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"Human speech"

"Human thoughts"

:Dragon speech:

Chapter 2 – Found

Excerpt – Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, pg. 478

Of all the species of dragon scattered throughout the world, none is more wondrous or mysterious as the Eastern Siberian Ice Dragon. Magical taxonomists have known of their existence for centuries since the first recorded sighting that occurred in 1759. However, very little is known about their habits and lifestyle because of their reclusive nature and remote habitat.

Like the Antipodean Opaleye, its coloration is completely white to help it blend in with its bleak surroundings. What is startling and unique about this dragon is that it is the only one in the world that has fur. The fur grows out from the spaces between the scales and covers the entire body, including the head. It is believed this layer of fur acts as an insulator to keep them warm during the harsh Siberian winters.

However, the most astounding ability of the Eastern Siberian Ice Dragon is that it can apparate. Scientists who have studied these creatures have observed them flying in clear, blue skies and then disappearing in a swirl of ice and snow. This has also happened every time when someone decides to try and capture one of these beasts. Whenever their pursuers get close, they disappear in a swirl of ice and snow, never to be seen in that area again. This is why all our knowledge of these mysterious dragons is from long distance observation as none have ever been captured alive.

Newt Scamander – Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

o0o0o0o

It was very fortunate for Vernon Dursley that his car didn't have a sunroof and that all his attention was focused on the road ahead of him. His attention was also focused on finding a good place to drop the freak off and leave it behind. If he did have the ability to look above him and see just what was shadowing his vehicle, he certainly would have suffered a massive heart attack upon seeing the huge creature flying silently above him.

Rashikira was beginning to become annoyed, and annoying a two ton, five meter long Eastern Siberian ice dragon was a very foolish and life-shortening thing to do. She and her Companion had made the jump to England earlier that morning when she felt the protections around a potential Companion begin to waver. Reappearing in the air over a subdivision of uniformly similar dwellings, they were able to witness a fat man nonchalantly shove a wicker basket into the back seat of a vehicle before getting in and driving off, spinning his tires in his haste to leave. She was able to keep pace with the vehicle with only a little more effort than she expended during normal flight, but her Companion had to tuck in closer to her body to keep out of the slipstream as much as possible. Of course, the rushing wind made it impossible for him to be heard when he spoke normally, so the two conversed through mind speech.

Thankfully, her Companion's presence on her back was enough to calm her initial impulse to blast the fat human with her ice breath and shatter him into very small pieces with a swipe of her tail as soon as she could get to him. Just the mental image of that had her chuckling in amusement.

"What's got you cracking up, Rashi?"

:Oh, just picturing that fat slob shattering into a million pieces after freezing him solid with my breath and thumping him with my tail: Her Companion, who by now was used to the bloodthirsty ways of dragons and knew that she was joking, laughed along with her.

"Actually, it would probably be a billion pieces, he's got enough mass for it. Unfortunately, we can't do anything to attract the attention of the British wizards. Freezing and shattering a fat muggle into very small pieces would be just the thing to get them sniffing around."

:I know, I know, spoil all my fun, why don't you, Charlie?: Rashikira exaggerated a fake sigh. :It's just that I thought we would be coming to England, make a quick pick up, and returning home. Instead, we're following around a crazy person hoping to be in the right place and on time to stop him from doing something stupid:

"What makes you say he's a crazy person?" her Companion, Charlie Weasley asked.

:Well, you can see the way he's piloting...:

"Driving"

:Huh?:

"It's called driving."

:Oh, right...driving that...what do you call it? A car?:

"Yes, a car."

:Right, the way he's driving that car with his family inside? He is barely in control of it! Who else but a crazy person would risk their family like that?:

"You do have a point, however, I think he's just scared. You did say they were just muggles?"

Rashikira opened her senses and used her Sight on the speeding vehicle below her. With that ability, the metal of the roof of the car meant nothing to her since what she saw were the auras of the people inside. She actually had to lessen the power of her Sight when she looked into the back seat of the car.

:Yes, two muggles, one that you would call a squib, and one so bright it almost hurts to look at with my Sight:

"Can you tell if he has the Gift?"

:I won't know for sure until I can come into contact with him, but his aura is fairly similar to yours so it's a strong possibility:

"That's something we'll check for when we can actually get to him. Anyway, back to what I was saying, I think the man or someone in his family has had some kind of contact with magic in the past. Magic is different as it is something they don't understand so that makes them afraid. It doesn't make sense, but people that are scared can and will do stupid things to get away from or get rid of the thing that frightens them. And right now they have a magical child in the car with them driving to who knows where. Let's hope that when he gets there he will just leave the child behind and walks away."

:And if he decides to do something else with the child, I'll put a stop to it!: Rashikira growled threateningly. Charlie mentally added his agreement, hoping that the muggle did the smart thing and just leave.

The pair continued to shadow the speeding vehicle, watching carefully to see if it made any sudden turns off the main road. As the sky began to lighten, the car slowed down and turned down a dirt road that led into some deep woods. Rashikira easily kept the car in sight, since none of the trees branched over the dirt road to block her view. Charlie looked ahead and saw they were coming up on a clearing.

"I think he's going to stop soon. That clearing ahead looks like a place where he could turn his car around. Whatever he's going to do, that's probably where he is going to do it unless he goes further into the woods."

:I agree, that's probably the most likely spot: Rashikira spared a quick glance further down the dirt road. :I don't see any other clearings ahead of them, so this is where he might stop. Oh, look, he's slowing down. Get your wand ready, Charlie. I'll keep us in a banking turn once he stops so that you can have a clear shot at him in case he does try to hurt the boy:

Charlie palmed his wand in his right hand and gripped the harness firmly with his left. When the car stopped completely, Rashikira glided in a right-banking circle, keeping the clearing in sight the entire time. Two pairs of eyes, one human and one draconian, never left the man as he hauled his enormous bulk out of the driver's door and moved to the door behind him. They watched him open the back door and roughly haul a wicker basket out of the back seat. Charlie's grip on his wand increased and he could feel Rashikira's muscles underneath him twitching in anticipation. The muggle walked to the nearest tree, bent down and placed the basket on the ground at its base. When the muggle stood back up, Charlie aimed his wand at his back with a stunning spell on his lips but held his fire. After standing there for a moment, the muggle turned around and walked back to his car. Neither Charlie nor Rashikira released their tension until the car turned around and left the clearing. Only when the glow of the headlights faded completely did the two finally relax.

:Finally! I thought he would never leave! Good riddance!:

"You can say that again! Is there enough clearance between trees for you to land and take off again?"

:Absolutely, no problem. There's plenty of room:

"Then let's go down and see how the little guy is doing."

Rashikira banked around one more time so that she was aligned with the road. Coming in at a steep angle, she flared out when she passed the tops of the trees, backwinged twice, then settled to the ground gently and trotted to a stop. She then took five steps until she was standing at the base of the tree and looking down into the basket and the child sleeping inside. Charlie undid the straps of the riding harness, kicked one leg over Rashikira's back, and slid down her side to land in a crouch on the ground. He removed his gloves and goggles as he stood next to her head and also looked at the peacefully sleeping black-haired child.

"He's still sleeping? How can he stay asleep through that wild ride?" Charlie asked out loud.

:The basket that he's in has sleeping and warming charms on it: Charlie looked up at Rashikira and saw her blue eyes glowing with the Sight.

"Well, that was considerate of whoever left him with magic-hating muggles. But to leave him with muggles in the first place... I wonder who did it?"

:There's a letter tucked into the side of the basket. Maybe it will have some answers:

Charlie moved the blanket to the side and saw a crumpled parchment. Pulling it out and smoothing out the creases so he could read it better, he lit his wand with a lumos and started reading. He frowned when he saw who wrote the letter and wondered just what he was up to. He blinked his eyes in shock when he got to the part that You-Know-Who was defeated as this was the first time that he's heard of it. He frowned again when he read about the blood protections and how it would keep young Harry hidden from those who would harm him. Since his immediate blood family rejected him, did that mean the protections were no longer valid? Finishing the letter, he lowered it to his side and stared at the lightening horizon, struggling to order his chaotic thoughts. He felt a comforting weight on his shoulder and turned his head to look into the deep blue eyes of his dragon friend. He reached up and stroked the soft fur under her jaw and felt her purrs of pleasure rumble through his body.

:This Dumbledore person sounds like he thinks he has all the answers to everything. Unfortunately, he didn't contend with a fearful muggle that did not want to go along with his plans: Charlie just shrugged, he knew Rashikira already read the letter while over his shoulder as he taught her how to read years ago. However, her comments didn't bring him any closer to the answers he sought.

"The letter says that he vanquished You-Know-Who! How in Merlin's name did he do that? He's still in nappies, for crying out loud!"

:It's more than likely not entirely him that did it. Dumbledore wrote that his mother did cast protections on him. Maybe that's what caused this dark wizard's magic to turn against him?:

"Maybe" Charlie agreed. "Or maybe there's something more to this child than meets the eye. You should check right now to make sure if he has the potential to be a Companion."

Rashikira nodded her furry head and bent down to rub her soft nose on the boy's exposed forehead. When her snout came into contact with the lightning bolt scar, her eyes widened with shock and surprise. She sprung backward and landed in a threatening crouch, wings mantling, claws tearing up the ground, lips pulled back to expose her impressive teeth and snarling viciously. Startled by her behavior and thinking that she saw or heard something that he didn't, Charlie pulled his wand and scanned the surrounding woods for approaching threats.

"What is it, Rashi? Did you hear or see something?" Charlie asked as he continued to scan the woods. When she didn't answer, Charlie turned to look at the dragon who was still snarling angrily beside him. He noticed that her eyes were almost burning with blue flames and saw that her gaze was locked not on the surrounding woods where he thought the threat was originating from, but on the child in the basket.

"Rashi?" She flicked her eyes toward him momentarily before turning back to the basket. He involuntarily took a step back in fear at the anger and hatred he saw in those burning blue orbs. Swallowing nervously, Charlie addressed her again.

"Rashi? Are you all right? Is there something wrong? Is there something I can do to help?" Rashikira seemed to deflate right in front of his eyes as she relaxed her posture and sighed tiredly.

:No, Charlie, I'm not all right, there is most DEFINITELY something wrong, and there's really nothing you can do to help: Charlie's jaw dropped open and staggered back a step in shock. Normally, his dragon friend was a very laid-back and easygoing individual. To see her this way was startling.

"What do you mean I can't help? That's what Dragon Companions are for! We do everything together as a team!" Charlie responded angrily.

:I don't mean to say that to brush you off, Charlie: Rashikira responded contritely. :It's just that this is something that is beyond the abilities of both of us:

"Why? What is it that is so bad that's got you so angry?"

:Dark magic, the darkest magic imaginable. Magic so dark that dragons don't even have a name for it!:

Charlie looked at the child in the basket as Rashikira was glaring at the boy while she was speaking.

"You're not seriously thinking that the BOY is made of dark magic, do you?" Charlie asked incredulously.

:No, not the child, it's the scar that's radiating dark magic:

"Can you tell what kind of dark magic it is? I have a brother who's a curse breaker in Egypt. Maybe he could help if we know what we're dealing with."

:Oh, I already know what it is because I've sensed them before. It is a fragment of a dark wizard's soul stuck in the scar. The reason that I say its a dark wizard's soul is that it takes someone truly twisted and evil to render something so pure and eternal as a soul in order to try and gain immortality:

"Ah, so we're dealing with a horcrux." Rashikira hissed in anger, even the name of the abomination sounded evil!

:So, wizards actually have a name for it?: Rashikira ground out in anger.

"Hey! Don't take your anger out on me! I'm only telling you what my brother told me that's what they're called because he sees them occasionally when digging around the tombs in Egypt. They usually deal with them by destroying them with basilisk venom or with fiendfire. I hope that's not what you're planning to do here, is it?"

:Oh, I have a plan to deal with it, all right! I said that it's beyond our abilities to take care of, however, I didn't say that we couldn't ask for help! I have to ask you to tone down your mental connection with me for a little while Charlie, because I'm about to get really loud!:

Eyes wide when he realized just what she was doing, Charlie did as she requested until all he heard mentally from her was a quiet murmur. Rashikira then sat back on her haunches, took a deep breath, raised her muzzle to the sky, and let out an earth-shaking roar that startled every bird and small animal for miles around. The audible roar, however, was nothing compared to the mental call she sent out. Charlie was glad for her warning beforehand as her mental bellow at full volume in close proximity to her would have shattered his mind.

:BROTHERS, SISTERS, HEAR ME! I AM RASHIKIRA OF THE NORTH AND I AM IN NEED OF YOUR ASSISTANCE! I REQUEST THAT YOU COME TO MY LOCATION AND LEND ME YOUR MAGIC TO RID THE WORLD OF A DARK TAINT! I SHALL AWAIT YOUR ARRIVAL:

Finishing her summons, she dropped back down on all four limbs but kept her gaze on the sky above them. She looked at Charlie momentarily and winked at him before looking skyward again. After a few minutes, the sky above the trees seemed to be torn open as dragons began to appear. Most came in a flash of fire, however, two or three appeared in a swirl of snow as Rashikira would do and one even appeared in a torrent of leaves. All of them spiraled down in an orderly fashion, landed in the clearing, and trotted over to where Rashikira and Charlie were standing. A light brown Saharan Sandwyrm strode forward imperiously to look her in the eye.

:Well, sister, we all heard your call and now we're here. What is it that you have need of us?: Charlie bristled at the blunt tone of the dragon but Rashikira didn't react at all. He had to mildly rebuke himself when he realized that this is just how dragons behaved. Even after all these years in their presence, he was still learning about them.

:Brothers and sisters, I thank you for coming here on such short notice. I was coming to England to retrieve a potential Companion. When testing him to make sure, I sensed dark magic in the scar on his forehead...: Rashikira hesitated in her explanation and the Sandwyrm sensed her reluctance to continue.

:Dark magic? What kind of dark magic do you speak of? If you're this hesitant to speak of it then it's probably...: Here the Sandwyrm hissed in anger. :Don't tell me it's a SOUL FRAGMENT! If it is, it must be destroyed immediately!: Upon speaking the words 'soul fragment', all the other dragons began roaring and hissing in anger along with the Sandwyrm. It took Rashikira a few minutes of roaring above them to get them to calm down.

:PLEASE, listen to me! Yes, it is a soul fragment and yes, I want it destroyed as well, but its attached to a potential Companion, one of the strongest I have ever seen. We can't just destroy the child, we have to try and save him!:

A small, green Amazonian Leaf Dragon that was about the size of a German Shepherd walked up and stood next to the Sandwyrm. His green eyes looked up into the blue ones of the Ice Dragon.

:How do you propose we do that? Do you know of a magic that can overcome the cursed magic of a soul tearing ritual? I don't think you have it in you to accomplish that, sister: Again, Charlie huffed in irritation, but Rashikira continued calmly.

:Yes, Baythas, I do know of a magic that can separate the soul fragment from its vessel, but the defensive magic of soul fragments is very strong. If it fights back from trying to be dispelled, its magic could overcome me and kill me if I tried to do it by myself. That's why I called all of you here, to lend me your strength and magic to keep me from being overwhelmed:

:And what's in it for us? What do we get from lending you our magic?: The Sandwyrm spoke up again.

:Oh, I don't know, Vezoth, how about the world gets another Dragon Companion? After all, we have so many that we can just throw the spares away on just a whim!: Rashikira finished her tirade with an angry snarl. :Don't be such a greedy idiot, you know how rare it is to come across a potential Companion! Who knows, when he grows up he may even find YOUR presence tolerable enough to bond with you someday!: Charlie heard and felt the deep rumbling that he knew was dragon laughter, as all the other dragons were amused by her quip. He kept his eye on the bellicose Sandwyrm to see if he would react to Rashikira's verbal barbs, but the beast bowed his head in acquiescence to her comments. Rashikira looked around at the other dragons in the clearing and was relieved to see that they would all lend their help.

She had Charlie take young Harry out of the basket and place him in the center of the clearing. As soon as he was taken out of the basket and its sleeping charm, Harry woke up and started fussing until Charlie placed his own sleeping charm on the boy. Rashikira then said to strip him down as any clothing would most likely be destroyed. Charlie proceeded to strip the child naked, placed a warming charm on his sleeping body, and then conjured a clean towel to lay him on so he wouldn't get dirty. He then walked away to stand by the trees. The other dragons stood in a circle with Rashikira standing over the sleeping child. Extending a claw on her left forepaw, she made a shallow cut on the pad of her right forepaw. Using the same claw, she then carefully followed the pattern of the lighting bolt scar on the boys forehead, cutting into it until it bled freely. She then smeared her own blood over the scar until it was completely covered.

:Of this blood, I give freely: Rashikira chanted lowly.

:Freely given, freely given: the other dragons took up the chant.

Bending down until her muzzle almost touched the scar, she started breathing blue flames on the boy's forehead. Charlie saw that the grass underneath the child and Harry himself were unaffected, but the towel he was laying on started smoking.

:With the Breath of Life, I banish the darkness: Rashikira chanted as the flames steadily increased.

:Banish the darkness, banish the darkness: the other dragons chanted as they breathed their own flames on Rashikira. Charlie saw that she wasn't burned and started to glow. 'So this must be how they transfer their magic from one to another' he thought to himself. Rashikira's flames continued to increase in intensity and Charlie could see that little Harry was starting to squirm in discomfort. The towel was ash by this time but Harry's skin was completely unmarked. Charlie's eyes widened when he figured that the horcrux was trying to fight back but was hampered by Harry's small body. Rashikira responded to this by doubling the strength of her flames and putting all her power combined with the borrowed power of the other dragons behind her effort. The other dragons sensed victory and increased the power lent to their sister. She roared as she poured her magic into destroying the soul fragment.

:YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS VESSEL! I BREAK YOUR HOLD ON THE BOY!: she roared. Her flame was so bright by this time that it hurt Charlie's eyes when he tried looking at it. Unseen by Charlie, a black mist oozed out of the scar on Harry's forehead and was instantly destroyed by the intense flames. An ear-splitting screech of rage, defiance and fear signaled the destruction of the horcrux and Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back into the circle to see a brightly glowing Rashikira standing over a baby that was looking up at her curiously. She bent down and nuzzled his stomach gently as Harry giggled happily. She then turned and looked at Charlie as he approached.

:The fragment is destroyed. It must have been a small fragment or it wasn't very powerful because that was a lot easier than I thought:

"EASY? You thought that was easy?"

:Yes, I do. I thought it would take almost all of our combined effort and energy to get rid of it, but I didn't have to use too much of the extra magic the others lent me. Speaking of that...: Turning to the other dragons, she walked up to them one at a time and breathed her own blue flames on them until the glow surrounding her dissipated. She then stood back in the middle of the circle and looked each one in the eye.

:Thank you, my brothers and sisters, for lending your aid this day. Because of your efforts, the world would have one more Dragon Companion to keep our kind safe. Again, I thank you: She then bowed low so that her head was almost touching the ground. Charlie, who had a cleaned and dressed Harry held in his arms, also bowed low in respect to the other dragons. The gathered dragons returned the bow and one at a time, sprang aloft and returned to their homes, each in their own way.

When the last dragon disappeared, Charlie took out his wand and erased any evidence of dragons being in the area. He then picked up the basket and letter and mounted Rashikira with Harry firmly wrapped up in his warm coat. Securing himself to the harness, he signaled Rashikira that he was ready. She sprang aloft with a powerful downstroke of her wings and disappeared in a swirl of snow once she cleared the tops of the trees.

Harry Potter would not be seen in England for a long time to come.

A/N: WHEW! This one was like the Energizer Bunny, it just kept going and going. There were quite a few places where I wanted to stop, but it just felt incomplete.

Please leave a review after reading to let me know what you think of it. Thank you.