Adventures in Curse Breaking: Dragon Treasure

More Dragons, Please

The group tumbled to the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, directly in front of the bank. Several passersby hurried out of their way, staring at them with curiosity or annoyance. 

Sarah landed flat on her back, her aching muscles screaming in indignation. Bill helped her to her feet while the others clambered up and made sense of their surroundings. 

They hurried into the bank and found Griphook seated at one of the tall desks. Seeing them approach, he put down the fist-sized ruby he'd been inspecting with a loupe and folded his long-fingered hands together expectantly. 

"Ah, Mr. Weasley. You've returned. With good news, I trust."

"Yes, sir." Bill pulled the egg out of his bag and held it out.

Griphook snatched it greedily and inspected it closely, a wide smile covering his face revealing sharp teeth. "Urgruff's egg! it is exquisite! No wonder the dragon coveted it. But at last, it is back where it belongs. Well done, Weasley."

"Actually, sir," said Bill uncomfortably. "I couldn't have possibly done it alone." He gestured to the others. "I had quite a bit of help."

"I fought of two dragons," said Merula smugly. 

"I roasted the perfect marshmallow," said Barnaby. "Sorry, I forgot to bring you one, sir."

"I'm just glad we made it back alive," muttered Penny.

If Bill was expecting to be chastised or ridiculed, he was wrong. The goblin waved away the comments, still examining the egg hungrily, as if deciding whether he should cook it up for breakfast. "It matters not to me how you came by it, so long as you you did. Now, I must show this to Groglick. Weasley, we received a few cursed goblets downstairs today. Get to work on those as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir. I've just got to get this lot back to Hogwarts first." But Griphook had already tottered down from his desk and was hobbling away, drawing a crowd of goblins as each noticed the artifact gleaming in his arms. 

"Do we have to go back to Hogwarts?" said Barnaby. 

"You don't want to?" asked Penny, surprised.

"Go back to studying for exams all the time? No way! Just think, best friends out there together, sleeping somewhere new every night, finding new dangerous creatures...what could be better than that?"

"About a hundred things," said Merula at once. "That's the dumbest idea you've ever had, Lee. Including the time you tried to flood the third-floor bathroom so you could raise a kelpie indoors."

Barnaby grinned. "Which you only know about because you walked into the boys bathroom."

Merula blushed as the others laughed. "Watch it," she warned. "Remember, I don't have to be nice to you lot anymore."

"Yes, we'll all miss Pleasant Merula," said Bill. "I suppose we don't have to be in a huge hurry to get back. What do you all say to some Florean Fortescue's before we go?"

Barnaby's eyes lit up. "That's good too, I suppose..."

"My treat," said Bill. 

"Now you're talking!"

When they were all seated around at a table on Florean Fortescue's patio, enjoying large ice creams for breakfast, a thought occurred to Sarah. 

"Charlie, why didn't that dragon kill you when she first had the chance? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she didn't, but why leave you alive and give you the chance to escape?"

Charlie stuck his spoon in his Toffee Apple Surprise and grinned. "She was playing the long game! Remember how she was watching us when we first arrived at the reserve? She had us marked since then. When she caught me in her lair, she gave me a whack with her tail. Enough to keep me from running off, but not enough to kill me. She was planning on you lot turning up. I was the bait. All she had to do was wait."

"I see," said Sarah, stroking her chin thoughtfully. She scooted her Butterbeer ice cream closer to her so Barnaby would stop sneaking bites of it. "Clever girl."

"Yes, well done, Mrs. Dragon for nearly eating us all," said Penny, exasperated. "Well, I for one would be perfectly happy if I never saw another dragon again."

"You had a good time, though?" said Sarah. "Wasn't it nice to get away from it all, to get some adventure?"

"I suppose it was fun at times," Penny admitted with a smile. 

"I agree with you about the dragons," said Bill. "Being a Curse Breaker is exciting enough for me."

"I see your point," said Charlie. "I suppose I could use a break from dragons after my near-death experience..."

They all stared at him. Bill's spoon fell from his hand and clattered to the table. Barnaby managed to sneak a couple more bites of Sarah's ice cream without her noticing. 

"Seriously?" she asked Charlie, swatting Barnaby's spoon away. 

"Nope!" He smiled and leaned forward. "Hagrid let slip that there might be a Swedish Short-Snout hiding in the old muggle mines at the edge of the reserve. Wanna go look for it when we get back?"

"Yeah!" said Sarah and Barnaby at once. 

"Don't leave me out!" said Merula. "It's only thanks to me you lot aren't dragon food right now. If Spellman's ready to tackle more dragons, so am I!"

Penny sighed and rested her chin in her hand. "I don't know why I hang out with you people sometimes."

"Just don't go looking for it without me, okay?" said Sarah. "I promised Rowan I'd spend time with her when I got back."

"I guess that'll give me some time to catch up on studying," said Charlie. "Wanna join me, Barnaby?"

Barnaby swallowed the last spoonful of Sarah's ice cream. "As long as 'catch up on studying' is code for 'play quidditch.'"

"Alright, finish up you lot, I'm ready to be shot of your madness for a bit," said Bill. 

Sarah smiled to herself as the others collected themselves and prepared for Bill to take them back to the castle. Everyone certainly seemed to be in a better mood than they had a few days ago. Despite returning to Hogwarts to find exams, drama, and cursed vaults awaiting them, they had renewed spirits. She thought to herself, Marvelous Creatures, dragons, aren't they?

THE END

A/N: Sorry this one took me so long to finish. I've been busy moving from the United States to Italy. I have to be in quarantine for a couple of weeks, so I should have plenty of time to write for a bit.