11 May 2019, 21:00
The Hogwarts Headliner, Issue #0
May 2019 Horoscopes
Aries (March 21 - April 19): This month, you will have the opportunity to release an old childhood memory or limitation. Responsibility to family may keep you from your personal plans and activities, but don’t try to escape your duties or challenges. Keep those personal goals in mind as hopes and dreams. By late June, approaching family issues with patience could bring release for you.
Taurus (April 20 - May 20): Happy early birthday to all of you Tauruses (including myself)! I have one important word for you this month: awareness. Luckily, the positions of the planets bring promises for this year. People and experiences will come into your life that will open you up to new relationships and give your old ones new meaning, whether they are family relationships, friendships, or romantic relationships. Get your diary out and be ready for some journal entries, because there will be much for you to learn from your travels this month. There may be changes in your learning overall, as you may decide to sign up for a new course sometime this May.
Gemini (May 21 - June 20): This May may also be a month of birthday celebrations for some of you Geminis out there, so happy early birthday to you guys too! This month has promises ahead of looking at resources and their purpose in a new way. Maybe try something different this May with your money, like going along with your feelings rather than your logic, and along the way, you might even find a new method for decision-making.
Cancer (June 21 - July 22): It may feel like life is getting in your way, so this May is a good time to assess the previous months and what you’ve gained and learned this year so far. Yes, life may continue to hinder you and feel like a heavy burden, but just remind yourself that the wisdom that you have gained will help you to push through all of your difficulties.
Leo (July 23 - August 22): May is the month for friendships for you. Be open to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. Instead of picking and choosing your friends, let others choose you, even if you’re uncertain about the person in question. They will unwittingly help guide and teach you. Love others unconditionally, and you yourself will feel loved. The ones who you love will give you recognition this month. Be open also to group activities and acting as a leader, rather than a follower.
Virgo (August 23 - September 22): In order to find your perspective point, you will need to back away from the monotonous everyday routine and have philosophical discussions with others, preferably experts. There isn’t much for you to learn, see, or travel to until June, as you are on an important quest for truth this month. On this quest, you will find the necessary colors to brighten up your life.
Libra (September 23 - October 22): After May 18, you will have the opportunity to have your own Alice in Wonderland venture. The second half of this month will be a journey backwards for you, a journey that you might travel alone. There will be decisions along the way. The blue or red pill? Follow the rabbit or stay put? When late June arrives, you will come to the realization that the power of your mind is as strong and vast as your imagination and ability to adapt.
Scorpio (October 23 - November 21): This May, you should let yourself be free from the worries and social stresses of life. Let your hair down and play, and playmates will join you along the way, whether they are friends, confidants, or even a lover. Try to reach your own Fountain of Youth and get back that youthful glow you once had. Resources will present themselves to you later in this month, so get a head start and figure out your wishlist now.
Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21): Your actions throughout the course of this month will pave the path for your career success. Keep your connections with people active. When challenges present themselves, rest in the knowledge that they will bring you fortune later on. After May 10, make sure to contact figures of authority, as the more contacts you have, the greater the reward. As your partners bring gifts to you, be sure to express your gratitude for them in a special manner.
Capricorn (December 22 - January 19): Look for a guru with dignity and psychological strength this month. They will have a understanding for responsibility that clearly reflects your own. A friendship will develop here that brings out your inner child, in turn allowing you to act as a guru for a younger or less mature person. But be sure to take a break before May ends, as a change of scenery is beneficial every once in a while.
Aquarius (January 20 - February 18): Life continues to be uncertain, which brings along frustration and confusion. Maybe these difficulties are a message to you, telling you to not only be more emotionally transparent and vulnerable, but also sensitive and receptive. This would allow you to enter a completely new world, where you can lead others to freedom.
Pisces (February 19 - March 20): The main focus for you this May is sunny and clear skies. Imagine a peaceful ride in a hot air balloon over a calm, sparkling sea of water. Don’t complain; instead count your blessings, for the planets are in your favor. This will allow you to be creative and intuitive, setting you free to be yourself. So next time you feel ungrateful, stop and think: do you really have anything to complain about?
- Amanda Sparrow
______________________________________________________
Inactive account. Do not Owl.
11 May 2019, 21:29
The Hogwarts Headliner, Issue #0
The First Hogwarts Herald Writing Competition- Results
Aurelia Bezuidenhout:The Competition
This was a Short Story Competition
The Prompt for this competition: "Your First Meeting With A Dragon."
Specifics of Competition
Entrants Must Use A Pseudonym
Entrants Must Follow The Prompt
Minimum 600 Word Count
The Winner Of The Competition Will Receive 2 Galleons
Reducio
Young, naive and gullible I was when my mother first told me about dragons. These in were in fact one of the many stories she had told to me before she tucked my to bed and kissed me goodnight. These stories were fairytales that she herself had brilliantly came up with. On that cold Autumn’s nigh, she had told me that the first of dragons were born from the very stars that fell onto earth, from the dent the fiery rocks had made crawled out thousands of fire breathing winged reptiles that sought and scavenged the earth for any gold and silver they could find so that when time to come, they could bring their findings back up to the skies. I was 7 years old then and had believed her without a doubt.
My father was Orion Philitronn, he worked in the ministry of magic, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and knew much more than my mother did about Dragons. My Father had told me that my Mother’s stories were gibberish and that dragons cared nothing but blood and death. As usual, I choose to believe Mother’s more pleasant stories than Father’s blood curdling facts.
Mother continued with her stories each night, she told me how the Pegasus had lost it’s wings to become the first horse and how the billywigs were in fact born from the tears of an occamy. The fantastic tales she created always kept me on my toes. Listening to each of the every stories so intently. However, things changed when I came 10 years old during the incident that I would never forget. I no longer though of her stories the same way again.
I was an Autumn’s child, with my birthday falling in the midst of September. Father was a very busy man, constantly working and dealing with magical creatures. But he had especially went out of his way to take a day’s leave just so he could spend some time on my birthday. As the dates neared closer to that of my birthday rolled over, Father suggested we have a little hike through a forest in Russia to a small log cabin he knew about for a short staycation. He knew I loved animals and had told me that there were many chances we would come across a magical creature or even spot a dragon flying above. Autumn was the breeding season for the dragons.
So on the day of my birthday, suited up in our hiking gear, Father had aparated me and Mother to place smelling of pine and wildlife. And so, we started our hike up, the cabin he was taking us was further in the dense forest. Although Mother didn’t quite like the idea, I was perplexed with the many different kind of birds and critters I saw. It was barely half an hour when Father had pointed out a deer and it’s fawn grazing a distance away. Camouflaged by the colours of nature, it took me awhile for me to finally notice it and when I finally did, Father pointed to something above the sky, a large bat, no he had claimed it was a dragon. With the creature so far away and especially in air, I didn’t believe him, not until it came closer to the earth.
It was the most terrible sound I had every heard. The shriek of the deer echoed through the dense forest as the winged creature swooped down, sinking its gigantic claws into the poor animal’s back. Everything happened so quickly, the menacing creature grabbing its prey in an instant and taking off the next second and the vulnerable fawn left without its Mother. Only then did I believe father’s claims, dragons cared nothing but blood and death. As a ten year old, it was quite a traumatic scene for me that time and true enough, I had sobbed. My parents tried assuring me by stating that it was how the food chain worked but I still could not help feeling sorry for the poor fawn. Dragons did not want gold or silver, they wanted blood and food.
My father was Orion Philitronn, he worked in the ministry of magic, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and knew much more than my mother did about Dragons. My Father had told me that my Mother’s stories were gibberish and that dragons cared nothing but blood and death. As usual, I choose to believe Mother’s more pleasant stories than Father’s blood curdling facts.
Mother continued with her stories each night, she told me how the Pegasus had lost it’s wings to become the first horse and how the billywigs were in fact born from the tears of an occamy. The fantastic tales she created always kept me on my toes. Listening to each of the every stories so intently. However, things changed when I came 10 years old during the incident that I would never forget. I no longer though of her stories the same way again.
I was an Autumn’s child, with my birthday falling in the midst of September. Father was a very busy man, constantly working and dealing with magical creatures. But he had especially went out of his way to take a day’s leave just so he could spend some time on my birthday. As the dates neared closer to that of my birthday rolled over, Father suggested we have a little hike through a forest in Russia to a small log cabin he knew about for a short staycation. He knew I loved animals and had told me that there were many chances we would come across a magical creature or even spot a dragon flying above. Autumn was the breeding season for the dragons.
So on the day of my birthday, suited up in our hiking gear, Father had aparated me and Mother to place smelling of pine and wildlife. And so, we started our hike up, the cabin he was taking us was further in the dense forest. Although Mother didn’t quite like the idea, I was perplexed with the many different kind of birds and critters I saw. It was barely half an hour when Father had pointed out a deer and it’s fawn grazing a distance away. Camouflaged by the colours of nature, it took me awhile for me to finally notice it and when I finally did, Father pointed to something above the sky, a large bat, no he had claimed it was a dragon. With the creature so far away and especially in air, I didn’t believe him, not until it came closer to the earth.
It was the most terrible sound I had every heard. The shriek of the deer echoed through the dense forest as the winged creature swooped down, sinking its gigantic claws into the poor animal’s back. Everything happened so quickly, the menacing creature grabbing its prey in an instant and taking off the next second and the vulnerable fawn left without its Mother. Only then did I believe father’s claims, dragons cared nothing but blood and death. As a ten year old, it was quite a traumatic scene for me that time and true enough, I had sobbed. My parents tried assuring me by stating that it was how the food chain worked but I still could not help feeling sorry for the poor fawn. Dragons did not want gold or silver, they wanted blood and food.
Arc Perscivious:
Reducio
The dark-haired young man had only been one of the Unspeakables for a year now. Just a few years ago, he would still be called a boy, learning in Hogwarts. So, when he was given a mission regarding a dragon, it came as a surprised to him. He had thought that he would do such things someday, in a foreseeable future, but certainly not now.
Anyway, he rode through the mountains until he came across a cave. He parked his motorcycle, donned his black faceless mask, and walked into the cave. Once he entered, he was met with a dead end, rocks had fallen close to the entrance. But the man was perceptive, exceptionally so, else he wouldn’t be accepted by the Unspeakables at such a tender age.
“Verdimillious,” chanted the man quietly as he made a slashing gesture with his hand.
A green emerald light exploded from the tip of his wand and illuminated the whole cavern, revealing an entirely different view to him. The run-down cave turned into an enormous entrance leading to an impressive castle. In fact, the castle was so big, the whole mountain range must have been a façade to cover it.
As he walked closer to the castle, the lumbering man started to hear a voice. A cry for help to be exact. He moved steadily with calculated steps, searching for signs of dangers and traps. Which he found. But most of them wouldn’t activate until some things -bad things- happened to its owner and the others he could easily outmaneuvered. He followed the voice and climbed over the walls of the castle. The castle had two spiralling towers with a diameter as wide as a Quidditch pitch attached to both sides and the voice came from the one closer to him.
“Anybody here?” The man asked once he was close enough to the entrance of the tower, where a huge double-door steel gate met him. He was sure the one inside could hear him, though.
“Who’s there?!” came a high-pitch response from inside, sounding unsure.
“Ah, I can’t reveal you my name, but you can call me Professor, my Lady. I’m from the Ministry of Magic. I came here to save you,” answered our young protagonist.
There came a lull as the one inside tried to digest his words. The young Unspeakable took the time to examine the door in front him with very keen eyes. The doors had been warded with multiple layers of magic that would keep whoever inside, well, in. It would be near impossible even for the greatest of wizards that had ever walked the earth to go out once locked inside, let alone the ‘Princess’ he was saving. But it would be easy to break from outside. Easy for someone like him at least.
“Are you…are you for real? I swear Dragon, if this is another one of your tricks…” Princess finally answered.
“No, it is not. I swear. Wait. What? Dragon? But I thought…” Ah, it all made sense now!
A thunderous roar came from his left to cut their conversation before gigantic fireballs rained from above, promising him a fiery death. The man spun silently as he faced the black dragon and its fireballs.
“Protego,” said the man as he made a letter ‘I’ with the wand in his right hand.
Nothing seemed to happen at first. Until a fireball as big as a small bathroom suddenly ricocheted to the left when it reached half a meter from the tip of the wand of the man, leaving only a slight ripple to the apparently invisible shield the man had erected. Even the heat of the fireball should have scorched the guy if not for the fact that his shield protected him from all kinds of temperature damage as well. The dude looked nonplussed as fireball upon fireball hit the shield only for it to get ricocheted. He was so undeterred; he could even spare his left hand to be tucked behind his back to do whatever.
One fireball hit the shield dead on for it only to be reflected to the dragon. The dragon let the fireball hit him and flew past the dark-robed man before turning around in a sharp turn and went down. It landed just a few meters from the young man with such oomph that the earth shook. Just the wind that got pushed by the dragon should have knocked the man over if not for his powerful shield.
“It’s alright, Dragon. I’m generous and kind. I forgive what you just did,” said the man calmly before the dragon did anything. “You can’t see greatness when it’s so close in front of you.”
The dragon was suddenly at loss of words. He didn’t expect that anyone would talk so brazenly to him like that. The guy in front of him didn’t even seem to have a shred of duress to be standing in front of a mighty dragon.
“How dare you trespass my territory, you insolent dwarf?!” The dragon roared. “And to even try stealing what is mine?”
The dragon took a step forward, his nostrils flared, taking a deep breath, getting ready to spew forth hellfire from his mouth.
“Hold on a second there. Are you sure you want to fight me?” said the man with a raised eyebrow followed with a chuckle. “Me? The great Me? The one and only Professor? The new owner of the elder wand?”
Of course, he was not the new owner of the elder wand, but the "dragon" in front of him might not…
“That’s not the elder wand! I have seen it first-hand and that is not it. Do you think I’m stupid?!” said the stupid dragon.
Well. That didn’t work. But it sort of did, though. Two down, five more to go.
“Ah, you seem to know your wand, Jonathan Travers, well done,” said the Professor with a smirk.
The dragon stopped moving before he growled again, “what did you just call me?”
Good. Four down, three left.
“You don’t need to act coy, JT. I know all about you, agent of the Department of Mystery, Etymology and Language Division. Well, maybe except the fact that you are an unregistered animagus. A dragon animagus to boot!”
The dragon went entirely quiet. Two to go. Man, that last one took longer than he thought. He had to work faster now.
“To be honest I’m not completely sure at first, but you basically confirm it already now. Thank you.” The man continued.
The black dragon took another step and bared his teeth, “you’re not going out of here alive to tell the tale, kid!”
“Oh, but I will,” said the masked man with a smile. Only one last ward to unravel, now. “And by the way, I do think you are stupid. Glacius!”
The door froze over in a blink of an eye. And the Professor jumped to the side just before it was battered down by a powerful force from inside. A red snout came peeking, sniffing, tasting the air, tasting freedom. As it was finally free of its year-long exile. The red dragon roared before spewing fire like it had never been before. It hit Jonathan head on and he had to protect himself by using his wings. Young as it might, Princess was still a full grown Chinese Fireball and her flame could melt steel beams.
The black dragon animagus weathered the fiery onslaught only for a bright blue spell to hit him squarely in the back. What was that? Oh, no. No! The animagus started shrinking, his wings forcefully retracted back to its body, his giant claws and scales turned into giant hand and skin, and its maw filled with deadly fangs started changing into human teeth one by one.
“Now, Princess!” Professor shouted.
The young red dragon madly charged into the half-transformed powerful wizard that had imprisoned him for so long and swatted him away. She turned to her savior and dipped her head down, so their eyes were level.
“Thank you, I…” Princess tried to speak.
“Your welcome, but now’s not the time.” Professor interjected. “The man had made contingencies and we have to go now. Can I go along with you?”
The dragon dipped her neck even further until it almost touched the ground and the young Unspeakable climbed up to her neck. The dragon took off and flew through the cave. Spell formations started to come to life, trying to bind whatever trying to go out. But it was too late. Princess and Professor managed to fly away from the only cavern she had known for half of her life. And it didn’t take long for her to reach the skies she could only dreamed of.
“Oh, wow. The view is amazing! You know, this is my first time meeting a dragon. Like ever. And I get to fly on one?! My little brother won’t believe me even if I tell him.” The robed man said giddily in the middle of their flight.
“Uh, Professor,” said Princess, “can you turn me back into human once we get to safety? You know, like the thing you just did to Jonathan?”
Ah, the poor thing. She grew up thinking she was a human. "Certainly! Well, I won’t be the one to do it since your case is a bit more complicated.” Like super complicated. It was one thing to reverse an animagus to its human form, but it would be a whole other thing to turn a real dragon into human, “but one of my friends would certainly could and would do it for you.”
It was a lie of course. But she didn’t need to know that.
Anyway, he rode through the mountains until he came across a cave. He parked his motorcycle, donned his black faceless mask, and walked into the cave. Once he entered, he was met with a dead end, rocks had fallen close to the entrance. But the man was perceptive, exceptionally so, else he wouldn’t be accepted by the Unspeakables at such a tender age.
“Verdimillious,” chanted the man quietly as he made a slashing gesture with his hand.
A green emerald light exploded from the tip of his wand and illuminated the whole cavern, revealing an entirely different view to him. The run-down cave turned into an enormous entrance leading to an impressive castle. In fact, the castle was so big, the whole mountain range must have been a façade to cover it.
As he walked closer to the castle, the lumbering man started to hear a voice. A cry for help to be exact. He moved steadily with calculated steps, searching for signs of dangers and traps. Which he found. But most of them wouldn’t activate until some things -bad things- happened to its owner and the others he could easily outmaneuvered. He followed the voice and climbed over the walls of the castle. The castle had two spiralling towers with a diameter as wide as a Quidditch pitch attached to both sides and the voice came from the one closer to him.
“Anybody here?” The man asked once he was close enough to the entrance of the tower, where a huge double-door steel gate met him. He was sure the one inside could hear him, though.
“Who’s there?!” came a high-pitch response from inside, sounding unsure.
“Ah, I can’t reveal you my name, but you can call me Professor, my Lady. I’m from the Ministry of Magic. I came here to save you,” answered our young protagonist.
There came a lull as the one inside tried to digest his words. The young Unspeakable took the time to examine the door in front him with very keen eyes. The doors had been warded with multiple layers of magic that would keep whoever inside, well, in. It would be near impossible even for the greatest of wizards that had ever walked the earth to go out once locked inside, let alone the ‘Princess’ he was saving. But it would be easy to break from outside. Easy for someone like him at least.
“Are you…are you for real? I swear Dragon, if this is another one of your tricks…” Princess finally answered.
“No, it is not. I swear. Wait. What? Dragon? But I thought…” Ah, it all made sense now!
A thunderous roar came from his left to cut their conversation before gigantic fireballs rained from above, promising him a fiery death. The man spun silently as he faced the black dragon and its fireballs.
“Protego,” said the man as he made a letter ‘I’ with the wand in his right hand.
Nothing seemed to happen at first. Until a fireball as big as a small bathroom suddenly ricocheted to the left when it reached half a meter from the tip of the wand of the man, leaving only a slight ripple to the apparently invisible shield the man had erected. Even the heat of the fireball should have scorched the guy if not for the fact that his shield protected him from all kinds of temperature damage as well. The dude looked nonplussed as fireball upon fireball hit the shield only for it to get ricocheted. He was so undeterred; he could even spare his left hand to be tucked behind his back to do whatever.
One fireball hit the shield dead on for it only to be reflected to the dragon. The dragon let the fireball hit him and flew past the dark-robed man before turning around in a sharp turn and went down. It landed just a few meters from the young man with such oomph that the earth shook. Just the wind that got pushed by the dragon should have knocked the man over if not for his powerful shield.
“It’s alright, Dragon. I’m generous and kind. I forgive what you just did,” said the man calmly before the dragon did anything. “You can’t see greatness when it’s so close in front of you.”
The dragon was suddenly at loss of words. He didn’t expect that anyone would talk so brazenly to him like that. The guy in front of him didn’t even seem to have a shred of duress to be standing in front of a mighty dragon.
“How dare you trespass my territory, you insolent dwarf?!” The dragon roared. “And to even try stealing what is mine?”
The dragon took a step forward, his nostrils flared, taking a deep breath, getting ready to spew forth hellfire from his mouth.
“Hold on a second there. Are you sure you want to fight me?” said the man with a raised eyebrow followed with a chuckle. “Me? The great Me? The one and only Professor? The new owner of the elder wand?”
Of course, he was not the new owner of the elder wand, but the "dragon" in front of him might not…
“That’s not the elder wand! I have seen it first-hand and that is not it. Do you think I’m stupid?!” said the stupid dragon.
Well. That didn’t work. But it sort of did, though. Two down, five more to go.
“Ah, you seem to know your wand, Jonathan Travers, well done,” said the Professor with a smirk.
The dragon stopped moving before he growled again, “what did you just call me?”
Good. Four down, three left.
“You don’t need to act coy, JT. I know all about you, agent of the Department of Mystery, Etymology and Language Division. Well, maybe except the fact that you are an unregistered animagus. A dragon animagus to boot!”
The dragon went entirely quiet. Two to go. Man, that last one took longer than he thought. He had to work faster now.
“To be honest I’m not completely sure at first, but you basically confirm it already now. Thank you.” The man continued.
The black dragon took another step and bared his teeth, “you’re not going out of here alive to tell the tale, kid!”
“Oh, but I will,” said the masked man with a smile. Only one last ward to unravel, now. “And by the way, I do think you are stupid. Glacius!”
The door froze over in a blink of an eye. And the Professor jumped to the side just before it was battered down by a powerful force from inside. A red snout came peeking, sniffing, tasting the air, tasting freedom. As it was finally free of its year-long exile. The red dragon roared before spewing fire like it had never been before. It hit Jonathan head on and he had to protect himself by using his wings. Young as it might, Princess was still a full grown Chinese Fireball and her flame could melt steel beams.
The black dragon animagus weathered the fiery onslaught only for a bright blue spell to hit him squarely in the back. What was that? Oh, no. No! The animagus started shrinking, his wings forcefully retracted back to its body, his giant claws and scales turned into giant hand and skin, and its maw filled with deadly fangs started changing into human teeth one by one.
“Now, Princess!” Professor shouted.
The young red dragon madly charged into the half-transformed powerful wizard that had imprisoned him for so long and swatted him away. She turned to her savior and dipped her head down, so their eyes were level.
“Thank you, I…” Princess tried to speak.
“Your welcome, but now’s not the time.” Professor interjected. “The man had made contingencies and we have to go now. Can I go along with you?”
The dragon dipped her neck even further until it almost touched the ground and the young Unspeakable climbed up to her neck. The dragon took off and flew through the cave. Spell formations started to come to life, trying to bind whatever trying to go out. But it was too late. Princess and Professor managed to fly away from the only cavern she had known for half of her life. And it didn’t take long for her to reach the skies she could only dreamed of.
“Oh, wow. The view is amazing! You know, this is my first time meeting a dragon. Like ever. And I get to fly on one?! My little brother won’t believe me even if I tell him.” The robed man said giddily in the middle of their flight.
“Uh, Professor,” said Princess, “can you turn me back into human once we get to safety? You know, like the thing you just did to Jonathan?”
Ah, the poor thing. She grew up thinking she was a human. "Certainly! Well, I won’t be the one to do it since your case is a bit more complicated.” Like super complicated. It was one thing to reverse an animagus to its human form, but it would be a whole other thing to turn a real dragon into human, “but one of my friends would certainly could and would do it for you.”
It was a lie of course. But she didn’t need to know that.
Allison Pye:
Reducio
“Peter! Peter! The dragon in the garden showed me his lair and I said we were going to be friends and he said it would be fine if we were friends -” The words kept coming and coming, I blinked slowly and attempted to process something about friendly dragons in the orchard at the bottom of the garden.
“A dragon in the garden you say?” I doubted there had been an actual dragon, if it had been an actual dragon there would be more fire and screaming and less accusations of friendship and attempts to organize a second playdate.
“You bet! He was green and had a long face and he’s my friend!” Large, excited eyes met mine, filled with glee and wonder.
“... Sure buddy, you can play with the dragon again tomorrow.” An imaginary friend, I told myself, was a fine thing for a child to have. In the magical world where playing Merlin and Morgana was as common as Cowboys and Indians is for the muggles, dragons featured prominently in play, but admittedly they were usually slain rather than befriended.
The next day when Thomas came up from the bottom of the garden he was grinning ear to ear and ambushed me in the kitchen. “Peter! I saw the dragon again! He really is my friend!” This time the yelled words were accompanied by a tight hug and nearly left a bowl of soup as a casualty.
“Woah! Careful. You nearly robbed us of our lunch!” I teased, ruffling scruffy walnut hair.
“Sorry Peter.” came the slightly more sedate reply as the child sat down at the low wooden table to enjoy the fruits of my mornings labour. “Can I stay at your house even after Mum and Dad get back? We don’t have a dragon at the bottom of our garden.” The pout at the notion of a dragonless garden was audible.
“So did your dragon tell you his name today? What did you do together?” Easily distracted and speaking with a mouth full of soup and bread, the garbled tale of an adventure in the trees and the fact that dragons still can’t speak but had been dubbed ‘Simpson’ nonetheless, was provided. Plans were made to pack a picnic lunch for Thomas to take down and eat with his friend the next day. He asked me to pack some lunch for the dragon too if he would like, and figured I would have one very full little boy and made a mental note to have a small dinner.
The morning saw a very excited little boy run down the hill to play in the orchard with his dragon. He carried a huge picnic basket appropriately bestowed with a featherlight charm and I thought to myself that this babysitting business really wasn’t that difficult after all. Maybe I should encourage every small child to make friends with the invisible dragon who lived at the bottom of my garden.
This train of thought remained true until my only house elf popped in front of me to inform me that the young master had exited the wards. This was the point at which I started panicking and asked Narry to take me to where he had been last.
I saw a tipped over picnic basket, an abandoned sunhat, and dragon footprints.
I panicked.
“THOMAS!” I yelled, and ran through the wards, looking frantically for the oh-so-breakable, oh-so-flammable six year old boy. “Point-me Thomas!” My now drawn wand spun erratically before turning left. I ran left. I followed the spell until I broke through the denser tree cover of the forest that bordered the small orchard. There, in the clearing, a small dragon stood protectively over a prone Thomas and hissed at me. I froze, it froze, we all stood as if time had frozen in place.
‘I’m in a staring contest with a dragon.’ was all my brain provided when I asked for spells that would get through a dragons hide.
Thomas looked up and asked “Peter?” in a confused tone and just like that, the moment broke and the dragon and I both looked at the child in confusion. I was surprised to hear him alive and apparently unafraid, a sentiment I was unlikely to share with the dragon. “It’s okay Simpson, I know him. He’s looking after me.” Thomas soothed, and to my utter incredulity, the dragon stepped out of its defensive posture and looked sheepishly aside.
Now that my brain wasn’t stuck in an endless loop of “Oh Merlin, it’s an Actual Dragon” and “Siofra is going to kill me” I noticed the scale of the creature. Dragons are easily larger than men but this one was only marginally bigger than Thomas, a baby then. Its scales held a greenish hue - a Welsh Green - my seventh year Care of Magical Creatures knowledge informed me, and it looked scared of me. I followed its gaze … Or maybe it was my wand it feared. I holstered the wand and it looked less afraid.
“Thomas, could you come here please.” I tried to keep my voice calm. Thomas frowned and looked between us again, getting up and dusting off his knees.
“Simpson was only trying to protect me. We were playing here and he probably heard you come crashing through the woods. Simpson nodded. I blinked at ‘Simpson’.
“Did that dragon just agree with you?” Child and dragon nodded in unison. “Can you understand me?” The dragon gave me a look which clearly communicated ‘obviously’ and gave a bored huff. “... Dragons are not known for having a strong grasp of english.” This time, the expressions in front of me varied. Thomas remained confused but Simpson looked excited and nodded enthusiastically. The dragon ran off, grabbed a large stick in their mouth and dragged it through the dirt with one end pushed into the soft soil. The word ‘Human’ was left scrawled messily into the mud. “Oh.” Two human sets of eyes blinked owlishly at the reptilian set blinking back. The silence was broken when I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. “Let’s get you two back up to the house for some lunch, hm?” Two heads nodded enthusiastically, and all I could do was thank my lucky stars that it hadn’t been an actual dragon or this would have gone. Very. Differently.
Up at the house I sat a dragon and a child down at the low wooden table, unpacked a slightly worse for wear picnic basket, and went to make a quiet firecall while they consumed lunch.
Half an hour later, an auror, a member of the child protective services, a mediwitch from Saint Mungos, and someone from the accidental magic reversal squad, showed up to help me figure out what happened. They were all understandably shocked to see a baby welsh green attempting to eat jam sandwiches at my kitchen table. I got the the attention of those in the kitchen and twin pairs of eyes looked frantically at the quadrupled number of adults in the house. “... Did we do something wrong?” Thomas had recognized the auror robes. I shook my head and the auror in question answered for me.
She sat down at the table and shook her head. “You’re not in trouble, we’re just here to find out how you met your friend and how your friend became a dragon. Maybe even help them turn back into a human again.” Two small heads nodded their understanding and the rest of the adults in the room took this as a cue that the dragon was not going to go rogue and try to burn the house down.
The nurse took the seat on the other side of the dragon, the auror gave me a pointed look to sit next to a clearly concerned Thomas, and the wizards from child protection services and the accidental magic reversal squad, sat on the other side of the table from the four of us. As people took their seats, wands were waved above the table to send more jam sandwiches for the rest of the party, and beneath the table went diagnostic spells and more than one ‘finite incantatem’. There seemed to have been a silent consensus reached that a child who had become a dragon, was still a dragon, and must be treated firstly like a child and also with a lot of caution.
Eventually the mediwitch just started asking questions. “Are you a boy or a girl my dear? Wave your left hand if you’re a girl and your right for a boy.” A dramatically clawed left foot flicked. Thomas looked betrayed. “Ah good. And did you run away from home because you were a dragon?” A nod. “Were you scared?” Another nod. “Were you scared before you became a dragon too?” The nod became more hesitant. “Was it an adult who scared you.” The mediwitch was clearly comfortable in her role as mothering interrogator while the wizard from child protection got a dark look on his face and went to aggressively cut more sandwiches after another nod was received. “Do you want to be a girl again?” The little welsh green gave the mediwitch a look so full of hope that a hug was provided in return. “And a little girl you shall be sweet child.”
It took a month and the services of a metamorph from the continent to help Sarah become a girl again. I only had Thomas for a week but I went with him and his family to check on her in Saint Mungo’s every weekend up until she was human. She had been frightened into becoming something that she thought her uncle would be scared of, and hadn’t even been reported missing. Siofra had been incensed and was fostering the girl partially out of spite (but more so because she saw how much her son cared).
Now Sarah and my nephew play in the bottom of my garden every other week. The girl-who-became-a-dragon is much less draconic now and likes her porridge with apple stirred through, so I don’t mind when I hear roaring on the staircase. After all, who else can say they’ve won a staring contest with a dragon?
“A dragon in the garden you say?” I doubted there had been an actual dragon, if it had been an actual dragon there would be more fire and screaming and less accusations of friendship and attempts to organize a second playdate.
“You bet! He was green and had a long face and he’s my friend!” Large, excited eyes met mine, filled with glee and wonder.
“... Sure buddy, you can play with the dragon again tomorrow.” An imaginary friend, I told myself, was a fine thing for a child to have. In the magical world where playing Merlin and Morgana was as common as Cowboys and Indians is for the muggles, dragons featured prominently in play, but admittedly they were usually slain rather than befriended.
The next day when Thomas came up from the bottom of the garden he was grinning ear to ear and ambushed me in the kitchen. “Peter! I saw the dragon again! He really is my friend!” This time the yelled words were accompanied by a tight hug and nearly left a bowl of soup as a casualty.
“Woah! Careful. You nearly robbed us of our lunch!” I teased, ruffling scruffy walnut hair.
“Sorry Peter.” came the slightly more sedate reply as the child sat down at the low wooden table to enjoy the fruits of my mornings labour. “Can I stay at your house even after Mum and Dad get back? We don’t have a dragon at the bottom of our garden.” The pout at the notion of a dragonless garden was audible.
“So did your dragon tell you his name today? What did you do together?” Easily distracted and speaking with a mouth full of soup and bread, the garbled tale of an adventure in the trees and the fact that dragons still can’t speak but had been dubbed ‘Simpson’ nonetheless, was provided. Plans were made to pack a picnic lunch for Thomas to take down and eat with his friend the next day. He asked me to pack some lunch for the dragon too if he would like, and figured I would have one very full little boy and made a mental note to have a small dinner.
The morning saw a very excited little boy run down the hill to play in the orchard with his dragon. He carried a huge picnic basket appropriately bestowed with a featherlight charm and I thought to myself that this babysitting business really wasn’t that difficult after all. Maybe I should encourage every small child to make friends with the invisible dragon who lived at the bottom of my garden.
This train of thought remained true until my only house elf popped in front of me to inform me that the young master had exited the wards. This was the point at which I started panicking and asked Narry to take me to where he had been last.
I saw a tipped over picnic basket, an abandoned sunhat, and dragon footprints.
I panicked.
“THOMAS!” I yelled, and ran through the wards, looking frantically for the oh-so-breakable, oh-so-flammable six year old boy. “Point-me Thomas!” My now drawn wand spun erratically before turning left. I ran left. I followed the spell until I broke through the denser tree cover of the forest that bordered the small orchard. There, in the clearing, a small dragon stood protectively over a prone Thomas and hissed at me. I froze, it froze, we all stood as if time had frozen in place.
‘I’m in a staring contest with a dragon.’ was all my brain provided when I asked for spells that would get through a dragons hide.
Thomas looked up and asked “Peter?” in a confused tone and just like that, the moment broke and the dragon and I both looked at the child in confusion. I was surprised to hear him alive and apparently unafraid, a sentiment I was unlikely to share with the dragon. “It’s okay Simpson, I know him. He’s looking after me.” Thomas soothed, and to my utter incredulity, the dragon stepped out of its defensive posture and looked sheepishly aside.
Now that my brain wasn’t stuck in an endless loop of “Oh Merlin, it’s an Actual Dragon” and “Siofra is going to kill me” I noticed the scale of the creature. Dragons are easily larger than men but this one was only marginally bigger than Thomas, a baby then. Its scales held a greenish hue - a Welsh Green - my seventh year Care of Magical Creatures knowledge informed me, and it looked scared of me. I followed its gaze … Or maybe it was my wand it feared. I holstered the wand and it looked less afraid.
“Thomas, could you come here please.” I tried to keep my voice calm. Thomas frowned and looked between us again, getting up and dusting off his knees.
“Simpson was only trying to protect me. We were playing here and he probably heard you come crashing through the woods. Simpson nodded. I blinked at ‘Simpson’.
“Did that dragon just agree with you?” Child and dragon nodded in unison. “Can you understand me?” The dragon gave me a look which clearly communicated ‘obviously’ and gave a bored huff. “... Dragons are not known for having a strong grasp of english.” This time, the expressions in front of me varied. Thomas remained confused but Simpson looked excited and nodded enthusiastically. The dragon ran off, grabbed a large stick in their mouth and dragged it through the dirt with one end pushed into the soft soil. The word ‘Human’ was left scrawled messily into the mud. “Oh.” Two human sets of eyes blinked owlishly at the reptilian set blinking back. The silence was broken when I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. “Let’s get you two back up to the house for some lunch, hm?” Two heads nodded enthusiastically, and all I could do was thank my lucky stars that it hadn’t been an actual dragon or this would have gone. Very. Differently.
Up at the house I sat a dragon and a child down at the low wooden table, unpacked a slightly worse for wear picnic basket, and went to make a quiet firecall while they consumed lunch.
Half an hour later, an auror, a member of the child protective services, a mediwitch from Saint Mungos, and someone from the accidental magic reversal squad, showed up to help me figure out what happened. They were all understandably shocked to see a baby welsh green attempting to eat jam sandwiches at my kitchen table. I got the the attention of those in the kitchen and twin pairs of eyes looked frantically at the quadrupled number of adults in the house. “... Did we do something wrong?” Thomas had recognized the auror robes. I shook my head and the auror in question answered for me.
She sat down at the table and shook her head. “You’re not in trouble, we’re just here to find out how you met your friend and how your friend became a dragon. Maybe even help them turn back into a human again.” Two small heads nodded their understanding and the rest of the adults in the room took this as a cue that the dragon was not going to go rogue and try to burn the house down.
The nurse took the seat on the other side of the dragon, the auror gave me a pointed look to sit next to a clearly concerned Thomas, and the wizards from child protection services and the accidental magic reversal squad, sat on the other side of the table from the four of us. As people took their seats, wands were waved above the table to send more jam sandwiches for the rest of the party, and beneath the table went diagnostic spells and more than one ‘finite incantatem’. There seemed to have been a silent consensus reached that a child who had become a dragon, was still a dragon, and must be treated firstly like a child and also with a lot of caution.
Eventually the mediwitch just started asking questions. “Are you a boy or a girl my dear? Wave your left hand if you’re a girl and your right for a boy.” A dramatically clawed left foot flicked. Thomas looked betrayed. “Ah good. And did you run away from home because you were a dragon?” A nod. “Were you scared?” Another nod. “Were you scared before you became a dragon too?” The nod became more hesitant. “Was it an adult who scared you.” The mediwitch was clearly comfortable in her role as mothering interrogator while the wizard from child protection got a dark look on his face and went to aggressively cut more sandwiches after another nod was received. “Do you want to be a girl again?” The little welsh green gave the mediwitch a look so full of hope that a hug was provided in return. “And a little girl you shall be sweet child.”
It took a month and the services of a metamorph from the continent to help Sarah become a girl again. I only had Thomas for a week but I went with him and his family to check on her in Saint Mungo’s every weekend up until she was human. She had been frightened into becoming something that she thought her uncle would be scared of, and hadn’t even been reported missing. Siofra had been incensed and was fostering the girl partially out of spite (but more so because she saw how much her son cared).
Now Sarah and my nephew play in the bottom of my garden every other week. The girl-who-became-a-dragon is much less draconic now and likes her porridge with apple stirred through, so I don’t mind when I hear roaring on the staircase. After all, who else can say they’ve won a staring contest with a dragon?
And the winner...Emile Yorke:
Reducio
October 4th, 1998
It had large, yellow eyes staring at me with an expression of: Help. It had green scales covered in blood. It's bright yellow eyes blinked slowly.
Then I noticed it. The dragon's heart.
~*~
August 31st, 1998
My dad has always told me that the stars are our friends, and that the stars will guide us to wherever we need to go. My dad is an astronomer, and his name is Sirius. His parents named him after the star Sirius, and ever since birth he's had a fascination with the stars and the sky.
My name is Perseus, the name of the constellation located in the northern portion of the sky. Its name honors the famous Greek god who defeated Medusa. I am ten years old, and just like my father I want to be an astronomer when I grow up.
When I was little, my dad showed me his favorite constellation, called the Draco Constellation. The Draco Constellation lies in the northern sky. It is one of the largest constellations in the sky. The constellation’s name means “the dragon” in Latin. Draco represents Ladon, the dragon that guarded the gardens of the Hesperides in Greek mythology. My dad always told me that Draco is guarding the world, just like he guarded the gardens.
(Draco Constellation)
I also found an interest in dragons in general, and I decided that if I didn't become an astronomer, I would want to do some sort of job that includes dragons.
I have a crested gecko that I named Pete, and he looks like a dragon. He is the closest I have ever been to anything that looks like a dragon. Pete is my sidekick, and we go everywhere together.
My family grew up in the mountains of Wales. We live in an observatory that's very up high so that my dad always gets good views of the stars and the planets everyday. Unfortunately, this means that I also don't see much of anyone else except for my dad and Pete. Sometimes we have to go shopping in town, but we don't talk to many people since we don't really know them.
I still enjoy being up in the mountainside though. I love the stars, and sometimes people have reported seeing dragons! The most common dragon in our area is the Welsh Green Dragon. It's practically harmless. I've never seen one before.
My dad has taught me the basics of magic, and I have studied a lot on my own. I haven't got a wand yet. That comes next year when I go to Hogwarts! I'm excited to get out of the house and maybe meet some new people. I don't know if I can bring Pete though.
I've been helping my dad out around the house quite often, and I have started to learn a ton about astronomy. I want to journey out on my own someday.
~*~
October 3rd, 1998
Today is the day I'm going to leave the house. My dad doesn't know...but he'll be fine with it, I'm sure.
I packed a bag with tons of snacks, my notebook in case I found anything, a map, bandages, food for Pete, a hat, gloves, a flashlight, and my book about all the constellations in the sky. I wanted to go out and set up somewhere on the mountain on my own and look at them.
That night, I slipped out of the house successfully. My dad was working in his office on the other side of the house, and luckily didn't hear me when I walked out the front door.
"I know I'm only 10, but I'm sure I'll be fine! I know the mountain like the back of my hand, and as long as I keep the observatory in sight, I'll be able to get back. I have Pete with me too for company. Everything is going to be fine." I said to myself, walking down the pathway of our house and into the nearby forest area.
Just then, I heard a huge bang. "Pete, what was that?" I asked, knowing I wasn't going to get a response. Nonetheless, I wanted to find out where that bang came from. I love finding new things and exploring. I checked my watch. It was still the 3rd. 11:24 PM. I had been walking for a little over an hour. I made sure to leave the house after my dad thought I was asleep. It was almost midnight. My dad was probably in bed by now, so I was good to go.
I took a deep breath, looked at Pete, and walked towards the bang noise. It was easy to go towards it for some reason. My body just knew where to go. Soon, it was 12:06 AM. October 4th.
I knew I had reached where the bang happened when I saw a humongous creature in the middle of a clearing in the forest.
~*~
October 4th, 1998
It's eyes were yellow. A magnificent, mustard yellow with little gold specks all around the pupil. It blinked slowly, like that blink was the last time it would ever blink again. It had green scales that were forest green. But they were a green I didn't even think of as being a color. It had pearly white horns that glimmered in the moonlight. The stomach of it was white as well. White as snow.
The most wonderful thing of this creature, however, was not how it looked on the outside. It was something coming from inside of it. I could see it glowing, shining. It was gold and it was going in and out of light as I stood there. It was the dragon's heart and soul. It was so beautiful, yet the dragon looked so, extremely sad.
It's breathing was slow. It watched me as I stared up at it, with an expression of one word. "Help." It looked at me with such expression I felt overcome with emotion and didn't know what to do.
The dragon was covered in blood, its green scales ruined by the red color of the blood coming from the gashes of the cuts and slashes it had gotten. I had no idea who would do this to such a harmless dragon.
The dragon was most definitely a common Welsh dragon, mostly found on the mountainsides. It was green to blend in with grass. I had always loved dragons, and knew very much about them. The only different factor was the specks of gold in it's eyes. Normal dragons usually didn't have this.
There was something in the back of my mind telling me that this dragon was special. I somehow knew this dragon but I wasn't sure how. Then it came to me. There was an opening in the sky. It was where he had fallen from.
I looked up at the sky for my favorite constellation, but the place where it usually would be was empty. Just the vast night sky in it's place. Then it dawned on me. He was the Draco Constellation.
Pete bit my ear, which brought me out of my state of thinking and I sprung into action, taking out the bandages I had packed.
I slowly walked up to the dragon, my eyes wide. The dragon looked at me, and I could see it was in pain. It had just fallen from the sky, after all.
"H-hello, Draco." I said, my voice shaking. This was my first time meeting a dragon, and the Draco Constellation dragon no less! "I'm going to use what little bandages I have try and help you." I said slowly.
Draco groaned. I took that as an okay for me to start working. I ripped open the box and started to untangle the only roll of bandages. I put them first on the big gash on his back, and then on the small cuts all around his body.
He had fallen into the forest, and there were leaves and sticks coming out of his body. I pulled those out too, and stopped the bleeding with my bandages. Suddenly, I noticed that I had no more bandages. I dug through my backpack again and fish out my hat and gloves. These would be enough for two more cuts..then what would I do?
I finished putting them on his two cuts, and then scrambled over to where Draco's head was laying. "Thank you." He said, his voice raspy and shaking. It was a deep, loud voice that sounded like thunder and lighting.
"You can talk?!" I yelled, almost losing balance from the shock that a dragon was talking to me. "Pete, am I dreaming?" I asked my gecko. Pete ignored me and stared at the dragon. Pete also seemed to be in a state of shock.
"Yes, I can talk. Thank you for helping me. Most of the bleeding has stopped." He told me, his voice becoming less raspy. "After you bandaged the large gash on my back, I felt much stronger." Draco told me. "I come from the stars," He explained, his eyes looking upwards toward the empty spot he came from.
I nodded and stared at him. "How did you fall from the sky? Who did this to you?" I asked, just now noticing that there wasn't really a logical explanation to how a constellation could fall from the sky and turn into a physical form.
Draco laughed a hearty laugh. "Us stars are actually always talking and joking around up there!" He said. "That's what's happening when some shine brighter than others. It's because we're laughing or talking." He told me. "That idiot Ursa Minor joked too hard, I shined too bright, and here I am." Said Draco. "When we fall onto Earth, we turn into our physical forms so we can blend in with the surroundings, even though sometimes people like you notice who we are right away."
I couldn't believe it. What he told me sounded like a children's tale. "Well...how do you get back up into the sky?" I asked. How was he able to turn back into a star?
"This kind of thing happens all the time." He told me plainly. "We use magic from above to erase the memories of anyone who noticies, just so people don't go crazy trying to figure out thing they shouldn't be trying to figure out." He said. "Usually, when someone finds us hurt, they run away or don't try to help. We don't usually get hurt though. I was just off balance because of how funny Ursa's joke was." He explained.
I realized that after this my memory would be erased as well. I was devastated. After being able to meet the dragon who gave me a dream in life.
"Don't look so sad. I promise we'll meet again." The dragon said sympathetically.
Suddenly, everything turned white. Gold specks fluttered everywhere. Gold? White? What was happening? I blacked out.
I woke up in my bed. What had happened? I checked the time and the date on my watch. "October 3rd..11:24 PM." I said outloud. Pete was by my side in his small bed on the night stand, and slowly I drifted off to sleep. Out the window I saw my favorite constellation, the Draco Constellation and knew that it was watching over me. And maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but I'm sure I saw it shine brighter than I ever had before.
~*~
FIN.
It had large, yellow eyes staring at me with an expression of: Help. It had green scales covered in blood. It's bright yellow eyes blinked slowly.
Then I noticed it. The dragon's heart.
~*~
August 31st, 1998
My dad has always told me that the stars are our friends, and that the stars will guide us to wherever we need to go. My dad is an astronomer, and his name is Sirius. His parents named him after the star Sirius, and ever since birth he's had a fascination with the stars and the sky.
My name is Perseus, the name of the constellation located in the northern portion of the sky. Its name honors the famous Greek god who defeated Medusa. I am ten years old, and just like my father I want to be an astronomer when I grow up.
When I was little, my dad showed me his favorite constellation, called the Draco Constellation. The Draco Constellation lies in the northern sky. It is one of the largest constellations in the sky. The constellation’s name means “the dragon” in Latin. Draco represents Ladon, the dragon that guarded the gardens of the Hesperides in Greek mythology. My dad always told me that Draco is guarding the world, just like he guarded the gardens.
(Draco Constellation)
I also found an interest in dragons in general, and I decided that if I didn't become an astronomer, I would want to do some sort of job that includes dragons.
I have a crested gecko that I named Pete, and he looks like a dragon. He is the closest I have ever been to anything that looks like a dragon. Pete is my sidekick, and we go everywhere together.
My family grew up in the mountains of Wales. We live in an observatory that's very up high so that my dad always gets good views of the stars and the planets everyday. Unfortunately, this means that I also don't see much of anyone else except for my dad and Pete. Sometimes we have to go shopping in town, but we don't talk to many people since we don't really know them.
I still enjoy being up in the mountainside though. I love the stars, and sometimes people have reported seeing dragons! The most common dragon in our area is the Welsh Green Dragon. It's practically harmless. I've never seen one before.
My dad has taught me the basics of magic, and I have studied a lot on my own. I haven't got a wand yet. That comes next year when I go to Hogwarts! I'm excited to get out of the house and maybe meet some new people. I don't know if I can bring Pete though.
I've been helping my dad out around the house quite often, and I have started to learn a ton about astronomy. I want to journey out on my own someday.
~*~
October 3rd, 1998
Today is the day I'm going to leave the house. My dad doesn't know...but he'll be fine with it, I'm sure.
I packed a bag with tons of snacks, my notebook in case I found anything, a map, bandages, food for Pete, a hat, gloves, a flashlight, and my book about all the constellations in the sky. I wanted to go out and set up somewhere on the mountain on my own and look at them.
That night, I slipped out of the house successfully. My dad was working in his office on the other side of the house, and luckily didn't hear me when I walked out the front door.
"I know I'm only 10, but I'm sure I'll be fine! I know the mountain like the back of my hand, and as long as I keep the observatory in sight, I'll be able to get back. I have Pete with me too for company. Everything is going to be fine." I said to myself, walking down the pathway of our house and into the nearby forest area.
Just then, I heard a huge bang. "Pete, what was that?" I asked, knowing I wasn't going to get a response. Nonetheless, I wanted to find out where that bang came from. I love finding new things and exploring. I checked my watch. It was still the 3rd. 11:24 PM. I had been walking for a little over an hour. I made sure to leave the house after my dad thought I was asleep. It was almost midnight. My dad was probably in bed by now, so I was good to go.
I took a deep breath, looked at Pete, and walked towards the bang noise. It was easy to go towards it for some reason. My body just knew where to go. Soon, it was 12:06 AM. October 4th.
I knew I had reached where the bang happened when I saw a humongous creature in the middle of a clearing in the forest.
~*~
October 4th, 1998
It's eyes were yellow. A magnificent, mustard yellow with little gold specks all around the pupil. It blinked slowly, like that blink was the last time it would ever blink again. It had green scales that were forest green. But they were a green I didn't even think of as being a color. It had pearly white horns that glimmered in the moonlight. The stomach of it was white as well. White as snow.
The most wonderful thing of this creature, however, was not how it looked on the outside. It was something coming from inside of it. I could see it glowing, shining. It was gold and it was going in and out of light as I stood there. It was the dragon's heart and soul. It was so beautiful, yet the dragon looked so, extremely sad.
It's breathing was slow. It watched me as I stared up at it, with an expression of one word. "Help." It looked at me with such expression I felt overcome with emotion and didn't know what to do.
The dragon was covered in blood, its green scales ruined by the red color of the blood coming from the gashes of the cuts and slashes it had gotten. I had no idea who would do this to such a harmless dragon.
The dragon was most definitely a common Welsh dragon, mostly found on the mountainsides. It was green to blend in with grass. I had always loved dragons, and knew very much about them. The only different factor was the specks of gold in it's eyes. Normal dragons usually didn't have this.
There was something in the back of my mind telling me that this dragon was special. I somehow knew this dragon but I wasn't sure how. Then it came to me. There was an opening in the sky. It was where he had fallen from.
I looked up at the sky for my favorite constellation, but the place where it usually would be was empty. Just the vast night sky in it's place. Then it dawned on me. He was the Draco Constellation.
Pete bit my ear, which brought me out of my state of thinking and I sprung into action, taking out the bandages I had packed.
I slowly walked up to the dragon, my eyes wide. The dragon looked at me, and I could see it was in pain. It had just fallen from the sky, after all.
"H-hello, Draco." I said, my voice shaking. This was my first time meeting a dragon, and the Draco Constellation dragon no less! "I'm going to use what little bandages I have try and help you." I said slowly.
Draco groaned. I took that as an okay for me to start working. I ripped open the box and started to untangle the only roll of bandages. I put them first on the big gash on his back, and then on the small cuts all around his body.
He had fallen into the forest, and there were leaves and sticks coming out of his body. I pulled those out too, and stopped the bleeding with my bandages. Suddenly, I noticed that I had no more bandages. I dug through my backpack again and fish out my hat and gloves. These would be enough for two more cuts..then what would I do?
I finished putting them on his two cuts, and then scrambled over to where Draco's head was laying. "Thank you." He said, his voice raspy and shaking. It was a deep, loud voice that sounded like thunder and lighting.
"You can talk?!" I yelled, almost losing balance from the shock that a dragon was talking to me. "Pete, am I dreaming?" I asked my gecko. Pete ignored me and stared at the dragon. Pete also seemed to be in a state of shock.
"Yes, I can talk. Thank you for helping me. Most of the bleeding has stopped." He told me, his voice becoming less raspy. "After you bandaged the large gash on my back, I felt much stronger." Draco told me. "I come from the stars," He explained, his eyes looking upwards toward the empty spot he came from.
I nodded and stared at him. "How did you fall from the sky? Who did this to you?" I asked, just now noticing that there wasn't really a logical explanation to how a constellation could fall from the sky and turn into a physical form.
Draco laughed a hearty laugh. "Us stars are actually always talking and joking around up there!" He said. "That's what's happening when some shine brighter than others. It's because we're laughing or talking." He told me. "That idiot Ursa Minor joked too hard, I shined too bright, and here I am." Said Draco. "When we fall onto Earth, we turn into our physical forms so we can blend in with the surroundings, even though sometimes people like you notice who we are right away."
I couldn't believe it. What he told me sounded like a children's tale. "Well...how do you get back up into the sky?" I asked. How was he able to turn back into a star?
"This kind of thing happens all the time." He told me plainly. "We use magic from above to erase the memories of anyone who noticies, just so people don't go crazy trying to figure out thing they shouldn't be trying to figure out." He said. "Usually, when someone finds us hurt, they run away or don't try to help. We don't usually get hurt though. I was just off balance because of how funny Ursa's joke was." He explained.
I realized that after this my memory would be erased as well. I was devastated. After being able to meet the dragon who gave me a dream in life.
"Don't look so sad. I promise we'll meet again." The dragon said sympathetically.
Suddenly, everything turned white. Gold specks fluttered everywhere. Gold? White? What was happening? I blacked out.
I woke up in my bed. What had happened? I checked the time and the date on my watch. "October 3rd..11:24 PM." I said outloud. Pete was by my side in his small bed on the night stand, and slowly I drifted off to sleep. Out the window I saw my favorite constellation, the Draco Constellation and knew that it was watching over me. And maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but I'm sure I saw it shine brighter than I ever had before.
~*~
FIN.
- Delilah Stewart and Elena Jones
Inactive account. Do not Owl.