It was the first day of school, but Harry had excused himself, because he had something he needed to do before the Welcoming Feast. What was the point of being a king and not being able to take liberties like that, after all?
A tall, dark-clothed man, with dark skin and long white hair appeared on the outskirts of the Romanian Dragon Preserve, with a Black Phoenix on his shoulder and a strange horned woman with long straight black hair by his side. The three of them had a strange aura of power to them, and they moved with both grace and purpose, as they approached the place where the dragons rested.
A red-haired man, Charlie Weasley, saw their approach and quickly whistled to get someone else's attention, before he jogged over and held up a hand.
"You need to stop." Charlie said, even as he noted the man's appearance, the black bird, and the woman. She wasn't dressed, perse, but her slender form, large chest and shapely hips had scales that covered her in an approximation of modesty. Her slitted eyes were yellow and seemed to glow slightly.
"Mister Weasley." the man said, with a bit of a smile. "Good to finally meet you."
"Um." Charlie said, looking back at him, and dragging his eyes away from the strange, but also strangely beautiful woman. "Do I know you?" he asked.
"You do not, but you have benefitted from one of my claimed applications of magic." the man said. "My future apprentice did good work on that owl of yours."
"Future apprentice?" Charlie asked, before recognition finally shone in his eyes. "You're him? The one with the magic Harry used to teach my owl to talk?"
"The same." the man said. He indicated to the woman. "This is Reina. She was interested in visiting her kin and making them an offer."
"Kin?" Charlie asked, just as a man Harry recognized showed up. As he recalled, this was Charlie's boss.
"What's going on, here?" the man asked.
"Oh, um." Charlie said. "This is the man that claimed the magic Harry Potter used to teach my owl to talk."
The man's eyes cleared, and he even looked a bit pleased. "Oh, well then. Welcome, sir." he said, trying for respectful. "I do hope you aren't here to tell us that Mister Potter did something you disapprove of?" he asked. "That owl has been helping us care for the dragons and it's been a godsend. They've never been as happy and well-settled as they are, now."
"Nothing of the sort." the man said. "He got permission, after all. In fact, I'm here at the behest of my familiar, and Reina." he said, indicating the black phoenix and then the woman.
The woman looked at the man, when he said her name, cocking her head to the side.
"Reina?" Charlie asked.
"She's a dragon." the man said. "She's not capable of human speech, just yet, but she is slowly learning."
"A dragon?" the boss asked.
"It seems that my future apprentice's familiar was of the opinion that this dragon would like to come live on the Mage Isles. My home." the man said. "She is the dragon that recently left your preserve."
"Um." Charlie said, frowning. Either the man was insane, or something very strange was going on. "Can you explain that, please?" he asked.
The man looked at the woman. "Reina, if you'd be so kind as to prove to them who you are?" he asked.
The woman cocked her head to the side, before her tail came around her body, and presented itself to the men, like that should be enough.
The dark man seemed to accept that, too, and looked back at the men before him. "See?" he asked.
"Um." Charlie said, confused.
His boss however, stepped forward and looked at the tail, turning his head to the side, and then looking underneath the tail. He actually recognized it! "Merlin! It's her!" he exclaimed.
"Of course." the man said. "Reina was quite proud of her tail, and when she was offered this form, she had a few requirements, including that she kept her original tail, if slightly smaller."
"You did this?" the boss asked, as he looked the woman's body over, his eyes lingering on her ample curves.
Reina apparently felt that that was enough scrutiny, though, and her tail swung back, before she growled, crossing her arms. It was not the sound of a pretty woman. It was deep, and animal. The boss looked at her face, and saw narrowed eyes, and a plume of smoke, which escaped her nostrils.
"Do try not to objectify her too much." the man said, smiling calmly. "She knows she's attractive, since she chose her form, but she doesn't think of humans that way, and she does not appreciate your attention to her female attractions."
"Um…" Charlie said, even as he blushed a bit. He'd done the same thing. "Sorry about that." He hadn't realised that it was not directed at him, because his own eyes had been looking at her, again. "Maybe, something to cover up, then?" he asked.
"I've yet to convince her to wear clothes." the man said. "Fortunately, her scales cover her enough."
"Hold on." the boss said. "You're telling us a few things that are a little hard to believe."
The man sighed, inaudibly, but his features did show disappointment.
"The Lord Mage already withholds from human contact, due to your scepticism and prejudice." the black phoenix spoke up, in a rich female voice. "I would suggest that you stow your short-sightedness, before he decides to leave without having words with you."
"It speaks?" the boss asked.
"I do." the phoenix said, as her eyes narrowed. "I was the first one my lord gifted the ability to speak."
"I'm here as a favour to Reina, only." the dark man said, then, before turning to the woman. "Go ahead." he said to her, indicating into the preserve.
The woman suddenly sprouted wings, which seemed to have been furled on her back, completely unnoticed. They stretched out and did a single flap, before she was airborne, and flew towards the dragons.
"WAIT!" the boss called after her.
"You don't tell a dragon what to do." the dark man said, as he calmly watched the dragon, while the boss quickly ran after her.
"Um, sir?" Charlie asked, trying to take everything in. "What's she doing?"
"She wants to invite her kin to visit us on the Mage Isles." the dark man said.
"You want to take the dragons?!" Charlie exclaimed. "You can't do that!"
"I'm afraid you're speaking to the wrong person." the dark man said. "She's made up her mind. The only reason I accompanied her, was because I didn't want her to kill anyone."
"But… dragons are dangerous!" Charlie exclaimed.
"Really?" the man asked, cocking his head. "Did Reina attack me? Was she uncontrolled? Did she kill you or your employer, when you insulted her, by leering at her form?"
Charlie frowned, as he looked at where the woman had landed, next to another female. It was a rather young Chinese Fireball, but the fact that the dragon stepped away from the woman, like she was scared, said something to him. There was something instinctive there, he realised. Then, the woman walked confidently up to a large male. If he recalled that male had been the one to sire quite a few, including the Horntail's, eggs.
The large male looked down, and then curiously sniffed at the unafraid woman. Then, it cocked its head, as if in confusion.
The woman reached up, and touched her hand to the male's head, as something animal passed between them.
The male suddenly looked up, his eyes focussing directly on the dark man, before it flapped its wings, and lifted up, quickly flying directly at them.
Charlie had never seen this. "Um, I think we should go." he said, worriedly.
"Nonsense." the dark man said.
"It looks like it's going to kill you!" Charlie exclaimed, as he moved to the side.
The man stood calm and confident, though.
The large male didn't take long to skid to a stop, right before the dark man, where it proceeded to roar at him, right in his face.
"Don't make demands." the dark man said, calmly. "I'm not the one in charge, here. I only brought your mate for a visit."
That didn't seem to satisfy the male though, and it quickly swiped a claw at the man in actual anger, for not getting its way instantly.
Charlie was almost as shocked as the dragon, when the man's hand shot out and deflected the claw with what seemed negligent ease, making the dragon stumble for a moment.
"Don't try my patience." the dark man said, still calmly, even as the black phoenix flared her wings, and black fire started burning on her.
"Attack my lord again, and I shall burn you into ash!" she exclaimed.
"Peace, darling." the dark man said. "He does not yet know who I am. He's young, but he'll learn."
Unfortunately, dragons weren't quite that smart, and the dragon roared again, before taking a deep breath and breathing its molten fire over the man, who seemed to just stand there and take it.
When the dragon stopped, the man and phoenix were still standing there calmly. His hair didn't even seem scorched.
The dragon actually made a confused sound.
"Are you done?" the dark man asked. The dragon's eyes narrowed at him. "Then it's my turn, I think." he said. The phoenix took to the air, just before he lightly kicked off the ground, flew at the dragon's head at high speed and punched down on it.
The sound of his contact was loud, and sharp, as the dragon's head shot to the ground. The impact of that same head on the ground, was even louder, and the slapping bang reverberated around the entire area, as the dragon was downed in one punch, while Charlie stood unsteadily, as what felt like a localized earthquake had just happened.
The dark man lightly touched down, after that, with the phoenix settling on his shoulder again, and the horned woman calmly walked up to him, smiling a very sharp-toothed smile at him, before she grabbed the dragon's head and flipped him over, with seemingly no effort, and grabbed him by the throat, her one arm being enough to grab enough of it to apparently hurt the large dragon, who struggled in her grip before finally calming down and laying there.
The woman looked at the dragon and growled, again.
Something must have passed between the two in that exchange, because when the woman let go, the dragon slowly turned around and got to its feet again. Suddenly, there was no anger, and the big male seemed quite calm. Maybe even sheepish.
Reina looked at the man, and cocked her head again, a grin on her face.
"Ah, I see." the dark man said. "Very well. I suppose that's that. Please get your kin together, so that we can leave. Being around all these mortals again makes me feel dirty."
All around the place, stood many mystified, confused, impressed, and fearful dragon-handlers. They were staring at the man and the strange woman, who'd just kicked the most ferocious horntail in the entire preserve's ass. Said horntail turned, and released a bellow of a roaring call, and with a bit of weariness most of the dragons in the area started moving towards them, on the ground.
Reina, not apparently patient, clapped her hands in a deafening clapping sound that sounded like it should have hurt, and the dragons decided that speed was apparently a factor, as they started picking up their pace. Some were going off to their caves, while others came directly towards them.
Reina then looked at the dark man and cocked her head at him.
"Sure, sure." the man said, as he waved off to the side, and a large square shimmering rainbow-coloured door seemed to appear, from thin air. "Send them on through. I'll be with you in a bit."
"Hey!" the boss exclaimed, as he finally caught on to what was happening. "You can't just show up here and take our dragons!" he yelled as he ran back to them.
"I'm not doing anything." the man said. "I just let her do what she wanted." he added, indicating the woman.
"What's that then?!" the man demanded, as he stopped in front of the man, pointing at the rainbow door.
"A portal to the Dragon Isle." The dark man said. "It's the island Reina claimed, in the Mage Isles."
The first dragon to test the strange colourful door, was the large male, who'd first sniffed at it, his nose passing through it, before coming back out. It looked at the woman, who just looked back, with no inflection or movement, whatsoever. Then, the male turned and walked right through.
"Hey!" the boss exclaimed again. "Stop them!" he insisted.
"Why?" the dark man asked.
The boss, however, seeing more dragons planning to depart, and those that had gone to the caves coming back with the young, pulled his wand out and pointed it at the man. "Don't make me do this." he said, dangerously.
"Do what?" the dark man asked. "Commit suicide?" he added cocking his head, his eyes flashing to the side.
The boss saw the look, and quickly turned, only to see Reina standing there watching him closely, her yellow eyes ablaze, as her body posture changed. She was ready to move, the moment anything happened.
"Um, Lord Mage?" Charlie tried. That's what the phoenix had called him. He was not sure how to address the man otherwise, but he was also worried about what was happening. "You do realise that it's our jobs to protect and care for the dragons, right?" he asked.
"That won't change." the man said.
"Um, what?" the boss asked, having stowed his wand. He'd seen how fast the woman could move, and how strong she was. He had no doubt that she really was a dragon, now. He had no idea what the man was. With mentions of 'mortals', he suspected that this man was not a man at all.
"Reina isn't stealing her kind. She's just showing them her home." the man said. "You should know that neither she, nor the other dragons consider themselves your property, though. They consider you servants, and they like being served. They can choose to come back and if they don't, I'll make sure to give you a way to go to them so that you can continue serving them."
"Is… is that possible?" Charlie asked. "We can go to these 'Mage Isles'?"
"No." the man said, firmly. "You may only go to the Dragon Isle. If one of you tries to leave it through any other means than authorised ones, I'm afraid that you will die a most painful death. I would request that you don't leave your corpses floating around my lands, please."
Charlie's face lost some colour at the callousness in that statement.
"You'll leave one of these… portals, here?" the boss asked.
"No." the man said. "I'll be giving all the dragons that come to my isles, the ability to become what Reina has. I'll ensure that they will be able to come and go as they please. The laws of my lands are quite strict, I'm afraid."
"It's illegal to experiment on a protected species." the boss said, worried for what this meant for their preserve.
"You wizards and your silly little communities, laws and governments don't hold power over the Mage Isles, where the magical world has rights above the wizarding world." the man said. "I was happily sleeping, when Magic decided to wake me up, only to find that you people have hidden yourselves from the mundane world. It's fine, really, but the thing that bothers me is that you've forgotten that you used to be part of the magical world.
"Now, instead of living with the proud creatures of the magical world, you treat them as property, and lesser life-forms, when their majesty was meant to improve the world and keep it in balance." the man sighed and shook his head. "Of course, that goes against the nature of Magic, and She woke me up to fix your ineptitude. The days of magical humans abusing the freedoms magic has gifted you with has come to an end."
The man turned, to leave, then.
"Lord Mage!" Charlie exclaimed, then. "Please, can't you tell us what you're talking about? I've never heard of this balance. We don't know what you mean. How can we fix something, if we don't know?"
The man stopped, to look back at the redhead, seemingly considering him. "My future apprentice tells me that you have a noble heart, and a love for Dragons, Charlie Weasley. Is this true?" he asked.
"Um." Charlie said, not knowing how to answer.
"Don't you know your worth?" the man asked. "Don't you know your heart and purpose, child? I was told that you have a passion for caring for these creatures, and that you would treat them with respect. Was he wrong about you?"
"I mean…" Charlie said. "I think I do. I… I don't think anyone can really know, can they? I try to be those things. I do love dragons."
The man nodded. "Then he was right about you." he said. "You may come, and I will leave you with the dragons. You can be their pathway." He paused, as if waiting for the man.
"Now?" Charlie asked.
"Will you not call your familiar?" the man's Phoenix asked, as if that should have been his first thought. "You'll need it to speak to the dragons, will you not?"
"Of course!" Charlie said, seeming to understand. He closed his eyes and focussed on the task. He'd been able to call the owl from far away, something he'd not known about before getting a familiar. After the bird was taught to speak however, he'd realised that he could when he needed him, and he showed up when he knew the owl would normally be sleeping.
"Just ask." the man said, seemingly amused. "You don't need to pull on your familiar connection so harshly. The bird will think there's an emergency, or something."
As if to prove the point, the owl soon flew towards them as fast as it could, before landing on Charlie's proffered arm, and looked around. The owl's eyes finally landed on the portal. "Trouble?" the owl asked.
"Sorry about that." Charlie said. "We're going to the Mage Isles, where the dragons are going."
"Oh." the owl said, looking back at Charlie. "Okay." it added, seemingly accepting that.
"Come on." the dark man said. "I have other duties to attend to."
Charlie gave one last look at his boss, and the gathering dragon handlers.
"Keep them safe, Weasley." the boss said, because he had nothing else to say.
Charlie nodded and walked towards the portal. He stopped right before it, smirked, and jumped through.
The man turned to the dragon handlers. "Fear not. Reina informed me that besides that tournament, you treated her like proper servants, which I assure you, is meant as a compliment. If the feeling is universal, I have no doubt that the dragons will be returning soon." he said.
"Like her?" the boss asked. "Reina?"
"If they want to be." the man said. "Reina chose that form because she didn't want to be a drain on the resources of my lands. My future apprentice also wanted her to be more self-sufficient, rather than showing up and expecting him to feed her, all the time. She can choose to be a dragon, or in her dragonkin form, which needs less feeding as you can likely imagine. I'll be asking the others to do the same while they visit my lands too, and once they are accustomed to it, they may join Reina on her visits to my other isles."
Without another word, the man disappeared through the portal, which instantly vanished.
On the other side, Charlie was standing still, as he looked at what seemed to be a hollowed-out portion of mountain, with large cave-entrances. The dragons were already walking around, sniffing the scant plants that had started popping up, recently. The large male had already taken flight and was flying next to Reina as she showed him to her favourite spot on the peak of the mountain. She often lay there, feeling the wind and enjoying the sight of the ocean around the island. Harry may have added a bit of an enchantment, to allow her to bask in the sun, without getting too cold due to the high winds.
"This is a nice place." Charlie said, as the man came to a stop next to him.
"Made so for the express purpose of housing the dragons permanently, should they decide to stay." the man said. "Of course, I intend to give them all the ability to change form, but until that is done, here." he said, pulling a bag out of a pocket, and handing it to the man.
Charlie took the bag and looked inside. He frowned at seeing only marbles.
"Each one is a cow." the man said. "Just throw it on the ground and it will be enough for feeding time. I know that you'll know who's meant to be fed next." He pointed to the side, then. "In that cave, you'll find what amounts to a modern apartment block. Pick a room when you tire and ask your familiar to watch the dragons for you. I suspect Reina won't mind helping to keep the peace.
"I intend to let your co-workers come here, in time, if the dragons end up staying. The true purpose of this island is to offer sanctuary to dragons, the world over. Not just the ones from your Romanian preserve." the man said.
"The whole world?" Charlie said, frowning. "That's thousands of dragons." he pointed out.
"This island is larger than what you see, here, and there is much being done to accommodate such a large group." the man said. "Once they can change into Dragonkin, I'll request that they take that form while here, and they will not need too much to eat. They eat as much as their bodies can handle, in the new form. Only females in the process of developing eggs will need more feeding, as they cannot remain in the smaller form, during that time. The magic of the change takes most things into consideration, though, so they could eat more often, or as much as before, but they won't get hungry as often as a human if they eat more than their Dragonkin bodies should be able to hold."
"Dragonkin." Charlie said, nodding. "That makes sense." he said. Then he frowned. "Do… you have a name?" he asked.
"For now, you may call me Lord Mage, as I am called by many on the Mage Isles." the man said. "Some of my residents call me King. Some call me Lord." he sighed then. "It is important that you know that I want to save the magical creatures from the mistreatment that they currently suffer at the hands of humans. If you want details about the balance… I'm afraid you will be disappointed. It's just my word for the way things should be. When the Veela came here-"
"They're here?!" Charlie interrupted. "Nobody knows where they went! We thought someone had kidnapped them all!" The man looked at him, with narrowed eyes. "Oh… Sorry, Lord Mage."
The man sighed. "When they came here, they brought forest nymphs, who have started performing their part, to bring greenery and life to my lands." he continued. "Not many know that they possess that ability, apparently. Can you imagine what it would mean to the humans of this world, if they did that for crops, and to restore dying farmland? Why do you think people don't know they can do this, like we did in my time?"
"Because they would be captured and forced to do it." Charlie said, frowning. He was starting to get the picture. "So, the balance you mentioned, is actually more about allowing the creatures, who hide their abilities to protect themselves from greed, from being abused?" he asked, before he nodded. "I think I understand. I'll keep that information to myself. Promise."
"The boy was right about you." the man said. "You do have a kind, noble heart."
"Well, it's not right, is it?" Charlie asked. "People are selfish, and greedy."
"Not all." the man said. "The problem is, greed is part of man's nature. It cannot just be pointed out and fixed. You need to want to. In the current era of plenty, people seem to have forgotten what it means to work for things. People ignore the suffering of others and isolate themselves. Your 'wizarding world' frustrates me. In my time, mages were few, but noble. They saw the magics we were gifted, and thanked Magic for allowing them their power, using it to help people because they realised what a gift it was.
"I am not ashamed to admit that I was one of their most sought after." he continued. "I used my gifts to help with anything from childbirth to stopping natural disasters. Nothing was too small for me, and it brought me joy to see their gratitude. But then, the rulers of the lands started corrupting my brethren with wealth and indulgence, in trade for their protections and power.
"I tried, for a long time, to convince them that they were being tainted, but in the end… it was too late." he lamented. "As a final act, I worked a casting that would limit the power of those born unto magic, so that they could never become that powerful again. So that they could no longer be so powerful that entire nations would benefit so much from one man, or woman. And then, I went to sleep.
"I had hoped that I would awaken in a time of peace, where many would be forced to work together, and in doing so, learn the value of others, and come back to the true path of a mage." He sighed. "Instead, I awaken to find small selfish communities of ignorant fools, who have devolved further into their depravity and corruption.
"And what's worse? Now the beings of power, who once shared their powers with the world freely, are being treated as lesser. As inferiors with no rights to the lands that they themselves helped make liveable and supported. They force them to do labour, hunt them for potions ingredients and raise them in dark places, with their only purpose in life being to die, and be used." He looked disgusted, then. "So, I intend to make the Mage Isles a place that will be again what the world was always meant to be."
"Free." Charlie said, frowning, again. Was this real? Was the world really better, once? Where magicals helped muggles to fix what only they could? It sounded wonderful, but also like a fantasy. Why hadn't he heard about this? "How long ago was this, if I may ask?" he asked.
The man seemed to ponder his answer. "I do not know, honestly. I did have friends among the elves, in what you now call the Amazon Rainforest, before they departed on their journey to a new world. Do you know when that was?" he asked.
"Elves?" Charlie asked. "Like, house-elves?" he asked.
"Do not mention those unfortunate brownies to me." the man said, sternly. "Your people don't even remember what they used to be. They don't even know. They were once the kindest of creatures, who served no one, but would often show up to care for children, or to clean places that were festering with filth, just so that people didn't suffer, or become sickly. They were the only reason that so many didn't die, to things like rampant disease.
"And look what happened?!" he exclaimed then. "You've bound them to your service and took them from the world! Plagues and death soon followed, but what did you do? Did you release them, to help those poor people? No! You step on them and force them to act like lesser beings, to serve you dinner and care for your children, while you forget the value of a family because you don't even need to spend more than a few minutes with your own sons and daughters!"
The man seemed to be incensed, as he turned and stomped away, breathing heavily.
Charlie was starting to feel like he'd missed some obvious things. Some of this made sense, to him. Magical history turned into fantasy and legend, just a few hundred years ago. Sure, there was mention of elves, but it was only in legends, now, from before the time of even Merlin.
Charlie was deep in thought, considering the things he had heard. He wouldn't mind living in a world, where magic wasn't a secret, but the warning in the story was still valid. There was still much corruption in the world, and while magicals weren't all evil, there seemed to be something missing in their society, due to their departure from the muggles. There was so much suffering that could be stopped, if only those few who would, could go out and do something.
Dragons were a passion of Charlie's because they were straight-forward, and fun. They were ferocious beasts, sure, but the only reason there needed to be preserves, was because of the fact that if there weren't, they'd be hunted to extinction, so that they couldn't reveal magic to the muggles. If not for that, they could very easily look after themselves. That's how it had always been, before the statute was put in effect.
Dragons had their territories, and lived in groupings much smaller than size of the preserves that were in use, now. Still, they didn't overhunt, and they were basically living in harmony with nature. Well, most of them. They did sometimes move to new areas and hunted humans that were in their new ranges too, but in those cases magicals had been contacted to put a stop to that.
Frankly, they were like many other natural territorial creatures, really. If it wasn't for the fact that they were magical it wouldn't be a real issue. Muggles would have hunted them as the need arose, or for sport he supposed.
As he considered that, he decided to go check out the apartments, giving his host a moment to calm himself.
When he was gone, the man closed his eyes.
'So, that was a bunch of bull.' Harry's voice said in his head. He'd been watching, and in constant communication with Gryff, who'd wanted to be the 'Lord Mage', so that people wouldn't make the connection between Harry and the 'Lord Mage'.
'Only kind of.' Gryff said. 'There was a lot of magical theory and quite a few second-hand accountings thrown in, with a bit of fantasy to spice things up.'
'House-elves?' Harry asked.
'Pure scholarly speculation, based off the fact that house-elves did enter our history, just before quite a few things like plagues actually happened.' Gryff said.
'Elves?' Harry asked.
'Fantasy.' Gryff admitted. 'Kind of borrowed a bit of that from Tolkien.'
'Nice.' Harry said. 'He probably thinks you're something like Merlin.'
'If only he knew you were the one that did most of that.' Gryff chuckled.
'Fawkes did a good job.' Harry commented.
'Yes, he did.' Gryff said, as he reached up and stroked the phoenix's charmed plumage. "Thanks for helping again, Fawkes." he said.
"Not a problem. I agree that Harry needed the misdirection. An ancient immortal who can punch a dragon into submission is going to spread far, quickly." Fawkes said, still in his female voice. "You will change my voice back, right?" he asked.
'Of course.' Harry said, in both their heads. 'Heads up, he's coming back.'
Charlie had seen the apartments which, to be honest, were bloody nice. He'd not mind staying here permanently, if just for that. So far, the dragons seemed rather comfortable here too, with all the space and what he assumed to be comfortable nests.
"I think I'm going to like it, here." Charlie said. He was glad he saw the man seemed to be in a better mood, again.
"I always take care to supply only the best for my people." the dark man said. "Apologies for my outburst, earlier. I… just have a lot to do still. The world is not changing, but I can change a small part of the world, at least for those that deserve it."
Charlie nodded at the man. "Thank you, Lord Mage." he said, sincerely. "While I doubt I've understood everything you've said, I can see that you have good reason to be upset."
"One day at a time, Mister Weasley." the man said. "I believe that I am needed elsewhere now, however. Will you be able to suffice here, with what I have provided?"
"I think so." Charlie said, nodding. "I would appreciate a way to go back to the preserve, to give them an update, though?" he asked.
The man nodded, as he walked forward, and lifted a hand to Charlie's temple. To his credit, Charlie didn't blink. Then, he felt some sort of magic enter his mind, which he accepted without needing to be prompted.
"I have given you partial access to my magical claim." the man said, then. "When you wish to return, just think about a door, and project it over where we arrived, like this." he said, making a pushing hand motion in the same direction, and a portal appeared again, but smaller this time. "Yours will only take you between the two locations that you are allowed to go, and be the correct size, depending on your need."
Charlie nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Lord Mage."
"You are welcome." the man said. "I think I'll bring the boy through, so that you can tell him what the plan is. He needs to earn his education, anyway." With that, he made a beckoning motion to the door, and a whole table and chair, with Harry sitting on it, apparently reading, was suddenly there, sliding out of the portal.
"Oh, come on!" Harry objected, looking upset. "You know I hate it when you just summon me like that!"
"You were the one that wanted my instruction, so you must do your part as well." the dark man said, with a dark smirk.
"I'm still working on figuring out how to do that door thing to other locations!" Harry complained.
"Well, you were the one that wanted to be able to do it like I do it." the man said, still smiling.
"You suck." Harry grumbled, as he closed the book, and got up, before pulling his wand and banishing the table and chair back, not using a word, nor the proper incantation. "Hey, Mister Weasley." he said, not seeming surprised that Charlie was there.
"It's Charlie." Charlie said. "Hi, Harry." he added, smiling at the boy.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have more to do." the dark man said, as he left through the same door.
"Hey wait! What am I supposed…" Harry started, but the door had already vanished. "Bloody tyrant." he muttered.
"Does that to you often, does he?" Charlie asked.
"Only whenever he bloody well pleases." Harry said, shaking his head and sighing. "So, do you know why I'm here?" he asked.
Charlie pointed a thumb at the dragons. "Dragonkin?" he asked.
"Oh, that bastard!" Harry said, looking to where the door had been.
"What?" Charlie asked.
"Changing one dragon takes a lot of work!" Harry complained. "I have to consider physiological changes, and figure out what the dragon wants, too."
"I'm assuming you helped with Reina?" Charley asked.
"She was my doing." Harry said. "Wait, the old guy claimed credit, didn't he?" he asked.
"He did insinuate that he was the one that did it, yes." Charlie said.
"Just because I used his grant, doesn't mean it's his bloody success." Harry grumbled.
Charlie nodded in understanding at that. "Well, if you couldn't do it without his magic, then chances are he could claim the process was his, at least to a degree." he admitted. "Are you saying he can't make dragonkin?" Charlie asked.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course, he can. He's like… the father of magic, or something. He could just click his fingers, and things just happen." he scoffed. "For me, it's a whole process."
"Father of magic?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows rising.
"It's just a figure of speech." Harry said. "I think he started as some sort of powerful wizard, or something, back in the 'ancient times', but even I don't know how old he really is. He's all mysterious and stuff."
"I've noted." Charlie admitted, just as Reina landed, with the big male, to inspect the newcomer.
Reina, for her part, walked up to Harry, put a hand on his shoulder, and tapped her chin on his head.
"Hi Reina." Harry said. "I see you've got company, now."
The woman took a step back and smiled a sharp-toothed smile, before looking at the other dragon, and then back at him.
"Him first then?" Harry asked. She just looked at him, expectantly. "Nod or something for yes, okay? Like this." Harry said, nodding his head.
Reina lifted her head, before nodding slowly, twice.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Harry said. "You know, I still can't properly make out your thoughts, right?"
"We've got my owl, here." Charlie offered.
"Nah, it's okay." Harry said. "Hedwig is on one of the islands, already. She likes the place and has a nest somewhere. When I really need it, I can just ask her to help me, from where she is."
"That's a possibility?" Charlie asked.
"For us." Harry said, nodding before he stretched and walked up to the large dragon. "Hi. I'm Harry. I'll be the one that helps you take a dragonkin form."
The dragon cocked its head, seemingly in confusion.
Reina walked up to Harry again and placed a hand on his shoulder, while looking at the large dragon.
Almost comically, the big dragon sat down and looked directly at Harry, while Harry sat down on a conjured chair.
"Okay, first off we need to consider form." Harry said, as he pulled up a large visible interface and started imagining dragonkin forms, projecting it on the interface so that the dragon could see. The dragon seemed confused, so Harry pulled up an image of Reina before the change, and after. Then he made an image of the male and put it beneath Reina's dragon form and used the corresponding location to start creating male dragonkin forms, in slow images, with variations, from more draconic features to more human, all with some resemblances to his current form.
This time the dragon seemed to understand and focussed more on the image, as he looked for something that would work for him. Fortunately, Harry had taken the time to set a few up, beforehand.
"What is that?" Charlie asked.
"Can't tell you." Harry said, as he continued.
"It's Lord Mage's magic?" Charlie asked, slightly disappointed. That looked like a very useful application of magic. Harry didn't reply though, as he watched the dragon's responses to the full-body images of dragon-kin.
The male did not respond for a while, until Harry was on a very muscular form, which looked more dragon than human, with a big head and a strong jaw. It lifted its head at that, and nodded twice, as Reina had. Apparently, she'd already instructed him, or he'd understood part of it, while Harry instructed Reina.
"Okay, then." Harry said. "I need to scan your body. Please hold still." he said, as he wiped the image away, and stood up again. Harry started walking around the dragon, who's head followed Harry as he walked, but stayed in place. It seemed to shiver when Harry's magic got to certain parts. "Ticklish, are you?" Harry asked, smiling. "Don't worry. This part isn't the long part."
The dragon didn't seem to understand, but still followed Harry as he walked.
"What are you doing, now?" Charlie asked.
"Sorry, Charlie, but… do you have something else to do?" Harry asked. "If I need to keep on telling you that I can't tell you, this conversation will just frustrate the both of us."
Charlie sighed. "Sorry." he said. "Can't blame me for being interested. I really do love dragons, you know. I'd like to know what you're doing, and probably always will. I can't help it."
"Well, then make sure to impress the old guy." Harry said. "He likes rewarding people for ingenuity and hard work."
"Rewarding?" Charlie asked.
"Well, if you like dragons so much, maybe he'll give you a dragon form as a reward, or something?" Harry said. "But, you know, that would likely require that you impress him." he added.
"Dragon form?" Charlie whispered, as his eyes widened in shock. "He can do that?!" he exclaimed, then.
Harry shrugged. "I could do that much, but you know… need permission, and all that." he said. "He's all thoughtful and stuff. He'll likely ask if you really needed it, and then tell you that you'd only be able to be a dragon, here, and put a forbiddance on changing anywhere else, to protect you and your family, or the world, from some unknown threat."
Charlie's heart rate suddenly spiked. "How do I impress him?" he asked, urgently.
"Can't tell you." Harry said. "See, he doesn't want you to just copy other people's ideas. He likes new things. Interesting and useful, as it were. If it were me, I'd focus on something for the dragons. Maybe better beds, or some form of privacy, maybe entertainment, or sourcing food supplies or something. I don't know. Dragons and their habits aren't my field. I'm assuming that that's why you're here?" he asked.
Charlie frowned at that. He'd have to think hard, but deciding to start there, he decided to go into one of the empty caves, to see what was supplied, already.
Half an hour later, a dejected Charlie came back out. He hadn't seen anything he could improve on. There was already magic to keep things clean, and warm. There was even flame-proof comfortable places to sleep, with windows and obvious places for the dragons to actually dispose of their waste, which likely transported said waste to places that could use it.
Harry was already nearly finished with the dragonkin form for the male, too. He'd copied heavily from Reina's internal structure, with some obvious differences. "Did you see anything you could improve on?" Harry asked, without looking towards Charlie.
"No." Charlie said. "This place is like a dragon's dream. They've got open skies to fly, high places to explore, space for privacy, and shelter from the weather. I don't think they'll be leaving, to be honest."
Harry shrugged, not responding.
"Harry, the Lord Mage told me that the dragons would be free to leave and insinuated that they would. Did he lie to us?" Charlie asked.
"I don't think so." Harry said. "He may hope that they stay, but he doesn't lie. I'd suggest you just make the preserves more enticing, or maybe convince the people to come here, if they don't."
"I don't think I'm allowed to make that offer." Charlie said.
"Then make the request." Harry said. "When I want something, I ask. He's not all-knowing, you know. If you don't ask, he can't give you what you want. He might not give you what you want, anyway, but if you don't ask, your chances of getting what you want is almost zero, isn't it?"
Charlie sighed. Maybe it would be best to make that trip to the Romanian preserve, so long. "Will you be alright, here?" he asked. "I'm thinking I need to go speak to the boss."
"I'll be fine." Harry said. "Reina's here, and she thinks I'm a baby, or something. She's got my back."
"Baby?" Charlie asked. Harry tapped his head and pointed to the woman… dragonkin. "Oh, right! I did wonder about that. It's what dragons do with small dragons, to show affection. That is a very maternal thing, though it does look strange for a humanoid to do."
Harry just shrugged and went back to his modifications.
"Okay, I'm off, then." Charlie said. "I'll be back in a bit. You'll still be here?" he asked.
"The welcoming feast is soon so I'll be going back to school, after I'm done with this one." Harry said. Then he indicated the dragon. "Do me a favour and figure out a dragonkin name for him. The old guy wants the dragonkin to have proper names, so that when they eventually mingle with people, it's easier to humanize them."
Charlie hadn't considered that, wondering to where Harry could make portals, by now, but nodded. "I think I'd like that."
"Don't go giving away too much information, okay?" Harry asked, in warning. "Something tells me the old man wouldn't react well to that."
Charlie frowned, and nodded a final time, before turning and leaving to the place where he was told the portal would form. He looked at the spot and did as the dark man had told him, concentrating on going back, and made the hand motion. Sure enough, he was able to produce a portal door, too, but his colouration was slightly different. Not knowing what the significance was, he shrugged, and walked on through.
III-III
The welcoming feast was becoming a bit boring, to be honest, but it went off normally, and Harry had actually liked having his friends back in the school, but the feast was just food, a bit of a speech, and after the tournament of the last year, Harry was feeling like he'd like a bit of normalcy, considering his days seemed like they would become busier, already. Hogwarts was where things would be the slowest, to be honest.
When the students left to the dorms, Harry ensured to be there with his friends, so that the stairs would align for them, but as had become a new game between Harry and Neville, they ran up the stairs, to see who was faster. Harry always won, but Neville had decided to start using his magic to help his body along as well, not that his system was as comprehensive as Harry's, but he'd somehow still been able to keep up with Harry.
Shocking them both, Hermione was waiting by the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, before they even got up there.
"How?" Neville asked, as he breathed only a little bit heavier.
"She teleported." Harry predicted.
"No." Hermione said, smirking. "I flew."
"What?" Neville asked, shocked. "How? Why didn't we see you?"
"Well, I have been working on my interface for a while, you know." Hermione said. "I programmed a pull effect, which attached to the roof above the stairs, and then used standard disillusionment, and a notice-me-not. It just took a bit of finer control for landings and horizontal movements."
"Nice." Harry said, smiling at her. "Did you make a program for that?" he asked.
"A multi-facetted system application." Hermione said, smiling. "I needed it to be simpler, in use, so I spent a bit of time programming functions that would do some things automatically. It's still technically not flying, because I go up too far outside, and it's more like being pulled by a rope, but it does feel like flying."
"I had that same issue." Harry said, nodding, as he indicated for the portrait to open, which it did, before moving in.
"Wait." Hermione said, as she and Neville followed. "How did you open that? You didn't say the password."
"I just temporarily over-wrote it." Harry said. "I don't know the password yet. Only prefects, like you and Neville have the password, when school starts."
"When did you learn that trick?" Hermione asked.
"Back when I was finishing the map, in second year." Harry said, shrugging. "Needed it to enter the other houses, after all."
Hermione just sighed, because she was tired of being surprised, and then telling him that he shouldn't be doing things, just because he could. It often came up between the two of them.
"Can you share that trick?" Neville asked, hopefully, as Hermione stepped out again, to be there for the first years.
"Do you have a need?" Harry countered, as he went to sit on a comfy couch.
"Well… I'm just thinking that it might be useful, you know?" Neville said, joining him. "Alohamora doesn't always work, after all. Being able to bypass passwords, would be very useful."
"Still planning on being an Auror?" Harry asked.
"Not really." Neville admitted. "I'm thinking I'd like to join Moody. After his training I feel like I'd be a waste at the ministry."
"Agreed." Harry said, as the door opened again, and students started coming in. "I think I'd like to have you on board when you graduate, and I think Moody would love to have you there, too. Bet you outrank whoever else he deputises if you keep up with training."
"I have been continuing the practice, as you know." Neville said. They'd discussed it, over the holiday. "My version of enhancement still needs some work, but I've worked a couple of kinks out, that I had, over the holiday."
"Oh?" Harry asked, interestedly.
"Yes." Neville said. "My… thing, doesn't learn like yours." he said, needing to hide what they were talking about, because the students were now starting to take seats all around. "I've needed to do things by repetition and sometimes fix things after overdoing them."
Harry sighed, as he took out his wand and pointed it at the boy. Neville knew what Harry was doing, so he allowed him to cast magical medical diagnostics. "Well, it seems like you've only grown stronger, at least. Did you shatter your right knee, at some point?" he asked.
"Judged the height of a wall wrong and rammed into it." Neville admitted. "I was able to fix it though, and I think I did an okay job."
"It's fine." Harry confirmed. "The kneecap just shows a small dent after the bits rejoined. Aunty Poppy will likely insist that she look at it, still."
Neville shrugged, this time, as he sat back, and opened his interface, going through his exercise schedule and starting to update it, considering he would need to make space for actual school and his prefect duties, now.
Hermione needed to remind Neville that he needed to take the first-years up to their dorm, before he got too much time with that, and he sighed, before going to do his duty. He'd not volunteered to be a prefect, but he'd still been made one, and while he liked the idea, he'd also heard the prefects complaining about having to patrol after hours, and not having enough time for study, or sleep.
Harry smirked, as he opened his own interface. As luck would have it, he didn't get to enjoy his idle time, either.
"So, why aren't you a prefect?" Ron asked, as he took Neville's spot.
"Jealous?" Harry asked, as he acted like he was just looking at the fire, again.
"I'm not!" Ron objected, maybe a little too quickly. Harry lifted an eyebrow, and gave him a look, before going back to his interface. "Well, I mean, it would have been nice." Ron admitted. He'd known Harry for far too long, to even try to lie to him. "Still, why aren't you?" he asked, stubbornly.
"Asked not to be." Harry said. "I'm not interested in taking on more responsibility. I've got my research, my training with healing, and this year I have a big project in the works too."
"Hmm?" Ron asked, frowning. Unbeknownst to him, but not Harry, some people were listening in.
"I've started learning magic from someone who's very knowledgeable." Harry admitted.
"Who?" Ron asked.
"Can't tell you, sorry." Harry said. "There's a vow involved. All I can say, is that I'll be commuting to them for lessons on occasion, and they've got this nasty habit of summoning me like I'm their personal flying monkey."
"What?" Ron asked, frowning.
"You'll see." Harry said, mysteriously. This was all part of the plan to misdirect more people, starting this year. Neville and Hermione already knew the plan and knew to act like they couldn't talk about it, either. The idea was to insinuate that Harry was being prepared to become an apprentice to the Lord Mage of the Mage Isles, and that he was a very powerful, ancient and demanding man, who could do many unpredictable things. Well, when that news broke, anyway.
"Flying monkey?" one student decided to ask, making the fact that they were being listened to very obvious. "Like, the wizard of Oz?" he asked.
Harry smirked. "Muggle-born?" he asked the boy.
"Half-blood." the boy said.
"Ah." Harry said. "Yes, that's the reference." Deciding to go before more questions could be asked and having planted enough of a seed of mystery in the student's heads, he got up and left.
III-III
It was just the next day during breakfast when Harry received a message from Moody, to make time for him at his earliest convenience. That was actually the whole message: "Make time for me, Potter. Soon."
Deciding to take that opportunity, to mess with the students, Harry quickly had a conversation with Dumbledore and Poppy, so that they'd not be surprised, and to have a response ready. Then he started putting a little program together.
He waited only a few minutes until he could say something or respond to something.
It turns out it happened just as McGonagall was handing out class schedules. She knew to skip him because he was basically just in school to be with his friends, but she intended to ask him about his plans for the year, anyway.
"Mister Potter." she greeted.
"Hello Professor McGonagall." Harry said, smiling at her. "How was your holiday?"
"Restful." McGonagall replied. "And? What are your plans this year?" she asked. It was no secret that Harry wasn't attending classes, after all.
"I've got a few projects lined up." he replied. "Did Professor Dumbledore tell you about my private schedule?" he asked, then.
"Madam Pomphrey mentioned it to me." McGonagall said, nodding. "Care to share times and dates with me?"
"Well, I suppose I could ask." Harry said, shrugging. "Unfortunately my teacher is a busy person, so I don't know when-"
He'd stopped speaking because a portal door had appeared behind him and he'd shot through it, like someone had simply plucked him from his chair and pulled him through before the door vanished.
For a moment, there was shocked silence, before a girl screamed in fear.
"Not to worry, students." Dumbledore spoke up, instantly. "Calm down and I'll explain." he added, as he waited for silence while his eyes sparkled in contained mirth. "Now, over this past holiday Harry Potter was approached by an old acquaintance of mine about a possible learning opportunity. They are, unfortunately, a little on the eccentric side and I've got a suspicion that you'll be seeing this situation happen a few times over the next school year. Do not fear, Mister Potter is well aware of the fact that he will be pulled from school on occasion, as it seems was the case just now."
"Where did he go?" a student demanded.
"I'm afraid I don't know." Dumbledore said, only partially lying. He did know where Harry went, but he also didn't know where that was. "My acquaintance is a very secretive person. I couldn't even tell you their name, to be honest."
"What was that door?" the same student asked.
"Claimed magic." Dumbledore said. "As such I have no way of trying to explain how it worked, here in Hogwarts. I will say this, however. Harry Potter is very safe where he is, and I've gotten assurances that he will never be kept for too long. It was part of the agreement, between myself and the… teacher, in question."
There were more questions after that, but Dumbledore ignored it as he sat down and turned to Professor Flitwick, who also had a few questions. He suspected that he'd be answering quite a few more of those, over the rest of breakfast, and likely after. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe from things like apparition and portkeys after all.