Disclaimer: I alas do not own Harry Potter I wish I did but I don't. All I own is this computer I'm working on and a few other items in this room of mine.
A/N: Hi people and it is nice to be back for the new year. Anyway heres the first chapter of the new year for this story. Also I would like to say to people who have asked that I am a Australia and live in Australia not the US like some people have said so I hope that clears that up. Enjoy this chapter I know I had fun writing it and do let me know what you think.
Chapter 12: First Day and Secrets Between Us.
/ Telepathic /
02 September 1996, 06:00 PM A.D
Harry was up before any one else in his dorm room the next morning.
'Note to self. Make Tonks pay for waking me up early over the summer.' He thought while getting dressed in his school robes being careful not to wake the others in the room. He wanted to keep the changes to his body hidden as long as possible and his school robes certainly hid the development the training he had gone through had caused. Dressed he slipped quietly from the dorm.
Entering the common room Harry just had to smile as he saw Hermione sitting there with Silvenestri snuggled in her lap. Hermione was reading Hogwarts: A History to her. With out noticing him Harry watched and listened for a few minutes before walking up behind them. Absently he brushed his hair from his eyes. He had allowed it to grow until it fell around his shoulder and usually tied it back but had not this morning.
Hermione looked up and smiled when Harry sat in the chair across from her and Silvenestri. 'He needs a hair cut but then again he does look cute with long hair.' She thought. "Morning Harry I thought I was the only one who ever got up this early in the morning but now it looks like I have two early birds to talk to." She finished letting Silvenestri out of her arms.
Harry smiled and held his arms open for Silvenestri who walked up and crowed into his lap dressed in a blue dress with silver trim and her hair pulled neatly into a braid. "Well get use to it Hermione because thanks to Tonks training I'm up with the crows. Anyway how was Silvenestri last night?"
"Fine, once Lavender and the other had left her alone and got to sleep. She did move around a lot. By any chance did you sleep near her back home, Harry?" Hermione asked while looking at the little girl cuddled in Harry's arms while her mind tried to work out who she might actually be and why Harry had changed so much over the summer.
Harry nodded and got to his feet. "Yes, I did. Care to join us for breakfast?" Harry said, getting Silvenestri to walk over to the portrait and out of the common room to wait for him before heading down to the Great Hall.
Hermione nodded and followed Harry out the door and down the hall Silvenestri right in front of them almost bouncing with ever step. He was pleased that she looked happy.
The Great Hall was almost empty except for some professors who were doing last minute work for classes at the head table. Harry led the way to the Gryffindor table and quickly settled on what he wanted for breakfast, filling a plate quickly with bacon and eggs and setting to one side some waffles. Hermione chose much the same but opted for some fresh fruit instead of the waffles. Silvenestri piled bacon high on her plate and seeing Hermione's attention on her and in particular on her plate, added some hash browns as which seemed to make Hermione happy. Harry and Hermione settled to eat breakfast while Silvanestri dove into her meal. Table talk consisted of Hermione telling Harry about her summer and Harry giving her a heavily edited version of his. They finished up breakfast with what they hope the new school year might be like.
Harry and Hermione had finished before Silvanestri and amused themselves with watching just how neatly but quickly the small girl could tuck away such a huge plate of bacon. She had just finished the last of her hash browns when some of the other students began to wander in and have breakfast, amongst them was Ron who joined them.
Silvenestri the moment she had finished off her bacon looked to Harry and said in her small voice, her eyes almost looking into his soul and he could see the dare there to deny her. "Can I go out and look at the grounds Harry?"
Harry nodded and looked to Hermione when she handed him his timetable for the year. Harry quickly scanned his table to see that he had the morning off followed by D.A.D.A and Potions for the day. "Well, it looks like I get to give Silvenestri a tour of the school. What about you, Hermione?" Harry queried, glancing at his bushy haired friend.
Hermione nodded. "Well, Harry, we have the same timetable since I am hoping to get into the Auror Academy like you. So what will we show her first?" She smiled at Harry happy that he had passed everything subject that he need to begin his training for the Auror Academy.
Ron, who had been listening while he worked on a plate of bacon eggs and hash brown even larger that the one Silvanestri had had just grunted. His first class was Care of Magical Creatures as he had decided that he would be some form of beast tamer like his brother Charley. He had decided, however, that he would not be studying and taming Dragons like his brother considering the fact that they were just too scary to deal with. There were two creatures he wanted nothing to do with, those being Dragons and Spiders of any size.
Harry nodded to Hermione and as he stood he looked at Ron and grinned. "Don't worry, Ron. I won't try anything with Hermione while you're in class. We have Silvenestri to chaperone us. See you at D.A.D.A, ok?"
Ron nodded his mouth full of bacon as he watched Harry and Hermione leave the hall and he turned again to his meal. Harry and Hermione hurried from the Great Hall in search of Silvenestri who had run from the hall while they had been talking, discussing their classes and how Hermione was looking forward to D.A.D.A. Both were eager to see what Professor Lupin had planed for their first day.
They had just left the hall when a massive roar rang out across the grounds followed by the thunder of heavy horse's hooves a moment later. Hermione looked at Harry with wide eyes to see if he might have any idea what could caused all of that commotion in the Forbidden Forest only to see he had a smile on his face and see his lips move slightly. With the thunder of centaur hooves she was certain that she had heard wrong.
"Silvenestri, play nice." Harry murmured under his breath as he gathered his hair back into a tail and secured it.
"Harry? Do you know what caused that?" Hermione said as she watched Hagrid stomp out of his hut and head into the forest. 'I… I must have heard him wrong.'
Harry shook his head and led the way to the lake with Hermione right behind him. 'I am going to have to tell her about Silvenestri but then, I was going to. Just not this soon.' Harry sighed and motioned for Hermione to sit beside him as he found a couple of rocks just the right size for them to use as seats.
"Harry?" Hermione queried but Harry stared hard out over the lake and with a sigh Hermione waited, though she looked around anxiously for Silvanestri. "Harry, shouldn't we be looking for Silvanestri? Does she know not to go near the forbidden forest?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders, his eyes scanning the forest line for any sign of Hagrid and waiting in silence. Hermione scowled but remained seated, watching anxiously for a glimpse of the little girl.
Hermione and Harry were on their feet in an instant when Hagrid came out of the forest a with a very strange look on his face. He glanced over his shoulder at the forest repeatedly as he stalked toward the castle and he barely acknowledged their presence when they joined him.
"Hey Hagrid, what was it that made that sound?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know for sure, but it did sound like a dragon and a big one at that. I'll be ask'in Dumbledore to let me bring in Charley Weasley to catch it and then take it off to Romania to a proper dragon home." Hagrid said then left them for his breakfast.
Hermione looked at Harry who was looking rather upset about this "Harry? Why would you be upset about that? It's for the Dragon's own safety." she said placing a hand on his upper arm, noticing the rock hard muscle and considered how well his robes now were filled out. Harry drew her down to sit and sat beside her on a wide boulder. 'Well, he is hiding some things for certain and I wonder if he is hiding anything else?'
"Hermione what do you know about the Dragon Lords and their dragons?" Harry questioned looking her right in the eyes and allowing the power he had been hiding after his seven years in a past time to show.
"Dragon Lords? I know that they are a myth. They never existed." At the strange look in his eyes Hermione shrugged ever so slightly. "I mean, how could they control dragons? How could anyone control a dragon? They are the most powerful creatures physically and they are filled with a magical energy beyond any human's capacity to handle, according to legend. Why did you want to know?" Hermione kept eye contact with Harry and seeing the power there that caused a shiver to run up her spine. If this were not Harry she knew that she would be afraid of him.
"What if I told you that all you have read about Dragons Lords… well, most of it… was true and that I can prove it to you?" Harry said looking at Hermione but after a moment he got to his feet and helped Hermione to her feet as well.
"True? Harry, some of the things I've read about Dragon Lords would curl your hair. Alright then. I would say prove it to me and then I'll have to believe you." Hermione returned.
With a rather grim smile Harry started to walk toward the Forbidden Forest almost dragging Hermione behind him. "Harry! What are you doing? We can't enter there! I mean the Centaurs are attacking anyone who enters and then there is that spider thingy you and Ron told me about meeting in there and now there is this Dragon Hagrid thinks is in there." She tried pulling free but Harry retained a strong grip and pulled her to the edge of the forest. Hermione glanced at the towering trees and the dark and spooky interior opening before her and baulked, digging her heels into the ground. "Harry!"
Harry looked over his shoulder and for a moment it looked like he was going to listen to her protests but with a slight shake of his head he pull out his wand and rapidly reeled off a summoning charm. Hermione's eyes widened at the fluency of that charm as it rolled off of Harry's tongue. He had never seemed so comfortable with using magic and he exuded confidence. There was nothing flippant or exaggerated in his action, he performed the magical summons with quiet confidence and a moment later the silver cloak he had been wearing the other day came flying out of the castle and sped over to Harry who caught it mid air.
"It's alright, Hermione. Trust me. We can enter the forest safely. Just stay close ok?" he said looking at Hermione his eyes telling her to trust him.
Hermione nodded after a moment, recalling the past years at Hogwarts when they had done more dangerous things than enter the Forbidden Forest in broad daylight. She would trust Harry for now but she would keep her wand close to her hand. Harry spun the cloak in the air and it almost seemed to wrap itself around him, the silver material glinting in the light as he stepped into the first line of trees and it was then that Hermione noticed the runes on the hem of the cloak.
'Silver cloak. Runes… It can't be… but… What if it is? Is it the same cloak? It has to be! The same cloak as they said that man who destroyed the portal under the ministry wore. The portal that took Sirius.'
Hermione was so court up in her thoughts that she didn't at first notice how far they had come into the forest until the dim light darkened Harry's cloak to grey. She looked at Harry to see that he was walking alone an old path that was so heavily overgrown that it was barely recognisable as being a path. It was only recognisable as a trail because someone had walked it fairly recently although the broken twigs and branches of the undergrowth suggested it had been some weeks. He walked the path with his hand extended out before him and a soft light emitted from the palm. Why he did so puzzled her as it was not enough light to light their way but he looked serious and he was obviously concentrating on what he was doing.
"What are you doing?"
"Keeping unwanted company away. It is a ward. A minor one but enough to keep unwanted company from bothering us."
Hermione looked into the darkness of the forest and then at Harry. He had not use a wand in whatever magic he was using but it certainly seemed to be working. She really needed to know what he had been up to over the summer.
Harry keep on walking, following the suggestion of a path for some 10 minutes or so before coming to a stop to look at a thicket of bushes before him. "Well that's new." He murmured. "Still, after so long what could one expect? No, not natural bushes. I can feel the magic. Conjured then. Alright, lets get rid of those to begin with." Waving his hand he conjured a dark rune to hover in the air and whispering the key word to focus and release the spell the bushes vanished.
For an instant Hermione glimpsed a flashing light, too quickly to discern the exact shape and then it was gone and so was the screen of bushes blocking the path. She was eyeing Harry with rather a deep frown, concerned that he seemed to be casually using what felt like rather powerful magic and she had not seen him use his wand, but surely he must have? No one could use magic without a wand to focus. Could they?
They kept walking for another 10 minutes or so before reaching a clearing where a low overhang shadowed the mouth of a cave to one side. Close to where they emerged from the forest, next to the cave was a depression in the ground with the grass within it looking to be flattened recently. The sun streamed through the trees in this location and the bright light glinted on numerous silver 'somethings' half hidden in the long grass that appeared to have been near crushed beneath a considerable weight.
"Harry? Where's this proof you were going to show me? What's down there? It shines like metal. Let me go so that I can have a look." Hermione was staring into the depression at the glinting silver reflecting the sun's light, keeping her wand close at hand. She looked around the clearing trying to work out what Harry was intending to show her.
"Hunting." Harry tartly commented.
He settled his thoughts and extended his mind in searching tendrils, looking for Silvenestri's thoughts. He knew that she was out in the woods, hunting and he needed to know where and how far away she was.
/ You have found something that you consider worthy of you skills yet? I have class in an hour! / Harry sent to Silvenestri after touching her mind and finding her to be quite close by.
/ I'll be there in a moment, this thing just won't die. Stupid thing. Honestly, it has no brain. I've gutted it Harry and its entrails are leaking all over the place and its bleeding all over the clearing and just won't lay down and die! / The sound of tree braches snapping like twigs rang out from somewhere on the other side of the clearing, the source hidden by the thick undergrowth and a fringe of trees.
Hermione's head snapped up at the sound and she took a reflexive step backwards as a large monster came flying out of the woods. Her eyes widened and her jaw worked but no sound emerged. It was the size of a large horse with a thick coat of brown fur covering it. The creature looked like a bear but the face was all wrong as instead of a snout it had the beak and eyes of an oversized owl. As it turned in a flurry of blood and gore Hermione saw that its back and forearms were cloaked in brown feathers. The creature staggered but faced the thicket from which it had come, seemingly not to notice the great gash in its belly. With a half grunt, half growl the creature toppled over twitched a few times and then lay still.
Hermione looked at the monster with shock, eyes wide in disbelief at seeing a creature that she had only read about before now. Nor would she have wanted to meet the beast as it had a very nasty reputation. "An Owlbear! That's an Owlbear! Harry, this is… but they are nearly impossible to kill! What could have caused that much damage to a creature like that? What could have done this?" She stared in dread at the dead body in front of them, her eyes wide in fright at one of the more powerful monsters of the magical world killed before her.
Harry looked at the creature, considering its size and ferocity. He knew something about Owlbears from one of Hagrid's classes and he was rather surprised by his friend's choice of prey. He whistled softly and then looked up at the ski above the tree line from which the creature had come. "Silvenestri! Isn't it a little big for you to be taking on?" he called out.
Beside him Hermione looked at him as though he was crazy. "Harry? Don't be ridiculous. How could a little girl lik…" Hermione stopped mid word as Silvenestri in her true form came out of the woods from where the Owlbear had fled, gliding gracefully through the thick undergrowth as though it was not there. The sun glinted on her silver hide reflecting the early morning light brilliantly. "Dragon! Harry, run! We have to get away from here! We have to reach Hagrid before we are noticed! No. The school's too far away. We need something closer!" Unnatural fear was reflected in her voice as she spun in a circle, looking desperately for cover and then taking off into the cave so conveniently at hand. "Dragon, Harry! She…He… It's a dragon!"
Harry blinked in surprise as the normally level headed Hermione bolted for the cave. He shrugged slightly. 'Guess the dragon fear's started. That will please Silvenestri, I suppose.' He mused and looked at Silvenestri who was posing proudly over her kill, licking the beasts bloodied belly and then raised her blood smeared head to smirk a very self satisfied smirk at Harry.
"Mine." she purred, a velvety deep rumble.
"Yes, dear. All yours. Eat up now and enjoy." Harry nodded for her to eat before walking over to the cave. He checked the dragon before he entered the mouth of the cave to ensure that Silvenestri was eating her kill, which she was doing in typical draconic neatness, pausing to pluck the feathers from the side of her mouth between bites. "Hermione! Are you ok?" Harry called.
When no answer was forthcoming Harry sighed and entered the cave, knowing that it was not very deep. He expected to find her in the second chamber, where he had made and stored his equipment so long ago and sure enough, he found her in the back of the second smaller cave.
"Hermione, it's okay. The dragon is Silvenestri. She won't hurt you. I did not realise the dragon fear was awakening, but it's only mild just now. Nothing like it will be when she gets older. It is only Silvenestri though, whether she is a little girl or a little dragon, she is still the same."
"Harry James Potter! A LITTLE DRAGON? There is no such thing as a LITTLE dragon! Only a little girl. That is NOT a little girl! How can you say that? She is a damn dragon. A killer! You know that dragons kill people, don't you?" Hermione's tirade began to wind down as she ran short of breath but it did not silence her completely. "How come she has not killed you and everyone else she has met? I don't understand, Harry. I don't understand what is going on." Harry could see the fear in her eyes but now there was at least a light of reason dawning there. It was a hope that Harry could and would tell her what was happening which told him that she was recovering from the dragon fear.
Harry looked at Hermione and tried to keep the anger from his voice. He had been warned about the effects that maturing dragons had on people not bonded to the beasts and he just had to have patience and deal with it as best he could.
"Hermione, settle down. There is no danger. I told you that I could prove the Dragons Lords did exist and now you have that evidence. Silvenestri is that proof." His voice softened but his eyes still said that he was a little upset that Hermione didn't trust him as much as he had thought she should.
Hermione backed up a little seeing Harry's anger but she managed to calm herself. "How does this prove that the Dragon Lords existed? A dragon does not prove anything." She said keeping an eye on the cave mouth where the sound of flesh being torn and bones being crunched echoed.
Harry too caught the sounds of a draconic meal being thoroughly enjoyed. The crunch of bone and the tearing of flesh did not cause him to so much as flinch as it did Hermione. To him it was proof that his bond mate was healthy and happily feeding as did the rhythmic purring that occasionally filtered into the cave. He glanced at the table to one side of Hermione and sighed. If he had a light source he could merely show her the armour laid out on the table, the armour that he himself had crafted, but it was not the armour he wanted to convince her of. He needed to ensure that she knew Silvenestri could be trusted not to eat his friends.
His anger forgotten and his hope that Hermione did trust him now renewed by her willingness to talk to him instead of losing her head completely Harry sighed. "Hermione do you trust me enough to go out there and listen? I can tell you about the Last Dragon Lord. Silvenestri can tell you about the Last Dragon Lord and the last of the Great Dragons. Will you trust me?"
Hermione looked at Harry and she could see that he did want her to go with him and to trust him. All of the long silences about what he had been doing through the summer holidays now reared in her mind and she guessed that he was about to fill in the gaps in his summer holidays. "Ok Harry. I'll do it, but on one condition. I'll go outside but not until she has finish eating." She said looking through the darkness at the faintly lighter area that marked the distant entrance to the cave.
Harry nodded, realised that Hermione could not see the gesture and reached out to take her arm, leading her through the cave. He left her in the main cavern and walked out to see that Silvenestri was curled asleep in the hollowed out depression, the grass flattened down around her and her head pointed at the cave, one eye's outer lid open while the second lid was closed.
"It's ok, Hermione she is done and settled down, sleeping now. Besides, she says humans would be too stringy and tough to make a decent meal of and the lesser dragons are just plain savages. Come out with me so that we can talk and remember that Silvenestri would never hurt you. You were not afraid of her last night, were you? She is just a little girl, you know." Harry said offering a hand to Hermione.
After walking outside the first thing Hermione looked for was Silvenestri who was, as Harry had said, fast asleep. There was not a bit of blood, guts or gore visible either in the grass or on the dragon to show that she had eaten not long ago 'Well, least she's neat.' She thought. "Ok Harry. What didn't you tell Ron and I on the train?" She settled down on one of the rocks out front of the cave, squarely facing the dragon, not willing to turn her back on the beast and looking at Harry, glancing every few seconds at the Silver Dragon across from her.
Harry nodded and sat next to Silvenestri who was asleep and starting to set up a low rumbling purr of content as he absently stroked her neck. Taking a deep breath he began, telling Hermione all about his mothers gifts to him and where he had gone for what amounted to 7 years for him and 7 hours for everyone else and concluding with what had happen at the Ministry. By the time he was done Silvenestri was awake and listening to Harry. Mid way through the tale she had woken and wrapped her forelegs around him loosely, protectively encasing him in the shelter of her claws while keeping an eye on Hermione.
Hermione listened in amazement, wondering if she dared believe this wild tale, but dare she not believe? After all, the proof was here, before her. A huge silver dragon the likes of which had not walked the earth for millennium now lay before her. She looked at Silvenestri and then at Harry with a low sigh. "Ok. I take back what I said about her. She certainly is not what I am used to in a dragon, but why did you tell me and on one else?"
Harry looked at Silvenestri who raised her head and chose to answer Hermione's question. "You are not the first human of this time to see me Hermione. Tonks has known for a month now and Professor Dumbledore did know but his mind has been altered so that he would not remember me. Besides you would have found out I am what I am sooner or later, so why not now?" she said lowing her head closer to Hermione but keeping sufficient distance to avoid the girl becoming upset again until she got use to her.
Hermione looked at Harry who was leaning on Silvenestri's front leg, absently rubbing at scales which were slouching off to reveal the gleam of brighter scales beneath, then glanced back at Silvenestri who was waiting patiently for her to say something. "So why did Tonks find out before anyone else? Even Dumbledore?"
Harry answered her this time with rather a self-conscious smile. "Well, you know how I told you that Tonks has been living with me for a month now? What I didn't tell you is that we have been sleeping together for the last 3 weeks that she has been living there and we have only just…." He paused and then smiled at Hermione, a huge grin, very pleased with himself. " Taken to having bouts of midnight madness…" at Hermione's confused look Harry sighed. "… Sex in the last three days."
Hermione looked at Harry in shock and then in a low voice managed, "So you and Tonks have been sleeping together for three weeks? Silvenestri has know her for just as long and you have been…" she swallowed. " Having sex with a older women for the last three days." She paused for a moment then forced her smile back on her face "I'll, ahm, keep your secret Harry and I will swear that no one will know that Silvenestri is a dragon from me. Not without you telling them first and I hope that you trust me enough to believe me."
Silvanestri leaned closer to Hermione and rolled her silver blue eyes and in a draconic whisper confided in her. "The sex thing is a boy thing, I think. I have been told that males go all silly where sex is concerned."
Hermione's face turned bright red and Harry looked at the dragon in a rather dazed fashion. Draconic whispers were generally very audible indeed to anyone within fifty feet of the creature. He could not help overhearing the confidence and he blushed just as deeply as Hermione.
Choosing to ignore the dragons comment Harry nodded smiling at her before looking up at Silvenestri who was practically glowing with new strength after a fresh kill and her nap. "Well, my dear. It is time to get back to the school and my first class. Care to join us?" He smiled an even bigger smile at the silver dragon.
Silvenestri nodded and before Hermione's startled gaze she blurred and then the little girl that Hermione knew was standing there, her arms wrapped around Harry's leg. Harry had enfolded her in his arms within a heartbeat and with a large smile on her face her eyes showing the love and trust she had for Hermione and Harry she rested her head on Harry's shoulder.
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Professor Lupin looked over his class as he entered the classroom and sighed. With a gasped apology for being late Harry and Hermione rushed past him as he moved toward his desk and he nodded absently to them. He really was rather happy to be back at Hogwarts, he was thinking, when something unusual caught his eye. A flick of light coloured hair, silver not blonde and he realised what it was that he was seeing. The silver hair of Harry's charge sitting tucked in a corner had drawn his attention, as did something else, something he could not quite place a name to and he walked over and smiled down at her. Reaching into his case he pulled a book out.
"Here you are. This should keep you amused for awhile, Little One." He handed her the book and starting to turn away he stopped.
Again that odd something bothered him. He glanced quickly about the room, scenting the crush of humanity and the dust of ages that hung about the old school room. There was something… Something that no one else seemed to have noticed. With a sigh he moved toward his desk and it was the deeper inhalation before the sigh that brought that oddity to his immediate notice. Why could he scent the lingering traces of a reptilian scent in the air?
'Reptile? Now why should I smell that? I don't have anything that smells like that in here today.' He thought looking around the room but he could not pin point the smell with so many people in the class or the lingering odour's of the past creatures that had been used in past sessions.
Lupin watched as Harry settled at a desk near the child and he walked over to his desk and looked up, fixing first Harry and then Hermione with a knowing smile. He could smell the scent of the Forbidden Forest on the pair and he wondered what they had been up to, but for now he would not ask.
"Long walk you two? Or did you just loose track of time?" He said with a smile while placing his case on the desk and taking his seat. He flipped open the satchel and pulled out his lesson notes for the day.
"Long walk." Harry panted while thinking / Not as fit as I was. / He settled into the seat with Silvenestri on his right and Hermione on his left.
Ron, seated on Hermione's other side looked at Harry and then Hermione with a raised eyebrow before taking her hand in his for a moment and giving it a gentle squeeze. With a nod to Harry he concentrated on what Lupin had to say.
Silvenestri quietly sniggered at what Harry had thought and looked back to her book that Lupin had given her. The book was about some creatures referred to as light creatures. There were some rather pretty coloured plates included which she found quite entertaining picking out the details of their surroundings. Faeries, unicorns and phoenixes gambled in a forest wonderland with bright coloured flowers in glorious profusion.
After calling the roll Lupin rose to his feet and looked the class over. "Now, class. I am sorry but your first lesson this year is going to be copying what I write on the bored but I do promise that the next class I'll bring in something for you to work on. Unfortunately we do need to do some written if not practical work." Lupin waited for the groans of some of the students to subside before continuing. "Now today we a going to learn about Dragons and how they can be used in battle. Who can tell me what was the last battle where dragons were used for the main fight and not merely as scouts?" he spoke to the class his but his face automatically turned, expecting to see Hermione's hand in the air. Nor was he disappointed.
Harry was the one to groan now and his head hit the table with a dull thud. Muttering something about having a headache as Hermione's hand shot up to answer the question.
"Yes, Miss Granger and do hit Mr Potter to make sure he is still alive and with us over there." Lupin said to Hermione smiling at what Harry was muttering, thankful for the benefits of a werewolf hearing.
Hermione tried not to laugh at what Lupin said about Harry and fighting a smile replied, "That would be the Battle of the Cliff, Sir, where two armies of Dragons and their tamers attacked each other over land and nesting grounds. A little over 2000 years ago, Sir."
"Correct, Miss Granger and now can you tell me why Dragons are no longer used in battles other than as scouts?" Lupin questioned, looking at Harry who still had his head on the table but turned to one side so he could listen to what was being said.
"Because Dragons after that fight have been wild and untameable to this day. They can be controlled but not for long battles but long enough to be useful as scouts and for quick skirmishes." Hermione answered then looked at Harry who still had his head down on the desk but whose hand was writing what she had said on a piece of parchment placed next to his head.
"Very good, Miss Granger. Ten points for Gryffindor, and now who besides you can tell me what a dragons prime weapon is?" Lupin asked while writing some of Hermione's answers on the board.
A Hufflepuff raised her hand tentatively. "Their claws?" she said in a quiet voice, not quite trusting Lupin yet. Many of the students were going to have to get used to the idea to being taught by a werewolf.
Lupin did write that on the bored but said "No, not the prime weapon, but it is true that their claws are a major weapon. Any one else?"
Another Hufflepuff raised her hand. "Tail and teeth?" her voice was also low and quiet but more because she was reserved and shy by nature, not because of any unease about Professor Lupin.
"Yes, they are weapons on a dragon but again it is not the prime weapon. Any one else?" Lupin questioned, this time making a magical image of a Hungarian Horntail with a quick wave of his wand. The illusionary dragon standing before him had the horns, teeth, tail and claws were shown in blue on its black hide. The image was slowly rotating in a circle so the class could see the entire dragon.
Harry raised a hand and when Lupin looked at him he sighed. "Their breath weapon is the prime weapon." Harry said knowing that he was right.
"Yes, Mr Potter. That is a dragons prime weapon." Lupin said as the area under the mouth of the image went red. "Now, who can tell me their strongest defence?" He looked at the class expectantly.
Everyone looked around to see if any one had the answer to that one but no one did or, in Harry's case, he did know but did not what to give it.
Lupin was about to tell the class what it was when Silvenestri stirred in her corner, looking up from the book she had been reading. "Their magic resistance." Her head immediately popped back into the pages of the book Lupin had given to her but one eye was looking at the werewolf turned professor from the protection of her bangs.
Lupin nodded and looked at the class after looking at Silvenestri with a raised eyebrow. He had not expected the answer to come from the child in their midst and where was that reptilian scent coming from? He caught it occasionally, wafting through the class, circulated by the myriad little drafts they could never stop in building this old.
"Now how does a five year old girl…."
"Nearly six!" Silvenestri and Harry said at the same time, smiles on their faces when they thought about how long it took to work out when Silvenestri's birthday was.
"…Know more that a bunch of 16 year olds?" Lupin finished as if Harry and Silvenestri had said nothing at all, his face trying to hide his amusement. 'So like the Weasley twins and like James and Sirius.' He thought.
Harry calmly looked at Lupin and smiled. "Well, I knew but I wanted to see if anyone else knew, Sir."
"And how did you know that Harry?" Lupin asked while writing some more notes on the board for the class to copy down.
"I learned it from some books I read over the summer, Sir Silvenestri likes stories about dragons." Harry said. Glancing around the room he could see that most of the class was copying what was being writing on the board and that no one was talking.
Lupin nodded, accepting that, pleased that some on other than Hermione appeared to have been studying over the holidays. The rest of the class passed without a problem and Harry, with his friends right behind him and Silvenestri clinging to his arm started for the Great Hall for lunch. After lunch Harry and Hermione with Silvenestri went to Potions while Ron headed for Herbology.
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Thanks to the following Reviews.
Athenakitty, Bobboky, Slayer O, Silverscale, Eagle-Eyes, Payne539, Blade-Claven, Maxennce, Sirenia, Newbie-sama, Ice-Pheonix-Tears, pheonixrising, JessW14, Dobbey, Wytil,