Chapter 7
Charlie didn't have time to think about what Minnie said once he got to the Dragon Preserve; for once everyone was leaving on time and Charlie was running late. Lindsey was interested in finding out what was going on with him and Gretchen and Ingrid was wimpy and clingy and didn't want to let go of him.
The director of the Preserve, Jonas was waiting for him when he arrived.
"Hi Jonas. Sorry I'm late."
Jonas waved his hand dismissively. "No problem," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you before you left."
Charlie looked at him. "Okay. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to tell you that you'll be meeting up with a group who has been exploring the area."
"And?" Charlie asked.
"They're paleontologists; muggles."
"Oh. Well, that's new."
"Yes. They found some bones of a creature they couldn't identify and they got real excited. They think they've found a new species of dinosaur. We tried to get them to bow out of the expedition, but they wouldn't budge."
"Who do they think we are?" he asked. "I assume they don't know we're wizards."
"Right. Your team is a privately funded group from Mexico and you are also searching for a new species of dinosaur."
Charlie nodded, understanding the ruse. "Why didn't you just zap everyone with a memory charm and make them cluck like chickens?"
"Very funny, Charlie. The Secretary of Magic is why. For some reason, he thinks it's a good idea to be ass-deep in muggles while you find the new dragon."
"Swell," said Charlie. "This might be entertaining at least."
Jonas laughed. "Amuse yourselves all you want, just keep the muggles from discovering the dragon. Oh, and you're in charge of security. The head muggle thinks you and Sanchez are there to protect the group."
"Well, shit, Jonas. Anything else you want to tell me before we leave? Do the others know about them yet? Mike can handle muggles, but I don't know about Wolfgang & Boo."
"That's why you and Mike are there, Charlie. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. Don't kill anybody, okay? And make nice. I'm counting on you to use your charming personality to keep the muggles clueless."
"Uh huh. I still think a good memory charm will do the trick."
"We get a lot of our funding from the Department of Magic; don't screw this up for us."
"I'll try. Have you thought about what the muggles might do if Wolfgang transfigures himself into a bird right there in front of them?"
"I never said this was a good idea, Charlie. This is the only way we're going to get the funding for this or any other expedition in the next fifty years. You're rich; could you afford to fund this?"
"If I had known about this I may have been able to talk some of the USA Quidditch team owners to help fund it and kept the DOM out of our business." Charlie said.
"Remember the last time we had private backers?" Jonas asked, reminded him of the debacle the Preserve went through when it was turned into a tourist attraction, which not only was a huge mistake, it was also extremely dangerous for the hapless wizards who thought it would be fun to play with desert arachnids and sirens.
"Good point. But we did have the blessings of the Department of Tourism." Charlie sighed and shook his head. "Okay, boss. I'll keep everyone alive and totally clueless."
"That's my boy. And Charlie? I'm real sorry about you and Gretchen."
Charlie shrugged. "Me, too."
"The rest are waiting for you at the port key. Good luck, Charlie. Bring us back a new dragon."
"I'll try. See you in a few months."
Jonas nodded and turned back to go into the main headquarters of the North American Magical Creature and Animal Preserve. Charlie walked to the designated point where the port key would take the party deep into the mountains. He wasn't sure which mountain range but at that point it didn't matter; he was going to find a new species of dragon. A dragon never before recorded and one of his only hopes was that he and his team, which included Mike Hendershot, Ricardo Sanchez, and Wolfgang Gomez. Wolfgang, who was Mexican who had a German mother, was one of a few animagi in North America. His official title was chief researcher and census taker. He was rather standoffish and Charlie figured he was least likely to bond with the muggles.
Ricardo, or "Boo", as Charlie called him was one of the coolest wizards Charlie had ever met. He had a barrio look, but was one of the nicest wizards Charlie knew. Ricardo was very intimidating figure. He looked like the stereotypical gang banger. His arms, neck and chest were covered in tattoos. He wore a bandana and a lot of leather. Charlie had known him for a long time and fought alongside him when he battled a very evil wizard named Ares, a former Death Eater, who came to America with the single goal of subjugating muggles and wizards and ruling in an Age of Dark Magic.
Charlie, Ricardo, and Wolfgang belonged to El Ejército de la Justa; The Army of the Righteous, a wizard army that protected people against evil magic. Wolfgang and Ricardo remained active members while Charlie had retired from the group after the defeat of Ares. The Army still protected the region and worked with The Society of Fred, an anti-dark magic group founded by Travis and the Two Tex's in Austin in honor of Charlie's brother Fred. El Ejército de la Justa and the Society were two of the reasons the American Department of Magic and Departamento y Regulación de Mágicamente Seres of Mexico started taking the threat of dark magic and evil wizards seriously.
Charlie was only slightly surprised that Mike would be going with the group. Mike Hendershot shared his passion for dragons, but he was a family man and rarely spent any extra time away from his wife and two children.
Holcomb Briggs, Director of the Advanced School for the Study of Magical Creatures, was waiting with four students of the school who were excited to be a part of the study. He waved enthusiastically at Charlie while the students stood stunned at the approaching Quidditch star. Charlie winced; may as well get over the initial star struck reaction so he could do his job. The funniest part was how hard the students were trying to act nonchalant.
"Doctor Briggs," Charlie said, extending his hand. "Isn't this exciting?"
Briggs beamed shaking Charlie's hand. "Absolutely. I wish I was going with you, but we'll be well represented by four star students. Let me introduce them. Let's see; this is Dan, Dean, David and uh Dawn."
Charlie shook each of their hands, welcoming them to the expedition. He then introduced them to the other team members.
"This is going to be loads of fun," Dean or Dan said; no one could tell them apart yet.
"Yeah," repeated Boo, "Loads."
A/N: I'm bringing back some old characters from some of my other stories, especially The Return of Ares, which is a rather dark story, but features Boo and Wolfgang. I hope you visit the North American Dragon Preserve website. There's a link to it as well as the USA Quidditch League on my profile. – Rita