The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley

Chapter 6 - The Dragon Disaster

Charlie

We were awakened by a roar in the middle of the night. Both Nova and I lifted our heads at once and were fully awake and getting dressed before we heard another roar.

"That was Arto," Nova said, buttoning her jeans. We both knew that wasn't a good sign. Not all dragons were as nice as Eero and Norbert, even though the latter was getting quite vicious as well.

Arto was a Ukrainian Ironbelly and was the oldest dragon in the Sanctuary. He was brought here after being saved from dragon smugglers and he was hurt pretty badly. The healing team needed weeks to sort him out and he doesn't trust anyone.

He was also the only dragon Nova feared and didn't dare to get close to. I tried to take her to his habitat a few times, to help her get over her fear but no matter how much she tried and wanted to be less terrified of him, she couldn't do it and I didn't blame her. I love dragons but even I dreaded spending time with him.

Another roar. We hurried downstairs and looked outside. It looked and sounded like a battlefield. I knew that roar as well. It was our Swedish Short-Snout Thor. Before we could open the door, Andrei burst inside.

"We need you outside, now!" He shouted. "The Death Eaters are here!" He closed the door and I heard him casting a spell on someone on the left side of our house.

"Death Eaters?" Nova asked shocked.

"They're going to attempt to steal a dragon!" I couldn't be sure but why else would they attack the Sanctuary?

Dumbledore warned us that Voldemort might try getting his army numbers up by other means than wizards. There was already word of giants being persuaded and them having a dragon, even though it was ridiculous if they thought it would listen to them, it could still do some damage.

We grabbed our wands and hurried to the door. Nova was ready to open it but I stopped her.

"Please, be careful and stay by my side." I cupped her face and kissed her as hard as I could.

"I will try." She whispered in my mouth. "I love you, Charles." She looked deep into my eyes and I wished she didn't say that. It sounded like a goodbye.

"I love you too." I pressed my forehead to hers for a second and opened the door.

It was a war outside. Dragon roars were echoing all through the valley, some cottages on our right were on fire. There were flashes of red, blue, orange, and green all around us from people casting spells.

I tried holding on to Nova's hand but I knew she couldn't use her wand with her left hand and once two Death Eaters started blasting us with spells we didn't have a choice but to get separated.

They were everywhere and the sounds of them laughing as if we were at a party filled my ears.

"Reducto!" I tried casting my spells without saying them out loud but sometimes I just didn't have the time. The adrenaline in my veins was only growing and my mind was filled with both defensive and offensive spells.

I was trying to get as close to the dragons as I possibly could. I had to prevent the Death Eaters from harming them.

"Charlie!" I turned my head to the right, after blasting one of the Death Eaters into the air. "Don't go to the dragons!" Felix shouted.

"Aren't they trying to capture them?" I yelled back.

"They are but the dragons are too strong for them." We both lifted our heads as we heard another roar.

"That doesn't sound like Arto winning!" I looked at him again and he was already following the sound of the roar. I ran after him.

We got rid of three Death Eaters on our way up to Arto and I felt like falling to my knees when we reached him. The dragon was chained up from his neck to tail and they tried closing his mouth so that he would stop breathing fire at them. There were at least 12 of them all around him and when Felix and I exchanged looks, we knew we had to try and save him. I knew he wasn't as convinced they wouldn't succeed anymore.