The Dragons Return Chapter 9: Fire Lizards!, a Harry Potter + Dragonriders of Pern series Crossover fanfic

Chapter 9: Fire Lizards!
Sakushima Weyr, Jan 5, 2024...
"OK, Rolbirth, let's go see if we can find that little friend of yours you said was having trouble," said Yuko Isikara to his bonded dragon. "She needs help and I need to get out of the Weyr before I go crazy! I don't understand how Harry manages."

"He has two consorts and an entire Flight assigned just to him," replied Rolbirth, Isikara's Chinese Fireball.

"But he doesn't have my dragon to help, so I don't understand how he manages," responded Isikara, smiling at his dragon's literal-mindedness.

"Well, there is that," said Rolbirth, smugly.

"He doesn't have a wife like yours either," said Yuko Kunie, his wife, Wingleader, Wing 1, Div 2, and his wingman for this trip.

"If he did, I would be very surprised," said Isikara, happily. "You are one of a kind and I wouldn't want you any other way."

They circled out from the Weyr and started paralleling the beach east of the Weyr and before the Hold.

"There!" exclaimed Rolbirth, as he moved towards the slight motion. "I saw a flutter of tiny wings."

"Land far enough away that you don't scare her away," instructed Isikara. "Let her know we are coming to help and try to find out what the problem is."

"She says her eggs are about to drown!" exclaimed Rolbirth, excitedly.

"Kunie, can you levitate all the eggs out of the nest and hold them while we prepare a new place for them?" asked Isikara.

"On it," said his wife, as she concentrated on her task.

"Rolbirth, go over to the cliff and create a small Weyr, just big enough for you and me," requested Isikara. "In one side, add a small dent in the wall, about 3 feet from the floor. Try to make it a miniature dragon chamber where we can create a nesting area for your friend.

"Once the chambers are complete, we will grab some gravel for the heating layer, you can make them hot rocks, and we will find some nice sand to cover them. Once we have the miniature chamber complete, Kunie can move the eggs into the chamber. We can come back to make the larger dragon bed later after your tiny friend has gotten over the shock of our help."

Rolbirth worked quickly but accurately, as only a dragon was able. Within 30 minutes, the chambers were finished and they had jumped back to the Weyr to get sacks of spare gravel. When they returned, one bag went into the miniature chamber and the others were laid on the ground for later.

Their next task had Isikara scooping clean sand into the empty gravel bag while Brilurth, his wife's dragon, gently turned the gravel in the miniature chamber into appropriate temperature hot rocks. It was all ready for the sand when Isikara and Rolbirth returned. Isikara hastily spread the sand over the gravel and Kunie moved the levitated eggs onto the new nest area.

Isikara then reloaded the original bag with sand and heaped it up to one side of the eggs so that the tiny green fire lizard would have material to finish the nest they had started.

The entire time they worked, both large dragons had been sending soothing thoughts to the tiny green fire lizard queen. She fluttered around them, equally anxious for her eggs as for the fact that she was near such huge strangers. Finally, when they had finished and moved away, she darted into the small chamber they had created for her and started moving sand on top of the eggs.

"She likes the warm sand," said Brilurth.

"That's why I wanted to take the extra time for you to heat the gravel," said Isikara. "Inside that chamber, there is no way the sun could warm the sand to hatch the eggs. It wasn't enough to protect her and her eggs, we needed to make sure they were able to hatch as well."

"My husband, always thinking ahead," said Kunie, lovingly. "We should check back later and bring some chopped-up meat for Rolbirth's little friend. It can't be easy taking care of so many eggs by herself. From what I could tell, the eggs were still slightly soft, so are probably about two weeks from hatching."

"Hmm, perhaps we could come back and 'liberate' a few eggs when they harden enough," mussed Isikara. "One for each of us, and three as a gift to the Weyrleader. Surely Rolbirth's friend wouldn't mind her hatchlings going to a good home."

"That would be interesting," said Kunie, thoughtfully. "I wonder if they will prove more useful than ornamental?"

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, Jan 12, 2024...
"Weyrleader Yuko Isikara to see you, Harry," announced Jeofrey, "and his wife Yuko Kunie."

Harry stood up and moved around his desk to the small sitting area to greet his guests.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" asked Harry, with a friendly smile. "It's been a while since we've seen you around these parts!"

"We have been busy making sure our Weyr and the nearby Hold continue to be safe from Thread and we are doing our part to advance the Dragon Nation on Pern. That's not what brought us here today, though."

"Oh, and what did bring you?" asked Harry, curiously.

"This," said Isikara, holding out a medium-sized insulated box.

Harry took the box and looked inside. There were three oddly colored eggs inside, about the size of large goose eggs.

"What's this?" asked Harry, mystified. "Are you raising psychedelic geese now?" he said chuckling.

"These are fire lizard eggs," announced Isikara, smugly. "We were finally able to track down a nest when one started sending out distress calls. Her nest had been made too close to the shoreline and her eggs were about to be swept out to sea. We rescued them for her and she allowed us to take five eggs later in appreciation. We are hoping they will prove useful somehow. I thought I would bring you three in appreciation for your help with getting us started."

Harry looked at the eggs in awe. "These are the predecessors of our dragons," he said, wonderingly. "The eggs are so tiny compared to our dragons' eggs!"

"We think they are about a week from hatching," said Isikara. "I'm hoping they will impress similar to how our dragons do. I would suggest keeping them nearby at all times in a large bucket filled with hot rocks and sand. If they are close enough to you, you should be able to hear the eggs start to hatch. It's possible our dragons may even be able to sense when they are about to start like they do for their own eggs."

"Thank you, very much," said Harry, standing as they got up to leave. "I wish you continued good fortune in all your endeavors."

"Thank you, again, Harry. Good-bye until next we meet," said Isikara.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's quarters...
Dobby had brought him three large buckets half-filled with gravel. Cheki had made the gravel into hot rocks, and Dobby had then brought sufficient sand to bring the level near the top of each bucket after the eggs were buried in each one.

"You and May need to keep yours, Harry," said Hermione, decisively. "But I have too much to do to have the time for another pet."

"Are you sure, Hermione?" asked May, teasingly. "Can't you just imagine a tiny Comaloth, whispering naughty thoughts into your ear while she's curled up on your shoulder! I think I need to keep mine, so I can learn about them in case we need to help them sometime."

"Ugh, definitely not!" exclaimed Hermione, vehemently. "Comaloth is enough for me!"

"And you are enough for me," said Comaloth, lovingly. "Will they be good to eat?"

"Comaloth, don't you dare!" exclaimed Hermione, horrified. "You know we don't eat friends or pets!"

"Dobby, would you like to take care of one of these?" asked Harry. "If it hatches and you start feeding it, there is a possibility that it would bond to you. I don't know, but it shouldn't be long before we find out."

"Dobby can have his own pet?" asked a very confused house-elf.

"Yes, Dobby, if it bonds with you," said Harry, soothingly. "We don't know if it will bond to any of us, but it's worth a try."

Dobby looked uncertainly at the three buckets. "Which one is Dobby's?" he asked.

"Whichever one you like," said Harry, with a gentle smile. "Nothing is too good for my friend."

Dobby looked up at that with a slight, shy smile on his face. "Dobby takes this one," he said taking the bucket nearest him.

"Dobby, no matter what is happening, no matter what you are doing at the time, when your egg starts to hatch, I want you to do nothing but concentrate on the egg. When the fire lizard hatches, immediately start feeding it tiny scraps of meat. Don't let it eat too fast or it might choke."

Dobby looked up at Harry with his wide eyes. "Dobby understands. Is it alright to leave Dobby's egg here while Dobby is busy?"

"Of course, Dobby," said Harry gently. "We will help each other."

"I will 'listen' and try to let you all know just before they are going to hatch," said Chekiath. "I don't know if I will know, but will try."

"Thank you, Cheki," said Harry, gratefully. "May, I think we should try to at least stay in the Weyr until the eggs hatch. That way, I can port to your location and we can both port back here to take care of our eggs."

"OK," said May. "I will always try to have a substitute handy, so they can take over if I have to leave."

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Jan 22, 2024...
Harry and May apparated into their apartment at the same time Dobby appeared with a small bucket of finely chopped meat.

Chekiath had called only seconds ago. Fortunately, none of them were doing anything that they couldn't leave.

The three rushed over to their buckets and Dobby portioned out the meat into three bowls. Then they went to separate parts of the room to try to be alone with the newly hatching fire lizards.

When Harry's egg started to crack, he focused totally on the egg and heard nothing else going on in the apartment. The tiny lizard was out of its egg a lot faster than a full-size dragon. Fortunately, Harry had a small morsel of meat ready, right in front of the fire lizard's face. It immediately grabbed the meat, gobbled it down, and started searching for more, which Harry also provided.

As he fed the tiny dragon-like lizard, it slowly approached him and they looked into each other's eyes. Harry felt a tiny brush against his mind and then immediately felt his tiny dragon's hunger.

"Do you have a name?" Harry asked him, as he offered another morsel of food. When the tiny Brown dragon's stomach seemed to have swelled to an absurd size for such a small animal, he finally grabbed onto Harry's arm, wrapped its tail around his forearm, and closed its eyes contentedly.

Not getting any response other than fullness, contentment, and sleepiness, Harry looked at the small male fire lizard and said, "If you can't give me a name, I am going to call you 'Sam', short for 'Sam Brown'."

The fire lizard opened one eye, looked at him as if nothing else was important, and promptly went to sleep.

"It is very tiny and thinks small thoughts," said Chekiath. "I don't think you will be able to ride it, but he is definitely bonded to you."

Harry looked at his dragon wonderingly and said, "It's more likely he will ride me. What do you think of the new addition to our family, Cheki?"

"He might be useful for keeping some of the pests down when he gets older," said Cheki, thoughtfully. "He is so tiny, though, I don't see how he could be of much use."

"You weren't of much use when you were first hatched either," said Harry, lovingly to his dragon. "Just look at you now, though."

Harry looked up and saw May cradling her small green fire lizard as Comaloth looked on interestedly. Then he turned to look at Dobby. Dobby seemed to be paralyzed, as he stared at the small bronze form lying wrapped around his arm, cradled to his chest.

"Are you OK, Dobby?" asked Harry.

"Dobby loves his new friend almost as much as he loves his wife Tisky," he said in wonder.

"What's his name?" asked Harry.

"Name," said Dobby, confusedly. "Does fire lizards have names?"

"I called mine 'Sam'," said Harry. "They don't seem to know their own names as soon as they hatch like full dragons do. I suppose it's alright to give them a name that you like."

"Name," said Dobby in wonder. "I should give him a name?"

"Yes," agreed Harry. "You have a Bronze fire lizard. You will be a very important house-elf now with your own bonded dragon. You may not be able to ride him, but I bet he can do a lot of the same things a dragon can do and you can talk to him too."

"Dobby will talk to his bronze friend when he wakes up and asks what he wants his name to be," said Dobby, finally sure of himself. "Dobby has a bronze fire lizard. Dobby is important house-elf!"

"You certainly are, Dobby," said Harry, softly. "You have been a friend of mine for a long time and now you have someone else to be friends with. Why don't you show him to your family? I bet they will want to get to know him as well."

With that, Dobby popped out of the room and Harry turned to May. She was staring at her small green fire lizard as if in shock.

"Are you OK, May?" Harry asked in concern.

"It's almost like my bond with Trath, but she can't talk, she just sends images," said May in wonder. "What have I done?"

"You have opened a new chapter in the story of the Earth Dragonriders on Pern," said Harry gently. "Fire Lizards were here before man and appear to be our dragon's ancestors, as unlikely as that may be. It's up to us to learn as much about them as possible. Think of it as a new project. Not quite as important as learning about our dragons, but close."

"Yes," said May, decisively. "If we are going to live with these tiny dragons, we owe it to them to do our best to take proper care of them. This could be a way for non-riders to experience what it's like to bond with a dragon! Evidently, they will bond with whoever feeds them when they first hatch."

"See," said Harry gently. "I knew you would find a positive outcome to this."

"She is so tiny," said Trath in wonder. "A baby dragon as tiny as a baby human! I wonder how big she will get."

"We will find out together," said May. "Will you help look out for her?"

"Of course, My Rider," said Trath, lovingly. "She is a part of our family now. She doesn't have a name, though! How can a dragon be alive and not have a name?"

"What do you think we should call her?" asked May. "There will probably be others similar to her soon enough. We want to call her something unique."

"Gonlenth seems to fit," said Trath. "She is Green, female, and tiny ..."

"Gonlenth it is then," said May decisively. "When she wakes up, we will let her know what we have called her."

Over the next several days, Harry, May, and Dobby were questioned continually about their new friends. Finally, Harry called a Weyrleaders' meeting, open to anyone wishing to attend.

Spath's Weyr, Conference Room, Jan 28, 2024...
Harry looked out over the packed Conference Room. This was the first time it had been packed to overcapacity. Evidently, the fire lizards they had were generating a lot of enthusiasm amongst the Weyr's inhabitants, especially since Dobby had been able to impress one. It appeared there was a representative present at this meeting from every intelligent species found on Pern.

Harry could feel the curious eyes looking at his brown fire lizard, Sam, May's green, Gonlenth, Dobby's bronze, Jorby, Isikara's blue, Noritoki, and Kunie's gold queen, Kirimi. Finally, every seat was taken and many more people were crowded around the walls of the room.

Harry stepped up to the podium and started. "There have been so many questions about our new fire lizard friends that I thought it best to make Isikara's discovery official. On January 5th of this year, Yuko Isikara and his wife Kunie discovered a nest of fire lizard eggs in danger of being swept out to sea because the nest hadn't been situated in a safe location. The fire lizard that laid the eggs was a green female. Evidently, green fire lizards are capable of laying eggs, unlike their larger, dragon counterparts who are barren.

"At this time, I would like to invite Yuko Isikara to the podium, so he can let us all know what he has discovered."

Isikara walked up to the speakers' location and looked around a moment before starting. "I have been able to discover four more nests and harvested the eggs. They were placed in a small, specially designed hatching chamber until they harden enough that they can be given out to those who may be able to use them.

"From the nests we have been able to find so far, it seems that there will be one gold queen in a 'territory' which she protects against all other golds. In that territory will be many other fire lizards. The greens can also lay eggs, but don't seem to care that much about where the eggs end up, hence our initial discovery.

"Fire Lizards seem to bond with anyone who feeds them. We think the bonding is how they determine their group or 'fair' in the wild. Thus, when someone bonds with a fire lizard, you are creating your own small fair. As shown by Dobby, it appears that any intelligent species is capable of bonding with a fire lizard.

"We have discovered that they will eat almost any meat, and, in isolated instances, have been seen to catch and eat many of the small Pern life forms we are coming to think of as pests. This may make them especially valuable to those who have started farms away from the major Holds.

"From our contact with wild fire lizards so far, they seem to accept Dragonriders as friends if we are careful in our approach. The young green we first discovered has actually followed us back to the Weyr on occasion and helped herself to some of the food we prepared for our yet-to-hatch eggs. While not bonded with anyone, she seems to sense we are not a threat and is quite willing to use us as an easy source of food. Through our contact with her, we were able to make contact with others. This could turn out to be a disadvantage for us, as we may end up inadvertently feeding a large number of wild fire lizards who would ordinarily keep the local pests in check.

"That's all we know, so far. I will now turn the meeting back over to Harry."

As Isikara stepped down, Harry returned to the podium. "I have asked Isikara to make raising fire lizards one of his priorities for now. His Weyr will be conducting daily sweeps around the southern continent, specifically looking for fire lizard nests. I would greatly appreciate it if no one else tried to raise fire lizards on their own. The eggs are extremely soft when first laid and easily damaged. If you find a fire lizard nest, please do not approach it but contact Isikara. If you are the first to report a nest, we will make sure you get one of the eggs before they hatch … provided that you didn't abandon your normal work solely to hunt for fire lizard eggs!

"Isikara has asked me to determine who should get all future eggs. He doesn't mind finding and raising eggs, but he doesn't want the responsibility of determining who they should go to. If you would like an egg, please leave a note with Jeofrey, my Admin Assistant. He will compile a list for me, and I will use it to help determine who gets an egg. Please indicate why you want an egg in your note. Valid, logical reasons for wanting an egg will take priority over 'I just want one as a pet' type requests.

"Since fire lizards seem to be able to bind to non-humans, I will also give priority to those non-human species, since this will give them some idea what it feels like to be a Dragonrider. All members of a search team will take priority but, unfortunately, most other Dragonriders will take a much lower priority than non-riders.

"I will now open the floor to any questions about anything I have not covered. Be aware, that in most cases, my answer will probably be, 'I don't know'. Remember, we only just discovered fire lizards and it will take some time to learn more about them."

The meeting lasted another 3 hours with people in the audience initially trying to out-shout their neighbors to get recognized. Once they learned that Harry would be aggressive in maintaining order, they settled down and simply stood and waited to be recognized if they had a question. Finally, when some of the new questions were basically a rephrasing of previous questions, Harry closed the meeting.

Earlier, Harry had taken delivery of 600 more earrings. He now had enough translation earrings to give a pair to every current Dragonrider. From now on, new Dragonriders would receive the earrings right after they impressed.

One of the most notable things about fire lizards, and the thing that made them suitable for creating the dragons, is their mental abilities. A fair is held together by empathic and telepathic ties that are established at birth, and the hatchling lizards will bond to humans, or any other intelligent species, as readily as to others of their own species. So far as can be established, fire lizards regard a human companion (and any other lizards that human may have) as their "fair"; queens regard their human as representing their "territory", albeit one with few good clutching sites; those humans who own more than one gold lizard may find themselves with problems! Fire Lizards can also teleport from danger, a tremendous advantage for a small animal. Another defense mechanism is the ability to metabolize firestone to produce a flaming gas - the "second stomach" used to break down the stone is actually a development of the wherry crop.

Excerpt from The Weyrs of Pern by Remus John Lupin, published 2050.

Diagon Alley, Joyero's Jewelry, Feb 27, 2024...
The Goblin outside Joyero's eyed Harry warily as he walked up. He could see there was something odd about the approaching wizard but couldn't quite make out what it was.

"Hello there, Gornuk," said Harry, politely. "Sorry to see you stuck out here. Hopefully, your watch will be over soon so you can get back inside." Harry had conjured and donned nondescript wizard robes before he entered Diagon Alley to cover his flight suit so he wouldn't be recognized. It also helped that the robes he conjured had an extra-large hood as part of the cowl.

"Hello, wizard," said the Goblin, startled that a wizard would bother to know that Goblins didn't like being outdoors.

"I have been places where guards like you, who are required to be outside, have a little house they can stand in. It isn't much, but it might be enough to hide the open sky above," said Harry. "Why don't you suggest it when you get off watch. If they act on your idea, I bet all the other guards would be in your debt."

"Hmm," said the Goblin, seriously considering the idea as soon as Harry had said 'debt'.

"Bye," said Harry as he entered the door to Joyero's.

The Goblin just grunted, discontentedly as he continued to watch the different people in the street.

As Harry stepped into the shop, he saw that Mr. Joyero was with another customer, so he started looking around the shop. It had been greatly expanded since he last visited. Someone had obviously applied a space-enhancing charm to the interior of the building, as it looked at least double the size it had been last time. The entire visible back quarter of the shop was partitioned off with what appeared to be fairly thick glass. There were four apprentices on the other side, working on various pieces of jewelry. Harry walked over and saw they were working on the Dragon-in-Flight Pendants he had ordered.

Just then Ted walked up, as his customer had left. "May I help you, sir?" asked the Jeweler.

Harry turned around just as Sam peeked out from under his hood. Ted's eyes were drawn to the motion and he was startled at what appeared to be a snake with extremely sharp teeth looking back at him.

"What is that!" exclaimed Ted, uneasily.

"That," said Harry, amusedly, "is my 'pet' fire lizard. He offered his arm and Sam crawled out and perched on his arm with his tail wrapped around Harry's biceps.

"Mr. Potter!" exclaimed the startled Jeweler. "I didn't recognize you. Here to pick up the last delivery yourself?" Ted still eyed the tiny dragon, unsure what it might be capable of.

"Yes, and to make the first payment for the Pendants I ordered," replied Harry. "Don't worry about Sam here," he said reassuringly. "He is just curious. I fed him just before we left, so he is still a bit sluggish or he would be all over your shop. Pet him if you like, he likes his eye-ridges scratched just like the big dragons do."

"He doesn't have any scales," said Ted as he scratched the top of the tiny lizard's head.

"No," agreed Harry. "This is an earlier form of our dragons we discovered on Pern. We are still learning about them, but they will bond with anyone that feeds them right after they hatch."

"Looks right fearful," said Ted, calming down quite a bit from his initial start.

"That he does," grinned Harry, "but he will love you forever if you were to offer him a piece of meat. He is still growing and, as full as he is, he will still try to eat more!

"How has the 'Credit Card' idea worked for you?"

"Quite well," said Ted. "Customers can 'charge' their purchases and take them immediately, we don't have to worry about any actual transfer of funds, and the Goblins make sure regular payments are made to the account. In fact, several other merchants in Diagon Alley have adopted the idea. I think the Goblins like it because they get a percentage of every sale."

"That's great," said Harry, presenting his Platinum Goblin Card. "In that case, let me use my credit card to transfer the funds. Make sure you charge enough to cover the percentage the Goblins take out."

As Ted worked on the transaction, Harry commented, "You've expanded your shop, again."

"Yes, with all the help you've given us, we were able to add quite a few improvements and, with the credit cards, our customer base has greatly expanded. It doesn't hurt that a lot of our younger customers want dragon-related items."

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Joyero," said Harry, as he signed the receipt.

"For us as well," said Ted. "If you come up with any more ideas, please let me know. We are at least willing to listen, unlike some merchants here. By the way, we made this shipment the full 600 earrings in appreciation for your large order."

Harry sent a mental image to the fire lizard of it crawling back into the cowl and it obediently moved up his arm and back into hiding. Harry shook hands with Ted and left his shop. Next stop, Pern. He had just taken a quick break from his work to pop over here to take care of this. Time to get back.

Spath's Weyr, Hatching Grounds, Mar 18, 2024...
Harry watched as the latest class of Dragonriders and their escort, went Between to their first stop, Benden Weyr. It had been a rather hectic time since Isikara had discovered the fire lizards. They had even had to threaten some of the candidates that they would be banned from the hatching grounds if they continued to go out and look for fire lizard nests. Finally, in desperation, Harry had 'leaked' the information that all fire lizard nests were to be found somewhere along a sandy beach. This limited the area where people were looking to an area where they were unlikely to find anything. It was true that a nest required sand to bury the eggs, but most of the nesting sites found so far had been further inland.

He hoped the 'Fire Lizard Craze' would die down soon, it was starting to get annoying. Even the Centaurs were searching for nests after Bane got a bronze. At least now the Centaurs were friendlier with the dragons and Harry thought part of the reason for that was the fire lizards. It allowed the Centaurs to experience part of what a dragon bond was. Bane even had a special harness he wore so the sharp claws of his bronze fire-lizard, Razorn, didn't dig into his flesh when it landed on him.

London, May 12, 2024...
Arthur was extremely nervous. There were inconspicuous Auror teams located all along his route, but this would be the longest he had ever actually wandered around in a muggle area. He was supposedly just "walking his dog", but the dog wasn't a dog, it was a Crup. At first glance, it was a standard Jack Russell terrier except that it had a forked tail which, on this particular crup hadn't been cropped.

Arthur had been through weeks of training with the crup so that the animal wouldn't automatically try to attack every muggle they came near and Arthur had learned how to better control his charge.

The plan was to saunter along in the area around Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. At one point along his route, there were some old automobile tires that had been carefully placed so that the crup could be seen eating them. Arthur had the crup on a leash to help control it in case it became inclined to chase down and eat anything it shouldn't, like someone else's pet or a muggle toddler.

Arthur wasn't sure, but he thought some of the Aurors might also be nervous.

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, May 16, 2024...
Daniel sat at Harry's desk and had been handling all his routine paperwork since this morning. His father was only a dragon call away if he was needed but Daniel was determined to finish the day without calling on his father. He had asked for more responsibility for his birthday and this is what he got, shoved in his father's office to handle the Dragon Nation's affairs for the day.

"Hand delivery for The Weyrleader," announced Jeofrey as he walked in with a large covered bucket.

"Just put it here by the desk if you would, please," said Daniel, as he tried to figure out who should be the next watch dragon.

Jeofrey set the bucket down near Daniel and quickly walked out. Daniel glanced at the bucket, but it didn't seem all that unusual. The cover over the top almost looked like a wrapped plate though.

"That smells delicious," said Gemioth, sniffing at the top of the just delivered bucket. "There isn't enough for more than a small taste though."

"Leave it alone," said Daniel, distractedly. "It was delivered for The Weyrleader. That's Dad, not me."

"Aren't you acting in his place? Doesn't that make you The Weyrleader, at least for today?"

"I don't think so," said Daniel, slightly annoyed at the distraction. "Please don't bother me, I'm trying to get these assignments just right. It's trickier than I'd thought."

Spath's Weyr, The Weyrleader's Inner Office, several hours later...
"Daniel, I can hear noises coming from the bucket. Is it dangerous?" asked Gemioth, curiously. "Shouldn't you at least take a look?"

"Alright," said a frustrated Daniel. "Maybe a break will allow me to finally finish this paperwork."

Daniel lifted the cover off the top of the bucket only to find it full of fine sand. He touched the sand with his finger and found it surprisingly warm. He turned his attention to the cover only to find it contained small pieces of chopped meat in an insulated container.

"What could this be, Gemi?" asked Daniel, curiously. "It doesn't look dangerous."

Just then the sand in the bucket rippled and bulged upward, startling Daniel. Gemioth moved his head closer to get a better look. There was another, more violent ripple in the sand.

"There's something in here!" exclaimed Daniel, wondrously. "I'd better uncover it or it might suffocate!"

Daniel gently probed at the sand until he found a large, cracked egg. As he pulled it out, it moved in his hand and, suddenly, a tiny dragon-looking head broke through. Daniel and the fire lizard looked at each other and all Daniel understood was 'hunger'. Quickly he grabbed some of the meat from the insulated container as the fire lizard freed itself from the rest of the egg. Daniel thrust the meat in front of the small mouth and his offering disappeared.

The tiny dragon was insatiable! It crawled up, onto his arm to gain better access to the food being offered, wrapping its tail around his forearm tightly. For the next ten minutes, he feed the tiny lizard as fast as it could take the food until its tiny stomach was so distended it looked like a balloon. The last bite he had offered was now firmly grasped in the tiny dragon's mouth as it slept. He had tried to remove it but the fire lizard just clamped down on it tighter as it slept.

"That was interesting," said Gemioth. "Was I that gluttonous when I hatched?"

"Worse," said Daniel, distractedly. "Blood went everywhere, but at least I didn't have to feed you by hand. What do you think of this?"

"I think you have just impressed a fire lizard," said Gemioth, matter of factly. "He's a Bronze."

"What should we call him?" asked Daniel. "He didn't give me his name when he hatched like you did."

"Fire lizards don't seem to be smart enough to know their own names," said Gemioth, smugly. "Why don't we call him Gemonth?"

"Why Gemonth?" asked Daniel, curiously.

"It's a proper dragon name. If he's to be your fire lizard, he needs a proper dragon name so he doesn't embarrass a future leader of the Dragon Nation."

"I don't know about future leader," said Daniel, "but Gemonth sounds like a fine name. We will let him know when he wakes up."

Just then Harry walked into the office.

"Dad! I'm sorry! This was delivered for you, but it hatched and I couldn't do anything but feed it!" exclaimed Daniel.

"Don't get so upset," soothed Harry. "It was meant for you. When Yuko Isikara found out it was your birthday, he insisted this be delivered to you. Your mothers and I decided how that would be done."

"So it was mine all along?" asked Daniel, wonderingly.

"That's right. Welcome to the Brotherhood of Fire Lizard Owners," said Harry. "You now get to learn the joys of caring for a demanding, voracious, playful creature that is smarter than the average cat but not quite intelligent enough to be classed as an intelligent species. They can be a real handful but also a real help if you raise him right.

"Now, how did it go today? If I remember correctly, you were determined to whip the watch schedules into shape."

"I got close, Dad, but then this bucket, that I thought was delivered for you, started making noises ..."

"Yeah, gotta hate those noisy buckets," laughed Harry. "Were you able to make any progress at all?"

"Actually, I almost finished. I was just trying to figure out how to incorporate your staff when I got interrupted."

"That's great," said Harry, enthusiastically. "I never schedule my staff in any case. It's part of their job to randomly check on the watch themselves and they determine when they should do that. They try to show up unexpectedly to help keep things interesting."

"Now you tell me!" exclaimed Daniel. "I've been working on it for hours!"

"Well, you did want to see what I went through on a standard day. If it hadn't been the watch schedule, something else would have cropped up. I plan on having you continue to work around the Weyr until you have a really good feel for how things are run. If you have ideas about how to improve things, come see me and we will discuss it. Sometimes we just do something because we haven't figured out an easier way. Other times we do things a certain way because nothing else seemed to work.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to slot you into one of the Flights as a temporary wingman for one of the experienced Units. You'll stay there for at least a month so you can get a feel for how the Flights work. After that, we'll talk some more."

A remote Cothold, East of Bane's Hold, June 16, 2024...
Linoth appeared out of Between above a small cothold, fast to the East of Bane's Hold. Mary anxiously scanned the area for any movement as Linoth landed near the door to the small building.

"I'd better get these buckets inside," said Mary, nervously. "I hope someone shows up soon. These are all close to hatching!"

Mary carefully levitated 7 buckets full of hot rocks, sand, and fire lizard eggs down from Linoth's back and walked with them as they followed her like baby ducks as she went over to the small building. No one was in sight, so Mary opened the door and carefully moved her charges over to the fireplace, and set them down carefully on the hearth.

She removed the lids from each bucket and placed the insulated container of prepared meats nearby. She needed to stay until someone returned or these eggs would hatch and the fire lizards would go wild. She nervously sat in a chair facing the fireplace.

It was almost an hour later that the first egg hatched.

"I think you should get the meat ready," said Linoth, calmly. "One of your eggs is hatching."

"No, it can't hatch now! The people who need it aren't here yet!" exclaimed a very distressed Mary. "One dragon is enough, I don't need two!"

"Regardless," said her dragon, "the hatching will not wait. You must be ready."

Mary opened the food container and pulled out a piece of meat and pulled the offending bucket closer to the chair where she sat. Gently she brushed away the surface sand until the violently shaking egg was revealed. Abruptly, a small golden, leathery head was thrust through the egg. Mary thrust the food towards the small fire lizard as it broke free from the rest of the shell. The small lizard gobbled down the morsel and then leapt onto her arm as she offered it more.

"What will we call her?" asked Mary. "I understand we have to give it a name now."

"Why not Birlanth?" asked Linoth, reasonably.

"Birlanth it is," said a flustered Mary. "Will these people never get here! Linoth, please contact Isikara and tell him what is happening. Maybe he knows where the people are who are supposed to get these fire lizards."

"Bonth says they are looking for them," replied Linoth. "He says to just relax and take care of any fire lizards that hatch. They will supply more if necessary."

That's when all the rest of the eggs quickly follow suit and started to hatch almost all at once. Soon Mary was surrounded by fluttering wings, ravenous appetites, and piteous cries for food. A little over half an hour later, an exhausted Mary was surveying the damages when Yuko Isikara walked through the door. He took one look at seven very fat, fire lizards sleeping as close as they could get to Mary and he started laughing.

"What's so darned funny!" exclaimed Mary, grumpily. "I was supposed to deliver these for someone else to impress. What am I supposed to do with seven fire lizards!"

"You're 'supposed' to take care of them and love them so they can grow up to be mature fire lizards," said Isikara, chuckling. "Granted, this wasn't supposed to happen, but it did. You are now the proud owner of seven tiny dragons. Have you named them yet?"

Mary just covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"The family that was supposed to be here went to a gather!" explained Isikara, with a disgusted look. "They will now have to suffer from treehoppers for a while longer until we have more fire lizard eggs. Don't worry, I'm sure you and they will survive."

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, July 20, 2017...
Albus Orion Potter sat and watched his sister jealously. She had seven fire lizards SEVEN! Even though she allowed him to help her feed them, he still didn't have any of his own and wouldn't be allowed to have any until after he left Hogwarts. Today was his eleventh birthday and his magical coming of age. Both mothers, his older brother and sister, ten fire lizards, and all five dragons were present for this special day in Albus' life.

"Albus Orion Potter, you are 11 years old today. Do you know what that means?" asked Harry.

"Yes, sir, I do. I am considered old enough to be able to control my own magic on Pern. It also means that I will be starting school in September," replied Albus.

Harry reached out his hand and wandlessly removed the magic limiting charm.

When he had done that, May picked up a long thin box and handed it to Albus. Daniel looked at it eagerly, this was his first wand. He accepted it and unwrapped it.

"This is your first wand," explained Harry. "I used a Boron laced Pern Oak for the wood and layered in stripes from the scales of Chekiath and Trath to create it. This will be the closest match for you until you impress your own dragon and use his scales to create your own wand."

Albus' eyes widened with pleasure. He didn't need a wand but knew that some wizards couldn't do magic without one.

"On Pern, you are now considered a Junior Wizard," said Harry. "You will use your time as a Junior Wizard to prove you are capable of and deserving of the honor of being allowed to practice magic. You must never use your powers to harm another unless your life or another's is in danger. If you do, your magic will be permanently suppressed. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, I understand," responded Albus calmly. He had never had any accidental magic because of Harry's limiting spell but had periodically been allowed to practice his spells with Harry and Hermione. No one had ever told him his magic could be taken away, but it made sense. Something as powerful as magic couldn't be allowed to remain available to someone who would misuse it.

The five dragons touched their noses to their bonded partner's backs. Ten fire lizards landed on various people in the group. The humans joined hands, and Harry invoked the spell which joined them all just a little closer together. Now any of them would know if any of the rest needed help, particularly Albus. His eyes got wider yet as he felt the magic and love course through him from the others.

"You will be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Earth, however, and they do not consider you to be a full wizard until you graduate. They do not have the status of Junior Wizard. You should try to hide your wandless spellcasting ability while you are there, as it gives you a protective advantage if others don't know about it," explained Harry. "When I went there, it seemed like my life was constantly in danger and I always seemed to get injured. I don't think that will happen with you but forewarned is forearmed. Neither Daniel nor Mary had any problems, so I don't expect you will either.

"If you are ever uncomfortable about anything, there are always dragons stationed around the school. Contact one and get their help if you need it or they can send word to us and we will be there as fast as we can. You probably won't need any help, but it's better to have it available and not need it than need it and not have it.

"We all love you and want you to always be healthy and happy."

Albus smiled broadly as another wave of feelings surged through him. He was excited to finally become a Junior Wizard but this was even better. He would do everything in his power to make his family proud of him. He couldn't wait for his younger sister's birthday so she could become a part of this special family bonding.

Sakushima Hold, July 30, 2024...
Yuko Isikara was airborne over with his Division of Dragonriders, waiting for threadfall coming in over the ocean to the east. They were supposed to get the southern edge of the fall but most of it would be over the ocean. He looked down and could actually see quite a few fish swirling in the water below as they waited for free food. He had no idea how they knew thread would be falling in this area, but they did.

He didn't actually need an entire Division of dragons, but it never hurt to get some practice in. His fire lizard was seated regally in front of him on Rolbirth, who thought it was funny that "a dragon riding dragon-back" should go to fight thread.

There, in the distance, they could see the dark silvery veils of thread on the horizon and the roiling sea beneath as the sea creatures rose to the bounty falling from above. As the line of thread approached closer, Isikara sent a call to all dragons to tighten their lines and prepare to engage. Just then Noritoki, Isikara's fire lizard, saw the thread and started fluttering wildly, trying to escape Rolbirth's sticking charm. Isikara reached out and placed his hand on the fire lizard and sent calming thoughts his way. Just before they entered the threadfall, Noritoki settled down a little but was still trembling.

After the first pass, Noritoki calmed down quite a bit when he realized he was safe with his big brother. He even tried to flame the distant thread from his position on Rolbirth's back but was unsuccessful for two reasons; he was too far away from the thread to do any good, and he hadn't chewed any firestone.

After the third pass, the trailing edge of the fall was well past any land. Isikara leveled his Division out and had them fly well aft of the trailing edge so they could observe their next experiment. There, in the distance beyond the leading edge of thread, they could see the SPS Dronth sailing slowly east towards Sakushima Hold. There was no movement above decks, as everything was sealed up tight against thread. This would be their "trial-by-fire" as it were. They were purposely sailing towards threadfall to test that they were truly safe from this global menace.

As they watched, thread started to fall on the gigantic ex-aircraft carrier. There was a large wooden structure on the forward flight deck, purposely placed there to gauge how quickly thread destroyed organic matter. When the first thread hit, the structure literally vanished as the thread ate through the unprotected biological material. Nothing else was susceptible to the thread, so they could see thread wriggling on the flight deck until it died of starvation, withered into a black powder, and was blown off the deck by the wind of the ship's passage.

By the time the SPS Dronth reached the extended pier leading to Sakushima Hold and docked, threadfall was well out to sea and no longer a threat.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Aug 19, 2024...

Emma sat and watched her family quietly. Today was her eleventh birthday and her magical coming of age. Both mothers, her older brothers and sister, ten fire lizards, and all five dragons were present for this special day in Emma's life.

"Emma Lily Potter, you are 11 years old today. Do you know what that means?" asked Harry.

"Yes, sir, I do. I am considered old enough to be able to control my own magic on Pern. It also means that I will be starting school in September," replied Emma.

Harry reached out his hand and wandlessly removed the magic limiting charm.

When he had done that, May picked up a long thin box and handed it to Emma. Emma looked at it calmly, this was her first wand. She accepted it and, opening the box, removed the wand.

"This is your first wand," explained Harry. "I used a Boron laced Pern Oak for the wood and layered in stripes from the scales of Chekiath and Comaloth to create it. This will be the closest match for you until you impress your own dragon and use her scales to create your own wand."

Emma smiled. She knew that, unlike her, some wizards couldn't do magic without one.

"Yes, I do," responded Emma calmly. She had never had any accidental magic because of Harry's limiting spell but had periodically been allowed to practice her spells with Harry and Hermione. No one had ever told her magic could be taken away, but it made sense.

The five dragons touched their noses to their bonded partner's backs. Ten fire lizards landed on various people in the group. The humans joined hands, and Harry invoked the spell which joined them all just a little closer together. Now any of them would know if any of the others needed help, particularly Emma. Her eyes got wider yet as she felt the magic and love course through her from all her family.

"We all love you and want you to always be healthy and happy."

Emma smiled broadly as another wave of feelings surged through her. She was excited to finally become a Junior Wizard but this was even better. She would do everything in his power to make her family proud of her.

Spath's Weyr, Harry's Quarters, Later...
Harry had been thinking about this for some time and his thoughts finally crystallized into action. Harry's eyes glazed over. "Dragons, hear me," he called. Every dragon in the Weyr fell silent at Harry's call. The newest riders looked startled at the idea that Harry could talk to every dragon on the planet at one time. They knew about the ability but had never seen it in action before. They could clearly hear him in their minds. His voice seemed to ride on a wave of power and they could easily believe it would carry around the globe to every dragon on the planet.

"I have been thinking for some time about the problem facing our unbonded dragons," Harry began. "They want riders, yet cannot have them and feel a sense of uselessness because of this. We have tried to replace bonded riders with the idea of Family with some success, but our unbonded brothers and sisters still feel left out.

"Today, I finally realized that our unbonded dragons represent the future of all dragon-kind! Our bonded dragons are slowly reverting in certain aspects to become more like Pern-standard. Right now, only their coloring is changing but there is no way to tell if that will be the only change. Our unbonded dragons remain our link to all those millennia of changes the original dragons went through to become Earth-standard. If we lose our unbonded dragons, there is a distinct possibility we may lose many, if not all, those beneficial changes!

"I would like to request that our unbonded brothers and sisters work more closely with any and all humans capable of bonding. Form tight bonds of friendship instead of an impression bond. You are important to all of us. We still need you!

"Just as your fire lizard cousins are a link to any intelligent species, our unbonded dragons are a link to our past and quite probably to our continued future."

Harry shook with exhaustion as he broke the connection and he heard an echo of many hundreds of dragon voices acknowledging his orders. This was the longest he had ever addressed all dragons at once and it was tiring.

"Cheki, would you please pass on to Hermione to write up what I just sent for transmission to all Earth-based dragons as well?" asked Harry, tiredly.

"Will do, Harry," replied Cheki.

Harry would find out when the next courier arrived that his message had automatically been re-transmitted by Daniel.

London, Earth, King's Cross Station, Platform 9¾, Sept 1, 2024...
Harry and most of his family had finally arrived on the platform for the Hogwarts Express. They had gone shopping the day before in Hogsmeade to pick up everything Albus and Emma would need their first year in school.

Both Harry, Hermione, and May were extremely proud of their children for the way they handled themselves.

As Harry handed Albus his old cage with Hedwig in it, he reached in to quickly comfort his old friend. He had a feeling Hedwig wasn't going to last much longer. While he had made many new friends, he still felt that Hedwig was one of his first and one of the most loyal. He would hate to see her finally go Between. Hermione looked like she was doing her best not to cry as she cuddled a bit with her old Familiar, Crookshanks, before handing him to Emma.

Both Familiars were nearing the end of their lives but they had jumped at the chance to come out of retirement and help another generation of Potter children. The protection amulet Harry had given them before was still active.

They walked up to one of the doors leading into one of the middle cars and everyone started hugging everyone else. As they finally broke off, Harry turned to look at their two young adults.

"You've got the Galleons for any special needs, right?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Dad," they both echoed as if from long practice.

"We'll see you there," said Hermione. "I hope you make some new friends on the train."

Harry, Hermione, and May were not at all sad that they would again be seeing their children walk into Hogwarts and sit under the sorting hat.

The three adults stood on the platform and watched their children get comfortable in their chosen carriage as the train slowly filled up with a noisy gaggle of children. Harry kept looking for any of his old friends but didn't recognize anyone, which was probably a good thing.

Once the train left, they made their way out of the station to where their dragons were waiting for them to fly to Hogwarts. Daniel and Mary had gone on to Hogwarts. They planned to teach their fire lizards to deliver mail to their siblings.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland, Sept 1, 2024...
Hamanth had let Minerva know that one of her favorite students was again on his way to visit along with his wives. She had hurried down to the main entrance along with Professor Flitwick and Charlie Weasley and they were standing on the steps outside the doors, looking to the west, hoping to see them arrive.

Suddenly three huge dragons appeared, backdropped by the Forbidden Forest. She waved to them happily.

"I see our guests have finally arrived," commented Professor Flitwick.

"Yes, Filius," responded Minerva. "It's been way too long!"

Minerva, Professor Flitwick, and Charlie Weasley, Hogwarts Instructor for the past 18 years, watched as the three dragons gently settled down on the wide lawn in front of the doors.

Harry and May easily slid down from their dragons. Hermione was a little slower but felt much more in control since she had started using a mild levitation spell to control her descent. Once they were all on the ground and had stowed their gloves and helmets, they walked towards the small welcoming committee.

"Welcome, Harry," said Minerva. "Your two eldest are already here, catching up with some of their friends. Their tiny dragons seem to be having fun chasing the ghosts around the castle."

"Is that a problem?" asked Harry. "If so, we can make sure it stops."

"Not now it isn't," replied Minerva. "But we can't have that kind of distraction when the students show up."

"Clarence," called Harry.

The sorting hat flew out of a window high on the castle and landed on Harry's head. "Yes, Mr. Potter," responded the sorting hat.

"Do you have any control at all over the castle's ghosts?" asked Harry.

"Some," replied Clarence. "If something important is going on, I can usually get them to behave."

"Can we try an experiment, Clarence?" asked Harry. "There are a bunch of fire lizards chasing ghosts around the castle. I would like to find out if the lizards will stop playing if the ghosts do."

"That shouldn't be hard to arrange," replied Clarence. With that, the sorting hat flew back into the castle.

The six adults walked through the entrance only to see a ghost 'standing' still next to one of the walls as a fire lizard dove for it. The ghost didn't move and the fire lizard banged right into the wall, falling into Harry's outstretched hand.

"They can't be caught," Harry softly told the stunned blue fire lizard. "You might want to warn the others before they get hurt as well."

The tiny blue dragon looked at Harry, shook itself, and leapt back into flight towards the main hall. When the six adults entered the main hall, all the dragons were perched on one of the chandeliers, studiously ignoring the ghosts.

"Well!" exclaimed Minerva. "That certainly didn't take much. I wish we could teach our students so quickly!"

Harry, Hermione, and May enjoyed the morning and early afternoon filled with visits with the friends they had made at Hogwarts while teaching there seven years previously. Although they hadn't come back to teach since then, their legacy had been carried on by the Hogwarts staff.

Charlie Weasley had continued the once-a-year introduction to dragons by holding a special "How to Fly without a Broom" class based on the one Hermione had taught. If anything, the dragons enjoyed it more than the children.

Charlie also used the equipment May and Harry had donated to help care for the dragons in his care. After she left the last time, he had finally taken the time to earn his degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Royal Veterinary College in London, May's old school. The Hogwarts Weyr had become famous amongst the Earth dragons as one of the best places to visit due to the loving care they were shown while there. Charlie had more than redeemed himself in the eyes of the dragons, he no longer felt guilty, and he was finally happy.

Harry's "Defense Against the Dark Arts" class had been taken over by a group of teachers, including Professor McGonagall. Their course had become so good that Auror forces worldwide sent them their patrolmen for new and remedial training. Now, instead of having two groups, Aurors and students, they were all mixed together.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland, Later that evening...
Harry, Hermione, and May sat at the head table as befit their status as Honorary Professors of Hogwarts. Daniel and Mary sat at their House's tables and quickly became the center of excited conversations. They were both careful to keep their fire lizards quiet and way up on top of one of the chandeliers near the entrance. They didn't want anyone knowing about them until they delivered their first mail.

Sam, Harry's brown was sitting quietly on Harry's back and shoulder, his tail wrapped loosely around Harry's strong neck and his head resting on Harry's shoulder, looking out at the excitement below.

Gonlenth, May's green was similarly situated but was resting more on the top of her head than her shoulder. All the fire lizards were extremely well behaved, as they seemed to understand how important it was to their fair leader. Fire lizards didn't have the ability to become invisible but they could be very unobtrusive when necessary.

Harry, Hermione, and May watched closely as the 1st year students entered the Main Hall through the big double doors at the other end of the hall.

Emma felt resolute but was also very conscious of those around her. She helped a student who had stumbled, whispering quiet words of encouragement until the young girl calmed enough to continue on her own. She had heard tales from the rest of her family about what to expect, so wasn't as enthralled as someone who wasn't prepared for the sights of the huge dining hall when they entered. She patiently waited as the line slowly snaked its way along and tried to help others where she could.

Albus had heard the same stories that Emma had, but he just took them as stories, so the entire experience was more overwhelming for him. He wandered forward without paying much attention to anyone or anything around him. He was smart enough to try to hold his sister's hand as much as possible, so she could guide him along as he stared, almost mesmerized by the interesting sights around him.

Finally, they reached the front of the line ...

"Albus Orion Potter," called Professor McGonagall, as she lifted Clarence so Albus could sit on the stool.

Albus had no sooner stepped forward and sat down than Clarence jammed down on top of Albus' head.

"Hmm, brave like a Gryffindor, patient like a Hufflepuff, intelligent like a Ravenclaw, and resourceful like a Slytherin," muttered Clarence to himself but so Albus could overhear. "You know your namesake was in Gryffindor?"

"I'm not sure I would be able to live up to his reputation," muttered Albus, quietly.

"Well, there is always Ravenclaw, your sister's House," suggested Clarence. "You are definitely intelligent enough for it."

"That's all I need, to have to outperform my sister!"

"Well, there is Hufflepuff," said Clarence. "It might be hard work, but it would be worth it."

"That doesn't sound like much fun," said Albus. "I want to enjoy my stay, while I'm here."

"Well, that only leaves one ..."

"WAIT!"

"Slytherin!" exclaimed Clarence.

A shocked Albus stood from the stool and walked over to the Slytherin table to meet those he would be spending the next seven years with. Slytherin! His father had told many tales about his problems with other students from this house and now he had been sorted into it simply because he didn't understand how the sorting worked. He had sat there for what seemed like a long time with strange thoughts fluttering through his head. He had countered each until there was only one left. Now what was he going to do!

"Interesting choice," said Harry to Minerva, with a smile. "I hope you are up for it! It took a long time too. Is that what you call a Hat Rack?"

"A Potter in Slytherin!" said a shocked Headmistress. "Um, yes. Sometimes it takes longer than others for Clarence to make a decision. We call that a hat rack because Clarence stays on their head for longer than usual.

Meanwhile, Emma had sat on the stool and Clarence almost immediately said, "Hufflepuff!"

"Looks like the Potter family has all four houses covered then," said May with a laugh. "Does this mean that we are going to have our own House Rivalry when the children are home?" she added suddenly concerned.

"I'm sure it will be alright," said Harry, complacently. "Something caused Clarence to choose Slytherin. Whatever it was, they are lucky to have him. I have a feeling the Slytherins will never be quite the same!"

"I'm not sure I'll be able to survive a Potter in Slytherin!" exclaimed Minerva, dolefully.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" asked May, suspiciously. "How much trouble can young pre-teens get into?"

Minerva just looked at May as if she had two heads. Harry and Hermione started to laugh hysterically.

Hogwarts Weyr, Much later that evening...
Harry, Hermione, and May were having some final quiet time with their youngest children before they left for Pern … or they were trying to. Albus and Emma were in close conference with Daniel and Mary about something they didn't seem to want their parents to know about. Harry looked startled for a moment and then started to chuckle softly. His wives looked at him like he was crazy.

"What is the matter with you?" asked Hermione, angrily. "This is the last we will see of our children for months and you are laughing!"

"Yeah," said May, supporting Hermione. "What is so funny?"

Harry motioned for them to step outside the Weyr's entrance and started walking towards the front of the castle. His two wives followed, mystified.

"I asked Gemioth what was going on and he told me," said Harry with a soft laugh.

"OK, so what is so funny?" asked Hermione, getting more and more annoyed with Harry.

"They are making plans to deliver 'Owl Mail' to Albus and Emma using their fire lizards," explained Harry. "They don't want us to know, because they think we will stop them."

"Of course we'll stop them," stated Hermione.

"No, we won't," commanded Harry, looking directly at Hermione.

Hermione and May were both taken aback by Harry's forcefulness on the matter but had the sense to wait for him to continue.

"As far as pranks go, this is fairly benign," said Harry, after taking a calming breath. "I will let Clarence know and he can ensure no real damage is done, the kids will get a certain amount of notoriety, and they will start the year with everyone else wishing they could get 'Dragon Mail' too. As a way to break the ice and get others to want to know them, it's ingenious.

"It was all Albus' idea, no wonder Clarence put him in Slytherin!"

Hermione and May thought about what Harry had said as he sent word to Clarence about the upcoming visit. Once he was through, they went back to the Weyr to rejoin their four children.

"Comaloth, would you ask Hamanth to let Minerva know what is going to happen to her school soon?" asked Hermione. "I can't stop it but I feel it's the least I can do to warn her."

Hermione looked up and saw Harry watching her with a small smile on his lips. Not for the first time did she wonder if he in fact overheard all such conversations as she had just had with Comaloth. If he did, he never let on.

Hogwarts Dining Room, Sept 9, 2024...
School had been in session now for a little over a week and most of the children were settling in fairly well with only a few minor problems. Professor McGonagall looked down from the head table as the children were finishing up their breakfast prior to going to their first class of the day.

Before they were dismissed, one more aspect of Hogwarts school life was about to burst in on them and surprise the first-year students; the very first Owl Post of the school year was due to arrive shortly and Minerva was feeling a bit anxious. Hamanth had contacted her over a week ago with a vague warning from Hermione, but there had been no details other than it had something to do with the Owl Post and her two newest Potters.

Suddenly owls seemed to materialize from nowhere, when in fact, they had flown in through the many windows, high up on the walls. They flew down low over the students' heads and started dropping mail here and there so it landed in front of the intended recipients. There were letters and large and small packages, each landing exactly where it was supposed to go as if by magic, which it was, Owl magic.

During the height of the deliveries, three small winged forms suddenly appeared in the midst of the flurry of owls. There was a small pop of displaced air and snowflakes seemed to fall from the air near where the tiny forms appeared.

The bronze fire lizard made directly for Albus, only to fly right in front of a snowy owl trying to deliver a small package. There would have been a collision but the bronze went Between and reappeared on Albus' arm. Albus reached out and removed the letter from the fire lizard's leg and gave it a large piece of leftover bacon which the tiny dragon gobbled down with relish before jumping up and going Between again to return home.

Albus opened the letter and smiled. All it said was "Done!"

The green fire lizard appeared on Emma's arm and Emma pulled a letter from the tiny leg before the fire lizard also jumped up and went Between. Her letter said basically the same but it also had a number, "30".

The brown fire lizard went to the head table and fluttered in front of Minerva a moment before it alighted on the table in front of her. Minerva distractedly removed the letter from the small leg and fed him some of her bacon, but he just sat there.

Slightly distracted, she opened the letter:

Minerva,
Sorry for the method of this delivery but I figured that my two children shouldn't be the only ones to be held in awe by the entire student body. You have now received your first 'Dragon Mail' delivered by my brown fire lizard, Sam.

He has been carefully coached to wait for a reply to maximize the opportunity for others to see what is happening. Just scribble anything out on a piece of parchment or paper, roll it up and offer it to him. He will take it and bring it back to me.

What I want to warn you about is the fact that Albus and Daniel arranged to have a bunch of fire lizard eggs delivered to Hogwarts. I don't know how they managed to talk him into it, but Yuko Isikara has agreed to deliver 30 eggs to Albus and Emma sometime in the next two weeks. I have a feeling that they already have specific people they want to give the eggs to.

I have arranged for two very special eggs to be delivered to you personally. Each will be in its own small bucket of warm gravel and sand with your name on one and Filch's name on the other. If you keep them in the buckets until they hatch, they should do fine. If he has an egg too, he can't very well complain about all the others now, can he? I understand he recently lost his cat, Mrs. Norris, and you can tell him I hope he will accept this as a poor replacement for her. It may help him somewhat get over his grieving.

Please tell him that, as a student, I was terrified of him and tried to stay as far away as I could, but, as an adult, I respect the thankless job he performed and hope this small token of a fire lizard egg will help him forgive all the problems I caused him while I was there.

I cannot guarantee exactly when the eggs will arrive, but they should hatch within about a week of their arrival. On the back of this note, you will find basic care and feeding instructions for a newly hatched fire lizard. More detailed information will be sent with the eggs. The biggest thing that must be done is to ensure they are kept warm. The buckets should take care of that.

There is an unexpected advantage to what is happening. As far as I know, this is the first-ever documented cooperation between all four houses since the school was originally formed! Don't hesitate to bring that to the students' attention.

I hope the fire lizards don't cause too much distraction, but they must stay very close to their bonded human for their first few months of life. If there is any problem, please ask Hamanth to get in touch with me and I will come help sort things out.

Best Regards,
Harry Potter

Minerva quickly conjured a small piece of parchment and wrote a note on it before rolling it up and offering it to the tiny brown dragon. Sam solemnly accepted the note before leaping up and going Between. When Minerva looked up, the entire population of the room was looking at her in awe, including Albus and Emma.

"It appears breakfast is over," she stated using a sonorus charm. "Classes are due to start shortly, I suggest you all make your way to your first class of the day quickly and quietly."

Harry,
Thank you for the warning and the coming gift. I'm sure Mr. Filch will be most appreciative of your kind gift and the kind words in your note. Contrary to appearances, he is a dear man who really cares.
Love,
Minerva

Hogwarts, Dining Hall, Sept 15, 2024...
Minerva looked out over the students waiting for her to give her nightly pre-dinner talk and she couldn't feel prouder of her students. All four houses had coordinated the 'Fire Lizard Incursion' to 'secretly' bond 30 fire lizards to key staff and students, so that the students who brought them in, Albus and Emma, could have a fire lizard of their own. Her own Gold Queen currently lay on her shoulder, already so stuffed she couldn't move.

Minerva stood and gestured to all the students below her and said, "This past two weeks has been unique in the history of Hogwarts. All four houses have shown an unprecedented order of cooperation in trying to 'illegally' import a non-standard familiar, fire lizards, into the school.

"What none of you knew was that your entire plan had been compromised even before it really got started, but we allowed you to continue to see where it took you. You all see the results before you. There are 30 fire lizards in this hall right now. The remaining two are bonded to Mr. Filch, who couldn't be happier with 'his' students, both current and past. Your original plan called for one of your precious fire lizard eggs to go to Mr. Filch so he would turn a blind eye to any of your activities required to raise a fire lizard in the school. What you didn't know was that Mr. Filch and I both received a gift of an egg each from a Hogwarts alumnus, along with fairly detailed plans of the coming insurrection.

"While it would have been fairly simple to derail your plans, we decided to allow them to continue to the benefit of school esprit de corps. Our entire student body this year has accomplished something truly unique in the entire history of the school. You have cooperated with each other, openly, honestly, and with integrity. A fact that I'm sure would have made our founding fathers, and mother, proud.

"With that in mind, I hereby award 50 house points each to the Houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin for cooperation above and beyond the call of duty. I also award an additional 50 house points to Albus Orion Potter and Emma Lily Potter as the instigators of this particular global student action, as well as one free pass, good for their entire seven years here, that will allow them out of one detention or any other form of scholarly punishment.

"It is my understanding, after reading some documentation provided with our eggs, that fire lizards mature in 2 years, so we may start to see mating flights and egg clutches shortly after that time. With that in mind, I have asked our Hogwarts Weyr dragons to create several small fire lizard-sized hatching chambers for future use. It is my intention that any eggs so produced should be used solely for the benefit of the school. I would also like every student who has one of the hatching buckets provided with your eggs to turn them in to Mr. Filch for future use.

"I will require those with fire lizards to maintain exceptional control over their charges or they will be required to remove the fire lizards from school. If they are not able to do that, they will be asked to leave the school until such a time as they can control them.

There were gasps at this, as some of the students were already having a little trouble with their lizards.

"You got them in here as a team effort, I'm sure that you will be able to keep them here the same way, by helping those who need guidance in training or otherwise controlling their new responsibilities.

"That ends my announcement for this evening. Let the meal begin!"

At her words, the tables filled with food, and the students started eating and talking together. Minerva reached up and gently scratched her queen's head as it stretched to better receive her ministrations. She had a feeling this would be an exceptionally good year.

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