Of Veela and Wolves - Chapter 12

Harry bounced on the balls of his feet. Cedric and Victor had already had their turn with their dragon. Fleur was out there now. With his enhanced hearing he could hear the beautiful song that she sang. It helped calm his nerves.

The crowd gasped. A sudden, overpowering scent of ash and burned fabric rode the current of hot air that made it to the tent. It had been a familiar smell this morning. Unfortunately, he now knew the scent of burning flesh after Cedric. The intense urge to rush out to rescue her raged inside of him. He would have given in if he didn't hear her loudly cursing in French. The words were lost on him, but they were soon joined by Madam Pomfrey.

Harry sighed. She had made it. Now, all he had to worry about was his own survival. He had originally thought to summon a broom, but Daphne and Hermione had teamed up to convince him that it was a borderline suicidal idea. The group had turned their attention to elemental magic. Dragon fire wasn't the same as its natural counterpart, so that was out. The amount of water needed to snuff out the flames would take too much time to conjure. That left Earth and Air as potential approaches.

In truth, Harry had no idea what he was going to do. At least studying elemental magic had been interesting. He would definitely check it out more. If he survived.

It was odd. In the past, when he faced potential doom, he didn't have time to think about things. He was constantly in movement. There wasn't time to plan. It had been a mixture of improvisation and sheer dumb luck that had kept him alive so far.

"Presenting the Fourth Champion. HARRY POTTER!" The announcer yelled.

He didn't need to. His voice was already enhanced. It just made Harry want to slap the man.

Harry stepped out into the arena to the sound of cheers. He could see a multilayered shield around the edge to protect the crowd. At least the tournament people had done something right. His eyes drifted around the arena until they finally settled on the dragon. Her sharp eyes bore into him. She stood over her nest with her wings curled around her eggs.

A lump formed in his throat. She was willing to die to protect them. Just as his mother had. He turned his attention back to the crowd. They fell silent under the barely contained rage in his eyes. He found the tournament official and shook his head in disgust.

Harry strode toward the dragon. He transformed mid-stride and dropped to all fours. The dragon cocked her head to the side to study him. There was an intelligence in her eyes. They couldn't talk, but they could communicate. He lowered his head as he approached to show he wasn't a threat. The dragon let out a growl that shook the ground.

He stopped and sat back on his haunches. The growl subsided. Slowly, he started to move again. He stayed on his hands and feet to present himself as less of a threat. The process repeated, each time he got a little closer.

Harry wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually he was close enough to touch her snout. He plopped down in front of her and inclined his head. She leaned forward. He felt the air shift around him as she took a deep breath.

The dragon relaxed a little but didn't move. She rubbed the edge of her jaw along his torso to mark him with her scent. Harry turned around and sat beside her head. He glared out at the crowd, daring them to take a step closer. After a few tense minutes the crowd gained enough courage to story to make noise.

Harry let out a long, loud howl to silence them. The dragon settled as the quiet returned. He hopped up to his feet rather than hunched over on his hands as well. Harry stood full height now. The dragon idly watched as he patrolled around her. He stopped by the chains. They were enchanted to resist something as strong as a dragon, he couldn't brute force them open.

He shifted back to his human form. The crowd gasped as he stood there in his enchanted shorts. He drew his wand from the holster on his forearm. A simple unlocking charm released the chain that held the dragon in place. The crowd screamed in panic as the dragon raised her wing.

She stretched it out and shook out the stiffness before she returned to her protective stance over the nest. Harry unlocked the other chains as well. Once that was completed, he transformed back into his wolf form. He slipped under her wing and sniffed each egg.

The dragon above him tensed as she felt one of them tumble from the nest. Harry pushed golden egg into the open space before her. He made a show of sniffing it again. She poked the egg with the tip of her snout. Her head snapped back as she realized it wasn't one of hers.

She let out a sharp hiss then smacked it away with a flick of her claw. It shattered upon impact. With that settled, Harry returned to his spot near her. He plopped back down to resume his vigil. Thirty minutes later a bell chimed to let the crowd know the time limit had been exceeded.

Harry didn't move to leave the arena. The scores were presented. He received zero across the board since he didn't actually complete the challenge.

It didn't matter. He had done what was right. Even if the golden egg wasn't really a part of her clutch, the dragon wouldn't have known. To her, someone would have stolen one of her children.

Eventually, the dragon handlers entered the arena. Harry leaped to his feet, ready to fight each one, when she let out a little chuff. He didn't relax until she let them get closer. Still, he watched as they spoke to her calmly and stroked her snout. It was clear that these people cared about her enough for her to trust them.

Harry transformed back to his human form. He placed his forehead against the point of her snout for a long moment. She nuzzled him.

"Excuse me, Mister Potter?" One of the handler approached him.

Harry turned his attention to them but didn't speak.

"We need to take her back to the enclosure to check on her health." The handler explained. "This was rather stressful on all the dragons. Moreso on her since she was a late addition."

Harry looked at the dragon. She chuffed again. He stepped away.

"I know this is going to sound strange, but I think you saved her life." The handler spoke softly as they approached the dragon.

"Pardon?" Harry asked.

"I know she looks fearsome, but the stress of relocating her nest coupled with the change in environment could cause some serious damage." The handler explained. "We had months to prepare the others, so it was easier for them. Even then, we're not moving them back to Romania until next year to hopefully prevent any health issues."

"You're not keeping them in the forest, are you?" Harry felt a pit of dread in his stomach.

"No." The handler shook their head. "We have a stretch of land that has been prepared as a temporary sanctuary." They paused. "Why?"

"There's an acromantula colony in the forest." Harry sighed. "I would worry about them trying to attack the nests."

"You're joking, right?" The handler stared at him in shock.

Harry shook his head.

"Sweet Merlin's Nipples." The handler whispered. "I need to report that. There isn't a registered colony outside of Brazil. They could cause immense amount of damage to the local flora and fauna."

Harry knew that Hagrid wouldn't be happy. He didn't feel bad though. It was only a matter of time before the colony went rogue. Hagrid might not see it, but Harry had spent enough time in the forest to see the danger the spiders presented.

He finally left the arena once the dragon was safely settled in her enclosure. Judging by the way everyone else was wrapped up it appeared to be a cool night. His increased metabolism meant that he wasn't bothered by the cold. So far, at least.

Lately he hadn't been wearing his enchanted shorts at night. During the day he kept them on under his clothes. It didn't feel right when he was running through the forest at night. The fact that the girls couldn't wear them for extended periods of time felt unfair. They wore them during the day, just in case, but keeping them on in wolf form for more than half an hour was uncomfortable. The bottoms were passable, but the bra portion squeezed their chests too much.

They came to a silent agreement that they would be worn around other people, but among the pack it was fine to skip them. That way they were covered just in case they had to transform around others.

Plus, it just felt better to run without them.

If there weren't so many people around, he would have shucked them off and gone for a run. Even though the event had ended a while ago there was still a portion of the crowd that had hung around. Family members caught up, which then pulled in nearby friends, and soon there was an impromptu dinner outside. Some enterprising students had taken the initiative to set up food carts.

Fred and George had opted to sell charms and souvenirs instead. Harry couldn't help himself. He slipped through the crowd over to their booth. They had discs enchanted to provide heat, Hogwarts banners, stones carved in the shape of dragon eggs, and even a selection of the wooden dragon figurines that the champions had drawn from the bag. They were smaller and only had one movement, but it was still impressive.

"The Dragons Champion!" Fred called as Harry approached their stall.

Harry arced an eyebrow.

"That's what they're calling you." George added.

"I've been called worse." Harry shrugged. "Could you hold back a couple of these? I don't have pockets."

"Of course, oh brother from another mother." Fred replied.
"Which ones?" George asked.

"One of each dragon and an egg, please." Harry answered.

"Nope." George shook his head.
"Can't do it." Fred added.

"You just said-" Harry started.

"You get the deluxe versions." Fred pulled out a box from under the display.
"Complete with a nest." George removed the lid.

Inside there was a detailed silver figuring of each dragon. These ones were even better quality than the ones the Ministry had created. He noticed the four were separated by an opaque wall.

"How?" Harry asked.

"It pays to know a dragon handler." George smiled brightly.
"Barely got them done for tonight." Fred sighed.
"Wouldn't have been so long if not for the fire." George shook his head. "Not our best idea."
"Nearly burned down the lab with that." Fred added.

"You have a lab?" Harry asked.

"No." The two said in unison.

"Thanks guys." Harry smiled at them. "Set a box to the side for me and I'll get the money to you in the morning."

"Hate to charge you." Fred said.
"You're family." George added.
"Have to cover the overhead." Fred finished.

"You guys do quality work." Harry held up a hand. "Money well spent."

Harry didn't realize people were giving him space until he saw Fudge up ahead. The witches and wizards had moved away from him as he passed. Even the Minister looked like he wanted to turn around and run. They averted their eyes when he got close. Conversation either stopped completely or shifted to hushed whispers.

"Mister Potter." Fudge forced a smile.

There was an overpowering cloud of fear and apprehension rolling off the Minister. The pink woman that stood a step behind him was even worse. Rage, fear, and pure hatred radiated from her eyes. Harry wasn't sure if she was human. He wasn't nearly as informed about human-like creatures, so it was possible. She looked like a bipedal toad, only less green. The bright pink outfit she wore actually hurt to look at.

"Minister." Harry replied.

"Quite the show you put on." His voice waivered. "You won a few hearts in your approach."

Harry gave a small, polite smile.

"I heard that you had contracted lycanthrope, but I didn't realize it was at such an advanced stage." Fudge tried to sound casual, but the pitch of his voice raised higher with each word.

"Hem-hem." The woman behind Fudge chimed in.

Harry scrunched his brow. Fudge didn't seem to register the sound.

"If you could possibly find time to update your records…" Fudge trailed off.

"I'm not sure I understand, Minister." Harry cocked his head to the side. "I have already registered my condition."

"Right." Fudge nodded too quickly. "Right. It's just that… your condition as you put it, is more… advanced than we first expected."

"Hem-hem." The woman behind the Minister repeated.

"Is there something wrong?" Harry turned his attention to the pink woman. "There is some hot chocolate over there if your throat is sore."

"No." Her voice came out much too high. "The Minister is trying to say that creatures like you need to have more detailed records. We can't have you going on a rage filled rampage." She ended with an ear-splitting giggle.

Being around the woman was actually painful. Harry didn't care that she had called him a creature since he was one. The implication that he would lose control and kill people even though he had clearly demonstrated that he had wasn't some mindless beast did irk him. So far, he had only killed a couple of those weird deer they had hunted.

"Miss…" Harry drew out the word.

"Umbridge." She replied. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic."

"Right." Harry noted the name for later use. "If you, or the ministry, have any issues with me you can talk to my godfather."

Harry stepped around Fudge without another word. He knew he should find Sirius, but right now he didn't want to be around people. The short interaction had soured the night. Coupled with the fact that the people around him were treating him like a wild animal made him just want some solitude.