[Romania] - Scaling the Mountain (Part 1)

A few hours into the start of Oz's climb he began to realise the task ahead was going to be much harder than he originally anticipated. Regardless of that fact, he saw it as a benefit as he wanted to test himself as much as possible with this trial. Looking up the mountain he kept a hopeful mind as he continued onwards and upwards.

In Oz's mind however were ideas swimming about the elder dragons and Arauthator that were said to be residing on the peak.

'If the term 'elder dragon' entails that these beasts have lived a long time then I can assume Arauthator is a dragon thats age spans centuries... It's honestly impressive that up to now his existence has remained so elusive to the wizarding community'.

Due to the creation of the Dragon Sanctuary a few decades ago, Arauthators name began to be known amongst the Romanian witches and wizards down the bottom of the mountain range. Regardless of this though these people seemed to keep the all powerful dragons existence a close secret considering that the past decades have showed no sign of any information leaking out about this dragons existence. If such a dragons existence was known Oz was sure that Voldemort and his army would have tried their hardest to gain its attention, after all having a dragon that can decimate a country would be a sure-fire way to take over England's wizarding community and beyond.

'There could be more to it than that though... If Arauthator is a dragon that simply wants to stay residing on this peak then maybe his existence has been known to the higher ups in the wizarding community for a long time, however relations with a dragon of such aptitude have never even started due to the fear and pressure these people feel trying to reach him'.

Even though Oz had only started his journey up the mountain a few hours ago he was already starting to feel pressure weighing down on him from above. His breathing was becoming stifled as he climbed and the air was becoming chillier. He ignored all these problems as he continued up the mountain path.

A lot of these problems could have been solved in an instant by Oz using spells however he was reluctant to use any until he got as close as he could to the top. In his eyes he was walking into completely unknown territory. Unlike back in Hogwarts he had nothing to go off of here, no knowledge of how these dragons would react to his presence and no way of knowing what would happen when he reached the summit.

'I need to push as far as I possibly can... Only when I'm nearing deaths door will I use spells to help me back up'.

Conserving his magic reserves for this journey was paramount for Oz, especially considering he was staying true to his wandless tendencies. If he used his wand throughout this trek he would have felt like he lost before he even began...

.

Night rolled around after a long day of traversing up the mountain and Oz noted that he was still a long ways off from the summit as he looked up to the peak. He debated a few times transforming into his dragon form and just directly flying up however the instant he thought up that idea he immediately shelfed it.

'If I were to transform and fly up I'd be subjected to the pressure faster than ever before along with the cold that comes with it... It'd eat up my magic in an instant especially considering I'd be in my dragon form as well'.

Sadly for Oz this trek had to be done by foot slowly and steadily. Reaching into his pouch that had all his supplies and provisions he grabbed a simple tent out that had a charm placed on it so the interior was bigger than what it seemed. Taking some time to set it up he made sure it was fully secured into the mountain. When the tent was fully set, the moon seemed to be rising into the sky.

'Best to get some sleep...'.

Heading into the tent Oz smiled as he basked at the wonders of magic. One of his own personal favourite moments from the Harry Potter canon was the magic of tents such as these. Simple small tents that held a decent size inside of them using magic. Such a thing was extremely useful to have around especially when travelling.

'This tent certainly wasn't cheap though... Thankfully the Health Specs and Magi-Cast were such a hit else buying such a tent would have been an impossibility'.

In the middle of the tent was a simple table to sit at and behind the table was a single bunk bed. This setup was purchased so that Alfreda and Oz could use this tent on their travels whenever necessary. It helped a lot when they travelled across countries to Romania and now it would help him more so here.

Sitting down at the table Oz fetched a jar from his pouch and placed it onto the table. Putting his hand over the jar he casted a Bluebell Flames charm into it causing a blue ball of flames to be placed within the jar. As he did this he felt his magic reserves be sapped slightly, however considering the level of this spell his reserves didn't fall much at all despite the spell being casted wandlessly. As the blue flame formed in the jar Oz put his two hands on the jar to start heating him up.

'I thought my physique gained from my dragon blood would hold up... Having this around should help ease the cold on my journey'.

After a while of heating up Oz left the blue flame jar on the table as he prepared himself a decent meal with the provisions in his bag. After eating a hearty meal that definitely wasn't going to win any culinary awards, he headed to the bed within the tent and drifted into a deep sleep. His mind focused on the journey ahead of him...

.

A couple of days have passed since Oz's first day of travelling and the trek hasn't gotten any easier. In fact the difficulty has tripled since he started. At this point he kept the blue flame jar he conjured on his first night strapped to his hip securely to keep him warm. The bluebell flames within were a good source of heat and they didn't harm him in any way. If they touched his clothes however they might get singed.

Despite this though the cold still seemed to eat away at him slowly. Tonight it seemed he might need to make another jar to keep himself warmer. In comparison the pressure emitted from the peak was also rising rapidly. Feeling the sheer pressure on him Oz actually wondered at points if he was even ready to climb this mountain.

His breathing was incredibly rough and in the past couple nights as the pressure increased he even felt difficulty in sleeping. This trial that he set out for himself was a very difficult one.

As night started to rise on the third day of his trek he realised he was approaching the midway point of the trek. The terrain had become noticeably more dangerous and the path that led up to this point was slowly receding away under the sheer amount of snow. As Oz approached an area where he could set up his tent for the night he felt a snap underneath his feet.

*SNAP*

Oz's eyes darted down as he looked into the snow beneath him. His feet at this point seemed to be sucked into the snow as only his ankles upwards were shown to him. Lifting his feet out of the snow he looked down towards the culprit of the sound he just heard. What greeted him was bones. Human bones.

'This must be one of the expedition teams the sanctuary sent out years ago...'.

Oz set up his tent quickly and headed on inside making himself another Bluebell Flame jar that he attached to the opposite side of his hip parallel to where his first one was placed. He felt the cold surrounding him subside a bit more. Heading back out the tent looking up to the starry night sky Oz dug out the bones of the human that had died on the mountain.

All that was present was a half broken skull, a couple of arm bones and a single leg bone. Looking around the snow a bit more Oz couldn't find any supplies left behind by the deceased. Most likely the elements had claimed them a long time ago. Oz picked up all the bones present and placed them into his pouch.

'Although I don't know who you were I respect the effort it took to get this far even if you died trying... I'll take your bones back to the sanctuary'.

Oz looked up at the night sky with a whimsical smile once more before heading into the tent behind him. His third night sleep was even more suffocating than the previous couple...

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[Dragon Sanctuary]

As the third day rolled around Alfreda and Norberta found themselves both staring up to the mountain upon high where Oz had headed off to. The looks on their faces both showed worry and anxiousness.

Charlie Weasley who spotted the two walked over towards them, joining them in looking up the mountain.

"I gather you two are worried about Oz?".

Alfreda kept a cold silence as did Norberta. When they first arrived here Oz was the only person to speak to Charlie. Both of them kept quiet as he did so. To them only Oz was deserving of their respect to some degree, one as their 'papa' and the other their 'master'. To this random wizard who tried to converse they showed no respect.

Seeing as though it was the third day they were here though, Charlie was already used to this behaviour as he continued on speaking.

"Judging by what the order told me I doubt that he will truly be in any danger climbing the mountain... After all he won against Dumbledore in a duel allegedly. Such a feat is not to be underestimated by any means. I'm sure he will be fine...".

Charlie looked towards the duo of Alfreda and Norberta once more and saw that they still remained silent. He sighed to himself as he walked off noting that they wouldn't reply to him. As Charlie walked off Alfreda sighed to herself.

"I know master is an impressive wizard... But I can't help but feel pause about this situation".

Norberta seemed to whine a bit as she looked up the mountain. Her worry seemed to be at the same level as Alfreda's as she agreed with Alfreda's words. Their devotion to Oz at this point overshadow their own judgement meaning they refused to pursue him still despite their own feelings.

All they could do was look up the mountain as the days passed and continue with the tasks Oz left for them. Even though they worried they had a deep-seated respect and pride in their Master/Papa and knew that even in a difficult situation like this one he'd find a way to pull through...

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[Mountains Peak]

As the dawn of the fourth day rose the peak of the mountain was livelier than usual. At the top sat Arauthator on his pedestal looking around at all the elder dragons that had gathered for this meeting today.

{You've all managed to get here on such short notice... good...}.

The elder dragons kept themselves lowered towards their lord as they bit their tongues, refusing to be the first to ask why they were convened. After a period of waiting Arauthator began to speak again.

{I'm sure you're wondering why I've convened you all on such short notice... Well to explain why I'd welcome you all to cast your eyes down the mountain around the midway point}.

Listening to their lords words the elder dragons all looked down towards the midpoint of the mountain. Each of them shook by the revelation that befell them as they noticed what was there. In the eyes of these dragons they could sense a wizard that had reached the midway point. Surprisingly compared to the previous witches and wizard that attempted the ascent this wizard seemed to be in much better shape.

{As you can all see we have a new wizard trying to scale our mountains... Usually such a situation wouldn't be enough to all a meeting like this however...}.

As Arauthator locked his eyes onto Oz, his piercing gaze falling through the clouds locking onto the young wizard who had just exited his tent. Looking intently at the young wizard he began to continue his explanation.

{The young wizard present this time is one that has our blood...}.

The elder dragons surrounding the area seemed to start clamouring at Arauthators words. They knew the importance of a wizard with their blood in them. One of the elder dragons, seemingly one of the oldest ones looked towards Arauthator in reverence as he stuttered.

{L-Lord... Could it be this boy is?}.

Arauthator's eyes glinted slightly sending the elder dragon back in fear. As the elder dragon bowed its head to Arauthator to show sincerity, he began to speak his mind.

{Yes... It's as you surmise. This boy is probably a descendant of 'him'}.

The clamouring amongst the dragons seemed to ramp up even more as Arauthator gave his verdict on the young wizard scaling the mountain. Their eyes all seemed to lock onto the boy's location as they watched him intently. Some looked with pride at the boy whilst others looked in belittlement. The gazes from the elder dragons were a mixed bag all in all as they witnessed a wizard with their blood for the first time in centuries trying to scale the mountain they resided on.

Arauthator's gaze that pierced the clouds however seemed to be laced with only one emotion, one that paralleled all the other dragons gazes...

'Disappointment'.