Archive of Our Own

Harry had sort of … forgotten what it was like to be afraid of his uncle. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but he’d still done it. He’d forgotten. The past two summers had been calmer than the first ten with his relatives because of suddenly having so many people supposedly invested in his well being. Only they weren’t really invested. Because three weeks after arriving back at Privet Drive after the tournament ended there had been nothing. No contact with the wizarding community outside of Harry getting the paper delivered directly to his room. And that was useless. They weren’t printing anything other than ‘all is well’, more or less. A kid died and they were brushing it off. They were brushing Cedric’s death off as if it was something minor. As if he were something minor. So Harry cancelled his subscription and maybe screamed his frustration a little too loudly. Because he was home alone with his uncle and the man made sure to let Harry know how he felt about being disturbed. 

The first hit was the only one that really hurt. After that it was like pressing on a bruise that he’d forgotten he had. Because he knew what this was like. His uncle would use his fists for a few minutes before he would get even more angry and then pull his belt off and use it. Harry wasn’t even able to snark at him that he was surprised belts that large existed for fear of biting his tongue off. It came through his thoughts, but thankfully not out of his mouth. His uncle was breathing heavily while Harry collapsed to the floor. He stayed in a ball as much as he could, but it was hard to do when he could feel his ribs grinding a bit and his right arm was definitely broken. His uncle’s breathing didn’t improve and he threw the belt at Harry.

“Put us out of our misery and just hang yourself already, you freak.” Uncle Vernon gasped before leaving, slamming the door behind him. Harry heard a few of the locks click, but not all of them, before there was a groan and a loud thud. Like his uncle had fallen down. Good. Let the man collapse from exhaustion. Harry was absolutely not killing himself. That was stupid. Just because he had a shit life didn’t mean he wanted it to end. Cedric had his life taken away, so the least Harry could do was suffer an asshole taking shots just because he was bigger. 

“Vernon!” Aunt Petunia’s shriek startled Harry awake. He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep. Nor that Hedwig was cuddled next to him on the floor. There was a lot of noise after that. Most of it was Aunt Petunia weeping or screeching. There were sirens that sounded like an ambulance and people talking quietly as they moved around outside Harry’s door. 

“Looks like a heart attack.” Someone said, and Harry guessed it was a medic of some kind. “Still has a pulse, so we’ll get him taken care of, ma’am.”

There was a lot of grunting as (presumably) his uncle was carted out, his aunt and cousin weeping all the way, until it was blissfully quiet again. Harry sighed and rested his head on the floor, intending to stay there for however long it took his head to stop spinning and he could get up without passing out. Except then the locks on the door rattled. Like someone was trying to get inside. Harry looked over and saw the flap being lifted up and a young woman’s head was looking through. She looked past Harry at first but when she was about to duck out Hedwig cooed, drawing her attention. Her eyes widened when she saw Harry. If he had to guess she probably just thought he was a pile of rags.

“I’m fine.” Harry croaked, stretching out a bit more. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Like hell I shouldn’t.” She hissed. “I’m getting you out of here.”

“Not without the keys.” Harry snorted. 

“Sure I will.” She grinned crookedly and Harry watched curiously as her hair shifted into a subtle bubblegum pink sort of color.

“You have magic.” Harry said dumbly.

“Oi, you’re observant.” She snorted, ducking back out of the flap and then the locks all clicked and the door opened. “Had to wait for them to clear out before I could come in. So. Want me to patch you up?”

“No.” Harry frowned at her. “I’ll be fine. I always heal quickly.”

“I’m sure.” She said darkly. “Only I can’t let child abuse go, I’m afraid. Even if I’m technically not meant to be here.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, biting his lip as she gently helped shift Harry into a sitting position instead of letting him stay laying flat on the floor. 

“I’m an Auror with the Ministry. But they aren’t the reason I was watching the house. There’s this group who got together during the last war; bunch of self-important, old school, pricks. They hold meetings about trying to spy on the Ministry and the Death Eaters about who’s doing what. That includes keeping an eye on you without telling you and without you finding out. Got distracted kicking a ball with one of the neighbor kids, I’m afraid, so I missed what happened. Not my finest moment.” She tapped her wand on Harry’s arm and he groaned as the bone snapped back the way it was meant to be. She gave him a slightly apologetic look and made a sling for him before cleaning up the blood from his nose and a cut by his eye. “What do you want to do?”

“Take a nap.” Harry said flatly. She rolled her eyes.

“I expected as much, but you can’t do that yet. Not with a probable concussion. So do you want to stay here? See if your aunt or cousin come back and take your uncle having a heart attack out on you? Or do you want to get out of here?”

“Don’t have anywhere else to go.” Harry scoffed.

“I’ve got a place. Or a friend, really. From what I hear, he once helped his youngest brother’s friends smuggle a dragon out of Hogwarts.” She grinned.

“You want me to go stay with Charlie Weasley?” Harry looked at her incredulously, which he felt was a fair look. 

“I’d prefer to send you to my mum, but she’s keeping tabs on the Order gits, and with Dumbledore and Snape around, both being legilimens, she won’t be able to hide that she knows anything.” The woman said softly. “She’s a bit out of practice with occluding.”

“Who even are you?” Harry asked, gritting his teeth as she guided him to standing.

“Tonks.” She said happily. “Full name is Nymphadora Tonks, but do not call me that. Mum’s family were weird with their names, so I just use my last name. Have done since I was in school.”

“Right. And how long ago was that?” Harry leaned back against the wall, trying to breathe normally. Standing pulled on the bruises that were already forming nicely.

“Only a few years. I graduated from Hogwarts the year before you started. Only been an Auror for about two years, technically, since I was in the Academy after that.” She hummed. “Look, you’ve been here long enough, the wards will stick fine without you present.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry frowned at her. She frowned back. “Look, pretend for a second that no one tells me shit other than I have to return here and stay here every summer, yeah?”

“There are wards that protect this house, as well as your family.” Tonks said a little irritatedly, her hair flashing a few different colors. “They were cast by your mum when she died. I don’t know much about them, the ones who know are keeping it hush, but because your aunt is your blood, that’s how you’re able to be protected from the magical community. They get reinvigorated each time you spend at least two weeks here. You’ve been here three and a half, by my count. So that’s all that’s needed. Look, let me get you somewhere safer than a home that beats you just because you exist, alright? I’ll even cast an illusion so they think you’re here now and then and just sulking in your room. Might be able to get through the rest of the summer without anyone catching on. Possibly. Or I’ll fuck up and someone’ll get through my shields and know in a week that I took you away.”

“Fine.” Harry sighed. “Fine, let’s get me to Charlie and just … figure shit out from there.”

“That’s the spirit.” Tonks smiled brightly at him. 

She helped get Harry’s things packed into his trunk, including Hedwig’s cage, before she was telling him to put his cloak on and they snuck out the back of the house. She even managed to lock the locks back that his uncle had gotten before he collapsed. She took Harry’s hand and apparated them without warning. His stomach rolled when they landed, but she kept him steady, somehow, before she was leading him to a motel of some sort. It was magical, too. She got a room and made Harry eat a bit before she told him to rest while she made sure she was at the house for the guard changeover and contacted Charlie. So she said, anyway. She also warded the room she got with far more spells than Harry thought was necessary.

Harry woke up after only a few short hours, gasping as he relived the nightmares of the tournament. He was so tired of not being able to sleep. He got up and decided to go through a shower, but when he was scrubbed clean from the scorching water (he wasn’t paying for it, he was absolutely going to make it as hot as he could stand, he found his old clothes were gone and new ones were sitting innocuously on the counter. He was surprised to find they fit mostly well. A lot better than Dudley’s old things, that was for certain. Tonks was sitting in the other room with another bloke when Harry finally left the washroom.

“We haven’t officially met, but I’m Charlie.” The bloke said, standing up and smiling at Harry. 

“Harry.” Harry nodded and shook his hand.

“Ready to go?” Charlie asked, looking at him for an answer. Harry blinked and looked at Tonks, but she only arched an eyebrow at him.

“Er, yeah.” Harry said carefully. “Where are we going?”

“The Preserve.” Charlie chuckled. “I’ve got a portkey for us already set up, you’ll stay in one of the bunks since we don’t really have alternate rooms, not exactly. But I think it’ll be good. Get you some fresh air and away from all this for a while. Tried telling mum and dad to do it, too, but they wouldn’t listen. Bill’s keeping an eye on them for me.”

“Bill’s back?” Harry was surprised. “What happened to Egypt?”

“He wanted to be closer since mum and dad refuse to leave Britain. Which makes sense. They still have the twins and Ron and Ginny in school.” Charlie shrugged. “He’s working directly with Gringotts now. Good pay, good work. Helps that he’s got a thing with one of their new hires.”

“I don’t have the spoons for gossip right now.” Harry said flatly, fighting a grin when Charlie laughed and even Tonks chuckled. “I guess let’s get on and see how long it takes anyone to realize I’m not where they think I am.”

“I can tell you Norberta will be excited to see you, though maybe not as excited as she would be to see Hagrid. And I’ll try to keep you away from the fellows who were used for the tournament as much as I can. It’s a big preserve, so I doubt it’ll be much of an issue.” Charlie said reassuringly. Harry honestly didn’t care at this point. The dragons were not the scariest thing Harry encountered in the tasks. Tonks helped get Charlie all of Harry’s things and then they were off and walking through a maze of alleyways before they stopped. 

“I’ll let you know through Charlie what’s going on.” Tonks smiled at him. “Be good, and maybe I’ll see you when it’s time to get on the train.”

“Or maybe staying in Romania will trigger him being transferred to Durmstrang.” Charlie pitched in. Harry tilted his head.

“You think?” Harry asked interestedly. 

“It’s possible.” Charlie shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see, yeah? Ready? Ok, take hold of this, you know the drill.”

“See you boys!” Tonks called after them as the portkey activated and Harry and Charlie were whisked away before landing in a field. 

“Let’s get you registered and settled in.” Charlie said, guiding Harry by his shoulder toward an open area. They walked through a ward and Harry knew his eyes had to be huge as he took in the massive encampment. It was basically a small city all on its own, hidden away.

“How much am I going to owe you for this?” Harry asked quietly, sticking close to Charlie’s side as they walked past a few crowds of people.

“Nothing.” Charlie snorted. “You brought us a rescued dragon, one who was endangered and has since reproduced. I know it was you who thought to contact me, Ron said as much in his letter all those years ago. Everyone here knows you’re responsible for a rescue. Now, if you think we’re still doing all this for free, you’d be wrong. We’ll get you linked up with our new guys so you can get introduced, same as them.”

“That might be alright.” Harry admitted reluctantly. “You really won’t tell your family that I’m here?”

“No reason to.” Charlie shrugged. “Well, aside from maybe the twins. And Bill once he figures it out, because if anyone is going to it’ll be him.”

“It’s not gonna bother you to lie to them?”

“Not gonna be lying.” Charlie grinned crookedly as they arrived at a building in the middle. “If they don’t ask, I don’t have to speculate or tell them anything. I’m all the way out here, so they aren’t going to think I know anything anyway. The portkey we got was registered to the preserve and it was marked as being used to pick up a new intern. So even if anyone investigates it, we have people here all around that it could apply to. We got back at the same time as the actual interns, so it’s technically true but also not.”

“Lie by omission.” Harry muttered, shrugging bashfully when Charlie laughed, apparently amused that Harry knew what they were. “I’m … pretty adept at those. Not that anyone knows as much.”

“If they did, that’s when I’d be worried.” Charlie put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him to his side and slipped them through the small crowded room to get to an office. “It’s a handy skill to have. Alright, just fill everything out to the best of your ability, then we’ll get your room assignment.”

“Everyone’s going to know who I am.” Harry whispered as they got into the office Charlie had been guiding them to.

“Nothing to really do about that, I’m afraid.” Harry looked up at the new voice. It was a bloke that was older than Charlie and had a few more scars. “You’re going to have some whispers, but they shouldn’t last more than a day. After that they should all be too busy to gossip. And by then they’ll be more interested in how you do with the dragons over who you are. We will need to do a medical scan as part of your orientation, but it’s surface level. We need to have your current condition documented so that if and when you are injured we are able to treat it accurately.”

“Harry, this is Jefferson. He runs the preserve for us Brits. There are different sections for different folks, depending how many languages someone knows. I tend to float between where you’ll be and the Romanian camp. Might not be a bad idea to bug one of the other interns for some language lessons. Just in case.”

“Yeah, couldn’t hurt.” Harry nodded. “Erm, thanks for, er, letting me in the program. Even though I didn’t apply.”

“We usually keep a spot reserved for each of our current employees for if they have a sibling or cousin who wants to see what all we do for a summer.” Jefferson shrugged. “Here’s your intake paperwork. We like to have full legal names, as a side note, though we will use whatever nickname you either attain or choose.”

“Oh.” Harry blinked down at the paperwork. “I- you know no one’s ever asked me that before.”

“You can tell us if you want.” Charlie shrugged. “Otherwise you can just write it out and we can keep calling you Harry.”

“It’s probably easier to remember that, over calling for Harrison. Haven’t been called that in a really long time, so I may not even look up.” Harry said quietly. “I’m not really picky, though. Maybe I’ll get a new one while here.”

“We can call you Harrison or even Potter, for now.” Jefferson said understandingly. “A lot of folks go by their surnames until they have a nickname or even indefinitely.”

“Yeah, just Potter for now is fine.” Harry nodded. 

He filled in everything he could, but there were a lot of blank spots. Particularly family history. He just didn’t know any of it. He could perfectly recall first broken bones and scars and other identifying markers about his body, but nothing about illnesses or genetic traits that may or may not have been passed on. Hopefully that could all be figured out with the medical scan he was meant to do. The referral bit was easy. He put both Charlie and Tonks down since they’d both colluded to get him there. When he handed it back, Jefferson accepted it and looked it over before setting it in his inbox. 

Charlie hung around until someone came by telling him one of the dragons needed him. He gave Harry an apologetic look before taking off and letting Harry figure things out on his own with the other half a dozen newly arrived interns. He didn’t particularly try to stand on his own, away from them, but he really didn’t want to jostle any of his new bruises. They were still really tender and he knew he’d hiss or clench his jaw and draw attention to them if so. Thankfully, everyone else seemed just as nervous to be there, so they kept to themselves, too. There was an odd sort of orientation video that played, but mostly it was just saying to listen to the dragon wranglers, don’t wander toward a nest without a wrangler, don’t sneak out to the nests at night, don’t leave the bunkhouse without your assigned mentor, and above all, don’t go near Emrys’ cave. That one made Harry curious, unfortunately. What the hell was Emrys’ cave? And why shouldn’t they go near it? It felt an awful lot like the warning Harry’s first year to not go to the third floor corridor. 

Then everyone had to line up to get their medical scans. They were going to be done in an office, which was nice. There wasn’t going to be anyone seeing Harry’s and wondering why he had so many injuries other than the people working there. When it was his turn, he walked in and found a wizard who was filing something away before looking up and giving him a smile. 

“Alright, promise this won’t hurt a bit. I’m Gunther, I’ll be your medi-wizard while you’re here for the next few weeks. So. First things first; how current is your glasses prescription, and if you play quidditch, what position?”

“Oh, er,” Harry scratched his head, “I- I didn’t know, erm, that- that glasses updated.” Harry said bashfully, his face feeling warm. “I’ve had these since I was about six or seven. And I’m a Seeker. Past four years.”

“Excellent.” Gunther nodded. “Not to worry, you aren’t the first, and most likely will not be the last to come through unaware that prescriptions in glasses change annually, typically. I’ll do a quick scan, and if these are good, we’ll leave them be. If not, we’ll get a new set made. I’ve got the materials, so it won’t be a problem. As a Seeker, how many times have you been hit with a bludger, would you say?”

“Maybe twice?” Harry frowned. “I’m pretty good at staying away from them. But we had one my second year at Hogwarts that was enchanted and wouldn’t leave me alone. Broke my arm, but we had an idiot on staff who managed to vanish my broken bones, meaning I had to have them regrown.”

“At least the bone will be stronger.” The man snorted. “Guessing the idiot thought he was amazing at every type of magic, yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” Harry nodded. “Also, er, not sure if it’s relevant, probably is, but erm …”

“Yes?” 

“I may or may not have been bitten by a thousand year old basilisk.” Harry said cautiously. “And it may or may not have been healed by phoenix tears.”

“Really?” Gunther asked, looking intrigued, not put-off. “Fascinating. If you agree, I can run some tests on your blood to see if any of the venom or tears remain?”

“Why’s that matter?”

“If either one is still present, and if you were bitten or nicked by a dragon tooth, which can be venomous, it would affect the antidote we give you.” Gunther explained. 

“Oh. So long as that’s all it’s used for, then, sure.” Harry nodded.

“Good lad. Right, hold still while I scan your eyes and then do the overall scan while the potentially new glasses are setting.” Gunther held up his wand and Harry pulled his glasses off. It really just felt like a bright light shining in each eye for a second, before the man was looking at the glasses and tutting before doing something where Harry couldn’t see. Not without his glasses. “Those are going, now let’s do this scan and we’ll have you out of here in a titch.” Harry felt the magic almost like it was just a light rain misting over his body. It tingled and felt a bit weird, but not bad. He could hear the sound of a quill scribbling notes out before new glasses were placed on his face. Harry reached up and readjusted them, surprised by how much clearer things were. “The vial of blood is fairly simple and won’t even require a prick like muggle means usually do.”

“Alright.” Harry nodded and held out his hand. He wasn’t surprised when Gunther pushed his long sleeve up a bit. He wasn’t surprised when Gunther was obviously frowning at the bruises he saw. He was a little surprised that when the little vial was pressed against his skin it filled quickly and, as he was told, there wasn’t a trace it happened at all. “Wicked.”

“Magical medicine is pretty fascinating if I do say so myself.” Gunther agreed with a slightly strained smile.

“Should- should I have warned you?” Harry asked hesitantly, feeling his body go slightly stiff at the idea of talking about what happened.

“No, it’ll be in the scan.” He waved over to the parchment that was still recording. “Depending what I find, though, I may ask that you come back so I can correct a few things. Get you some bruise balm, fix any wrongly healed breaks, that sort of thing. Otherwise that is it. How do the glasses feel?”

“Good.” Harry nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, really good. I didn’t realize things were meant to be that much clearer.”

“They’re magical lenses, so they’re designed to withstand an awful lot. But if they get knocked off, and a dragon steps on them, you will need new ones.” Gunther pointed at him before handing him a candy. “Head on out and see where your assigned mentor and bunk is.”

“Thanks.” Harry tipped him a salute and headed out of the office. He bit his lip when he heard cursing in what he suspected was an Eastern European language and a glass of some kind break.

It didn’t take long to find the other interns and get a set of clothing meant to be worn while working closely with the dragons as well as a booklet of the various dragons they were going to be working with, some of their attributes, and their names and primary handlers. A few of the other kids looked a little green, a few looked worried, but only one other than Harry looked unfazed by it all. 

He slept a little fitfully that night, but he had all summer, so that wasn’t a surprise. Breakfast was very early in the morning, and the adults were throwing back extra caffeinated tea or coffee like it was nothing. Harry didn’t eat half as much as the other interns, but the only one who seemed to notice was Charlie, who was watching him. He gave Harry a wink, though, and a nod of encouragement. Harry suspected that meant he was doing alright and not to overdo it. Apparently it wasn’t unknown to all the Weasleys that Harry barely got fed over the summers. It hadn’t been that bad this current summer, but he also got nauseous enough that it didn’t matter that he only ate sparingly. 

The time sort of flew by after that first day. Harry got entrenched with the wranglers and handlers and just … he was honestly having a fantastic time. His bruises faded quickly, like they always did, his appetite eventually started improving, even if he was still barely eating half as much as the others around him. And he’d learned something pretty cool, actually. Some of the dragons could understand Parsel-tongue. To a degree, anyway. One of the handlers told Harry it was similar to the dragon language that was once spoken. Some thousands of years back there was actually a race of people that were called dragonlords, and they were gifted with the ability to converse with dragons, command them if necessary, the same as Harry was able to speak with and command snakes.

He wanted to know SO much more.

The problem was that no one could tell him anything. No one knew because the last dragonlord was rumored to have disappeared around the time of Merlin and King Arthur. It was a bit disappointing, but Harry wasn’t going to give up. There had to be a record of something somewhere. And if not a record, then maybe one of the dragons knew? Charlie had had to come collect Harry a few times when it was getting dark because he was talking with the dragons and adjusting his tone and inflection on some of his Parsel-tongue words and able to communicate with the creatures. 

One night, when the heat of the day had been insanely oppressive, a storm started brewing. The day leading up to the major portion of the storm hitting was spent fortifying the nests and ensuring the eggs that hadn’t hatched were protected. Harry had to tell all the babies to stay put, because they’d all decided they liked him and were constantly trying to cuddle with him like he was their teddy or something. It was cute, but it was also dangerous because they were still dragons with claws and massive teeth. Not to mention because they were babies they were prone to snorting fire in their sleep. 

He hadn’t noticed that he’d been working and getting closer and closer to Emrys’ cave. The place that was forbidden for them to be around. He was just trying to get the last few eggs protected when one rolled away. Harry took off after it just as the storm let loose. He slipped on the wet ground before falling and managing to catch the egg and hold it protectively to his chest. When the thunder boomed and lightning streaked across the sky, Harry felt his heart beat faster. Because it was red lightning. He tried to breathe, but all he could do was try not to shake too much as the lightning flashed again and he felt his body ache in remembrance of the curses he took. 

“Breathe, boy.” A deep, gentle voice said, before a man hidden in a cloak appeared in his line of sight. “Come on, it’s just a little storm. Can’t hurt you.”

“Says you.” Harry managed to gasp out, still hugging the egg close to his body. 

“Aye.” The man chuckled. “So says me. Tell you what, you feel the egg, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Harry said, gripping it close to his chest.

“Feel the ridges of the shell, the veins and bumps,” Harry absently rubbed his fingers along the shell. “Good, that’s really good. Now, when you’re feeling those bumps, think about what that’s protecting. Just under that shell is life. Breathing, heartbeating, sleeping life.” Harry almost could swear he felt the warmth of the creature inside brush against the shell where his fingers were. “He trusts you. He trusts you to keep him safe right now. Until you can get him back to his nest.”

“He does?” Harry’s voice cracked.

“Yes.” The man chuckled. “Think you can stand, now?”

“Might have twisted something when I fell.” Harry said, his left ankle feeling stiff. 

“I’d be rather surprised if you hadn’t.” The man hummed. “I can help you up, but I’ll have to touch you.” Harry stiffened again. “Didn’t think you’d want that from what I’ve seen of you.”

“Have you been watching me?” Harry asked incredulously.

“I watch all the interns and handlers.” The man agreed. “Keeping an eye out for potential. I saw it for the first time in … too long. With you.”

“You’re talking in riddles.” Harry said, licking his lips and tasting the rain, finally feeling his body relax a bit and his heart calm down. “I hate fucking riddles.”

“Me too.” The man laughed brightly. “Bad habit I sort of fall into when I actually interact with the dragons. You see, I went a long time thinking they were all gone. All dead. Extinct. And then I felt it again. The magic of the dragons. So I made my way here. Found they weren’t all gone, just … evolved. They no longer need a dragonlord to hatch. They can hatch on their own.”

“You know about the dragonlords?” Harry asked excitedly. “I’ve been trying to ask about them since I found out what they were. The dragons haven’t been able to tell me much.”

“They can’t tell you anything.” The man grinned. It was odd that Harry could see part of his face. “They’ve been commanded not to reveal anything of the nature of a dragonlord to anyone. If you can make it under some cover, maybe I can tell you a bit?”

“I can … try.” Harry said reluctantly, sitting up carefully. He didn’t slide anymore, so that was positive. He carefully got to his feet, stumbling a little, but managing not to flinch when the man steadied Harry as he kept his hands on the egg. They made it inside the cave and Harry let out a breath of relief at the noise and lights of the storm being slightly muffled. The man guided Harry to a comfortable looking chair and helped him sit before turning and pulling his cloak off and hanging it up. He shook his hair out and turned around, smiling at Harry. He was probably around the same age as Charlie, maybe Bill. He had dark hair that was curling slightly from the rain and stubble that matched along his jaw. His eyes were a bright blue and he was fairly tall. 

“So. What brought you out to the preserve?” He asked curiously as he sat in a chair opposite Harry, waving his hand a bit and Harry felt much drier, thankfully. 

“A friend.” Harry said, lowering the egg a bit so it was more in his lap. 

“You don’t want to talk about it?” The man asked, looking a little confused. “Most people just start talking non stop when they end up in my cave.”

“Your cave?” Harry frowned. “The orientation shit said this was called Emrys’ cave.”

“That’s a name I’ve gone by now and then.” The man chuckled. “If I give you a name, will you be able to call me it without making jokes?”

“You didn’t laugh at me falling on my ass because I was scared of the storm, as a teenager, so I doubt I’ll laugh at your name or joke about it.” Harry said flatly. 

“Call me Merlin.” The man said with a small smile.

“Hello, Merlin. I’m Harrison. Harrison Potter. Most people call me Harry.” Harry said with a nod. “Well, they call me Harry or Potter. I sort of don’t have a nickname yet. I thought I’d have one by now, in complete honesty.”

“You do, you just don’t understand it.” Merlin chuckled. “I hear the dragons call you many things, but all variations of ‘lost son’. Most of the workers call you ‘prodigy’ or ‘dragon-whisperer’. They’re all fascinated by you.”

“I’m nothing special.” Harry said quietly, focusing on rubbing the egg soothingly. 

“I think that’s subjective.” Merlin argued. “I never thought I was anything special, either. But we aren’t the best judges of what that means to other people. To ourselves, we’re just us. We can’t fathom being special for any reason. We’re never going to see what others see. I can’t say you are or aren’t special. I can say I find you interesting. How old are you, anyway?”

“Fourteen.” Harry said sheepishly. “I’ll be 15 in a few days.”

“Are you excited? Planning to celebrate?”

“No, I’ve never celebrated.” Harry snorted, shaking his head lightly. “I’ve gotten some letters and a few gifts basically at midnight the past couple years, since I started school and made some friends, but all I usually do is draw a cake in dust and blow it away when midnight hits.”

“Sounds like a nice little tradition you have for yourself.” Merlin said with a small smile. 

“My … my family doesn’t particularly like me. I’ve always had to just celebrate on my own. I don’t mind it, but it’s been nice the past few years having someone remember and let me know they were thinking about me. I don’t expect that this year, though. I hadn’t heard from them for weeks already before Tonks rescued me- I mean-” Harry looked at Merlin in a little alarm at what had slipped out.

“I could say I understand, but I didn’t really have anyone do anything like that for me when I was your age. When I was the age of maturity for most wizards of present day, is when my mother sent me to her uncle to train and learn. Too many unknown things were happening around me and it was starting to be noticed.”

“How’d you make it to 17 without it drawing attention?” Harry frowned. “I was having all sorts of incidents for years before starting at school.”

“Different time.” Merlin grinned a little sadly. “Suffice it to say I’m much older than I look.”

“Ok, sure, why not.” Harry shrugged. “But you’re basically saying you were unable to learn any sort of control until you were an adult. Didn’t it bother you? That you weren’t able to learn or focus or anything?”

“It did.” Merlin laughed, looking surprised by the question. “Gods, it bothered me so much. But I did learn, eventually, and I taught myself. My mother really was trying to help me, but there was only so much she could do. She wasn’t magical so she basically taught me minor healing and I taught myself some slight control before moving with my uncle. He gave me books so I studied and just … taught myself.”

“I did that a lot last year.” Harry perked up. “We had this massive tournament, and I didn’t enter, I swear, I swore to everyone I hadn’t, but I was signed up and forced to compete. So I spent the year teaching myself a lot of defensive magic.”

“It’s rough isn’t it? I had to practice so much and there were a lot of times I didn’t get it right until the moment I didn’t have a choice BUT to get it right.” Merlin nodded.

“Right?!” Harry said, excitedly. No one ever understood that before. “Like, when I was first learning the Patronus, I didn’t get it corporeal until I was suddenly forced to either get it right and save my godfather or just … let him die. And then last year, with the tournament, I had to figure out shields, summoning, even dueling.”

“You made it out though. Made it through, survived.” Merlin said encouragingly. “That counts for something. For your determination.”

“Doesn’t feel like I made it out most days.” Harry said quietly.

“Never does.” Merlin nodded, looking sadder. “You lose part of yourself in the battle, the fight, and have to figure out how to keep going without that part of you. Might be safe to go back out now. I’m sure the others are looking for you.”

“Oh.” Harry looked and saw the storm was basically gone. “I hadn’t noticed it was over.”

“Before you go, I’d like to share a sort of … trade secret.” Merlin smirked.

“What do you mean?” Harry tilted his head curiously.

“Dragonlords used to be the only ones a dragon would hatch for. They’d hold or touch the egg and give the creature a name, calling it forth from within the egg. The name spoken by a dragonlord is what got them to hatch.” Merlin reached a hand out, but he didn’t reach for the egg. He instead took Harry’s hand and placed it directly under the egg so it was sitting in his palm. “The method of hatching dragons has evolved, as I’m sure you’ve seen, so that the most important thing needed is heat. Fire.”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “Hagrid- our groundskeeper and one of our teachers, he had his egg, Norberta, actually, in the fire to hatch.”

“Exactly.” Merlin smiled. “Right, so, you know you aren’t a dragonlord, but you are similar enough with your snake related abilities.”

“You know about that?” Harry asked in shock.

“I told you.” Merlin laughed. “I hear the others talk about you. Now. Have you ever made fire?”

“I mean, with my wand, sure.” Harry agreed.

“What I want you to try doing over the next few days is making it with your palm. Like this,” Merlin held his hand, palm up and looked at Harry, “forbaernen."

“Whoa.” Harry whispered, feeling awestruck as Merlin’s eyes glowed golden and a tiny flame appeared in his hand. “That’s wandless magic.”

“All magic was once wandless.” Merlin chuckled, letting the flames dance in his palm. “Wands were developed to help others access it more easily. I never got the hang of using a wand. I’ve used a staff now and again, but not a wand. You have some of this ability within you. It’s what allows you to speak with snakes without needing a wand to do so. I want you to practice it. See if you can manage it.”

“I can try.” Harry agreed. “You think I could really do that? That I could help hatch an egg?”

“I do.” Merlin smiled, letting the flames dissipate. “I’ll write out the spell, if you want, but it’s only one word.”

“I remember it.” Harry shook his head, surprised that his ankle didn’t hurt when he got to his feet. 

“Let’s see who might be looking this way for you, shall we?” Merlin suggested, grabbing his cloak once more.

“You don’t want them to see you.” Harry said curiously.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter if they do or not.” Merlin shrugged, but still pulled it on and covered his head. “But I’m not quite ready for it. Maybe one day.”

“Thank you.” Harry said gratefully.

“Thank me when you hatch your first dragon.” Merlin inclined his head for Harry to follow him outside again. Sure enough, there were a few people calling his name a little ways off. Merlin walked him closer and let out a whistle. 

“Harry!” Charlie shouted, rushing over.

“I’m alright. We both are.” Harry said, indicating the egg as Charlie started looking him over. “Just … got a little washed away.”

“You left your cave.” Charlie said curiously, looking at Merlin, even though his face was hidden. “Thank you, Emrys. You’ve no idea what this means to me.”

“I’ve some idea.” Merlin chuckled. “Go on then. I’ll be watching, young man. I want to see if you can do it or not. Get back to the others. Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.” Harry smiled, tapping the egg before Merlin turned back to his cave.

“I can’t believe he left his cave. He never leaves it.” Charlie said, guiding Harry further into the actual preserve. “Why don’t we put this one back where he came from, eh?”

“Probably best.” Harry sighed. “I’m sure his mum is worried.”

“Speaking of,” Charlie ducked under a tail that swung his way before Harry was swept up into the massive chest of the dragon whose egg he’d been protecting. 

“We’re fine!” Harry grunted, but the dragon still carried Harry and the egg back to her nest and dropped them in the middle. He spoke softly in Parsel-tongue, doing his best to reassure the Chinese fireball, because of course that’s the one he saved, that they were fine. She eventually relaxed and let Harry out of the nest with him having to make several promises that he’d check on her over the next few days. She eventually picked him up by his shirt with her teeth and set him down outside of the nest. The handlers waited a safe distance away, but as soon as he was in arm’s reach again, they hurried him off to be checked over by a medi-wizard. 

The word Merlin spoke was sort of floating in his head after he was allowed to go to bed. He’d never heard it before, and it wasn’t what Hermione used to make her little fires. It felt like an old word, too. It made him curious about when and how spells were created. He’d see if he could do some independent study with theory when he got to school. Because Divination wasn’t going to help him, he didn’t have any sort of ‘sight’. And after working with dragon wranglers and handlers he was hopeful for a good Care of Magical Creatures course. He’d mostly only enjoyed it before because he liked spending time with Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid. At this point he’d still like to have that time with Hagrid, but he wanted to know more about the animals, too. 

Every day that week, Harry went back to the Chinese Fireball, Mai-Lin, and she allowed him to hold the egg. Well. She more or less pushed it into his hands and basically told him he was in charge of that one. So Harry would hold it, talk to it, and he would hold his hand out and try the spell. Nothing worked those first few days, which didn’t surprise him. It had taken him a while to get a lot of spells. The Patronus had taken weeks to get right. And that was done with his wand as a conduit. He got a flicker toward the end of the week, along with a bit of smoke. 

When his birthday came, he didn’t tell anyone. Not that they needed to know, most magical people knew when it was. They didn’t bother him about it or about if he wanted a party or anything. Which was good because he didn’t. He was a little surprised when Charlie came and got him close to midnight and brought him outside. He wasn’t sure why until they walked into the Preserve, where the nests were, a place they were all told not to go to at night, and the dragons were all awake and grumbling or actually roaring at seeing him there. They were happy, so it wasn’t a bad grumbling, just a lot of noise, really.

“Can’t explain it, but someone left a note that you should have a party.” Charlie grinned. “These guys were pretty excited when they heard, so they wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

“You know that’s insane, right?” Harry asked with a laugh. “The dragons wanted to wish me a happy birthday?”

“Emrys doesn’t generally leave his cave. And he never communicates with us unless it’s something extremely important. So when he asked that we allow you to visit for your usual private midnight celebration, we weren’t going to question it or risk his bad mood.” Charlie shrugged. “Go on, then. Go see what they want to do for you.” Charlie nudged Harry toward the dragons and Harry couldn’t help smiling as he got closer. He was given shed fangs and scales, and even a few tail spikes from the various dragons before he reached Mai-Lin. All her eggs were hatched but one, so the babies were just watching him. Harry sat down and accepted the egg that Mai-Lin pushed toward him with her nose. He put his hands under it and smiled at it. 

“Forbaernen.” Harry said quietly, and he felt the warmth in his hands where they were pressed against the shell. He’d done it. He’d done the fire spell that Merlin had taught him. He watched in awe as the shell cracked and he felt the egg move, telling him the dragon wanted out. It took a little while, but Harry waited patiently while the dragon pushed its way out of the egg, finally breaking free with a hard shove of its tail. It took a little resituating as the shell fell away and the dragon twisted around until he could see Harry. “Hello, Baernen.” The dragon let out the most adorable little roar and looked rather happy with his name.

“Well done.” Merlin said, joining him and startling Charlie who had been watching Harry and hadn’t seen the other man approach. Merlin just sat next to Harry and reached out, smiling as the dragon rubbed against his finger. “I think he’ll be quite special. He’s the first to hatch in many years by being named.”

“He’s gonna be a menace.” Harry said proudly, smiling as Merlin laughed brightly. 

“Aye, that he is. But in the best way.” Merlin said, still chuckling as the other babies came over and jumped on him. “The tricky part will be when you leave for school again. He’ll act out and be a brat, maybe even try to follow you. Which would be fine if they didn’t grow so fast.”

“This is actually a … pretty damn good birthday.” Harry admitted, snickering as Baernen crawled up Harry’s arm and perched himself on his shoulder, looking quite proud of where he was. Like he was some kind of king or something.

“You’ve been out more.” Charlie said, sitting on Harry’s other side. 

“Is that a question?” Merlin asked, not really looking at Charlie.

“Just a curiosity.” Charlie stated. “I remember when I first came here, hearing about your cave, wondering what or who you were. And then time went on, and I spent my days worrying over these wonderful creatures. People have come and gone, started here and retired, but you’re still here. And you look the same as you did the day I came in.”

“Aging doesn’t agree with me.” Merlin said, sounding like he was amused at his own phrasing. “Once upon a time, magic was a closely guarded secret. In many countries it was outlawed and incurred a death sentence. The people of that time did not realize that someone was born with magic. To them it was a choice. It took many years for magic to be seen for what it truly was. For the gift it represented. And even then, there was only so much that could be done to assuage the fear associated with it. I grew tired of the politics of it all. Of one person saying it was a choice, that someone born with a gift could choose to ignore it and never use it for anything, or another saying there were methods to strip someone of magic, talking about the process as if it weren’t inhumane. As if it wouldn’t cause a person to die a slow death because part of the soul was so affected and damaged. I found some kids when everyone I cared about passed on and the world we’d known was long gone. I took them in, tried to teach them what I could, even if the fear around magic persisted. They came up with a plan to hide it away, though. To create a place where others could learn, study, and become proficient enough to remain hidden.”

“Like a secret society.” Harry said understandingly.

“I spent so much of my life at that point hiding, it made me angry.” Merlin admitted. “I loved the children I took in like they were mine. But they weren’t. They took what I taught them and created a space for others like them. They butted heads like most siblings do, they disagreed on various things, but the main thing they all agreed on was that magic was special and that the world just wasn’t ready for it yet. Maybe in time it would be, but it wasn’t. I stayed nearby for a while, just being there if they needed a listening ear or their father figure, since that was what they equated me with. I can’t say I was surprised they eventually disagreed enough that one of them left their haven. He was a good boy, but he was … he was too much like me and maybe a bit like … like Morgana.”

“Morgana.” Harry whispered. “I heard she was a brilliant witch, but that she went rather dark.”

“She did.” Merlin sighed heavily. “She was angry, even more angry than I ever was, and she took it out on anyone who didn’t have magic, even some of those who did. If they weren’t with her, she took that to mean they were against her. Sal was a lot like that. He wanted magic to be known for how special it was. He wanted people to see. After time, though, he figured it was safer for people not to know. He wanted those within the community to be the only ones allowed. It wasn’t his fault, he just- he was the youngest, you know? He remembered the horrors he and his brother and sisters escaped from after he was attacked when he was older. It brought all the worst memories forward for him and he wanted those admitted to their haven to have come from other magical families. He came to see me when he was leaving. Said he couldn’t just sit there in his office, teaching kids that came through, hoping they’d return the next year and having his heart broken when they didn’t because they had to run or were killed for their gifts. All because they didn’t live in a solely magical community.”

“I can’t even imagine that.” Harry said softly, stroking a finger along Baernen’s wing. 

“Can’t you, though?” Merlin asked, looking at him. 

“What do you mean?” Harry frowned at him.

“Charlie Weasley comes from an all magical family, as do many who come here. He’s known this has existed all his life and has never interacted with the nonmagical world, not really. He’s never personally known the bias or hate or disgust that can come from a supposed family member for the way he was born.” Merlin said certainly.

“So?” Harry looked away from both Merlin and didn’t look at Charlie. “Its just the way things are, he got lucky.”

“You are one example of why Sal wanted magic to be kept secret.” Merlin stated. “Your parents were magical, even if your mum was like me and her parents weren’t. My mother wasn’t magical, and my father was the last dragonlord.”

“He what?” Harry snapped his eyes up to Merlin. That meant the Merlin beside him was THE Merlin. The famed sorcerer who worked alongside King Arthur. It also meant when he said ‘Sal’, he was talking about none other than Salazaar Slytherin. He was talking about the founders of Hogwarts like they were his children.

“If the others would have listened to Sal, would have even taken his suggestion and thought logically about it, not emotionally, kids like you would have been fostered in a magical family to keep you and them safe until you were old enough to have the necessary control. But the others had more faith in humanity than he did and said everything would be fine. That kids could learn about magic and go back to their nonmagical families and keep it secret. Do you know when it was safe for that to actually happen?”

“Sometime in the 1800s.” Charlie spoke up.

“Which means the school had existed for 400 years, at least, before that was even an option. Sal, Rowena, Godric, Helga, they never got to see what their dreams led to. Sal never would have expected his house would be shunned or treated poorly just because they had different perspectives. Godric was so much like Arthur that as they grew older I found it harder and harder to be around him. Rowena was her own person. She prided herself on her logic, but she let that pride cloud her emotional judgment. Helga was sweet. She was Rowena’s opposite. She thought with her emotions over logic. She was optimistic that magic would be cherished. I loved her optimism. She reminded me of my first friend I made when I moved to live with mum’s uncle. Gwen. Unendingly kind, devious when pushed, and never forgetting how much they all struggled before they gained any sort of reputation.”

“Sorry you lost them.” Harry said gently.

“It was a long time ago.” Merlin said with a morose tone. “The point is, you have seen what it’s like for those born with their gifts, what they experience when left with a nonmagical family. You steered clear of most people when you arrived at the Preserve, not getting close enough to be bumped into or jostled. You ate less, not because you wanted to but because you learned what it was like to go without, you know what that feels like. You could easily have been like Sal or Morgana and grown bitter that no one was listening to what you weren’t saying. You think logically like they and even Rowena often did. But you care like Helga and you are courageous and brave like Godric. You’re a conundrum to me, Harry Potter.” Harry snorted, but Merlin only grinned slightly. “And here you are, celebrating another year of life and bringing new life into the world. And doing so in a way that hasn’t been done since I was around Charlie’s age.”

“Yes, well, you have to like something about the modern world.” Harry said curiously. “Indoor plumbing, cinema, chips.”

“All good things.” Merlin laughed. “I bought an automobile once. Learned how to use it, traveled a bit that way. Things just kept advancing at a rate I wasn’t prepared for. It was like once humans figured something out, they had to do it. They had to push boundaries and see how far they could go. I’m curious about telephones and computers, if I’m being honest. They sound fantastic.”

“My cousin broke his computer and I like to fiddle with it, play the games he gave up on when he broke it. It’s a nice distraction. For a while. And the books, you have to enjoy the different types of books available now.”

“Literature.” Merlin huffed. “Books were once only used to pass on knowledge, skills, things like that that needed written instructions. Now there are books being written about someone’s life, about fictional characters, all of it. I do enjoy the maps, though, I suppose. And the medical books are quite helpful, looking back on the number of illnesses I’ve seen crop up over the years. It’s all rather overwhelming some days.”

“Which is probably why you hide away in a cave.” Harry said. “Have you visited Hogwarts? Since your kids passed, I mean.”

“Have I visited a place imbued with the magic of children I raised and survived?” Merlin arched an eyebrow at him. Harry just shrugged. “I think going there now would be healing in a way but also would pull at the scar left behind by their memory.”

“So you’d rather be the grumpy bloke who lives in a cave surrounded by dragons like a crazy cat person?” Harry asked, unsurprised when Merlin gave him a slight shove, making him laugh. “Just saying. Maybe at least leave and visit the people who work here more often. Visit Britain again at some point. You don’t have to go to the school if it’s still too hard, but you should at least see London. When was the last time you were there?”

“Probably before the …” Merlin frowned and tilted his head, “maybe the first world war? I spent most of the second one firmly in Ireland. Wide open spaces, no one bothering me aside from the occasional trip I had to make into town for supplies I couldn’t grow or make on my own.”

“Yeah, you’ll get a kick out of it now.” Harry snorted. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it myself. More than just the normal passing through to get to the train, I mean. I don’t generally get out of Surrey.”

“What was your family usually like, Harry?” Charlie asked quietly.

“Well.” Harry blew out a heavy breath. “I guess … it’s hard to verbalize. They never liked me, never even pretended to. They made sure I understood that I wasn’t one of them quite early on. My name was Potter, they were Durselys, so I’d always be separate. I’m generally uncomfortable with affectionate gestures like hugs because I never got them. I was never held or coddled or comforted, nothing remotely like what your parents did. My cousin is most of a year older than me, and they liked to encourage him to come after me, to beat me up or hurt me in some way. So I got fast. I ran and learned that running and being able to climb helped because him and his friends would grow bored waiting for me to come down from where I’d climbed or get tired chasing me. I don’t know when … when I started to fear my uncle. I can’t remember when it happened. But I remember as I got older, I just … I was more scared of him. It’s stupid. He didn’t even hurt me that badly, just knocked me around a bit. Until I got my letter. Then they locked me away in a room instead of the cupboard. This past summer was rough because I hadn’t heard from anyone. I got the paper one day and saw that they were just all - the entire fucking community - were brushing off Cedric’s death like it was nothing. Like it meant nothing. Like he meant nothing. So my uncle came in when I swore louder than I meant to, and … reinforced the fear I’d always had for him. He was out of practice, though. The stress got to him, I guess, and he collapsed in the hall. I heard someone say he most likely had a heart attack. Then Tonks was there and fixed me up a bit before telling me she wasn’t letting me stay there to be abused again. Not that she said those exact words, but I could tell that’s what she was thinking. I spent a decade with that before learning that magic was real. In all that time not one person ever stepped in and said enough was enough.”

“Did you never tell anyone?” Charlie asked quietly.

“I tried, when I was younger and in muggle school.” Harry shrugged. “That only led to being locked up for a long weekend or the entirety of a school break, something. Long enough to enforce that if I tried tarnishing the family name I was going to pay a price. When I got to Hogwarts, when school was letting out, each year I asked that I could just stay at the castle. Or stay with a friend, even. Something. I was told I couldn’t. That I had to return. Felt pointless to try asking when no one cared to reach out to me the first few weeks of this summer. The world wrote off the death of a 17 year old kid so easily, why wouldn’t they do the same to me, right? Helping me doesn’t fit the agenda. Helping me doesn’t give anyone more political influence, doesn’t give them praise or recognition, it does nothing. Because the world we live in believes what they want. And what they believe is that I’ve been raised like Malfoy, basically. Pampered, waited on hand and foot, training, whatever. I entered this culture, this society, already a disappointment because I didn’t even know my parents names or that they were magical. I grew up thinking that my parents died in a drunk driving car accident. My relatives told anyone who would listen that I was mental because of it, because of being in the car with them. That’s how they explained my scar. If no one cares to ask, I’m not going to tell. There’s no point. They’ve all already decided what I’m like. I’m the spitting image of a father I never knew, with the eyes of my mother, who I also never knew. And I’m the only one who truly understands that. No one else cares.”

“The twins do.” Charlie said quietly. “They’ve been writing nonstop, worried about what’s going on, because they know something is, since Hedwig hasn’t been around. Bill is coming by in the next few days, because he apparently promised them he’d look into it and suspects what’s going on. He knows that Tonks was in my class and that we’re still good friends. She’s a decent liar when she needs to be. Mostly because she’s excellent at being clumsy at the right moment.”

“Misdirection.” Harry tutted.

“Yeah.” Charlie chuckled. “She prefers that people underestimate her. She’s getting frustrated, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she came down when Bill did. To rant to me about everything if not check on you as well.”

“Why do you have to continue to go to your aunt’s house?” Merlin asked curiously.

“Dunno.” Harry shrugged. “Tonks said something about wards on the house that were cast when mum died to protect me that work so long as I’m with blood family.”

“Right.” Merlin said, dragging the word out but looking annoyed. “Those types of wards are great and all, but there are circumstances that are necessary to trigger them to be effective.”

“All I was told was that I was required to be there for a minimum of two weeks every summer to reinitiate or reinforce them or whatever.” Harry reached up and pulled Baernen off his shoulder and cradled the dragon in his arms. He smiled as the dragon puffed out a small plume of smoke as he got comfortable and fell asleep. 

“Still not how blood wards work.” Merlin said frustratedly.

“I didn’t even know there was such a thing until I sort of tricked Tonks into telling me some of it.” Harry hummed, lightly scratching the dragon’s scales. 

“I might have to reach out.” Merlin frowned. “Shit, I don’t know if I even know anyone outside of the Preserve anymore. I’ve been here for decades at this point. All the people I would have known are most likely dead or retired.”

“If you’d be interested in meeting my brother, he can probably do some digging for you?” Charlie offered. “Bill works for the goblins, so he’s adept at secrecy and subterfuge.”

“Might take you up on that.” Merlin hummed. “On that note, this one needs to go back to his nest and you need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I expected as much.” Harry said, yawning wide enough his jaw cracked. He shook his head out and carefully placed the sleeping baby dragon in the nest with his brothers and sisters. Mai-Lin bumped her snout with Harry’s head carefully before Harry, Charlie, and Merlin all stood up. “Thank you both, for this.”

“No problem.” Charlie said with a small smile.

“Happy birthday, young man.” Merlin added, also giving Harry a smile. “Off to bed with you.”

“Night, Merlin.” Harry waved and turned with Charlie to head back to the bunks, carefully carrying his gifts from the dragons that he could store in his trunk. 

It was a peaceful night, for once. Harry slept hard, basically asleep as soon as he was horizontal. He woke up to Hedwig chirping and a small answering rumble that was warm against his chest. When he opened his eyes he found his owl and Baernen laying together on top of him like they were having an important discussion or something. When they saw he was awake, Hedwig clicked her beak at him and Baernen started prancing a bit like he was too excited to stand still. He snorted and held them both in place while he sat up, unsurprised when they both hopped up to his shoulders. They weighed about the same, so at least he was balanced when he yawned and stood up. He was glad he slept in his dragonhide overshirt, otherwise their talons would have scratched him up pretty good. Charlie laughed lightly when Harry entered the dining hall and waved him over to sit with him. Harry gave some bacon to both his owl and the little dragon that found him.

Once they were outside again, Hedwig flew off, not wanting to get snapped at by the larger dragons. Baernen stayed with him most of the morning, only going back to his mother when lunch was approaching and he knew he’d be fed better with her than by hanging on to Harry. It was a very different birthday to what he usually experienced, but not in a bad way. He felt well rested, well fed, and just … happier, really. It was bizarre but also amazing. He wasn’t even upset that he hadn’t gotten any presents. What made it crazier were the guests that were visiting the Preserve for a day. Because of course the Bulgarian National Quidditch team were doing visits to various magical sites around Europe to promote interest in the sport. 

“Potter!” Krum’s voice called out. Harry barely had time to brace himself as Krum crushed him in a hug and lifted him off his feet.

“Hey Krum.” Harry croaked, taking a deep breath when the man finally put him back on his feet. “Nice to see you. What brings you to the Preserve?”

“They say we are promoting the team, but I know this stop was for me to get over facing dragons.” Krum huffed, his words heavily accented. “I do not mind them, but I would rather stay away.”

“Honestly, I’m finding them a lot more enjoyable here in the open versus in an arena.” Harry nodded, smiling when Krum laughed. “Want to meet some of them?”

“Da.” Krum agreed and stuck to Harry’s side as they headed closer to the dragons. Krum laughed happily when Baernen flew over and landed on Harry’s head. 

“Brat.” Harry huffed, reaching up to pet the dragon. “Krum, this is Baernen. Baernen, this is Viktor Krum.”

“Just be sure he stops when he gets bigger or you will be flattened.” Krum murmured, reaching up and petting the dragon as well.

“You’re meant to be with the group.” Charlie said, sidling up to them. 

“Oi, we got three seekers together!” Harry cheered, making Charlie roll his eyes and Krum snort. “Wanted to give him a chance to see the dragons now that we aren’t trying to get a fake egg from them.”

“Fair enough.” Charlie nodded. “Do you want an actual guided tour, or would you prefer to follow Harry around? They all like him and treat him like one of their babies, just as a warning.”

“So long as they are not bothered by me, I would rather stay with Potter.” Krum said easily. “We both faced them in a difficult time and only I actually entered.”

“Alright, but try not to rile them up or get them excited while the others come through.” Charlie pointed at Harry and then at Baernen. “You too, mister. I know you’ll get the other babies wound up, and we don’t need injured professional quidditch players on our hands along with the two injured interns already this morning.”

“Why were two interns injured?” Harry frowned.

“They tripped over themselves when they saw how this one acted with you. How he’s decided you are his person.” Charlie said, inclining his head to Baernen. “They’re fine, just a twisted ankle, sprained knee, and bruising on their arms from landing on the rocks roughly. They’ll be alright.”

“Any word on when your brother and Tonks will actually show up?” Harry asked as they moved closer to the dragons.

“Tomorrow.” Charlie sighed. “Bill fire-called me this morning saying he’d be here for breakfast, so be prepared for that. I can keep him occupied for a little while, but he will notice you’re here. If a bit shaggier than when you arrived.”

“I’ll get a haircut when I go back.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Maybe. Right now it’s helping protect my scalp from this menace.” 

“I have never seen a dragon act this way.” Krum said curiously.

“Harry saved his egg during a storm.” Merlin said, stepping up to join them. Krum actually tripped over his feet and put Harry between him and Merlin. Merlin only smirked and shrugged. “Guess there are still some hard feelings in Durmstrang.”

“You did as much damage and Grindelwald did.” Krum huffed, still keeping Harry between them.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Merlin scrunched his face up. “That lunatic was all about his relics and power. All I did was accidentally blow up a very small section of the school. And I helped rebuild it before I left.”

“You did what?” Harry laughed as Baernen hopped over to Merlin’s shoulder.

“Long story.” Merlin sniffed, waving it off. “Anyway, I decided to take Charlie up on his offer and make myself more known before venturing out for a bit. Seeing what the world is like and if I can get by without wanting to murder anyone.”

“Have you been hiding amongst the dragons all these years?” Krum asked curiously, but not allowing Harry to stand anywhere but between them. Which was kind of funny. Harry had never suspected or felt anything malicious from Merlin. Granted, he also hadn’t spent any time considering the man beside him was millenia old, not mid to late 20s as he appeared. 

“Aye. Got annoyed at too many things and decided the world could do without me for a time.” Merlin nodded. “And now here Harry Potter is, challenging that.”

“I did not.” Harry frowned at him. “I only-”

“Showed up, clearly having been abused, able to speak with many of the dragons, and were unafraid of them or me.” Merlin cut him off. “You reminded me of many things, so just shut up and accept that you are a catalyst for my return.”

“That’s gonna bite me in the arse, I just know it.” Harry sighed.

“Maybe.” Merlin chuckled. “But I’ll make sure it’s a fun experience. Maybe even drag you along with me while I relearn what the world is like. You’ll need a far better guardian, at any rate. One who can actually protect you and not cause you harm, let alone get you a full human experience.”

“How long have you been here, exactly, Potter?” Krum asked with a frown.

“Maybe like four weeks?” Harry shrugged. “Might be a little longer. Why?”

“You had your birthday while here, in Romania, da?”

“Yeah.” 

“You’ll be invited to Durmstrang come autumn.” Krum nodded certainly. “You should consider it.”

“Might do.” Harry nodded. “Kinda depends how things go with Baernen. How his separation from me starts to look, all that. Because if he can’t be far from me, then it’ll be better for both of us to be near the Preserve instead of in Scotland where he will absolutely not be able to hide in my dorm.”

“You will have good competition. For Seeker.” Krum said, grinning a bit. 

“Bring it on.” Harry laughed. “I’m a great Seeker, so I could use some competition.”

“I will tell my brother you said as much.” Krum laughed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent smiling more than Harry had in a very long time, maybe ever. He even tested out some of the Bulgarian that he picked up, mostly to see if he was saying things correctly. Krum got excited and started teaching him random phrases that he said were most important, which got Charlie cutting in saying Harry didn’t need to know certain things yet. Merlin just sat back and watched in amusement. There were some pictures of the team taken before the handlers and even the interns were pulled in. Krum had Harry pinned to his side for it, so Harry made sure he rolled his eyes when it was taken, which had Krum laughing and they all sort of devolved after that. Krum made Harry promise to try writing to him or even looking him up when it came time for school to start, offering to pick him up and drop him off if he wanted. 

“Wakey wakey sleepy head!” Harry groaned as Tonks’ voice hit him, along with a pillow. 

“Why’re you here so early?” Harry whined, tossing the pillow in the direction her voice came from.

“I like mornings.” Tonks chuckled. “Can’t say why, though. Hated them with a passion during school, but now that I’m an actual adult with a real job I find them more enjoyable.”

“When did you get in?” Harry asked, sitting up and yawning as she sat on the end of his bed. 

“Maybe an hour ago.” Tonks shrugged. “Get dressed so we can eat and then you’re going to introduce me to your newest sidekick.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Harry sighed, getting up and taking his toiletries to the bathroom to get ready. His hair was an absolute disaster, and he did not feel like fixing it. So he pulled on his clothes, brushed his teeth, and even washed his face before dropping his things back in his trunk and heading for the door, Tonks hot on his heels. When they got to the dining room, Harry saw Bill glaring at Charlie who was simply sipping his coffee like he didn’t care that his oldest brother was clearly upset. “Morning.” Harry said, slipping onto the bench and reaching for food already. Tonks sat beside Charlie, leaving Bill to sit next to Harry. Which he eventually did, though he still looked grumpy. 

“I asked Jefferson if he could have someone feed Baernen early so that he would leave you alone long enough you could eat.” Charlie said, pushing the toast to Harry. 

“Baernen, eh?” Tonks asked, half a piece of toast stuffed in her cheek.

“Harry is the first to name a dragon to hatch one in longer than I’m going to explain.” Merlin said, slipping onto the bench beside Harry. Tonks chewed thoughtfully, watching Merlin.

“You know, you almost look like you could be Harry’s dad.” Tonks pointed between them with her toast. “Relative of some kind?”

“I’m more closely related to you, Nymphadora Tonks, than I am Harry Potter.” Merlin smirked.

“Tonks or nothing.” Tonks said in annoyance. 

“Tonks.” Merlin inclined his head in concession.

“Sorry, who’re you?” Bill asked, looking around Harry.

“Depends.” Merlin hummed, getting himself a coffee fixed up. 

“On what?” Bill asked. “I’m already pissed that these two ganged up and moved Harry without a word to anyone, and now some random bloke is here acting like he’s Harry’s guardian.”

“You agreed with what I did.” Tonks pointed a sausage at Bill. “I told you what happened and you said you supported what actions I took.”

“Yes, your actions. But you didn’t file anything. There is still an illusion of Harry walking around his room now and again, and only if you aren’t disguising yourself as him and doing it yourself.” Bill said irritatedly. 

“Why’re you so pent up?” Harry frowned at him. “Thought you were-”

“Don’t finish that.” Charlie cut in, pointing at Harry. “I need to start watching what the others are talking about around you, apparently.”

“Fuck off.” Harry scoffed. “Besides, you know perfectly well that the dragons are the ones more likely to talk about this shit around me than the other handlers and wranglers.”

“They don’t really have boundaries.” Merlin pitched in helpfully. “Granted, they are also animals, not people, so they don’t have the same constitutions as we do.”

“Can you please ask them not to talk about procreating around Harry?” Charlie asked Merlin.

“I can, but they won’t listen.” Merlin chuckled. “They like him and want him to be prepared and safe about it all, even if they don’t understand the differences.”

“Yeah, biting isn’t a big part of sex with humans unless someone has a kink for it.” Harry scrunched his face up. “Something I do not want to discuss.”

“You seem … different.” Bill said curiously, watching Harry.

“I’ve spent the summer with dragons.” Harry shrugged. “Best summer of my life so far, actually.”

“You aren’t pushing for Tonks to file an official report.” Bill frowned.

“And what would it do if she did?” Harry asked, shoving a piece of toast in his mouth, chewing it carefully. “If she went to the Ministry and said she witnessed the aftermath of an encounter with my uncle, what would any of them do? Hm? Nothing. None of them would do a damn thing because they would find a way to say she was obviously lying and that whatever happened was my own fault. I saw what the paper said. Calling me an attention-seeking, fear mongering, liar. They spent more time and effort pushing that over anything to do with the fact a student died on school grounds. Tell me you saw a report. Tell me right here, right now, that you’ve seen the published incident report for what happened.”

“I can’t.” Bill said with a heavy sigh. “Which you already know.”

“Yeah, but not because I kept an eye on it. I know because if anything has had to do with me in the past 14 years, it gets brushed aside. No one cares, not really. Least ways, not anyone who can actually do anything about it. Lighten up. Relax. Have some breakfast and let’s go see the dragons who sort of adopted me.”

“Still waiting to know who this is.” Bill gestured to Merlin while finally filling his plate and eating a bit.

“Emrys.” Charlie said, watching his brother. “At least that’s what he’s gone by while here.”

“You said he never left his cave.” Bill pointed out.

“Harry drew him out.” Charlie nodded toward him. Harry stuck his tongue out, which only made him roll his eyes. “I’ve got four younger brothers, I know how to handle brats. Don’t forget that.”

“You’ve no idea what Fred or George are capable of.” Harry snickered. “No one in your family aside from maybe your dad or Ginny does.”

“Speaking of,” Bill reached around in his pockets before pulling something out and expanding it. It was a neatly wrapped package. “They asked that I give this to you. Said it was going to be their first big ticket item and wanted your seal of approval, but they would not tell me why.”

“First big ticket item?” Charlie frowned. “For what?”

“For their shop.” Harry stated, hurriedly finishing eating and pushing his plate away to look in the box. “They’re buying a shop and opening it when they’re done with school this year. Like a joke shop meets a prank shop kind of deal. They told me they were going to spend the summer making something, so this must be the prototype they came up with.” Harry opened it up but Bill stopped him.

“And why do you know about it when they haven’t said a word to any of us?” Bill arched an eyebrow at him. “How do they even have the funds for this sort of thing?”

“How would they get funding?” Harry retorted, arching an eyebrow right back. “They’re inventors and jokesters, sure, but they’re brilliant. They’re gonna help a lot of people and spread a lot of cheer and joy with their ridiculous ideas. The world needs more light-hearted things right now. And they wouldn’t tell your mum because she doesn’t see what they want to do as a proper career path. Same as she thought about Charlie chasing dragons or you chasing curses. Percy is who she usually talked about with pride because he joined the Ministry like your dad, and that’s, for some unknown reason, what she expected all of you to do.”

“Quit distracting me with additional information.” Bill flicked his nose lightly.

“Alright, fine,” Harry chuckled, “was worth a shot. I won the tournament.”

“Shut up. Really?” Tonks asked interestedly, already knowing what Harry meant.

“I already have more gold than I know what to do with, I didn’t need another thousand galleons just adding to it. So yes. I passed it over and am their primary investor. I don’t want something that I don’t feel like I earned. That was given to me out of annoyance and- basically a bribe. Cedric’s family refused to accept it, and as I didn’t want to actually enter, and didn’t enter, the money wasn’t really mine. They just … they always make me laugh. They treat me like a normal kid, not like they expect me to be anything other than what I am. Of course I funded them. They’re my friends and they’re going to show the world how brilliant they are.” Harry said easily.

“And which one do I need to worry about you hooking up with?” Bill asked, making Harry laugh loudly. Even Charlie and Tonks chuckled. “I’m serious! It’s George, isn’t it?”

“Not answering that.” Harry said, still snickering. “Besides, if I end up at Durmstrang it won’t matter until school’s out.”

“Incoming.” Merlin muttered and Harry rolled his eyes as Baernen landed on his head. “You were supposed to be with your mother.”

“Think Durmstrang has a policy about a clingy baby dragon?” Harry asked, reaching up and scratching the dragon’s scales before going back to opening the box. Which had another box inside that was dubbed ‘Skiving Snackbox’ right on top. Everyone was looking it over, though, having finished their own food and curious about what the twins put together. There was a parchment and pen for Harry to write down any suggestions or changes, but he didn’t expect he’d have any. 

“Puking Pastilles?” Merlin said, picking one of the candies up. It was two different colors. “No way, you’re telling me they found a way to get out of class by faking being sick with a candy that will also cure the issue? That’s fantastic!”

“I told you, they’re brilliant.” Harry stated happily. 

“It’s going to give the teachers a headache in no time.” Charlie snickered, looking at other candies. 

“How’d they manage to come up with all this without mum noticing, though?” Bill asked curiously.

“I’m sure she noticed, but they are pretty good at hiding things.” Harry wobbled his head a bit, wincing as Baernen gripped his hair tighter so he wouldn’t fall. “Whenever I stayed at the Burrow before, they always hid away in their room, experimenting and shit. They even have a designated lab space at school that Snape gave them so they’d stay out of his classrooms.”

“Maybe … maybe it would be best for you to attend Durmstrang.” Bill said cautiously. 

“Think if I do, the yearly disaster’ll follow me?” Harry asked curiously, but got three confused looks sent his way. Merlin was too busy sneaking the box closer to look more at what was in it. Harry passed it over with a grin, though. “What? Do none of you know about the yearly disasters?”

“Apparently not.” Charlie stated. “Start with your first year.”

“Dumbledore decided to hide the Sorcerer’s Stone there.” Harry shifted as Baernen plopped into his lap and lifted his head to look over the table. “I didn’t go looking for it all, but I sort of found it all out anyway. Right. Erm. So Quirrell turned out to be possessed by Mort, and he was trying to get the stone. The teachers all put a sort of obstacle course together and me, Ron, and Hermione went through it and I had a sort of showdown with Quirrell-Mort at the end. Only he’d been possessed for so long that he died. Second year, so long as you can be calm about it,” he looked between Bill and Charlie who gave him disappointed looks, “fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When your dad and Malfoy fought in the Alley, Malfoy slipped a cursed book in Ginny’s cauldron. It was a diary. A possessed diary. Or a diary that was somewhat alive. Anyway, it started to possess her and used her to open the Chamber of Secrets and set a Basilisk loose. Toward the end of the year, after several students were petrified, book-Tom got Ginny down to the chamber and said he was stealing her life to give himself one.”

“Bollocks.” Bill swore. “No, no way. Those relics- they aren’t just something someone finds. There would be wards at the school that would prevent it.”

“Dunno what to tell you.” Harry shrugged. “The book said it belonged to 16 year old Tom Marvolo Riddle and that he preserved part of himself in the diary at that point and was going to kill Ginny to give himself a life again. Then he tried to kill me with the snake.” Harry pulled his sleeve up to show off the scar that was obviously from a fang piercing his skin. “Fawkes gave me the sorting hat, I pulled the sword of Gryffindor out, and stabbed the snake through the head. Before I could die, I pulled the fang out of my arm and stabbed the book. Never saw a memory or book die before, but it was … so weird. Have you ever seen a book bleed? Crazy. Fawkes cried on my arm and kept me from dying, so that was nice.”

“Mum and dad don’t know.” Bill said in a dark voice. “Ginny was possessed and nearly killed by-”

“Ah.” Merlin cut in. “Do not name it. The name of that type of magic is forbidden for a reason.”

“Right.” Bill cleared his throat. “I’ll see if I can take her to Mungos and get her scanned, make sure her core isn’t damaged or anything.”

“Third year?” Charlie said, encouraging Harry to keep going.

“Well, apparently parental permission is not only needed to go to the village, but to also allow a third year student to get a time-turner so she can attend literally every class offered.” Harry huffed. “No one would tell me who Sirius was, and it pissed me off that they were so secretive about it. And the dementors were fucking everywhere, so I felt like I was reliving my parents’ deaths nightly. That’s when we found out that the family rat you all had for so long was really an animagus.”

“It was not.” Charlie argued. “Shut the fuck up, no, it couldn’t have been.”

“Dad, Sirius, and Peter Pettigrew shared a dorm with another student who happened to be a werewolf. They became animagi so that they could keep him company on full moons. Sirius is a big black dog, dad was a stag, and Pettigrew was a rat. He hid with a family that was a known light family that would allow him to go undetected for however long he needed, but he didn’t anticipate Sirius breaking out of prison and finding him. So the end of year disaster that year was Pettigrew being revealed, dementors nearly sucked out Sirius’ soul, but because Hermione had a time-turner, her and I saved Sirius and Buckbeak.” Harry stated. “Fourth year was the tournament. So. I’m four for four of yearly disasters. And if the disaster is because of me, and I’m not at Hogwarts, maybe they’ll have a relatively easy year. Or maybe the disaster will somehow follow me proving I’m the actual jinx and that Hogwarts is actually safe.”

“I’ve … got to go.” Merlin said darkly, standing up and pushing the box back to Harry. He looked pissed. Harry still didn’t feel afraid of him. He could tell the anger was directed elsewhere. Merlin turned and held Harry’s face between his palms. “You are not going back there until I can fix whatever some bastard did to my children’s legacy. I don’t care if they slander me or use my name in vain. You are meant to be safe while there. Protected by the magic they imbued the walls with as we built it stone by stone.” Harry nodded slowly and Merlin muttered something quiet, his eyes shining gold briefly before he leaned forward and kissed the top of Harry’s head and disappeared. Literally disappeared. There wasn’t a pop or wind or anything. He was just gone. 

“Has he gotten weirder since we met?” Harry asked curiously, looking at Charlie finally. 

“No idea.” Charlie snorted. “But whoever he’s going after should be very afraid.”

“Still want to know who he was.” Bill said as they stood up.

“Oh, I thought I said his name out loud.” Harry frowned. “Merlin.”

“Come again?” Tonks asked worriedly, her hair flickering colors as she froze, Bill doing the same.

“Merlin.” Harry repeated. “You know, THE Merlin. He’s been hiding out here for a while and he finally agreed that he was going to go out and see the world again, but I think I might have just brought the British Ministry down with my rambling. Hard telling. I’m gonna go put this up and we can walk and see the other dragons.”

“I’ll meet you outside.” Charlie waved him off.

Harry went out and joined the other interns and got to work on the chores he was meant to be doing. Eventually Charlie, Bill, and Tonks joined him and mostly just watched or asked him questions until Harry started babbling what he knew about the different dragons. Not types or viciousness or anything, but more like pet peeves. How that one absolutely hated the color yellow and would set anything that color on fire, and another one was a sissy when it came to anything other than a cloudless clear blue sky kind of day. She had a whole little hut built that she could hide under comfortably when the weather turned. Tonks kept smiling and asking him more questions and they sort of fed off each other’s energy. Harry showed them both the birthday gifts he’d gotten from the dragons and Bill and Tonks each offered to have something made of the pieces for when Harry would be going to school, whichever school he wound up at. 

A few days before Tonks and Bill returned to England, Harry got his acceptance letter for Durmstrang. None of them were surprised, and Harry … Harry actually kind of wanted to go. He was sure there’d be some hard feelings for winning the tournament over Krum, but he also knew that Krum apparently liked him and wouldn’t tolerate anyone being a dick to him. Even if all he did was keep tabs on Harry through his brother, who was a year older than Harry was. He decided to take his language lessons more seriously so that he could actually go there. He started spending his free time writing lines of dialogue and repeating phrases until they were second nature. Charlie took him over to another side of the Preserve and let him attempt conversational skills with natural speakers. Which was extremely helpful. 

He had to go with some of the other interns on an outing one day to get all their school supplies since he’d been going to Hogwarts and they had different supplies and materials, not to mention school uniforms, that they needed to all have. Getting to see a different magical community and shopping district was amazing. He got everything he needed and found gift boxes on his bed of what Tonks and Bill had gotten made for him with the dragon gifts he’d gotten. One of them meant Charlie was piercing his ear, though, because it was an earring. Harry barely felt it when it was put in place, which Charlie wasn’t surprised at. Harry got some of his hair trimmed up, mostly just the bottom layer, intending to see if the top could calm down if it was longer. 

Baernen acted like he fully intended to go with Harry to Durmstrang. Only Harry wasn’t sure it would be allowed. He was able to write to the new Headmaster and ask about it, unsurprised that he was directed to another teacher, who said it was fine, but the creature would have to stay with the other dragons that were housed at the school. Harry then had to check with Mai-Lin to make sure she was ok with it. She huffed smoke at him when he went to ask, apparently having already decided that that particular baby was more Harry’s than hers. Merlin had been gone a while, though. A few weeks. Harry didn’t really want to just leave without seeing him once more, so he went to the cave to see if he’d made it back yet.

“Oh good, you came.” Merlin said as soon as he walked in and found Harry sitting in a chair, curled up with Baernen in his lap. “Sorry for being gone so long.”

“It’s fine.” Harry yawned. “We leave for school tomorrow.”

“Yes, which is the only reason I’m back right now.” Merlin nodded before pulling a trunk out of his pocket and expanding it on a small table. He flipped it open and rustled around inside a bit before shutting the lid again. “Right, I need you to sign a few things.”

“For what?” Harry frowned.

“When you get out of school, you are going to be living as an emancipated minor.” Merlin said certainly, setting a few different papers out on the table the trunk had been on. “Technically the tournament was for those who were of age already, so because you completed the tasks, you are now legally considered an adult. Took me a while to get them to see reason, but I did do it, and I didn’t even use magic against them or tell them who I was.”

“I don’t believe half of that.” Harry snorted, leaning forward and looking everything over.

“Fine, I used a very tiny bit of magic, but just so they understood they couldn’t fuck me around.” Merlin rolled his eyes. “I considered just claiming you as my heir, but they don’t seem to have records of me for some reason. Or they do, but they didn’t have anyone who was willing to retrieve them any time this week. This was the easier path.”

“Fair enough.” Harry nodded, signing in a few places as Merlin indicated with his finger. 

“Great. I’ll get these filed here with the Ministry in France, and they’ll send a copy to your British Ministry. If you have any issues at school, at Durmstrang, I’m afraid you’ll have to call on Charlie. They’re … still somewhat pissed at me.”

“I figured.” Harry laughed. 

“Let’s get you dinner before we send you all off to school!” Merlin cheered, pulling Harry to his feet and basically marching him back to the dining hall. The kids all going back to school were being celebrated for surviving the summer with dragons, which was kind of funny to Harry. He’d survived a death tournament, so surviving a summer taking care of dragons felt much less intense or dramatic. It was a good time, though. 

In the morning, they all got dressed and ready, packed all their belongings, before taking them to a set of carriages that were going to get them to the platform for school. Tonks and Bill both showed up as Harry was getting ready to go, hugging him and fussing over him like he was their little brother. Tonks even colored a streak of his hair to match hers, somehow. Merlin was pulled in, along with Charlie, as Jefferson, who Harry hadn’t seen all that much that summer, took a picture of them together. He also got some pictures of the other interns and their families, so Harry figured it was something he did every time they had new people who survived a summer program. 

By the time Harry got to the platform to leave for Durmstrang, he figured out he actually DID have a nickname from the other interns. He was Fireball because he was the only one the Chinese Fireball let come near her or her babies, not to mention Baernen who was constantly on him like a demented firebreathing cat. He’d laughed pretty hard and smiled brightly, because that showed they actually expected him to be around. Harry couldn’t wait for school to be out and to come back to the Preserve. He was excited for something new and ready to see what he was actually capable of.

It was going to be epic.