Rescuing Dragons

The Quest Begins

 Raven had discovered the locked door Professor Flitwick mentioned inside the potions storeroom the day she arrived but wasn't any more successful at opening it than Professor Slughorn. She had to find the key.

"I wish I knew where this pond is," Raven said with a sigh, looking at the map from her father.

Dilly was closing the curtains before they went to sleep. "Mistress should ask the house-elves. They be knowing about the grounds."

________

The next morning, Raven planned on doing two things. The first was to get to know Charlie better. While she told herself it was only because she needed help finding the pond, it was hard to ignore the flutters of anticipation. The second task was to talk to the house-elves again. The first visit hadn't gone well but hopefully, it would be better now that they'd met Dilly and heard more about her. After spending more time in front of the mirror than usual, she walked quickly to the Great Hall. The dress code for teachers had loosened up since the war. To her relief, Raven only had to wear the long black teaching robes when classes were in session. Her usual jeans, black leather jacket, and boots were much more practical, especially if she had to go in the Forbidden Forest to find some unusual ingredients.

As usual, Charlie was sitting at the end of the staff table. Raven noticed Milly was right behind her, so she picked up speed to grab the only empty seat next to him. "Hello, Charlie. I know we were introduced but we haven't had a chance to talk. Do you mind?" She motioned to the chair. Her slight French accent made her words sound melodious.

"Sure," Charlie said quickly, looking a little flustered. He seemed to want to say more but just stared down at his food. Conversation might not be easy, Raven realized.

Chit fluttered her wings and stared at Charlie for a few seconds. Then—to Raven's horror—the crow plopped down and took a big bite of toast off his plate. "I'm so sorry!" Raven said in embarrassment. "She's usually wary of strangers."

He grinned and looked at the crow with interest. "She's brilliant! Ya had her long?" To Charlie's delight, the bird flew to his shoulder and made a quiet cooing sound. Raven had no doubt she could trust him. It seemed talking about Chit was a great way to start a conversation. In fact, as long as she asked Charlie questions about magical creatures, they never ran out of things to talk about. Raven was impressed with his vast knowledge and he shone with enthusiasm the longer they talked. Charlie obviously had a deep respect for the creatures he took care of, especially the dragons.

Raven told him about her many excursions in the forests of France. He was especially interested in her encounter with a Tarasque, a creature that looks like it has a combination of animal parts: the head of a lion, three pairs of bear-like legs, a body like an ox covered with a turtle's shell, a tail that resembles a scaly scorpion, and — it's extremely dangerous. She was only nine-years-old at the time and had wandered away from Lyra and Dilly. "I clamored up a hill when I was suddenly face-to-face with this monster. I looked it in the eye and told it to go back home." Raven imitated how she shook her finger at the beast. "It lunged at me, whipping its tail through the air, barely missing my head. I screamed for Lyra, my guardian, and dove behind a large boulder. Lyra quickly aimed a series of spells at the creature while singing an ancient song. The Tarasque slowly closed his eyes while collapsing into a deep slumber." Charlie laughed as she described how, afterwards, she stood on top of the boulder, looking down at the sleeping beast, and said sternly, You are very bad! Raven skipped over the part where Lyra scolded her for several minutes. She had never seen her so angry — and scared. Raven could have easily been killed. From then on, Lyra and Dilly kept a closer eye on their wayward ward.