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Charlie adjusted his omnioculars to filter the setting sun. He made a few notes by dicto-quill and settled in to keep an eye on the 27 foot male. The first time Charlie observed Boomer, the purple-eyed Hebridean Black, was five years ago, only a few days after Charlie had been promoted to a Senior Researcher on the Romanian Dragon Reserve. He'd been assigned a small multi-national research team and told not to bollocks up the exchange program with the MacFustys because the Romanians had been trying to get people into the Hebrides for decades. Nothing like being under pressure to foster good relations, lead his first research team far away from the support of his mentor at the Romanian Reserve, and learn to deal with an aggressive young male dragon like Boomer to bring out the Weasley spirit.
Hebridean Blacks were extremely territorial, much more so than the Romanian Longhorns Charlie spent his first year researching and learning how to keep. The Blacks weren't as large as the Ukrainian Ironbellies and the smaller dragons flew much more gracefully. The shallow ridges and arrow-shaped tail spike of the Blacks were razor-sharp and could cut a dragon handler to ribbons. While the Blacks weren't considered as dangerous as the Hungarian Horntails, Charlie firmly believed that was only because the Hebridean variety of dragon wasn't interested in eating humans, unlike the Horntails and Chinese Fireballs.
Charlie Weasley's obvious delight in the dragons under the MacFusty's care, along with Charlie being one of the few to understand the heavy Scots MacFusty accent and get their jokes, had allowed him to make friends with the reclusive and close-knit clan during the five months his team spent in the Hebrides. It was that friendship that allowed Charlie access to MacFusty lands now. The Hebrides Islands Dragon Reserve wasn't under the Ministry of Magic's control because the land belonged to the MacFusty clan. Technically, the Ministry had jurisdiction over the creatures, but if they ever questioned the MacFusty claim to manage them, the dragons would have to be relocated. Considering the Blacks required fifty to a hundred square miles per dragon, relocation would be difficult even if the dragons cooperated, which was incredibly unlikely. Because the MacFustys guarded access to the Hebridean Blacks, few dragon handlers outside the managing clan could claim to have experience dealing with them.
Charlie Weasley was one of less than a handful of people in the world without the surname MacFusty qualified to keep the Hebridean Blacks. His continuing research when finally published would also make Charlie the sole living person who could claim experience in both keeping and researching the Hebridean Black. That was something that wouldn't mean anything to anyone other than himself, but it would also put him on the road toward another of his goals, which was to qualify in all the known species of dragon before he retired. Charlie thought he had a really good chance considering he'd made friends with a group of New Zealanders and had visited the Antipodean Opaleye Reservation on holiday and had an open invitation to return. The Opaleye Keepers promised to put in a word for him with the Peruvians who kept the Vipertooth, and often exchanged handlers with them, if he ever thought he could make it to South America. Charlie decided on a new goal, that once the Welsh Reserve was running properly and his research staff had been properly vetted and trained, he'd take a sabbatical and let his New Zealand mates make good on the offer.
Boomer made a move and Charlie's attention was riveted on his subject. The Hebridean Blacks came into season earlier than most species except the Norwegian Ridgebacks, and Boomer had been an aggressive breeder from his first mating flight five years ago. If Charlie's theory was right about Boomer and the other Blacks, it would improve both the viability of the eggs and gene pool of the species. As the sun faded below the horizon, Charlie swiftly packed his gear. Pulling the heat and fire resistant chain out from under the high collar of his Longhorn dragon hide jacket, Charlie found the MacFusty Portkey and activated it to take him back to their base. He needed a meal and had some information to share before he sought out the Hebridean female tomorrow after sunrise.