Harry Potter: Dragon Whisperer

Saying Goodbye

1:45pm

Monday, 8 August 1995

Romanian Dragon Reserve, Romania

.

Harry had been called to the Headmaster's office more times than he could count in his life.

Most of those times had been during his primary school days when he'd been blamed for and subsequently taken the fall for a vast array of 'crimes', most of them in actuality committed by his cousin Dudley. The most common had been fighting, cheating, stealing, lying and back chatting the teachers. He'd been punished with detentions and lines galore, some of them even for things that no one had done, the result of stories made up by Dudders and his gang.

Once he'd entered high school and he and Dudley had gone their separate ways – Harry to Stonewall and Dudley to Smeltings – Harry'd spent less time being hauled before the Headmaster. Of course, the fact that Piers, Dudley's best friend, had also gone to Stonewall High had ensured that Harry was blamed for more offences than he ever committed.

Then had come Hogwarts. There, at a brand new school where there was no Dudley, no Piers and no one who knew him from his time in Little Whinging, Harry'd thought that he'd finally finally be free from visits to the Headmaster's Office. How wrong he'd been! The only difference there had been that, instead of people his own age being the ones manipulating things to get him into trouble, it'd been the Headmaster himself!

Now, when he wasn't even in school anymore, unless one counted his daily tutorial sessions, his fear of being hauled before the person in charge was apparently still valid.

"Harry. Charlie. Sirius," Alexander greeted each with a nod. "Come in. Take a seat."

Alexander's title might be Head Dragon Handler but, really there was little difference. Just like a Headmaster in charge of his school, Alexander was the Man in charge of the Dragon Reserve.

As had become his habit, Harry looked around the room as he crossed it to sit in front of the big desk.

This was not an office like any that he'd seen before. Not even the goblin's office at Gringotts was like this. It wasn't neat and tidy with everything in its place. It wasn't designed to intimidate – at least, Harry assumed not, because it didn't.

What it did have was clutter. Piles of parchment that threatened to topple at the slightest touch or breeze rose from both sides of Alexander's desk and the side table set against the wall. The bookshelves that lined one wall had countless books – some on their sides where their titles were easy to read, others in small haphazard stacks and a few that looked like they'd simply been tossed wherever they'd fit.

Knickknacks filled what remained of the space on the shelves and the side table, mostly bits of bone or dragon's teeth. A long, dragonhide cloak was tossed over the back of one chair. And, to complete the décor, three big maps of the Reserve – Canyon, surrounding area and the settlement had been stuck to the wall.

Oddly, the three chairs that were set in front of the desk, behind which Alexander was sitting, were empty. Somehow, Harry suspected that Alexander had emptied them of their contents just before they'd walked in.

"Boss," Charlie nodded.

"Hi," Harry replied and instantly cleared his throat from whatever was stopping him from speaking properly.

"Alexander," Sirius said, taking the seat on the left, leaving the centre chair for Harry.

"Thanks for coming," Alexander replied.

Harry watched him smooth out a piece of parchment on his desk and take a quick glance down at it.

"We've got a problem," Alexander stated.