HP: The Duelist of Hogwarts - 415

Chapter 415: Prison Break, Dragon Edition

Night fell over Romania at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.

The staff locked down the compound, raised the protective wards, and headed home. Only the night-shift wizards remained.

As the hours passed and the night deepened, the Chinese Fireball and the Hungarian Horntail opened their eyes in their cavern. The Fireball rose at once and gave the Horntail a low growl, urging it to get up.

Hearing the urging, the Horntail rumbled in confusion, “Why do you have to go find that human?”

“Enough with the chatter,” he roared. “A hen‑dragon’s a hen‑dragon—long horns, short wits. I’m the lord of this lair. You’ll do as I say. Do what you’re told, or go roost in another nest and stop cluttering up mine.”

At that, the Horntail immediately sidled up, rubbed its head along the Fireball’s neck, and murmured, “Do not be angry. I was only talking. Would you really drive me away? If I flew to another nest, would you truly be willing to let me go?”

Faced with such placating affection, the Fireball softened. For all its domineering posturing, it cherished and protected its mate. It spread its wings to wrap the Horntail and rumbled, “Of course I would not. If any nest’s drake dared accept you, I would burn its lair and tear its wings. I was only speaking in anger. I could never let you go.”

The Horntail nuzzled the Fireball’s neck again, then sprang up and growled, “All right then. Let us move. Do not keep those other louts waiting, or their grumbling will get even snippier.”

“Give them ten dragon gallbladders and they still would not dare.”

The Fireball and the Horntail left their cavern. Rather than take to the air, they scrambled swiftly across the ground to the meeting point.

“You are all here,” the Fireball rumbled to the four dragons already waiting.

The Antipodean Opaleye, Romanian Longhorn, Common Welsh Green, and Swedish Short-Snout had all gathered. With the Fireball and the Horntail, the six dragons were the same ones Sean had battered and subdued in the Triwizard Tournament. Now assembled, they all looked to the leader among them, the Chinese Fireball.

After the first task, the dragons had been shipped back to the Romanian sanctuary. Since then, the Fireball had challenged each of the others, beaten them, and taken command of the group. Then it made a decision: it would seek out the human wizard who had defeated them and claim him as their chief.

The others had no objection and agreed to the Fireball’s plan. Today was the day they would break out of the research base.

“From what I have seen,” the Fireball rumbled, “the human wizards rotate every seven days. The one on duty tonight is the weakest, and he likes to drink that human water with a burning bite. Every time he drinks it, he falls into a heavy sleep, and his feeble strength grows feebler and his reactions dull. Tonight is our best chance.”

“We will follow you.”

“We will do exactly as you say.”

“Burn these human wizards to cinders.”

Smack.

The Fireball cuffed the Short-Snout across the head and snarled, “You will not burn any humans. If you kill them, the humans will only hunt us harder, and the chief will not be pleased.”

“Understood…”

“Good. Follow orders. Do as I say. Now move.”

With a low bellow, the Fireball and the Horntail lunged into action. The Fireball became a streamer of molten gold and red and vanished in a blink. The Horntail, meanwhile, deliberately crashed into a nearby outbuilding, making a ruckus.

The on-duty wizard startled awake and blinked blearily. Seeing the Horntail ramming a structure, he snatched up his wand and stepped outside. Every handler here knew a few charms to drive dragons off or calm them down.

Had he been sober, the Horntail’s behavior might have set him on guard. Drunk as he was, emboldened by the bottle, he noticed nothing strange and strode right out of the guard room toward the Horntail. A warded net lay between him and the dragon. In his mind, that net meant the Horntail could not reach him.

As he raised his wand to cast a calming charm, a blazing gold-red streak slammed into the warded net. Sparks of magic cascaded and flared. The Horntail struck too, claws and fangs tearing at the glowing mesh.

The wizard yelped and fell flat. He scrambled up, turned, and staggered for the guard room to raise the sealing walls, but the Opaleye and the others had already burst from their cover. The six dragons seized the net together and ripped a massive rent through the ward.

At the same instant, the Fireball’s tail swept the on-duty wizard off his feet and smashed him into unconsciousness just as he reached the guard room door. Hearing the alarm begin to shriek over the ruined ward, the Fireball rumbled once, and the other five dragons surged through the gap. They followed the Fireball through the flimsy outer wall and thundered down the handlers’ service corridor, bursting out of the research base.

Moments later, the entire sanctuary sealed itself. Staff arrived in waves. They stared at the torn warding mesh, grim lines etched on every face.

“Dragons have escaped. Where is the on-duty wizard?”

“He was knocked out cold. Still unconscious.”

“Wake him. How did a ward mesh get ripped open and the guard do nothing? What is going on with him? Who was on duty tonight?”

“Director, tonight’s guard was…”

When the subordinate tried to lean in and whisper, the director snapped, “Who is it? Speak up.”

“Director, it was your wife’s brother.”

“Ahem.” The director cleared his throat. His bluster faded. “Well… he is already unconscious. First we address the crisis. We will discuss everything else afterward. Everyone to your posts. Move.”