Chapter 1 – A Not So Bloodless Coup
It was late at night and Camp MacFusty was buzzing with low-level activity. MacFusty was an outpost of the Reservation for the Care and Control of Dragons (R.C.C.D) situated in the Unplottable Eastern Carpathians, Romania. There were currently about twenty at the Camp, all at different levels of experience. There would normally be a few more, but some of the Researchers had already returned to Britain to offer their services to the War Effort. The Ministry of Magic had recalled the Resident Auror who had been stationed at Camp MacFusty one month before; he hadn't had much to do anyway, apart from chasing off the odd stray vampire. Other cutbacks imposed by the Ministry had made it rather more difficult for interested witches and wizards to take up long term posts in the care of dragons. Of course, there wasn't so much interest at the moment; people were not too keen on leaving loved-ones behind and many had also signed up to fight the good fight. The Researchers that remained at the Camp stayed for various reasons; some were still debating about whether to go back, a few were in denial about the return of Voldemort. There were as many reasons as there were people, and it was sometimes a topic of discussion amongst the Researchers on the long boring nights at the Camp when the Vodka was flowing.
It was a cool, clear early autumn night. Beautifully crisp, the full moon shone exceptionally large so close to the mountaintops. The night was strangely still and, in spite of being fairly far up into the mountains, there was only a light breeze.
Heather Reed was just checking in on the five Longhorn Hatchlings in the mini-aerie, halfway up a cliff, on a small, insignificant mountain at Camp MacFusty. The mountain overlooked the main part of the Camp, where the staff dormitories and the Hatchery were situated. Heather had been at the R.C.C.D. for some years now; she was petite with long, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was fairly pretty, but the constant battering she received from the fresh Romanian mountain winds and the occasional toasting from the dragons meant that her face was permanently flushed.
The Hatchlings had settled for the night an hour before, but Heather found their fiery, musty scent relaxing and sometimes came up to see them before bed. The heady warmth from the braziers was almost as good as a long hot bath. Heather watched the Hatchlings as they snuffled in their sleep, occasionally snorting spumes of smoke from their scaly nostrils. She passed too close to one and tiny burning embers fluttered onto her embroidered Romanian blouse. It had seen better days anyway and she absently patted at the new burn marks with a gauntleted hand.
She was just thinking how peaceful the little dragons looked when they were asleep, when the Intruder Charm sounded across the Camp. It was a low, funereal tolling, specially pitched so as not to disturb the volatile reptiles. Just as well, as the charm installed by Igor Dinescu, the previous Chief of Dragons, did have a tendency to go off if so much as a rabbit wandered in. There was nothing to steal at the compound, dragons generally being more trouble than they were worth. Fifteen seconds later, the alarm was still sounding.
"Bollocks," Heather muttered and strolled out onto the ledge of the aerie. She was confronted by a scene of pandemonium. Thirty feet below, the compound was bathed in green light and people were running and shouting all across the camp. There were bright flashes of spell casting and the dragons were roaring on the other side of the Camp. As she looked down, several strange figures in black robes were swarming between the dormitory huts. She was still watching, dumbfounded, when a couple more figures Apparated and then ran, wands still drawn, to the middle of the compound. Heather also saw Jeremy Cooper, the Chief of Dragons, emerge from one of the huts in his yellow night robes. A figure in black stepped in front of him, raised its wand and Jeremy went down in a flash of dark green light.
"Oh… shit," Heather fumbled with her wand a whipped it up towards the sky, her hand shaking, "Please, please work."
"Grandalarum!" Heather cried and bright, enormous yellow letters flared, superimposed across the sky.
RELEASE THE DRAGONS. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
The tolling alarm changed its note, becoming more urgent.
Heather didn't need the mind of an Auror to realise that MacFusty had been overrun by Death Eaters. Panic stricken, Heather backed up against the cliff. What had happened to Jeremy? And what if someone Apparated onto the ledge? What could these people possibly want? Her knees knocking, Heather tried to get a grip on herself and remember Igor's training. Mesmerised for long seconds, she watched as more of her gang spilled out of the dormitories, wands at the ready. In the near distance, she saw the bright ginger flash of Charlie Weasley's hair as he began to exchange hexes with one of the invaders. On the far side of the Camp, Heather could hear the dragons roaring and bright tongues of flame flickered intermittently. It was the three mature dragons currently held at the Camp due to ailments and injuries. There was another colossal roar and a large cloud of dust as the dragons took off into the air. With a brief skirmish and a grand sweep of their wings, the dragons were off over the mountains.
"Release the dragons, you stupid witch," Heather cursed herself as she tried to dispel the stupor from her limbs. She peeled herself away from the sanctuary of the rock face and crept back to the entrance to the cave where the dragons slept. The hit of their odour finally made her move faster. Heather hissed and clicked her tongue as she moved desperately along the line of dragons.
"Wake up, wake up!" Heather imitated the Queen Dragon's warning call and the Hatchlings responded quickly, unfurling their wings with a snap and mewling coarsely.
"Fly!" Heather yelled and ran to the cave wall, pressing herself against it to keep out of the way. In a flurry of black leather wings, the dragons sped from the cave. Heather stood at the entrance to the cave and watched as the dragons winged their way into the sky. She felt triumphant, but it was short lived.
There was a sucking pop at the far end of the cliff ledge, and a figure in black had Apparated, shortly followed by another.
"We should have secured this aerie sooner," the taller figure snarled menacingly to the other in a cut glass accent. A tremulous voice replied,
"Our intelligence suggested that no-one was usually up here this late at night."
They hadn't spotted her yet as she stood in the dark shadow of the cliff. In a fit of terror, Heather stumbled back into the cave thankful for the soft, sandy floor that muffled her steps. She frantically waved her wand at the torches lining the wall, snuffing them out. She also tried desperately to extinguish the darkly glowing braziers, but they refused to respond to her spells. The wizards stepped into the cave just as Heather concealed herself in a far, darkened corner. It was only a matter of time… there was nowhere for her to hide and she could think of no suitable spells she could perform with confidence. If she tried and failed, she would be discovered instantly.
"Lumos," the malevolent voice spoke slowly and deliberately. The other wizard followed suit. Heather's heart sank into the pit of her stomach as the cave was dimly lit by the wand light. The braziers suddenly seemed to pop and crackle more ominously. Heather remained hidden, but she knew it wouldn't last.
"Surely if there was someone here, they would've hit us with a spell by now," the shorter wizard spoke softly, sounding more than a little nervous.
"We shall see. Light those torches," the tall one commanded. The shorter complied swiftly, while the other scanned the interior of the cave as it grew lighter. Heather crouched in the corner, raising her wand in her trembling grasp. She was seconds away from being discovered.
"Incendio," the shorter wizard finally lit up the torch directly above Heather, bathing her in its flickering glow. She gasped.
"Expelliarmus!"
The red wave of light knocked Heather into the rocky wall and her wand was gone. Terrible at duelling and too petrified to think, Heather had not even begun to incant.
"Well, well, what have we here? Very poor reflexes. Not much of a witch, are we?" the tall one spoke condescendingly.
The owner of the cut glass voice grabbed a handful of Heather's fine hair and dragged her to her feet.
"So, young woman, you thought that you would cower in the dark while your friends fought bravely, yet misguidedly, outside," the stranger's voice sounded almost wistful, but his grasp twisted painfully in her hair.
"I believe… I would be more of a hindrance," Heather had finally found her quavering voice, too late. She looked up into the stranger's face; he was wearing the unmistakable mask of the Death Eaters. Cold, grey eyes glittered out at her, regarding her closely. A fresh wave of panic hit her.
"W…what the fuck do you want?" her voice cracked, pitched too high. The stranger's grip tightened even further. His eyes flashed ever so slightly, unreadable. He was silent for a moment then spoke slowly, cold laughter in his voice,
"Cowardly and crude. What brings a pathetic excuse for a witch like you to the wilds of Romania? To play with the dragons?"
Heather tried to growl, but it somehow came out as a pathetic whimper. The stranger laughed a soft, cold laugh that sounded like glass breaking. His companion snorted.
"It seems that all of the dragons housed in your little encampment are now gone. The Dark Lord will not be pleased. Maybe we can find some other beasts for you to amuse yourself with," his silver eyes glittered enigmatically. With a hiss, the stranger brutally shoved Heather away. Her head rang.
"Bring her," the stranger commanded his companion as he stormed out of the cave onto the cliff ledge. Heather followed, held at wand tip by the now quietly sniggering companion.
Outside, thirty feet below, the camp was now ominously peaceful. The Intruder Charm had finished its clanging, though the sickly green light remained. There was a clearing in the centre of the camp flanked by the male and female dorms. Heather recognised some of her fellows on their knees surrounded by Death Eaters. She looked up at the sky, her heart pounding as the Dark Mark burned against the clouds. Merlin! Was anyone missing? The wizard at her back pushed her roughly as she tried to search the small crowd below.
Heather came to the edge of the cliff and began to descend the rickety rope ladder, definitely only held together by magic. As she looked down, the tall Death Eater had just reached the bottom and was watching her as she climbed, her brown dragon hide boots slipping on the rungs of the ladder as her legs refused to obey. When she reached the camp floor, the Death Eater grabbed her arm in a bruising grip and propelled her towards the gathered captives.
"Come along," the Death Eater hissed as Heather briefly hesitated when several of the others turned to face her as she approached. As she got nearer, Heather could see that some of the captives were crying or suffering from hexes. She had just managed to spot Charlie, Aurelia and Constantin among them when she was pitched face first into the dust alongside them.
As she sprawled in the dirt, a pair of shiny black shoes came into her vision and another male Death Eater spoke in a sly voice,
"Are you the one responsible for the release of the young dragons? Speak!" The command caught Heather by surprise. She sat up and replied mechanically,
"Yes. It's standard practice in the event of an unfriendly intrusion."
"Mmm," Heather could hear the smirk in his voice, "It seemed that your Chief of Dragons was unprepared."
Heather looked around frantically for Jeremy Cooper, but he was not with the others. She caught Charlie's eye and he sadly shook his head. Heather's heart lurched horribly as she realised Jeremy was gone. She moved nearer to Nellie Price, an Apprentice at the camp, who was covered in small cuts and crying softly. They clasped hands. The spell was broken by the Death Eater's voice,
"It's time for introductions, don't you think, Lucius?"
"And why not?" the silver eyed one replied. At his word, all of the Death Eaters removed their masks. There was an outburst from Erasmo Early, the Dragon Psychologist.
"They've shown themselves! They're going to kill us all!" he wailed.
Simultaneously, the unmasked Death Eaters raised their wands to Erasmo. Charlie Weasley, who was crouched next to him, launched himself at Erasmo, clamping a calloused hand over the latter's mouth and growling at him to keep quiet.
The grey-eyed Death Eater Heather now recognised as escaped Azkaban prisoner Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, lowering his wand. He spoke lightly,
"Contrary to what this wizard believes, we do not wish to kill any of you." he paused, "Any more of you, anyway. For the moment. However, any further interruptions will be punished rigorously. Please continue, Severus."
All of the captives' heads turned to regard the man wanted for the brutal murder of Albus Dumbledore. He stood poised, as though he expected the sudden attention. There were several sharp intakes of breath. Snape's eyes glittered darkly and he deliberately strode around the small crowd with brisk, fluid steps. His voice was equally liquid,
"We are here at the behest of the Dark Lord, who has decided that it might be beneficial to our cause to harness the power of dragons." He continued swiftly, "He has developed the means to control these creatures to some extent, but also requires the unceasing cooperation of you sorry lot," Snape cast his eyes around the captives, "to ensure that they are all properly maintained. After all, we can't waste the talents of so many valuable witches and wizards," here he indicated the Death Eaters, "on what is essentially a side project. Any form of resistance will be met with the appropriate Unforgivable." At the end of his short speech, Snape approached Malfoy. He briefly waved his wand before he and Malfoy began to converse, their words rendered soundless by the spell. They frequently glanced at the captives, making them even more nervous as it became apparent that they were talking about them. The rest of the Death Eaters, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed now that they weren't running about trying to kill people, but the captives were still too afraid to speak. Heather watched Snape as he spoke with Malfoy. Of course, he had been her Potions teacher at Hogwarts; Potions not being a subject at which she had excelled. She remembered he was not exactly the best teacher in the world either; he liked the sound of his own voice a bit too much and tended to distract his students through constant acerbic criticism. It was still quite a leap from obnoxious teacher to callous murderer.
Finally, the conversation ended and Malfoy addressed those assembled,
"You will now all go to your beds and hope to spend a restful night. Whether you do so or not is entirely down to yourselves. Good night." Malfoy was brisk and business-like as he turned on his heel and strode away from the group and headed towards the male dormitory. At the instruction of Severus Snape, the remaining Death Eaters shepherded Heather and the other Dragon Researchers to the women's dormitory.
Inside the dorm were other members of the camp who had already been captured. They rose quickly as Heather and her companions were unceremoniously ushered inside; Heather was relieved to see the faces of some of those who were previously unaccounted for. The door banged shut after the Death Eaters had left and from inside the dorm the captives could hear muffled spells as the door was sealed with magic. After a pause, everybody started talking at once in muted voices before Charlie Weasley spoke up,
"Did anyone see what happened to Seb and Nicholae?" He already sounded resigned as he dragged a slightly shaking hand through his red hair.
"They're dead," wept Erasmo, "On the edge of the compound… an Unforgivable Curse. They were releasing the dragons." Several of the others moved to comfort Erasmo.
"Bloody hell!" raged Charlie, "Why on earth does You Know Who think dragons are the way to go? Every witch and wizard on the planet knows you can never tame a dragon!"
"They're all mental," declared Meredith Williams, an experienced Dragon Researcher, "I'm not sure I ever want to know the reasoning behind anything they do."
Charlie sighed, "At least we managed to release all of the dragons. You did the Hatchlings, Heather?" she nodded mutely, "It will take ages to round even a few of them up. It looks like that's how long we have to live, unless they change their plans."
The room fell silent and an even deeper sense of gloom descended.
"Charlie," Heather whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help the rest of you. My wand-work…" she had tears in her eyes.
"It's alright, love," Charlie soothed, "It was important that the dragons were set free."
"And Jeremy is dead. I saw him die. It happened so quickly, I didn't even realise…" Heather broke off, tears falling from her eyes. Several of the others began weeping openly. Jeremy had been Chief at the camp for some time and was well loved by many. He had been a unifying force at the R.C.C.D. and was utterly unfazed by any crisis, big or small.
"I know that we are all feeling the loss of Jeremy deeply at this time," Aurelia Petri, the Dragon Pathologist, said in a husky voice, "But maybe we should start thinking about how to handle the situation we find ourselves in."
"Our situation!" Constantin Dragomir, a strapping, dark haired Researcher said angrily, "That is an understatement!"
"We need to be practical, Constantin," Aurelia continued, "Do we go along with what they want or try to resist? I think we should show a united front."
"Resist, of course!" Many of the Researchers plainly agreed with Constantin, nodding their assent.
"What then?" Aurelia replied, coolly, "Do you really want Cosmina resisting?" Aurelia drew Constantin's attention back to his pregnant wife, who he had previously been comforting. He looked conflicted. "They'll only put an Imperius Curse on us…"
"Then we resist some more!" Some of the Researchers appeared to have second thoughts. Even Constantin had run out of steam, somewhat.
"It's not that easy though, is it? The War's only just begun in earnest and we're isolated here. If any of you have experience in resisting the Imperius Curse, they had better make it known now," Aurelia scanned the room, confident in her doubt, "Besides, that would be pointless unless we were all, or at least most of us, able to do it."
"I agree with Aurelia," Erasmo said quietly, "And as Charlie said, it will take quite a while to secure any of the dragons. We'll only capture the weaker ones at first and, even if He Who Must Not Be Named has acquired the power to control them, they won't be of much use to him." Erasmo himself looked doubtful; even a weak dragon would be quite formidable.
"So what do we do now, Charlie?" asked Meredith.
"I dunno," Charlie replied, "Join hands, sit upon the floor and tell sad stories? At least it would be a distraction."
A few other people started to voice their opinions simultaneously, and Charlie patiently sat and half-listened, frequently dragging a calloused hand through his hair. Others in the group wandered around aimlessly or sat on bunks despondent or in tears. One or two started searching for anything of use and a query went up about the possibility of left behind wands. The windows were warded and there was no way out.
Constantin and Aurelia began a heated discussion about whether they should all band together to try to break the wards, "Honestly, Constantin, even if we could, we'd be unarmed and face to face with many dangerous wizards!"
This all went on for some time. Heather, who hated being cooped up at the best of times, had started to pace up and down before the warded door. The heels of her boots struck the floor loudly as she stopped in front of the door.
"I wish we could open this bloody door!" she hissed to nobody in particular. And with that, the door promptly flew open.
There was a brief moment of silence, while everyone gaped.
"Merlin's Shit! How did you do that?" cried Charlie.
"Nobody move," said Erasmo, "It's probably a trap."
----------------