"You..."
Turning his head with difficulty, Lupin's eyes were filled with shock. As someone who had just faced the dragon flame, he knew very well the power of that fire dragon. The man initially thought he would meet his end here today, completely unexpected...
"You did well."
William nodded, not saying much, and helped Lupin, who had been afflicted with a series of debuffs like Mandrake Screech, brain congestion, and total exhaustion, to a seat beside Astoria. The girl with red eyes seemed to want to say something as she looked at William's face, but could barely squeeze out a few unintelligible syllables from her mouth.
The next moment, the boy bent down, and under the girl's puzzled gaze, he unzipped her satchel, revealing a pink Hello Kitty hairpin, a Christmas hat, a mirror with a bare backside, and a wobbling Niffler...
"Squeak, squeak!!"
Seeing the boy, the Niffler seemed to have found its backbone. It struggled to stand up, its little short hands waving continuously, occasionally glaring at the fire dragon curled up vigilantly on the stage, accusing the dragon of its "crimes."
Yes, the reason William could intervene at just the right time was all thanks to this Niffler—
Because William knew very well how much trouble this Niffler could cause. Every potion class, he would find it near Professor's presence, especially during Potions Class, it always managed to get some good stuff from Snape.
Moreover, although its interests and hobbies were still shiny things, with Kabuda sticking around William, it naturally understood which items could be exchanged for "glittering Galleons," even though William generally exchanged Silver Sickles from it. The Niffler didn't care whether they were gold coins or silver coins; it just needed them to shine.
But walking by the riverbank often leads to wet shoes.
After being caught on the spot once by Professor Sprout, William realized that Kabuda's safety would eventually become an issue, so he gave it a "Protective Talisman" engraved with Magic Rune, meaning "Summon." As long as Kabuda activated the magic power on it, William would Apparate directly to its side.
Although Apparition couldn't be used within Hogwarts, Kabuda wouldn't encounter any danger inside Hogwarts...
Yes, as long as it's not caught by Snape.
"Don't worry, there will be another chance."
William shook his head. He looked at the fire dragon baring its teeth at him and slowly raised his right hand.
The next moment, the fire dragon seemed to sense something. It stared at William's raised palm, instinctively retracting its fangs, and the ferocity in its eyes gradually turned to curiosity.
Ha, do you understand what a Natural Druid is? What it means to have a full level of Magical Creatures affinity?
In this day and age, still using charms to train dragons?
Personal charm is the way to go, isn't it?
William stepped onto the stage, moving gently and calmly to the fire dragon. Of course, he didn't plan to use force; the things on the fire dragon might be valuable, but could they be worth more than an entire fire dragon? Besides, he'd never raised a dragon before. This Norwegian Ridgeback... although a bit dark in color, was quite cute.
Plus, being young, imprisoned in the circus since birth, it hadn't seen much of the world, relatively easy to handle... or rather, easy to tame.
Staring at the hand held in front of its eyes, the fire dragon almost went cross-eyed. It quickly shook its head, then hesitated for a moment before cautiously pressing its nose tip into William's palm, feeling the somewhat hard and rough texture. William couldn't help but pat it—
"Boom—"
The next moment, accompanied by a loud sound, the circus tent's canopy suddenly disappeared—
William: "?"
Almost everyone still conscious instinctively looked up. In the pitch-black night, the circus lost its canopy, a deep pit exposed to the air, cold wind wrapped in noisy chatter crashing in, spells of various colors crossing over the pit, colliding in the icy air, exploding bright sparks.
No one informed of a demolition today?
...
John Proudfoot felt helpless.
Tonight, it was supposed to be a very ordinary night. This task was supposed to be a very simple task. Some members of the Ministry of Magic's higher-ups changed, and among them, one was dissatisfied with the original way of splitting the cake. He didn't want to "share a meal" with a werewolf across the table, so the Aurors received a report that someone was keeping fire dragons without a permit.
It was an easy task, get there, investigate, and then raid. The process was clear and unambiguous, just needed to beware of the "criminals" getting desperate.
Though John received a special mission to kill the werewolf named Toby Drake in the process, he didn't plan to do so, because they weren't like Muggle police far across the ocean, who would get months of administrative leave after firing a gun. If the reasons for his actions weren't adequate, he would undoubtedly have to attend a Wizengamot meeting.
Might even be locked in Azkaban.
Using his latter life to sell his soul to his "superior"?
How many Golden Galleons could he earn in a month?
So he only cared about receiving money, and if the task was unsuccessful, he would find some excuse like "opportunity was immature" to cover it up, at most getting some minor comeuppance. Isn't this much better than a French wet kiss with a Dementor?
But who could have thought that even in such an easy raid task, you'd encounter a group of Black Wizards?
Just as the Aurors had just set up an Anti-Apparition Array around the area, a pair of Black Wizards appeared around the tent. Upon realizing the Apparition was ineffective, they apparently believed these Aurors were there to encircle them, and thus, upon first contact, they directly started firing.
Actually, this wouldn't have been too significant, after all, anyone who becomes an Auror has quite a bit of strength— but the issue is not only that the Black Wizards are numerous and ruthless, the bigger issue is, due to the simplicity of this task, and with John having an extra "task," he didn't bring many "old hands."
In fact, the Auror team even included a heavyweight like Nymphadora Tonks, who hadn't performed the official task yet.
Seeing a Killing Curse whiz past his ear, John's face was as dark as it could be—
Not only were the Black Wizards controlled by the Anti-Apparition Array, but the Aurors now found themselves in a tough spot as well.
"We need to retreat—" Kingsley Shacklebolt flicked away a charm fired at him, quickly retreating to John's side, his tone heavy, "Those young ones can't hold on much longer. If this continues, we might face casualties—"
"I know, but is there a chance that we're the ones surrounded..."
The man hadn't finished speaking when a huge shadow flapping its wings suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield—
"Roar—" The roar of the fire dragon stunned everyone's spirits.
"This is..."
Kingsley instinctively opened his mouth. Even though he was an experienced veteran Auror, believing he had seen all sorts of scenes, he truly hadn't seen anything like this before.
"This..."
"Look at the top of the fire dragon's head, there's someone there!"
Tonks' shout drew the attention of the two men, and they followed the direction the woman indicated, only to see amid the yet-to-fully-developed horns of the fire dragon, a figure standing cloaked in a black robe.