Chapter 4 - Re-Acquaintances

"Harry. Welcome to Dragon's Dale," said Charlie, as they both crested the top of a partially forested hill, presenting a view that overlooked a small picturesque valley containing a modest gathering of dwellings that were clustered within a clearing.
"It's beautiful," replied Harry sincerely.
"My second favourite place in the world" stated Charlie, stopping briefly alongside the younger wizard to take in the view.
It really was quite beautiful and Harry could easily see why Charlie liked it so much here. For a moment he was tempted to ask Charlie the obvious question; what was his favourite place in the world? The redhead in question however, had begun moving down the hill, and Harry felt like he already had a fair idea as to what the answer would be to that particular question. So taking one last glance at the scenery, Harry hurried after Charlie's departing figure.

Having entered the small glade, Harry took a closer look at the buildings that he was now walking amongst. The closest thing he could really compare them to was the wooden hut, located on the grounds of Hogwarts, that was home to his great friend (and professor) Hagrid. That description however didn't nearly do justice to the certainly larger and, he had to admit, better built cabins that seemed to magically blend into the surroundings exceptionally well. Harry had no trouble believing that if a muggle were to ever walk through this glade, they would do so without ever noticing a single one.
"Welcome to my humble abode" announced Charlie, bowing comically in front of the door to one of the furthest wooden cabins, in a very 'Weasley-twin' like fashion.
"Oh Merlin, it really does run in the family!" joked Harry, laughing at the comical expression elicited from the redhead.
"Just giving you the traditional Weasley welcome," said Charlie, feigning offence.
"Would that be including practical jokes, or is that the special brand of Weasley welcome?" inquired Harry, teasingly.
"Oh the insult! Rightfully I should defend my family honour and challenge you to a duel" jested Charlie. "But considering your freakish sway over dragons… I think I'll reconsider"
"Oh, you saw that then" mumbled Harry, embarrassedly. "I was sort of hoping you hadn't."
"No, I did miss it. Although I wish I hadn't" exclaimed Charlie. "If the stunned ramblings of my colleagues are to be taken seriously, I gather you somehow managed to command Norbert into submission?" said the redhead in a questioning tone of disbelief, whilst unlocking the front door with a casual wave of his wand and a muttered incantation.
"I wouldn't exactly say that!" laughed Harry "I didn't exactly command him to do anything, he just sought of… relaxed at my feet"
"Harry" said Charlie seriously, turning to face the younger man as the door swung open. "Dragons are not tameable and they certainly don't just relax when you walk into what they consider to be their domain. By all rights you should be dead right now".
"Yeah, I kind of guessed that was why all those wizards looked a bit shocked" said Harry.
"A bit shocked? That's putting it mildly!" laughed Charlie as he stepped over the threshold into his home. "You've achieved in one attempt what many people have spent their whole lives trying to accomplish."
"Oh well that's just marvellous!" replied Harry in mild sarcasm, as he followed the redheaded wizard through the door. "Yet another thing to add to the extensive and ever growing list of freakish facts about Harry Potter."

"Butterbeer?" inquired Charlie; his disembodied voice emanating from the general direction of the kitchen.
"Yeah that'd be great" Harry shouted back. It'd been months since his last bottle (the stuff really was quite addictive), one of a multitude of small things he always missed every summer during his annual exile from the wizarding world and virtual imprisonment at the Dursley's. Harry shook his head in a determined effort to rid himself of these thoughts; they never lead anywhere good. He was free of the Dursley's now and he would not be going back. Regardless of what Dumbledore said. Harry instead directed his concentration towards a more productive pursuit; analysing Charlie's living room.
Predictably, there was one very definite theme to the room; Dragons.
'He's obsessed' thought Harry bemusedly. The Mantelpiece (over a decidedly small fireplace – for wizard standards at least) and glass cabinet on the south wall were adorned with at least one ornamental model for, what Harry was certain must be, every single breed in existence and maybe even a few that had become extinct, if the sheer number of models were anything to go by. Even the candle stick holders, that were evenly spaced along the wood panelled walls and the handles for the doors all followed rigidly to the theme. Harry was examining the fine detail on one of the candlestick holders; shaped in the form of a roaring dragon spreading its wings in fury when, hearing a noise behind him, he turned to see Charlie entering the room along with a blur of motion as something travelled across the room at high speed towards him. Reacting on impulse, Harry snatched the object out of the air, inches before it would have hit him square on the nose.
"Glad to see they weren't over exaggerating those seeker skills of yours" grinned Charlie, walking over towards the small fireplace.
"Glad to see that your chaser skills weren't over exaggerated too" replied Harry, smirking as he took a seat.
"Touché"
Taking a sip of his butterbeer, Harry closed his eyes and sighed; the first bottle after the summer holidays was always the best. Feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time he slowly allowed his eyes to open, his vision gradually focusing on Charlie who was standing in front of a mirror that hung above the mantelpiece, examining what looked to be a nasty gash above his right eye. Wiping away the residual blood covering the wound, the redhead lifted his wand and with obvious concentration, slowly made small circling motions above the wound. Ending the continuous circling with a definitive flick, Charlie cast a charm Harry had never heard of before; "Sanosectus". Harry watched in silent fascination as immediately, starting from the deepest layer outwards, two sides of the wound began to come together and heal seamlessly.
"Useful charm to know" said Charlie, having seen Harry watching through the reflection in the mirror. "Can't count the number of times it's come in handy"
Harry only nodded in agreement; quietly making a mental note to research more on the subject later. Honestly he couldn't believe that he hadn't already thought of it before now….events at the Department of Mysteries may have gone differently….all those injuries his friends had sustained because of his rash actions….
As his train of thought trailed off, Harry noticed that Charlie had taken a seat across from him. The small talk had ended and Harry knew, with the kind of acceptance always associated with complete certainty, what was going to come next. He wasn't exactly looking forward to answering the many awkward questions that Charlie and undoubtedly the Order were going to throw his way.
It seemed however that Charlie was unsure where to begin and looked to be deep in thought, occasionally glancing at Harry contemplatively as he sipped on his bottle of butterbeer. Finally the questioning started and the first one was not the question Harry had been expecting:
"I presume by the fact that you've come here, that you're ready to return home?"
'Good question' thought Harry 'am I?' He took a few seconds to word his answer right, before responding. "Well that depends on where you define as being 'home'. But yes, I have decided I'm ready to return".
Charlie seemed to visibly relax upon hearing this, something that Harry did not miss. "Your obviously pleased with that answer" he pointed out, smiling at the embarrassed expression that had appeared on Charlie's face.
"Yeah well, I wasn't much looking forward to the prospect of possibly having to force you to return," replied Charlie, looking down at his hands that were absently twirling the bottle of butterbeer.
"So long as you don't insist on taking me to Grimmauld Place, then that will likely not be and issue" Harry assured the elder wizard.
"In that case it definitely won't be an issue," stated Charlie "Grimmauld Place has been inaccessible since…well since you left actually" he said pointedly, giving Harry a questioning look.
This was certainly news to Harry, but immediately he had an idea as to the reason. Deciding not to divulge this piece of information just yet, he kept his expression purposefully neutral. "When you say inaccessible, what do you mean exactly?" he asked.
Charlie seemed almost disappointed in the response, as if he had been expecting more. "Quite strange really. The day your letter to Ron arrived, the house just wouldn't appear any more, regardless of whether one knew its location or not. Except apparently Dumbledore, who could see the house but couldn't enter it" answered Charlie. "No one could apparate or Floo in either, so those inside at the time didn't know anything about this, until they realised the Order members weren't arriving for the meetings. Got my mum wound-up good and proper I can tell you; thinking the worst had happened" continued Charlie, shaking his head.
"Don't tell me they've been stuck inside all this time?" asked Harry, starting to feel horribly guilty.
"Oh no. Those who were inside could leave; they just couldn't get back in again once they had left. Problem was there was no way of contacting those inside".
Harry was very relieved to hear this. "So what happened?" he asked.
"Well Moody was the first to leave the house and when he didn't return, mum got really hysterical. Apparently she hid the Floo power, confiscated all the broomsticks and forbade anyone to go near the front door or even the windows. Of course Tonks could apparate; she was the next to go. Eventually, and I'm talking weeks here, mum finally had no choice but to leave herself to try and find out what was going on. I think she would have stayed there indefinitely if Ron hadn't pestered her so much" smiled Charlie. "As for Ron, Hermione and Ginny, they were left strict instructions to remain inside should mum not return."
"Ron, Hermione and Ginny are still inside!" asked Harry, the guilty sinking feeling returning full force.
"No!" laughed Charlie "Not surprisingly they left the next day when Ginny found the hidden Floo powder! Apparently Hermione was outnumbered two to one."
A smile spread across Harry's face. That sounded like his friends all right.
"So where are they now?" he asked, knowing they were likely to be wherever the Order had relocated their base of operations.
Charlie pointedly cast furtive glances around the room. His point was clear; even here their conversation wasn't guaranteed as secure. After a couple of seconds, Charlie replied. "Put it this way" he spoke quietly "The grandfather clock points to twelve when I'm there".
It took Harry a couple of seconds to understand what Charlie could possibly mean by that. Finally the meaning registered along with a surprised look on his face. He wouldn't have predicted this and to be honest he wasn't too happy with the arrangement either. Sure the Order would have insured the location had increased protection over the charms already in place, but still…
Charlie, obviously seeing the change in Harry's expression, interrupted his train of thought "I know what your going to say, but the place is very secure now" he said, interpreting Harry's thoughts well. "And if you'll allow me, that's where I'll be taking you."
Harry nodded absently, as more concerns about the arrangement ran though his mind.
"Will I need an invitation?" He asked the older wizard, emulating his cryptic means of communication.
Charlie smiled, obviously happy that he wasn't taking security lightly. "No, although we're planning on making it 'invitation only' very soon. You timed things well."
Harry wasn't sure he agreed, but he was happy they were considering the Fiddelus Charm. Being associated with himself and the Order put the property and more importantly the people that lived inside it, at much greater risk. On the other hand, he was looking forward to returning much more now that he knew where he was going. To tell the truth, he'd also not been enjoying the prospect of having to refuse Charlie should he have insisted they return to Grimmauld Place.

A brief period of silence built up between the two wizards, as each became lost in their own thoughts. Charlie was the first to break the reverie. "A lot of people are going to be very relieved to see you Harry"
'Relieved; not happy' thought Harry bitterly, whilst staring fixedly at a spot on Charlie's floor.
"I have so many of questions I'd like to ask" admitted Charlie "but I know you going to have to answer them again when you get back to the Order, and I can tell you're not exactly looking forward to that" he continued perceptively "so I'll wait".
Harry looked back up at the older wizard sitting across from him and smiled in gratitude.
"You should know that some members of the Order are not going to be as easy on you" warned Charlie.
"Yeah, I know" groaned Harry. Charlie hadn't been wrong; he was not looking forward to the inevitable meeting with the Order one bit.
Downing the last of the butterbeer, Charlie got to his feet and crossed the room. "I suppose it's about time we make a move, before news of your presence here travels."
"How are we going to be travelling?" asked Harry, glancing towards the small fireplace wearily.
Catching Harry's inquisitive glance, Charlie smiled in amusement "Only there for aesthetic purposes Harry. Romania doesn't have a Floo network to connect to."
"Oh right" replied Harry, surprised. "Flying then?" he asked optimistically, he was hoping it wasn't…
"Portkey" said Charlie, reaching into a glass cabinet adorning one of the walls and bringing out a familiar looking object. "You don't seriously think I fly every time I return home do you? It's a rather long journey to make by broom, could you imagine the discomfort? Wouldn't be able to walk straight for days, I can tell you. "
Harry grimaced at the thought. "Well actually, I guess I thought you normally apparated" he replied.
"Apparating long distances is very hard Harry. The further you want to go, the stronger the magical power, concentration and experience you require" Charlie informed him." And I'm afraid to say I'm not that confident in my apparating abilities to risk it."
Harry nodded in understanding. After all, unlike other forms of wizard travel, the magical power involved in the process came from the wizard who was doing the apparating, and with greater distance came a greater chance of error. The thought of what that error could result in, was enough to turn anyone's stomach.
Finishing his own butterbeer, Harry slung his rucksack over his shoulder and walked over to Charlie to investigate the object he was holding.
"A Chinese Fireball right?" he asked, recognising the model as being identical to the one Victor Krum had pulled out of the small, purple, silk sack that each of the 'Champions' been presented with before the First task.
Charlie looked extremely pleased "That's right. I'm impressed!"
"Their names kind of stick in your mind when you're facing the prospect of being eaten by one" replied Harry pseudo-sarcastically.
"Ah yes. The first task. You know, I really wish I could have been there to have seen that" said Charlie wistfully "from what I heard you put on quite a show!"
Suddenly Charlie's eyes lit up. "Hey, do you want to see her again? A quick detour, not far out of our way" he asked enthusiastically.
"What do you mean out of our way?" asked Harry, confused. "Couldn't we just use the portkey from here?"
"I'm afraid not Harry. Come on I'll explain on the way" replied Charlie, already making for the front door.

"You know we don't have to go see this dragon Charlie" insisted Harry, having to almost jog to keep up with the obviously enthused redhead.
"Nonsense Harry! Can't have you going back home after coming all this way without seeing her again" replied Charlie, obviously misinterpreting Harry's reluctance as politeness. "Besides her lair is more or less directly in or path. We'd almost have to go further to avoid her."
The path they had followed since leaving Dragon's Dale was headed in an easterly direction, towards what looked to be quite a high mountain in the near distance. The prospect of having to climb it, along with the imminent re-acquaintance with another dragon; which had incidentally been intent on killing him the last time they had meet, was quite frankly disquieting.
Catching Harry's glance up at the mountain, Charlie smiled "Don't worry we wont need to climb most of it, we just need to get around to the other side."
That was some good news at least. "Uh, why is that exactly?" asked Harry.
"We need to be in a catchment area to use the portkey" Charlie answered "and this one is by far the closest."
"Catchment area?" asked Harry, now thoroughly confused
"That's right" mused Charlie. "You know, sometimes I forget you were brought up with muggles."
"Common mistake" laughed Harry.
"Right. Well Portkey travel isn't quite as simple as it seems" explained Charlie, as the path they were following took a slight turn to the north. "You see when an official Portkey is made, the creator sets the point of departure and a point of destination and a new route on the portkey network is established. When that portkey is then used the journey is along the route created, which is a direct line between the two points that were specified."
"Seems simple enough" replied Harry, ducking a branch that whipped across his path.
"Oh if only it were" laughed Charlie. "In Britain, the use of portkeys during the last few centuries was very popular. It was actually only quite recently that the ministry brought in its regulations. Some time in the seventies I believe. One guess as to why" said Charlie pointedly.
Harry could guess all right. 'Voldemort'.
"The Portkey network over Britain is therefore quite intricate; like a very detailed spider web."
"Not an analogy Ron would take to" laughed Harry
Charlie smiled. "But you see it's very different here on the continent, especially in Eastern Europe. The use of portkeys has always been highly regulated and very few official portkeys have ever been made."
"So the network is not as intricate," added Harry.
"Nowhere near" replied Charlie. "Hence the problem."
"I'm afraid I don't follow," said Harry.
"This portkey" said Charlie, briefly pulling the model of the Chinese Fireball out from the inside pocket of his cloak. "Like nearly all those that Dumbledore creates, is not official."
"But I've travelled using unofficial portkeys before and they've all worked fine" replied Harry, shuddering at the thought of where some of those portkeys had taken him. He really did loathe travelling by portkeys. The prospect of using one again soon, was definitely more nauseating than having to see Hungarian Horntail again.
"There's a reason for that" replied Charlie, directing Harry onto a smaller path that branched off the one they'd been travelling. "You see Harry, an unofficial portkey doesn't set up its own route on the network; that's why unofficial portkeys are so notoriously difficult to track. In Britain, the lack of a designated route is hardly a problem, as you're rarely anywhere that's not within the catchment area of an existing route. When using an unofficial portkey, you basically just hijack these existing routes and travel between them and the portkey intrinsically takes you along the quickest route."
"But without the intricate network to hack into, that's a lot more difficult to do here" said Harry, catching on.
"Exactly" answered Charlie. "Luckily for us, there's a portkey route that goes between Bucharest and Warsaw that conveniently goes over us not too far from here. We just need to get within the catchment area, which inconveniently is just the other side of that mountain…watch your step there"

Returning is concentration back to where he was going, rather than the conversation, Harry halted suddenly in shock as he found himself only yards away from the edge of a cliff overlooking another small wooded valley.
Two hundred feet directly beneath them, spreading out from the base of the cliff, was another similar sized clearing that housed yet another familiar dragon. Harry relaxed, as he realised this was the closest he was going to get to it.
"Viscous that one" said Charlie, the reverence in his voice rivalling Hagrid's for such creatures.
"Yeah" muttered Harry, unconsciously rubbing his right shoulder. "I remember."
"Soon she'll be a mother," said Charlie, smiling happily.
It was only then that Harry realised that the Horntail was sitting on a clutch of eggs, just like during the First Task. "Charlie. Those aren't the same eggs she was protecting the last time I saw her, surely?" asked Harry in disbelief.
"They sure are Harry" answered Charlie enthusiastically; he was in his element. "The gestation period of the Dragon's egg is very long and varies further depending on the species. This one here laid her eggs not long before you saw her during the Tri-wizard Tournament and the Horntails gestation period is almost exactly two years."
"No wonder she was so protective of them" replied Harry in surprise.
"Quite ironic really when you consider how long she'll tolerate them once they've hatched. Within a year, those that survive will need to be relocated and she'll likely never mate again" said Charlie.
That was certainly strange, but Harry wasn't really too bothered as to whether or not the Horntail mated again or not. Keeping their numbers down seemed like a smart idea in retrospect. Seeing the Horntail again however did bring up another question he'd intended to ask the older wizard. "Charlie, how is it that Norbert's grown so large? He's easily pushing twice the size of the Horntail down there?"
"He's a male Harry, they all grow much larger than the females…except curiously for the Asian Red, nobody exactly knows wh…."
"But Norbert's not even five years old!" interrupted Harry.
Charlie shook his head in amusement. "By five they're fully grown Harry. Norbert's already sired one brood; they're due to hatch in about eighteen month's time."
"Really?" replied Harry bemusedly. Norbert was going to be a father. Hagrid was going to be ecstatic!

"Charlie, about what happened back at Norbert's clearing..." said Harry fifteen minutes later, as they both returned to the main path.
"Yeah, that was a serious breach in security you caused earlier" laughed Charlie. "My colleagues are going to be talking about your visit for years to come!"
"I didn't mean to cause so much trouble" apologised Harry.
"Nonsense Harry, you just gave the wards a much needed test and proved they seriously need improving! The important thing is you're alive."
"So there are wards in place?" asked Harry. "Other than the muggle repelling ones I mean."
"Oh naturally Harry. We can't just have anyone wandering into the reserve whenever they feel like it without us knowing" replied Charlie. "Poaching would otherwise be a huge problem; nearly everything about the dragon is valuable on the black market. Even their dung sells well as fertilizer" he laughed. "The whole reserve perimeter is encompassed by detection wards and there are secondary wards surrounding each of the clearings."
"So the outer wards failed to detect me?" inquired Harry, now slightly out of breath; the path was definitely getting steeper.
"It seems so" answered Charlie, glancing curiously at Harry. "We only detected your presence when you set off the wards surrounding Norbert's clearing. That certainly got our attention, never ran so hard in my life!"
"How come you didn't apparate?" asked Harry, bewildered.
"Ah. There's the other major security measure," answered Charlie. "Anti-apparition wards. There's one covering the whole of the reserve. After all, there's no point in having the peripheral security wards if all one has to do is apparate straight into the clearings" stated Charlie. "Besides, there's also the issue of our own safety."
Seeing the look of confusion on Harry's face, Charlie elaborated further "You see, in the past, before the anti-apparition wards were discovered, apparating was used here all the time here to get around the reserve. However there were a couple of incidences where a few wizards apparated in a bit too close to one of the Dragons… a nasty way to go!" he shuddered.
Harry wholeheartedly agreed.
"Although sometimes… Merlin, do I wish they weren't in place!" exclaimed Charlie emphatically, as they entered an empty clearing on the side of the mountain. "All this trekking certainly keeps me fit."
"Uh Charlie, there isn't supposed to be a dragon in this one is there?" asked Harry, glancing around nervously.
Charlie's laughter echoed around the clearing "No Harry, relax! This clearing is far to close to the reserve's boundary for us to even consider homing a dragon here. In fact, I think we've probably come far enough" he stated, glancing straight up at the mountain peak that had moved around to their South. Reaching into the inside pocket of his robe, Charlie removed the Chinese fireball model and held it out in his palm towards Harry.
Seeing the model again brought with it the strong feelings of wariness and foreboding he now associated with portkey travel. Harry knew his reluctance to travel by such means was just a conditioned response due to his prior experiences, but knowing this wasn't exactly helpful in combating the issue. The last three times he'd travelled by portkey, had either immediately preceded or followed a traumatic event in his life and now, just the thought of having to take another trip by portkey was enough to make Harry want to retch.
"You OK Harry" asked Charlie concernedly, noticing the younger man's reluctance to take a hold on the model.
"I'm fine" replied Harry, as he forced himself to reach out and touch the model dragon.
"You sure"
Harry nodded in response, not really wanting to open his mouth.
Charlie gave Harry a searching look, but finally raised his eyebrows in defeat. Waving his wand over the model, Charlie muttered something Harry hadn't expected to hear: "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."
Noticing Harry's surprised expression, Charlie smiled. "Activation password. Quite apt don't you think" he asked, before flicking his wand sharply down to tap the model in one swift movement with a concurrent "Activate".
Harry felt the all too familiar feeling of the 'hook behind the navel', as the portkey whisked them off their feet and away from Eastern Europe.

x-

A.N – Finally! I apologise profusely for the extreme lateness of this update, but the last couple of months have been…interesting to say the least. Many things have combined together to conspire against my update schedule (not least of which being that I've had to write this chapter twice! – damn that electrical surge) and so it is with great relief that I can finally get it uploaded for you all. I realise this chapter doesn't go so far as to deal with a lot of the questions raised by the first few chapters, but we'll get there soon I promise. Let me know what you thought?

Gallandro – I very much appreciate being placed on your C2 archive, its name alone gives great compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed the featuring of Norbert (I had great fun writing him in) and with regards to the keeping away from HP-fanfiction clichés I intend to continue doing so. You had a couple of questions/queries so I'll do my best to answer them: Hermione's scar - A healing wound is often a vivid colour initially after the trauma and takes quite some time for the lighter scar tissue to be laid down. However with regards to Hermione's wound, its purple nature stems more from the fact that it's a magical scar and has manifested some of the attributes of the curse itself (Joanne described the curse as purple). The 'cameoing' tour guide – All I can say is, with this story, you never know what will happen ;)
Fondycheesehead – Glad you're enjoying the originality, with so many HP-fanfictions out there it's a lot harder than it sounds.
Trunks2598 – Events from the missing weeks will be dealt with in upcoming chapters. Scouts honour!
fhippogriff – Having expected to get negative reviews with respect to the time shift, it was nice to receive the opposite. As you say, anything to freak-out Dumbledore!
Mistrose, BferBearShadowed RainsEgyptian Flame and ScrewyLouie12- Thanks for the encouragement! It's true; I do seem to write faster with them.

Take care,
Welsh Red Dragon.