Athair

Athair

Hermione Granger was known as the most intelligent witch to have ever gone through Hogwarts, and she had a reputation for speaking her mind. However, when faced with an eleven-meter tall dragon, both speech and her brain failed her. On paper, eleven meters did not seem like it would be large, but with one long glance, the witch knew that this creature could flatten her with one “soft” step. And while she was rarely afraid, knowing what it took to bring a dragon down, and knowing she was incapable of doing so scared her nearly senseless.

Her first instinct was to run like there was no tomorrow, which, from the looks of the dragon, could easily be the outcome. However, her mind regained function and she began backing away slowly, surprised when the beast followed her steps immediately. She became aware of the creature’s intelligence almost instantly, and the fact that it was mocking her!

While most animals might have plowed forward and attacked at her movement, it matched her step for step. She backed away from it, it moved toward her. Step back, step forward. She slid her left leg behind her, stopped, and watched as the dragon’s right legs moved forwards. It held its pose like her.

Sweet God in Heaven, I’m going to die!

Abandoning reason and logic, she turned and ran straight into the woods, only mildly thankful for the cover the trees gave her. Her mind did not register the pain from the delicate branch that slashed her cheek open as her head snapped around to a hideous shriek that seemed to rise into the air in the clearing behind her—the dragon was taking flight!

Her heart was beating so hard that she could feel it hammering in her chest. Her muscles strained as she ran over the rough terrain, trying desperately not to trip over the rocks and roots that protruded out from the ground. Her lungs burned excruciatingly, and she prayed that she could make it to the safety of the castle.

Though the branches of the trees, she could make out the illuminated stone of Hogwarts, and as she burst out of the forest, a small cloud of white flashed across her vision. “Draco!” She could barely make out his features, and as Lucius stepped into view, a burst of energy surged through her. “Lucius! Draco!” She would have run over Draco with her speed and force had his father not caught her around the waist to halt her furious pace.

“I was gathering a few ingredients in the forest and I remembered the clearing from fifth year—” She was talked in rapid succession, making no sense whatsoever. “—and I remembered seeing Moonspine growing there. And I thought Harry and Neville had to be exaggerating. And then I heard something. Well, I thought I heard something. Now I know I heard something!”

She was babbling.

“Well, I thought maybe I was losing it—too many books, you know,” she continued at a frightening speed. “But when I turned around, there it was! And it copied me! Backwards, forwards! I think it was mocking me! And it was HUGE! Look!” She thrust an arm upwards, her pointed finger directing their gaze skywards so they would see…

Nothing.

Hermione was sitting in front of the fireplace in Narcissa and Lucius’ living room with a blanket tucked around her and a cup of hot chamomile tea in her hand. She tried to ignore the stinging pain from the salve that had been put on the gash on her cheek as she recounted, as calmly as she could, what had happened. “Harry and Neville warned me not to go into the forest alone. I thought they were exaggerating, not to be exaggerating—I just thought they were being overprotective.”

She glanced at the lovers, who had been called down by Draco much to her embarrassment and displeasure. “I went for a walk to clear my head. I wandered into the forest and thought I might as well take care of some work while I was there, so I started looking for some ingredients for my stores. I remembered this clearing from my fifth year and that Moonspine grew there. I am running low, so I thought I would pick some.” She sighed, took a sip of tea, and sighed again. “Then I started hearing noises. The next thing I know, I am face to ankle with a huge dragon!”

She turned to face Harry. “If you knew there was a dragon on the grounds, why hasn’t anyone done something about it? Why haven’t you contacted the Ministry to get rid of it?”

Everyone glanced at each other, looking highly uncomfortable. Finally, the older Malfoy spoke up. “The Ministry was contacted about the dragon when it arrived, which was about four years ago.” He ignored the witch’s stunned look. “The Ministry had their best teams brought here and they could not do anything to capture the beast. He is a special subspecies of the Hebridean Black, a Shadow Dragon. They have special powers over light and darkness. They can warp and manipulate shadows and space; they can disappear. They can become actual shadows.” He smiled drolly. “You cannot catch something that is not there.”

“The Ministry became terribly frustrated at the lack of a capture,” Draco spoke up for the first time that night. “So they left Charlie Weasley here for a few months, to study the dragon’s behaviour. He was surprised to find that the dragon was not aggressive towards any of the students or faculty. In fact, do you remember a when few Death Eaters escaped about three and a half years ago?”

When Hermione nodded, he smiled. “They tried to get past the wards. Athair was not pleased by this and let everyone know about it.” He chuckled. “When the teachers went outside to find out what was going on, we found a few of them had been knocked unconscious. We were shocked to find Athair carrying two of them up hundreds of meters into the air, dropping them, and then waiting until the last minute to swoop down and catch them.”

The younger woman blinked. “You named him?” Her mind was racing; she did not know what to think. A tame dragon? Well, maybe not tame, but non-aggressive? A dragon that protected people? “You have to be joking!”

“No. That’s his—”

She huffed. “I’m not talking about his name now. The dragon attacked some rogue Death Eaters?”

Draco nodded. “Occasionally, he will make an appearance during the day by flying over, but it is rare. He usually makes his rounds over the castle at night.”

“Rounds?” Hermione asked credulously.

Lucius gave an elegant shrug. “Why not? He has not harmed anyone in the school and he made it quite clear to the Ministry that he did not want to leave; he seems to be here to stay. He apparently thinks that he is Hogwarts’ guardian.”