Disclaimer – I solemnly swear that JKR owns everything Harry Potter. Whether or not I am up to no good with her characters is for you to decide.
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Harry Potter: Dragon Whisperer
Chapter 4 – Come Fly With Me
5:50am
Wednesday, 26 July 1995
Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Romania
.
The sun was barely cresting the horizon as Harry trudged up the hill behind Charlie. Exactly why he was walking instead of flying, he wasn't sure, especially as he had his Nimbus Two Thousand on his shoulder. But apparently, this was how it was done to 'wake you up and get your blood pumping ready for the day'.
Right at the top, under the trees where he'd first seen the great canyon the day before, Charlie stopped and rested his own broom against a trunk.
"Right, first things first," Charlie said. "Dragons, the Complete Compendium. This is everything that every dragon handler throughout history has learnt about dragons. It covers everything about dragons – different breeds, keeping them healthy, different illnesses and what to do, even what to do with the body if one dies, if you can think of it, it's in here. Read it, learn it. Most of us can all but recite it from memory."
From his pocket, Charlie pulled out a miniaturised book and tapped it with his wand, turning it into an exact replica of the Handbook that Harry had seen last night. Well, not exactly a replica. This was a brand-new copy; Miko's was old, the edges folded up, the pages all dog-eared and the spine all-but cracked in two.
"Thanks," Harry said, taking the book.
He took a moment to flick through it before noting that Charlie was waiting for him to pay attention again. Passing his hand over the book, Harry closed his eyes and felt his magic, just as Professor Flitwick had told him to. Instantly, the book responded, shrinking down to one sixth of its size and allowing him to stuff it into the pocket of his jeans.
"You, Harry, are just full of surprises," Charlie stated with a shake of his head. "Wandless, wordless magic at your age with less than a year of magical training under your belt. Right, moving on.
"The first task every morning here at the Reserve is a flyby over the Canyon. This gives us a chance to have a basic look at all of the dragons, check that there aren't any problems. After that, we give the okay to those in charge of feeding the dragons to open a section of the wards and allow the dragons out of the canyon for them to go down to the paddocks."
Harry frowned and cocked his head at that.
"You have to open wards for the dragons to come out of the canyon? But Ramaranth brought me back yesterday without you doing anything to the wards," Harry questioned.
"And here's your first big dragon reserve secret," Charlie said, stepping forward, laying one hand on Harrys' shoulder and looking him intently in his eyes. "These reserves are almost a myth. Sure, we have wards up to stop not only muggles from stumbling upon us and from magicals getting in and gaining access to the dragons. But the dragons themselves? The wards might give them a bit of sting and encourage them to stay where we'd like them, but if they really want, they can get out. We're certain that they only stay because they not only know that there's a steady supply of food here but also because they know how dangerous it is out there."
"But not all dragons live in reserves, do they?" Harry asked.
"No, not all," Charlie replied. "There's a handful that live in remote parts of the world, away from humans. But we keep an eye on them as well. At least as best as we can. Mind you, with you joining our ranks, that job might just become a little easier, seeing as you can talk to them."
"Well, that's what I'm here for," Harry grinned at him.
"Exactly, Harry, exactly," Charlie laughed, slapping him on the back before grabbing his broom. "Right, sun's getting higher which means there'll be light starting to reach the bottom of the canyon. Our job is to fly from one end to the other and back again. Nice and slow, don't want to miss anything. Ready?"
Quickly, Harry righted his broom and mounted, barely managing to take to the air a fraction of a second behind Charlie.
Together, the two flyers set off over the canyon, with Harry finding that his attention was being split between looking down while at the same time making sure to be aware of where Charlie was so that he kept up and didn't fly off the wrong way or the wrong speed.
With the sun still low, the canyon was still mostly dark making it difficult to actually differentiate between shadows and the cliff faces themselves. All Harry knew was that he was supposed to be looking for the dragons and specifically, for any problems with them that had developed overnight. Not that he knew what that looked like. He assumed that if there was something, that Charlie would not only point it out but explain what the problem was.
Finally, his eyes began adjusting to the dark and he saw his first movement of the morning right up against the left cliff-face. There wasn't the bulk that he would expect from the body of a dragon, so he could only assume that it was a head? And then it tilted upwards towards them and Harry caught sight of a glint of a dragon eye.
And then, unexpectedly, the dragon came charging out of its cave, its mighty wings unfurling the instant that there was room. A few extra steps was enough for the wings to beat downwards and the dragon to take flight, before quickly angling upwards directly towards them.
"Merlin!" Charlie swore, his broom jerking upwards erratically. "That's not normal. Harry! We need to get out of here, away from the canyon!"
But as urgently as Charlie was barking orders, it was a different voice that had captured Harry's attention.
§Speaker! You have returned. Are you here to see more of our valley§?
"It's alright, Charlie, he's not going to hurt us," Harry said quickly before switching to parseltongue. §Good morning, Great One. I do want to see more of your home§.
The dragon wheeled about in the sky, his wings outstretched as he soared, his head now level with Harry on his broom.
§You honour me, Speaker. My name is Dirzath§, the dragon said. §May I fly with you§?
§Of course, Dirzath§, Harry replied. §You and your friends can fly with me anytime§.
Apparently, that was the exact right thing to say, for what looked to Harry like a smile appeared on the great Ironbelly's face. And then Dirzath let loose with a trumpeting bugle that echoed up and down the canyon.
"Harry?" Charlie asked, his voice warbling as much as his broom was wobbling in the sky.
"It's okay, Charlie. This is Dirzath," Harry said, indicating their flying companion.
"And that bellow?" Charlie asked.
Harry laughed. "He's happy. And letting the rest of the canyon know that we're up here."
"And let me guess, inviting them all to join us?" Charlie asked.
"Not exactly," Harry replied. "That was their own idea."
Up and down the canyon, dragons were appearing from the caves. Some came slowly, others came charging out much like Dirath had done. But no matter how they appeared, what they all had in common was that within seconds, they'd taken to the air. Dragons of all sizes and types filled the canyon, a great flight of them, soaring towards them and taking up formation around the two wizards – to either side, above, behind, in front of them and below.
And as each dragon arrived, they called a greeting to Harry or trumpeted their welcome. And then the dragons in front of them and below shifted, creating a 'hole' in the air in front of them and a passage from below to that spot.
§Ramaranth§! Harry called happily. §And you brought your fledglings. Good morning, Spekith, Harreth, Potteth, Painzz§.
§Give the Speaker your greetings, little ones, § Ramaranth instructed.
The air was filled with four baby dragons chirping away and Harry could only laugh at their enthusiasm for being up in the sky with their brethren.
"Um, Harry, it looks to me if all the dragons are here," Charlie said, nervously eyeing the Longhorn that had its head bobbing up and down less than an arm's length from him as it rose and fell in its flight. "I can see that there aren't any problems. We probably don't need to do this flight today."
Harry looked at the dragon handler amusedly. "You want to tell them that?"
Charlie's Adam's apple visibly moved up and down as he swallowed, looking around at the flight of dragons surrounding them.
"Ah, perhaps not," he replied, fervently shaking his head.
§Speaker, is today a day we can feast§? Dirath asked, sounding hopeful.
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12:50pm
Wednesday, 26 July 1995
Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Romania
.
"Moony!" Sirius boomed, his arms outstretched. "You're finally here!"
"Hello, Sirius," Remus replied with a bemused smile on his face. "You're looking well."
"And why shouldn't I? I'm away from all those stuffy fuddy-duddies back in England and in a dragon reserve of all places with my godson."
"And where is Harry?" Remus asked, looking about the cabin that Sirius was ushering him into and seeing no sign of said teen.
Sirius merely waved a hand towards where Remus had noted a forested hill to be when he arrived. "Off with his dragons. Or is that the dragons are with their Harry?"
Remus blinked at the odd non-sequitur.
"Care to explain that?"
"Well, I guess the easiest way to explain it is to tell you about yesterday," Sirius began. "Harry went down to where the dragons are, to see the one that he met in the First Task, you know, Ramaranth, the one that he painted a picture of."
"Yes, I remember," Remus nodded.
"You should have seen it, Moons. He went down into that canyon and within seconds he was being mobbed! Dozens of dragons flocked to him, all wanting to get close to him. And the noise! Every one of them was, well, Harry says that they were talking to him, but to the rest of us it just sounded like a whole lot of hissing and roars and stuff. It was hours before he came back. And get this. He was riding on Ramaranth's back!"
Once again, Remus blinked and it was only when he felt a small amount of drool beginning to run down his chin that he managed to snap his jaw back into place.
"Humans don't ride dragons," was the only thing that Remus could think to say.
"Yeah, well, that's not true for our Pup!" Sirius beamed.
"Okay, I think I understand what you're saying," Remus replied, shaking his head. "And you say that he's with the dragons now?"
"Yep. He's due back later. I think Alexander, the head dragon handler's, with him this time. Young Charlie Weasley had that honour this morning. Almost came back a gibbering mess."
"I think I'm going to need to see Harry with these dragons of his for myself sometime," Remus stated. "Until then, I'm hoping that you can tell me what my lodging arrangements are?"
The fact that Sirius began looking anywhere but at him had Remus instantly on edge.
"Padfoot? You told me that you'd arranged a place for me to stay."
"Well, it was more that I had every intention of having it sorted before you got here," Sirius said, before continuing in a rush. "And I have a solution. You'll stay here!"
Remus narrowed his eyes at his life-long friend. He knew Sirius. He always had the best of intentions – there was never any doubt about that – but practically … in practice Sirius had this annoying habit of always leaving things until the very last moment. Impulsive, that's what he was. Most likely, he'd thought that arranging things today would be good enough and had promptly found that things didn't work out the way he'd thought they would.
Instead of berating him at that moment, Remus decided to wait until he knew all the facts. With that in mind, he began exploring the cabin. Obviously, there was no place out here in this expanded common area for him to sleep, so he headed for the hallway in the middle of the back wall.
To one side were the kitchen and bathroom. To the other were two bedrooms. The first had a pair of beds, one each against an opposing wall with a small bedside table beside them and a single desk under the window in the middle. On the opposite wall was an inbuilt cupboard. With a sigh at what he knew he was seeing, Remus left that room to look at the final two doors.
The next room along was obviously Harry's, judging by the distinctive trunk and carved figurines on the shelf above the bed. Closing that door, he went to the final room at the end of the hallway. This one was small, barely wide enough for a bed, if one was happy to have a smaller-than-average sized bed. Still …
"I'll take this room," he stated, knowing that Sirius was standing right behind him.
"What? But … but … but that's not a room," Sirius spluttered. "It's barely big enough to be classed as a kid's playroom. No, I've got you set up in with me. It'll be just like back at Hogwarts."
"Yes, that's what I'm afraid of," Remus replied dryly.
"What? We had a fantastic time at Hogwarts!" Sirius protested.
"Most of the time, yes," Remus replied. "But there's no way that I'm putting up with your snoring again."
"Snoring? Moi? You, Sir, have the wrong person!"
Deciding that it was simply easiest to ignore Sirius when he was in that sort of mood, Remus dropped his bag just inside his new room and headed back towards Sirius' room.
"Now, while I'm moving the bed and the desk," Remus said and ploughed right over the top of Sirius' spluttering protests, "you can tell me more about Harry and how his schooling is going to work."
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8:35pm
Wednesday, 26 July 1995
Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Romania
.
The frown on Harry's face told anyone that could see it that he wasn't happy. The way that he was cocking his head first one way and then another, not to mention pacing a few steps to one side, pausing, shaking his head and then taking a few more steps in a different direction before repeating confirmed it. Finally, after nearly ten minutes of moving from spot to spot, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Perfect, he thought.
And then, to ensure that he didn't lose it, he slowly pulled his wand, taking a careful four steps back as he did so.
"Colovaria!" he intoned, imagining the precise Weasley-red of Charlie's hair at the same time.
A beam of red magic left his wand, striking the green grass and changing its colour just as he wanted. Two quick precise swishes produced a red 'X'. After that, it was a simple matter to pull his shrunken easel from his pocket and enlarge it, placing it precisely on the spot that he'd marked before adding one of his larger blank canvases.
A small table was added to the side, one of his own making. This one had one drawer that held his brushes, another for his palettes and a third that contained his chalks and charcoals. The top of the table was actually slightly sunken leaving a rail around its top to keep his various bottles and tubes of paints in place and easy to see and reach at the same time.
Magic, Harry truly believed, was amazing. It allowed him to carry all that he needed so effortlessly and easily, especially when he could shrink it all small enough to fit in his pockets and then quickly return them to their original size with almost nothing but a thought.
Now that he was all set up, Harry stepped just in front of his easel, considering the view once again.
From here on the clifftop, much of the canyon could be seen, giving a sweeping, majestic view. The fact that dozens of dragon caves, not to mention quite a number of the dragons currently sunning themselves in the last rays of the sun could also be seen only added to it.
Movement caught his eye and he shifted his gaze to find the black and bronze of a Hungarian Horntail contrasting perfectly with the orange-tinted sky as it flew by.
With a gasp, Harry let go of the dragon tooth, adorned with a carving of the claw mark with the stylized 'R' of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, that now hung from his neck by a leather thong that he'd been absently fiddling with and raced back around his easel.
Within seconds, a piece of chalk was in his hand and his hand was moving in quick, precise movements as he began capturing the scene before him.
So engrossed was he in his task that he barely even took note when three dragons landed quietly around him, their great necks extending to watch what he was doing.
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7:20pm
Wednesday, 26 July 1995
Minster for Magic's Office, Ministry of Magic, London, England
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The evening edition of The Daily Prophet was all but scrunched into a ball before being thrown across the room at the fireplace. Unfortunately, Cornelius Fudge had never been particularly athletic, let alone a quidditch player and thus, the paper ball, while making the required distance, was off the mark, striking the mantle above and knocking a photo of the Minister standing with the Ministers of Magic for Bulgaria and France to the floor and shattering the glass.
Thankfully, the short, stubby wand of his Undersecretary, Delores Umbridge, was out in a flash. A quick reparo put things to right before Delores picked up the photo and returned it to its rightful place.
"How could this happen?" Cornelius asked himself, his Undersecretary and the room at large as he waved his arms around. "And why is this now our fault."
"As much as we might not like it, the public do not always see matters correctly and in the way that we, their superiors, do," Delores replied. "It is our job to steer the misguided back onto the proper path and show them the way in which we wish them to think."
Cornelius all but ignored her, used to her flowery way of speaking. Long ago, he'd learnt that she had a way of saying absolutely nothing even though the words she used gave one the impression that it was the most important piece of information in the world. Ordinarily, the people ate it up and fell into line, not questioning things that they shouldn't. Which was precisely why he kept her around.
"How were we supposed to control Harry Potter? The-Boy-Who-Lived's a ruddy teenager!" Cornelius continued. "And everyone knows that they have an infuriating habit of doing the complete opposite of whatever an adult tells them to do."
"One would have expected the boy to be grateful to us," Delores agreed in her high, girly, simpering voice. "After all, we practically gave him everything that he wanted: his emancipation, not to mention the right to defer enrolling in Hogwarts for a year. We even backed him on his ridiculous assertion that he didn't have to dress as a respectable wizard. And offered him a job with proper, British dragons if that was what he desired."
"Teenagers! Huh!" Cornelius continued. "That's Hogwart's domain. Dumbledore should have seen this coming and headed him off at the pass. But no, the man had to go and drop the quaffle on this one and let Potter leave the country. To work in a dragon reserve of all places! If anyone's to blame, it's Dumbledore, not us, not the Ministry. And certainly not me!"
"Precisely, Minister," Delores agreed.
It was only then that something that his Undersecretary had said registered. Stopping in his pacing, he slowly turned towards her.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"I was agreeing with you, Minister," Delores replied sweetly.
"No, no, before that," Cornelius said, waving that reply away. "You said something about British dragons."
"Yes, Minister. I was commenting on the fact that if Potter truly wished to work with dragons, then he should have accepted our offer to work for the Ministry," Delores replied. "We even created a whole new Subcommittee within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Animals just to ensure that he would stay within Britain, an invitation that Potter didn't even have the courtesy to answer, if my information is correct."
"What was it again? The Subcommittee for Dragons?" Cornelius asked.
"The Subcommittee for the Regulation and Monitoring of the Dragons of Great Britain," Delores corrected gently. "Of course, we have since disbanded the Subcommittee, reincorporated its resources back into the Department where they belong."
Cornelius' eyes flicked to the crumpled Daily Prophet lying on his carpet. The latest article decrying the loss of The-Boy-Who-Lived and the way the people of Great Britain were angry at their abandonment of him had detailed what was known of the contract that Harry Potter had accepted. All dragon reserves of the world. That was who he was employed with. And there was one word in that that was running over and over through Cornelius' mind at that precise moment. All.
"Delores, who was in charge of that Subcommittee for Dragons?" he asked
"I believe that we had placed Mathilda Grimblehawk as Chair. A witch with ambition but little actual experience, I understand," she replied.
All.
"Get her in my office first thing in the morning and clear the rest of my appointments for the day," Cornelius ordered. "If we're going to fix this and get Harry Potter back in England where he belongs and get the people happy again and stop them from making any more noises for my resignation, then we need to get on top of this and do things properly. And this Mathilda Grimblehawk might just be the witch that we need to accomplish that."