DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.

Thanks to my reviewers: RemmyBlack, Lady Constance Malfoy Hummel, PyroFyre1214, madeyemarauder, patimi, emcee31, Phaedra Coopers, NewTimeFan, CurledRibbons, kisscool, laydjess, Alarith, pikachumomma, Cobra000o, hulagal13, Indigo Lily, spatz, cascol3.

I want to thank you guys for your unwavering support, some more than others for having the patience to review every chapter! Please keep those well appreciated reviews coming for a long, long, time.

Also having written the last chapter under the fog of sleep and not being completely satisfied with it I made a few small minor changes to it.

Now on to the story!

CHAPTER 45

They found themselves precariously positioned on a narrow precipice, the steep drop completely blanketed by a covering of thick white clouds, and in front of them beside a single gnarly old tree were two enormous dragons almost as big as houses, standing against the misty backdrop of a cold, glistening morning sun.

Draco took a tiny step back as he laid his eyes on a shimmering, midnight blue scaly dragon, sporting deadly, tall jet-black ridges on its back, watching with trepidation, as it shot out jets of steam from its nostrils vaporizing the cold air in front of it. Behind it stood a slightly less ferocious looking and smaller beast, blending well with the tall green grass at its feet, looking at them with black fiery eyes.

Harry looked into the blue dragon's eyes and felt himself being enveloped by the universe. He felt a tiny jolt pass through him as several images rose unbidden in his mind of a tiny, silvery dragon in Hagrid's cottage being put into a huge crate and being carried away by Charlie Weasley.

Breath hitching in his throat Harry's eyes widened "Norbert!" He whispered and beamed with happiness, the dragon that stood before him was the very same dragon he had been loathed to part with in his first year at Hogwarts.

Miss Reynalds who had been standing next to him, looked curiously at him when she noted the subtle joy come over in the boy's face as he watched the dragons. Smiling she said "The great beast that you are looking so intently at, is actually a new acquisition at our school, only having been brought in a few months ago. He is the rare and dangerous Norwegian Ridgeback, called Norbert, named by his previous owner as the 'Bearer of light'. And standing beside him, is a Common Welsh Green called Hibernus for his more peaceful ways."

Fletcher Garret who had been acting bored until then, walked carefully up to the dragons whispering softly and placating them. Turning to the group he grinned easily at them and beckoned them over to where he was standing with a single finger.

Draco, looking as if he were desperately trying not to run in the opposite direction, inched his way towards the smaller of the two beasts while Harry was trying hard to suppress his growing excitement and not run over to pet Hagrid's grown up baby Norbert; instead he feigned fear and approached Mr Garret slowly.

"Right, we're going have to mount the dragons and ride on them to the school as there is no other way past the wards unless you were on a broomstick," frowning at Draco whose face had brightened up, he quashed the poor boy's elation saying "No, today you go by dragon only, as it is the first time that you will be seeing the way to the school, so no broomsticks."

He then proceeded to help Miss Reynalds mount the green dragon along with a resisting Draco and turned to Harry with a 'you're next' look on his face. Harry was about to let himself be pushed on to Norbert's back, when the dragon bent its knees and coiled its tail to form what almost resembled steps urging Harry to climb on to him while using them. Turning to look at Mr Garret, he saw that the man had finally been thoroughly shaken up from his apathetic behavior and looked shocked

Sitting on the warm back of their respective dragons, firmly secured in the saddles, they were suddenly thrown forwards without warning as the great beast took to the air, their enormous sparkling wings spread freely in the open sky catching the rays of the sun.

Later on Draco would vehemently deny having screamed a bit during the take-off, but he had and had almost made Hibernus stop in fright. After settling down both boys were whooping with joy at the burst of speed and adrenaline they felt, shivering slightly against the cold wind and laughing as they easily outstripped passing birds.

They flew steadily for nearly fifteen minutes and then out of the blue had the second shock of the day. Suspended motionless in space ahead of them was a glorious, massive island like structure floating in midair bearing a magnificent, glaringly white castle. They could just barely make out tiny blue and bronze flags waving madly on the proud turrets as if heralding their arrival.

They were stunned at the magnanimity of the moment and had fallen completely silent unable to tear their eyes away from the sheer stunning proportions of the magic before their eyes, 'The dragon ride was totally worth it!' Draco thought fervently as he stared amazed at the colossal building they were rapidly approaching.

After a smooth landing on the grass covered ground, they unstrapped the fastenings and slid rather clumsily on to the ground. Thanking Norbert and Hibernus in silence Harry walked unsteadily over to Draco and smiled at happily at him, this was turning out to be an adventure of a lifetime!

"I'll be taking you to the Headmaster" Miss Reynalds said while Mr Garret appeared to be herding the dragons off to their holdings. Nodding at her, Draco and Harry followed maintaining a few paces between the teacher and them looking avidly all around them at the huge sprawling lawns and a small sparkling lake similar to the one at Hogwarts, surrounded completely by the wide open sky, both above and below them, almost making them feel lightheaded.

Ushering them into the castle they did not see anyone lingering around "Everyone's at class" Miss Venus said "You'll definitely meet them later."

She then lead them into a small, unassuming alcove and stood facing a blank wall with a tiny, almost unnoticeable wooden board bearing the words 'Headmaster, Janus Mendez" standing before it and placing her wand on the wall she said "Firewhiskey" causing the wall to slide open, Draco turned to Harry and shook his head 'Really! What was up with these Headmaster's and their strange obsessions!'

"Come in" they heard a deep voice from within the room calling to them, on walking into the room they saw a man in plain blue robes almost as tall as Dumbledore but with closely cropped brown hair, exuding the same low hum of power that their own Headmaster possessed. He was sitting half perched at the edge of his table while holding a partially open book. The room was neat and bore several strange looking antiques and paintings of battles being fought over the years. The miniature armies in the paintings were moving and depicting the scenes of the battle before their very eyes.

"Ah! Miss Reynalds, you have finally brought them" he said and hopped down lightly from where he had been sitting and coming to stand close to them to be able to scrutinize the newcomers "Thank you Madame, I will take over from here" he said a note of polite dismissal in his tone. Miss Reynalds bowed low and walked out of the room closing the entrance behind her.

"Sit down, sit down" the man before them said, pointing at two chairs in front of the table. Then he himself walked over to his own seat opposite them and sat down clasping his hands over the table and staring impressively at them "Welcome to the Belldane Academy of Magical Defense. You probably are still unable to get your mind around the alien-ness of the entire situation, but bear with me as I explain in detail where exactly it is that you stand."

Leaving no room for argument the man looked at them through intelligent hazel coloured eyes and said "We have known for a long time now that the two of you would be coming to this school" leaning back against his chair he continued "It has been foretold many years ago by our seer, dear Lady Cassandra." The headmaster noted down their twin looks of shock and smiled.

Pausing for effect he looked kindly at them and explained further "This is the main reason why the two of you have been given such an early admittance to the school. Normally our students are older, most above the age of eighteen years. You however will be the youngest to have ever joined."

"As for the secrecy behind our school, I will be able to explain it to you fully now. This school has been actually created by Merlin himself," Draco gasped unable to stop himself while the professor smiled benignly at him and continued "During the many battles faced by his king, Merlin sought to teach wizards and witches alike to form a magical army to protect their lands and serve their king. Many victories were fought with our help and the country flourished peaceably."

"But as the monarchy died away leading to the birth of lesser and more incapable kings, who resorted to lies and underhand dealings with other countries, our chief became disillusioned by them. The men they had to fight for were involved in dirty, groundless battles fought for acquiring more and more power while innocent blood was being spilled daily."

"The king became afraid when he faced the wrath of the head wizard and hired a sneaky, dark, renegade wizard of his own to help him make us take an oath to never again fight in battle as a single unit again, disbanding our troops mercilessly he allowed us to at least keep the school running but nothing more, he had robbed us of all our liberties. We had to comply as we were bound to the king. His decrees could not be overlooked, so we have stayed hidden from the rest of the Wizarding world since then."

"Our students' numbers gradually dwindled down to small numbers as war became redundant and magic had had had to become hidden once again. So even now I impress upon the need to secrecy and request you not to inform others about the existence of this school as it serves as our greatest protection against the threat of being used again."

Harry and Draco sat listening to this amazing story unblinkingly with rapt attention and nodded dumbly at the plea.

"Now," said the Headmaster. "I will inform you about your schedules. Remember, you are not regular students at this school and your time here will be hectic and cramped as you will be trying to learn in one year what others have mastered over years of training. You will have longer school hours than the rest but will enjoy the same privileges as them, such as being able to leave the campus on weekends on your brooms; using portkeys to you go to your destinations."

"Please, do not abuse these privileges and return to the castle at the proper allotted time. Any further doubts you may have, kindly take it up to the teachers and I assure you they will be more than willing to guide you."

"Remember your true purpose for joining this school and never forget who you are no matter what powers you may acquire with time."

Standing up drawing the discussion to a close he said "Run along now, I think a house elf will be waiting for you outside this door and will guide you to you room."

Thanking the professor they stood up and walked out of the room in a bit of a daze, their minds still buzzing with all the new information that they had yet to process.