Chapter 26

It was unbelievable how much trouble a dead dragon could cause. Albus had spent the best part of an hour arguing with Cornelius about it, and things had only gotten more heated when the French and Bulgarian Ministers had finally portkeyed in with their Treasury Secretaries. No one wanted to take responsibility for the loss, Cornelius even going so far as to insist that Harry Potter ought to compensate them with gold from his own Vault. At least the foreign politicians had the grace of looking indignant at that suggestion.

"It's not Harry's signature in the dragon contract," repeated Albus for the tenth time. "The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary rented the creatures to the British Ministry of Magic, and it's clearly stated in the terms that such Ministry is responsible for returning the four dragons and all their eggs in perfect condition —as well as for the wages of the handlers and the transport costs—, under penalty of full compensation."

"We will pay for the eggs that Mr. Krum accidentally destroyed," assured the Bulgarian Minister.

"For the eggs?" exclaimed Cornelius, turning purple. "In any case, the three Ministries ought to equally pay for the dragon! Britain might be hosting the Tournament, but France and Bulgaria are just as involved as us!"

"We won't pay for a dragon killed by your extra champion!" protested the French Minister.

"At most we ought to pay less than Britain for it," said the Bulgarian one. "And that applies to any other creatures that we might have to rent for the next tasks."

It took another half hour to clear that up, and Albus really hoped Cornelius had learned his lesson and that he would never again sign a contract like that without making sure of engaging the other Ministers as well. Everything ought to be on paper, written in three different languages, signed by everyone and copied nine times.

There was another heated discussion when Albus refused to let them affront part of the debt with the profit that selling the dragon's parts would no doubt generate.

"To the victor go the spoils," he said firmly. "It's an universal law. Whoever slays a creature has the right to dispose of it. Harry Potter killed the dragon, so he owns what's left of it."

"That's preposterous!" spluttered Cornelius. "Potter ought to be paying for the dead dragon, not profiting from it!"

"I doubt Harry will want to keep a single galleon of it. My guess is that he will want to donate everything to the Romanian Reserve."

"So the Romanians will receive twice what they lost?"

"Yes, and they no doubt will think it's still not enough to make up for the loss of a Hungarian Horntail. We can be sure the Romanians will not agree to rent us any other creature for the Tournament."

"Potter should be disqualified!" said Cornelius angrily. "We can't risk having a champion who will just kill anything that gets on his way."

"You should have thought of that before you activated the Goblet of Fire," said Albus coldly. "The champions can only be disqualified by the Goblet. In any case, any attempt of preventing him from continuing with the Tournament would simply get Harry killed. I'm sure that's not what you want."

Cornelius humpfed.

"Of course not. It would be a PR hell if Harry Potter died in the Tournament. I'm still angry at you for your faulty Age Line, Dumbledore."

"I'm not precisely pleased with you for putting us all in this situation to begin with. There is plenty of blame to throw around, Cornelius."

"There is," Cornelius agreed. "And a big part of it should go to the insane former Auror who taught the Killing Curse to a fourteen-year old!"

"Alastor did not teach that to any student," said Albus firmly. "I don't know how Harry learned it, but I'm glad he did since it saved his life."

Cornelius continued glaring at Albus with resentment and suspicion for the rest of the meeting. The dragon incident had complicated an already complicated situation. Cornelius' foolish decision of activating the Goblet of Fire was no longer looking so good to anyone (and it had never looked very good). Even though the Ministry had put pressure on the Prophet to make the fourth champion's unexpected development sound exciting rather than worrying, most of the wizarding community didn't look with good eyes having a fourteen-year-old champion, and Harry Potter at that. Cornelius had been receiving a lot of pressure, and now having to empty the coffers to pay for a dead dragon would no doubt endanger his job.

Normally Albus would not worry much about it, but he suspected that Lucius Malfoy was currently pulling Cornelius' strings more purposely than ever. Even if he hadn't been contacted by Tom, it was entirely likely that Lucius would try to earn his master's forgiveness by doing some political landscaping in preparation for his return. So probably part of the money required to pay the debt to the Romanians would come from the Malfoy vaults, and Lucius would not waste the opportunity of adding a few poisoned advices to the loan. Albus could already hear Lucius' influence on Cornelius' words, and see it in his eyes.

It was evening when he finally returned to the castle. The first thing he did was to summon Dobby to ask him about Harry's current location. He could always count on the Elf knowing where the boy was at any given moment.

He was directed to the Owlery, and there Albus found both Harry and Miss Granger. He guessed that they had gone there to dispatch a letter to Sirius.

Miss Granger rushed to obey when he asked her for a private moment with Harry. Albus silently cast a few privacy wards and then turned to look at the boy. He was still dressed in the burnt and torn robes that he had had on during the task, and his face was half-covered in soot. Seeing him, it was really hard to believe that he had not been injured at all. Could Poppy be right about her theory of the accidental magic? Harry had proven to still have trouble controlling his magic last year, and today he had proven to be far more powerful than Albus could have ever imagined.

"How are you holding on, dear boy?"

Harry shrugged.

"I'm fine, Professor," he lied.

Albus sighed. He should have known better than to ask that to a person still obviously in shock.

"I hope you know that no one is angry at you, Harry. As a judge, I couldn't publicly condone what you did, but I'm personally glad that you found a way to survive. You were exceptionally brave today."

Harry's green eyes met his for a moment, obvious struggle and skepticism in them, but he didn't say anything.

"I know you don't want to think about this now, Harry, but there is a matter that we need to address. It must be decided what to do with the dead dragon."

The boy was immediately on guard.

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"I mean that the creature has to be disposed of somehow, and since you were the one who slew it it's up to you. Dragons are extremely powerful magical creatures, and they don't die every day, so it would be a waste not to... use it. But if you wish to simply bury or cremate it, it will be done."

"How would you use it?" asked Harry, puzzled.

"Well... I'm sure you noticed that you use many dragon-based ingredients while brewing potions. Wandmakers also use dragon heartstrings as wand cores, and the hide can be turned into protective gloves or boots..."

He trailed off when he saw that the boy was turning slightly green under all the soot.

"You won't have to see any of it, Harry," he assured him. "Professor Snape and the dragon handlers will take care of everything, if you decide the dragon should be used."

"I... You can do with it whatever you think best, Professor. I really don't think I should be the one to decide. I mean... I... I killed it."

Albus nodded in understanding.

"Yes, Harry. And I'm sorry that you had to do that. This has to be decided by you, however. There are thousands of galleons to be obtained from a dead dragon..."

"I don't want any money!" exclaimed the boy in panic. "You can give all the ingredients to Snape, and sell the rest or whatever. Give the money to the dragon handlers, or to Hogwarts..."

"I thought you might say that. It can be done that way, Harry. In fact I believe the Romanian Dragon Reserve could use the profit, since they have just lost a valuable dragon."

Harry nodded in relief.

"Could you tell them..." the boy swallowed. "Could you tell them that I'm sorry?"

"Of course, Harry." He hesitated. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

The boy shook his head, and to Albus' frustration he also avoided his eyes. He didn't think this was a good moment to push him, however, so he let it go. Besides, if Albus began asking questions, he knew that the boy would ask back. It was safer to hear from Sirius any important reports. Harry no doubt would tell his godfather everything.

He met with Severus in the Entrance Hall shortly after curfew. His concern about him increased when he saw that the man looked extremely pale and had dark marks under his eyes, as if he had not slept in several days. And he probably hadn't.

"I didn't see you during the task, Severus," he commented as they descended the stairs to the grounds. He actually had barely seen him since Saturday, reflected Albus.

"I didn't feel up to witness that," said Severus shortly.

Of course not. It must have been a really hard day for him. It had been for everyone.

"Did someone fill you in?"

"Obviously. Else I wouldn't be walking now to harvest ingredients from a dead dragon. I would like to know how in Merlin's name Potter pulled that off, of course."

Albus shrugged.

"It's amazing what people can do under desperate circumstances."

"Especially if someone teaches them what to do. I told you that Moody would teach the Unforgivables to students."

"He didn't. I asked him today, and he said he only showed them the Killing Curse once, and he didn't explain to them how to cast it."

"He's lying. Or else once was enough for Potter to pick it up, unlikely as that might seem."

"I would have thought you would be glad the boy had that card up his sleeve, Severus."

"Oh, yes, I'm thrilled," drawled Severus. "I particularly enjoyed to hear that the boy caught fire several times and was nearly spiked to death."

"Oddly, Harry wasn't injured at all," said Albus. "Poppy thinks his accidental magic might have kicked in to heal him as he went."

Severus directed him a skeptical look.

"More likely he was just lucky, as usual."

"Perhaps," conceded Albus. Although 'miracle' sounded more accurate than 'luck', in his opinion. Or maybe 'fate'. "It is a fact, however, that Harry's accidental magic was always exceptionally powerful. You know that last year he inflated his aunt. And when he was around seven I received a report that said that the boy had accidentally Apparated."

"Don't be absurd," said Severus dismissively. "A child could never Apparate in his wildest dreams."

"That's what the report said. Muggles present at the time were interrogated before their memories were modified. Apparently the boy was running across his school's yard and suddenly he was on the roof."

"He probably just jumped. That would be believable accidental magic."

Albus didn't insist. Nothing would ever get through to someone who didn't want to hear.

Despite Severus' apparent indifference, Albus knew that he must be impressed. Who wouldn't? It could be argued that Harry slaying a basilisk had been mostly luck and outside help, but this had been all Harry (as far as it could be said that Harry was only one person). Not only the boy had proven himself capable of casting the Killing Curse (a skill that in Severus' eyes was no doubt commendable), but he had also proven himself powerful enough as to kill a dragon with it.

Albus didn't know of any other case in history of a dragon killed in such a way.

He felt sadly certain that as soon as Tom heard about Harry's prowess he would try to kill a dragon of his own that same way, just to prove that he could. If he hadn't tried it in the past (as far as Albus knew) it could only be because the idea had not occurred to him.

Albus wondered if he was powerful enough to do something like that. Surely at least Merlin must have been, and perhaps Godric Gryffindor or Salazar Slytherin. Most likely there weren't more cases registered in history simply because dragons had always been protected by wizardkind. Only Muggles had regularly tried to kill them, when they still believed in their existence.

Besides, it was said that it was hard to find the right feeling to cast the Killing Curse on a non-human creature. Only people already desensitized by repeated used of the Unforgivable could do it with ease. Or psychopaths.

Albus was glad that Harry had been able to do it, but he was also concerned. Not exactly about the boy, who was the embodiment of kindness, but about the soul piece of a very renown psychopath that he almost certainly carried around with him.

The dragon handlers were waiting for them sitting on the stands. Only four had come, the rest were probably keeping watch over the other dragons. Albus was sad to see that Charlie Weasley was one of the assigned to the dead Horntail. While all the handlers had taken badly the death of the dragon, it had been particularly hard on Charlie, probably because he was so young. He couldn't have seen many dragons die in the four or five years he had been working in Romania, and definitely none quite this way. That, combined with the fact that he knew Harry personally, had really shaken him.

Charlie looked a little better now, though. And less sober. All the handlers seemed to have been swallowing down their grief with firewhisky. It was lucky that Severus was here to supervise their work.

"Well, gentlemen," said Albus once the introductions had been performed. "As you know, the Reserve will be fully compensated by the three Ministries for the loss of the Hungarian Horntail and some of the Chinese Fireball's eggs. As to the dead dragon, it was agreed that Mr. Potter has the right to decide what to do with it. I talked to him this evening and it is his wish that Hogwarts receives as many dragon-based potion's ingredients as it might require, while the rest is to be returned to the Romanian Reserve to be sold or used in whatever way you might consider best."

There was surprize in the handlers' faces.

"The boy doesn't want anything?" asked a middle age man with a Russian accent, looking perplex. "But it's thousands of galleons' worth! Far more than the Triwizard Winnings!"

"Harry doesn't care about money," argued Charlie.

"Potter is generosity in the flesh," drawled Severus with distaste in his voice. "It's often that way with entitled brats who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths."

"Thank you, Severus," said Albus curtly. "I don't think it's about generosity. Harry doesn't think he's entitled to any part of the dragon. He actually asked me to tell you all that he's sorry."

Severus snorted.

"You can't use the Killing Curse and then claim that you are sorry, that's just weak and insulting."

One of the handlers nodded in agreement, but the others seemed conflicted. Charlie was glaring at Severus.

"The point is," continued Albus before they all got sidetracked, "that the dragon is to be harvested. Professor Snape will make sure that the ingredients are properly extracted and preserved. I know you have more experience with dragons, but he is a highly renowned Master Potioneer, so he knows how the ingredients must be conditioned for its maximum value. I trust you will be able to learn from each other."

Charlie and Severus were still glaring at each other in a way that clearly stated that neither of them was willing to learn anything from the other, but they both nodded and so did the other handlers. From then on Severus took charge, and quickly assigned as his right hand the handler that had agreed with him earlier. Utterly predictable.

Severus' first measure was to share out Hangover potions for everyone, which was a really good idea. To Albus' surprize, he drank one too, and he also drank a Pepper Up when he shared that out next. Severus hardly ever consumed alcohol, so it was concerning to know that he had done so today. Although not really surprizing, considering that Lily's son had almost died. Probably Severus had stayed in his quarters getting blind drunk while Harry faced his dragon. One could only guess what the man would have done if the boy had not miraculously survived.

Albus stayed for a while watching the proceedings. It wasn't every day that one got to see a dragon torn to pieces. And such a majestic beast as the Hungarian Horntail had been! It was really sad. Despite the initial skepticism from both sides, it soon became apparent that Severus and handlers could work together perfectly well, probably because they were all obsessively dedicated to their jobs and knew their trades better than the palms of their hands. Severus was generally a very good teacher, but his teaching became excellent and less spiked with insults when he was instructing people who took things seriously and already knew enough of the subject. The handlers may not be potions enthusiasts, but they understood the value of every inch of dragon.

It was also good that Severus was in charge because he didn't tolerate any weakness and so the handlers were forced to keep their minds on their work and partially forget the fact that they were tearing apart one of their beloved charges.

The more imposing part of the process was when they extracted the heart. Most of the blood had been already harvested (Albus had saved for himself a gallon of it), but it was still a bloody mess to remove the heart, which looked as if it were still beating. All the handlers held their breaths, and Charlie had to step aside for a moment to compose himself. Albus felt relieved that Rubeus was not here.

There were many uses for a dragon's heart, but the most value was definitely on the heartstrings. Wandmakers all around the world would no doubt pay any amount of gold for a heartstring of the dragon slain by Harry Potter. Albus would make sure that Garrick had an opportunity to bid on it, and would ask him to keep him informed about the buyer of any wand made with such core.

One never knew how certain kinds of magic would manifest, after all.