AN: I take another crack at patois in this chapter and I apologize if it's wrong again. Just let me know and I'll fix it ASAP.
Twenty-five people on brooms moved in harmony while the official school band played light, ethereal music. It was the first time Hermione had seen true synchronized flying and she was completely enamored. The dancers had specialized brooms that were a bit broader so they could stand more easily on the handles and the stirrups could move and steer the brooms while their hands and arms were busy. The tails had long, gossamer flags in many hues hanging off the ends to create swirling, abstract shapes in the air.
"I wish I could fly like that," she sighed.
"Maybe next year you could join the beginners," Kyoko suggested.
"No, I'm absolutely rubbish at flying," she said, glumly. "It's a shame because that is beautiful."
The dancers were all balancing on their stirrups and spinning in slow circles while they moved their arms gracefully around their heads, the few dancers who could perform wandless magic created a shower of sparks that glided down. It reminded her of Luna's favored dancing style.
"So beautiful," Hermione repeated and checked that her camera was still filming.
Bembe was part of the synchronize flying club and when he learned that Hermione had a working video camera, he told the captain of the club and the captain asked her to film them so they could see for themselves what the audience would see. Honestly, she was glad she agreed. It was a whole new style of dancing that she never even dreamed of.
The music ended and the dancers flew down which was Hermione's cue to go meet them and show them how they did.
"Go on ahead," said Noa. "We'll be right behind you."
"Right."
Hermione rushed out of the arena and sped around to the flyer's entrance where Bembe was waiting for her.
"Hey," he said cheerfully. "You stop for drive-thru on the way here?"
She furrowed her brow and checked her watch. "It was only a couple minutes."
"I know, I know." He squeezed her shoulder. "I'm only teasing. Girl, you take everything so seriously."
Hermione hummed and cleared her throat. "Anyway, um, I got the whole thing. Sorry, I talked a little bit during it."
"As you say in Hawaii, 'ain't no biggie, bradah'," he replied and brought her over to the Captain.
Hermione had never said that phrase in her life, but she didn't know enough about how others use slang to dispute it.
"Captain, this is Herminia Sanchez," said Bembe. "She recorded the performance for us."
"Hola," said Hermione.
The girl looked down at her and held out her hand for the camera.
"Okay, um, you press that button to start it and I can transfer it to a crystal and-"
"Shut up for a minute."
Hermione closed her mouth and looked at Bembe who shrugged in a she's-always-like-this kinda way. Captain silently watched the performance and shook her head when Hermione called it beautiful. A few others watched it over her shoulders, perhaps her friends or maybe just her lieutenants.
"Sloppy," said Captain at last. "The front was off in the last half, the spins were all over the place, and the fwoopy-doos were more like doopy-fwoos. And the eggbeaters are throwing your brooms all over the place, look at this, your broom needs to stay as steady as possible or it just looks amateur."
How could such silly words be delivered like the cut of a knife? Hermione wasn't even in the club and she wanted to cry from the critique. The younger ones looked down at their feet while the older ones seemed used to this sort of talk and either nodded or rolled their eyes if they thought the critique didn't apply to them.
"Here." Captain shoved the camera back into Hermione's hand. "Come back Sunday so we can mark how much we improved. Practice is dismissed."
Hermione and Bembe walked out to meet Kyoko and Noa.
"Is she always like that?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," he said. "But that's why she's Captain. She have di ting lock."
"Hm?"
"Under control. Synchronized Flying have no coach and no budget, so Captain is in charge of making sure we fly good and look good. We are a new club, only ten years old, so it take time to get these tings."
"I see now. I assume the lack of budget also comes from no schools to compete against?"
"You got it."
"Just like our club," said Noa. "Lots of clubs here don't get any funding, but they have to be established for at least ten years and have consistent members. As we're the only members…"
"It will be disbanded when we graduate," Luiz finished.
"I see."
"Don't feel sorry for us," said Kyoko. "We knew what we were getting into when we started the club. We still get a classroom, a space on the bulletin boards, and access to certain tools depending the school already has them. We're good."
"I wish I could check out all of the clubs," said Hermione. "There's so many and I'm interested in so many things. Lately, I've just been writing them down so I have something for my three a.m. hobbies. Though, there's so much going on that I've been getting a full four hours."
"Four hours huh?" said Kyoko. "Are you one of those people that can function on very little sleep?"
"Those people are the worst," Luiz muttered. "I'm always tired no matter how much sleep I get."
"Actually, it's just insomnia," said Hermione. "Since I got my memory back it hasn't been as bad, but whenever I start feeling stressed out it kinda gets worse and I'm not exactly picking a low-stress career path as a lawyer."
"Well, we still have a whole afternoon," said Noa. "Anybody got homework to do?"
Hermione, Bembe, Luiz, and Kyoko shook their heads.
"Then why don't we do something fun before the teachers start drilling us for finals?"
"It's January, we haven't learned everything yet," said Hermione. "Why would they start us now?"
"Finals exams are cumulative," Luiz explained. "Cumulative results is a requirement by the school board and not the school itself, which means they'll pass anything that doesn't actually affect them. As they come closer, a lot more people will participate in the ten-p.m. screaming hour."
"Of course," Hermione sighed. "Well, since that's not on our plates yet, what did you have in mind, Noa?"
Thunder rumbled and clouds rolled in with yet another storm.
"How about snacks and board games in my dorm?" Noa suggested, giving one of her rare smiles when Luiz did the umbrella charm over the both of them.
"Sounds good to me," said Kyoko.
"Let's go," said Bembe, slinging his arms around Hermione and Kyoko.
~o0o~
"And so then he said, 'I like your hair' and I said, 'thanks, I like your hair'." Bianca scowled. "Are you even listening, Nia?"
"I'm totally listening," said Hermione who had only heard half the conversation. "There's this boy that you're into and all you've done is compliment each other in passing instead of having an actual conversation."
"Yeah, because if I find out his personality, I might not be into him anymore," Bianca scoffed and tipped her head. "You know Shakira wants us to practice using magic for our solo performance at the end of the semester."
"I know, I've got wandless magic down and I have the outline of choreography," said Hermione. "But I've been thinking about this thing I did a while ago and I'm trying to recreate it."
She took a deep breath, choked, and coughed out a puff of smoke that burned her eyes and nose. Bianca waved her hand in front of her face.
"What kind of trick? It looks to me like you're trying to get in trouble for smoking."
"Ha-ha," she wheezed and coughed out another cloud of black smoke. "I was trying to blow fire. I managed it before, though it was more or less by accident and I was kinda high on painkillers when I accomplished it. Haven't really tried again since."
"Oh, that'd be a cool trick. That reminds me, we're going to the dracones sanctuary tomorrow."
"We are?"
"Yes, haven't you looked at the syllabus?"
"I mean, yes, a couple times, but… I guess I've been so caught up in everything else that I forgot. There's just so much to do, here, you know?"
"Nia, you act as if you only have a year to fit this all in."
"Well, I might," said Hermione. "You never know what will happen. Maybe I go back to Hogwarts or I try Uluru so I can be closer to my sister. Hell, Beauxbatons has pretty good programs."
"I guess, but I don't know why you'd want to go back to Hogwarts."
"I would if I was needed." Hermione sat down so she could drink her water. "Would breathing fire be good for visiting the dragons?"
Bianca shrugged and flicked her fingers to make pretty sparks and wisps.
"I read that you can tame a draco if you learn to speak their language. We'll learn more about it tomorrow."
As Bianca said, the next day after Dr. Silva dropped them off for Magizoology, Dr. Nakamura immediately took them onto the tram to get to the farthest reaches of the animal sanctuary. They passed through all sorts of microclimates and creatures. They had things like Abraxans, Hippogriffs, Chimeras, Manticores, and Yetis. The farther out they went the larger the creatures were until they were seeing megafauna like Keresh, Ursa Majors (they were huge and their fur was said to blend in with the night sky, though it just looked black in the day light), Rocs, Hellhounds, Calydonian boars, and other creatures that Hermione would prefer to view from a distance. She wasn't sure she could fathom their sheer size up close.
"Alright," said Dr. Nakamura through the tram speakers. "We are almost at the dracones sanctuary. As you exit the tram, you will be doused in a special substance that makes you smell like the dracones so they will not view you as an intruder and kill you."
"Okay, wizards just be like that," Hermione muttered.
"Pretty much," Noa agreed.
The wixen working the sanctuary had large spray bottles filled with an odd smelling fluid that they spritzed over the students. Hermione spluttered a little and shuddered. It smelled terrible like brimstone and a dirty fireplace. Everyone else was coughing and holding bits of cloth over their noses to try and stifle the smell.
"Remind me to opt out next time we have this opportunity," Noa wheezed.
"Will do."
Only a small handful looked excited enough to not let the smell bother them. After all, they were studying dragons today. Hermione remembered baby Norberta from Hagrid's cabin. If he had known this was waiting for him with Dona Claudia's job offer, she was certain he would have accepted it, loyalty to Hogwarts or no.
Everyone gasped and froze when a massive creature slithered by with bronze scales, a ruff of yellow fur, no legs, and thin, spiny wings that dragged across the ground leaving track marks like a zen garden, the feathered tail swept back and forth nearly clipping the edge of their group. Hermione stood closer to Noa's chair so she wouldn't feel like the group was pressing into her. A thought came to her. What if she started recording Magizoology classes for Hagrid? Yes, he would absolutely love this.
She raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Sanchez?"
"Is it alright if I film this lesson?" she asked. "For educational purposes, of course."
"Will it disturb the dracones?"
"Not at all."
"Then go right ahead."
Hermione grinned and started recording.
"You would make out with that thing if you could," Noa teased and Hermione stuck her tongue out.
"Though this is classified as a dragon reserve," said Dr. Nakamura, "there many different types of dracones here. What you see passing by is known a Sandwraith part of the species Amphiptere. Today, you will also see drakes, which have four legs and no wings compared to the dragon that has four legs and wings. We also have Wyverns, two legs and wings; lindwyrms which have two legs and no wings; Amphiptere which have wings and no legs; and wyrms which have no wings and no legs. This Sandwraith makes its home in the desert and often builds a system of tunnels for its nest. It typically hunts at night and sleeps during the day, though this one is blind due to a poaching incident and with the constant temperature cannot tell the different times of day. Now, can anyone tell me what classifies these different species under the umbrella genus: draco?"
Hands slowly raised in the air so as to not alarm any other creatures.
"Mr. Darby."
"Number one, their association with magical societies," Bembe answered. "Two, they tend to breathe fire, poison, or in some cases boiling water. Three, their hide is impenetrable to most forms of magic."
"Yes, very good," said Professor Nakamura. "Now, can I get some examples of dragons? You can call them out, don't worry. The dracones at this reserve are used to the presence of wixen so long as we smell like them."
They called out the usual. Hebridean Black, Antipodean Opaleye, and the Chinese Fireball.
"How about… an example of wyverns?"
Swedish Shortsnouts, Deadly Nadders, and Ukrainian Ironbellies. Examples of amphiptere's were, of course, the Sandwraith, the Queztalcoatl, and the Moth Dragon. Drakes had three classifications, fire, ice, and boulder. The Pele Pele made its home in volcanoes scattered throughout Oceania, the Raincutter made ice burrows in the Arctic, often mistaken for polar bear burrows, and the Eruptodon could be found in caves throughout Africa and the Middle East. There were only three species of lindwyrms and they were all found in Europe: England, Norway, and Germany respectively. The differences between them were subtle and had more to do with whether they could spit fire (Zipplebacks) or secrete poison (Eidechsengift).
"What about wyrms?"
"A Basilisk," said Hermione confidently which earned her a few looks.
"Miss Sanchez, the basilisk is under the genus of Squamata with other snakes as its birthing process does not match up with other dracones breeding patterns," said Dr. Nakamura.
"Why? It seemed pretty wyrmy to me, birthing process or no," she said. "I mean, I only got a glance before it petrified me, but—"
"Wait… you saw a Basilisk and lived?" one boy asked.
"Yes? It was lying dormant under Hogwarts for ten centuries until it was woken up. Nobody died, thank God, but it was still very scary. I was actually given a cloak made of its skin…" she furrowed her brow. "What did I do with it? I think I gave it to Sirius."
"Miss Sanchez, what on earth would make you want to face a basilisk?" Dr. Nakamura asked.
"Well, it wasn't on purpose," she said. "People were being petrified all over the place and nobody knew what was causing it because, you know, the Headmaster was trying to keep it quiet for some reason and so there wasn't really any outside help. I figured it out and on my way to tell someone, I got petrified and my friends didn't see my note until, like, three months later."
"Why did it take you so long to leave that hell school again?" Noa asked.
"I've got a cute boyfriend. Anyway, the Basilisk should be classified as a wyrm because it has no wings, no legs, secretes a deadly poison and kills with a look. I think Cedric also said that it had feathers along its ridge. Maybe we should bring this up to someone, unless there's some sort of genetic factor that makes it too different from Wyrms, but then maybe it would be in a class all on its own, er, no, not class… Suborder? I mean, Vipertooths are close to snakes, aren't they?"
She tuned back into her surroundings and realized everyone had backed away from her.
"What?" she asked.
"Miss Sanchez," Dr. Nakamura whispered. "Don't make any sudden moves."
A hot breath blew her hair forward. Slowly, Hermione turned around and came face-to-face with a Peruvian Vipertooth. Literally, the only breed of dracones that had a taste for human flesh. This one had a shredded wing that must've grounded it. It's two legs were near the front while the rest of it was a long, snake-like tail tipped with black spines. She tried to keep her camera steady, though it was a bit of a challenge.
"The Vipertooths are supposed to be in their own section and only parselmouths can work with them," Dr. Nakamura fretted. "I will have some words the wixen on duty, especially since its egg season!"
Well, that made this all the more terrifying. Also, Hermione's nose had begun to tickle with a sneeze. She didn't want to sneeze, especially since she was so close to the Vipertooth that she could make out the tiny details in its smooth copper scales, the gold flecks in its green eyes, and the scores in its short horns from clashing with other dragons.
She really had to sneeze now. The Vipertooth hissed and leveled its mouth with her face. She could see its yellow fangs moving forward, ready to pierce her and inject venom, and she involuntarily released a shriek that made the creature tip its head in curiosity, while her classmates shushed her and backed up further. Then she sneezed and the build up from trying to cast her bluebell charm yesterday came forward all at once as she spat fire right into the lizard's face.
It recoiled and she sneezed another blast of flames at its feet. When she looked up the narrow slits in its eyes had become round, almost like a cat's. The Vipertooth snuffled her hair, then picked her up by the back of the shirt before walking off with her in tow.
She had two options. Whimper and whine about how ironic it was that her parents sent her to Castelobruxo to be safe when she was probably about to get eaten by a dragon or film this shit and sell it as a hoax if she managed to make it out alive. Her camera was still in her hand, so she turned it around and twisted the screen to face herself as well.
"Alright," she said and cringed as a bit of the venom touched her skin. It burned a little, but no more than a sunburn or bug bite. Perhaps it worked best when injected. "January fifteenth, 1996. I have been kidnapped by a dragon. Well, technically I've been kidnapped by a wyvern. There's a big difference. Um, if this is the only thing that makes it out alive," she sighed. "If I was gonna die, couldn't I have at least done it at the same school my boyfriend goes? Come on!"
Another dragon roared close-by. Hermione screamed in surprise and the Peruvian Vipertooth dropped her. She quickly turned the camera around in time for her invisible audience to see her kidnapper square up with a Antipodean Opaleye. The dragon stooped low to sniff Hermione and recoiled when the Vipertooth struck at it, stomping its feet protectively around its… her? Prey. Hermione seemed to remember that female Vipertooths had short horns while males had tusks. Or was she confusing it with something else?
Wait, why was she sitting here filming like an idiot when she could be escaping?
As soon as she stood up, the Vipertooth picked her back up and continued on, having chased off the Opaleye. They passed by synthetic volcanoes and ice lands before reaching a very real mountain that looked like old terraced farmland that had been overgrown with wild plant-life.
Hermione curled her feet in and gritted her teeth as the wyvern began to climb up to a steep outcrop which housed a nest sculpted from the clay that was abundant at the base and the sturdy flowers and grass on the ledges. She was dropped right in the center of the (thankfully) empty nest.
A low rumble escaped from the wyvern's throat almost like a purr as she twisted around Hermione.
"I don't believe it," Hermione whispered. "This wyvern thinks I'm a baby! Is this common?"
She set her camera aside and dug out the book she checked out from the library that morning.
Though indigenous populations of Peru used to work closely with Peruvian Vipertooths, over-slaughter of their natural prey of goats and sheep during the colonization period led to them eating humans instead, which caused future generations to gain a naturally acquired taste. If the wyvern is kept well fed, it will not feed on humans, though more aggressive wyverns are inclined to bite anyway whether they feel threatened or not. As Peruvian Vipertooths are natural carriers of the dreaded Dragon Pox, it is recommended to receive a vaccination should you come in contact with them. Much like with deer, there is a hunting season for Vipertooths which is closely monitored. Laws have been put into place where all parts of the creature must be used, bones and blood are popular potion ingredients, hides are used for clothing, and even the venom has its purposes in antidotes for poisons.
Opposite to other dracones, female Peruvian Vipertooths have a strong maternal instinct and often remain with their hatchlings until they are nearly full-grown in five years, as their life-span is thirty years or more. Some Vipertooths have been found to run in groups called a rhumba (so called as their hissing and the scraping of their spines sound like maracas). Many Vipertooths nest together as only one or two hatchlings survive in the harsh environments they live in and females, called midwives in these circumstances, will take turns raising the hatchlings and watching them while the others hunt.
Peruvian Vipertooths are very protective of their hatchlings and are surprisingly nurturing once their eggs have hatched. If a draconologist plans to study the growth of such a creature, it is best to take it as an egg. Once it hatches, a mother will never let go of her hatchlings until she is certain they can survive on their own.
Hatchlings can spit fire from a very young age and don't develop their venom until they reach adolescence. They also are born scale-less and don't get their thick scales for a year.
Hermione closed the book and hugged it to her chest despite the warmth she felt. Her back was so slick with sweat she felt as if she jumped into the canal.
"This does not bode well for me," she muttered. "I already have two mums, I don't need a third. Even if having a dracones mum would be the coolest thing ever. I suppose Wyvern Mama would be the fourth."
The newly dubbed Wyvern Mama dozed, and Hermione just worked on her assignment for class. If she really was seen as a baby, then she was in no immediate danger. The close contact would keep the draco smell on her and Wyvern Mama would protect her from any other dracones in the area. She also had a water jug and food in her bag so she could hold out for a rescue team.
Hermione sat up and made her way to the edge of the nest to scope out her location. It was a forty-foot drop, but there was a narrow path where the wyvern had climbed up. She could make it down in otter form. She could wait when Wyvern Mum left to get food and then make her escape.
But then would Wyvern Mama go on a rampage looking for her? Or see the tiny mammal and think her a snack.
This would be challenging. If only she could reach out to Charlie. He would love this. Hermione took out her polaroid, held it at arm's length and snapped a photo. As she was shaking it to develop it, Wyvern Mama pulled her back to her side with her clawed hand.
Guess she needed to reach out to the smartest person she knew. Hermione paused her video camera and took out her mirror.
"Show me Cedric." She saw the inside of his bag and heard the chatter of the dinner crowd. She needed to get his attention. Inhaling deeply, she shrieked and managed to make a blast of fire.
Wyvern Mama, glanced at her and rumbled comfortingly while the image in the mirror changed and Cedric's concerned face appeared.
"Hermione?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," she said her voice raspier than usual. "I just… um… hm. How to explain this?"
"Hi, Hermione!" Fred and George chorused.
Harry and Ron crammed in behind them.
"Blimey, Hermione," Harry gasped. "Did you go for a swim?"
"Actually, this is sweat," said Hermione and rolled her eyes at their grossed out faces. "Yes, girls sweat dork-brains. Anyway, you know how my parents sent me here because I was in so much danger at Hogwarts?"
"Yeah?" the guys chorused uncertainly.
"Turns out the only way to achieve that would apparently be keeping me well guarded in a tower," she said. "As my new mother is doing right now."
"How do you keep getting all these parents?" George teased. "Save some for the rest of us why don't you?"
"Hmm, I don't think any of you want to meet my new mum."
"What are you getting at?" Cedric asked, still concerned. "Where are you?"
"Just, try not to scream, okay?" She turned her mirror towards Wyvern Mama, then looked back into it to the shocked faces of her friends and boyfriend. "Yeah, I got kidnapped by a wyvern."
They said nothing, still staring at her in shock. Hermione frowned and leaned back against Wyvern Mama's side, absently running her fingers over the smooth scales.
"Hello?" she called. "Did we get disconnected?"
She raised it up higher as if that would help the reception and realized how silly that was.
"Guys."
"That's a Peruvian Vipertooth," Ron whispered. "How are you not dead?"
"Apparently, she is in nesting mode and my screams sound exactly like a PV hatchling," said Hermione.
"How are you not freaking out?" Harry asked.
"Harry, I am freaking terrified," she squeaked. "I am literally in a pit of dracones, the Vipertooth wasn't even supposed to be there. I'm only alive because she wants a baby and I can breathe fire and shriek. Hatchlings of this type don't have scales and I don't think she's noticed that I don't have wings or a tail. However, I can't stay here forever because she's bound to notice sometime that I'm not a dragon. Cedric, what do you think I should do?"
He blinked out of his shock. "What were you doing around dragons in the first place?"
"We're studying them," she said. "This is a dracones reserve, so most of the dracones here rely on wixen to care for them because they've been injured due to poaching or dragon-hunters. It goes over the border into Peru, so there's a decent-sized population of Vipertooths. I'm not in any immediate danger, but I can't stay here forever. I have an exam tomorrow."
"I see." Cedric ran a hand down his face and his shoulders shook. It took her a minute to realize he was laughing.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
"You- you're in a dragon's nest and you're worried about your exam!"
"Actually, she's a wyvern, she has wings and two legs."
"Only you, Hermione," said Harry shaking his head.
"Hagrid is going to be so jealous when he finds out you tamed a dragon," Ron laughed.
"Wyvern," she corrected again. "And she isn't tame, she just thinks I'm a baby Vipertooth."
"Well, you are fierce, fire-breathing, and vicious," said Cedric, resting his chin in his hand.
"Thank you," she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I try my best, but that still doesn't fix the fact that I'm not a hatchling and I won't be able to keep this up forever."
"Right, um, there's got to be wizards around there, right? Maybe while the wyvern is asleep you can use vermillious to let them know of your location and then they can send a rescue."
"Brilliant, love! I knew I was right to call you." She set the mirror aside and drew her wand, frowning when it slipped from her grasp. "That's okay, I'll just do it wandlessly."
She checked on Wyvern Mama who dozed peacefully and pointed at the sky.
"Vermillious!"
Red sparks shot up and exploded like a firework. Several dracones looked up and Hermione ducked down. She realized from her vantage point, she could see two other nests filled with hatchlings.
"Huh… I'm going to let you boys go," she said. "I see an extra-credit opportunity here."
"Mimi, wait, before you go I have something very important to tell you!"
"What is it, Cedric?"
He made a heart shape with his hands. "I love you, bye."
She smiled and blew a kiss before ending the connection and tossing her mirror away in her bag in favor of writing in her notebook and filming. For the next few hours, she documented the behavior of the Vipertooths she could see, paying particular attention to how they communicated.
"Circle stomps, three fire blasts, and a roar," Hermione repeated, scribbling it down. Her back was really stinging now, maybe her skin was eating the venom Wyvern Mama accidentally dripped onto her.
The mother she was studying got up and flew away while the hatchlings curled up on each other and remained still, nearly disappearing in the nest. When she came back, she had a goat carcass which the babies tore into.
Hm… interesting.