Learning To Fly

Chapter 2: Hovering

Charlie wouldn't have admitted it to the four friends who had agreed to smuggle a dragon across the continent for him, but he was pleasantly surprised at how well the plan to get the Norwegian Ridgeback to the sanctuary had worked. The dragon and his friends had arrived late on Sunday morning, just as he was starting to worry that something might have gone wrong.

An hour later, he had left four humans and a Crup sleeping on sofas and camp beds in his lodge, and set off for the holding pens, where the dragon was just starting to wake up. The holding pens were a temporary accommodation for the new dragons arriving at the sanctuary, where they were kept whilst being monitored for signs of illness that could be contagious to the other dragons, or prove detrimental to the survival of the newcomer.

Watching the baby dragon — Norbert, Hagrid had named him — as it stirred, it was obvious that he was malnourished. Although he was already the size of a Shetland pony at only a few weeks old, Norbert was nowhere near as well-muscled as the juveniles Charlie was used to seeing on the reserve. In comparison to most dragons his age, Norbert was downright scrawny. No wonder the sleeping draught the others had given him had knocked him for six.

The holding pens had been designed with safety in mind, for the researchers as much as for the dragons. The walls of the enclosure were made of strong metal bars, through the gaps of which a person could easily fit, and were enchanted so that they were impermeable to fire. This meant that it was easy enough for handlers to get in if needed, and — even more importantly — to get back out again. As Charlie watched Norbert stumble back into consciousness, he quickly realised that he was going to have to make use of this design; the poor creature was disoriented, and had fallen onto his back. Without the coordination or strength to right himself, Norbert was stuck.

Charlie took his wand from his pocket and slipped through the bars of the holding pen, and slowly and quietly approached the waking dragon. He pointed his wand at Norbert, and two thick coils of rope burst forth from it, wrapping themselves around the elbow and hock furthest from Charlie, who pocketed his wand, and took one rope in each hand.

"Don't worry, pal," he said to Norbert, bracing himself. "I'm going to help you up, alright? Ready? One, two, three..."

On three, he pulled as hard as he could, every muscle in his body tensing and his teeth gritted together with the effort. As he took a strained step back, Norbert's body rolled towards him, off of his back and onto his wing. Charlie breathed deeply, relaxing slightly, before steeling himself once more. Another hard pull on the ropes, and Norbert was on his side, and then - after righting himself - on his feet. The same couldn't be said for Charlie, who had stumbled backwards, propelled by the amount of force he'd been putting through the ropes, and landed on his rump. He scrambled back up onto his feet, took out his wand to vanish the ropes, and stepped towards Norbert, trying to ascertain whether or not the baby dragon had sustained any injuries on recovery.

But Norbert apparently did not want to be examined. As Charlie moved towards him, murmuring words of reassurance under his breath, the dragon thrashed his tail, and his whole body tensed.

"I am trying to help you, I promise," Charlie said in a low voice, still inching closer to the dragon. "Now, I just want to take a quick look at where you landed, and where the ropes were. Will you let me do that?"

In response to Charlie's question, Norbert roared, and darted forward, as if he were going to bite. Charlie leapt away, his hands above his shoulders.

"That's a no, then," he muttered as he exhaled, and he walked backwards towards the bars, moving slowly, eyes on the dragon, who was watching him, warily and unwaveringly. Somehow, Charlie got the feeling that someone else was doing the exact same thing. He turned his body so that it was side-on to Norbert. In his peripheral vision, he saw the tension in the dragon's body release just a little, and felt the same happen to himself.