Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4)
With Rose's dragon egg hatching and the day of the race drawing closer, more and more dragons were emerging from their respective eggs. It's noticeable that, unlike in the original world of Harry Potter, dragons grow much faster here. Fast enough that, within a few days, most dragons could already be ridden, though they were not very fast due to their young age.
The largest dragon belonged to Asterion. Ancalagon was the size of three horses, appearing as a truly imposing and powerful dragon. In the future, he would honor his namesake from another universe. His crown of horns seemed particularly intimidating. No one could compare Ancalagon to the Hebridean Black, the breed of the dragon. They looked completely different.
Because they were dragons, all participants, along with their dragons, could not remain at Hogwarts. As a result, a small village was established at the foot of Hogwarts.
For those who managed to force the hatching of dragon eggs, they now faced a more difficult challenge: controlling a fast-growing dragon, ravenously hungry, especially thirsty for meat and blood.
At that moment, in the new village below Hogwarts, a young man could be seen running with all his strength, fear painting his face in an almost morbid pallor. Behind him, a dragon flew in pursuit, its beastly purple eyes filled with hunger and a ferocity worthy of one of the world's most powerful predators.
"Help!!!" the young man shouted loudly, barely dodging a charge from the dragon behind him. He didn't have his wand in hand, showing that he had fled in a rush, running from the dragon.
Despite his cries for help and the fact that the houses were all relatively close, no one came out to aid the young man being chased by the dragon.
"Another idiot who thought taming a dragon is like taming a dog with treats. Does he think he's some kind of Viking who likes dragons?" Asterion remarked through the window with a look of disgust. In his eyes, witches and wizards should be intelligent and studious. What's the difference between magical animals and wizards without knowledge? None!
Both are stupid animals in that case!
Although she didn't understand Asterion's last words, Daphne, dressed only in her fiancé's long shirt, sat beside him with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands, sipping the warm liquid with a small, comfortable smile playing on her lips.
Knowing that Asterion would be living outside the castle for a period of time, as his legitimate fiancée, Daphne naturally went to live with him, and she admitted it was the best choice she had ever made.
The two lived alone in this cozy wooden house, which she had personally decorated down to the smallest details, with all the love she could muster. Although it wasn't a mansion full of opulence like she was used to, she felt strangely content every time she looked at the house she shared with Asterion.
This house was a world that belonged to her, Asterion, and another girl with white hair.
It was as if they were already husband and wife.
Unfortunately, this calm and peace were soon shattered by the agonizing scream of the young man outside. Daphne curiously looked out the window and saw a Hungarian Horntail dragon biting down on the young man with its monstrous mouth and teeth sharper than daggers.
Judging by the agonizing expression on his face, the pain was far from ordinary; otherwise, his scream wouldn't have resembled that of a pig being cruelly slaughtered.
"I give up," the young man screamed hysterically as he desperately tried to pull back, which was a terrible decision on his part, given that the dragon was still feasting on his arm. This made the young man's expression even more pained than before.
When the young man shouted that he was giving up on the competition, Asterion and Daphne watched as Professor McGonagall waved her hand. With a simple gesture, the dragon was bound in chains made of iron. Everything was done with such mastery and experience that no student could have achieved it.
With great care, she pried open the dragon's mouth and carefully removed the shredded, broken arm, with many parts chewed between the dragon's teeth. Shaking her head as she saw the tragic state of the arm, the Transfiguration Master helped the young man get to the Hogwarts infirmary.
As for the dragon, it was taken away by a team dressed in red, who seemed very skilled at handling the winged beasts. In less than five minutes, the dragon had been secured in a tough metal crate and disappeared from everyone's sight along with the wizards and witches.
"Dragon keepers in the Dragon Reserves are very professional. The dragon barely resisted, though that was largely thanks to Professor McGonagall's transfiguration," Daphne commented, observing the scene with great interest.
Asterion, beside her, agreed with his fiancée's words. They were truly professionals at what they did. This wasn't the first time they had seen these experts at work; the young man who had been attacked by the dragon wasn't the first—there had been two others before him. Fools who thought they could earn the respect and love of dragons as if they were docile dogs.
As for how other wizards and witches were managing to control their dragons, Asterion didn't know. It was a secret no participant could share, so as not to help their enemies.
However, according to Luna, some used potions with hallucinogenic or confusion effects, and some even used Amortentia.
When Asterion heard that someone had used the strongest love potion in existence on a dragon, his expression turned strange. The image was so disturbing that he wanted to rip his brain out.
As for Luna herself, she had used an ancient ritual that existed in her family, and with her own blood as the primary material, she created a bond that allowed her to connect mentally with the dragon, making them practically one, which greatly increased the dragon's loyalty.
However, an ancient and outdated ritual like this had some rather serious flaws. Imagine sharing a mind with a dragon—definitely, strange scenarios would occur during the process, and that's exactly what happened.
The dragon's personality became somewhat similar to Luna's. Since Luna was a vegetarian, the dragon also developed a dislike for meat, giving birth to the world's first vegetarian dragon...
When Asterion heard Luna's words, he glanced at the sleepy dragon beside her and contorted his lips at such... unreal news.
Asterion was certain that Luna had done the entire ritual on purpose. It was her little revenge, retaliating for the torture she had suffered at the hands of Albion, who was still sealed away. He could already imagine the expression on the ancient dragon's face when it heard about the vegetarian dragon.
There would be fury, anger, and even more fury in the eyes of the dragon that had terrorized Britain thousands of years ago—something Asterion wanted to witness from the front row.
After all, Albion was his pig on a silver platter, served to him to complete his plan.
Just as Daphne was about to speak, the door to the house opened, and Rose, with her head held high in triumph, walked in with a proud expression.
"Dear husband and beloved wife, I'm back from work," Rose said in a playful tone, a smile dancing on her lips. "That damned supervisor made me work overtime!"
She complained loudly while pretending to hang a coat in the closet, her voice dripping with hatred and anger toward her work supervisor.
Asterion and Daphne rolled their eyes at Rose's obvious act, as she appeared to be playing the role of the husband who had come home exhausted from a long day of work.
"What are you two up to?" Rose asked as she sprawled inelegantly on the couch, resting her head on Asterion's lap.
"Watching another idiot almost get killed by a dragon," Daphne responded with almost visible pleasure in her voice, referring to the pain the fools had suffered when they were nearly killed by their own arrogance and stupidity.
Rose nodded. She had initially considered going down that path, but after seeing her dragon's temper, she quickly abandoned those innocent thoughts and taught her dragon hatchling the true fist of love.
In her words to the dragon:
It was Submission or Death.
The death part was an exaggeration, but how could a not-so-intelligent dragon hatchling know that?
Rose soon realized that dragons were, above all else, proud creatures. Even after dozens of beatings—which would have infuriated any animal rights organization, and rightly so—the dragon hatchling still seemed proud and didn't appear to be giving in anytime soon.
This led Rose to take drastic measures: she had to teach the hatchling the true fist of love.
After hours of beatings... ahem... training, Rose managed to establish a master-subordinate relationship.
Suddenly, Rose felt a hand stroking her hair and couldn't help but let out a contented sigh. She looked up and saw Asterion gently running his fingers through her hair while focusing on reading a book.
Rose had to admit, their relationship wasn't the most orthodox in the world, but she liked it just the way it was. Little by little, she was becoming part of this family.
A family that consisted of just the three of them, and no one else.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 194 - How to Train Your Dragon (5), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 197 - Dragon Race (3), Chapter 198 - Dragon Race (4), Chapter 199 - Dragon Race (5), Chapter 200 - Dragon Race (6), Chapter 201 - Dragon Race (7), Chapter 202 - Dragon Race (8), Chapter 203 - Golden Path (1), Chapter 204 - Golden Path (2), Chapter 205 - Golden Path (3), Chapter 206 - Battle in Desert City (1), Chapter 207 - Battle in Desert City (2), Chapter 208 - On the Night of the Storm (1), Chapter 209 - On the Night of the Storm (2), Chapter 210 - On the Night of the Storm (3).