Chapter 36
When they were in Wales, Severus took the stone so that he could communicate with Areecen in order to let the dragon guide them to his cave. He was able to sense their location now that they were closer. With him directing Severus they only had to Apparate twice more to reach the cave. Mag was a bit disappointed to see no treasure upon entering the dark cave. She lit the way with her wand pendant, extending it outward on its chain. The dragon stood as they drew closer. He was magnificent enough to take Mag's breath away. He was a white Norwegian ridgeback. His scales seemed to gleam nearly like crystal,and his eyes were a silvery green that put her in mind of pools of moving light.
"You're beautiful," she managed.
If the dragon's thought had felt bigger than Nightshades at Hogwarts, it was nearly overpowering when they stood in front of him. /Thank you, Witch./
For his part, Severus felt the dragon examining his mind much in the way he never wanted Voldemort to be able to do. It was as if the creature knew everything there was to know about who he was in less than ten seconds. Tossing his head, the dragon's eyes seemed to radiate...contempt for what he saw. Severus scowled defensively. /You are an unpleasant little wizard, aren't you?/
/At least Voldemort hasn't trapped my essence,/ Severus shot back.
/Prof! Please do not talk shit to a dragon,/ Nightshade frantically begged.
Severus bit back a sigh. He knew it was unwise to talk shit to a dragon, but the thing was provoking him quite unnecessarily when he'd come to help it. /I am not an it. I am a he just as you are. And you only came to help me because you did not wish your enemy to have my power,/ the dragon scathingly informed.
Mag was unhappy that the two weren't getting along because...she stood here with her favorite person in the world, staring into the face of a real dragon, her favorite creature in the world, and she wanted the moment to be bloody nice! Plucking the hematite from Severus's hand she stepped forward and presented it to Areecen.
"This is yours. Do you need any help breaking the spell?" The dragon reached out a forclaw and with a very delicate motion, plucked the stone from Mag's palm. She felt the barest scrape of talons but no pain. She couldn't help staring at Areecen, unwilling and unable to tear her gaze away. The dragon was very long but slender and elegant. She could easily imagine him riding the wind in all his splendor, owning the skies in his flight.
/Burning the stone should sever the tie,/ Areecen replied, turning to the side and placing the stone on the floor of the cave. Drawing in a deep breath, the dragon directed a concentrated jet of fire at the stone. It burned for perhaps five seconds, then crumbled to ash in a flash of light. Areecen heaved a sigh, his entire gleaming white body seeming to relax. /I feel better already...My power is flowing back into me. I will be at my full strength within a day I should think. Right now, though I must move to another location, because he knows where I am./
/Hogwarts is safe and has secret passages in which you could hide for the time being,/ Severus found himself suggesting. Not particularly because he cared what happened to the dragon, but because it could help if Voldemort attacked the school again.
/HE. I am a HE! And I'm not helping any bloody humans,/ the dragon thought angrily.
Drawing back his lips he showed a mouth full of glittering leg sized teeth.
/PLEASE, PROF! Don't POKE THE FUCKING DRAGON,/ Nightshade pleaded.
/Now that is indeed a wise owl,/ Areecen thought in satisfaction. /And I don't wish to stay in a building crawling with humans who would just love to kill me in my slumber for my blood and claws and scales, but thank you kindly for the offer,/ he told Severus.
Severus scowled but remained silent, not bothering to explain that no one there would harm the dragon, because he suddenly found that he didn't care.
"Where will you go," Mag asked, obvious concern in her tone.
Areecen thought for several beats. /I have a dragon friend in Switzerland. He will likely share his cave until I can find another for myself that I am certain is far enough from humans to allow my safety./
/Why don't you simply make yourself invisible to even wizards, and stay in any cave you like,/ Severus asked, feeling annoyed that the dragon hadn't seemed to think of that himself.
/I could do that, but obviously wizards have found ways around such cloakings,/ the dragon replied. A low auditory growl accompanied the mind thought and Severus decided to remain silent even if there was a snarky comment he very much would've enjoyed making.
"Is there a way...that well...that we could keep in touch," Mag forced herself to ask. Asking was difficult because if the dragon said no, she knew she'd be crushed.
/I think I can arrange that for the little witch who saved me,/ Areecen replied. /Wait here./ He turned and moved into the back of the cave, nearly vanishing into the shadows. Mag found it odd to be called little, because while she was slender, she was tall for a girl. Not nearly as tall as Millie but she wasn't short like Kereston either. A dragon must think all humans were tiny, though. They were so large that most things likely seemed tiny. When Areecen reappeared he held a square faceted palm sized quartz crystal in a forclaw. /I have enchanted this to show me and connect my mind to the holder. Do not lose it or this friendship ends because I won't risk falling into the wrong hands again,/ he warned as he extended it to Mag.
"Thank you," she said, trying and failing to hide her excitement as she took the crystal. It's clarity was stunning, nearly like a diamond.
/It is a diamond, actually,/ the dragon told her. Mag's jaw dropped. That was a huge diamond. Probably worth...well she couldn't count that high and she was rather good at math. /I acquired it long before humans put so much value on diamonds,/ Areecen said, thought voice amused.
He had to be ancient. Mag and Severus exchanged an impressed look as Mag pocketed the diamond. When she returned to Hogwarts she planned to layer several wards upon it to keep it away from anyone else. That and she'd keep it with her always.
"Would you like something of mine in case you need to find me? Like if you need help again. I plan to talk with you often but if you could enchant something of mine to locate me for you, that could be useful, couldn't it," she asked Areecen.
The dragon considered for a moment then nodded his elegant head. /Yes, I can do that. and it would be appreciated./ Mag hurriedly removed the jade ring she always wore on her right forefinger. She carefully passed it to the dragon without a second of hesitation or regret for the loss of her favorite ring. It had gone for a most worthy and exciting cause, after all.
"You can even do magic. Fascinating," Severus said, not sure why this was so surprising considering all the tomes of dragon lore believed to be mere legend. In such books, dragons were far stronger than wizards and could accomplish feats of magic that wizards could only dream of if they had very good imaginations and very big dreams.
Areecen growled, contempt rolling off his mind in waves, though at the moment, not for Severus himself. /Humans need to reduce everything in their legends so that nothing is stronger than themselves. They are fearful little bugs. Blights on the face of magical society./
/SHIIIIT,/ Nightshade thought frantically. /He's gonna eat us fucking all./
/I will not,/ the dragon said, speaking to him for the first time directly. /You have all been decent to me even if the man wizard had selfish reasons. That would not be honorable. And besides, I do not wish for any of you to perish, not even the man wizard, though when it comes to him, I am honestly not quite certain as to why./
"We had better go now so that you can leave. Voldemort could notice his power source isn't feeding him at any time," Mag said, suddenly feeling nervous and annoyed with herself that this hadn't occurred sooner.
The dragon nodded. /Yes./
Mag hurried forward and threw her arms around the white ridge back's willowy neck. She knew the move could be considered stupid by many, but she just couldn't resist. "It was a gift to meet you, Areecen. Please keep in touch and stay safe. I will check on you later today," she promised.
The dragon allowed the embrace, nodding and actually resting his head lightly on her shoulder for an instant. When she stepped back, Severus Apparated the three of them to the edge of Hogwarts grounds. /Wasn't that some shit, though,/ Nightshade asked enthusiastically. /And we're all back in one fuckin' piece! Sweet./
"It certainly gives one something to think about," Severus said. "It's nice...refreshing to discover that there are things in our magical world that are still unknown. It makes me wonder what discoveries there are yet to be made."
Mag nodded eagerly. "Yes! It is wonderful. Perhaps some day we could research them together. Perhaps the dragon even knows of other creatures and he'd tell me about them." Meeting Areecen had emboldened her a bit, and she actually dared to suggest researching with Severus. When he nodded distractedly, her heart danced and did flips of joy, but she remained silent. They took the secret passage back into Hogwarts, not wanting to risk being seen returning and having to answer questions. They were lucky on the way out and luck should not be pushed anymore than dragons should be poked. When leaving they were focused on getting to the dragon more than remaining hidden, but now their caution was back. That night in bed with the curtain tightly drawn to avoid prying eyes, Mag withdrew the diamond from a leather pouch around her neck where she'd decided to keep it always. Peering into it, she saw an image of Areecen lying on the floor of a cave. The clarity of the stone made him very easy to see.
/Areecen? You made it to your friend's cave alright, then?/
/Yes. I am fine human witch. Thank you for your concern./
/I hope to visit you again some day when you have your own cave again./
/That would be fine I think,/ Areecen replied and Mag decided this was, thus far, the best day in her life!
When she graduated, rather than becoming a bard as she'd planned, she wanted to work with Areecen. She wasn't sure on what, but she'd figure it out.