The next day, the Hogwarts Express left the station and disappeared from Felix’s sight.
Dumbledore standing next to him, looking far away with wide eyes, eyes full of crystal glitter: “It’s really touching … empty head filled with knowledge on a wonderful holiday.”
“Yeah, and a bundle of homework.” Felix said, “Albus, why did you want me to go to Romania?”
“Because you’re not one of the four Heads, and we have to always avoid suspicion, this year the tournament is bigger than ever, there will be five schools.” Dumbledore said mildly, “That would have been my job, but again, I just too busy-”
“Five? Besides the extra Ilvermorny, is there still more?”
“Uagadou from Africa’s Mountains of the Moon – Fudge’s handiwork,” Dumbledore said: “He’s having a hard time these past two months, the Dementors went out of control causing his reputation to plummet, parents have sent letters denouncing his incompetence, and the newspapers reported a series of articles.”
“Didn’t you say Fudge’s skill is very–”
“Brilliant?” Dumbledore smiled, “Did you read about Sirius and Peter Pettigrew in the papers? Including Peter’s last words?”
“He did it on purpose?” Felix asked in surprise, he only saw the Ministry of Magic’s newsletter in a newspaper articles in the toilet a long time ago, and it basically didn’t cause a ripple.
“I think it’s watered down … Dementors out of control is something that all the students saw, but not many understand past that. In Fudge’s opinion, perhaps Sirius’s case is more sensitive,” Dumbledore said: “The hero was imprisoned for twelve years without trial, and the traitor enjoys a first-class Order of Merlin and lives in peace … Although it is not something that happened during his tenure, the public would not care that much. What’s more – there is Voldemort involved in this.”
Felix nodded, understood Fudge’s line of thought: since the dementors out of control can no longer be covered, it does not matter, anyway, there is Umbridge as a deterrent. However, when it comes to injustice, involving Voldemort, it must be hidden from the public.
“I guess he put all his hopes on the two events, the Quidditch World Cup and the Tournament of Champions.”
Dumbledore said approvingly, “Covering up the bleakness with brilliance is Fudge’s speciality. So he wants to pull more schools under the rug to expand his influence. In fact, he sent invitations to a total of ten wizarding schools, but very few responded back to him.”
…
Felix appeared in the middle of the mountains, the Carpathians, the “backbone of Romania”, where the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary is hidden.
Although there are many dragon reserves around the world, the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary is the unique one – it is partially free-range, with over a hundred professionals from all over the world working here, including dragon trainers, dragon breeders, and dragon researchers.
Almost every species of dragon known in the world can be found here.
Felix watched as seven or eight wizards gathered around a Romanian Longhorns dragon, half of its wing broken and bloody, as the dragon tamers tried to calm it down.
He walked down the slope and got a closer look at the dragon, it had dark green scales and long, shiny golden horns, and its eyes were alert and grumpy, stomping restlessly.
“Relax – we mean no harm, you need healing.” A wizard shouted as his companions warily circled the area, their wands constantly aimed at the fiery dragon, which looked like it is in heat, especially since it had failed in courting and got defeated, so its current emotions probably won’t be too good.
The longhorn dragon flapped half of its wings and emitted several sparks from its nostrils.
“Watch out, it’s going to breathe fire – Charlie, use Stupefy!” Another wizard shouted.
The one called Charlie shouted, “Find the right moment, wait for it to show its belly, and together we’ll – right now!”
“Stupefy!” They shouted in unison, and Stupefy landed like a rocket on the thick skin of the Longhorn’s abdomen. Its propped-up hind legs wobbled, and curls of smoke rose from its nostrils as it looked around in bewilderment, then fell down slowly… very slowly.
“Well done!”
A middle-aged wizard patted Charlie’s shoulder and said gratefully, “I can feel relieved to let you lead the team alone now.” His companions also gathered around. Due to living in the wilderness for years, the skin of these people looked very rough, with a brown-black tan and a weathered look.
‘So it’s him.’ Felix thought to himself, Charlie Weasley, two years younger than him, extremely talented in Quidditch, had been a captain of the Gryffindor team and had won a Quidditch Cup.
But Felix wasn’t interested in Quidditch when he was at school and didn’t recognize him for a moment; he couldn’t even remember the name of Slytherin’s captain back then.
Besides, Charlie Weasley is a lot different from what he remembered, although he still has a Mr. Nice Guy-like broad face and the Weasleys’ characteristic freckles, but his skin wasn’t so dark when he was in school, and there wasn’t a big, shiny scar on his arm that got burned by the fire.
Felix stood quietly at one side, but it startled the rest of the group, who had been so focused on the dragon that they hadn’t noticed the sudden appearance of a man beside them.
“Who are you? Don’t you know it’s dangerous here, and you’re still standing so close?” The middle-aged male wizard frowned and sized up the young man in front of him. Felix’s face looked quite misleading, which made him think that he was some reckless young man who had come to explore with an excess curiosity.
There was no shortage of this type of person each year, very often fresh out of school and travelling all over the place, and the Dragon Sanctuary is a tempting choice for them.
“Felix Hap, Professor of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts.” Felix said in a relaxed tone, “Reviewing dragons for the Tournament of Champions on behalf of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.”
The middle-aged male wizard looked at him suspiciously, were all professors so young nowadays?
“Captain!” Charlie Weasley stepped forward, “I know him, let me welcome him.”
“Is he really a professor?” After receiving an affirmative reply, that captain waved his hand: “Well, since you are friends, I’ll leave it to you. Other people! Chant the levitation spell with me and let’s carry the dragon away.”
Charlie looked at Felix seriously: “The captain means no harm, he’s a good man.”
Felix dumbfounded: “Charlie Weasley, I’m curious what image I have in your mind.”
Charlie did not speak, what image? Of course, it is the shadow of a generation, as a pure Gryffindor, he had a good time watching Felix clean up the Slytherin students when he was in school.
This also resulted in the fact that Felix had a very good reputation in the other three houses at the time, but he was also recognized for his overly aggressive nature, and everyone held a respectful attitude.
“Our living spot is over there, I’ll take you there.” Charlie pointed at the foot of the mountain and said, “On the edge of a stream, staying in tents.”
Along the way, Charlie told him about the environment: “The Carpathians is huge, occupying forty percent of the territory of this country, and in addition to forests, there are rocky shores, swamps, and caves …”
“Won’t the dragon cause a mountain fire?” Felix asked with interest.
“This is relatively rare, they do not rely on fire-breathing to hunt, such as that Romanian longhorn dragon just now, it likes to fight off the prey with its horns, then bring it back to the nest on the mountain before roasting the prey by breathing fire.” Charlie said, “Only when they encounter flexible and difficult opponents, or when they fight their own kind, they use fire-breathing to attack or deter, and the victor will often take the initiative to extinguish the flames.”
He said with emotion, “This is their home.” The two looked up as a silvery blue dragon swept through the air.
Charlie led Felix to a tent area, and it is obvious that he is well liked, quite a few people greeted him as they passed by, and he responded to them all.
“We need to register here, how long do you plan to stay?” He took out a book.
Felix thought about it: “Two or three days, I’m interested in this place.”
Charlie frowned: “I thought it would be half a day … I need to apply with the captain, please wait.” He left in a hurry, and it took him a good half day to return, with a puzzled look on his face: “They’re heading out again, let me show you around for a while.”
It became dark, and on the other side–
Harry, Ron, and Hermione got off the train and walked out of King’s Cross Station together. Harry is not in a good mood, even though he has a godfather, he still had to go back to Dursley, which is something Dumbledore asked him to do, and he couldn’t refuse.
And Sirius had not been around for some time, if not for a letter Harry received on the train, he would have wondered if Sirius had forgotten he had a godson.
Mrs. Weasley embraced him warmly and invited him to watch the Quidditch World Cup with them, which put Harry in a better mood, but when they parted, and he walked alone, pushing his belongings toward Uncle Vernon, his mood turned gloomy all over again.
For two whole months …
Uncle Vernon greeted him in his usual manner. “What’s that?” He growled, glaring at the envelope Harry held in his hand. “If that’s another form for me to sign, then you must …”
“It’s not a form,” Harry said soberly, “it’s a letter from my godfather.”
“Godfather?” Uncle Vernon spitefully spluttered, “You don’t have a godfather!”
“Yes, I do,” Harry said, his mood magically beginning to change for the better, “He is my mother and father’s best friend, a convicted murderer, but he escaped from a wizard’s prison. This is what he sent me, I can show you the name on the letter …”
Uncle Vernon’s face twitched up, and his small eyes filled with fear.
Harry gleefully continued to script about Sirius, he wanted to gain some perks for his long summer holiday: “… Sirius Black, it was on TV, he’s still on the run and not got caught, but he’s willing to keep in touch with me to make sure I’m getting through alright, pretty soon –”
Harry’s eyes widened, and his eyes passed over Uncle Vernon, who looked fat against a wall, and in a corner of the station, not far from them, a man in a hippie outfit leaned against a wall, the man wearing a top hat that covered most of his face and a smirk appeared at the corners of his mouth.
The man pushed back his hat which revealed Sirius’s bright smile, “Harry, it breaks my heart to hear you say that …”
“Sirius!” Harry shouted in surprise.
———-
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