Chapter 7: The Warning
"Argh! This is going to be harder than I thought.." Natsu was training, if it wasn't obvious by his voice, it was definitely obvious from the mass destruction of the Forbidden Forest and still he was shadow boxing.
"You know Na'Tsu, your going to get an earful from Haggy." A little voice chimed, the dragon slayer turned around to see the commenter, who was Blacky, now standing four foot tall. It was found after the month Blacky hatched that, he was the only anomaly in his race that could talk and had a more open minded attitude to see reason before using the high intelligence they are given by birth. Intelligence? Yep. That was a big problem for the Fire Dragon Slayer.
"Come on! We are really away from Hagrid's house. Besides we rebuilt him his cottage. So what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? Right? Blacky..why are you looking mean..you're not going to betray me..." Natsu looked worriedly at his friend who had a dark mischievous aura radiating from his dark scales.
"Kukukukuku..you will soon fear the name Blacky..the great dragon!" The dragons dark chuckles that turned into malicious laughing caused the dragon slayer to sweat drop.
"Okay..Blacky the Black Gecko. What if I tell Hagrid that you were trying to EAT BUCKBEAK?" He yelled the last part and was happy with the result of the horrified look that only a dragon slayer could see. "So I take it we have the Treaty of Secrecy, Sir Black?" Natsu's voice changed into that of an English nobleman.
"Precisely, Sir Natsu. After all it would be a shame to allow a peasant to scold higher class individuals like us, won't you agree?" The rich deep ascent was returned by the Black Dragon too.
"Who ya'll callin' Pea'sants?!" The half giant's voice was all it took for the two buddies to flea.
This maybe how the dragon slayer showed everyone around how he acts, but in the end, this goofiness and go lucky personality is just an act. Not a day has passed by since Igneel informed him of the impending battle that he spent without utilizing his full potential. His fire burned deeper, more fiercer than ever, his whole heart and mind was set in an untouchable molten hot fiery determination.
Later that evening, the two reptilian friends were walking along side by side through the Dark forest, fearless, unaware and uncaring of the dark creatures that resided here. "You know, you should just say it rather than keep it inside." The Dragon's concerned voice brought back the Slayer from his subconsciously activated trance. Natsu upon processing what his friend asked, chuckled lightly.
"That obvious, eh?" Natsu smiled sadly as he slumped his shoulder and sighed tiredly.
"Well..it pretty much is, after all you are always optimistic and energetic." The Dragon pointed out as they neared their cottage. It wasn't much, just a big hall with the kitchen and bedroom together. Two circular windows on the east and west sides, a large door for exit and entry, designed specially for Blacky.
"I miss them..the whole time freezing stuff Igneel said is so confusing..won't they get hungry?" This was his most worrisome issue, his family. The month was making dragon slayer more homesick in a way. He didn't leave to train, he was saved from that fate he so wishes to take for his friends. 'Even that bastard Gray..'
"You are still not telling me something, Natsu..I don't know what kind of secret is that, but I will not ask you to tell me..just know that I'm here.." The dragon slayer grinned and opened the door, which didn't have a lock, and allowed Blacky in, before following his partner in, Natsu looked into the dark forest in front of his eyes, the feeling of being watched, hunted washed over him and for a split second he saw himself with red eyes in the abyss of the trees.
True to his deduction, Blacky was right, Natsu was not just worried about his friends. 'What do these dreams mean..' He steeled his gaze and gave a once over look to the dark woods before closing the door and retiring for the night.
"Natsu..where's the beef?" Blacky's suspicious voice came.
"!"
"You monster!" Blacky's roar of pure anger came off the cottage.
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The days went by, each day the Dragon and Slayer discovered more and more about the world around them, Blacky having no previous history as he was only born a few weeks ago and Natsu being from another world.
Spreading his bat like black scaly wings, the Black Dragon took a deep breath, calming his muscles. "Oi! How long is this gonna take? You are not exactly light weighted, you know!" Annoyed at the bratty voice that came from underneath him, the dragon craned down to see a scowl on the dragon slayer's face who by the way was hold up the oversized animal over his head like a plane.
The two were at the edge of a really tall cliff that was located a little away from the Giants clan that they discovered last Thursday. "Just a moment will you? This is my first time going down a cliffffffrrrrarrgghhh!" Blacky gave of a screamish roar when the dragon slayer threw him into the edge. Fear clutched the dragon as it tried to stay on the air using his wings to continuously flap.
"Nayltsugrrraraggghh!" The dragon roared as he fell down. For a few moments Natsu stood there emotionlessly before giving a disappointed sigh and walking away from the cliff as there was no sign of the Black Dragon. Those who were not familiar with the dragon slayer's accurate sense might have thought he was heartless, but..
"What a drama queen.." Natsu grumbled as he made his way towards the woods, but was not fast enough to dodge the one thousand kg black scaly body that tackled him. "Gah!"
"Meanie! You were supposed to jump after me and be rescued by me heroically!" What was amazing is that Natsu stood up and started arguing without so much as of a scratch from the impact. Too engrossed were they in their childish argument to notice
"It seems that I have come at a wrong time, Natsu." The aged voice of the Hogwarts Headmaster reached both arguers sensitive ears and immediately halted their childish argument which towards the end became based on fried turkey they were planning to have, on who will have the legs.
"Yo Professor D!" Natsu gave a wave and a huge grin.
"Greetings Professor." In much more composed manner, Blacky greeted the bearded man.
"How are things going for the two of you?" Dumbledore asked with a small smile as Natsu began to walk towards him, followed by his dragon, Dumbledore too began to walk, keeping pace with the two.
"Ah well, Blacky learned to fly, I started to learn how to cook, saw some giants went to their village.." All the small things they did were recited to the old wizard. No sooner than half an hour, they reached Natsu and Blacky's cottage.
Looking up at the sky the dragon slayer saw heavy dark clouds creeping up the horizon. "Well it seems its gonna rain..probably a storm, Professor D, let's go inside and talk."
Immediately upon entering the old wizard closed the door behind him and took out his wand and tapped on the door, a blue wave of light went throughout the surface of the interior of the cottage. "Alright. So this means business!" Natsu excitedly spoke, as they knew whenever Dumbledore came and do this, it was always something fun, mostly infiltrating the council! It was always like this, Dumbledore would come at random times, the three would converse on random things before sealing the cottage from the inside with a voice proof spell.
"Right to the point, young master Potter is in trouble." Natsu took a seat with Blacky dropping to his side, giving the impression of a warrior sitting on his throne, with his beast on the floor beside him.
"What 'bout Garry?" Natsu casually placed his hand over Blacky's head. The aged professor quickly took a stool from the side and sat, his features calm, but the dragon slayer could feel the tension that the Headmaster his so well.
"Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban." In what thought did the professor said that, Dumbledore himself didn't know.
"Circus who? Black? Professor D, that's racist!" The Headmaster chuckled lightly at the Dragon slayer's misinterpretation of the name belonging to one of the most dangerous wizard.
"It is Sirius Black, Natsu." Blacky corrected his friend before adding this with a sigh. "So typical Natsu..". That earned a series of protest from the pink head.
"Excuse me, but this is a really important matter which will concern both of your expertise. And also there will be lots of trouble following from now." Dumbledore interrupted with a worried face, and was glad that the Dragon duo immediately paid all the attention they could. "The one that you misinterpreted, Sirius Black, was a prisoner of the Magic worlds most dreaded prison, Azkaban.." The name brought lightning and thunder behind as the rain began to fall.
"Why was he sent there?" Blacky asked curiously, of course he himself didn't know where this prison or what it's reputation was, but Dumbledore giving out this name really brought the dragon to comply to his curiosity.
The elderly wizard adjusted his glasses before letting out a small sigh. "For the role in the murder of James and Lily Potter and the murder of a fellow wizard.." Seeing Natsu's curious face turn to a thinking one, Dumbledore continued. "..Harry Potter's parents." That sparked up the Dragon Slayer.
"I don't understand..?" Natsu began, he already knew how the Potters died, and his memory of Dumbledore's explanation shot back, but there was no memory of a 'Sirius Black' in them. Blacky growled menacingly.
"And he is the Godfather of Harry..he is coming for revenge.." Dumbledore's words cautioned the two. The word revenge in particular.
"Tell me Mr. Dumbledore, revenge for what, the incapability of Voldemort who was defeated by an infant?" The black dragon growled out, this was turning into a foul drama.
Shaking his head, Dumbledore explained. "Not on Harry, but on a wizard named Peter Pettigrew..you see Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black were Animagus."
"Amigos?" Natsu, once again confused.
"Animagus, Natsu, they can morph him or herself into an animal at will." Natsu's eyes lit up from Blacky's explanation.
"So like Lisanna?" The dragon slayer was immediately captivated at the ability of these mages.
The Dragon sighed before grunting a reply. "Sort of..they only take on the form of one specific animal. This animal form is not chosen by the wizard, but determined by their personality and inner traits..from what you told, Lisanna can take over any animal, right?" Natsu nodded sadly.
Clearing his throat, Dumbledore brought back the two to the matter at hand. "As I was saying, they were Animagus, but the problem was that, before the Potters went to hiding, they revealed the information of their location to Sirius..at least that was what the Ministry of Magic believed to have happened, when in truth, the one named Peter Pettigrew was the real Keeper.." Natsu's eyes narrowed.
"So it was the second guy who betrayed the Potters, and the first guy was innocent and the one he murdered would have been the second wizard..but the revenge.." Natsu spoke out trying to finish it, but knew something was missing.
Blacky took Natsu's pause to resume his own conclusion. "Maybe..there was something the Ministry missed out? Something that would have showed Sirius person's innocence..like Pettigrew's death?" Natsu nodded in agreement and both of them noticed the twinkle in Dumbledore's face that showed the look of a greatly impressed person.
"Precisely, Sirius's imprisonment revolves around Pettigrew's death, because Peter Pettigrew is no dead, he faked his death after betraying the people that trusted him over many others, even I was among them..now Sirius is back to kill Pettigrew for real and he is the only one who knows what Pettigrew's animal form is.." Dumbledore stated.
"A rat."
"Pardon me?" Dumbledore questioned the dragonslayer's sudden statement.
"A rat is the most obvious animal that comes to my mind too, just like Natsu, after all this magic takes the inner self as the animal, and Pettigrew did rat them out." Blacky added on to his friends deduction.
"Hmm..that is a possibility.." Dumbledore once again was impressed.
"But what exactly do you want us to do? Find Pettigrew?" Natsu asked, cracking his knuckles with a determined look, but Dumbledore shook his head negatively.
"I will not recommend that plan of action..something tells me Pettigrew will show up in the next few months.." Dumbledore himself wasn't sure when he said those words, but he clearly didn't want the two hyper beings to trash his school while searching for rats.
Natsu stared blankly. "Then? Stop Syria?"
"Sirius, Natsu." Blacky corrected to which Natsu smiled sheepishly.
"In a way.." Both of them looked curiously at the old wizard. "..I need you to stop Sirius and Mr. Potter from meeting each other..it could be disastrous.." Natsu and his dragon nodded understandingly..to some extent. "So I want you to make Sirius see that he still has a chance, and make sure that he won't kill Peter Pettigrew..it will only worsen his position..and I also have a warning, watch out for Dementors."
"Dementors?"
Dumbledore nodded. "They are among the foulest creatures that walk this Earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them...get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." What Dumbledore saw on Natsu's face made him more confident, the firm smirk and the predator look that came along was enough for the old wizard to know. 'Those are for human wizards to worry over..a Dementor fails to keep a canine from escaping, I wonder what they will do against a Fire Dragon..'
"Professor, then what are they doing here in Hogwarts?" Blacky piped.
"Yes..it is a matter of concern..the Ministry thinks that they are in control of the Dementors when it is Voldemort who is actually the one controlling them, but they are too blind to see it, and have deployed them on Hogwarts grounds." Dumbledore's face contorted to one of annoyance. "This is the second thing I need your help with, if it wouldn't be too much that is.." Natsu nodded to continue. "A Special Security for the students..especially Harry Potter as they will be going after him.."
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"Natsu..are you sure this is a good idea?" The Dragon slayer was grinning mischievously as he tied his scarf around his head, concealing himselfe except leaving his eyes. While Blacky was uncertain about this.
*Mission Impossible Background Music*
Natsu jumped from one corner to the other before hiding behind a trash bin, all the while narrating his movements. "Natsu and Blacky, the Super Spies made their way through the alleys of Great Biscuit-"
Blacky nearly roared in annoyance as he walked straight out of the alley and "Will you cut it out!"
*Music Stop!*
"You're no fun!" Natsu whined as he followed Blacky through the street that was partially crowded from the holiday evening. The dragon walked fast, but avoided any human from bumping into him as he was using the invisibility charm casted by Snape, but the same didn't apply for the ripped dragon slayer with his open vest, if the miniskirt ladies following the self proclaimed Ninja was any indication.
It took too many turns and stops to loose Natsu's abruptly formed fanclub. "Dammit! Those girls were worse than Lucy! Did you see the blonde? She kept on telling me about q hole in her underwear and even after I told her I didn't have any money, she didn't care! What was she expecting, I'm having Lucy's spare with me?" Blacky either was uneducated or simply didn't care about Natsu's rant as he lead the dragon slayer to Harry Potter's residence.
"This is the one, his scent is coming strong from here, oh and lookie there! Fat Lady floating! Bwhahaha!" Without bothering to waste anymore time, he walked towards the door and walked straight through it..not literaly as upon contact with his body, the wooden door burnt to ashes and he went through. Of course this scared the residents and stopped a packed up Harry Potter.
"Bloody Hell! Its a demon!" The fat man yelled.
"Professor Dragneel?" Harry was baffled, he himself used a little magic, now a professor used a more destructive one.
"Brain Gutter!" Natsu smiled broadly, not noticing the face palm Blacky gave and the more baffled expression on the remaining people. "Been a while kid!"
Taking matters into his own claws, Blacky unconcealed himself scaring the muggles and surprising Harry with his size. "Vernon Dursley, Under the request.." Natsu cracked his knuckles threateningly with a little flame around his fists, just to remind them that the request part was only in the paper. "..of the Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft & Wizardry, Harry James Potter is asked to accompany Prince Natsu Dragneel, failed to comply will result in 'unforeseen events'." The last part was just an addition, but it had it's effect.
A few minutes passed.
"I can't believe you did that!" Although happy, Harry was not sure of the enterance that Natsu made.
"Come on! It was awesome!" Natsu cheered, the three were standing in the bus stop..unknown to Natsu.
A few minutes of silence came, minus the giggling from the Dragon Slayer. 'How could he be like this when children half his age is worried about Voldemort and the death eaters?' Shaking that question off to another time, Harry spoke. "So..why did Dumbledore call me?"
"Huh? Oh..uh hehehe actually..that was just a lie!" Natsu childishly spoke, stunning the boy to no end. "Oh quit that look! I'm sure that you were bout to leave!" Harry did not know what to make of this.
"Mr. Porter, it would be simpler if we just go along with our current objective to reach." Blacky sighed.
"Which is?" Harry asked with a critic eye.
"The Leaky Cauldron, Charing Cross Road, London." The Dragon replied.
"And how are we going to get there?" Once again he was critical.
"Hold your wand out." Reluctantly, the Potter boy did as told, and Natsu fell down with his face green. Blacky picked the dragon slayer with his tail and threw him into the bus, the conductor, completely unfazed, dodged the man, causing the pink head to smash into the window behind the shabby man.
"What the bloody hell is this?!" Harry exclaimed.
"This my good lad is the Knight Bus!" The shabby conductor answered. "Stan Shunpike, will be serving y'all." He said as he carried the heavy baggage of Harry inside. The dragon and human following him.
"Grr.." The voice alerted the dragon, but the slayer who was stuck on the window saw it, a black dog on the other side, staring at him. Before neither could say anything, the bus shot off and Natsu was instantly down.
The ride was wild, but all good things must come to an end and that was how an extremely cheerful dragon slayer challenging an already gone magic bus. "You will never take me alive again! Natures freak!"
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Somewhere in the Forbidden forest, a man in black robes stood, his face unusually calm. His eyes blood red. "You are getting strong, Natsu..soon.." The greatest dark wizard of this universe, or any other, known or unknown, Zeref. The man turned around and walked towards the darkness, slowly blending into it. "Farewell for now..Etherious Natsu Dragneel.." And he was gone.
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Yo. How's it been? Yeah I know it has been a long time. But I'm back.