Tuesdays, Thursdays and optionally on Saturdays for martial defence classes. On those days the professor had begun to give them the basic training for unarmed combat and some introductory lessons using a staff. Harry liked these new classes almost as much as his magical ones. He had always felt that they all relied on their wands far too much and felt it important to know how to defend himself. They had all done well and were advancing quickly, with a guilty grin he thought how nice it would be to see Dudley again for summer break.
Today was to be a special day. The professor told them he was taking the entire class out of the room today and into the clearing that he had taken Harry a month before. In the centre of the room stood Jayxom along with Professor Snape. Both were dressed in worn leather armour and green cloaks, The potions master had also tied back his long black hair in a ponytail and carried a staff similar to the students though obviously older and worn. Harry noticed that Silverheart had some kind of wooden and metal rod that looked somewhat like a sword hilt attached in some way to his right thigh.
When the last of the students had arrived and the doors had closed the professor asked them all to leave their wands at their desks, as they would not be allowed to use them when they crossed over. One of the Ravenclaws raised his hand and asked, "Why professor? Shouldn't we be allowed to protect ourselves out there if something happens?"
The Elf Lord shook his head. "The magic of my world is more powerful and works very differently from your own. Where I come from we do not use wands as you do. We cast spells with word, gesture and with some materials. The power of the magic is so great that the incantation that brings the spell forth is wiped from the mind of he who casts it." Still seeing they were unconvinced he added, "Wizards that have taken wands across and tried to use them have lost their wands, hands and sometimes their lives attempting to cast spells there." Jayxom smiled faintly as he heard the clatter of wood on the desks.
Dividing the class into five groups and putting one of his own students in charge of each group he explained. "My students have all been here before, stay with them and follow their directions. As you can see, Professor Snape is accompanying us today and will stay to collect some unique components and may require some of you to assist. Alright then, follow me."
They entered the field and it was just as Harry had remembered it. Crossing the barrier of the room he found his senses assaulted by the same vibrancy that he had experienced the last time. Everyone gasped and let their surroundings soak into them. The boy, even though more ready for the assault, still felt nearly overwhelmed by it all and took a few moments to share it with his friends.
Waiting for an appropriate length of time the Elf Lord brought his students out of their trance with a whistle. "This is my world. It is completely separate from your own but in many ways quite similar. Humans cover most of the lands, doing what they will. Most are Muggles but obviously there are wizards."
"Here they are called mages, sorcerers, necromancers and uncounted other titles. They do not hide themselves from muggles, but live either among them or above them in some places. For the most part they are treated with much respect and not a little fear by the common folk. Here there is no muggle technology. Most live as your people would have in the middle ages." Turning to survey the lands around him he continued. "Many goodly races cover the lands of Aowyn, the humans, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and elves and others to a lesser extent."
"My own race, the elves, inhabits the forests. The true word for us in our own language simply means 'the people'. The elves have been charged with the duty as protectors of the land and have been so since before even we can remember. The clearing in which we stand is deep in the Dragon-Spine forest. I have brought you here to give you a taste of my world and some of its dangers." Harry noticed that Alec, their group leader had taken out a small golden amulet with a silver spider upon it. "I have asked an old friend of mine to come meet with us today."
As the professor continued to speak, Alec pointed the amulet at them and webs shot out of it covering them all with sticky strands and holding them all in place. With a look of apology in his eyes the boy turned back towards their teacher before casting the webs on himself as well. Around the field all of the other groups found themselves in a similar predicament. Harry and his friends struggled against the webs for a minute as the Elf explained their imprisonment.
"I am sorry for the webs but my friend has a particular effect on people, and while I can, and will, protect you from it after she has arrived, I want you to feel it for a few moments and understand some of the differences between your world and mine." They all heard a horn blow far off in the distance. Jayxom turned his eyes to the skies and spoke. "Prepare yourselves, she comes."
Harry had stopped struggling; he could see Snape drinking a potion from one of his pouches at the other mans direction. Turning his eyes in the direction that Jayxom was staring, he strained to see what could the man was looking at.
Harry first felt it more than saw it. As he scanned the horizon his stomach suddenly dropped. Breathing suddenly became slightly difficult and his heart started hammering in his chest. Looking at his friends, he saw that they too were experiencing the same thing; they were pale and breaking out in a cold sweat... A gleam in the distance caught his eye. Something was moving through the air towards the clearing from a great distance. Fighting the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm him, he turned to his friends. Ron and Hermione had fallen to the ground, clutching at each other as best they could, everyone else except for the group leaders, himself, Draco and a few others had also fallen. He could see it now, a long, almost serpentine body, two great leathery wings, the horned head; the 'friend' that their teacher waited for was a dragon.
The monster passed over the clearing, blotting out the sun. The creature over sixty meters long with a wingspan easily as wide. Its silvery skin shimmered in the midday sun. Harry had thought he'd dealt with dragons when he had competed for the tri-wizard cup, he now realized that the Hungarian Horntail he'd outwitted and out-flown was a kitten compared to the monster that had landed in the clearing before them all.
His legs feeling like Jelly, the raven-haired Gryffindor fought against the fear that bombarded him. Having faced the adversities of the last few years he had thought he would have learned to control his emotions but this... As he felt his control slipping and thought he would curl up on the ground like his friends the overwhelming fear that had coursed through him vanished as if it had never been there and the webs holding them melted away. Struggling to catch his breath, the boy checked his friends to see them slowly recovering and getting to their feet. Turning to Draco and seeing him still with the same dazed expression he nudged the other boy until his eyes fluttered and he came back to himself. The Slytherin quickly pulled himself together and blushed slightly with excitement, whispered, "Bloody Brilliant!"