"Hogsmeade?" Jake asked, confused. "Yo, you're gonna want to meet up more than once a month, Hermione. How is Hogsmeade gonna work?"

"It's only the first meeting, Jake," Hermione explained. "We'll figure out something more practical, but first we need to get everyone acquainted and the…terms…of our group established." She fidgeted with her bag nervously before turning back to Jake. "So, what do you think? Will you be able to make it?"

Jake remained concerned. "But why do you want me there? You know I can't actually go to these lessons…"

"I know!" she jumped in, "But if you're there, maybe the others will take it more seriously. It's like you said, everyone's still unsure about Harry being the instructor, but having you there might help them feel more secure, or…"

Jake choked on the toast he'd been eating, attracting worried glances from the few students around them. It was very early in the morning, and the Great Hall was still mostly empty but for the few early risers. Jake swallowed the bread and gulped down a mouthful of water before rounding rather loudly back on Hermione. "A fire breathing, talking dragon is going to make them feel safer?"

She gave him a strange look, searching his eyes for something to better understand what he'd just said. Her sudden scrutiny made him think he'd just slipped somehow and he was growing increasingly nervous before she huffed and admitted, "Fine, most of them are just interested in getting to know you. It's taken almost a month, but everyone else is starting to understand that you're approachable."

"Say what?…" Jake said unbelieving, thinking about the past couple of weeks and trying to remember evidence of Hermione's excuse. The gossip and whispers had died down a bit, sure, and he'd become comfortable enough to get a little back into his old routine of clowning around in the classroom. He'd shouted in joy when he'd finally managed to make his toy ball vanish the previous week, earning a stern look from McGonagall, and making objects move discreetly through the room had become a fun pastime. Harry had somehow been able to control himself since the incident at Care of Magical Creatures (probably to avoid giving Jake an excuse to 'help' him, a theory supported by his continued despondent behavior towards the dragon), so Jake had to find other targets for his manipulation practice. This had the added benefit of usually creating mild entertainment for the students that happened to notice. And now that he thought about it, a couple of the regular Gryffindors that were in the same year as Hermione, Ron, and Harry had even begun to give him nods or waves when they saw him. Of course, he had no idea who they were, which made him feel a bit guilty, but the attention had been nice considering it didn't involve terrified stares or blatant insults.

"I also may have already mentioned that you'd be there to try and convince a couple people…" Hermione admitted, accepting the glare of betrayal from the red dragon.

"You manipulative little…" he sneered, not sure whether he was more offended or impressed. "Fine, I'll see what I can do, but no promises."

Hermione flashed him her usual smile at the news and briskly left the Great Hall. Jake watched her leave, flinching as a voice next to him said, "Watcha up to, Jakeroo?"

Jake's knees caught under the table as he tried to jump to his feet, his momentum throwing him backwards to the floor. Nerk stood over him laughing and helped pick him up from the ground. His bandages were long gone and his fluid movements left no impression that he'd ever been so dramatically injured. "Looks like your boyfriend Potter's got some competition, eh?" Nerk joked, nudging Jake's shoulder with his elbow and bouncing his eyebrows suggestively. Jake flicked his tongue in annoyance at Nerk and headed for the door, the yellow dragon hot on his heels.

"C'mon, mate, there's nothing wrong with having the hots for her, she's cute!" Nerk shouted after him as they flew through the air back to their cave. The Australian Dragon's yapping head looked just like a garbling Bludger, Jake thought, and he made a mental note to ask Ron later if he had any extra Beater's bats lying around.

"Where are we going anyway, The Three Broomsticks?" Harry asked as they approached Hogsmeade. The day was cloudy, the wind nipping at their faces with the coming cold of autumn. Hermione seemed distracted, looking at the road in front and behind them, examining the clouds that lazily drifted above.

"Oh no, it's much too popular and I thought that we could do with more secrecy, so I told the others to meet us at the Hog's Head farther up the road." Harry and Ron shot her worried looks. Neither of them had personally entered the establishment before but the rumors surrounding the place weren't all that pleasant.

They'd entered the village and the flood of students and townspeople soon swallowed them. Amidst the sea of black cloaks, Harry could see the tall, flame-topped figures of Fred and George entering Zonko's joke shop with an ecstatic yellow dragon joining them. A couple of their masters perused through the windows while watching the students throng about the crowd. Luna was waltzing out of Honeyduke's with Haley trailing behind, her hands gripping a licorice wand and a couple pumpkin pasties. Standing like a pillar jutting from the waves beneath her, Professor McGonagall observed from the center of the street, her eyes squinted tight with focus and her face set in a stoic stony expression.

They soon found the side street to their meeting place, Harry not all too surprised to see the red cloaked dragon leaning against the storefront next to the entrance. For once, they managed to get the jump on him as he recoiled at suddenly noticing the trio standing next to him.

"You made it," Hermione greeted him warmly, not failing to notice his glances back at the streets around him. "Something the matter?"

"No, not yet," he yielded, finally returning her smile. "Just got this crazy bad feeling is all, but the only crazy thing here's probably just me," he said with a small laugh.

"McGonagall didn't seem too happy either," Ron commented. Jake again looked up to the sky, but seeing nothing other than the gloomy canopy above he turned back to their group.

"This place is a dump, by the way," he laughed, jabbing a finger in the direction of the pub he was leaning against. "I think I threw up a little when the smell hit me."

"Well this shouldn't take too long, everyone will just have to deal with it," she dismissed opening the door to let Harry and Ron in. She turned back to Jake, "Care to join us?"

"Maybe in a bit," he said. "I'll stay here and be your lookout, wouldn't want any Slytherin cronies crashing our little party after all." Hermione considered arguing but after a moment she conceded and walked in to join Harry and Ron at the far table they'd occupied, three butterbeers already resting on its grimy surface. Ron was watching the bandaged man sitting at the bar counter with interest, Hermione noticing the two other men sitting at a booth a ways away from them and a completely veiled witched huddled up by the fireplace. The barman shot her an uncertain look but she ignored him and turned to Harry, who was now fidgeting very noticeably.

"How many people did you say were coming again, Hermione?" he asked, looking out the windows every other second even though Jake remained the only thing in sight.

"I didn't," she answered, cracking open her butterbeer and taking a calming sip, "and I'm sure they'll be here soon."

Harry really didn't have much choice in the matter and simply passed what time he could by scratching the dirt caked onto the side of his bottle. Soon, a door began creaking open, followed by a sudden gust of wind.

"Bloody Hell, they're here…" Ron mumbled. Harry lifted his eyes at their guests, a single urge growing dangerously large as the crowd of students continued to swell well beyond anything he'd anticipated.

I'm gonna kill Hermione…

Something was off, he could feel it, but all Jake could see was the dingy street of Hogsmeade that he stood in. The cobblestones beneath him were worn and dirty, the brick and wood walls of the buildings sporting equally attractive stains and grime. The wind blew briskly and clouds kept the air chilled and gloomy, but none of this would explain why his hair was standing on end or the way his stomach was clenching into knots.

A cough to his left made him snap his head around, rounding on the source. A fifth-year Gryffindor with a round face and droopy eyes that Jake had often seen with the others jumped backwards at the dragon's glare, bumping into another boy and girl behind him that Jake also recognized as fifth-year Gryffindors. Realizing he'd just snapped at harmless students, Jake quickly straightened with a cough and ran his hand through his hair in embarrassment.

"Yo, uh, sorry that was…my bad…" he gave a weak laugh, his exposed teeth doing little to diffuse the tension. "They're already waiting inside, by the way," he added after they seemed to have forgotten where they were going and instead continued to stand still and stare at him. The boy he'd snapped at gave a stiff nod and ducked in through the door, the other two behind him quickly following suit. Another group of students that had also begun walking down the road had seen them enter and walked briskly through the door, only sparing passing looks at Jake as they disappeared into the dimly lit pub. The groups just kept coming and so many young wizards from different houses slipped into their meeting place that Jake began to wonder if there'd even be enough room in the rather small building. He'd recognized the twins as they passed with another friend, as well as Luna, yet neither Haley nor Nerk were with them. Jake guessed that they must have ditched the dragons just to be safe. Soon, the students stopped arriving and after a few minutes they must have decided to begin their meeting as everyone inside quieted down to listen to Hermione. Jake tilted his head closer to the window and tried to listen in while keeping a steady focus on the road outside.

"Well, um, hi everyone," she greeted them all nervously, the circle of seated students not reacting in the slightest. Seeing her struggle with her introductions made Jake cringe a little, but she soon found her groove and, after getting a good reaction from throwing a jibe at Umbridge, finally got to the point. "Since no one can call the rubbish Umbridge teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, well, I thought we should…take matters into our own hands."

Jake snapped his head back to the street. Something, what looked like a flicker of movement, had grabbed his attention, but once again the alley remained empty but for him and the breeze. An unshakeable feeling, almost like an itch, still lingered beneath his skin and the sensation was truly beginning to drive him mad. A soft ruffling sound above him drew his focus to the sight of a serpentine blue dragon landing beside him. Now he was feeling a different kind of panic, considering the last thing he wanted was for his grandfather to think he was associated with the pseudo-student uprising occurring within the Hog's Head.

"Jake, what are you doing?" Lao Shi asked, confused as to why his student was just standing alone outside a rundown bar. He kept his eyes searching around the two of them, but what he was looking for Jake wasn't certain.

"Listen, G, I can totally explain…" Jake started.

Lao Shi quickly shook his head, muttering, "Nevermind, it does not matter." His eyes looked through the windows and found the sizeable group of students within. "Jake, I need you to stay here and keep an eye on this group, do not let them out of your sight," he instructed his student, every word weighed heavily with absolute seriousness.

His Dragon Master's tone unnerved Jake. "Yo, G, what's up? Is something going down? I've had a bad feeling all day, but I haven't seen anything…"

"You are not alone, young one," Lao Shi confided, "and I also have found nothing out of the ordinary. A sensation like this, however, is never a good sign. Be on your guard, I must check on the others and inform the professors of our suspicions." He placed a hand on one of Jake's shoulders and looked him squarely in the eye, unflinching. "Remember, Jake, the students are our top priority." His grandfather quickly turned and launched back into the air, vanishing beyond the rooftops that surrounded the red dragon.

Jake surveyed the alley once more and, after convincing himself that he was once again alone, silently hoped that their foreboding premonitions truly were nothing more than paranoia.

"Look, I…I'm not trying to be modest or anything…" Harry's voice called from within the pub. Jake turned his head back towards the glass paned window as Harry continued, "…but I had a lot of help with all of that stuff, with everything…" Jake had lost what direction their discussion had taken, but listened as the room of students quickly rose to deny Harry's self-deprecating excuses. It really was heartening to hear them all praise his accomplishments when not a month before they'd all been calling him insane, both behind and in front of his back.

Hermione eventually refocused the conversation, "Yes, the point is, can we all agree to have Harry lead these lessons?" The students were all generally approving when another movement threw Jake into a defensive stance. To his growing frustration, the street still appeared to be vacant. Once was plausible, but seeing things that weren't there twice in a row? He would readily admit that he indulged in day dreams more often than was healthy, but Jake never hallucinated to this extreme.

He undid his cloak, allowing the fabric to shrink and rest against his back, and slowly sidestepped to stand directly in front of the pub's entrance. He did his best to not seem alarmed, for the sake of the students inside and just in case he actually was going crazy, but he kept his arms tensed at his sides. The sky looked frozen, a constant flat plane of uniform grey, yet Jake could swear that the entire street was steadily getting darker.

Reflex taking hold, Jake ducked just as a black figure took a swing at his head. Still crouching, Jake turned to see his assailant and was filled with intense confusion. He swung his body around and his tail collided with the torso of the creature, forcing it to dissipate into an amorphous cloud of black smoke.

"There's no way…" Jake muttered before a powerful blow caught him in the back between his wings. Another black shape stood on top of him, its foot pressing on his shoulder blades and pinning him to the ground. The red dragon pulled its right arm and leg in close and propped them against the wall of the pub next to him. With a tremendous heave, he pushed himself into a roll and threw the shadow to the ground where he was trapped seconds before and quickly rose to his feet. Not giving it a chance to recover, Jake leapt forward and threw a punch at its face, his fist flowing through it as the figure disappeared.

Turning behind him he saw three more of the shades forming out of the shadows across the street, taking on their dragon-like appearances. He breathed in as deeply as possible and unleashed a sweeping, relentless torrent of flame at the apparitions, the overwhelming heat and blinding light combined melting them away into mere wisps. Embers continued to burn and lick at spots of wood on the buildings opposite him, but the street was once again empty for the time being. Jake quickly turned back to the pub and rushed through the door, surveying the room inside and sighing in relief at the lack of violent, reptilian shadows.

"Y'all okay?" he asked the group of stunned young witches and wizards.

"Well of course we are," one of the twins responded, the other finishing, "They couldn't even make it to the door with you in the way, could they?"

"What about you, Jake?" Hermione asked seriously, walking up to him and looking him over for any injuries. He stiffened at her attention and took a step back as she approached him.

"I'm fine, Hermione, for real," he said, waving his hands to try and disengage her.

She cast a look outside at the charred street before turning back to him asking, "Do you know what those…things…were? I've never seen them before…"

Jake was about to tell her about the shades, the horror inside of him growing with what their presence implied, but he was cut short by shouts and screams coming from the village outside.

"The others…" he gasped. His grandfather's instructions had been clear, but the cries of terror clawed at the walls of his mind. He struggled for several moments, turning from the windows to the students then back to the windows repeatedly, muttering "Uhh…uhh…aw man," before he finally turned back to the group of students, his course of action decided. "No one leaves until I get back, I need to go help out there," he said swiftly, now turning his attention to Hermione, Ron, and Harry specifically, "and if those things show up, they hate anything bright. Fire, light, whatever you can find, but don't leave the pub." Jake turned on his heels and left the room, taking flight once outside and trying to see exactly what was going on.

The tight streets of Hogsmeade were still as busy as when he'd arrived, though now the bustling market atmosphere had been lost beneath the sounds of ferocious fighting. Students and residents were all flocking toward the dirt road that lead back to Hogwarts, the streets behind them barricaded by wizards and dragons alike. The cracks of spells and roars of fire echoed off of the buildings as those capable of fighting guarded the civilians' retreat. Lao Shi was battling next to McGonagall on the main road against a wave of shades, Fred and Dominic were each escorting groups of innocents along side streets, and Sun was assisting the professors in guiding everyone towards the school. The one thing that concerned Jake was that he couldn't seem to find…

A cross between a furious roar and a cry of pain sounded from the slums of the village behind Jake. Haley, he thought as he sped in the direction of her voice. He cleared a row of crooked rooftops and saw her in a small clearing, backed into a corner between the ruins of two decrepit homes. She stood with her arms and wings spread defensively, shielding a group of shaking students that couldn't have been older than second-years from the dozen shades that were slowly approaching them. The scarred walls and burning grass were a testament to the pink dragon's efforts, but her heavy panting and shaking limbs betrayed her exhaustion. Despite Haley's obvious fatigue, her eyes still burned with protective fury, quickly moving between all of her targets until they fell upon the greatest sight she could have hoped for at that moment.

"Jake!" she yelled, relief giving her renewed strength. A shadow to her far right took advantage of the distraction, leaping forward and clawing at her side. Haley gasped in pain at the fresh cuts before aiming a well place jab at the figure's chest, forcing it back into trickling smoke. She kicked another shade that had leapt towards the students, but the others were now quickly closing the distance between them and the dragon. Haley could never stop them all and instead folded the children into her arms and wings, a pink, scaled shield against the coming wave of darkness.

A hurtling fireball exploded mere feet from her, landing amidst the vanguard of the shadows and instantly removing several of their forms. "No one beats up on the Am-Drag's little sis but me," Jake snarled as he landed on the embers of his last attack, flaring out his wings and blocking the crouched dragon behind him from the view of the monsters. "Hales, get back to the others and head for the school, I'll take care of these losers," he shouted, not daring to turn back to her and remove his gaze from the malicious creatures before him.

He heard her hastily whispering instructions before their group escaped up the nearest road and back towards the main courtyard. Jake slowly backed away from the army of shadows and covered their retreat, throwing out another wall of fire as he backed into the narrow street they'd run down. The shadows took flight, and Jake feared for a moment that they would resume their chase for his sister before they dispersed in random directions, disappearing once more into the murky alleys. He turned to see Haley and her group nearly back onto the main road, a wave of comfort washing over him. He soared into the skies and flew as quickly as he could back to his own charges, thankful that the Hog's Head appeared untouched as he landed in the familiar side street and entered the pub.

Harry couldn't believe it. Hermione had asked the question this had all been leading up to: would any of them let him teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts? He didn't know many of the students in front of him, and they in turn looked untrusting of Harry, yet they all had agreed with nodding heads and whispered approvals. Harry's head was swimming, as light as if it had just released its own flotation device and began to reach for the ceiling, a weight that he'd forgotten had been lingering over him finally lifting. Hermione seemed to accept their unanimous decision and lead the discussion towards the details of their classes, but Harry was distracted by the scene outside the windows.

Jake was releasing his cloak, and Harry thought that maybe the dragon had grown bored and decided to visit some other part of the town. He was instead filled with suspicion as Jake sidled over slowly to stand directly in front of the entrance to the pub, his hands clenched into fists at his sides and his eyes darting back and forth along the street outside.

"After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army of helio…" Luna rambled until she paused to stare at Harry, who had just shot out of his chair and onto his feet. A dark shape, blurred by the opaque windows, stood next to the red dragon outside and had taken a swing at his head, Jake luckily ducking the blow. He in turn countered with a sharp blow to its stomach, the shape then evaporating into thin air. Without pause, another attacked Jake and had him pinned to the ground, but the dragon again managed to escape and destroy his attacker. Harry now stood at the edge of the windows with his wand in hand, the others joining with muttered gasps and squeals as more assailants appeared to attack Jake, only to be swallowed by his billowing flames.

The students were speechless, filled to the brim with confusion and fear. The dragon rushed through the door of the pub and found the students, calling to them, "Y'all okay?" The twins gawped at him and calmed his concerns, Hermione turning the question back onto the dragon. Jake seemed guarded against her, but distant sounds from the village drew his attention. "The others…" he whispered before turning back to the students, forbidding them from leaving the pub and telling Harry, Ron, and Hermione the weakness of the creatures: light. It seemed too simple, but Jake had already left and flown away before they could probe any further. The silence following his departure was punctuated by the growing sounds of battle from beyond the walls of the Hog's Head.

Harry gripped his wand tightly before deciding to follow Jake and do what he could to help. He was nearly at the door before Hermione ensnared his wrist in her iron grip, reprimanding him, "No, Harry, you heard what he said, we need to stay here." She looked back at the members of their new defense group, most of whom were watching Harry, before whirling back to him. "If Jake doesn't make it back before those things do, we'll need to defend ourselves. We can't do that without you, Harry," she finished, her voice begging him, just this once, to listen to her advice. Harry looked away from her imploring gaze and back at the terrified students, reminding himself that it was his and Hermione's fault that they were there in the first place. They were his responsibility, and he couldn't abandon them to fend for themselves in this pub, even if there were five adult wizards in the room that could hopefully hold their own.

"Fine," he said, giving Hermione a curt nod. "You're right…we'll wait for Jake," he agreed. He was going through his mind, thinking of all the spells he knew of that could create light, while Hermione did her best to calm the others and form a contingency plan in case the red dragon didn't return soon. Guilt stirred within Harry as he listened, the possibility of Jake succumbing to the dark creatures filling him with dread. He wanted to be out there, fighting alongside him, not playing the damsel in need of rescue. He hadn't even been kind to the dragon, Harry shamefully admitted, thinking back to the past weeks since his outburst after their Care of Magical Creatures class. Despite his stony silence toward him, Jake was still wildly defending him, protecting them all. Now, all Harry could do was hope that Hermione's plans proved unnecessary, that he would have the chance to make it up to Jake…

A soft thud sounded from outside, its owner hurrying through the door once again. Jake looked tired but otherwise unharmed as he called out to the room, "Fieldtrip's over, y'all, we're ditchin' this place." No one moved at first, earning an irritated follow up from Jake, "Yo, we're kind of in a hurry here!"

The two wizards that had been huddled in their booth quickly dashed out the door, followed by the veiled witch, the bandaged fellow, the barman, and finally the body of students. Hermione and Ron led the end of the trail of black robes, Hermione giving Jake a smile as they passed. Harry hesitated before leaving, looking up to Jake and starting, "Listen, Jake, I…"

"We so don't have time, Potter," he interrupted, shoving Harry out through the door to follow after the now running group of students. Given little choice in the matter, he chased after the rest of the group ahead through the small side street with Jake at his side. Whatever shouts and screams had filled the air before the dragon had left the Hog's Head had disappeared, Harry hearing only the sounds of their running feet and ragged breath echoing off of the buildings. They rounded the corner onto the main street, the last remnants of the evacuating populace escaping through the wooded path in the distance that lead out of the village and towards the school. Professor McGonagall and a few of the other dragons stood at the edge of the village, anxiously guiding the last group towards them.

The shades that had been ominously absent burst out from the alleys and crevices between the shops, diving towards the students and forcing them to the ground covering their heads with their arms. Jake immediately joined the fray, chasing after the shadows and defeating them with a flurry of punches, kicks, and slams, though there were far too many for him alone.

"Lumos Maxima!" Harry shouted, his wand pointed over the body of students at the swirling cloud of black dragons. A blinding ball of light shot forth and hovered above them, repelling many of the creatures away and forcing them to the ground. Still they approached on foot in droves towards the prone students, Harry aiming his wand at the nearest one and yelling, "Stupefy!" A bolt of energy shot toward the figure and bored a hole through its chest, the smoke around it quickly filling in the gap. "Diffindo!" Gouges in the figure opened up across its torso, but once again quickly closed. "Incarcerus!" The ropes fell to the ground, the ghostly dragon seemingly unstoppable.

"Incendio!" a voice yelled. The shade instead now burst into flames, its inky material bleeding into thin clouds as it vanished. Harry looked over his shoulder, calling, "Thanks Hermione!"

"Light, Harry!" she shouted back before turning to more shades that were approaching her flank. The dark creatures that had been in front of their group had been removed and the students were on their feet, making a break for the path to the castle. Harry turned back behind him to find the coming army of shades as numerous as ever, seemingly unending. He quickly set them aflame one by one, backing away from their advance and growing desperate at their relentless assault.

They were nearly upon him when a plume of flame rained down from above him, incinerating the nearest shadows and creating a wall of fire that made them cower away. Jake landed beside him and gripped his shoulder, dragging him back so that they could make their break for safety as well. The other students were secure, Harry and Jake being the last to return. As they broke into their sprint toward the dragons and professors also engaged in battle against their own droves of shadows, another wall of flame exploded in front of them, though this time not from Jake. It burned purple and black, blocking their path and leaving them trapped in the courtyard.

"We're getting out of here," Jake called, wrapping his arms around Harry and taking flight. He only made it a few feet into the air before the ball of light that Harry had produced was consumed and turned dark, the army of shades forming a blockade in the air all around them. Jake sped quickly towards their formation, hoping to break through their ranks with sheer power, but was repelled by an enormous black fireball that seemed to come from the now corrupt Lumos. The two hurtled to the ground, Harry rolling free of Jake's grasp as they landed. They both quickly stood and took defensive stances as the dome of shadows slowly closed in on them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the American Dragon," a deep voice boomed from every direction. Harry swung his head around but couldn't find the owner, seeing only the identical shades and dark, pulsing orb above. "And you even brought the Boy-Who-Lived, how kind of you."

"Come out here and fight me like a dragon, Dark Chump, or are you too chicken?" Jake taunted the voice. A few of the shades were growing bold and attacking them individually, Harry doing his best to burn them down before they could get too close.

"The only one hiding here is you, American Dragon," the voice replied. A growl of pain made Harry spin around and see Jake struggling on one knee. He'd reached his limit and the shades were starting to get through his defenses, despite his best efforts. Another came down and Jake managed to swing an uppercut to destroy it, but couldn't respond quickly enough to stop the second coming from behind him. It raked its claws against Jake's back, but instead of carving fresh grooves into his scales it seemed to flow through him, its hand passing harmlessly into his body. The red dragon, however, roared once more in agony, dropping to both of his hands and on the verge of collapse.

Harry rushed forward to defend him, lashing out at any of the shadows that dared to venture too near. The booming voice laughed, "Look at how weak you are, needing the help of a pathetic little human." Harry was shoved roughly aside as Jake leaped to his feet and hurled whatever flames he had left at the swirling cloud around them in utter fury. More laughter came from their unknown foe, "Maybe the boy should see what he's really protecting." All at once the storm of shadows descended upon them. Jake rolled, dodged, and countered well until the first shadow landed a strike, the others quickly falling upon the stunned dragon and easily swarming their prey. Harry got to his feet, the sight of the endless darkness feasting on his comrade filling him with sudden inspiration. He dove into his memories, into the very center of his being, and pulled out that seed of utter bliss and unexplainable joy before taking aim at the dark storm in front of him.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A tidal wave of warm, white light exploded from his wand, engulfing the entire street of Hogsmeade in its wake. Most of the shades were swallowed in its embrace, dissolving into mere specks, while the few that managed to escape dove once more into the darkened alleys. The demonic voice erupted in deafening rage, its cries echoing throughout the landscape and quickly fading into nothingness as the orb above flew apart into black clouds. Jake was on his side, his body limp and his cloak flapping sadly behind him in the wind. Harry ran to help him, seeing as he neared that patches of burning flame were appearing all over Jake's body.

"Leave," the dragon grunted. Harry looked at Jake's face, seeing the panic and terror in his eyes.

Harry looked around again, seeing still that none of the creatures had returned, before answering, "We're safe, Jake, those shadow things are…"

"Leave, please," Jake gasped again, his begging tone clear even through the strain in his voice. His entire body was shaking as he groaned in strangled breaths, the flames slowly growing larger though they seemed different in some way from normal fire. "I can't…stop it…" Jake choked, struggling with enormous effort, though Harry couldn't understand why the embers weren't causing him any obvious pain. Before Harry could press him, Lao Shi and Dominic were landing beside him.

"Take him, now!" Lao Shi commanded the green dragon, Dominic nodding and roughly grabbing Harry into his arms before jumping into the air. The last Harry saw of the red dragon, the flames were beginning to cover him entirely while Lao Shi stood over him, knotting Jake's cloak and allowing the fabric to slip over him. As Dominic landed amongst the rest of the civilians near the entrance to Hogwarts and the rest of their group came to check on him, Harry realized he was hopelessly lost and hadn't the slightest idea about exactly what had happened over the past half hour. For some reason, however, he had two thoughts that he couldn't help but fixate on.

The dragons were indeed keeping a crucial secret from them, and whatever had attacked Hogsmeade had one person it desired above all others: Jake, or rather, the American Dragon.

Thank you to everyone that's provided feedback so far! Please, if you enjoyed this chapter, or dislike it, or really had any strong opinions about ANY of this work so far, PLEASE let myself and others know! Follow to stay updated, and stick around for the next chapter!

On that note, the first thirteen chapters were already pretty much written when I posted them en masse, so now future chapters will be rolling out ideally no later than in week intervals, but hopefully sooner than that! You want the next chapter sooner? REVIEW. More reviews means I care more about the project, which means quicker turnover rate!

Funny how that works...