Chapter 11

Charlie and Boo's shift inside the cave was unsurprisingly short; Mike came in only two hours later. Boo was about to tell him that he wasn't going anywhere when Mike said that everyone had been looking for Dr. Preston and the camp suspected foul play.

"Now they are looking for you, Charlie, since you were the last one seen with her. I think someone called the authorities."

Boo shrugged. "So, we'll confund them and no one will be the wiser."

"Where's Wolfgang?" Charlie asked.

"He took off when everyone began asking questions. They were crowding around him, which you know makes him nervous. I'm surprised he didn't change right in front of them. It wasn't pretty and it kind of makes us all look guilty."

"We have got to find her," Charlie said, striking the cave wall with his fist.

"Wolfgang had an idea," Mike said reluctantly. "He wants to bring Dawn in here and see if the cave reacts like it did with Dr. Preston."

"Who's Dawn?" Boo asked.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "She's one of the interns," he said. "Don't you remember?"

"Oh right, right. Sorry, man," Boo said.

"We can't do that!" Charlie protested. "Is he crazy?"

"It sounds crazy, I know," Mike said. "But he thinks we'll be better prepared since we know what could happen. He thinks she'll be perfectly safe."

"No! Four adult wizards couldn't protect one tiny muggle and now we're supposed to just throw another woman to the dragons?" Charlie was livid.

"Calm down, bro," Mike said. "Think about it. Dawn's a wizard. Granted, not a very smart one, but at least she's like us; she knows a hell of a lot more about dragons than the other one. I think it's worth a shot."

"Mike's got a point," Boo agreed. "I think we should talk to her and tell her what's going on and if she agrees, fine; if not we'll come up with something else. Right now we're not doing anything, and we have no idea how Sheila's doing."

"That's true," Charlie agreed. "But we have to be honest, let her know the danger."

"Absolutely," Mike and Boo said together.

"You should talk to her," Mike said.

"Why me?" he asked. "I think Wolfgang should do it."

"He'd just scare her off, Charlie. You're the celebrity."

While that logic made absolutely no sense to Charlie, he agreed to speak to Dawn. He wasn't anxious about leaving the cave, in case something happened while he was gone, so he talked Mike and Boo into going with him.

The three wizards snuck out of the cave quietly and made their way to the main tent that the wizards had erected. There was virtually nothing for the interns to do so to keep them out of trouble and away from the muggles, they were instructed to stay in their tent unless they were called upon.

The interns looked up expectantly when Charlie and the others entered.

"How's it goin'?" Charlie asked casually.

"We're good. What's going on outside? Someone banged on the tent looking for you a little while ago. We didn't say anything. We used a disillusioning charm to hide."

"That's fine," Charlie said, distracted. "Uh, Dawn, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" He gave her his most winning smile, but he was afraid he'd frightened her because she jumped when he said her name.

She turned beet red and almost fell over Dave, one of the other interns when she shot up out of her chair. "Of course, Charlie," she said struggling over his name.

He started to feel bad about what he was about to ask her because he knew she was a big Quidditch fan and he had caught her reading a fan magazine with his and Gretchen's picture on it. The moment they were outside, Mike and Boo stood next to her. Boo, who was a scary looking man was smiling, which seemed to frighten her even more.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously.

"Uh, Dawn," Charlie began, but he could bring himself to say anything else. The danger was too great for her. He knew that all he had to do was ask and she would come running.

"Al diablo, Charlie, you are such a pendejo" Boo said. "You want to go see a dragon?" He asked Dawn.

Her eyes lit up. "Of course I do! Did you find the new dragon? Where is it? Are you going to tell the others?" She was babbling.

"Okay, hold on. Of course we're going to tell the others, but right now we have to find it. It's in a cave and we need you to draw it out," Mike said.

"Okay! Sure! Let's go," she said.

"Wait; there is something we probably, we need to tell you," Charlie said. "It may be dangerous and we're not sure if we can protect you."

That stopped her. "What? What do you mean you don't know if you can protect me?"

Charlie took a deep breath. "Well, we sort of lost Dr. Preston in the cave and we think maybe you being in there might just help get her back."

"I don't understand," she said.

"Do you trust me?" Charlie asked.

"Of course I do," she responded.

"Then I need for you to come with us back to the cave. I'm not promising this will work, but we have to try. We're not even one hundred percent sure that there's a dragon," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "It may be very dangerous."

Dawn swallowed hard and then nodded. "Of course I want to help."

"Thank you," Charlie said. He kissed her cheek and her knees buckled under her.

Mike and Boo steadied her. "This way," Mike said, walking her toward the cave. Charlie stayed by her side until they passed through the opening. The cave was dark, except for a stream of light that came from a line at the bottom of the back wall. It looked like a garage door that was almost closed. They couldn't be sure if it was opening or closing.

Immediately everyone pulled out their wands and stood and waited for something to happen. Slowly the back cave wall began to rise, pouring bright burnt orange light into the small room. Dawn made a gasping noise and the men looked at her. She stared at the light, mesmorized. She started to walk toward it; Charlie grabbed her arm, but she shook it off.

"Don't!" he shouted at her.

She ignored him and continued toward the light. "I'm coming," she said as another light beam began to encircle her. Thinking quickly, the men surrounded her, holding on to her. They weren't trying to pull her back, but merely held on so that where ever she was going; hopefully they would go as well.