Hey Guys! Here's the next chapter!

This chapter is dedicated to the guest reviewer Kurokapibara.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or How to Train Your Dragon.

oOo

Dragons: Race to the Burrow

Chapter 2: Into the Unknown

oOo

Albus Dumbledore raised his glass and clinked it gently with a fork to bring the meeting to order. Several people looked at him, and as the hubbub of conversation quickly died down, there was silence in the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

Almost the entirety of the Order of Phoenix was present in the room, most of them seated around the long wooden table and the rest standing or leaning against the wall. Or, in Nymphadora Tonks' case, having climbed up to sit atop the kitchen counter.

The table was headed by Dumbledore, and seated on either side of him were Minerva McGonagall and Alastor Moody, the latter's magical eye whirling around in its socket, moving from person to person in quick succession. On the right, next to Minerva, were Remus Lupin, who looked like he hadn't slept in days with deep bags under his eyes and a very pale face, Arthur Weasley with his balding but still flaming red Weasley hair, Bill Weasley, and Molly Weasley. On the left, following the grizzled ex-Auror Mad-Eye Moody sat Kingsley Shackleblot, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance and Elphias Doge. Sitting directly across from the Headmaster was Snape, his face devoid of expression.

Rubeus Hagrid was standing uncomfortably in one corner, his huge shape distinctive. In another corner sitting on a dirty box was Mundungus Fletcher, grimy and filthy, while standing behind Bill, Arthur and Remus were Fleur Delacour and Fred and George Weasley respectively. And lastly, Charlie Weasley stood beside the counter on which Tonks sat, sporting bright green hair.

Everyone looked at Dumbledore.

"Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for arriving at such a short notice," he began, his gaze flicking to the kitchen clock, which read 1:39 PM. "The meeting shall now begin."

"There is indeed no other way to say this that might make it less shocking. Lord Voldemort has allied himself with a man named Drago Bludvist from another Realm," he stated, prompting several pairs of eyes to widen and mouths to drop open. When no one seemed capable of coherent speech, he continued. "He performed a summoning ritual two days ago. He entered the Passage of the Realms and when he came back, he brought with him Drago Bludvist and his Bewilderbeast. Which he controls, might I mention."

"B-Bewilderbeast?" Remus managed to stutter out. "The ancient dragon Xenophilius Lovegood wrote about? Voldemort brought that? Here?"

"Indeed," the old wizard agreed.

"But-but the Prophet said that that thing could…" Arthur Weasley trailed off, face white.

"Command all dragons, yes," Dumbledore said gravely. "Unfortunately that is the truth."

"That Burgstorm man said it was twice the size of Quidditch pitch…" Minerva mumbled quietly.

"But I've- I've never- and I-" Charlie struggled to get words out.

"You've never what? Seen such a thing? That's where the 'Another Realm' part comes," Snape quipped.

"So that- that was what attacked the Dragon Reserve?" Kingsley inquired, lip curling in utter incredulity.

"An-And Hogsmeade? Did You-Know-Who send the Fireballs?" Elphias croaked.

Dumbledore nodded, and the room fell silent once more.

"So it spits ice?" Fred broke the silence.

"For real?" George asked, equally awed.

"Yes," Dumbledore sighed.

"So the bastard got himself an ally from some Merlin-damned world who controls an ice-spitting Alpha-reptile, and wants to level half the Wizarding World using the dragons he ultimately controls." Moody growled, magical eye running rampant in its socket. "And why would that Bludvist even agree, anyway?"

"Lord Voldemort has told the man that once the Wizarding World has fallen before him, he shall give all the dragons to Bludvist, to add to his already massive dragon army in his own Realm," the old man explained.

"So there's a whole other world that will fall when we do," Bill said. It wasn't a question.

No one said anything for a few minutes, everyone was too busy processing the information they had just received. They had been flattened by just a small group of Chinese Fireballs. They couldn't hope to fight a whole damned army of dragons. Hopelessness was beginning to settle over the room. Suddenly, the absence of Dedalus Diggle, who had been injured fatally in Hogsmeade, was felt very consciously by everyone.

"Is there not even the tiniest bit of hope?" Tonks finally asked, hair a deep shade of blue now.

"There is."

The simple words from Dumbledore caused everyone's heads to snap up once more as he put a hand into his robes and pulled out a cylindrical device and put it on the table before him. Everyone stared at it but no one said anything. Dumbledore answered the silent question in everyone's eyes anyway.

"This is the Pons Draconis," he said, and received blank stares. He sighed abs leaned forward slightly to rest his elbows on the wooden table. "Almost 1200 years ago, long before Hogwarts came into being, there was a wizard called Kurt Scamander."

Charlie's eyes widened at that. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and Dumbledore continued.

"He was an explorer of Magical Creatures. Particularly dragons. During his time, a huge dragon called the Red Death scourged the country of Norway. He was famous for his draconic escapades, and hence was called for help by the Wizarding community of Norway when they were on the verge of death. Scamander was a skilled wizard. He gathered every witch and wizard he could find there, and under his direction, they opened the Passage of the Realms to force the dragon into another Realm. To make sure it never harmed anyone, they had opened the Passage such that the Red Dropped into the mouth of a colossal volcano. The people were finally free of the creature. But alas, along with the dragon, Kurt Scamander fell into the abyss, and though they tried, the wizards and witches could not keep the Passage open long enough to see him return."

Everyone was listening with rapt attention, every eye on Dumbledore.

"Scamander managed to get himself to safety, but he could not return to his own Realm, as alone he was not powerful enough to open the Passage. So he remained there, studied the dragons he encountered, and catalogued all that he could in the form of magical projectible lenses.

"And eventually, he discovered a way home. After years of research and a number of failed attempts, he developed a device capable of opening the Passage of the Realms using the power from the flame of a dragon. He named it the Pons Draconis."

"So- so, is this the…" Remus whispered, beyond shocked, pointing dumbly at the device lying innocently on the table.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied simply, and everyone stared at the carved wood and metal cylinder with amazement and disbelief.

"So, does that mean he managed to arrive back in this Realm safely?" Minerva asked, breathing unevenly.

"Indeed he did. But when he came back, he discovered that time did not pass at the same pace in the Realms. Time in the other Realm passed three times slower than it did in ours. So when he came back, his grave had been collecting dust for more than a century and none of his family would recognise him."

"Old, alone, and forgotten, he continued to wander and explore until his demise, upon which he chose a person whom he could trust with his invention. He needed someone worthy, who would not let his legacy fall into the wrong hands, and most importantly, someone loyal.

"He chose Helga Hufflepuff."

The silence was deafening now.

"Albus, how did you…" Kingsley mumbled.

"Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, was trusted with the Pons Draconis and Kurt Scamander's extensive notes on its functioning and creation. In order to keep the invaluable device safe, she convinced the other founders to help her in establishing a room in the castle that would provide help to those who required it. After much deliberation, the others agreed. They then created a room that could shift itself in accordance with the requirements of the one who needed help, a Room of Requirement.

"And secretly, she placed the Pons Draconis in the Room of Requirement, so that it may only be discovered by someone who intended to use it for the good of all, and even then, only when its absence would result in the ultimate catastrophe. She charmed it to reveal its creation, functioning, and history to the first person who would touch it, the person that the Room of Requirement would choose.

"And now, she said, Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Dumbledore then leaned back in his chair, having finished his tale.

For a full ten minutes after that, no one uttered a single word.

"So," Snape finally said, making everyone blink out of the collective trance. "You retrieved the Pons Draconis. The Room chose you."

"It would seem so," Dumbledore nodded slowly, eyes fixated on said device.

"And we do… what?" Moody asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "The Room of Requirement would not have presented it to me if it wasn't meant to help us. I suggest we take a little trip though the Passage of the Realms and see what we can find."

There was an instant burst of activity as everyone began speaking at once. They calmed down a little when the old Headmaster raised his hand, but most were still bursting to speak.

"Albus!" Molly Weasley exclaimed, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. "You cannot be serious!"

"I have to agree with Molly," Minerva said sternly. "We cannot possibly just blindly rush off into the unknown to find a way to fight the dragons!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Remus asked her wearily.

"We'll try harder, there has to be another way out!" Emmeline Vance spoke up.

"Maybe you want to tell that to Dedalus?" Hestia asked quietly, and everyone deflated at the mention of their fallen comrade. The Healers at St Mungo's were trying their best, but there had been no improvement in Dedalus' condition.

"Maybe it's a crazy idea," Bill said thoughtfully. "But maybe crazy is what we need right now."

"He's right," Moody grumbled. "Our situation here with the damned reptiles isn't going to get any better if we keep up like this."

"We could be attacked next," Fred commented.

"And we would be able to do nothing about it," George continued.

"Not with what we have," Fred said.

"We need an edge," George finished.

As Molly turned in her chair to glare at her sons, Arthur spoke up.

"I think... they're right," he said, rubbing his forehead.

"So, those in favour of using the Pons Draconis?" Charlie asked, moving forward to stand behind Dumbledore's chair.

Dumbledore, Bill, Moody, Hesita, Fred, George, Remus, Arthur, Kingsley, Tonks, Fleur, Hagrid, Mundungus, and Charlie himself all raised a hand, leaving out Minerva, Snape, Molly, Elphias, and Emmeline.

"So that's a fourteen to five vote," Charlie commented cheerfully, and clasped his hands together. "The mission's on!"

"You are forgetting one tiny detail, though," snapped the irritable Potions Master from the other side of the table. "We need a dragon's flame to activate the device. And the Dark Lord has all the dragons. We don't have any."

"Actually," Charlie began and looked to Dumbledore for consent, who nodded. "We do have one."

"What the- how?" Bill asked.

"Let's just say Norberta the Norwegian Ridgeback was out of station when the attack took place," Charlie grinned.

"So, we have everything we would need?" Remus checked.

"Actually, no, not yet," Dumbledore told him, and he raised a brow inquisitively. "Even though the knowledge required to use it has been revealed to me, I cannot operate it. Helga Hufflepuff locked the Pons Draconis magically, and only her Heir can reopen and operate it."

"But the Hufflepuff line has long since died out!" Kingsley exclaimed.

"You misunderstand me," the old wizard said. "I do not mean it as in blood, but in spirit. Only someone sorted into Hufflepuff by the Sorting Hat, someone who is as diligent, trustworthy, unique and loyal as Helga Hufflepuff herself, can claim the title of Hufflepuff's Heir and unlock the Pons Draconis."

"So, who was in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts?" Charlie asked, looking around.

Everyone knew that all the Weasleys, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Remus, Moody and Hagrid were in Gryffindor, so eyes turned to Elphias.

"Gryffindor," he said.

"Ravenclaw," Emmeline told them.

"Gryffindor," Hestia said.

"Slytherin," Snape commented dryly.

Everyone looked at Kingsley.

"Hufflepuff."

"Go on!" Fred prompted.

"Yeah, try it out!" George agreed.

Dumbledore looked at Kingsley inquisitively, and who nodded. So the old wizard picked up the Pons Draconis carefully, and handed it to Kingsley.

"You just have to use the Unlocking Charm," he told the Auror. "We will know if it allows you access."

Pulling out his wand and taking a deep breath, he tapped the device and said clearly, "Alohomora."

Everyone held their breath.

Nothing happened.

Kingsley sighed. "I'm sorry, Albus, it doesn't seem to be working," he said.

Everyone slumped in their seats as Kingsley guiltily put the device back on the table.

"So now we're stuck," Remus said.

"The Pons is no use to us if we can't unlock it," Bill sighed.

"Wait, hang on!" Charlie said, perking up suddenly. "We still have a Hufflepuff!"

"We do?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"Of course!"

And he pointed at Tonks, who promptly slipped off from the counter she'd been sitting on, eyes wide and hair cycling through an array of colours.

"M-me?" the young metamorphmagus squeaked, pulling herself upright again.

"Yeah, why not?" Charlie said enthusiastically. "You were in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts!"

"Y-yeah I was, but I don't think that-" she was interrupted as Charlie took her arm and pulled her to the table.

"Oh, come on, Tonks!" Bill said.

"Yeah, go on!" George enthused.

"Try it out!" Fred agreed.

"Her?" Snape asked incredulously, something akin to disgust on his face, eyes travelling to Tonks' now bright red hair. "Are you sure, Headmaster? The girl is very irresponsible and clumsy. You cannot possibly imagine that she is worthy enough to claim the title of the Heiress of Hufflepuff!"

Dumbledore just raised a brow at the man while Minerva glared dangerously at him. "Give it a try, Nymphadora," she encouraged, eyes not leaving Snape. Tonks opened her mouth to protest, but got interrupted again.

"Just do it!" Moody barked at his ex-student. She was an excellent Auror and he was very proud of her but sometimes she lacked confidence. Though given what she had endured in her school years, that was understandable.

Remus lifted the Pons Draconis and held it out to Tonks, who gulped and nodded. She pulled out her wand and gripped the ancient device with a shaky hand. She raised her wand, tapped the relic, and said nervously, "Alohomora."

At once the Red gemstones acting as the carved dragon's eyes began to glow brightly, and tendrils of light rose out of the lens in the dragon's mouth. The yellow strips of light wrapped around Tonks' left wrist, and when the light subsided, there lay a gold bracelet striped with black on her wrist. It had a golden pendant hanging from it, which was circular at the base and had three curved little conical projections protruding outward, which made it look some sort of triple-tooth. On the circular base, a tiny black badger was etched intricately.

Everyone was shocked, but Snape's mouth was hanging wide open as Tonks looked at him, grinning cheekily

oOo

Things had calmed down considerably after Tonks had been accepted by the Pons Draconis, and had hence attained the title of the Heiress of Hufflepuff.

Finally they'd had everything they needed, and could summon the Passage of the Realms at will, with a little help from Norberta, of course. Dumbledore had wanted to leave on the mission as soon as possible, and they had decided to do it at sundown that evening.

When Dumbledore had asked for volunteers to accompany him, half the Order had come forward. But the old wizard didn't want to endanger more lives than strictly necessary, and he had finally settled on Bill, Remus, Charlie, and Tonks.

Bill was a professional curse-breaker with a lot of experience, which might come in handy in the uncharted waters they were preparing to sail into. Remus, having spent a lot of time in the underworld on missions for the Order, was well acquainted with the Dark Arts, too, and would make excellent backup.

Charlie was needed because they had to take Norberta with them. The team would have no way to contact the Order from across the Realms and they had no idea of how long the expedition might take. And keeping the vortex open for so long would just be inviting trouble on their end.

Tonks, of course, would be needed to operate the Pons Draconis, not to mention the fact that she was a fully qualified Auror and would prove quite useful in any scuffle that might break out.

Dumbledore had then informed the Order that unfortunately, they couldn't do it at Hogwarts because of the ancient spells and enchantments that protected the school premises. After much deliberation, they had agreed to summon the Passage in the forest at the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole, a few miles from the Burrow.

And that was how most of the Order ended up in a clearing in the middle of a forest between two low hills as the sun neared the horizon.

Minerva, Moody, Kingsley, Emmeline, Hestia, Elphias, Arthur and Snape stood in a large circle, casting protective spells and concealment charms. In the centre of the circle stood Dumbledore, Tonks, Bill, Charlie, and Remus. Tonks was holding the Pons Draconis and Remus had a small backpack slung over his shoulders, while the other three were keeping Norberta magically restrained. The dragon already had heavy metal clasps over her muzzle and wings. She was being relatively calm, according to Charlie.

After all the spells and enchantments had been put into place, Minerva nodded to Dumbledore, who asked, "Is everyone prepared to enter the Passage?"

When all four nodded in agreement, he turned to Tonks and said, "Nymphadora, if you will?"

Holding the Pons Draconis in one hand, the metamorphmagus brought Hufflepuff's bracelet to it. As soon as the pendant was close enough to the device, the rear end shifted a little and a keyhole shaped exactly like the pendant appeared. Tonks pushed the pendant into the keyhole and when it fit perfectly, she turned it. There was a brief mechanical sound and the red eyes of the carved dragon glowed for a second.

She looked at Dumbledore again, and he nodded encouragingly. Tonks took a deep breath, pulled her wand out, and pointed it at the device.

"Pontem Quaero," she said, and as soon as the lenses within the relic began to click and turn, she pulled her arm back and tossed the device into the air directly above them. When it got about twenty-five feet high, it stopped in mid-air automatically, and began to gently spin.

Seeing his cue, Charlie waved his wand and the metal clasps over Norberta's muzzle creaked open just a little, and Bill yanked at the magical restraints so that the dragon's muzzle was pointed straight at the Pons Draconis, which was spinning in place in the air above them. Norberta got irritated at the harsh yank, and let out a stream of fire in anger; at least as much of a stream as she could while the clasps on her muzzle held most of it back.

As the fire hit the Pons Draconis, it glowed bright orange, stopped spinning abruptly, and pointed straight down.

A wide beam of orange light shot out of the carved dragon's mouth, and it formed an intricate hexagonal pattern on the ground that covered all five humans and the dragon. In just a moment, the beam turned pure white and the hexagonal pattern became a bright, solid shape.

And then, it was as though the ground had suddenly been removed from under their feet as Dumbledore, Tonks, Bill, Charlie, and Remus fell into the bottomless hexagonal void along with Norberta. The Pons Draconis dropped in after them and, in front of the widened eyes of the audience of Order members, the huge hexagon shrunk and vanished like it had never been there.

oOo

In another world, on an island twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing-to-Death, located solidly on the Meridian of Misery, a huge orange hexagonal pattern appeared on the ground of a forest clearing. It began to spin slowly, spinning faster and faster until it had turned into a whirlpool of pure white light.

Suddenly, five people were flung out of the whirlpool of light, landing hard on the forest floor with various degrees of gracelessness.

Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks, Charlie and Bill had travelled through the Passage of the Realms.

Groaning, Tonks pushed herself up from where she had faceplanted in the dirt and looked around to see the others in similar situations. Just as she stood up, a disgruntled roar was heard, and then the huge form of Norberta was tossed out of the vortex, and following her, the Pons Draconis rose out of the light, stopping mid-air at about twenty-five feet high as the whirlpool died out. As Tonks held her hand out towards it, it immediately flew to her and she deftly caught the device.

But before anyone could do anything else, they looked up in alarm as Norberta gave a resounding roar, getting up from where the vortex had tossed her, looking quite ruffled.

As she gave another angry roar and unfurled her wings, they noticed, to their horror, that between all the spinning and tossing, her metal restraints had been lost. She beat her wings powerfully and took flight, rapidly heading away from them.

Horrified, everyone just looked at each other for a moment. And then they bolted behind the dragon, running through the thick forest undergrowth. After they'd been running for a good ten minutes, the old Headmaster surprising everyone by keeping up, they burst out of the edge of the forest and gaped.

They were standing just outside a village, a village that looked like something out of a history textbook, as if it was..

"A viking village!" Charlie gasped, eyes wide as he panted from the exertion.

"A viking village that your dragon is going to raze to the ground," Bill corrected him, hands on his knees as he heaved for breath. Another one of Norberta's roars split the air.

"Come on!" Remus said, removing his hand from where it had been clutching at a stitch in his side and straightening up. "We have to stop her."

"Gonna be a breeze," Tonks muttered sarcastically as they began running again, heading straight for the village. As they ran down from near the topmost part of the village, they could see a very long flight of stairs leading up to a set of massive double doors guarded by stone sentinels. As they followed the roars, they passed a few wooden houses of ancient design, dragon-head figures fixed above the doors, and after ducking between two houses, the village square came into view.

And they halted in shock.

For in the village Plaza, surrounding the angry and roaring shape of Norberta, were vikings on the backs of dragons.

Whatever they had expected, this was not it. As they watched, a huge man with a flaming red beard and a horned helmet, on the back of a large dragon that looked like a cross between a rhino and a beetle, shouted commands to the other vikings who sat on dragonback like it was an everyday thing.

The vikings urged their dragons to close around the rampaging dragon, and, to the astonishment of the wizards, the dragons did as they were asked without hesitation. One of the vikings, a husky young man on the back of an equally pudgy dragon, tried to get the attention of the distressed Norberta, but the dragon would not listen.

Another viking, a lanky male with blonde dreadlocks that looked to be one half of the pair of twins each sitting on one of the necks of a green two-headed dragon, raised a mace and waved it around to get the dragon to look at him. Irritated, Norberta dipped her head, opened her jaw and snapped it close around the mace in his hand, yanking it from him and tossing it away with such force that it arched through the air to head straight for the docks, the water darkening as the sun finally disappeared.

"MACEY!" he yelled in dismay, both hands extended in the direction in which the weapon had vanished. There was a pause and then two other dragons came barrelling into the Plaza, one of them sleek and black, the other a beautiful shade of blue with gold details. Both the dragons joined the ones that were surrounding Norberta. All the dragons were getting increasingly agitated, baring their teeth at the grey Norwegian Ridgeback.

"We should do something," Bill said, raising his wand, but Dumbledore stopped him. He pointed at the newest arrivals, a tall young man with auburn hair donning leather armour, and a blonde young woman with shoulder armour and a studded skirt.

They watched as the pair shared a meaningful look, and the blonde woman yelled, "RIDERS, FALL BACK!"

All the vikings surrounding Norberta immediately obeyed and retreated. The pretty blue dragon and the sleek black one came over to their sides, still tense. The young man then stepped forward, and shouted, "RUFF, TUFF, YOU'RE UP! ENGULF AND BLOW!"

"Engulf and blow?" Charlie repeated nervously as the twins on the two-headed dragon whooped and took to the air.

"YOU GOT IT, H!" the female twin with three fat braids shouted back as the head she was riding released a bright green gas.

"THIS IS FOR YOU, MACEY!" the make twin yelled as the other head sparked the gas and the green dragon got away.

There was a huge explosion that everyone felt in their very bones and had them shielding their eyes from the sudden brightness.

As the smoke cleared, the sleek black dragon opened its mouth wide and released an ultrasonic roar that none of them could hear, but Norberta apparently could, because she had now turned her full attention to said dragon.

The auburn haired young man then stepped forward, and raised his hands when the dragon began growling. He seemed to be doing something they couldn't see, as Norberta tiled her head at him and mumbled something indiscernible to her.

And then, quick as a flash, he'd drawn out a flaming blade, and the team's breath hitched. They watched in awe as the young man calmed the dragon down and put his sword back. He stepped closer, raising one of his hands. When Norberta growled, he closed his eyes and turned his head away, palm out to the dangerous creature.

"Does he have a death wish?" Charlie hissed urgently. "Does he expect a dragon to just…"

He trailed off, mouth dropping open as Norberta shut her eyes and pressed her snout against the young man's hand.

"...nuzzle into his hand..." he finished, beyond shocked.

"It's a Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare!" the husky viking from earlier squeaked.

"A titan-what?" Tonks asked, staring at the Norwegian Ridgeback who was being petted by the auburn haired viking.

The twins landed and the vikings began bickering back and forth as Remus said, "I have no idea, but- This is exactly what we need! These people - they know how to train dragons!"

"They must know a lot more about them than we do," Bill agreed. "We should at least talk to them, if nothing else."

"I'd say that's inevitable, seeing two of them are currently stroking and petting our route home," Tonks commented dryly.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, seeing that the blonde woman had joined the young man. He turned to Charlie. "Go ahead, Mr Weasley."

"What, me?" Charlie asked, taking a step back.

"It's your dragon, isn't it?" Remus raised a brow.

"But-"

"Go!" Tonks shoved him, and he relented.

"...are pretty elusive. I have no idea why it would be here, raging like a pissed off Gronckle, no less."

Charlie took a deep breath and walked out from between the houses, wand in hand.

"I can answer that for you." he said aloud.

At once, everyone present in the village square whirled around to look at him. No one said anything for a minute, but then the blue dragon made a noise and they seemed to blink out of it.

"Who are you?" the man with the enormous beard growled, an axe in his hand. "State your name and purpose, stranger!"

"What did you mean, you could answer that?" the blonde young woman asked, eyes narrowed.

Charlie quickly held up both of his hands placatingly. "Please, I mean you no harm," he tried.

"Yeah? Well, setting a raging Nightmare loose on our village is hardly the way to show that!" spoke a very short man with dark hair covered by a horned helmet.

"I had no idea Norberta would be so jarred by the Passage!" he protested.

"Passage?" the auburn haired man asked curiously from beside said dragon.

"Norberta? See, it is a female!" the short man gloated to the husky viking, and Charlie raised a brow.

"Answer the question," the large-bearded man interrupted. "Who are you and why are you here?"

Charlie decided it would be best to be straightforward. "My name is Charlie Weasley," he introduced himself. "And I'm here because we need your help."

"And if we refuse?" a man sneered from the crowd.

Dumbledore sighed and stepped out into the open, too.

"Then both our worlds shall perish," he announced.

oOo

So! Now we're all caught up with the Prologue.

If anyone has questions about how the timelines work out or the Red Death, they'll be answered in the next chapter. But you're welcome to review and ask anyway.

And that's another thing. Guys, I need to hear from you what you think about the story! Tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't, tell me what you want to see, tell me what you don't! Throw all sorts of questions at me so that I can know what you guys think about it.

I'm very much inspiration-driven, and the more you review, the faster I'll update.

Next update? Probably during the weekend.

- DragonsAndBroomsticks