Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the dragons. Which was actually quite ironic, seeing as they were what he was thinking about. Fortunately for Harry, there was a loud roar and a "Watch out, kid!" screamed at him, which was enough warning for him to jump out of the way of a massive pillar of flames. He looked up and saw that his would-be attacker had been the Chinese Fireball.

Understanding dawned upon him. That was Krum's dragon. Of course she would be upset, probably inconsolable even, all of her eggs had been destroyed! Ignis had been fiercely angry and protective and her eggs hadn't even gotten a scratch. He watched her for another moment before he had to look away. Everything about her seemed to scream distress, even to his human eyes, and it was hard to watch her mourning.

"Hey, kid! What are you-" The dragon keeper who had yelled at him stopped when he got a look at his face. "Merlin's balls!" Harry sighed and turned towards the man, a tall, rugged fellow with short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He prepared himself to deal with the ridiculous hero-worship that seemed to follow him wherever he went. "You spoke with our Hungarian Horntail!"

Harry looked at the man in shock. He had expected something along the lines of "You're Harry Potter! You're the Boy Who Lived!" And an awkward handshake. But to this man, he was first and foremost the guy who could speak to dragons. It was actually a rather nice change. It was also at this moment that Harry remembered the basic rules of human conversion and realized that he needed to reply. "Uh, yeah?" Not his best moment, but hey, he was the Boy Who Lived, not the Boy Who Was Loquacious.

The man just grinned at him. "You're a bit of a legend amongst the dragon keepers, mate. Charlie wouldn't stop talking about you for months after you sent us the Norwegian Ridgeback, especially since you were, what, a Firstie at the time? And then, I swear, he just about died when he saw you up against the Hungarian Horntail."

"Charlie, as in Charlie Weasley?" Harry had to check. He had thought for sure that Ron would have poisoned the rest of his family against him. Apparently not.

"Yep. Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Fnord. Fnord Haugen." Fnord rolled his eyes. "I know it's a weird name, but Mum wanted to name me Asbjørn [Pronounced ahss-byorn]. Thank Merlin Dad reigned her in, I mean, can you imagine, a dragon keeper named Asbjørn? The guys would just call me Ass-burn. Which, well, isn't entirely inaccurate, but hey, chicks dig scars, right?" He winked at Harry.

Harry snorted. Fnord was very talkative, but kind of funny. "Yeah, I guess. The ones who do, though, aren't exactly my type."

Fnord grinned right back. "Woe is you, teenage heartthrob. Beating the women off with a stick to protect thy virtue. And speaking of beating people with sticks, OI CHARLIE!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed at a figure that was walking away from a pen about a hundred yards behind Harry. "DRAGON BOY WONDER IS HERE, MATE!"

The dragon keepers within hearing range laughed as they turned to look at them. The figure, who was now close enough to be recognizable as Charlie Weasley with his red hair and easy smile, jogged over. "Fnord, you mind switching out with me for a minute?"

"Sure, mate. See you later Potter!"

"Bye Fnord!"

Charlie clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Harry! Long time no see, how've you been?"

"I've been pretty good." Harry said slightly awkwardly. He hadn't exactly planned on running into Ron's brother, and wasn't quite certain what the other boy had told his family.

Charlie noticed his discomfort. "Come off it- what's wrong?"

Harry shifted slightly. "Are you sure you should be talking to me? I mean, Ron and I… uh, he doesn't like me very much right now."

Charlie furrowed his brow. "Listen, Harry, Ron hasn't said anything to me, so if you guys are on the outs, I figure that's between you two and I'll stay out of it."

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

"But thick-headed brothers aside, how have you been? I bet you're excited about the rest of the tournament"

"I dunno if excited is the right word for it- more like terrified out of my mind."

Charlie chuckled. "Chin up, mate. If the rest of it is anything like the First Task, you'll sail through." His eyes lit up. "And speaking of the First Task! That was brilliant, Harry. If you ever want a job at the preserve, it's yours."

Harry was startled. "Are you serious?"

"'Fraid so." Charlie smiled. "Harry, we work with 6 ton rage beasts that could kill us with a swipe of their claws. It's awesome. And you can speak to them and have them listen. I'd be surprised if you didn't get offers from dragon preserves all around the world." He laughed and elbowed Harry in the side. "Just remember, when all the other offers come in, that your favorite dragon keeper is at the Romanian Preserve. And so are your favorite dragons—Norberta is huge now! And I reckon she's old enough to start talking."

Harry could just imagine Hagrid's reaction if he found out he was able to talk with his sweet baby Norberta. Wait, Norbert-a? "Norbert is a girl?"

Charlie laughed. "Yeah, we were a bit shocked too. It's almost impossible to tell when they're that small, but she's definitely a she. You should come see her for yourself—hell, if you wanted to come by during one of your breaks and do some consulting work, you could start at the preserves while you're still in school."

"I could spend the summers at the preserve?"

"And Christmases, and probably Easters too if you really wanted. If you have any interest at all in magical creatures, you'll love it there. The pay is great, and there's nothing else like it."

"Sounds like you're pretty happy with it."

Charlie grinned right back at him. "I am kind of giving you my best sales pitch. But to be honest, it's a pretty easy pitch to make. There's no place I'd rather be. But anyway, I have a feeling you're here to talk to Shirley again, right?"

Harry started. "To… Shirley?"

"You know, big, scaly, Hungarian Horntail, ring any bells?"

"You call Ignis Shirley?"

"Well, she's not the only Horntail we have, and it's not like we could ask if she had a name. She goes by Ignis then? That's hilarious." He seemed to be about to say something else when the Chinese Fireball started up again. "Bloody shit- sorry mate, but that's my call to duty." Charlie took off running in the same direction he had come from initially.

Harry continued walking. Soon enough, he found Ignis' enclosure. She was laying on a pile of small, white-hot stones, obviously heated by her fire. Against her side, partially buried in the hot stones, were five eggs. "Hello, Parva Corvum,"

"Hello Ignis. How have you and the eggs been?"

"We are well. My eggs have not been touched, but I am concerned for Gang Bai."

"Gang Bai… Is that the Chinese Fireball who lost her eggs?"

"Yes. She is so depressed that Aerona, Annika, and I have been considering giving her one of each of our eggs if she does not get better." At Harry's look of confusion, Ignis elaborated. "We are extremely protective of our eggs. While we have our young, they are our world, our reason for existing. If one dies, we mourn for months, and the pain never truly goes away." She shuddered. "I cannot even imagine the pain of losing her entire nest. She is losing her will to live. But, if we gave her one of each of our eggs, it might be enough to lift her out of her depression and give her a reason to go on."

"But wouldn't you get, er, depressed then, instead?"

She looked at him drily, or at least, that was the impression that he got. The whole 'scales and non-human face' thing made her kind of hard to read. "Which would you prefer- losing all of your children, or having one of them fostered by one you trust implicitly?"

"Fair point. It's a terrible thing that happened to her, and it's great that you're all willing to do that to try to help."

"She would do the same for any of us. It is not the first time such tragedy has struck, and it will not be the last."

Well, this conversation was fun. Time for a subject change. Uhh- names should be safe. Right. "Ignis, can I ask you about your name? What does it mean? Why is it-"

"So different from the others?" Ignis interrupted. She sounded please, and Harry nodded. "Many years ago, when a dragon found a human who was worthy, they would gift them with an egg, and the human would become a Draconus Amicus, known more commonly as a Dragon Friend. Once the egg hatched, the human and the hatchling would both gain extra abilities, though they varied based on the pair and their specific talents. But I digress. It is custom for a Dragon Friend to name their hatchling after the circumstances of their birth." Ignis bared her teeth and Harry got the impression that it was the draconic version of a smile. "My Bound was a spell crafter, so he was fluent in Latin. He named me after my the emerald flames with which I burned away my shell."

Harry's eyes widened "You were raised by a human?"

"Yes. My dear Ignotus." She said wistfully. "You smell of him, very faintly. I would recognize it anywhere."

Harry took a moment to ingest that new information. "I suppose it might be possible that I am related to him. When was he alive?"

Ignis took a moment to think. "He passed during the second outbreak of the Great Plague. It was not the plague that took him, but it was during that time."

Harry did a double take. "The Plague happened in the 1300s I think."

"Yes."

"… that makes you, well, that must make you at least 600 or 700 years old."

"Yes?"

"...How long do dragons live?"

"At least twice what I have lived thus far."

"Right. I see."

"I don't think that you do." She snorted. "Enough of this. Tell me about your Tournament."

And so Harry explained the Triwizard Tournament the best he could. He told her about how it was supposed to be three contestants, about how the Goblet had released his name, how he was forced to compete lest he lose his magic, and how no one believed him when he said he didn't enter himself. It was incredibly therapeutic, and Ignis was a wonderful listener. He didn't realize how much time had passed until he heard a bell sounding in the distance. The bell that signified the beginning of dinner. Had he really been outside for that long? "My apologies, Ignis, but that bell means I must return to the castle."

She smiled again. "I will not take offense, Parva Corvum. Go, but remember to return before we are moved back to the mountains."

A/N: As promised, here's chapter 3! A little development, a little background, and, of course, we met our favorite dragon keepers. I love Fnord. Anyway, chapter 4 is going to be a little shorter than usual, so I'll probably post it on Monday and then chapter 5 the following Friday to make up for it. As always, let me know what you think, and I'll see you soon! -PW