Marauders - Always - Part One

CLXVIII: A Fourth Dragon

When he'd first started sleeping in the cavern, Charlie had used the handler's safe room - barred metal cage-like space with anti-fire protective charms all around that the handlers could run into if something went wrong with their dragons. But then one night he'd fallen asleep by accident while rubbing Zuzu's snout as she stared anxiously at the door of the cave as Norberta's growling could be heard just outside. 

Now, the brown leather-textured egg lay beside Charlie, wobbling slightly... Charlie yawned, blinking, waking up, his eyes falling on the egg. It wouldn't be too long now before it hatched, he thought, only a month or so. By Christmas holiday, Zuzu would be snuggling in her nest with a hatchling and Charlie would have a third dragon in his care.

"Charlie!" Florean's voice echoed about the cavern and Zuzu snorted steam in the direction of the cave mouth, her eyes beading with suspicion. 

Charlie ran his palm over Zuzu's scales and pushed himself up from the nest of straw he lay in, shaking off the blades. Zuzu's great head turned to look at him and she bent low, bringing her snout down to his level so that her great big nostrils were even with him and slowly tapped him in the torso with the very end of her snout. It was as gentle as a dragon of her size could be, but it still nearly knocked Charlie over and he had to catch himself, holding onto the ridges between her scales to keep his balance. "Careful Zu," he said, laughing. "And good morning to you as well."

"CHARLIE!" Florean's voice was a bit more panicked this time.

"Bloke doesn't understand a slow riser," muttered Charlie. He patted Zuzu's snout and threw himself over the height of the straw nest's wall, then hurried for the stone stairs built into the wall of the cave, pausing to throw a treat of fresh meat to Zuzu from a store at the top, before rushing out to where Florean and Reginald waited on the ledge.

Florean looked relieved to see Charlie and Reginald leaned against the stone, smirking at Charlie, and said, "Oh good, you didn't become a midnight snack after all."

Charlie replied, "Horntails don't eat humans unless they're endangered. They prefer goat and sheep to human, the human muscular structure is extremely hard to dige--"

"We know, Charlie," Reginald interrupted.

"But you said --"

"I know what I said, Charlie, it was a joke," Reginald said, shaking his head with friendly amusement.

Florean smiled at Charlie with understanding. "We have some... exciting news for you, Charlie."

"What's that?"

Florean's eyes were bright with excitement now, "The Ministry contacted this morning. They are going to need another dragon for the Triwizard Tournament!"

Charlie looked to Reginald, who was also beaming brightly. "Another dragon?" he asked, then, "Did something happen to one of the others?" He looked across the valley to the other side where the Chinese Fireball was stretching on the ledge outside his cave - a scarlet-and-orange dragon with long tufts of hair that grew framing her face and eyelashes so prominent Charlie could see them from there.

There was a crashing to their left then and Charlie looked to see Norberta - a claw having just disengaged a large boulder from the side of the cliff face. The rock was crashing down into the valley and Norberta let out a roaring shriek that echoed around the valley and cliff faces. Charlie put his hands on his hips, "What are you doing, young lady?" he demanded her. She snapped her large jaws at him - like a teenager talking back - and he pointed across the valley at the opposite cliff face, "Why aren't you in your cavern? Stop poking about here as though you think you'll steal Zuzu's egg again, nasty thing!" She gave another cry and Charlie stepped toward her heavily, "Do not make me come over there," he said in a low growl and Norberta roared and disengaged from the cliff side, beating her wings so that the wind blew back Charlie's hair - as well as Florean and Reginald's. She lifted off - up, up, up - and then circled 'round the valley. Charlie watched as she went, hands on his hips.

"Nothing's happened to any of the others, no," Florean said, answering Charlie's question from before the ridgeback had interrupted. Charlie was still watching to ensure Norberta actually went into her cave. "Rather, they nee a fourth dragon," he clarified.

"Whatever for?" Charlie asked, distracted. Norberta had landed outside her cavern and looked back to see if Charlie was still watching. He raised his hand up, pointing at her, and she let out one more roar - loud enough he could hear her clear across the valley - then slipped into her cave with the air of a sullen child. He shook his head.

"Because there is a fourth champion!" Florean announced.

Charlie's full attention turned to Florean in an instant. "A fourth Champion?"

"Yes!" Florean said importantly, "A fourth! They drew the names last night from the Goblet of Fire and - oh it's all over the news, Charlie, and the Ministry came 'round first thing, before I'd even got my leathers on boy. Harry Potter was chosen as the fourth Champion!"

Charlie stared in disbelief at Florean. "Harry Potter?" he repeated, worry in his tone. "The Harry Potter?"

"Of course, do you know of any others?" Reginald laughed.

Charlie stared, gap-mouthed at Florean and Reginald, and stammered, "But he - he can't be. He doesn't meet the requirements! The requirements said that they champions had to be at least of the age of seventeen before the beginning of the tournament and Harry Potter can't be seventeen, he's fourteen at best, and --"

"Yes," Florean said, interrupting Charlie gently, "That's what everyone's marveling over! But the Goblet chose Harry! Nobody knows the reason or, it seems, even how he got his name into the Goblet! Little bugger seeking glory. Not enough to be the Boy Who Lived!" Florean chuckled, "I remember when James Potter  was a wee lad - still at Hogwarts when he insisted on joining the Resistance! You know, he was the one - he was the one who came up with the name the Order of the Phoenix? Lily and James Potter together... they joined the moment Dumbledore would allow them at it. They didn't give a pixie's arse that they were still young, wanted to fight You Know Who themselves... So much like his father, Harry Potter is... gumption, they call that."

"But he's too young!" Charlie argued. "And honestly, I - I've only met Harry once, but I don't really think he's the sort to go seeking after --"

"Ministry can't figure out how he did it, either, Charlie," Reginald said, misinterpreting Charlie's shock. "But the fact of the matter is the boy's done it and the Goblet was hoodwinked somehow into choosing a fourth champion, and so the Ministry's come to us to supply a fourth dragon."

"Your two girls were in the running after the others," Florean said, "So I've come to let you know that we've selected Norberta - your Norwegian Ridgeback - as the one who will go to Hogwarts."

Charlie looked across the valley at the mouth of the cave where Norberta had just gone off to, all sulky. Honestly, it would be a bit of a relief to have Norberta off-grounds for a bit, and give Zuzu a break from the stress of worrying if her egg would be taken from her. The last thing Charlie wanted was Zuzu being separated from her egg again. With everything that had gone on between Norberta and Zuzu, Charile knew that Zuzu would be far too much for probably even himself to handle if something were to happen to come between her and her egg... much less a contender not yet out of school.

"Norberta will be thrilled," Charlie said, smiling.