Chapter Thirty-Six

Rising

Quiangya was a bit out of sorts. She had been flying high over areas that she wanted to look over and inspect, as some of the things that she had heard from the younglings at the school had concerned her. It was something that she did, both to check out those things and to get away from the younglings.

She was not a fan of them as much as Annika was and needed a break before one or two or twenty-five became quivering piles of ashes.

There was an amused grunt from the red dragon as she visualized the Headmaster's beard getting singed off. He seemed quite proud of that beard, for whatever reason incomprehensible to her. Even for humans, he was… what was the phrase she heard… oh yes, 'an odd duck.' He was more irritating than the younglings, who at least had reason to get on her nerves – if only just for their ages. She thought about one of the other dragons where she had been born centuries ago and his habit of pontificating on practically anything. Water drained into a river, the sun rose every day, and this dragon never shut up. He'd somehow found a way to bloviate even while hunting and this reminded her of Dumbledore.

It was possible that she didn't have nearly as much patience as the other mother dragons. It wasn't like Tessaies hadn't mentioned that very thing more than once or twice. Or twenty-five times.

She paused as she noticed some activity just under the surface of the water of the large lake. It seemed odd, for want of a better word, and it made her nose twitch. She hated when that happened and didn't admit to the others that it happened more than she wanted to admit. Annika would never let her hear the end of it if she did.

Various Merpeople were swimming around, which in itself wasn't that surprising. However the observation that they seemed to be moving things around that didn't normally exist underwater did. Tessaies might need to know about this. She decided to investigate.

The Chinese Fireball took a deep breath and slipped under the surface of the water as quietly as she could. It was a lot quieter than Annika could manage, and Quiangya had no idea what precisely a cannonball was or what relation it had to swimming. It seemed to be the exact opposite of stealth, in her opinion. Rhiain was the stealthiest, but that probably had more to do with her still-somewhat tender belly.

Tessaies didn't bother. She could swim, like all dragons, but it was something she was happy to let the others do.

The Giant Squid saw her and decided to be elsewhere. The ink left behind had attracted the attention of some of the Merpeople, who got busy collecting it and didn't notice her presence. She floated in the water, seeing some kind of construction going on in the middle of the Mer village.

What it was going to be was far from sure. Quiangya wondered about the large posts in the middle that just stood there, but aside from getting the information from the Mer foreman there was nothing to be done other than observe. She could see a few cages being constructed off to the side, but there was nothing to connect those with the sinking of the post ends into the bed of the lake. Where did they even get them from?

There was a good bit of confusion to the dragon, but Mer did their own thing their own way. It was something that had made for plenty of debate over the years and centuries. A memory bubbled up.

"They make fire with water!"

That was the fond memory of her grand-nestfather, an irascible dragon that had plenty of opinions about practically anything. The fact that at least half of his opinions baldly contradicted the other half meant nothing to him, nor did physical reality when applied to whatever he said. There was a general consensus that he said things just to rile up the other dragons and distract them. The distraction was usually suitably strong enough to gain him a few more bites of whatever had been trapped. The old dragon certainly had a voracious appetite for food and arguing, and it had stuck with a younger Quiangya.

She didn't admit that while she maintained her slim dragonish figure, she was prone to being a touch argumentative and also didn't admit her influences in that regard.

Old Xinyue Lian never said where he got his name, even now as a dragon soon to ascend into the Golden Heavenly Skies. He just grinned to himself and started another argument that had nothing to do with his name or whatever the previous conversation or argument had been about.

Another dispute was over Mer's tendency to use water-based materials, or rather, things found in water, lakes, and seas for the things they constructed. It made perfect sense to her, as they did live in water but to old Xinyue Lian, they should have used draconic building methods. Never spoken at the times he said this was the fact that dragons tended to use caves and such or abandoned stone structures of great size. Dragons didn't 'build' things the same way the Mer did, although they did have some capability in that area.

No, it was never spoken because the old dragon didn't give anyone a chance to interject, and it was a common comment that he breathed through holes in his spikes. He talked that much.

She thought to herself that maybe it explained why he hated swimming as much as he did, even more than Tessaies. He couldn't talk underwater, or he'd drown himself.

Quiangya snorted. At least it would be quiet afterward.

She looked at the construction, noting the pillars, the footings being built up, and the bindings. Whatever was going to be held there had to be immense, judging from the sheer strength that she could easily discern. The cages looked strong enough to hold a dragon twice or three times Kirsa's size, which was a disquieting thought. If they build cages bigger than that, what could they do then?

There were a few snatches of conversation between workers that she couldn't hear from this distance and Quiangya decided that it wasn't important. She decided to report her findings to the Mother Eminence, since she had her own 'discussion' to attend with the Mer.

|:-:|

Tessaies was having her own discussion at that moment, but not with Mer. A contingent of Goblins had arrived and they were conferring with each other over Harry's First Task egg. There had been several things spoken that would have made various humans very nervous had they witnessed the assorted verbiage. The lead goblin was as unhappy as she when they found out what the egg contained. It hadn't taken long to figure that out.

"Are you telling me that this commissioned egg is being used in a contest that a youngling shouldn't be in?!" the Goblin had shouted before he remembered that he was talking to a being that could easily snap him and his crew in halves and possibly quarters and eighths without any appreciable effort.

Tessaies snorted at the look on his face upon realizing that, but didn't comment on it.

"Yes, I am. Whoever created this should have figured out the reason."

"At the time, there was no reason. The Triwizard Tournament," he sneered here at the mention of the contest in question, "is for of-age wizards, and if they want to do stupid things, that's no skin off our noses."

Tessaies didn't comment on the fact that several of them had quite impressive noses, or the fact that they used a wizard's expression. She listened as the goblin went on.

"However, I will be asking who took the commission and who exactly wanted four of these eggs and not three. It bears some thought."

It did, the dragon thought but didn't say. Especially considering how long it took to make a single egg and how much premeditation it took.

The goblin peered up at her. "Considering how long it takes to make a single egg and the fact that there's four, I'd be asking who wanted to kill the lad. The Potter account is quite sizable, you know."

"I didn't, actually, but I can see how it would be motive to steal," she conceded. The steam she was blowing as she followed that thought to its logical conclusion was turning into smoke. The goblins were doing their very best not to cough in the tangible evidence of her rising anger, and halberds were being gripped tighter. Tessaies didn't notice that, since the halberds wouldn't even dent her scales unless there was a very lucky shot.

She gently plucked the egg out of the goblin's hand and peered at it again. There were runes on the surface that she hadn't taken the time to decipher – not that runes had really been her strong point or real interest anyway. Tessaies knew most of the human runes, both current (so to speak) and the rune sets lost to history. These, however, came from something that she didn't know how to interpret. She could recognize that they belonged to a flowing language reminiscent to the Mer language.

In fact, she could easily tell that Mer had contributed to the runes. Perhaps they had their own version of what the younglings called 'Ancient Runes?' She put aside the miffed feeling she had whenever someone made that reference to something she could remember being first used, and stared down at the lead goblin.

"I think it's time to talk to someone else. Bring that and follow me."

The goblins looked at each other with more than a bit of unexpressed unease. Warriors they all were, but stupid they weren't. Unlike some everyone in the troop could name, they didn't go around tickling sleeping dragons or ticking a dragon off. There was a good chance that the 'someone' Tessaies was referring to was another dragon.

Tessaies was busy bathing her eggs with a light flame to maintain their heat while she was gone, and didn't notice. She did hear the rattle of motion after a moment and looked up to see that the group had split up to line the sides leading to the exit of her Quarters.

"Thank you for the honor," she murmured, touched even though she knew they were all trying to stay on her good side. She didn't know why, since she wasn't upset with this particular set of goblins but she'd accept it. If they did something that she would be upset about, she'd be sure to let them know. Setting them straight might be something that would relax her.

Tessaies strolled out, not taking to the air in deference to the goblins' flight inability. It wouldn't hurt her to walk, slower as it might be. Domir had been telling her to walk more but had stopped just short of comparing her physique to Annika's broader beam. From the gleam in his eye, she'd known exactly what he'd meant. He didn't make a precise reference, but it was all too obvious to both of them.

Muttering to herself about uppity offspring, she got in her steps even as the goblins beside her cast wary glances at her tailspikes and wondered what she was worked up about. None of them spoke the Dragontongue variant she reserved for commentary on said offspring.

She wondered what he said to Annika and why it didn't work as well on her or what he was going to try next.

More mutters trailed her as she made her way to the Dragon's Lectern. Those stopped as they saw a younger student running their way with something wide in her hands.

"Mama Tess! Mama Tess!"

"Mama Tess?" one of the goblins murmured before being abruptly shushed. They watched as the little girl rushed up to the large Horntail without a bit of fear. She was shorter than every goblin there, which make them grimace at the thought that a youngling was braver than them. In fact, the red trim on her robes explained much.

"Mama Tess! I drew this of you!"

Tessaies glanced at the lead goblin, who stepped forward. He had six daughters and the impressive eyebrows had no company on the rest of his head. He was used to it, both the dealing with young females and the feeling of cold on his head.

"Let us see it, lass."

He wasn't expecting much, since the girl looked like she was a first or second year. Humans started with crude stick figures, right? The sketching pad she had was almost bigger than she was, or so it seemed. She nodded and flipped through several pages too fast for him to get a good glimpse, although there was plenty of color blurring through the pages. Finally, the pages stopped and she offered him the pad. The smile on her face aimed at the dragon was something none of the goblins had expected.

The lead goblin took a perfunctory glance at the page as he started lift it up to show to Tessaies, and stopped cold.

There was no color to the penciled drawing, but that didn't matter. It was a stunning rendition of Tessaies in flight, with wings outstretched, with the castle in the distance. The dragon in the pencil strokes seemed alive in a way that he didn't see often. The other goblins crowded around and murmured their own surprise.

Tessaies dipped her head down to look and nodded.

"Very good, Jenny. I knew you could do it. Have you shown Professor Flitwick yet?"

She knew that Professor McGonagall was the young girl's Head of House, but also knew that Professor Flitwick was the most enthusiastic member of the staff concerning the draconic lectures. He encouraged everyone in his classes to attend, subtly encouraging their Hogwarts grades were boosted as well. Everyone knew that the dragons insisted that all students pay attention to their Hogwarts schoolwork first and most had expressed that they would be 'disappointed' if the students let their grades slide.

"No, Mama Tess! I wanted to show you first!"

The little girl was so excited, she was practically vibrating on the spot.

"Are you going to add color to it?"

"No, Mama Tess, just this. I want to do a color one sometime with everyone. I'm finished with this one."

Neither the goblins or Tessaies knew if she meant just the Hogwarts dragons or all dragons that had visited. The thought of getting every dragon to sit still long enough for the young artist to sketch out a page was funny and a bit worrisome at the same time. Tessaies didn't reveal this thought, however. There was no sense in suggesting it and getting blamed for it.

She'd find a way to get Jack blamed for it. He still owed her some heartburn.

"Well, Jenny, sign it! If you want, I'll put a draconic mark on it too, but you need to sign it too."

The little girl nodded and looked around for a surface steady enough. One of the goblins sighed and squatted down for her to rest it on his back. She smiled at him and made use of his offered back as he glared at the others. Said 'others' stared at interesting clouds or patches of grass.

The look he was giving the rest clearly said, say nothing… to anyone!

While Jenny was signing her artwork with a steady hand, Tessaies was bathing her talon in a flame that oddly didn't seem to have any heat.

"Lay it flat on the ground, Jenny."

She did, and Tessaies very carefully traced a sigil at the bottom corner opposite Jenny's signature. The little girl gasped to see the sparkle the sigil gave off and looked up at the dragon.

"Go show it to Professor Flitwick now. Hurry and you'll catch him between classes."

"Thank you, Mama Tess!"

The little girl threw her arms around Tessaies' leg, which to be fair was all she could reach and dashed off with her pad clutched in her arms. They watched her go.

"Onward, shall we?" Tessaies said and walked on. The goblins decided to talk about the encounter and the draconic magic they could see in the sigil at Gringotts later that night.

|:-:|

Professor Flitwick was gobsmacked at both the detail in the drawing and the magic in the sigil he could see that the others in the school couldn't.

"Fifty points to Gryffindor for such artistry! Fifty more for diplomacy!"

"Thanks, Professor!"

Jenny didn't understand the second bit about diplomacy, but she'd take it. Maybe she would ask him about it later.

She dashed off again, leaving Professor Flitwick to feel like a tornado had hit him. It was either that or he was feeling old and creaky compared to the little storm that had just left. They just got younger every year, and that observation was something that he and the Headmaster had made more than a few times.

|:-:|

Master Xiang-Zhai was at the Lectern with a couple of Centaurs, of all things. He was speaking about astrometric correlations to astrology. Tessaies had never thought there was any such thing, but out of respect for the elder dragon hadn't said anything. The centaurs seemed to have no problems with the lecture and contributed interesting – if somewhat confusing – pieces of information that dovetailed nicely with what the old dragon said.

She motioned for the goblins to relax.

"I need to speak with Master Xiang-Zhai about our conversation, but it's best to wait for his lecture to be over."

The lead goblin nodded. The look on his face showed his intrigue.

"We've heard about the lectures given from this place. Some of us here might not be as appreciative," he quirked one of his quite impressive eyebrows toward a few of his group, "but I believe we can find some use here."

The last part of his sentence was spoken a bit louder, and Tessaies noticed the previously indicated goblins – younger ones, she thought – seemed to be less than happy to be made to listen to someone much older talk about some boring subject. She grinned to herself as the lead goblin rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Younglings are the same everywhere," she said, merrily ignoring the fact that the Hogwarts younglings were paying rapt attention to the things the old dragon was expounding on, unlike the younger goblin in her escort. It seemed that Master Xiang-Zhai was warmed up to his subject. He had noticed Tessaies in the back – she was hard to miss – but he ignored the presence of another dragon showing up late for his lecture with the ease of long practice. His lecture rolled on, pointing out the ways that astrometric binaries affected the orbits of the primary star. The mention of the center of mass of the star system rated a good twenty minutes, and he illustrated various principles of mass with the help of his other assistant. That assistant for this lecture was one of Kirsa's misbehaving drakes. The centaurs seemed quite amused, having been given a bit of a break to allow for the next planned part of the lecture.

The young dragon looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, but the promise of punishment for misbehaving for Master Xiang-Zhai didn't bear any thought. The young dragon knew his mother didn't make any threats, and since she could back up everything she said as promises, he was stuck. Embarrassingly so, since he had to relate to the listening students certain mistakes made in this regard as examples. He just didn't mention that he'd made those mistakes when he didn't take his own mass into account during various maneuvers.

Master Xhang-Zhai mentioned a few other things that were common mistakes concerning mass and how they correlated to astrometrics and the further relation to astronomy. He tied that up with celestial navigation and gave examples. He didn't mention to the young students that every single mass-related mistake was one that his young assistant made at some point or another – sometimes more than one. The deadpan delivery of each left the audience none the wiser, except for the two dragons at the Lectern.

The old dragon was privately very amused, but not his assistant.

The lecture continued on for the next half-hour, and Master Xiang-Zhei assigned his erstwhile students with the assignment to compare the stars in Professor Sinestra's Astronomy classes with the ones in the listings he had in the handouts that he was having a few off-duty dragon handlers pass out. He had asked several of her Seventh-Year Astronomy students to 'take dictation,' so to speak, and she had been interested enough to give them extra credit so long as she got a copy too.

Hers was the first copied parchment, and she was so pleased that she integrated it into her own classes with the old dragon's permission. These students would be asking questions about 'absolute magnitudes' and what it had to do with 'stellar luminosities,' and she wanted to be ready!

As the area emptied of younglings, Tessaies approached the old dragon. He bowed courteously to her, which she returned.

"Mother Eminence. What brings you here?" He had seen the Goblins and wondered what was going on.

"Look at this."

At her motion, the Goblin toting the egg hustled up and offered it to Master Xiang-Zhai while doing his very best to control his sphincter. Goblins were brave, not stupid, and while the Translation Charm did wonders in reassurance there wasn't much reassurance to be had here. Everyone knew an old dragon was a wily dragon.

For his part, Master Xiang-Zhai took the egg and inspected it. He peered at it as well as his old eyes could and shook it a few times to see if there was something inside. The runework garnered a good bit of study, if the occasional hrmmmmp and other so snorts meant anything. Tessaies and her companions didn't know what it meant, so waited for him to come to a decision.

Finally, he cracked the egg open and winced as the smoothly made hinges splayed it apart. It didn't take long for him to close it again, shaking his head to try to clear the ringing. The old dragon's hearing wasn't quite what it used to be. It still didn't help that he was holding the egg up closer to his head than the others nearby.

"Unfortunately, I can't say what the Mer in this egg is saying, but Rhiain would be the best to know. She is a singer-dragon, is she not?"

Tessaies had to agree, but what that terrible noise was exactly, she didn't know or what it had to do with Rhiain. The old dragon saw her expression and took pity on her.

"This is Mer song. It stands to reason that a singer would have the best of luck with it."

He offered the egg back to the Goblin who'd had it. It was taken very carefully, as the much smaller Goblin didn't want to be any closer to those talons than he really had to be.

Master Xiang-Zhai regarded them with some amusement, as at his age he'd worked out the violent tendencies long ago. It was still funny to see the smaller bits cringe. The dichotomy of caring for and teaching the 'smaller bits' called students instead of making them fearful never entered his mind.

"Yes… I believe Rhiain will have the key."

Tessaies nodded at him, the thoughtfulness on her face making for some speculation. The Goblins wondered who was about to be flamed and if it were the Mer, then how? This wasn't something to ask out loud or they might find out.

Master Xiang-Zhai nodded to her and bowed again, which she returned, and headed off to find a good snoozing spot. He was doing more and more of that as time went on, and the Castle obliged in telling him good spots that were nice and quiet.

Tessaies watched him leave for a moment, seeing the problems he had in flying and made a mental note to have someone escort him next time. She turned to the lead Goblin and asked her question.

"Have any of you seen Rhiain in the last few hours?"

They hadn't – not that they wanted to admit to her that they didn't want to go hunting for a dragon if they could have someone else do it. She didn't miss the little looks that they gave each other and sighed.

"Come on. We'll try to find her."

|:-:|

For her part, Hermione was a bit distracted. She had at least twelve things on her mind, six of those being academic matters, three being dragon-related questions, two being confusion over what Lavender had been bragging about (and the distinct mismatch between them,) and one being the Yule Ball.

The last, specifically, being when Harry was going to quit being a stick-in-the-mud and ask her.

She had been dropping hints here and there, to no avail. She had mentioned various Yule-related things – including dancing – and he hadn't picked up on them. She supposed that he could be distracted from all that had happened.

It made sense. Even for Hogwarts, there was quite a lot of 'stuff' that had happened.

The more she thought about it, the more she was becoming convinced that she was going to have to tie him down and sit on him to get an answer!

Had anyone been around just then, they would have noticed a bright blush at the thought that trailed along traitorously afterward. Luckily for her, there wasn't anyone.

However, she heard a gentle thump some distance away. It wasn't the lighter thump of Quiangya or the flat-out whooomp of Annika, and she knew that Tessaies was busy elsewhere. She didn't know what the other visiting dragons sounded like when they landed, but it could have been Rhiain. She looked outward.

It was, and the green dragon was moving around easier. She wasn't being as careful with her belly wound, which did look a whole lot better now.

"Rhiain?"

The green dragon looked up and gave her the draconic version of a grin, which still gave her the willies sometimes even if she didn't mention it.

"Wildness of Mane. I have a question."

It was more direct than she'd expected from Rhiain.

"What's your question?"

"Has the Speaker pulled his head from under his wing and… what was it? 'Asked you to the Yule Ball?'

Hermione puffed a forelock off her forehead in frustration while she tried to think of a way to answer the question that would confuse the dragon. Not that she wasn't herself confused. Rhiain peered at her.

"Oh, I see."

"What?" Hermione was surprised. "I didn't say anything."

"No, not verbally, but we females have ways to communicate. Do we not?"

Hermione regarded the centuries-old dragon and wondered what they did in private. They didn't gossip, did they? The thought of dragons gathered around a quilt, sewing away or watching soap operas on the telly and discussing things made for a very odd visual. It was one that she was sure wouldn't go away for a long time.

Rhiain was waiting for an answer, she suddenly realized.

"No, Rhiain, he hasn't," she sighed.

"Not surprised," the dragon snorted gently. "He's been distracted, lately. Come with me."

"…er, what?"

"Come with me. I might have told him that I needed him to help me with something that Sturdy Grower couldn't."

Hermione thought about that.

"You didn't let him think that it was about any plants, did you?"

"Who do you think I am? Annika?"

|:-:|

Harry wondered if Rhiain was up to something. He'd expect so from Annika or Quiangya. One was less than subtle and the other was less than open. Neither helped with any clues for figuring out what either was up to at a given moment. He'd mentioned this to Tessaies one evening.

Her only response, delivered with a stupendous eyeroll: "Imagine how I feel."

That wasn't too helpful, honestly. Still, he liked the dragons, even the ones that creeped him out. The courtroom bailiff reminded him of Mad-Eye Moody, or what he knew of the man.

Still, he'd promised her that he would be here at the edge of the Black Lake. The Durmstrang ship was closer to the opposite side than his side and he didn't see many on the decks. Harry supposed that whatever went on aboard a sailing ship like that didn't require anyone there right now. Maybe they had classes inside the ship or something.

He was busy scanning the skies for Rhiain's form that it took him a moment to realize that she was strolling along the widened path the Castle had made for the dragons. Rhiain was chatting with someone with very familiar hair. Harry's eyebrow rose.

"What's Hermione doing here? I thought she was in the library," he mumbled to himself. She usually was, this time of the day.

If he'd observed the look on Rhiain's face, he probably would have ran for the library himself, but as it happened he had his attention on Hermione.

"Hermione?"

"Hello, Harry." She went to him and hugged him mightily, which relieved him. He wasn't in trouble for something. Which was good, since he couldn't remember the last time he dogeared a book's page or licked his fingers to turn a page either. There was that one time that he cracked the spine of one of the library books, but he was fairly sure that she hadn't heard about that.

She had been in Arithmancy class then, so he figured he was safe so long as he kept his mouth shut.

When he looked up at Rhiain, a ball of lead formed his stomach. She was frowning at him.

Frowning!

He didn't know dragons could do that until now, or at the very least he didn't know Rhiain could do that. Harry did know some breeds of dragons could do things other breeds couldn't, but a frown was… unexpected.

"Speaker Harry James."

Uh-oh, he thought. It even came through in the Parseltongue he could hear under the Translation Charm.

"I am very disappointed in you. There was something that you should have done some time ago, and in not doing so, have inconvenienced your mate." The frown deepened. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that the tips of her wings was starting to shake a bit.

Was he going to have to deal with an angry dragon that apparently was acting on Hermione's behalf? She looked like she didn't know what was going on either, he thought. So, he had to find out what was going and asked the only thing he could.

"…er, what?"

Hermione facepalmed, even though she had done that very thing herself not long ago.

Rhiain stared at him without a word and he willed the sweat not to pop out. He was willing it so hard that he almost passed out from the effort, right when the green dragon sighed.

"Do you or do you not intend to ask her to this Yule Ball?"

"…er, what?" Somehow, he wasn't expecting that.

This time, Rhiain was the one that facepalmed, or the closest that she could.

"Well? Are you?"

"…er, yes. Yes!"

"Well?" She pointed at Hermione with a steady talon and raised an eyebrow.

Harry realized what she was referring to at the same time Hermione did. She quirked a look up at the dragon from under her eyebrows and huffed a bit, only to look at Harry when he took her hand.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. It's been… the last few weeks have been, well, er… an adventure."

He grimaced at that, since his previous years and this year so far hadn't exactly been a nursery rhyme.

She smiled ruefully at him. No, it hadn't.

Before she could quirk the eyebrow at him, he spoke.

"Hermione, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

She was silent for a moment, long enough to hear the dragon mumble something about noooo, don't be romantic, just use the minimum of words and expect it to be enough. Drakons!

She smiled, but looked at Harry. He was getting a bit pale waiting for her to reply.

"Of course, I will. Thank you for asking me." Finally!

He pulled her into a hug, feeling relieved.

"Finally!" They heard from above, and looked up. "Now we can discuss your attire. Finally!"

Harry clamped his mouth shut on the '…er, what' struggling to get out.

"I've asked for some help in this regard. Pay attention!"

Harry wondered what he was supposed to pay attention to exactly, and where this side of Rhiain had been hiding.

"…okay?" That was about the best Harry could manage to keep contained, but Rhiain didn't notice.

"Quiangya is invested in this, as well, and she is expecting you."

This didn't surprise either one of them, actually.

"Where is she?"

"She is in the Courtyard."

This was a bit of a surprise, since they didn't think dragons had enough space there. Rhiain had said that and knew the layout of Hogwarts very well from exploring it for 'acoustics.'

"Don't make her wait. She hates that. Go on now, hurry!"

They were off a good distance before they asked what the Chinese Fireball wanted. Rhiain had already taken flight before they could ask. There must have been something else she had to do.

|:-:|

Tessaies was talking to the Goblins about the egg and wanted to know who had asked for their services in forging it. It was something that her ward was exposed to danger and she wanted to ensure that this person, or group, wasn't a threat. The lead Goblin was quick to say that he didn't handle the affairs that would have produced the egg, and confidentiality rules prevented him from knowing about it other than the Goblin in charge. She settled for that, and warned the lead Goblin that she was going to make contact with this Goblin. Tessaies was sure to also make this Goblin aware that she expected answers.

She didn't say that if she didn't like the answers that she got, it was going to be a very bad day for the Goblin in question. It didn't take long for the lead Goblin to understand all the messages that she was giving him, and less time to be dismissed.

Tessaies was watching them leave rather more quickly than they otherwise would be moving when Rhiain landed beside her and bowed.

She returned the bow and noticed that the green dragon was very amused. There were several things that could have made this happen, and she asked about the most likely event.

"He finally asked?"

"Finally!"

They rolled their eyes in unison.

"Good work, Rhiain. I suppose it's my turn."

The green dragon snorted her amusement and agreement.

"Quiangya is most likely giving them lessons, by now."

"Maybe I should go rescue them," Tessaies chuckled.

"Noooo, let them enjoy the experience."

The draconic laughter startled a few woodland creatures in the Forbidden Forest and silk output in the Acromantula colony spiked.

"Before I go, there's something I want to look into, Rhiain."

"Oh?"

Tessaies held up the egg, and Rhiain narrowed her eyes at it distastefully.

"There's a Mer song inside, we think. 'We' being myself and the Goblins who just left. We are of the opinion that as this is a song, it would be best if a singer looks into it."

"That makes sense. What about the runes? Those seem to be strengthening and voicework runes, plus something else."

"I think so, too, but I don't know yet."

"Okay. I'll look into this ugly thing."

Tessaies nodded. "Courtyard?"

"Courtyard."

|:-:|

Sure enough, Quiangya was there. The Courtyard seemed to be bigger, somehow, but neither Harry or Hermione could figure out how. Neville had showed up for some reason and looked like he was wondering the same thing. Space expansion charms had been tried many times on this area over the centuries and none had worked, no matter how new or how strong.

"How is she comfortable here? She's obviously not smaller," Hermione asked.

"You're asking me?"

She mumbled something Harry couldn't hear and decided it was probably not in his best interests to.

"Maybe it's draconic magic of some kind. Didn't Charlie mention that there are intersections in wizard and draconic magic?"

There wasn't time to think about an answer as the Fireball speared him with a glance that worried him a bit. He couldn't think of anything he'd done to irritate her, although admittedly she was the easiest to irritate and not mention why. Harry decided to take the bull by the horns… er, the dragon by the talons and show why he was a Gryffindor.

"Quiangya? What's bothering you?"

For a moment, he decided that maybe he could have phrased that better. For her part Hermione was looking a bit pale, and felt no compunction at hiding behind him and Neville but more Harry than Neville. It had the effect of giving Harry bushy brown hair ringing his untidy locks.

Quiangya was actually amused at this, but didn't let on. She snorted at them and tapped a talon on the stones that made up the Courtyard's floor. This made a sound that was less-than-pleasant and got their attention quite well. The winces on their faces were also amusing, but the Fireball had the best implacable face of them all, save Master Xiang-Zhai. Others around the school had wondered if the old dragon knew how to play poker.

It was time to put the younglings out of their misery.

"'What's bothering me' is this… thing I'm just now hearing about a formal event."

Harry blinked.

"Um. Yes, the Yule Ball."

"And also, the inexcusable amount of time you took to ask your mate to this… Yule Ball?"

Harry didn't know how to answer that and also didn't want to look at Hermione, thinking that she might be in agreement with the Fireball. Neville raised an eyebrow, not knowing that Harry hadn't already done this and kept his mouth shut. Quiangya ignored Harry's dithering about what to do or say.

"We will be discussing your attire, as you are considered our representative. Your mate, as well."

Hermione eased around from behind Harry.

"Representatives?"

It was clear from the questioning tone that Hermione was confused, and Harry was right there with her.

"Yes, Wildness of Mane. Representatives. As the Mother Eminence has stepped in to protect one weaker, scrawnier, of a lesser ability, and greater deficiency of brainpower in order to correct these things, it is understood that the Speaker is representing her during his time with her."

Harry wasn't too fond of the characterization nor of the snorts from his dormmate, but she went on before he could object. He couldn't say anything anyway, since Hermione had clapped her hand over his mouth.

"Your Professor Flitwick has graciously agreed to help."

Both Harry and Hermione blinked, wondering what Professor Flitwick was up to. It seemed Neville was just going with the flow and didn't react. The half-Goblin professor had to be up to something, since he wasn't their Head of House. Tessaies' arrival distracted them. Her question blew them both away.

"So, Harry, have you ensured your raiment is suitable?"

"They're… dress robes? That's suitable. Right?" He wasn't too sure, especially since Neville didn't look any surer than he felt, Hermione was confused – which didn't help matters – and Professor Flitwick was shaking his head and tsktsktsk'ing fast enough to sound like a clock stripping its gears. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that his dress robes wasn't going to be used.

If that was the case, then what? His Charms Professor was acting like there was something he knew that the three Gryffindors didn't, and it was aggravating.

"Wildness of Mane, come here," Quiangya ordered, the strict nanny voice in full force. Hermione didn't think it was a good idea to refuse, and shortly found herself staring into green draconic eyes.

"What color is your dress? Describe it, as well, with as much detail as you are capable of. Whisper it, if you must."

Hermione did so, seeing that the dragon was nodding but seemed singularly unimpressed. She was occupied enough with doing this that she didn't see that Harry and Neville was doing the same thing. They couldn't see what she was doing either, but their attention was focused on a Hungarian Horntail that was… less than impressed.

"Hrphm." This was accompanied by a puff of smoke that made their eyes water. "You, Harry, as my ward are obligated to represent me to the finest of traditions. Never mind that there isn't much 'tradition' to draw from. You will set a tradition and you will make it an excellent tradition. Do you understand?"

Harry figured there was only one way to answer that.

"Yes, I understand." He didn't, not right then but didn't say that.

Tessaies' attention shifted to Neville, who tried not to gulp and failed. He hadn't really spent much time with the Horntail and they were not as comfortable with each other as Rhiain was with him, or even Annika with practically everyone else.

"You, Neville, who we call Sturdy Grower, also are obligated to represent to the same finest of traditions, but not to me. You represent Rhiain. Do you know why?"

Neville blinked, but he thought he knew what she was referring to.

"Because I've ridden Rhiain?"

Tessaies nodded, pleased.

"And also Luna, who we call Moon Girl."

"I can see that, but I don't know what she has for her dress, precisely. She is… unique."

Tessaies considered that to be massive understatement. She looked at Professor Flitwick, who was busy putting up giant billboards for some reason. He still looked very amused, especially when he glanced every so often at a large chest that was partly hidden by Quiangya's bulk. He soon nodded to her, indicating that everything was ready.

Tessaies turned back to Neville, and tapped her talon on the stone to get the attention of Harry and Hermione. When the three were looking up at her, she tapped a talon on the chest. It opened with a loud snap that echoed off the walls and made Hermione wince a bit.

"What is inside here are dress robes and accoutrements suitable for wizards and… 'gowns' are the right word, I think, for witches, along with similar accoutrements. They are of incomparable quality to what the humans wear, as they are made from layers of dragon skin. Scales are used to indicate clans."

The Gryffindors were shocked. Hermione was the first to sputter a question.

"But… b-but that meant dragons had to die for this!"

Tessaies nodded, her face a bit clouded.

"Yes, Hermione, but keep in mind that this is considered honorable. Every dragon that contributed died in battle to protect another. It could have been another dragon, a human, a goblin… some other being that otherwise would have not survived. Their sacrifices are remembered in this way."

Hermione thought it was a bit gruesome, but held her tongue. Tessaies raised an eyebrow as she could perceive the struggle in her mind. Still, Hermione nodded after a moment.

"After we are finished with the three of you, you are to gather Moon Girl, Quietly Trapping and Frozen Ruler for the same thing. Their sigils also mean representation of we dragons."

Sigils? It took Harry a moment to remember the dragon badges. He noticed that his was glimmering in pulses that matched Hermione's and the runes in Neville's hands.

Tessaies nodded as she saw recognition dawn.

"I'm sure that you're wondering why we are getting involved, correct?"

Harry nodded, some of his attention still on the badge.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

Hermione and Neville agreed quickly, both showing the same interest.

"Rhiain had a discussion with some of our visitors and in the course of that discussion, the Yule Ball was mentioned. As she hadn't known about this, she decided to ask the Professors about it. When she was informed about what it was, she told me. It's not strictly in the Treaty, but we are required by rules of courtesy to represent our kind at any formal events in our sphere of influence."

Harry squinted at Tessaies and wondered if the dragons just wanted to gatecrash the Ball and had made that up to seem all kinds of special. He decided that wasn't a good question that needed asking.

"Okay… that explains you, Quiangya, and Rhiain being here, but what about Annika?"

Tessaies paused.

"Annika has another related duty to perform soon."

|:-:|

"Ron! Hurry up!" came the exasperated call about an hour later in another part of the grounds.

Charlie had forgotten about his brother's time management, or lack thereof. He'd been asked to gather up his brother for something and give three girls a heads-up about something the dragons wanted them to do. Luna, he knew. After all, she grew up as the Weasleys' neighbor. The two Slytherin girls gave him a bit of trouble, however. He didn't remember them all that well, considering the situation and all the dragon drama. Thankfully for him, Luna promised to help him out.

"Of course, I will, Charlie and put in a good word with the Dinglehopper Troupe for you."

That didn't reassure him.

In the meantime, he had to chivvy his slowpoke brother and get him to hurry up. Charlie had things to do: inventory the supplies the handlers used, order the supplements some of the dragons needed for their health, get some reports filed for the Romanian government (since the Hogwarts dragons were all nominally from the Romanian dragon preserve,) and lay in more Firewhiskey stocks. He was sure something or another was going to happen, and he and Malcolm wanted to be ready for it.

"What are we doing, Charlie?" Ron's voice sounded a bit sulky, but Charlie figured that was understandable since Ron had been pulled away from his third helping of whatever the elves had been demonstrating of something new they'd found. Something about 'fondue,' whatever that was. He had no idea where they'd found it or who put them up to, but Dumbledore seemed to like it.

"The dragons wanted you to help them with something. What, I'm not sure. Now hurry – we don't want to upset a dragon." The look he shot back to his brother indicated to him that was a bad idea.

Ron didn't say anything, but hustled along after Charlie, who made him work at it just to tweak him. Charlie was in much better shape and wasn't above giving his brothers a hard time. After all, it was in his big-brother contract. Section Four, Sub-section twelve, paragraph three. Too bad Ron hadn't realized that such clauses didn't apply with Ginny.

He snickered at the memory of some of the things she'd done where Ron couldn't hear as he huffed and puffed behind him.

Their destination was an open area near the Dragon Courtroom, as it had come to be called. The dragons had been preoccupied doing something else over the last few days and the general consensus was that Hogwarts was getting her land property values improved by all the dragon building going on. There had been a good bit of speculation about what they were going to build next and wondering why Dumbledore seemed invested in letting them do it.

Various dragon crafters had arrived and were very busy doing… something.

Charlie could see Harry standing there, looking harried, and Hermione appearing as serene as Luna usually did. That was odd, but Charlie didn't think anything about it.

Ron was still behind him and his face was a study in shades of red that complemented his hair as he wheezed out a "Did you have to run, Charlie?"

"Run? Who ran?"

Charlie wasn't going to tell him that he'd just jogged. At least, not right now. Stefaniya could sprint a long, long way and maybe he'd get her to take Ron out for a light run. That might be fun, especially since he was intending to stay behind.

As Ron finally stopped gasping, he looked around with the oddest expression of confusion on his face. This was different. He and Charlie joined the other two at the side, not wanted to disturb the work going on.

For their part, Harry and Hermione had been wondering what the dragons had been doing and for what purpose. The area had been enlarged somehow, and Harry was trying not to hear Hermione's mental voice snickering 'magic!' He stood at the stone altar placed at the 'front' and took a moment to look it over.

No one knew where it had come from, not even Professor Dumbledore. It was a glossy black with the top being a pearlescent white with slightly darker marbling flowing throughout. The middle had the Hogwarts crest inlaid and the house symbols faded into and out of sight on either side without a sound – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each was bright and radiated power, and subtly cast a nimbus of house colors around as each appeared and then faded out.

If Harry or anyone else were to guess, it would seem that the Castle wanted to have her say on the event. It made about as much sense as anything at Hogwarts did.

Annika landed with her usual whoomph of sound, which no one felt the need to comment on.

"Speaker! Wildness of Mane! You've brought others!"

She nuzzled Charlie with affection, making him stumble a bit. Charlie was used to it now, but Annika was anything but subtle in either word or deed. It took a bit of dancing around to make sure that he didn't fall flat on his back as the Short-Snout looked around at the others.

Harry took a step to get Annika's attention, as she was looking around the area with interest.

"Annika?"

"Speaker! This looks very nice. They wouldn't let me in to see what they were doing until now."

Probably so you didn't knock something over before it could be put into place, Charlie thought but didn't say, glancing at her hindquarters. The elves must be testing their new desserts on her with her usual enthusiasm. Annika loved her sweets more than other dragons usually did, which was odd. However, it was Annika. No other explanation had been needed among the other dragon keepers.

It was getting a bit embarrassing, actually. Not for her, who could care less, but for Charlie and the others. They hadn't foreseen this at all. It seemed that Harry was having similar thoughts as he met Charlie's eyes with raised eyebrows and firmly clamped shut lips.

In any event, she was noticing the new human who was standing beside Harry with no small bit of nervousness.

"Who's this?"

Ron was trying not to shake in his robes. He hadn't expected to be this close to a dragon of Annika's size. Kirsa wasn't a problem with him, nor her offspring. None of them was anywhere near the sizes of the main Hogwarts' dragons. Ron had managed to ignore Master Xiang-Zhai since the old dragon had the gift of making whatever he talked about seem interesting. Ron had paid attention to the few lectures he'd attended from the back of the open-air arena with a focus that his Hogwarts professors would have dearly hoped to see in their classes.

Meanwhile Annika was looking him over. His blue eyes had widened as she stared at him with her own blue eyes for a long few moments. There wasn't any indication about what she was thinking as she inspected him and the others wondered what the often-flighty dragon was seeing.

She smiled, a huge, genuinely happy smile and nuzzled him exactly as she did Charlie and moved to face the dragon handler.

As Ron wasn't nearly as bulky as Charlie, he landed in the dirt.

"Oi!"

Annika ignored that and the snickers from Harry and Hermione. Her voice was excited.

"He's got the bluest eyes of the whole group, like mine! They're so pretty and cute!"

She reached down to nuzzle Ron, leaving him breathless again.

"Oooo! I bet any hatchlings of his will have the same eyes! Wait…"

She paused with a thought. The others wondered what thought she'd had, Ron with a growing sense of trepidation that dwarfed any fear that he'd had on any of the previous adventures the Trio had been on.

"I need to find someone with blue eyes like that for him to mate with to get hatchlings with blue eyes!"

Ron's face went white, even as she hissed something the Translation Charm didn't render but Harry caught. There was a fit of coughing as he tried mightily to stifle it, but without much luck. Charlie and Hermione looked at him, and waved them off.

"Later," he choked out. Tears leaked out of his eyes as he forced the laughter down.

Ron wondered what she had said and couldn't decide if he wanted to know or not. He wasn't amused, even if he had no idea what she had said and was still quite a bit afraid.

"What did she say?" He finally demanded as he got up.

Harry was too busy giving in to the need to laugh.

"Don't look at us, little brother. We have no idea what she said," Charlie shrugged, motioning to himself and Hermione.

It took a few minutes but Harry finally related that she thought he was the most precious thing she'd ever seen and she wanted to hold him and squeeze him and lick his cute little face with those beautiful blue eyes.

Charlie found it hilarious when he found out.

"Ron! I could introduce you to some more Short-Snouts since this one apparently really, really like you. You could have your own harem!"

Ron had not been amused and hoped the look in his brother's eyes didn't mean that the twins would find out what Charlie had crowed about. He didn't see the look in Hermione's eyes or the little smile on her face. Harry did, but wisely didn't say anything.

It was to this scene that Luna showed up with Neville, Daphne and Tracy. A bit behind them, Professor Flitwick was levitating his large wood panels with his usual exuberance. He'd been joined by Professor McGonagall, who'd been wondering what he was up to.

In short order, she divided the group up by gender, with Professor Flitwick taking charge of Charlie, Harry, and Neville. Charlie was informed by a passing Professor McGonagall that he was in need of dress robes as well. Harry thought this was quite funny and didn't hide it.

It was even funnier when Rhiain landed nearby with her usual grace and overheard what Charlie had just been told. She regarded Charlie thoughtfully, then agreed.

"The Mother Eminence has spoken of this as well. While you are not the leader of the caretakers here, you are considered the 'face' of the group," which Charlie hadn't realized and grimaced to hear, "and your mate will need her own garments for this event."

Charlie paled as much as his tanned skin would allow. Harry leaned in.

"Better not waste time asking her."

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she heard this and slugged him on the shoulder, making him yelp. She went off to join Professor McGonagall's group, whose Animagus-enhanced hearing had caught what Harry had said. Her raised eyebrow spoke volumes, as did her slight frown, and Harry winced. Maybe he could go to bed five or six hours early and be safe from whatever Professor McGonagall now had on her mind.

Professor Flitwick, for his part, was highly amused but didn't say anything. He looked up at Rhiain. They had decided that the Courtyard was too small after all and it was better to relocate, since other dragons had been expected to kibbitz.

"Now, Sturdy Grower, we will look to you and Charlie – who frankly needs the help."

"Oi!"

Rhiain was amused at the look Charlie shot her. She started to say something but was cut off by a commotion. Everyone in the group looked over to see Annika dancing around in glee and Hermione looking taken aback.

"What's that all about?"

|:-:|

As it happened, Annika had just used her greater mental ability to 'see' what Hermione was going to wear. In short, she loved it. The periwinkle color she could see was met with approval.

Much approval – even if the others had to get out of the way of the celebratory mood the Short-Snout was apparently in.

Luna regarded her and remarked, "I wonder what she'll have in mind for me?"

Hermione thought that Luna had her dress picked out already, and was understandably confused.

"Why do you say that?"

"There has to be balance." She said nothing more, and Hermione noticed that Daphne and Tracey didn't have any more understanding than she did. They wondered what was going to happen next?

It couldn't be that bad.

Right?

Author's Note

This is going to be a somewhat long Author's Note. I'm so amused that it's hard to type right now. Read these 'reviews' for yourself before I comment. This is straight from my email – not from FFnet's page.

Story: Fudge Gets Told Off

Chapter: 1. Chapter 1

From: Guest

:Si a other unfinish stupidity You are real clown.

Story: Like Tenfold Shields

Chapter: 14. Remediations

From: Guest

:Not sure why this story only show good Review, most probable they not good one we're deleted. Anyway this got more borring with each chapter and not bettwr chapters. You can deleted every Review that don't Say it good but that Will not change they fact is borring and sliding to the Bad stories pura there.

Story: Like Tenfold Shields

Chapter: 35. Chills

From: Guest

:Not finish any of yours previus story is not any body fault, ot yours. Blaming life is an stupid as the cat eat My homework. It show why is borring and how You just ignore whatever You are doing to start other thing just because You get bored with it. As spected every body has to be blame except You. That Bad because people Will start reading Your stuff and get to an abandom story. Anyway your writing of this was really Bad and goes nower. And yes abandom too

My reply here?

Wow. Just… wow. Bad writing and Word is stroking out at the direct copy and paste I did here, begging me to let it try to fix the errors and sulking when I refused to let it? There are more Word-discovered errors in that maybe three-quarter (heh) page than ten chapters of whatever I've written when you discount the names I made up for this story. Erudite is not a word I'd use here and I'll leave to your discretion the proper word (or words) required.

I have to laugh. It reminds me of a Chihuahua puppy that's only just now learned how to bark. Having had several Chihuahua puppies, it seems the most fitting – especially when they barked at very confused Black Lab adults.

Insert confused large dog face meme here.

Yes, I have unfinished works… and I'm not the only one, which I've been told more than once. Also, I have notes for a follow-up to Fudge, which is completed despite what this… reviewer… seems to think.

My opinion is that unsigned guest reviews are a gateway to abuse which speak much more for those leaving them than who receives them, and I debated with myself in mentioning the various lifelong medical problems I have in reply. I've mentioned other not-medical stuff in past reviews that has gotten mostly better, just not 'fixed.' However, I don't feel it necessary as it will probably invite more abuse of the same maturity level as the above. Whoever left these 'reviews' sounds for all the world like an eight-year-old kid – if that.

Nothing against eight-year-old kids – I've known plenty of smarter kids of that age than me, and I ain't dumb.

I don't think I've deleted bad reviews, honestly. I'm pretty sure I haven't and I do remember responding to some with thanks for honest criticism. I don't quite remember at the moment, but abuse like this? Nope, not gonna happen. Not getting allowed.

There's more to a life than writing fanfiction. Sometimes, there's not enough time or desire or even energy to do it, and I'm not sure this guest has heard of the word 'priorities.' If not, then Life will soon correct that error and like the rest of us, probably at the most inopportune of moments. If not, then this one surely needs to sort out their own priorities.

Oh, well. Life runs toward death, as it does for us all. It's a matter of what the dash between the graven dates encompasses and stands for, and what we do with the time. I intend to greet Death as an old friend just as I did as a new friend too many times during my very premature birth, childhood, and young adulthood… just not for many years yet to come. No worries on that. Death has already had too many turns at the salad bar with me as it is, and can go wait a while. I'm not worried about the shine on the scythe's edge.

In fact, I submitted an essay for Chicken Soup for the Soul about that. They didn't accept it like they did the other one, but that's the way publishing goes – whether real or fanfic. I don't think I could include it here, unless maybe I put it on FictionPress or something. It wouldn't be 'fiction' though.

Until next time.