The Red Dragon | Charlie Weasley

Chapter 1

Haela Peucag was late.

Again.

Not that it happened often, just once or twice. A month. Sometimes she forgot the time at night as she was working and slept through her alarm the next morning, or her alarm didn't go off in the first place. The latter had happened this morning. One of Acelina's house-elves had woken her up – those creatures truly were a godsend gift.

As she rushes into the smaller one of the dining rooms, Haela ignores the stares of Percy and Acelina. She quickly snatches a piece of toast off one of the plates before waving goodbye to the two people seated at the table and heading to the fireplace in the entrance hall that is connected to the Floo Network.

Haela had been spending more and more time at the Yaxley-Weasley estate in the past few months. At first, it had been in between missions she was sent on so she could see her best friend, but lately, she had been living permanently in one of the guest rooms. She used to have her own flat, but after another fight with her Muggle landlord, she had given up the lease. She had been on the lookout for a new flat but hadn't found anything yet.

When the Second Wizarding War had ended five years ago, Haela had accepted the offer from the Department of Magical Law of the British Ministry of Magic. She had left her position as one of Gringotts' Curse-Breakers to become one of the specialists of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol. Being an Auror had never appealed to her, but Haela had always been up for a bit of action. With the years as Curse-Breaker under her belt, Haela had also been asked to become a part-time lecturer at the Auror Academy to teach the new recruits.

A job she is currently late for. Again.

Arriving at the Academy, Haela runs through the corridors in search of the right lecture hall. She ignores the looks of people she passes and right before the doors to the one she is teaching in, Haela stops in her tracks. A few deep breaths help her stop panting. With one hand, Haela combs through her short black hair, and with the other, she pushes open the doors to the lecture hall.

The lecture hall isn't the largest of the Academy, but it is packed with people nonetheless. Her seminars usually have a high attendance rate and recruits from all years sit in on her lectures. Students are chatting among themselves but fall silent when Haela walks into the room in the direction of the oak desk in front of the hall.

"Good morning all," Haela says as she dumps her bag on the desk and shrugs out of her signature dark red, almost black, jacket she got from Acelina years ago. It matches her favourite boots. Both are made from a special type of dragon hide, stronger than normal, and Haela had enchanted them with protection spells the moment she got them.

"Welcome to today's seminar on how to raid foreign tombs abroad without finding yourself in the Janus Thickey Ward for the foreseeable future," she smiles at the students, "Or, how your instructors would prefer me to call it, how to recognize ancient, cursed artifacts and avoid getting killed by them."

The rest of the morning, Haela spends going over her training on ancient artifacts and how they can be cursed in undetectable ways. She shows off examples she found during her mission and explains what she did when she encountered them. After answering an array of questions, Haela announces it is time for a short break before they will move to the practical part of the seminar. She is in need of  a strong cup of coffee.

As the students start leaving the hall, Haela packs up the artifacts and checks her watch. She prays Kadrick hasn't forgotten he was supposed to bring her the prop artifacts they had spent an afternoon enchanting together. The Hit Wizard is often forgetful and Haela can't have that today.

"You were late."

The voice makes Haela want to groan out loud, but she resists the urge and instead looks up from her bags. Mrs Carter – one of the head instructors at the Auror Academy and an Auror with almost as big of a reputation as the late Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody – is standing on the other side of the oak desk. The older witch has her arms crossed in front of her chest and eyes Haela up and down.

"Didn't they teach you punctuality as a Curse-Breaker?"

Haela rolls her eyes and musters up a fake smile, "As long as you brought in the goods, the goblins really didn't care if you were late or not."

Mrs Carter shakes her head and wants to open her mouth to argue when the doors of the lecture hall open. A tall, dark-skinned wizard with black hair braided in neat cornrows walks in. He is wearing a royal-blue Hit Wizard uniform and his face lights up when he sees Haela.

"Peucag!"

"Thank Merlin," Haela mutters under her breath. Ignoring the older Auror, she turns to the man and greets: "Wheeler!"

After swinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her jacket from its place on the back of the chair behind the desk, Haela takes the bag with example artifacts and rushes over to the Hit Wizard. Kadrick waves at Mrs Carter before letting himself get pushed out of the lecture hall by Haela.

Once outside, Haela starts walking in the direction of the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and perhaps one of those red velvet cupcakes they bake every Thursday.

"How did the seminar go?" Kadrick asks as they walk.

Haela grins, "Fine. I love telling stories about my jobs abroad. Trying to convert the recruits to become Curse-Breakers instead of Aurors."

Kadrick barks out a laugh and shakes his head, "I never understood the tension between Aurors and Curse-Breakers, really. If Hit-Wizards and Aurors can live in harmony, why can't Curse-Breakers and Aurors?"

"It's the ego," Haela says as they order their drinks. She flashes a smile at the woman behind the register before turning back to Kadrick and continuing: "Those Dark Wizard catchers think they can do the job of a Curse-Breaker with ease, but when push comes to shove, they fail miserably and then blame the Curse-Breakers. There is a reason we're specialised. If it was an easy job, everyone would be able to do it."

With their drinks in hand, Haela and Kadrick make their way to one of the training rooms on the other side of the Academy. The room had been cleared of the normal obstacles and instead, there were tables placed around the room. Haela sits down on the table in the middle and places her bag on the ground. Kadrick hands her the bag with enchanted artifacts and with a flick of her hand, Haela divides them over the tables.

"I love to stay and watch the recruits struggle with these," Kadrick says after finishing his drink, "but Mulberry has me on duty with the Witch Watchers in an attempt to catch that necromancer that has been trying to resurrect Voldemort. There are rumours he has been spotted near Carlisle."

The man vanishes the paper cup without his wand and jumps off the table. Haela does the same with her own cup.

"Did the old man already say something about those dragon disappearances in Andorra?"

Kadrick shakes his head before smirking, "You have been awfully interested in that case, haven't you, Peucag?"

Haela sticks out her tongue at the Hit Wizard which makes him laugh.

The door of the training room opens, and the first students come walking in. Kadrick takes it as his cue to leave and makes his way out of the room, dodging the students entering with ease. Haela turns back to the table in front of her and from the breast pocket of her black blouse, she produces the list with curses on each artifact in the room. Better safe than sorry. Not that any of them are life-threatening, just annoying to be the victim of. She can do a mean Bat-Bogey Hex.

When all the students have gathered in the training room and have taken place behind the tables, Haela warns them not to touch the artifacts before starting to explain the practical part of her seminar. The rest of the morning is spent teaching the students how to detect if an artifact is cursed and how to remove those curses safely. Haela receives a round of applause when the seminar is over around noon and spends another hour answering questions and telling stories. She packs up her bags and bids the instructors goodbye before heading to the Ministry of Magic to complete the report about the arrests made after the culprits of the cursed Muggle cars were found.