"It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts," Hermione finished, her eyes filled with concern and distrust. Harry couldn't blame her after how they'd handled Voldemort's return and the ensuing fallout over the past few months. If there was one thing that Hogwarts definitely didn't need right now, it was the Ministry's fingers digging in and trying to 'control' it.
"And finally, for our last announcement," Dumbledore's voice had suddenly boomed louder than when he'd been giving dates for Quidditch tryouts and the like, snapping everyone in the hall's attention back toward him. He paused to make sure he had all of them focused before continuing, "I would like to introduce my good friend and advisor, Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Benjamin Stout!" He clapped as he backed away from the podium, giving room for the man approaching from the side door behind the head table. The man was all smiles, almost annoyingly so, Harry thought, waving at the students and bowing lightly before the headmaster before standing at Dumbledore's podium.
"Greetings all, and thank you very much headmaster, though let's be honest, you never take my advice," Stout joked with Dumbledore, who smiled happily in response.
"My dad's told me about him," Ron chipped in after the clapping had died down. "He says he's played cards with him before, supposed to be the nicest guy in the Ministry."
"No kidding," Harry commented. The grin on his face only seemed to get bigger as he spoke, it was astonishing his face wasn't cramping from the effort. Harry was just glad his seemed sincere after having to endure the plastered excuse for a grin that the Umbridge woman had worn.
"Welcome everyone back to another wonderful year at Hogwarts!" Stout continued. "I know that after last year's events, and the rumors that have followed, it has been a troubling summer for us all." His face fell in remorse.
"Great, more of this," Harry groaned, sick of everyone in the Ministry playing this coy game of diversion with Diggory's death. He earned a quick Ssshh! from Hermione before she turned back towards Stout.
He lifted his eyes in determination, picking up where he'd left off. "Despite its tragic end, the Triwizard Tournament did help us forge many new friendships with our fellow witches and wizards from around the world, friendships that we will all cherish for the rest of our lives. It ultimately made us all stronger, and it is because of this that the Ministry and the headmaster together have agreed to allow Hogwarts to once again act as host to a new group of individuals we soon hope to also count as dear friends."
The Great Hall was immediately abuzz with whispering, both of excitement and apprehension. "This can't be good," Ron mumbled, and Harry had to agree. He felt a ball of uncertainty building in his stomach, memories of the previous year gnawing at the back of his mind. Dumbledore quickly rose to stand beside Mr. Stout, his presence bringing the room back to silence without having to say a word.
"These people have defended magical creatures around the world since time immemorial, and they are as powerful as they are wise and intelligent. Little is known about them or their homeland, the Isle of Draco (Hermione inhaled sharply), but you will all soon find that we share much in common with one another." Mr. Stout recited his explanation carefully, but the excitement in his voice was building steadily. Hermione eyes were wide with disbelief.
"Unbelievable, it can't be," she kept whispering, shaking her head slowly, her frizzed brown hair bouncing with the motion.
"Of course you know who they are, you would know," Ron said exasperated, not impressed with her usual display of know-it-all intelligence.
"No, Ronald, I don't. That's just it, though; no one knows anything about them. Even the Ministry of Magic hasn't had contact with them in generations." Hermione looked ready to leap out of her seat and track down the mystery guests herself.
"But who's them, Hermione?" Harry begged. He hated feeling out of the loop on important news like this. She turned to answer, but the headmaster's voice drew her attention back to the front of the hall.
"This," Dumbledore began, standing beside Mr. Stout, his voice clear but stern, "is a priceless opportunity for us to rekindle friendships between magical creatures and the wizarding community that have been lost for hundreds of years. They are a noble and dignified race, and I expect you all to treat them with the respect and courtesy that they deserve, as you would any of your peers or professors. I am not exaggerating when I say that you are all representing witches and wizards around the world throughout the course of their stay." Dumbledore finished turning back to allow Mr. Stout to finish.
"Wait, did he just say 'race'? As in, they aren't human?" Ron whined. The memory of their last nonhuman 'guests' repeatedly trying to steal the souls of the students in their third year brought chills to Harry, who suddenly wished to be anywhere but sitting in the Great Hall.
"Of course not, they're…" Hermione started, only to be interrupted once more.
"With that said, it is time for introductions!" Mr. Stout lifted his arms from beneath his cloak towards the entrance of the hall, the doors slowly creaking open, revealing a band of large figures completely covered in thick, grey cloaks. They entered the hall, their fabric brushing against the floor and muffling a clattering sound, walking down the center isle in pairs towards Mr. Stout. There were six of them in total, and Harry suddenly realized why they seemed so familiar to him.
"Wait, one of them was at Grimmauld Place last night…" Harry started.
"Please join me in welcoming our esteemed and honored guests, the Dragons of Draco Isle!"
Hermione was nearly on her feet, along with half of the students in the hall. Gasps of surprise filled the air, but everyone stayed focused on the group, sparing no time for gossip, as they neared the edge of the student tables and came to a halt. The hood of the taller of the two figures in front rose upward, looking at Stout and Dumbledore.
"We thank you for your kind words, Mr. Stout and headmaster," the figure thanked, his voice sounding aged and patient with an Asian accent. The front of his cloak parted as two arms appeared, tipped with black claws and covered in dark blue scales. He reached upward and slid back the hood of his coat, revealing the head of a blue dragon with light green patterning over his eyes, pointed ears, an elongated snout with long white whiskers trailing off of it, and a white mane of hair covering his scalp and extending down his back and into his coat. The others followed suit, revealing a crimson red dragon next to him, a striped yellow and green dragons behind them, and teal and pink dragons in the rear. The majority of the students were still stunned by the reveal when Dumbledore addressed them.
"We cannot possibly thank you all enough for agreeing to join us this year. We can only hope to repay you with as much knowledge and friendship as we can muster."
"And we look forward to sharing our hearts and minds as well," the blue dragon modestly replied.
Though Mr. Stout had claimed the ministry had helped orchestrate the arrangement, it seemed that Professor Umbridge had not been informed. Her face betrayed every ounce of disgust and hatred flowing through her bulging veins, and Harry was certain the dragons had noticed. He had seen the smaller pink one in the back eyeing the woman and whisper into the ear of the tall teal one next to it, who simply replied with a stern nod.
"The Dragons of Draco Isle will be sitting in on some of your classes, observing the lessons and learning about our culture and way of life. However, they are also here as our guests, and should you wish to learn more about them, as with any friendship, you need only ask," Dumbledore announced to the room. The terrified looks that most of the students were still giving the dragons practically shouted fat chance at the headmaster's words. The dragons themselves seemed equally distressed, eyeing the crowd around them warily.
"Well it has been a long journey for you all, I am sure. Please, allow me to show you to your accommodations," Mr. Stout offered. Before the blue dragon that Harry assumed was their leader could respond, the red dragon nudged his shoulder, nodding to the large windows of the wall in front of them. The blue dragon paused, whispered a couple words to the dragons behind him, and finally turned back to a confused Mr. Stout.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Stout, but you have done more than enough for us already." He turned now to Dumbledore, asking, "If it is alright with you headmaster, we'd prefer to take the…quick way home."
Dumbledore took a moment before smiling broadly in understanding, laughing his answer of, "As you wish." A wave of his hand had the floating candles above skirting to the edges of the room.
The blue dragon looked back to his comrades and nodded. They all seemed to fumble with their cloaks when the fabric suddenly unraveled and shrunk, revealing the rest of their huge, intimidating bodies. Except for the slightly shorter pink dragon, they each stood easily at almost seven feet tall, the wings and tails that had been hidden beneath the wool all flared out to their full length.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, along with several others around them. If anyone had failed to be surprised before, they certainly were now. The blue dragon, curiously the only one without wings, waved his arm, staring intently at the large window at the top center of the front wall. The panes disappeared into thin air, earning even more gasps from their audience.
"Brilliant," Harry and Hermione mumbled in unison. The wandless magic was indeed impressive, though they were truly awed as the dragons, led by the big blue one twisting into the air, beat their wings and took flight, first doing a touring circle above the tables before soaring through the open window in a line, out into the night sky. Cheers had spread throughout the crowd of students during the display, and rounding applause chased the dragons out of the hall, the window pane reappearing behind them. Dumbledore allowed their excitement to continue for a bit longer, relishing in the successful introductions, before again reining them in.
"I sincerely hope this semester at Hogwarts will be one to remember. It is like always, however, up to you all to make it so. Now, it is time to rest so off to bed! Pip pip!" The dismissed students began filing out of the hall, no one talking about anything other than the Dragons of Draco Isle, Hermione included.
"This is incredible! Imagine everything they could teach us about magical creatures or the magic that they use!" she obsessed as her and Ron gathered the new first years and prepared to show them the way to the Gryffindor common room.
"You might want to try meeting them first, dissections can come later," Harry teased. The new students looked downright puny amidst the throng of students climbing the stairs towards the dormitories. They finally reached the top, and after Ron had provided the password (Mimbulus Mimbletonia) to the Fat Lady they all filed into the familiar and welcoming Gryffindor common room. Harry left Ron and Hermione to give the first years their ground rules and headed for his room. As he was opening the door, he could hear the voices inside of Dean and Seamus excitedly yammering away.
"…if she knew about the dragons too, she definitely would have never let me come back," Seamus said while hanging up his usual Quidditch posters.
"Hey guys," Harry greeted, setting his things down next to his trunk by the dresser, preparing for bed. "Who wasn't going to let you come back, Seamus?"
"Oh…uh," Seamus hesitated, frozen in the middle of flattening out his poster. "Well…it's me mam. She fought pretty hard to not let me come back this year because of…well…"
"Because of what?" Harry pried. There were a few answers he could think of, though he had a feeling it was the one he least wanted to hear.
"Well…because of you, I guess, well I mean you and Dumbledore." Seamus sat stiffly on his bed. "It's just that no one still knows for sure what happened with you and…Diggory. If you'd just…" Seamus was interrupted by Ron walking into the room to join them, seeing Seamus on his bed talking to Harry, who was standing with his hands balled into fists, glaring straight at Seamus.
"What's…up guys?" Ron asked carefully. Harry looked on the verge of bursting before he turned to Ron and answered with, "Nothing, just Seamus informing me that I'm a liar and Dumbledore is a daft old man." He threw his wand onto the nightstand beside his bed, laid down, and drew the curtains closed around him before Seamus could think of a retort. Soon, he too retreated to the comfort of his closed curtains. Ron looked to Dean, who merely shrugged his shoulders, and Neville, who had come in behind him and was just as confused. Ron simply shook his head and found his own bed to fall apart in.
Even with the dragons here, Harry couldn't escape the past few months and instead tried to lose himself to sleep. It was difficult to see anything outside in the dark night through the gap in his curtains, but just before Harry drifted away he was sure he had seen a flash of red streak past his window.
As always, if you have any opinions or advice (positive or negative), PLEASE review and comment! Any feedback is great feedback, and it lets me know you at least cared enough to respond! This is my first fanfic, so I'll take what I can get.