Dragonology 101

Chapter 6

"Where's the sack?" Felix asks Juniper over Sparky's high-pitched protestations.

"I...I'm not sure." she says, turning in a circle as she looks all around her for the place where she dropped the bag of dead animals during their flight from the full-sized Sparky.

"Well, find it!" Felix snaps at her, and Juniper takes off down the hill.

Sparky's silky scales feel as though they've been greased, and, try as he might, Felix cannot get a firm grip. He's reduced to placing his hands one in front of the other in a continuous loop for Sparky to crawl over, to prevent him falling to the hard earth below.

"Hold! Still!" he grumbles loudly at the shrunken Sparky.

The dragon does a quick about-face to look directly at Felix, its tiny yellow eyes on fire with rage. It shrieks its challenge like a kazoo, and makes a run up Felix's arm. Felix can feel the minuscule claws catch in the fabric of his jumper, slowing its progress and giving him time to snatch it by the tail. Before he can pull it away, however, Sparky sinks his needle-like fangs through the layers of clothing and into Felix's skin, just below the crook of his elbow.

Felix lets out a stream of curses as he tries to prise the dragon from his arm. Its teeth, though small, are locked firmly into his flesh, and Felix can't suppress a small cry as he rips the dragon off of him. Juniper rushes up the hill toward him, sack now in hand, and Felix drops the chittering dragon unceremoniously into it.

"Careful with him!" Juniper whines.

Felix glares at her, blood dripping pointedly from his arm.

She grimaces sympathetically. "Sorry!" she says, as the bag in her hand rustles violently. "How bad is it?"

Felix holds his arm up to his face to inspect the bite. Blood is welling up thickly around it, making it difficult to see much about the wound itself. "Welsh Greens aren't venomous so it should be fine for now. We need to hurry and get Sparky back to the valley before the spell wears off."

Felix reaches down with his uninjured arm to pick up his wand, then makes as though to take the wriggling bag from Juniper, but she moves it out of his reach, saying, "I've got it. You're hurt."

Felix opens his mouth to argue but Juniper cuts him off before he can begin. "You've already saved my life tonight. That's all the chivalry I can stomach just at present." she says firmly and turns away, marching toward the forest as quickly as her injured side allows.

It's a reluctant sun that rises behind the Hogwarts castle that morning, its weak rays making only a halfhearted attempt to chip away at the frigid air. Frost coats the foliage of the forest, the leaves glittering in the early light, as two bedraggled figures trudge wearily out of the trees. One limps ever so slightly, holding its side, while the other clutches its forearm tightly with the opposite hand. Both hunch miserably under torn black cloaks and make their way slowly across the grounds toward the pavilion on the outskirts of the Quidditch pitch.

Juniper unlocks the door to the changing rooms with her wand. It's the only place they can think of where they might clean themselves up without risk of meeting anyone. The morning has crept up on them unawares, and it's now nearly time for breakfast; far too late to make it to the common room without someone seeing. Felix drops onto the nearest wooden bench, eyes squeezed shut against the throbbing in his arm, and Juniper collapses beside him. It is several silent, exhausted minutes before either are able to rouse themselves enough to inspect their battle wounds.

Juniper's cloak is ripped from neckline to hem. There's a long thin scratch along her cheek leaking droplets of blood. Both knees of her trousers are sporting large holes, the skin underneath scuffed and raw, and the massive bruise now blossoming across her abdomen is the kind that will hurt much worse the next day. Felix mumbles the spell to sew up her clothes, but it's not flawless and a long uneven line of stitching now decorates her cloak. Juniper succeeds in healing her own minor injuries using episkey, but the bruise on her side remains firmly blue and black and not even Felix can make a dent in the mottled color. He supposes being inflicted by a dragon's tail, this is a wound that can't simply be magicked away.