Chapter Sixteen

Premediations

Annika sat on her perch, which happened to be the Astronomy Tower at the moment. She was looking for something. Her tail twitched from side to side, which didn't bode well for any students within the sweep looking to either study the heavens or study something else. As it was still daylight out, there was little change of either being done just yet. The word had spread and while the dragons had become more popular than expected, the more amorous of the student body still didn't want a mother anything around that could crimp their debatable style. Having a skeptical mother dragon eye focused on yourself and the question, "What exactly are you doing here?" tended to keep activities like that to a limp minority.

She wasn't happy and the game of catch had been long forgotten. The Castle had politely asked her to visit through a link to her draconic magic in order to tell her something. As the Short-Snout was the most accomplished in the mental arts, it was easier to converse that way. Tessaies knew she was here – well, everyone knew she was where she was. It was hard to hide a large silver dragon curled around the highest tower. Annika was only happy to visit, as the Castle had centuries of music embedded in her walls and contact allowed her to hear it.

It was also hard to miss the sudden white-hot flames jetting out from that tower when she heard what else the Castle had to say. Anyone with any plans to visit that area quickly changed then and there. Plans were enacted with the sudden decisions to do their homework instead.

~~ Where is the moderlös slampa? Where?! ~~

The rest devolved into the Swedish version of Dragontongue. Everyone on the grounds could hear Annika, but even Harry with the Parseltongue ability could understand maybe one word in ten. Those individual words made him blush and add to the mental list that Tessaies had provided him during the First Task. Hermione would have been positively scandalized, so he resolved to never tell her about that particular list. For that matter, he didn't refer to it in any way.

If nothing else, Annika was proving to be positively venomous in the things that she had to say.

Dumbledore was out on the grounds and stared up at the raging dragon. Hagrid was nearby watching in appreciation, but Dumbledore noticed that even he seemed loathe to comment. He set off toward the Dragon Quarters at almost a run and the half-giant followed. Hagrid was having trouble keeping up, and seeing the old wizard's beard flowing behind him would have been amusing to anyone. The sight of the angry dragon displaced any thoughts along those lines.

|:-:|

Dan stared at the flames shooting up with not a little bit of concern. His second sight of a dragon worried him a bit more, as they hadn't seen all of the first and that one seemed more placid. She seemed to take the sight of the flames in stride… or whatever 'stride' was for a dragon.

"Um, Charlie? Is that normal?"

Charlie looked up and frowned.

"From her? No. Something's got her riled up and I'm not going up there until she calms down."

Dan gave him an incredulous look.

"You're not concerned that the children will get hurt?"

"No, actually. Annika may be right ticked off about something, but she'll never ever harm any of the children. She's the most motherly and social of the group. Adults are another matter, but they have to really push her first. If someone's been that stupid, they deserve whatever they get."

Charlie regarded the distant dragon. The frown on his face deepened.

"You know, she's acting just like one of her clutch has been threatened, but I know for a fact that all the dragon eggs are fine. There's got to be something else and from the way she's been interacting with the students, I bet she found out something menacing the kids she didn't like. How, I couldn't say."

Emma thought about that.

"You're honestly not worried?"

"About her? No, not really. It'll take a little while for her to calm down. The Mother Eminence had a little talk with her the last time she went off like this, so whatever it was that's got her in this mood now has to be rough. Last time it was something about Harry's home life and the way he was treated." There was a darkening of Charlie's voice that both dentists noticed right away. "We'll find out."

"You said 'Mother Eminence.' That's the head dragon right? Sounds Catholic."

"Sounds what?"

Dan cast around for a way to explain it to the wizard.

"Er… religious job, for want of a better term. It's a nun in a main supervisory position of other nuns, called a Mother Superior."

Dan then had to explain what exactly a 'nun' was to the wizard. Charlie waved it off, since he'd seen something similar in Romania.

"Oh, I see. Well, the dragons aren't religious… I think. I know they have different magic than I do and they do things differently because they look at it differently but I'll have to ask Tessaies about that."

"Might be interesting to find out."

"Or more confusing."

"Or that." Dan looked at Annika, still flaming the skies and hissing her displeasure. "Are you sure things are okay?"

"More or less. She looks like she's starting to wind down. At least she doesn't have gas from either end now, thanks to her new diet. That really made her grumpy, which made the whole thing worse."

Dan stared at the dragon wrangler as he tried not to think about what that meant, while Emma chuckled at the thought.

"So on another dragon topic, they can understand what we say? And read?"

"Surprised me, too. I had the thought that Madam Pince would faint if a dragon showed up in her library to check out any of her books."

"Yeah, I imagine so. Say, there's two other dragons here, right? Who are they?"

"Well… how about I take you over there and introduce you? Maybe Rhiain will sing for you when she gets back if you ask her nicely."

"Sing?"

|:-:|

The dragon in question had seen the dragonfire lancing up and was already in the air. Rhiain was more fluent in 'Ticked-Off Annika' than the others, since she had Swedish acquaintances other than her friend that had taught her a few things – both verbal and otherwise. As a result, she knew that the Short-Snout was in need of some diversion. Annika didn't use that kind of language without a good reason.

She sideslipped the near-plasma state of the roiled air and dust of the dragonfire stream with practiced ease and caught Annika's eye to ask for a mental connection. It was granted, and the Welsh Green winced at some of the content on the Short-Snout's mind. Rhiain knew that this was the easiest way to find out what was going on, since Annika wasn't going to be in any state to moderate her language. Not from what she was broadcasting, anyway.

As it happened, several feet to the right of where Annika was perched and the translation charm would kick in. Then the children and possibly some of the professors would learn new things and new ways to express themselves.

~~ Let's fly, sister, ~~ she coaxed.

Annika growled from deep within her throat and flung herself into the air. Several wing beats and the two dragons speared through the air, leaving only dragon talon marks on the stone and the sound of furious hissing reverberating through the air. Inside the Tower, those who couldn't see what was going on outside was wondering where the shaking was coming from. Several could see a magical swash flow over the walls with a light hum, steadying them as Annika cast off from the top. It faded into the surface of the stone without any other sound.

Rhiain subtly directed Annika away from the translation charm's area of effect, and her friend was still so worked up that she didn't notice she was being herded into a large, lazy circle. They flew for several long minutes at top speed until Annika started to slow down. Rhiain had been waiting for that in between monitoring what the Short-Snout was doing and thinking over the information burst that she'd gotten from the mental connection.

So there's a saboteur in the castle. Tessaies is not going to be pleased, she thought. Rhiain cocked an eye at her friend. And 'Auntie Annika' will be all too happy to roast him before we find out what his plans are. That can't happen.

Annika had finally gone silent. Either she was finished with her current language's vocabulary of not-so-nice words, she was dredging up another language's vocabulary of said words, or she was starting to calm down. Rhiain wasn't giving odds on any of those, especially the last. She didn't have the authority that Tessaies could overlay her words as Mother Eminence, so she did the best that she could.

Rhiain tugged Annika toward the acromantula nests and waited. It didn't take long for their dragon-enhanced hearing to discover several of the younger ones in a quiet corner plotting to go against their chief's orders and raid the school. This was all that was needed for Annika's ire to be redirected.

The Welsh Green settled to the ground and waited. Aragog stepped out slowly, followed by his eldest son.

"Lady. What brings you here?" He eyed the dragonfire cooking several webs a bit nervously. They spoke in a lesser dialect common to both, but little used since there wasn't much need for it.

"Annika heard several of your children plotting to bind many of her favorites as food. I have to tell you that I did as well. She is already angered by something she heard that threatens the Speaker, and this is not helping."

They watched a tree fall in their direction and separated to let it land between them. Rhiain eyed it and shrugged before reclining on it.

"I gave no such order and wouldn't. Who was it?"

"Whoever doesn't show up tonight, I'm sure."

Several webs burned and they ignored it.

"Fools. They deserve it." Aragog coughed, a dry rattle that came from deep within his carapace.

"Better her than Tessaies. There would be none left of your kind at all."

The two acromantula shuddered, having seen the Horntail several times.

"We will take your warning in the spirit it was intended, Lady," Aragog's son noted. His voice was grave, but Rhiain could hear the outrage in his voice. She raised an eyebrow and he noticed.

"We are not upset with you, Lady. You are protecting your own and we note that the school has dragon protectors now. We are not stupid – some of our number aside."

Both looked at Annika's area of active arachnid annihilation, and Rhiain sighed.

"And it looks like you don't have to worry about them any longer. I'll see if I can call her off, but no promises if it happens again."

The acromantula chief bowed to her, the aged joints creaking. His son's bow was much more fluid.

"This is understood. Thank you for dealing with my problem children."

They turned to head back into the Forest well away from Annika's area of operations. Rhiain watched them go and turned toward the sound of upset dragon.

~~ Annika! Enough! ~~

It took a moment and another call, but the Short-Snout trudged out soon. Blood, ichor, webbing, and spider hair was smeared all over her. She was calmer than when she went in, but definitely didn't look better. Rhiain waited for Annika to approach but said nothing until she was closer.

"Best go for a dip in the Lake to clean all the gore off. Aragog says that there will be no further problems as long as we're there."

"Good!" Annika still looked a bit aggravated.

"Go wash off. We're supposed to have visitors today. They may already be here."

"Who?"

"The sire and dam of Wildness of Mane. Were you not paying attention?"

"Errrrrrr… no?"

Rhiain swatted at Annika with a wing in reproach.

"Go wash off!" And cool off, she didn't say. "We all will talk about what you learned today later."

The Short-Snout nodded and took off. Rhiain waited until she heard the splashing before she went in search of Charlie.

|:-:|

The Castle noted that her dragon friend had inadvertently taken care of another problem and agreed. She was disappointed in one of her children for bringing the acromantulas in the first place, but it seemed to be working out anyway. Mostly. Now to go back to working on the current problem child, which was really getting on her nerves. It wasn't always easy being her, but at least she had the centuries of experience. Also, for the first time in a long time, she had dragons to act for her. It was more impressive than many of the wizards and witches she had move around from post to post, or so she'd always thought.

After all, the children came first.

|:-:|

"You know, let's go over there to The Dragon's Lectern. It's pretty interesting."

"The what?"

Charlie grinned at the bemused dentist.

"It's an area where dragons can stop by and teach. We didn't know that dragons like to do that, although we think some just like to take advantage of the translation charm Hogwarts has and listen to themselves speak for an hour or two at a time. Sometimes, three. Those are sometimes rough since no one wants to upset a dragon by leaving."

"Uh. Do dragons have politicians?" He hoped not, but it sounded too familiar to a few in mind that he had the misfortune to be subjected to.

"We're not exactly sure."

"Are there any there now?" Dan looked a bit unsure.

"Not at the moment, aside from 'our' dragons. The visitor dragons have this schedule that they follow – don't ask me how they set it up or communicate any changes. Usually after Hogwarts classes let out and on the weekends."

"How about that. School club meetings, so to speak?"

"Something like that. If it had happened when I was in school, I'd be all over them and twice on Sundays. As it is, I sit in on some now after I deal with my duties as a dragonologist."

"What are those, if you don't mind? This is interesting."

"In short, I take care of them. Feed, watering, watch over them when they get sick, make sure they get their exercise. That's a rough one. Getting a lazy dragon up to walk around when they outweigh you by thirty tons isn't easy."

"By how much?"

Charlie looked around first before he answered.

"Yep. I'm not going to say Tessaies is fat or lazy or even one of those I'm referring to, but she's one of the biggest ones. She was eating good at the dragon reserve in Romania, I'll say that."

Emma chuckled.

"Charlie, don't you know you shouldn't talk about a lady's weight?"

She smirked at him as she gently shook her finger at him.

"Listen to her, lángoló haj. She speaks wisdom. You'll need that one day, if I have any say about it," came an amused hissing voice from behind them.

Charlie jumped. They turned around to see Tessaies stretched out, sunning herself. One golden eye had been watching them while the other was closed. Her wings were extended to full span, lying along the ground to soak up as much sun as possible. The black scales on her back and sides glimmered before flowing into the shades of dark grey that covered her underside. The evil-looking pale horns on the crown of her head, down her spine and the tip of her tail made stretching out on her back impossible unless she wanted to be stuck, so she made do.

It didn't help her mood sometimes that Rhiain and Annika did it every so often, even if Annika left the ground ripped up from her own much smaller spinal spikes. Tessaies couldn't enjoy it as they did and Quiangya didn't much see the point as she preferred flying to laying around.

The Grangers' eyes went wide. This one was the first dragon they'd seen before getting distracted by the one on the tower, but they didn't realize just how big she was.

Charlie stepped up.

"Tessaies, this is Dan and Emma Granger, Hermione's parents," he said, pointed to each in turn. "Dan, Emma, this is Tessaies, the Mother Eminence."

Dan bowed to her, as he was unsure exactly how he would shake hands with a dragon and Emma followed his lead.

"Relax, both of you. I don't stand on ceremony unless I have to." Her eye focused on Emma. "I see where Wildness of Mane gets her looks. It's good to see that in time that will settle."

Dan turned to Charlie. Privately, he thought she sounded like Jessica Rabbit, but said nothing.

"Wildness of Mane?"

It took Charlie a moment to answer, since he chuckling too hard at Dan's befuddlement.

"Dragons don't always use names like we do, like 'Dan' or 'Emma' or 'Charlie,'" here he squinted at the Horntail, who looked back innocently, "but sometimes use a characteristic of the person to refer to them by."

"And this is Hermione's dragon name? Oh, boy."

"Welllll, she was very wound up at the time, worried about Harry during the First Task. None of us knew what was going to happen with Tessaies at the time, and well, when Hermione gets upset in some way her hair… well… you know."

"Don't we ever," Emma rolled her eyes. "I swear that girl would make hair care product makers weep for joy, if she'd ever use them."

"Oh, don't worry about that. My little sister has been showing her something called Sleekeasy's. We can't really use it, since we're all redheads, although sometimes it works for us. It was invented by one of Harry's relatives on the Potter side, actually."

"What's wrong with redheads?"

"Not supposed to use that potion, since it has unpredictable results for redheads. Says so on the bottle."

"Must be because of the gene that causes red hair," Dan mused.

"No idea."

Emma was thinking about something else.

"Tessaies?" When the large dragon's head turned to her, she continued. "Hermione wrote to me in a letter home about you doing something that identified her as Harry's Mate. I'm her mother and I have to watch out for her. While I like Harry, I have to ask. As a mother yourself, do you think he'll be good for her?"

She stared deep into the Horntail's eyes, and Charlie felt uneasy. There was silence for a moment.

"He will be, Emma, mother of Wildness of Mane. There was a resonance between their magics and their pheromones that I as a magical apex predator could detect. Never fear. I have sworn to protect Harry and now Hermione as his Mate… and if he hurts her, he'll answer to me. I'll not have one of mine be boorish or uncouth. He will be a 'gentleman,' or I'll know why."

Oddly, Dan felt better at that. Emma was still staring at Tessaies for a bit before she nodded. She looked at her husband.

"Well, dear, you don't have to worry about having that shovel talk with Harry, do you?"

Dan was still a bit wary of Tessaies, especially when she mentioned being a magical apex predator, but knowing that this same predator was looking out for his daughter eased his mind somewhat.

"No, but she'll always be my baby girl." His eyes flashed. "And if anyone hurts her, leave some for me."

Tessaies laughed and puffed some smoke at him.

"You need a name too."

She started to elaborate but was interrupted.

"Who needs a name?"

Everyone turned to see Quiangya stumble from her quarters, yawning as she got up from a nap. The edge of her talon caught an inconveniently placed rock and trapped her foot's forward motion just enough to make her faceplant into the ground. The Chinese Fireball's scales shimmered as she landed sprawled out in far less than her usual graceful manner.

Tessaies regarded this and turned to Dan, who looked at her.

"Er, is she okay?" Dan didn't think that he'd ever ask that question about a dragon but here he was, doing just that.

"Wait for it." The Horntail sounded quite entertained.

He started to ask "for what?" but was interrupted by a verbal fusillade of descriptive language. His warrant officer long ago would have been scored this effort in expression highly in the areas of variety, tenor, tone, and lack of repetitiveness. To be honest, he was impressed himself and decided to remember a few of them for later use, if necessary.

When he looked at the Horntail with more than a little trepidation, considered that it was an upset dragon, she was grinning.

"For what? That." She turned to address the Fireball who was stumbling around shaking her paw.

"Put a sock in it, Quiangya. We have guests."

The Fireball stared at the Horntail. There were obviously some other things that she wanted to say about that damned pebble.

"What's a sock? And put it where?"

"No idea. I heard it from the children and it seemed to be appropriate. Come meet our guests."

"Who?"

"A couple of parents, to Wildness of Mane."

"And why do we need a name?"

"Her father might not look like it, but he breathes his own fire where she is concerned."

Quiangya had a dubious expression on her face as she took a moment to look Dan over, and he couldn't decide whether to feel pleased or insulted. She didn't look too sure about her boss's impression which didn't help, but he could handle that. He stood up straight and stared her straight in the eye.

After a moment of returning the stare, she cracked a draconic grin.

"I like this one. I really do. I think I'll keep him."

Dan wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Sorry, I've got first claim," Emma muttered, a bit loudly.

"Of course you do. I'll just have to keep the matched set," the Chinese Fireball proclaimed. She sounded a bit smug, and everyone saw the Horntail roll her eyes as smoke rolled out of her nostrils in thin tendrils.

Charlie stood by and looked at Tessaies.

"Is this normal?"

"For her? No, but she saw something she liked in him. I'd be willing to bet she's already got a name for him, too. Maybe her, too, but I'm unsure about that."

Dan overheard. He wasn't too sure about that, either.

"Er… name?"

He hated that he kept stumbling over the confused noises that he kept making at the start of his sentences, but… dragons! He was talking to dragons! What next? Vampyres? Lovecraftian Ghasts? Werewolves? Dan wondered if he was going to need something trickled over ice soon to get all this straightened out in his head, and never mind so-called convention of drinking.

Hermione had seemed to be handling this sort of thing a lot better, and so did Emma. He couldn't let them show him up that easily.

Dan looked up at Quiangya, who'd raised up her head to regard him some more. The green eyes had a distinct speculation, and it wasn't the first time in the last little while that he wondered how dragons went about naming things.

He grimaced at the thought of Emma and himself being regarded as things, but kept that in the hopefully private parts of his mind.

"I've got it!" Quiangya sounded pleased.

"Well? What is it?" Tessaies asked. "Is it better than the last one you named?"

Dan was wondering that himself, even as he felt Emma's hand thread itself into his. He didn't notice the second part of what the big dragon had asked.

|:-:|

Annika was cooled off now, and felt embarrassed. Rhiain thought it was something she could handle since the Welsh Green knew that she would have been doing the same thing. She hadn't found Charlie yet and had decided to check the Dragon Quarters next. The first place was the sleeping quarters for the handlers, and she really hadn't meant to startle Malcolm Tucker into running for the others.

Rhiain wasn't sure Malcolm realized that he hadn't finished bathing himself before running off, but maybe stumbling and falling into that massive odd imported shrub that the dragons all thought was spicy would remind him to do it next time. What was it called again? Poison oak?

She would have to ask Professor Sprout about it later. She had a section of the grounds set aside for them, as they had some magical properties that the Herbology professor was studying.

In the meantime, she had a sister dragon to sort out.

~~ Talk to me, sister. What happened? ~~

She knew, of course. Rhiain had seen everything in the mental communication Annika had sent to her, but it was still true that the Short-Snout needed to get it out. Now that she had calmed down, it was time to talk, and possibly make plans to take to the Mother Eminence.

As they talked, the Castle withdrew from watching and nodded. Now there would be action. She had waited long enough.

|:-:|

"You've got to be kidding me. Fuzzy Centurion? That's what you want to call me?"

Emma buried her head in his chest and snorted.

"If only they knew." Everyone could hear this clearly.

"Hush, dear, you're not helping matters," he muttered.

The choking sounds coming from Charlie didn't help either. He gave the dragon wrangler a baleful look and got back something that tried its best to be innocent along with the laughter he was failing to repress. Unfortunately for Charlie Weasley, Tessaies commented on that.

"Lángoló haj, don't try to look like a little boy trying to stay out of trouble. We all know differently. I'm sure that your mother would be very happy to tell me stories and show me pictures. Or worse… Annika."

That shut him right up for a moment.

"So anyway, where did you get the name 'Fuzzy Centurion' anyway?" Emma seemed quite interested in the answer as Charlie asked the question of the Chinese Fireball.

"His daughter has inherited some of his hair, of course, even if the majority is from her mother. He just looks more fuzzy than bushy."

"Especially if he doesn't shave," Emma whispered to Charlie, whose face went red.

The fuzzy one in question wondered if it was 'Pick on Dan Day' and he had missed the memo. Quiangya went on.

"And 'Centurion' comes from someone I remembered from the stories and memory imprints of my mother. As a young dragon on her travels, she met a Roman centurion that looked a lot like you do now."

Dan thought about that as he tried to ignore the off-hand reference to Quiangya's apparent age. He didn't think he had any Roman centurions in his ancestry, but stranger things had happened. He was talking to a smartarsed dragon, after all!

Emma looked up at him with that particular look in her eye.

"Shush, dear. Tell me later."

"Oh, I will. Don't worry. I'll find the costume catalog when we get home. Now say 'thank you' to the nice dragon."

Dan wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to risk finding out what his wife had in mind later.

"Thank you, um, Quiangya… right?"

"Close enough. You're welcome… Fuzzy."

Nearly everyone laughed or snorted. Some of that involved tendrils of smoke.

"Who's Fuzzy?"

Everyone looked at the entrance to the Dragon Quarters. Hermione stood there, wondering why Charlie looked like he was choking and the dragons looked like they were highly amused.

"Your father, dear. The dragons have named him."

Hermione cast an evaluating stare at Dan.

"He shaved today, so maybe not as fuzzy… what's so funny?"

Emma had lost it, along with Charlie.

Hermione looked at Tessaies.

"Do I want to know?"

"Most likely not, Wildness of Mane. Your Mate is preoccupied, I hope?"

"He's busy with a Quidditch practice. That should occupy him for several hours."

"Good, although I would like to see one of these Quidditch games for myself one day. I have several things to discuss with all of you. I expect Rhiain here soon, as she was diverted by calming Annika from something that greatly displeased her but we can start without her. Please, be seated."

There was a general rustle as people found seats on assorted stones. Hermione cast cushioning charms for her parents and sat by them. Dan curled his arm around his little girl, who wasn't quite so little anymore. Charlie found himself cuddled into Quiangya's elbow as she curled up by the wall, which he hadn't expected but he was oddly okay with. She was warm. Too bad he left his mug in his room today.

"Don't worry, lángoló haj. I'm sure that Rhiain and Annika will do the same thing at some point. Something about a… teddy bear? Something Kirsa told them about but didn't explain in any great detail, so they naturally want to know all about it. I have no idea about the younger generation sometimes."

Quiangya gave Tessaies a mock-glare as she wasn't that much younger, relatively, than the Horntail. Tessaies ignored it.

"Now, this discussion has to do with my duties under the Treaty of Shelleche Notch. For those of you who don't know, the Treaty allows me to care for a human if I feel that it is required. I have done so in the past, although it has been a century and a half. I am aware that things may have changed, but the fact that Harry James Potter has been neglected in ways that should shame any mother of any species."

"Harry?" Emma asked.

"Yes, Mum. It happened at the First Task. Remember my letter home?"

"Yes, you mentioned that there was a dragon that adopted Harry. Tessaies is that dragon? You didn't specify."

"I'm sorry, Mum. It was a bit hectic and I had to write what I could quickly. Yes, that's right. She sensed things wrong with him and pitched a fit."

Quiangya snorted at that and Charlie found himself wheezing, although not from laughter. He'd had his own fit to pitch, as he recalled.

"You could say that. Her language was of the lowest and most vulgar variety. We heard it from far away. I memorized a few oaths that even I hadn't heard. Believe me, I took great pleasure in twitting her about her language. A lady shouldn't use that language, I told her."

Tessaies had the advantage of black scales, so she didn't demonstrate any kind of blushing that dragons were capable of. From the look on her face, everyone was sure that she would have.

"And what about you?"

"I had a reason. Somebody and I'm not saying who among us with black scales left a rock in a certain place that wasn't there yesterday."

"Anyway, back to the discussion," Tessaies said quickly. "Harry has to be provided with food, shelter, and clothing. As he is at Hogwarts, then most of the year is covered and we would have to work on the months that he is not. Harry needs to have a Healer look at him first and I will be asking for your input."

"One point, Mother Eminence," Dan said. It seemed suitable to address her that way. "We are not magical, but we are medical professionals of a type that might not have as much sway. And Hermione, excuse me for saying this sweetheart, but we are mandated reporters. If we detect abuse, then we have to report it to authorities in the Muggle world. I don't know if we can do the same in the Magical world – most likely not."

Tessaies grinned. The humans in the room thought it was a scary sight.

"Isn't it nice not to be subject to Magical restrictions, then?"

"What?" Dan and Emma were both confused, although from the look on Charlie's face he was following on quicker than they were.

"If the two of you help me as my liaison, then we can get the things that he needs. Believe me, I want to have a word with the 'nest-mother' that has been 'caring' for him all this time."

"Me, too! I've got some things to say to Harry's aunt!"

Hermione hadn't meant for it to be quite as loud as it was, but it echoed off the stone walls. Emma looked at her daughter.

"Write them down, sweetie. I imagine that I'll have a few things to say too."

The dragons traded glances before Tessaies continued.

"We'll find a Magical Healer to address the strictly magical parts. It's my understanding that Madame Pomfrey wants to attend the 'Healing Draconic Magics' lecture this Saturday. I'll leave word with whoever arrives to have a word with her. That dragon will send her my way under a pretense so that Albie can't stick his nose in my business."

"Have her come talk to us about our daughter. She's growing up, after all, and there are things that all women go through," Emma mused. "Dragons have extraordinary senses, right? Wouldn't it make sense that a dragon doctor would be able to sense something to 'be concerned about?' And want to express concern over something he or she suspected?"

"Mum!"

"What? You do your sneaky things with your boys and remember where you learned it from."

Dan wasn't too pleased with the way Emma had phrased that, especially when Hermione blushed. Charlie looked like Christmas had come early and couldn't wait to have a word with his twin brothers. Hermione hid her face in her hands, while Emma traded satisfied glances with Tessaies. Mothers knew how to take the mickey out their children, no matter the species. Quiangya snickered and Charlie coughed as he glared up at the Fireball.

"Hmm, that should work," the Horntail reflected. "I'll see who it is and send a message."

"Message?" Charlie asked.

"We have ways to communicate that haven't been described, even to you, lángoló haj. I might or might not tell you about it later. It will be be used for Harry's benefit, I assure you."

The dragon handler fell silent, and the dragons in question could see that he had other things he wanted to ask but held them for now. There was a scratching outside the Quarters and everyone turned to see Rhiain walking in.

"Sorry, I'm late. Annika had some things that she was very bothered about. I'll mention it later. Who's this?" she said, seeing the Grangers.

Introductions were made, which brought up a couple of questions from the Welsh Green.

"Fuzzy? You don't look particularly fuzzy to me. What are you hiding?"

Dan stared at his wife. "You put them up to this, didn't you?"

"Nope!"

He looked at the only other choice.

"No, Dad, I didn't either so don't ask. I don't even want to think about it."

Quiangya said nothing, secure in her relative innocence. Charlie thought she looked a lot like a couple of his brothers at that moment. Tessaies sighed and waved Rhiain to the empty corner with a silent promise to update her on what she had missed. She bulled ahead to distract the others and hopefully keep the others on track.

"In any event, I need human liaisons to make sure that Harry has the necessities and medical care that I determine he needs but cannot procure for the obvious reasons. Would the two of you be willing to be my liaisons?"

"Of course we will. We'll get started on that, especially the medical things you'd need for him. However, doesn't that mean that my wife needs her own dragon name?" Dan thought that she needed to share the joys of a dragon-assigned name.

"Certainly. We'll think of something. Besides, she, Wildness of Mane, and I have to have a little – what do you humans call it? Girl talk? We have some business to discuss which is not for certain fragile ears."

Dan's eyes were about as wide as Charlie's. Neither knew exactly whose ears were being considered fragile and didn't want to ask any specifics, but both recognized the look in the mother Horntail's eyes. Charlie spoke rather quickly as he looked at Dan.

"Uh, Dan, I'll introduce you to the other handlers. I'm sure you, me, and Malcolm in particular can think of something to discuss."

"I'm sure we can."

Emma patted his knee.

"I know you can, dear. Don't drink too much. I still have that catalog at home, but it can stay on the shelf if…" She didn't elaborate as she trailed off and cast a side glance at her daughter. Hermione was a bit green.

Tessaies tapped a talon on her rock to draw attention back to her.

"Now, I've received some information from several others over the last day or so about someone that seems to be frankly silly, now that I've had time to think about it. Wildness of Mane, who is Sirius Black to you?"

Dan and Emma's eyes went wide. The name was familiar from the telly advisories that mentioned him as a mass murdering convict that had escaped from prison. He was supposed to be very, very dangerous and everyone was cautioned in the strongest of broadcast term to stay away from him.

"Hermione! You know this man?"

"I've met him, Dad. He's Harry's godfather by oath. Magical oath."

"By oath?" Dan was afraid for Hermione now that his daughter had blithely admitting meeting a vicious criminal and didn't seem the least worried about it. The fact that they were all conversing with dragons who called themselves apex magical predators slipped his mind in the presence of this admission.

"Yes. If he betrays Harry, he is killed by Magic."

"But what was he sent to prison for?"

"Supposedly, for murdering Harry's parents and attacking Harry indirectly through revealing the Secret."

"Supposedly? Secret… what?" Something wasn't right here. He saw that Emma was listening in as well.

"Supposedly, because he received no trial in 1981. Secret, because he was supposed to the Fidelius Secret-Keeper, but wasn't. Had he had a trial like he should've, that would have come out."

"Wait, when? 1981? He's been imprisoned that long?"

"Yes, in Azkaban. He broke out to protect Harry when he noticed that Peter Pettigrew was here at Hogwarts in his rat form."

"Rat form?" Dan was confused.

"Yes. Peter Pettigrew, who was the Potter's Secret-Keeper and therefore the betrayer, can take the form of a rat. Sirius saw a picture of the Weasley family with Pettigrew, or Scabbers as they knew him. He was in Ron's pocket in the picture the paper took."

"So he broke out when he found the betrayer was in proximity to his godson. Am I right?"

"Yes, Dad."

There was silence for a moment, then Charlie whistled.

"I remember that ugly rat. It was Percy's to start with. Scabbers was Pettigrew? An Animagus?"

"Is Pettigrew. He's still alive."

Emma spoke up. "Why didn't Sirius Black get a trial?"

"The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refuses to listen to us. The Ministry at the time the Potters were killed hated anyone with the name 'Black,' to put it mildly. It didn't help that a lot of Blacks then followed the Dark Lord and did a lot of the evil things we read about now."

"That doesn't matter. He should have been given a trial."

"I know that and you know that, but apparently that didn't matter."

"Where is he now? Are you in contact with him?"

"I don't know for sure. Sometimes Harry can get a letter out to him."

Tessaies gave a muted ahem. Everyone looked up at her.

"I believe I want to meet with this Sirius Black, myself. I was told some very different things – some of those by certain people and some by Albie, which doesn't make me too happy with him. I think he forgets about the diplomatic standing that we four dragons have."

"Or doesn't care," Quiangya grumbled.

"Talk this over with your Mate and ask him to make contact with his godfather. Hmmmm…"

"What?" Quiangya asked.

"I was introduced to a godbrother. Neville, or as we named him 'Sturdy Grower.' It makes me wonder if there was a godmother?"

Dan could be heard mumbling something that Emma slapped his chest for. Hermione could be seen blushing. Everyone else ignored it or resolved to give him a hard time about it later.

"I'm not quite sure," Hermione said. "I think Neville's mother is Harry's godmother."

"Where is she?"

"She and her husband Frank have been in long-term care since 1981, unable to care for themselves or Neville. They lost their minds thanks to a vicious Death Eater attack. I have suspicions but no real information, since I don't want to upset Neville by raising the subject with him more than I have already."

Tessaies thought for a moment, ordering and re-ordering things in her mind.

"We cannot do much about that, as I am not watching over Neville. However, there's nothing to say I can't 'take an interest' in it another time. I'll think about it later. Now, what about that egg?"

"Egg?" Hermione was confused for a moment.

"The egg from the first task. Goblin-made. Mermish script. Ugly thing. That egg."

"Oh." Hermione was embarrassed to admit that she had forgotten.

"It had hinges on it. Has anyone tried to open it?"

"No, not that I know of."

"Good. Don't, at least until you get underwater."

"What?"

Tessaies rolled her eyes at the girl.

"You can't hear it with your human senses, but we can. Just barely, though. Inside that egg is some kind of message in Mermish. If you open it above ground, there will be a screech. Which reminds me. I need to have a word with the Merpeople and the Goblins, since they are obviously involved in this Tournament foolishness. The Speaker needs to find out what's in that egg and tell me, so I can have that word with them."

Dan and Emma had much less idea than Hermione what she was talking about, with Charlie only a bit ahead of them. Everyone decided that it was not going to be a good conversation since she didn't look happy at all. Granted, it was hard to tell with dragons in general but at least with Charlie and his greater exposure to these four, it was more obvious.

Hermione winced. This was not going to be fun. The Black Lake was out of the question. Far too cold for anyone to be swimming. The rumors that the Durmstrang students did just that as a matter of course just reinforced her thoughts on that matter.

"I think we have enough to do between us. Let's wrap this up and get to work, shall we? The Speaker is important to all of us."

Dan asked, "The speaker? Who's that?"

"Harry, dad. He's a Parselmouth. He's very skilled at it."

"And what's a Parselmouth, dear?" Emma asked. "Very skilled at what, something with his tongue?"

Dan choked and couldn't decide who to glare at, his wife or his daughter. Emma looked at him innocently.

"MUM! No! He can speak to snakes, hold a conversation, things like that."

"Also converse with us without the aid of the translation charm Hogwarts possesses," Tessaies noted. She was watching to see exactly how many colors Dan Granger could turn.

"Er…" Dan said, with all intelligence underlying his thoughts.

Charlie struggled out of Quiangya's 'cuddle,' and clapped Dan on the back. Quiangya looked a bit disappointed.

"Say, Dan, let's leave these girls to their 'girl talk.' Our male ears shouldn't be privy to whatever they talk about. It might be more embarrassing somehow."

Dan looked up at Tessaies' grave nod. Regardless of the solemnity of the motion, he could tell that there was a glimmer of humor in the golden eyes.

"I think that's a good idea, Charlie. Plus, maybe you can tell me how to deal with…" he motioned to his Granger girls. Charlie quickly held up his hands.

"I didn't become a top-flight dragon handler by taking stupid chances. Plus I have five brothers and only one sister. Where would I get that kind of knowledge?"

Tessaies, Quiangya, and Rhiain nodded at that. It was a reasonable assumption.

"Good point. Lead the way."

Dan kissed his wife and daughter, and bowed to Tessaies.

"Thank you for inviting us, Mother Eminence. We will get to work, after whatever this…"

"Girl talk?" Tessaies rumbled with a smirk on her face.

"Er… yes, quite. After that is completed. I have some people in mind to help Harry. Emma knows who. It may take a day or two to set up but no longer than that."

"Of course."

Dan decided that was good enough. He bowed to the other two dragons before he and Charlie did their best not to scamper out of the Dragon Quarters.

|:-:|

Barty Crouch wondered what was going on. He felt… strange. There was no way to explain it, except maybe the strain of acting like Mad-Eye Moody was getting to him. The man was known to be quite paranoid. It wasn't the polyjuice, since he brewed that himself and was quite good at it. Something was bugging him and he didn't know what the hell it was.

If he started acting like Moody when he was himself, then Barty was going to polyjuice into someone else for a while to ease it. That begged the question – who? Dumbledore?

He snorted. Barty wasn't crazy about lemon drops and didn't see how the old man survived all the sweets he ate.

What was crawling up his spine and bugging him?

|:-:|

"Now that they're gone, and before we engage in pleasurable conversation, what have you found out, Rhiain?"

The Welsh Green straightened up and made her report.

"The Castle relayed to Annika that there is an imposter on the grounds that she wants removed."

Rhiain described what she had seen in the mental link with Annika. Hermione gasped.

"That's Professor Moody! Well, if he's an imposter, he isn't. Who is he?"

"Hogwarts identified him as someone named Barty Crouch, Junior."

"Who?"

The dragon traded glances.

"Good to see that you don't know everything, Wildness of Mane. We don't know either, but we're going to do something about it."

"But how?"

"The wards that identify people are guiding us. Or to be more precise, it's not the wards guiding us so much as the magical 'taste' of this person that Hogwarts relayed to us. It's just that the specific wards related to that task deal with that information and the Castle passed it to us. We can perceive it whereas you as non-dragons cannot," Quiangya noted, having followed along with Tessaies' thoughts with ease of long practice.

"But what will you do?"

"Oh, we'll get some information out of him. I would be willing to bet this person is one reason Harry is in this damned Tournament, and if so, I'm going to have a little chat with him," Tessaies promised. "Rhiain, you will brief the Headmaster."

"Yes, Mother Eminence."

"Wildness of Mane, please find Annika and introduce her to your mother. Keep her occupied."

"How?"

"That's up to you. You could ask her to sing…"

Hermione's face looked doubtful.

"In any event, she needs to be preoccupied for the next… let's say, two hours."

Rhiain snickered. "Take her to the Quidditch practice I saw on the way here. The Speaker could use some new faces watching."

Hermione's face cleared. "That may work."

"Then let's be about it."

|:-:|

If it hadn't been for the desire to get out and get some fresh air after somebody dropped some Dungbombs outside his office door, he would have kept his arse inside the castle.

"Damned twins," Crouch grumbled. "Constant vigilance, indeed. I'll see if they like having those things permanent charmed to their upper lips."

He stepped into a clearing, not quite a field, but a bit more open than he liked. He had to cross it to get to the area he remembered from his time as a student. It was always peaceful and Barty could do with some of that right now.

The old stone bench was still there after all these years and he settled down onto it with a sigh of relief. It was short-lived relief, as a voice broke the stillness.

"Hello, Barty Crouch. The Castle has had well enough of you. It's time for you to die."

The polyjuiced Crouch screamed as golden and green eyes fixed upon him and smoke drifted around his body.


Author's Note:

After I posted the last chapter and went to bed (and before I got more distracted with Fudge Gets Told Off,) this story broke 700 followers – currently 785 – and has grown since in the short break that I took. Thank you for every one of you that like my story enough to want to see what happens next. I'm very pleased to see it and humbled at the same time. Onward!

Also, I've gotten off the stick and added a cover image for this story. The image uses the Pixabay license meaning no attribution required, but I'll mention anyway that the user MsAnas contributed to it.