Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling. Some are my own. This story is a complete AU. The plot is my own, but is based on J. K. Rowling's work. I might borrow details from other fan fiction, but nothing major; don't get mad. I DO NOT own Harry Potter. I hope this is what I need to say to keep out of trouble. :)

A Trio of Dragons Chapter 1: Reflections (A Prologue of Sorts) (Charlie's POV)

I haven't ever told anyone my deciding factors for becoming a Dragon Keeper. In fact when I was fifteen I had my mind thoroughly set on becoming a Professional Quidditch Player. I was the Seeker for Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. I loved the thrill of the chase.

I also had another love though; animals, all sorts, but my favorite was definitely dragons. They have a majestic and terrifying beauty about them, but in my fifth year I never considered working with them. It was an article in The Quibbler that made me rethink my career possibilities. The article told of a small boy living amongst a clan of dragons on the dragon reserve in Romania.

Now The Quibbler is known for its odd and out-of-proportion ideas; therefore almost the entire wizarding world wrote it off as the delusions of the editor. To me though just the idea of living within the dragons ranks was fascinating; I wanted to be that boy so bad.

I'm the type of person that does not just have a small amount of interest in something; either I could care less about it, or I'll pour my heart and soul into it and always be completely fascinated with it.

For instance during my second year at Hogwarts Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, disappeared sending the wizarding world into chaos. The reports said that his cousin and his cousins friends were chasing him home after school one day when he just disappeared. At first everyone thought that he had just run away, and would soon show up at his aunt and uncle's house. The wizarding world was further outraged when they found out that his last living family didn't want him, and was glad he was gone. They hoped that he never came back. How a five year old boy could just disappear without a trace intrigued me.

I read everything in Wizarding and muggle news to try and find any sigh of the Savior. Then a month after his disappearance the Ministry of Magic revealed the grave news to the wizarding world that a couple of Aurors found his body in an alley. Wizards around the world were grief stricken, but something about that article didn't seem right to me. I never believed that he died; I thought and still think it was just the Minister's way of getting the wizarding world under control again.

It was just before my sixteenth birthday that I finally made my decision to become a Dragon Keeper. It was another article in The Quibbler that made me make up my mind. It had a picture and story of what was believed to be a cross between a Peruvian Vipertooth and a Hungarian Horntail. It was on the same Romanian dragon reserve that was written about before in the newspaper. The creature was absolutely breathtaking. I had never seen anything with such beauty and terrifying power before in my life. It was that photograph that made me decide that I wanted to be a Romanian Dragon Keeper.

So the summer after my sixth year I did my apprenticeship. I have always had good grades in school, been a fast learner, and hard worker. That is why I was allowed to take the apprenticeship a year early, and finished it in just half the time of what was normal.

That is why just one month after my graduation from Hogwarts that I found myself camped in the Romanian Mountains on the Dragon Reserve observing one of the many dragon clans. This was the eight day that I had been observing them, and I loved every moment of it. I slept in my sleeping bag, followed them on my broom, and wrote down everything I could about them. I was one of the few Dragon Keepers that wanted to be accepted by the magnificent creatures; instead of just control them.

I always stayed far enough away that they didn't feel threatened by my presence, but close enough to see them clearly. The clan I was following was the clan with the hybrid Vipertooth-Horntail. He had my constant attention. He was a curious creature. He moved with an elegance that none of the others even came close to. Although he was a lot smaller than the Horntail and the Ridgeback that were his age; he was obviously the leader. The clan had several breeds of dragons, but the hatchlings were always purebred. The Alpha couple in the clan was a couple of Horntails. Then there was an older couple of Ironbellies, four unmated Longhorns, a black, and a ridgeback. The three ten year olds were seemingly orphans, the hybrid seemed to be well respected in the clan despite its young age. There was also a six year old Ironbelly, the offspring of the mated couple. The hybrid acted differently then the others, often ignoring the older dragons, and taking control over them. He was obviously an alpha in the making. He was pitch black, with short horns, he had the long fangs of a Vipertooth, and the spiked tail of a Horntail. His most striking features though were his emerald green eyes that were visible even from a great distance, and the bronze lightning bolt marking just above his left eye. It was him that I wanted to be accepted by, despite his genetics dictating him to be possibly the most dangerous dragon alive, and it was him that I wanted to understand.

Author's Note: This is the end of Chapter 1, the first chapter of hopefully as novel length fic. I know it is short but I thought this was just a good place to stop. Thanks, hope you liked it. Please Review.