Of Dogs and Dragons

There was a cool breeze that morning that surrounded the town. The breeze swept through starting at the town's center, where the pub and all of the shops were, and ending in the north-easterly direction, at the tip of the forest. The fog continued to surround the forest, making it spookier and difficult to walk around in. It was not like many people walked through the forest, but usually it was not so creepy of a place. Not only humans stayed away, but animals did as well. All animals, but dogs.

Charlie came to the opening of the forest once again, pondering what to do. He ran out of his shack quickly, but he had no idea where he was going. He knew that he should visit the forest again, but he did not think it could help much. There was not much left to do. He already knew that the dragon could easily detect him and that she was protecting an egg.

He had planned on going to see the dragon the night before, but that was with Hermione's cloak, and he did not have that cloak currently in his possession. He knew that he should find Hermione, so that they could look at the dragon more, with invisibility on their side. But Emilia was most likely still in the shack and he couldn't explain while she was still there.

Charlie did need to know more about the dragon's abilities in order to capture her. He had to find out all of her strengths and weaknesses before filing for a team to come in to move the dragon.

But before he walked into the forest again, he remembered his conversation with Hermione. She said that it would be good to ask the people who knew the dragon before she was sent to Gringotts. So he started to write the letter to his boss.

Mr Vasile,

I noticed that you were the one that signed this dragon away to Gringotts. Could you tell me what you remember about her? Did she ever interact with a male? Please respond as soon as you can.

Charlie

Charlie stashed the letter into his pocket for safekeeping. He would have to wait until he could go back to his shack so that he could give the letter to his owl, Sable, to send off to his boss.

Soon, Charlie realized he should summon his broom to help him with his dragon task. He was a particularly good flyer, especially after his days as the Gryffindor Seeker, and he was ready to put those skills into use, separate from a game that he found to be silly, though rather fun.

He jumped on the Cleansweep and prepared himself for what he knew was going to be a rough battle. He summoned a leather bag filled with Clankers as well, knowing that Gringotts dragons were trained to be fearful of Clankers - at least that's what he read in his notes.

He started to fly into the air as soon as he walked deeper into the forest. Even though there were not many people in the forest, he could not risk being seen flying on a broomstick. Even with his limited knowledge, he knew that no Muggle would understand that.

He lifted himself up into the air just high enough not to go above the tips of the trees. He needed the dragon to see him, so that he could try to fight against her. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but it had to be done. That's what the risks of being a dragon keeper involved.

Adrenaline pumped through his system, as he pushed closer to the location that he knew to hold the fearful beast. He looked for her scaly black skin and he soon caught her eye. She did not see him right away, and she even seemed to have difficulty hearing him. He realized that she must be partially deaf, as well as blind. Finding weaknesses always helped.

He flew right above her, grasping the leather bag of Clankers in his right hand. He tried to hold it still, not wanting to shake it until the last minute. He realized that he forgot to place a Muggle-Repelling Charm, so before he started his attack, he said it quickly.

She was staring right at him, and she blew a breath of fire, aiming right at his face. He quickly breathed, Aguamenti, hoping the spell could possibly work. He knew he could not rely on it though, so as he said it, he flew straight up in the air, trying to get out of the path of fire.

He watched as the water completely vanished the second it hit the fire. The dragon had a dangerously strong fiery breath. Water was not going to do anything.

He came down closer to the ground, noticing that he would have been completely scorched if he had moved a second slower. He knew he had to protect himself, so he set up a Shield Charm around himself, knowing that it would not do much, but it would do enough to give him a little protection.

"Stupefy," he then tried, thinking that it possibly could work. Each dragon was different and some had been completely defeated by the simple charm. Unfortunately, even though this dragon was partially blind and deaf, she did not show any effects of being Stupefied. He decided to try it again, aiming two Stupefy curses at the dragon, one right after the other.

She shook her head after the second spell was aimed after her, but besides that she was fine. Stupefy was not going to work.

She started to speed towards him, and he had to think of something quickly. He settled on Impedimentum, thinking that if he could slow her down, it would be to his advantage. At least that would give him time to think a little more.

That was the first spell that worked. She didn't slow down extremely, but she was somewhat slower. Charlie was able to relax, as he could think for a second longer. That second was everything to a dragon keeper.

She was furious at the spells that he was setting against her. She tried to increase her fire, shouting it in all directions. Charlie enjoyed flying away, diving from the fire... though dangerous, those were the moments he enjoyed most about his job. And he knew that the dragon would not fly to try to catch him because she had an egg to protect. She wouldn't leave her egg.

Charlie tried a final spell, knowing that was the most likely spell to work against a dragon. "Conjunctivitis," he said, aiming it at the eyes of the dragon, twisting and turning his wand to create the difficult spell.

As he said it, he shook the leather bag vigorously, confusing her and making her fearful. Apparently she was trained to fear being burned by hot swords at the sound of the shake. Classical conditioning at its best, Charlie mused to himself as he waited for the dragon's reaction.

The combination of the spell and the Clankers distracted her for seconds. For about twenty seconds, she was confused, and unable to see at all. Charlie shuttered at the thought that someone could make a dragon so fearful, but he knew at least that gave him hope. However, he wasn't too sure that he wanted to ever use the Clankers again.

Charlie quickly said, "Ennervate," before she figured out anymore. He flew off into the tip of the forest, before she could see him leaving.

She could be defeated.

With a group of people, he would be able to relocate her back to the bank, where he was required to drop her off at.

He started to walk out of the forest, lifting off the remaining spells that he had performed. As he did so, he caught sight of Hermione. "Charlie!" she exclaimed, "What happened to you?"

"I had to leave," he answered. "Emilia was asking too much."

"I think I calmed her down," Hermione fiercely stated. "She seems to understand now, but that wasn't a smart thing to do."

"I didn't have another option," Charlie said. "I couldn't let her find out anything."

"I guess," Hermione reasoned, a bit distracted, "Now, can I finally see this dragon?"

"I just fought against her," Charlie announced. "It's probably not a good time to see her."

"But we have the Invisibility Cloak," Hermione said. "I just want to see her. We don't have to do anything."

Charlie completely forgot about the Invisibility Cloak for a moment. He knew that could certainly help him in the fight against the dragon. "Fine," he said. "Let's go."

---

Emilia walked into Newberry Animal Hospital, slightly earlier than her shift started. She brought along her faithful companion, Taffy, and she gently and slowly walked with her, making sure that each step was not too difficult for her.

The remarkable thing was that Taffy seemed mostly alright. She wanted to walk faster than Emilia allowed her to, but Emilia stayed strictly at one speed. Taffy would risk re-injuring herself. That was not needed, not after what had been done to save her life.

She brought Taffy along, so that she could examine her. Damon had healed her, and it seemed as if by now she was fully healed. She seemed a little less lively, but she was relatively all better. Emilia needed to be sure that Taffy was fine because just hours earlier she was struggling for her life.

As she walked into the Animal Hospital, Emilia explained her situation and Baker readily allowed her to use the resources, so that she could see Taffy's injuries. It was difficult for Taffy to stay still while Emilia examined her, but eventually she was completely examined, and found to be completely healthy. It was like there was no attack.

Emilia realized her continued distaste for Charlie. He had a solution and someone who could help, yet he did not do anything with that. He did enough to heal Taffy, but he did not go further with his efforts. If he really and truly cared, he would find a way for Damon to help.

Emilia found a crate in the back for Taffy to stay in, while she was ready to start her shift. It worked out well because Taffy needed to rest up some, even if she was completely healed. No one could go through an attack like that and not need time to recover.

After saying goodbye to Taffy, Emilia grabbed a chart and looked at everything she had for the afternoon. It was relatively quiet and she soon decided that she wanted a different task for the day. Since Charlie was not much of a help, she would do it on her own. She was ready to go into the woods to see what creature was attacking the innocent dogs.

She put up a fight with Baker, but Baker finally allowed her to go with a warning to stay safe.

Without much thought, she found herself approaching the forest that she had found Taffy in the previous night. She did not take anything to defend herself, as she just wanted to observe. She would stay at a safe distance in order to not be attacked. She also knew that the attacks were at night. It was not night, therefore she reasoned that she would not be harmed.

Earlier the temperature had been quite chilly, but since the sun had come out, it was a lot warmer. There was a gentle breeze that made it comfortable for Emilia to walk into the forest with just a light jacket.

She quietly brushed her feet against the ground, trying to make as faint a noise as possible. She did not anticipate an attack, but she wanted to be careful. She was not going to allow herself to stupidly get killed by this creature. If she was killed, there was no hope for the dogs, and she wouldn't do that.

She walked further into the forest, turning directions by instant. Her instinct mostly told her to walk further into the areas that had the best protection - the most tree and bush covering that could hide the creature.

As soon as she was deep into the forest, she could see a foggy patch, yet there also seemed to be heat generating in the area. She tried to view the scene closer, creeping up as far as her pounding heart would allow.

Just meters away from the foggy patch of heat, she found shelter behind a bush. Once she fully hid herself away, she turned her eyes to observe the creature in full.

The creature was a sight to be seen. Emilia had never seen anything like him, not in real life. Not even in the fairy tales. Was it a dinosaur? She couldn't tell, but it sure seemed like one. He had black scaly skin that seemed to be fading away, and great spiked wings.

No, it couldn't be a dinosaur. Maybe a weirdly shaped dinosaur?

But it looked like a big lizard. Could it be a dragon? It didn't even look like a dragon, but something much fiercer. This dragon hybrid was more dangerous looking than any words could describe.

Emilia was appreciative that the dragon did not spot her. She could not see his eyes, as he was looking up at some spot in the sky, breathing his flame at something. And it was evident that there was something up in the air, though Emilia could not see a human or an animal. She could see traces of light firing towards the dragon. He kept on breathing the fire in circles in the air, and Emilia soon grew fearful that he was going to turn in her direction and spot her.

That was something that she could not risk. She realized that she was an idiot to come to see what the creature was. Charlie had said that he was working on it, and she should have listened. But why didn't he tell her that it was a dragon that was in the forest? Was it even a dragon? Maybe the ridiculousness of the situation made him keep it a secret.

Emilia decided to clear quickly away from the spot. Her heart was pounding fiercely, and she could not think clearly. She was in grave danger by staying so close to the dragon, so she did the only thing that made logical sense - she ran.

She ran as quickly as she could, not trying to hide herself from the dragon. If she ran quickly enough, she might be able to go unnoticed, since the dragon was preoccupied with something else.

But she had barely run three meters when she felt a hotness touch her just beneath the ankles of her feet. Running was not working. She had to run quicker.

She did not turn her head to look behind because she knew that would only slow her down. She just continued to run, listening to the grunts and moans of the dragon, redirecting his flame towards her.

She felt as if the fire was going to be right on top of her. She did not have much more time and she knew that the dragon was closing in. She could feel herself squinting her eyes, fearful that the dragon would burn her alive at any moment and she just didn't want to have that picture inside of her head.

Just seconds before she knew she was going to be hit by the flame, she felt herself rising up in the air. Her eyes were closed and she did not watch as she expected herself to be burned. But then, she felt herself sitting on an uncomfortably thin bottom, while someone held her tightly. She had felt no pain and she was relieved. Was that it? Was her life over? Was she on her way to the afterlife at that very moment?

Thoughts ran free through her brain, wondering what was going on. She did not want to be dead, not when she had lives to save. Yet, she could not think of anything else that had happened. There was no explanation for floating in the air.

Then she heard a familiar voice, yelling at her, "Bloody hell," it said. "What are you doing?"

It was Charlie's annoying, yet charming voice. She opened her eyes to figure out what had happened. She couldn't have been floating in mid-air. Had he saved her at the last minute? Did her body just create the illusion of floating?

Yet when her eyes opened, she did not see Charlie. She saw herself, just like she pictured, in the middle of the air. "Charlie?" Emilia asked. Was he dead too? Was it just his soul, talking to her, leading her into the afterworld? Why would it be Charlie of all people talking to her?

"Charlie, cloak." Emilia heard another familiar voice. It was Hermione. She didn't even know Hermione. Why was she there?

Suddenly, Charlie and Hermione came into view. They were still flying up in the air, away from the ground and the dragon, and they were sitting on a broom?

It did not make any sense to Emilia. It was clearly not the heaven that she had pictured. Not with Charlie and a relative stranger and floating in the air, on top of a household broom.

"Charlie Weasley!" Emilia started to scream. "What is going on?"