Dragon Hunt

But no comfort awaited Harry. He tossed and turned, staring at the long shadows on the ceiling of his bedroom. He couldn’t hear that sound. There was nothing but silence. No comforting, seductive rumble, no panicked screech. Silence.

He tried to bring himself some peace by thinking about his last dream of Cedric, of their time in the library. But then he was forced to remember the overheard spat between Cedric and Draco. It was actually the catalyst for the only argument he and Cedric had ever really had. Harry had asked him about it, about why he had referred to him as The-Boy-Who-Lived.

. . . “I’m sorry,” Cedric said. “I’m sorry your overheard that. It’s just Malfoy.”

“What about him?” Harry asked.

Cedric stood frozen for a long moment. He stared at Harry as if calculating what to say. Finally he spoke, “He refuses to take no for an answer. He asked me out at the beginning of the year and I said no. He asked again; I said no. He asked again; I said no. Finally, I lied and told him that I refused to divert my attention from the tournament by having some fling.”

“And I’m the fling?” Harry asked coldly.

“No!” Cedric shouted. “I didn’t plan this, but when you—“ Cedric looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Please, Harry. I want to be with you.”

“I want that too . . .”

Looking back on it, Harry saw the hesitation, the calculation, the lie. What was the truth? Harry went over the memories over and over again. Could it have been the other way? That Malfoy’s jealousy didn’t come from wanting Cedric, but from wanting Harry? Harry laughed. “Yeah, right! Maybe from wanting to get close enough to kill me.”



The house was quiet again. Harry had locked himself in his room, but it was obvious he was no longer sleeping. Sirius and Remus were the only ones at home with him, everyone having gone to their own homes. The couple sat anxiously waiting for the visitor’s arrival. Charlie dusted himself off and was immediately grabbed and pushed into a chair. “It’s about time you arrived.”

“I have a job!” he complained.

“This is important. Harry is being hunted by a dragon!” Sirius shouted back. Charlie gave the man a withering glare. “Sorry.”

“Tell me everything,” Charlie said simply. Sirius both began talking a mile a minute. Charlie held up a hand to silence him; he couldn’t understand.

It was Remus who began speaking calmly. “It appears that the Malfoy family is cursed and the important part is that upon coming of age meant two things that Draco Malfoy lost his sense of self and he gained some attributes of a dragon. Exactly what attributes, no one knows for sure, but he seems to have the ability to morph into a silver dragon that does fly and breathe fire.

“In addition to this, knowing what would happen, Draco approached Professor Dumbledore at the end of last term. He told the Headmaster that Harry’s presence made his blood boil and that he was concerned for his safety. Upon his coming of age, Draco has sought out Harry,” Remus finished.

“And he’s attacked?”

“Yes!” Sirius shouted.

The conversation was interrupted as a gigantic bat emerged from the fireplace. All three wizards drew wards in preparation, but then Snape turned around. He eyed all three wizards coldly. “I wish only to observe the conversation and provide insight into Draco if needs be,” he said. Sirius almost growled, but Remus nodded.

“Has he attacked?” Charlie asked again.

“No,” Snape said sternly.

“How can you say that?” Sirius asked indignantly.

Remus laid a soothing hand over Sirius’s and then spoke. He could feel Sirius wanting to disagree with him as he spoke. “He hasn’t attacked us, unless we’ve attempted to pull Harry away. He has fought his way close to Harry, but never actually approached him. The closest he came was yesterday. It was the first time we’d seen him back in human form since the change first occurred. He reached for Harry, but seemed reluctantly to actually come in physical contact.”

Charlie seemed intrigued. “And how has Harry been reacting?” he asked. Sirius didn’t like the look on his face.

Remus shook his head. “It’s hard to tell really. Apparently he and the boy killed during the Tri-Wizard Tournament were lovers. He’s been in mourning. He sleeps all the time, if we give him the opportunity.”

Sirius took over. “He won’t let anyone touch him. He says it makes the sound change.” Charlie’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure what he’s talking about and he refuses to explain things,” Sirius added. “This being hunted by a dragon is too much for him right now.”

Charlie shook his head and cleared his throat. “You’re not going to like what I’m going to say.”

“Just say it,” Sirius sighed.

“The behavior describing is not traditional hunting behavior.”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t like that news?!” Sirius asked excitedly.

“Because it classically another dragon behavior.” Charlie took a deep breath and prepared for the outburst. “It’s classic mating behavior.”