The Eighth Dragon

The Eighth Dragon Saga

Prelude ~ Chapter 2

: Welcomes

His nerves were jangling. He hadn't even touched his tea or the digestive biscuits that Mrs Figg has laid on for him. He could only sit there, twiddling his thumbs and glancing at the clock.

He was surprised that his aunt and uncle had been so happy to let him leave the house freely. But then they were getting all dressed up, and told Harry not bother coming home until tomorrow morning - they wouldn't back until very late, so they thought. When he asked why, he was told that it none of his damn business.

"Something bothering you dearie?" Mrs Figg asked him, for what seemed to be the one hundred and eleventh time, and breaking his reverie.

"No, no, nothing at all..." Harry muttered.

Mrs Figg poured herself another cup, adding sugar and a splash of milk.

"Oh, don't worry about our guests; they'll be here soon," she said before she took a sip.

"Huh?"

Harry did a double - take when he heard this, but something inside was telling him that he shouldn't be so surprised.

"I said not to worry, and that they'll be here very soon dearie."

"Then you know? You're a witch?"

"Well, I'm not dearie. I'm a Squib, aren't I?"

Harry felt rather taken aback by this news, but it made a little sense.

"But... if you're really had wizarding contacts, then how come you never said before?"

"Dumbledore wouldn't let me say anything, would he? Better for his development he said, your aunt and uncle wouldn't appreciate any interference. Just had to keep an eye out for you. I hated watching you suffer with those awful Muggles, but what could I do? I had my orders, and Dumbledore probably knew best. As long as you were safe, that was always the main thing..."

Harry felt a flash of irritation towards Dumbledore. He was always separating him from the people that cared about him. And Harry never understood why.

"Why am I being spirited away like this? Where am I being taken?"

Mrs Figg smiled sweetly and patted his hand.

"Just to a safe place dearie. Can't tell you, it's..."

"Dumbledore's orders," Harry finished for her darkly.

"You're catching on quick there, dearie."

A noise; there was a crashing in the background. Harry jumped to his feet, and Mrs Figg twisted around in her seat.

"What was that? Do you think it's an intruder?" Harry demanded in a low voice, reaching for his wand, and forgetting that he wasn't meant to do magic outside of school hours.

But Mrs Figg seemed to have an entirely different idea.

"Nymphadora Tonks! If you've shattered my good china, girl, they'll be hell to pay!" The old lady shrieked angrily.

"It's alright Arabella, she's only went and knocked over some pots and pans, there's nothing broken," a gentle voice called back.

"She'll be broken if she's done any damage," the Mrs Figg grumbled to herself.

All of this was deeply perplexing Harry, as both he and Mrs Figg went through to her kitchenette, still brandishing his wand.

"Put that away boy! It's a wand you've there, not a knife!" a low voice growled as they entered the dark kitchenette.

Mrs Figg switched on the light as Harry lowered his wand. He surprised by what he now saw.

Three people dressed in wizarding robes, in varying states of disarray and cleanliness. One man, he recognised as the real Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody: he was a retired Auror, who was supposed come out of his retirement to stand in for a year as a DADA teacher. Unfortunately, he had been kidnapped and impersonated by Barty Crouch the Younger, and locked inside his own suitcase for a year. Which hadn't done much for his tenuous grip on his sanity.

Lupin was also present, as unkempt as he usually was, and smiling gently at Harry. There was also a young girl, in robes of electric blue, with co-ordinating tastefully emerald green hair and eyes, also grinning widely, but seemingly hiding a soup pot behind her back.

"Honestly, Nymphadora! You would think that by now that you would have learnt some grace!"

"Please Figgy, stop calling me that! It's Tonks!" the girl with the wild hair wailed.

"Now, now, what's the point of having such a pretty name and not using it?" Lupin teased the girl gently.

"Pretty? Pretty? If that's your idea of pretty Lupin, then I despair of the girl you bring home to meet your parents," Tonks grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Erm... does anyone here want to explain what's going on here to me?" Harry asked in a falsely light tone.

"We're here to take you to a safehouse Harry," Lupin explained softly.

"A safehouse? But why? I'm not in any danger, am I?"

"No... Not really..."

Tonks made a face: "Aw, come on. Sirius told me about how mean those Muggles are to you. Surely you don't want to spend the rest of the summer here?"

Harry perked up when he heard that tit-bit of information.

"Sirius? We're going to see him? We're going to leave the Dursleys?"

The four elder wizards and witches all looked at one another, slightly confused.

"Well, yes..."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

Lupin smiled, the other taken aback by Harry's enthusiasm.

"We have to pick up your school things first; your uncle and aunt and cousin should have left the house by now. We can sneak in and get all of your things."

"But they told me not to come back until tomorrow, and I haven't got a set of keys of my own to get in... And how do you know about them going out anyway?"

Tonks grinned widely now: "Honestly Harry, we're wizards. Don't you think we've planned ahead? There are magical ways of getting into a house, and you uncle seems to think that he's up for the Surrey Businessmen of the Year awards, for selling those... watch-a-call-ems? Grills?"

"There's an award for the Surrey businessman of the year?" Harry asked her incredulously.

"No, but what your uncle doesn't know, won't hurt us."

~

Tonks grinned widely.

"Now THIS is what I call a home..."

She had come up with Harry to his room, to help him pack his things. Harry was a little ashamed that his room was in this state. Because of his recent dark moods, he had neglected his house cleaning duties - in comparison with the condition that Aunt Petunia kept the rest of the house in, his bedroom seemed like a dystopian war zone.

"Erm... Yeah... Sorry about that. My mind's not been on spring cleaning recently..." he mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

The young witch shook her head: "Nah, it's alright. The rest of this place is a bit unusually tidy - kind of like one of those baboratories that Muggles work in. This is more like the home I grew up in."

Harry gave her a weak smile and they began to pack his clothes, belongings and school things away into his giant case. Hedwig was a little confused as to why she had to go into her cage, but she complied with Harry's request with a nip on his ear. He pulled on his school cloak over his t-shirt and jeans, and as an afterthought he snatched up his Firebolt - to think he had almost forgot that!

Lupin helped them bring his things down the stairs - it seemed like they were ready to go.

"So how are we getting there? Floo powder? Disapparate? A portkey? Flying?" Harry asked them excitedly.

"No, we're driving there," Lupin replied, jerking a thumb towards a scabby-looking green Ladda that sat in the street.

"We're driving?"

"How else?"

~

Though he himself was happy at thought of seeing Sirius again, little did Harry realise about the sorrow in the world around him.

For thousands of miles away, over oceans, mountains and forests, there was a sleeping princess who was weeping and bemoaning for the loss of a knight.

'A Dragon has fallen in battle... A Spirit Shield has been shattered...'

In front of her stood her remaining knights, all of them looking sad and lost, mourning their comrade. A tall young man, whose eyes were normally filled with a twinkle of mischievous laughter, began to speak; his melancholy did not sit well with him.

"We know Hinoto Hime-sama... He's gone. But we have to struggle on, the battle isn't over yet. Even without Subaru, we still have another six kekkai to protect. We'll save the Earth."

'Yes... Time is short... We must find the Eighth before all is lost, lest we lose to the Dragons of the Earth...'

There was a collective gasp at that announcement.

"What do you mean, the eighth? You told me that seven separate Dragons would awaken! That we would all fight for the fate of this Earth... Was that a lie? How many of us are there?" another young man demanded angrily, stepping forward.

He was shorter than the first young man, but he radiated power. His eyes were a stormy blue, and the expression on his face would have looked forbidding at best on the face of an older man. On his visage, it almost made him look frightening.

'Oh Kamui... You should know best that life is never that simple. There was an... interference in matters... Subaru's opposing Dragon did not die of his wounds but of a curse that had been laid upon him. I do not fully understand all of the effects of this curse, but my dreams tell me this: we must find Subaru's replacement before all is lost. The curse has negated the importance of Subaru's battle, and there is another now. They must be found, or humanity will fall...'

"I don't believe this," the cold one, Kamui, hissed. "You're saying that Subaru's struggles were all in vain. That he meant nothing to our cause. He died for us all! How can you say that he wasn't important?"

'I did not say that at all Kamui. In fact Subaru's battle has now taken a curious turn, making it even more important. But his battle with his opposing Dragon has done little to affect the status quo, and we are now at a stalemate. We must find the Eighth Dragon if we are to continue this battle for the Earth...'