Immediately Billy turned around. Aisha and Colonel were standing behind her, half-grasping the danger of the situation. Billy didn't think twice. She raised her wand, swished and flicked and rapidly levitated Aisha, who in the meantime had grasped Colonel in her arms, back in the tunnel from which they came. Billy glanced back again. The dragon shook its dirt from its back, the tail hitting the wall of the chamber, scattering several rocks across the room. It had spotted Billy.

'Reducto!' she shouted, pointed towards the roof directly above the entrance. A flash of light thundered from her wand and a big pile of stone, dirt and rocks fell down covering the whole entrance. Billy had no time to admire her spellwork, as she felt the mini earthquakes caused by the dragon steps. She spotted the nearest column of dirtstone and leaped herself forward to reach cover in time.

A heatwave followed. Blue jets of fire were streaming past her. Billy knew from her time at Hogwarts that Swedish Snort-Stouts were the most dangerous dragons to encounter. Not only was their blue fire extremely hot, they also were known for the agile flying abilities. She looked up and inspected the roof of the chamber. It was still intact, although a small stream of water came down a few feet near her. Billy stood up, grasped her wand tightly and closed her eyes. If she wanted to stand a chance to live, or, in any case, move from one column to another to make it out alive, this was her chance. She directed the stream of water very carefully, shaping it into a sphere. It was right in front of her, out of sight for the dragon. He had stood still since his first spit of flame. Billy glanced past the column in the direction of the dragon. Instantly, a blaze of fire was directed at her, for which she oould cover herself behind the column just in time. She managed the keep the sphere of water afloat in front of her, closed her eyes as she prayed for luck and sweeped the sphere of water past the column in the direction of the dragon as soon as he stopped spitting fire.

But rather than hitting the dragon, it missed it. The sphere of water splashed against the back wall of the chamber, imploded and came down as a wave of water, covering the whole back floor. The fire resisted extinghuisment, but had to concede. As a result, the whole room turned black. Billy grabbed her chance and started running across the room. She had seen a low mound in the ground near the left wall which gave her a chance to direct spells at the dragon properly. Finding the elevation and hoisting herself up in careful fashion, she had no choice but to wait.

The dragon was startled by the blackness. Billy heard it walking around, snorting and vigorously stepping, giving her an opportunity to locate him by echo. When Billy thought that the dragon was the furthest away, she stretched her arm and pointed the arm in its presumed direction. 'Lumos Solem', she incanted. A jet of yellow sunlight blazed across the room and struck the dragon in the right side of his body. The dragon, dazed by the light and the warmth, moaned loudly. In the brief moment of visibility, she directly shouted 'Vincula Magnum'. Consequently, big chains sweepedthrough the air and as Billy pointed her wand from the dragon to the wall, her spell cast a magical chain around the dragon's neck and back legs which were tied to the back wall. Then again it became pitch-dark. Billy fell on her knees and breathed heavily. She was first and foremost exhausted by having to levitate Aisha and Colonel to safety. It had cost her a lot of energy. From hearing the dragon rumbling the chains Billy supposed she was safe from him. However, it started to fire flames in random directions, enraged by its sudden confinement. She looked at the dragon, tried to get up but repeatedly had to duck for the itsblazes of fire. Billy had to jump of the mound and landed a few feet down. Landing on her back she groaned in pain, but tried to compose herself and settled to take cover behind a pile of stones close to the back wall of the chamber. The dragon was still perilously blazing fire, shaking his chains and roaring as dragons do.

She tried to keep her breath quiet. Billy wanted to flee, to get rid of the rubbish which she had formed to safekeep Aisha and Colonel, who could be anywhere by now – she tried not to think about it too much – but leaving this chamber she could not. There was a Swedish Snort-Stout on British territory, dangerously close to Muggles, and without permission from whoever or any knowledge! On the bright side, she had found out where the signs of magical activity where coming from. This chamber, this cave... a dragon blazing fire ought to be visible at the Ministry of Magic, Billy thought. Or not.

Suddenly, she was alarmed by the debris in front of the entrance. It was moving and with a loud bang overwhelmed Billy with a sensation of fear. Her senses where sharpened. She moved closer to the pile of stones, peaking over them with the utmost caution. The debris was scattered across the front part of the chamber. Although the room was still covered in darkness – except for a few rays of moonshine through the open holes at the top of the chamber – light appeared in the tunnel. A figure stepped into the chamber, holding a bundle of light in front of him that Billy recognised as one at the tip of a wand. A wizard or witch had just entered the room. She could see the wizard or witch's face – illuminated by the Lumos charm – and identified a male face. The wizard scanned the room conscientiously, checking both sides. Most curiously, the wizard stepped to the back of the room immediately. The dragon had sensed his approach since the blast and had not made a sound since. Billy's view of the wizard got obstructed by a dirtstone column, so she decided to move to the nearest column on the wizard's left – without him taking notice, that was. She overheard his voice while moving.

'Who did this to you?'

Billy moved swiftly from one column to another. She tried to get a glimpse of the wizard, but only saw him from behind. He was inspecting the chains. The dragon moaned softly.

'What happened then?'

Again, she managed to make no sound when she ended at the pile of dirt stones. Billy had an excellent view on the wizard and the dragon. He talked to the dragon like he was in a conversation with it; something about him, perhaps his arrogance, started to annoy her – and she hadn't even spoken to the guy.

The wizard inspected the marks left by the beam Billy casted just before she chained the dragon to the wall. He made noises of disgruntlement.

'Merlin's beard,' he said as she kneeled and inspected it more closely. Upon touching the mark the dragon shivered and complained loudly, to which he backed off. He got up and walked to the dragon's head, caressing it with tenderness. 'I'll free you of these chains.'

Billy felt all the muscles in her body contracting. She couldn't let that happen. The dragon had to stay chained and she had to notify the particular department at the Ministry of Magic. Oh, and let's not forget, she needed to speak to this guy and ask him some important questions. She stood up, slowly, but the wizard had already begun to use the Reducto curse directed to the places on the wall where end of the chain had been put. It took him a few tries to free one. Another chain came lose more clearly. He only needed to free two or one, and the dragon was free. What he would do after that, she did not know. Billy's anger boiled up and she made the choice not to wait anymore. She stepped away from her hiding spot.

'Stop what you're doing – right now. Her wand was pointed at his back. The wizard slowly titled his head, his eyes towards the ground.

'Alright.' His voice was collected. Suddenly, a rapid movement and a bang occurred. Billy found herself on the ground, warped by the power of a wand flick. After battling the dizyness for a few seconds, she saw that the wizard was hastily unchaining the dragon. She was lying down on the ground five or six feet from where she just was. The wizard looked at her with a bitter, apologising face as he started removing the last chain from the Swedish Snort-Stout.

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'But this dragon is very precious to me and cannot fall in the wrong hands.' Billy did not have the clarity in her head to react properly, She didn't need to. The wizard was interrupted by his chainbreaking. Rocks and stones were falling from the roof of the chamber, directed at the wizard and the dragon. The latter became unrestless, urging the wizard to calm the dragon down whilst simultaneously trying to locate where the rocks came from.

'You fucking fool!'

Billy's giddiness faded as she could recognise the voice. It was Aisha. She looked up and saw, through holes in the top of the chamber, that it was she who was throwing the rocks down.

The wizard had seen it as well. He directed his wand at Aisha and was ready to blast the roof. It had gone unnoticed to him that Billy came to her senes again. He didn't expect the thundering sound of him clattering to the ground either as she cast a perfect Unconscious Blast-Hex. Billy raced to the dragon, instinctively started petting it on the head to keep it calm and turned back to face the wizard. He was laying on the ground, his wand loose in his hand. Billy grabbed his wand and looked at him, breathing heavily because of her efforts.

'Are you OK?' said the hollow voice of Aisha. Billy glanced at her and displayed at a thumbs up. Aisha nodded and Billy saw a brief glimpse of Colonel too, who was undoubtly on a leash and close to Aisha. Billy focused on the wizard again. His loose clothes made him appear to be a thief, a beggar of some sorts. But which beggar would come across a Swedish Snort-Stout, let alone be able to hind it in a plane sight in a chamber near a pub in Ashill? Her mind got dizzy thinking about this. She kneeled besides the wizard, who, conventiently, started to regain consciousness. He gruntled some words before opening his eyes fully and staring in the face of Billy Foster, Auror-To-Be.

'You're arrested on the grounds of multiple violations of the Magical Law of the Ministry of Magic of the United Kingdom and Ireland, which include but is not limited to hexing an Auror, illegally concealing a XXXX-class dragon from the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, endaring Muggles and many more.'

The wizard was looking at Billy, silently inspecting her from top to toe.

'It was just a mistake.' He spoke low and softly.

'Sorry?' Billy had still pointed her wand at him.

'It was just a mistake,' the wizard said, louder this time. 'I didn't mean to.'

'What do you mean "I didn't mean to"?'

'I just had no choice but to hide it here.'

'Explain.' Billy's voice was raised.

The wizard wanted to crawl up, but Billy urged him to stay on the ground, facing him. The dragon was remarkably quiet.

'I am Gregory McCormack, a Magizoologist, you see. I encountered this dragon while doing field work in Svalbard, North Sea, where he was wounded and could not fly home. He was totally isolated and had not seen any other members of his species in years. I found him on a cliff, malnourished and thirsty. The expidition which brought me to Svalbard was one I did alone, so I decided to take care of the dragon until it could fly again. I told myself I'd take it to a safe home.'

'Yet he is here.'

'I had no choice. We left a couple of weeks ago, but he quickly became tired, and by chance I stumbled upon this cave. I enlarged it, of course, because it was small and dark, but it was the best I could do for him,' said McCormack, 'and I made a way out through the tunnel, not knowing some day a witch would be walking in.'

'Why keep him here for so long?'

'Because he was tired! I had fed him plenty yesterday, he just needed to sleep.'

'Alright,' said Billy. 'So what do I do with you?'

'Well,' spoke McCormack, 'you might want to let me go.'

Billy thought of that, too, if there was any chance she could've gotten away with it. In all seriousness, a loose dragon on the British Isles was a serious breach of security and safety. It was clear to her that not notifying her superiors and letting a dragon fly away, despite it quickly not being on British soil anymore, would cause her to be demoted, or even worse. On the other hand, she thought when glancing at the puzzling look McCormack gave her, he had gotten a dragon all the way from Svalbard here unseen.

'How did you do it?' Billy said, still having her wand pointed at him.

'Doing what?'

'Getting a Swedish Snort-Stout here without anyone noticing.'

'It's not that hard,' replied McCormack. 'You just avoid crowded places, lie low on sunrise and fly with sunset.'

Billy retracted her wand and put it in her pocket. McCormack crawled up, looking uneasy.

'I don't know what to do with you,' said Billy. Her hands were on her hips as she pursed her lips.

'Didn't you just say you were going to arrest me?'

Billy snorted. 'Yeah. But, I don't see how I can arrest you and then, well, let the dragon stay here. I mean, I never handled one before, you have, it'd be better if you just took it to a safe place – for him.'

'I agree,' said McCormack, walking towards the dragon. He petted him softly, and crawled on his back. 'Tell your friend to get away,' he continued, pointing at the roof. Billy looked up and saw no eyes staring directly at her. She was wondering where they could've been. At that moment, she realised something else: the chamber couldn't be directly under the pub, as the holes in the top of the chamber indicated directly above them was land and air. Quickly she glanced around and realised that the Ministry's traces most probably must've come from there.

Meanwhile, McCormack slowly transformed the room by closing the gap in the wall where Billy had entered with her. 'How do I go out?' she said, looking at McCormack. 'With me,' he answered, gesturing her to sit behind her on the dragon. Billy did as instructed, although a bit hesitant when climbing upon the back of the dragon, and McCormack directed the dragon to buoyantly fly up. They did so, and the dragon expanded his wings in the most careful manner, making sure to touch no wall or column. He flew near the roof. One of the holes was bigger than Billy expected; she'd pass through it without any problems. McCormack saw her glancing at it and flew towards it, almost mathematically-like, so that Billy could just raise herself onto the rocks above the cave. Uncomfortably, she glimpsed at McCormack. He nodded, and Billy pulled herself up. Her attempt was succesful, but she didn't have time to admire this. Swiftly she rolled over, away from the holes, in the rocks, and started sprinting away, hoping to make it away in time before McCormack would implode the roof to leave with the Swedish Snort-Stout.

The blast came no later than expected. Billy had no time to look around; she heard the ground swooshing away. When reaching a lower side of the grassland, she finally found the courage to look over her shoulder. She saw that he had imploded the roof of the cave, making a low-grunting noise. The back of the Old Bell was visible in the background, not far away from where they were. She hoped the Muggles wouldn't notice. McCormack was flying above the crumbled ground, his Swedish Snort-Stout proudly flying. She could barely make out the contours of his face, but Billy supposed he was smiling. He drew closer.

'Well, thank you, madam,' McCormack said. 'I might hope we encounter each other soon, be it in less tense fashion.' Billy looked at him, and between the sounds of the dragon elegantly swinging his wings she replied. 'Yes, I hope so, too.' She stared at him. McCormack nodded as a sign that he had understood her, made a half-bow and disappeared swiftly into the darkness, leaving Billy behind in the grasslands just outside Ashill.

She stood there, engulfed in feelings of guilt and confusedness, mainly confusedness. How was she to explain this to her peers, let alone her superiors? Gailbard, Potter, what would they say? She didn't know. Billy started walking to Ashill itself, but was distracted by flashlights from behind. Muggles, she thought, from the pub who were wondering about the sound. Quickly she scanned the surroundings, thinking about Aisha and Colonel for a brief moment, but thought what she was doing was for the best, ran away – and Disapparated.

A quiet swoosh in an alley of Lansfield Avenue followed. The night in this London suburb was quiet and as Billy made her way to her small apartment, the trees rustled small gusts of wind in her air to calm her down. She was upset. Was she not instructed to complete this mission? What would happen now? Her wand was still in her hand. She put it in her pocket, whilst simultaneously grabbing her keys and opening the door. It was only then that she heard the sounds behind her. She turned around around and saw an owl on her small front porch, carrying a letter. It turned his head 20 degrees and back before the dropping the letter and leaving. Billy grabbed it and turned it to its backside. She opened it and found a hastily scribbled note.

Billy,

Rumors are that there's an explosion or implosion – reports are not clear – near Ashill. Hope you're okay. Meet me as soon as you can in the morning at the Ministry. You can explain what happened. Hope everything went well.

Gailbard

Billy folded the note in half and entered her appartment. In the morning she would visit Gailbard, she thought, and she'd explain him everything. And at the end, he would dismiss her from her training. At least, that was the lightest punishment she could think of. Dawn came soon. Billy slept like an angel, she didn't know why – perhaps she was exhausted, maybe she had made peace with herself that she tried – but she left her appartment around quarter past eight and arrived on time at the Ministry, wearing tidy clothes and combing her hair rebelliously long past her shoulders. If she were to go out, she better do it in a for her comfortable way.

The road to Gailbard's office was long. She walked past his secretary on the way, Ms Husk – who merely nodded – and knocked on his door. Her heart bounced in her throat.

'Yes?' said a deep voice on the other side of the door.

'It's Foster. You wanted to see me.'

A silence followed.

'I can't see you right now,' said Gailbard. 'Give me fifteen minutes or so and come back.'

Billy lowered her head and glanced past her at Ms Husk, who let out a wry smile. Billy walked back into the long hallway and set to sit on a comfortable chair a few floors below, waiting to able to enter. It seemed like a very long time and when the time was near to try again, Billy had to fight all the urge to just not leave. Eventually, she persuaded herself to at least step into the hallway directly leading to Gailbard's office, so that she could tell herself that she had at least tried to speak to him. Surprisingly, when she entered the hallway she immediately saw Gailbard standing in the doorpost, emotionless glancing at Billy.

'Come in, Billy,' he said, and disappeared in his big office.

Cautiously Billy set her last steps in the Auror Office and the steps to her doom. The room was like Gailbard's office always was, tidy, and did not have many chairs but three for visitors and one for himself. To her surprise, two of these visitors' chairs were filled. One by a man, unmistakenbly a man, and a woman, who had black hair. Suddenly, it dawned on Billy that she found herself in uncharted territory. Gailbard was sitting in his chair facing her, the woman and the man turned their heads to her, remorsefully smiling.

Billy stumbled back, gasped as she had done the night before, and let out a short but firm squeak.

'I am sorry,' said the woman.

'You've done well,' said the man.

Gailbard let out a wry smile, although wry, it was more of a proud smile, something along those lines. Billy just stood there, unable to grasp the complexity of the situation, and Gailbard was eager to clarify.

'We always test the ability of our Trainee Aurors,' he began. 'They have to be dedicated, competent, trustworthy and resourceful. According to these employees here, you ticked all those boxes.' He pointed at the woman. 'You know her as Aisha, but she's in fact Henrettia Gobbard, working at the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures. She had a pretty good cover, you might say.' Gobbard smiled, exchanging a quick glance with the man, before standing up and shaking hands with Billy. Still affected by the reveal, Billy drowsily shook hands back and looked at her face. Gobbard let go and Gailbard pointed at the man, who Billy recognised as McCormack.

'John Niles-Oxland is undoubtly one of the most able dragonfliers we Aurors have here, but I am confident that he also made a fine display in acting, portraying a lost Magizoologist with a dragon, being on the loose.'

'Hi,' said John. Billy came closer and John gestured her to sit.

'So it was all fake?' Billy said.

'Eh, the dragon wasn't,' Niles-Oxland said coolly. 'It was really there.'

'In a controlled enviroment,' Gailbard remarked. 'We monitored the situation the entire time.' He directed his look at Billy. 'You might think we have upset you and we have done so, we regret it very dearly. However, we've noticed that there is no better way than to assess the quality of an Auror-to-be than a real-life experiment. You've had one and your friends had one, too. We can look at your marks, challenge you here at the Ministry, but out there, in the field, is where you really learn it.'

'But I let him go,' Billy answered to no one in particular. She glanced at Niles-Oxland. 'Does this mean I'm sacked?'

'You're never directly sacked in this stage,' said Gailbard, 'but for now, I can say that you've done pretty well. Yes, you let him go, but not without reason and thorough question, let alone proper use of magic.'

'Those were pretty good spells you flew at me,' Niles-Oxland said, smiling. Gobbard chuckled.

'Henrietta was there too, Billy, don't you worry about her. She saw everything, was actually the assessor of this task and – as far as I know – is pretty satisfied with what she's seen.'

Gobbard smiled and Billy was still unsure whether this was all a joke or it wasn't – oh, it better not be, she thought.

'So what now?' Billy's words echoed through Gailbard's office, leaving her to watch the Head Auror with a nervous glance.

'You're free. You're off for more than a week. We'll expect you here again on Monday. For now, relax, we'll get back to you soon about the results and everything beyond that. Just make up your mind, meet your friends and do something fun.'

With those words, Billy was dismissed from Gailbard's office, but not before shaking hands with him and, albeit awkwardly, exchanging hugs with Gobbard and Niles-Oxland.

Her legs were shaking as she made her way back to the Aurors' common room. She got herself a coffee from the Muggle coffee machine and found herself a comfortable place near a furnace in the cosy room. She drank her coffee and stared dully in front of her. Her attention was caught by a shadow standing in besides her. The dark orange light of the fire shone on his body.

'Hi,' Harry Potter said and sat beside her, again. Billy greeted back, not fully realizing that she was sheepisly smiling to nobody in particular, and looked at Harry.

'Is anything up?' he said.

'You'll never know what I met yesterday,' Billy said gleefully.