Dragon Dilemma

The first test for Sirius as Harry's now official guardian came when Harry sent him an urgent letter. It was April just after the Easter holidays. Harry had spent the holidays at Potter Manor with him and it had gone well. They both were a bit awkward about the new situation, but they managed. One of the things Sirius did was taking Harry for a daytrip to a wizarding zoo. Contrary to a muggle zoo the wizarding counterpart was much more natural. The magical creatures lived in an area that had practically been copied from the normal world three centuries ago. Muggles had been too violent towards the creatures they thought excesses of Satan and hunted them down. Nothing with magic was tolerated. The zoo had been founded as a refuge for magical creatures a few decades before the Statute of Secrecy had been passed.

Harry's letter described Hagrid's new stupid idea of raising a dragon at Hogwarts. At the moment it only was an egg, but soon the dragon would hatch as Hagrid was trying to hatch it in his hut. A wooden hut at that. Harry didn't want that Hagrid got into trouble, but he also didn't want to have a dragon around the school. Sirius had to think about the situation. Could he manipulate the thing to not discriminate Hagrid? Then he had an idea. Amelia Bones normally was somebody you could talk to. She listened and not just jumped to conclusions. Sirius sent Harry a letter back with instructions what to write exactly in a help letter to so that he could show the letter to Amelia without getting Hagrid into trouble.

Harry meanwhile got instructions to prepare Hagrid to go with the scam. Two days later, Hedwig had got a lot of exercise and just loved it, Harry's letter had arrived and Sirius took it to the head of the DMLE.

"Madam Bones, do you have a moment?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, what is it, Auror Black?" She asked.

"My godson wrote me about a problem that needs to be handled with care to not blow things up unnecessary. The thing is Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, came upon a strange fellow in the Hogs Head when he went there one evening last week. The guy was suspicious to him and asked a few questions that rang a few alarm bells with Hagrid. But when he offered to play cards for a dragon egg, after buying Hagrid some drinks, Hagrid decided that whatever the man had planned, he couldn't let him keep the dragon egg. So he, well, cheated in the game to get the egg. He knows that dragons are illegal to keep, but he also didn't want to let the egg of a dragon in the hands of somebody who could do damage with a dragon.

"Hagrid being Hagrid and fascinated with all dangerous creatures researched the egg and found out it is a rare Norwegian Ridgeback. With the state of development the egg was in the only way to save the Ridgeback was hatching it. Which he did in his hut. Now he has the problem that soon he'll have a live dragon on his hands, isn't well-liked with the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures so he can't tell the situation without being blamed and punished for trying to do the right thing, and you know Hagrid, he would just bumble it up and look even worse. Hagrid has a heart of gold, but isn't the smartest guy around. He told Harry about it when Harry came for a visit and Harry wrote me. While Hagrid would love to keep the dragon, he knows that it is impossible, but he also doesn't know what else to do." Sirius explained, showing Amelia Bones the letter he had Harry write.

"That indeed is a serious problem. Thank god that he told Harry. A dragon at Hogwarts could have become a real danger. I had enough with that Cerberus and troll mess." She said.

"I can imagine. Dumbledore got a few choice words about it over the Christmas holidays after Harry told me." Sirius grumbled.

"Not only from you. Well, we now need to find a way to safely transport a dragon. We need to get the dragon to a preserve, that's the only place he can live safely. Especially as it's a rare breed. I only hope this isn't blown up the wrong way by the press." She said sighing.

"Uhm, I think we could dodge that bludger easily. Just invite Rita Skeeter to write the true story. Over the past months her stories seem to have changed to the hard facts. The press gets the story, Hagrid and our department get positive publicity and the dragon gets a good home. All are happy." Sirius said.

"Perhaps you are right, Auror Black. I'll contact the DCMC to find out where the next suitable dragon preserve is located. They should send us some experts on dragons to get the Ridgeback away from Hogwarts." Madam Bones stated. "Go back to your work; I'll take care of this."

"Thank you, Madam Bones." Sirius said and left the office.

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