Dragon Wings

Dragon Wings

Chapter One - Halloween

Halloween

That night would be remembered forever. The Dark Lord had been counterspelled by a one-year old baby named Harry Potter. His parents had both been killed, but, without an explanation, the boy survived with only had a scar on his forehead to mark the occasion. This scar of a lightning bolt in the middle of his forehead would change his life forever.

The news came quickly. Rodrigo Zagalo's head appeared inside Captain Octopus's office fireplace at Lusitania Magical Academy of Sorcery of Magecraft, an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"As she predicted," he said while smiling, "it has happened. Tonight."

"What?" asked Captain Octopus, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "Did it happen? We are not in danger anymore?" He had waited decades for that moment of freedom and he had many reasons to be happy. This meant the end of pain and fear and the birth of a new era; a new wizarding world was finally waking up from the Dark.

"Yes. It just happened. The Potters were killed," Rodrigo said.

"As Elektra predicted!" Captain Octopus agreed, grinning.

"Yes, I never doubted her. After all, she is a centaur. She was definitely right."

"So... what about the boy?" asked Captain Octopus

The head in the fireplace smiled. "The one thing she missed... he's alive! He's now known as 'The Boy Who Lived'."

"Gods! How could he...?"

"I could explain to you how he did it, but I have to advise too many people and so I don't have the time you'd need in order to understand. Let the Academy know. Don't fear those who were the Dark Lord's followers, they'll pay for it.

"I will," said Captain Octopus. "But..."

"Yes?"

"The other boy? The one Elektra is in charge of?" asked Captain Octopus.

"What about him? It will be years until his destiny is to be fulfilled," Rodrigo replied.

"Well, he's eleven now, isn't he? With Ingarnal destroyed, where will he be sent? Hogwarts?"

"No, not Hogwarts." Rodrigo said, "His brother is there, and Elektra doesn't want them to meet. And with Orestes dead, she won't want him at Durmstrang either."

"What about here... in three years time, I mean?" asked Captain Octopus hopefully.

Zagalo's head smirked. "The Dark School? No, my dear Captain, even with you teaching at Lusitania, she will never want him here. Even if your colleagues, the other Death Eater professors, are sent to Azkaban, this place will always be known as the Dark School. No, I expect she will keep things just the way they are."

Captain Octopus sighed. He wasn't expecting anything else, but he needed to be certain.

"Now I have to go," concluded Zagalo. "There are too many people to inform. Please, do as I have asked."

The head in the fireplace vanished in seconds and the flames seemed to grow larger.

Captain Octopus went outside his office, walked downstairs, and prepared to let the students and the Academy's staff know about the 'battle'. He knew most of them would like to kill him, simply because he wasn't one of them, but since there was no Dark Lord to protect them anymore, he would be safe.

***

The Great Hall was decorated with Halloween themes, such as pumpkins and blood juice (a juice that looked and tasted like blood, but was actually a mixture of herbs); the students and professors were wearing their best Ball clothes and the ghosts were allowed to come down that night. At Lusitania Magical Academy of Sorcery and Magecraft, ghosts were obliged to stay on the fifth floor during the night; they were only allowed to be around during the day, and students were not allowed to go up to the fifth floor during the night. The Captains of all seven houses had decreed it so when they had arrived at Sitnalta Island, more than one century ago.

At the professors' table, there were three empty places: Captain Octopus', Captain Shark's, and Professor Shayra Stormd'sky's.

The seven tables were full of students - this year the number of first-year students was the highest ever - and due to that, in the beginning of the year, enlargement spells had been cast on the tables and on the room itself. The way students were sorted in Lusitania Academy was quite strange: when they entered the Lusitania Ship, which brought them from Portugal to Sitnalta Island, they had to choose a house. Yes, they didn't have to pass any examinations, they simply chose their house on their own.

The four fireplaces, one at each corner of the Great Hall, were what kept them warm; outside, on the other hand, the Atlantic Ocean brought a cold breeze to the island.

Captain Octopus entered the room quickly, a rare smile on his face and, walking to the professors' table, he began announcing:

"This Halloween will always be remembered as a happy one!" Everyone stared at him, conversations stopped, and no one quite understood what he meant, not even the staff at the professors' table.

When he reached the table, he looked at the professors, then turned to the students, and proudly announced, "We are free." The blank faces became questioning faces , and he continued, "You-Know-Who, I mean," he made an effort, he had to say the name, "Voldemort was defeated by a one-year-old boy named Harry Potter!"

***

The students were very happy with the news. They started screaming happily and the confusion was so rampant in the Great Hall that the Captains, the professors that were in charge of each of the seven houses of the academy - Crab, Dolphin, Mermaid, Octopus, Seagull, Shark, and Whale - had some trouble telling the students that the feast would only be over in the morning, so that they could spend the entire night there if they wanted to.

The students were making a tremendous noise, everyone speaking and almost no one listening...

That Halloween would be remembered for centuries, and it would be known as the end of terror, fear, and death, and the beginning of a new era, in which wizards wouldn't have any reason to be afraid of doing some things, they couldn't be pursued, and they wouldn't be murdered. However, the way the Dark Lord was killed made some people skeptical of what they had been told. How on earth could a one-year-old boy defeat such a Dark Wizard? That was the one thing that didn't fit in the entire story.

Some theories were formed during that night. Each theory was less acceptable than the previous, and it became more of an exercise in creativity than of actually discovering how the little baby had accomplished what he did.

Mr. Trent, the ghost of Whale House, could be called the leader of the other ghosts. When he spoke, all of the other ghosts, wherever they were in the castle, came near him and listened to his words attentively. It was not that they were scared of him. No, he was just the one who always had reason on his side. Truth to be told, unless he was sure that he was right, he didn't open his mouth.

This time, it was no different. He opened his mouth to say something about the events of that night. All of the ghosts who were in the Great Hall celebrating with the students stopped what they were doing and floated to Mr. Trent so that they could hear what he was going to say. They believed he was a smart ghost, and always listened to him.

"Love," was the only thing he said.

The other ghosts didn't understand what he meant by that, and, after a moment of looking at him, expecting him to say something else, they went back to where they had been.

The students of the academy didn't hear what Mr. Trent had said; they were all celebrating, along with the professors and even some of the House Elves.

***

During the night, two students were missing from the Great Hall. The cold air made their faces pale, almost as pale as ghosts'. Flying over the Atlantic Ocean during the night was anything but easy. But they could handle it, if it meant that they could arrive at Etamin Island.

After flying for more than an hour, they finally saw the island, although not very well because of the mist.

Sebastion Kaufmann didn't look as cold as he really was. His powers allowed his face to not show what he was feeling, so he looked warm although he was so cold that he couldn't open his mouth to say a word.

Douglas Argylle was fascinated with the beauty of Etamin Island.

There was a small village, called Nortrum. It had a few inhabitants, who lived by selling things for taking care of dragons, or by selling forbidden Dragon-made objects such as ingredients for potions, although people didn't know that they did that sort of thing.

Behind the village, there was an expansive forest, which separated the human population from the dragons; beyond the forest was the location of the Dragon Institute - Douglas had read about the Institute, although he was not supposed to know about it.

Douglas could swear that he had seen a flame beyond the forest, but since they were too far away, it couldn't have been a dragon.

Their brooms were now flying faster; they wanted desperately to reach the beach, which had many rocks, since they would have a better view from there.

It was impossible to walk on the beach since the rocks would hurt their feet.

They didn't need to speak to reach an agreement that they would continue their journey by broom - they would fly across the beach and only stop once they had reached the entrance of the village. It was late and no one would be out of his or her house, so they wouldn't get caught.

While they were flying over the beach, something unexpected happened. People came out of their houses, screaming happily and thanking God for helping them. They could hear the noise in the distance. Soon commemoration spells were cast, and all of the streets - there were only a few - were illuminated, many colors covered the walls of the houses, and the people began singing songs of freedom.

Both Douglas and Sebastion, although not understanding what was going on, agreed that they couldn't get caught. They rounded halfway and went back to the castle.

They were sure that they hadn't been seen. The exploration of Etamin Island would have to be done some other night.

Their minds seemed to be connected. They didn't need to talk in order to understand what they were supposed to do.

Douglas thought that the mermaid boy, as his roommates called Sebastion, wasn't as bad as the other third-year Octopus boys had thought.

***

The gray centaur was observing the stars. A certain point seemed to trouble her, since she couldn't keep her eyes away from it.

"You are not unnoticed, Hector," she said, without moving her eyes from the point, as she heard faint footsteps approaching.

"I'm sorry, Elektra," replied an eleven-year old boy who was carrying a large burden. "I will try to do better next time."

"You will do better next time," the centaur replied sternly. "If you are to be a good hunter, you need to be as silent as the most furtive of cats. And I do not approve of failure."

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"What do you have there?" she asked , finally turning her eyes in his direction. The young boy, who was dressed in dragon skin, threw a large bag in her direction.

"Lots of food and books," Hector said, as she opened the bag to confirm his statement. "I managed to walk into almost every house in the community without being seen, but it was too easy this time."

"Well, you aren't going to miss the opportunity just because people aren't paying attention."

"But it isn't as much fun this way!" Hector protested. The centaur looked at him sternly, and he whispered, "I'm sorry." Then, after a slight pause, he gained the courage to speak again. "They were celebrating something. What?"

"The fall of the Dark Lord," Elektra said, without looking at him.

The boy was taken aback. "What, now?"

"As I have foreseen."

"But... wasn't I the one who was meant to do that?"

"No, Hector. Your future is glorious," Elektra pointed towards the stars, "but it's not that. I shall tell you no more, but you have other goals. Besides," she gazed into his eyes, "this is far from over."

"Are you sure?"

"I am always right." She then returned the bag to him. "Here. The books are informative. You have my permission to read them. As for the food, you can keep it, but watch out for the dragons."

"Don't I always?"

"Just one more thing, Hector," she added, as the boy was ready to leave. "I have just talked to Rodrigo, and it seems like the Captain is asking about you."

He turned, curious.

"The Captain?"

"He is interested in your future. Where do you want to continue your studies?"

"I..." He decided that he had to lie. The truth could be dangerous to him. "I would rather stay here."

"Good," Elektra said, a nasty smile on her face.

***

When Sebastion and Douglas arrived at the Lusitania Academy fields, they got off of their brooms, and separated without saying a word. Someone could hear them, and Sebastion knew that Douglas would be in trouble if his friends discovered that they had gone to Etamin Island that Halloween.

Douglas went straight to his dormitory. He left his broom under his bed - where he always kept it because of its size - and went down to the common room.

In the corridors, there were students of the other houses, too. He knew some of them, but they seemed too busy to talk to him...

It was then that he noticed that it was too late for so many people to be out of bed. In his dormitory, none of his roommates were there, but that was normal, since they spent their nights searching for weird things outside of the dormitory. Not because they needed to, but because they liked to drive Mrs. Hoogendyke, the caretaker, out of her wits.

"Hey," he heard, "What are you doing here?"

He turned back to face the voice's owner. It was Ayla Pascal, a third-year Dolphin girl. He had been told that she had a crush on him, but he wasn't sure.

"Hi," he said, finally, "I'm going to the Great Hall... and you? What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Commemorating," she said, smiling.

He must have looked stupid. What was she talking about?

"Commemorating what?"

She rolled her eyes, "What were you doing? You don't know? You-Know-Who has been defeated." When he heard this, his eyes widened . She continued, "A one-year-old boy named Harry Potter killed him. The boy lives. He's 'The Boy Who Lived'."

"I... whoa... what a..." he connected what he had just been told with what he had seen at Nortrum. People were also commemorating the Dark Lord's death. "I... I was sleeping. You know, yesterday I worked hard on my Potions assignment and almost didn't sleep... so, erm, today I went back to the dormitory and fell asleep for a while after the end of classes... I've missed the whole thing," he seemed more convincing now, "thanks for explaining it to me. I'd look stupid in the Great Hall if I didn't know..."

Ayla looked at him. She knew it wasn't true. He was lying to her. He couldn't have been sleeping. His face was pale. If he had been sleeping, his face would have been more flushed, since it was warm in the dormitory. She wasn't stupid. However, she didn't say what she was thinking. She smiled and said, "You're welcome."

She turned and went away. He felt better when she was gone. Well, at least she hadn't discovered that he had lied. That was good.

***

Octavia Marguerite Tamsworth, a first-year Octopus girl, was reading in the Octopus common room. Her roommates had gone upstairs to their dormitory some hours ago, but she was trying not to fall asleep. She had to wait for her brother and his friends to come back from the Great Hall. She had to stay alert. So, she found a book about Herbs and Magical Creatures in the bookcase near the window and, although it was not interesting, she started reading it. The events of that night were too unfocused for her. She just couldn't believe that a one-year-old boy could kill the Dark Lord...

When she heard the noise of people approaching the common room, she closed the book and left it on the desk. She hid behind the big sofa that was near the fireplace, and waited until she heard the voices she had been expecting.

***

Later that night, when the day had almost dawned, Douglas felt it was necessary to tell his roommates that he and Sebastion had gone to Etamin Island. They had the right to know...

They were now near the Octopus common room. Justin Tintacle, who was in front, wrote the password on the wall with his wand. Anna and Marcus, who were normally in the portraits, were not there that night. There were two portraits, one on each side of the entrance of Octopus House - which, in fact, didn't have a door. It was a solid wall except for when someone wrote the password on it. The portraits looked strange, since they were almost never empty.

When they entered, some of them sat on the big sofa near the fireplace; Justin continued talking about the main subject of that day.

"I told you! You didn't believe me!" exclaimed Justin.

"But now I do believe. I saw it," said Douglas with a triumphant smile.

"You... you saw the island?" asked Aidan Clolm, "How did you get there? Why haven't you told us yet?"

"I'm telling you now," said Douglas.

"But no one has ever gone there, no student at least..."

"I did," he smiled. "Why do you think we have flying lessons? Is that enough of a hint for you?"

"Of course!" they exclaimed. "Why didn't we think of that before?"

"And what is it like? Is it big?" asked Richard Tamsworth, who had been listening without saying a word.

"Yes, from what I saw, it is really big. It also has a community, but the rest is forest, almost destroyed by dragons' flames... I haven't really seen it all, but those are the main things..."

"But... did you go there or not?"

"I... I flew over the island, I mean, a part of it, but I didn't land. I had to come back because we were afraid someone might notice that we were missing."

"Hey, wait, wait! Did I hear we were afraid? Who else was there? You didn't go alone?" asked Richard.

"Erm... actually... no, I didn't go alone."

"You... you were there with someone who is not from Octopus House? Who did you go with?" asked Richard, not believing that they had not been told about the plan to survey the Island.

"I... I was invited to go. I had no time to let you know and I couldn't refuse!"

"Don't try to change the subject. Who invited you?"

"Erm... It was... Sebastion Kaufmann."

"What? You went with that Mermaid boy?"

"Yes, do you know someone else named Kaufmann?"

"No," agreed Richard, "but why did you go with him? He's just-"

Richard was interrupted by Douglas, "A boy. Just like us."

Octavia smiled behind the sofa. She finally had the information she needed.

***

The dawn was breaking now, but there still was no one at home.

Hector grabbed a small rock, and broke the glass of the window next to him. Sticking his hand inside, he unlocked it. He pushed it, climbed the wall, and entered. The floor was cold for his bare feet, but he tried to make no noise.

He was glad he was able to reach his favorite room, the library. The walls were full of books arranged in several bookcases. He loved books.

He had never asked himself why he loved books so much, although he had an automatic answer: they stored all the knowledge in the world on their pages, and for him, they were indeed the only source he had to learn about the world away from the island since Elektra, the centaur who raised him, didn't let him buy anything. She herself didn't, so why should he? That was the way she thought, and the way he had to do things. He had learnt a few things from books he had found in other houses he had broken into.

He finally moved, and the carpet felt much warmer to him. He took a few books and looked towards the closed door to make sure no one would enter while he was there. He couldn't fight and he didn't have a wand. Elektra didn't let him buy one, and he obviously couldn't do magic without one.

He walked back to the windowsill and threw the books outside. They landed on the grass. He went to the door of the library, opened it without making any noise, and looked both ways. There was no one in the corridor. "Great," he thought. He chose to go to the right side of the corridor. He found a bedroom when he turned to the door on the left. The bed was large enough for two people to sleep in it. He didn't want to go inside. He switched his direction and went to the other side of the corridor. The kitchen! There was no elf; he thought it was strange that there was not one elf in a house like that. It was perfect: no one watching him! He took some fruit that was on the wooden table and looked for the places where meat would be stored. It seemed that the house's occupant was vegetarian, as there was no meat to be found...

Suddenly, he heard a voice approaching the entrance of the house. He took the fruit, and ran through the library, his feet not making any noise. He had been practicing and he was improving in not making noises on the hardwood floor.

When he closed the library door behind him, he heard the front door being opened. The man was speaking. He must be with someone. Although he had never entered that house before, he knew that the man lived alone, or with only one or two house elves. He heard a woman's voice; it was a very beautiful voice. But Hector had to go.

He jumped to the grass and pulled the two parts of the window together, so that they were almost closed, although the broken glass was still noticeable. He took the books that were on the grass, and, along with the fruit, he went back to Elektra's lair.

***

Gilbert let Aline enter his house and shut the front door behind him.

"This is my house," he said, looking around, and Aline did the same.

"It seems very familiar," she said.

"Familiar?"

"Yes," she explained, her dark eyes glowing. "It smells like my parents' house, when I was back in Brazil. I feel great here."

He smiled, that was a good sign. "I'm very glad to make you feel happy. Let's go, I'll show you the rest."

"Okay." She followed.

They went straight to the library, which was also Gilbert's favorite room. He liked to sit on his sofa while reading a good book or simply looking out the window.

"It's great," she said, smiling. "I didn't think you were so intellectual..."

"Oh, I'm not!" he replied. "I just like to spend time here, resting my mind about the Institute."

She felt a breeze entering from the window and asked if she could close it.

"Yes," he replied, "but... it shouldn't be opened. I was sure that it was closed."

"But it was," she said approaching it. She noticed that it was broken.

He looked over the bookcases on the walls to check if there was something missing. He found some empty places where books on history and legends should have been. There were about five missing.

He went closer to the bookcase. Aline noticed and asked what was going on.

"There are some books missing... the window was opened. I must have been robbed!"

"But..." she asked, "who would have taken the books without touching anything else?"