Ch 7: Reunion

Bournemouth, Present Day (Day 4)

"Bloody Hell!" was all that Ron could blurt out on seeing the sight.

The eleven mile sun-kissed Bournemouth beach was filled with people as usual only none of them were here for a picnic. For just a few yards ahead of where they were gathered; the pier, which until recently had been teeming with people trying to get a closer look at the sea was currently lying crushed under a five-tonne Ukrainian Ironbelly. The beast itself was in deep slumber but the Muggles converged around it were the biggest issue.

"Mrs. Granger-Weasley, please disable all of the Muggle electronic devices while I relieve them of their memories. Mr. Malfoy, I have been told you will take care of the dragon?" Harper; the first to react, inquired skeptically.

"Just stay out of my way." Malfoy snarled.

"Excuse me, it might just be me but don't we have Obliviators to handle this? Why are we here?" Ron said, confused.

Harper stopped in his tracks, looked at Ron like he was a troll and then spoke as if addressing a seven year old;

"Mr. Weasley, the Obliviators are preoccupied, and the Minister suspects your chum will make an appearance here. So stay on guard, it's why you're here."

By this time, Malfoy had conjured up a bell. Hermione winced, she had seen that bell only once before but clearly remembered what it was used for. The dragon peacefully sleeping on the beach was the one from Gringotts who had been missing since the blast. The scars on its flesh were still fresh. Just like its predecessor, it had been blinded and repeatedly lashed to train it to associate the ringing of the bell with pain. Malfoy; who worked with the goblins at Gringotts, had been given the task of recovering it.

However, he looked a little uncertain as he stepped forward with the bell in one hand and his wand raised in the other. By this time, she had completed the spell and a lot of the Muggles groaned as their phones and cameras were disabled. Seeing that she had succeeded; Harper pressed his wand horizontally against his neck and muttered;

"Sonorus."

Then he spoke in a voice that boomed across the beach and caught the attention of all the people around them;

"Attention inhabitants of Earth. We hail from the planet Pandora and come here in peace."

Hermione couldn't be impressed by the tactic. She had repeatedly read as well as witnessed the Muggle infatuation with extraterrestrial life.

Harper continued; "We have come to your world to deliver an important message. I will relay this message through a series of sounds. Please pay your utmost attention."

Saying this, he raised his wand, removing the Amplifying Charm and started muttering something under his breath. With each word; strange music spread from his wand. The Muggles seemed utterly confused at first but gradually, their faces conveyed blank expressions and their shoulders slouched. Soon they all collectively yawned and dropped onto the sand, fast asleep.

"Siren song. That's what they call it. But really it's just the lullaby the merpeople use for their children."

Harper said monotonously on seeing the puzzled look on Hermione's face.

Hearing the chiming of the bells, Hermione looked in the dragon's direction. It had opened its eyes and was cowering away from Malfoy while making sounds that clearly conveyed its fear of the lashes. Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor thing. The treatment it got was nothing short of barbaric. Even Malfoy had an apologetic look on his face as he slowly advanced towards the dragon. Soon he was mere feet away from it and was probably about to conjure something to trap it in when a blinding flash of light hit him on the back of his neck and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

All three of them whirled around with their wands raised to find a giant of a man glaring at them.

He was dressed like a Muggle peasant but was holding a wand aimed at where Malfoy had been. The only other man of that size Ron had seen was Hagrid. But this one had an even longer beard and bushy brows which made him look like a bear. His voice thundered;

"I COMMAND YOU TO STEP AWAY FROM THE DRAGON."

"ON WHOSE AUTHORITY? WHO ARE YOU?" Ron growled.

"ON HIS" the bear/man spoke as he stepped aside to reveal a bespectacled man standing behind him.

Ron's eyes widened to the point that they were ready to pop out of their sockets.

"Harry? Is that you?"

"Wait. Why are you holding female underwear?"