I've had this idea floating through my head for a while now. No promises on how far this story goes but I've got a few more chapters in me at least.
Fury! Hot fury coursed through her. She let out another roar, bellowing her anger at the world. "Thieves! Murderers!" with a righteous flick of her tail, she smashed the ground. She missed the two humans she had been aiming at. "Cowards! What right do you have to interfere with me and my own?" They didn't listen, of course they didn't listen. When did they ever listen to what was as plain as day? Anger bellied up in her belly and roared out, this time a searing wave of fire splashed out at the humans, once again missing.
A short while ago she woke from the magic induced sleep these humans had forced her into to find her clutch taken, and she captured. It grieved her to be so powerless to stop these humans, these witches and wizards. The magical world had forgotten the time when dragons ruled the skies.
A sharp tug on the chain wrapper around her neck earned a counter tug. A mighty swish of her neck pulled the little man holding the chain flying into the air. She snorted, a puff a flame leaking out of her nostrils. The twelve others all raised their little sticks, she longed to burn them. Again the fire welled up in her belly her mouth opened to release another torrent of heat. Bright scarlet light filled her vision.
Her head was splitting in pain as she came awake. Sound lashed out in waves matched by the throbbing in her head. She focused briefly and the throbbing quieted. The sound came into sharper focus, a multitude of voices, more than she had ever met at once. She snarled and opened her eyes.
The sun stood high in the sky as light splayed out the rocky pen she was now in. Spectators in stands were shouting unintelligibly among the throng. A sniff caused her to tense, the scent of burnt flesh and blood still drifted in the air. The smell of dragon-fire itching at her nose in warning of impending battle for territory.
She shrugged off the instinct for battle and stood on all four legs, stretched, and inspected herself. Her leathery wings splayed out strong and sinewy. She reached her head around and bit at a chain attached to her neck. Enchanted, she thought, Not worth the effort. On the ground where she had been laying was a clutch of eggs. She swooped her head down next to them. A shiny gold egg was surrounded by nine others. Her eyes narrowed, They think this will appease me! Do they think a dragon would not recognize a fake? She wanted blood. With a bellow she moved towards the crowd of humans.
The chain brought her up short, firmly attached to the ground. The humans screamed in terror as a brief second later a roar of fire poured out of her mouth traveling just 30 feet before impacting a magical shield. The shield glowed slightly and then dimmed back to nothing as the fire spitted out. Her eyes narrowed and she stalked back to the fake eggs. With a burst of fire she tried to incinerate the lot. The fake eggs only glowed as they absorbed the fire.
With a huff she lay back down on the fake eggs. There was no way for her to vent her anger, her frustration, or her sadness. She would never be able to tell her children of their great history. No they would be raised as dumb brutes by humans. She had seen it with others, raised like cattle to provide magical properties to human creations. Her mate had been killed soon after siring their children so some man could harvest his skin to wear around like a trophy. Those who knew the history were slowly being lost, the end days were coming. Dragons would leave this world to become but a myth, a legend from a time past.
She had once believed she would be able to make a difference. Her head sunk to the ground. she reminisced about the past. Her father's admonition that humans were not food. "No child, the humans are not food. They are creatures just like you and I, able to make rational decisions. They are not evil. They can love as you and I." No solace could she find in the words from her father as she waited her own end. What love is left for dragonkind? A loud boom brought her out of her revere.
The crowd could suddenly not be heard as a boy walked into the arena. Here comes my death, she thought dully. She watched him critically, a puny little human welp with no real power. He raised his little stick and waved it around, standing there without moving his eyes from her form. Well at least he is smart enough to be wary of me. The boys black hair contrasted with his eyes that were a deep green. Something caught her, she could feel the resolve rolling off the boy. The smell of fear overridden by determination. A long stick flew in to the stadium and the boy got on. He flew into the air, round and around. Her eyes never left him, he dived close and she let out a blast of fire he narrowly avoided. She grumbled a laugh, "You won't kill me that easily young one. I refuse to die as prey!" The boy stiffened in shock and she belted out another burst of fire at him.
He was a moment too slow in getting out of the way and the stick he was on caught fire. She snarled as he landed uninjured on the ground near where he had entered. He turned his green eyes on her and she could feel his surprise. He just stood there watching her, confusion written on his face.
"What?" she snarled, "You thought I'd let you kill me? Hah! Let me show you the true power of a dragon!" She reached into herself, to the center of her being. She reached her core an eternal flame she would have passed on to her young. She unleashed it, unlocking her inheritance. The power of the ancients poured through her veins, the songs and stories through her mind. Her ears picked up the vibrations of the magic shielding the stands. Her nose cataloged the scents of three other dragons who had recently been in this area. Her eyes snapped open to a world filled with color. She could see the shield covering the arena, a slight glow marking its location. In front of her she could see the boy. She could see his aura, a glowing green warmth. But she could also feel the sharp dagger behind the warmth, a veiled darkness, a knife in the shadows. She roared, "I will not cower in the darkness!" Her neck pulsed with power, shattering the chain that bound her. "My entire family! Everything I loved is gone because of humans! I will not give you my life as well!" She reared up and spread her wings and launched herself at him.
It was not terribly far to travel and in two short bounds she was nearly upon him ready to rip him into pieces. She would be able to and then she would take on the rest. She could feel them even now building up magic readying for battle. She was but 20 feet away, The boy didn't move, she could see his throat bob slightly. His mouth opened and her world halted.
"I'm sorry." She dug her claws into the rocky ground beneath, her wings flared beating the air to slow her. She came to a stop just 5 feet from him her body towered over his her mouth well within striking distance. She watched him carefully as he opened his mouth again, "I know what it's like to lose a family."
"You can speak the ancient tongue?" She only half questioned, obviously he could. "Why are you here?" She eyed him carefully, taking note that he didn't try to use his stick.
"I was bound to compete in the tri-wizard tournament against my will. I compete or I lose my magic. I am tasked with retrieving a golden egg. Not to kill you." His voice quieted, "I would not kill you as sport."
She snaked her head closer to examine him. His voice, filled with sincerity was a stark contrast to the darkness that seemed hidden upon him. She could feel the darkness now, her eyes alighted upon a scar on his forehead. As she stared a small haze of darkness dripped out. The boy spoke again, the darkness tinging his words. "I'd rather die now than let change me." His voice lightened slightly but was still solemn, "I am hunted as well you know. I will probably not live to have children. My friends have saved me more than once, them and luck. Eventually I will be killed though. How many times can I escape death?"
She stared into his eyes. Images started to fill her mind, a young boy running for his life as he was hunted and beaten. A young boy trapped in a cupboard, hunger keeping him awake and terror silencing his tongue. They flashed through her as if she lived them, blinking one memory after another. A young boy facing down a man with two faces, a huge snake, a troll, a dark classroom. The memories were filled with anger, fear, animosity and frustration, but so too hope, compassion, caring and most importantly love. Moments where this young man no Harry Potter, felt that someone would be better of not existing, but not hate. Nor was there a love of cruelty or malice.
She could feel a kinship with this young one. He was like her, hardships many, but never relenting. She stretched her magic into him searching her vision blurring. She found his magic just as she could find her own. The core glowed and pulsed with green with life. She saw tendrils of blackness wrapping it, warping it. The evil had penetrated even here? This corruption could not stand! Anger welled up in her chest and snapped the connection. Her vision focused back on his face. His mouth was open, but didn't make a sound. She nudged him, "Speak young one."
Spurred by her words, his mouth closed and then re-opened. "How? I could feel you!" A short pause, and a thought seemed to cross his mind. "Why were you angry?" he asked curiously.
She considered for a moment. Why was she angry? They weren't going to kill her. She could still raise some young, find a new mate. Her heart twinged. She would likely have to settle for a dumb brute if she did that. But this boy, he was just like her, he deserved more just as she did. She did not have much power to help herself, but she could help him. She calmed, she could help him, no she would help him. "I was angry because you are marked by evil, by a darkness." Harry's face flashed, "I will get rid of it, but if you're willing I'd gift you something more as well, it will hurt."
Harry tilted his head, "I'd never turn down help, but are you sure?"
She bobbed her head, "I am sure, but are you? It will hurt but I swear to you that you will come to no lasting harm." Harry nodded, "Very well, brace yourself young one." She pulled back into herself, and started building her magic. Dimly she noted that she could feel the magic of many bystanders ready to fly. She would have to do this quickly they would not give her but a moment. Inwardly she smiled, she would start her own legend. She would not be forgotten as one dragon among many.
She extended a tendril of magic to connect to Harry's magical core. She prepared as much magic as she could stand. With a deep breath she unleashed a torrent of white flame. Harry's body disappeared flaming to ashes in a moment. Spells impacted against her scales. Her leg twinged as one nicked a gash. The white flame continued unabated, she could feel the tendrils of black sliding off until finally it disappeared. The pulsing green orb also started to dim in her vision. She snarled and hurled her magic at it, infusing it, forcing it brighter and brighter. A powerful blow slammed into her side causing black spots to flick across her vision. Darkness seemed to close in. There was no time. She grabbed hold of her core and forced it into the green orb. She pushed with all her might. Lethargy came to her as the last tendrils of her own core disappeared.
She roared to the sky, a huge hole in her side, and screamed. "I am Ewenia! Long live Harry Potter Dragonkin!"
A blinding white orb filled the area where the dragon had been. As bright as the sun, the orb burned, briefly blinding all onlookers. When the crowd was finally able to see into the stadium the dragon was gone. In the middle of a circular crater lay a body.