Stories from the Vault - Hogwarts Mystery One Shots

Dragon Smugglers (Pt. 2)

A/n: This is another part to the Dragon Smugglers chapter I wrote months ago. 90% had been written back then, but I just got around to finishing it now. Also, this was originally intended to be part 3, but part 2 apparently got deleted somehow. It was about the actual journey across Europe. They reference it in this chapter (starting with the bold words), so that is what they are talking about. I might go back and rewrite part 2, but I'm too upset about it right now haha. 

"Keep your eyes peeled for any dragons. We might look like an easy meal to them," Sarah called.

She finally recognized the towering cliffs and green valleys of the Dragon Sanctuary.

"And what will we do if one does come at us?" asked Barnaby.

She didn't have an answer for that.

Thankfully, there were was no trouble. They found the dragonologists' camp, where Charlie and several others were just exiting the largest tent.

"Took your time!" Charlie called to them, a wide grin on his face.

As soon as the dragonling touched the ground, a half-dozen dragonologists rushed forward to tend to it. Liz hovered over them to offer advice, but Sarah and the others greeted Charlie. Exhausted, Sarah gratefully fell into Charlie's hug.

"Well, fancy that! Good to see you, Amari," said Charlie, shaking Orion's hand.

He and Barnaby clasped arms and patted each other's backs enthusiastically.

"I can't thank you enough for this," Charlie told them. "You've saved Hagrid a whole lot of trouble, not to mention probably saved his and others' lives."

"Too bad Dumbledore vanished the Magical Creatures Reserve at the end of last year," said Sarah. "That would have been way easier."

"Dumbledore had little choice," said Charlie. "Once the ministry found out Kettleburn and Hagrid were keeping a load of dangerous creatures on school grounds, Dumbledore was lucky they weren't arrested."

"What about us?" asked Sarah. "You're not allowed to take dragons without ministry permission. What happens if they figure out we snuck Norbert here?"

"Strictly speaking, we're supposed to notify the ministry that we received a dragon and where it came from. But ol' Dresden, he's my boss, has formed his own policy on it. If people are bringing him free eggs, he's gonna take them and not ask any questions about it. He'd rather it be in our hands than traded on the black market or trying to be raised by some numpty that doesn't know what he's doing. No offence to Hagrid. So, we take the egg, send the person on their merry way, and then pretend we had one more dragon's egg hatch the following year. It doesn't happen often, though.

"So," he added clapping his hands together. "Shall we go see about your Ridgeback? Or do you need to rest for a while? There's spare cots in there." He pointed over his right shoulder at one of the tents.

Sarah knew it was probably wise to be well rested before you ran about mucking with dragons, but Barnaby had shaken off the sleepiness like a wet dog shaking water from his coat.

"No! Let's go see the dragons!"

His excitement was contagious and soon, Sarah and the others were given the full tour of the sanctuary. The dragonologists were certainly well outfitted. There were tents for everything from nursery and infirmary, to food storage and armor repair. Sarah hadn't realized how much went into the job. They weren't just looking after dragons; Charlie and the others also had to maintain the whole ecosystem, making sure there was enough prey still on the sanctuary and that there was enough water to drink. They also had to guard their borders from poachers.