𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃'

November 23rd, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒

"A Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green, Horntail and Short-snout," Iris threw her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them onto the table their group had occupied. She had disappeared while everyone else went off to dinner to find the dragons that had Cedric Diggory in such a disastrous state, and an hour after they had returned to the library to study, she finally waltzed back in.

Cedric grabbed for the book, skipping straight to the dragon section as Valeria started flipping through her own copy of that same book for the other girls to see. Theodore Nott remained to be the only one who hadn't clamored at the news, instead watching as Iris paced, rambling for Cedric.

"The Welsh Green is the one to hope for, won't mind you being near until you pose a threat... give some time to at least access whatever situation. Their fire is fast, though, precise too. Horntails are nasty, club-like tails, and their fire can reach far. Horrible flyers... comparatively... could be something to use to your advantage. Chinese Fireballs produce smoke from their nose, would leave you blinded... easily distracted with food, though. The Swedish Short-snouts shoot fire from their nostrils, so hot it will leave anything to ash. They aren't as studied, prefer to live up in the mountains, hard to find... couldn't even tell you a plan for them...."

She trailed off as her mind raced with information, some of it not even to be found in the book, as Valeria started flipping through a few more spread across the table. Jane bit away at her cheek as she leaned into Valeria, looking at the picture on a page, "Horntails are the most vicious, correct? By Ministry standards?"

Cedric looked up to Iris out of instinct, face lacking much color... a forced smile at Tracey when she attempted to rub his back and soothe worries.... Something that would be made useless as Iris rolled her eyes, always giving the truth, "The Ministry classifications are jokes, a whole category for boring. All dragons are just as territorial and protective. Pose a threat, and it doesn't matter if you are staring down an Opaleye or a Horntail; either way, you...."

Iris seemed to catch herself from finishing that sentence, glancing at Cedric as she continued to pace silently. Probably worse to leave everyone in the tense quiet that formed as they filled in the rest themselves... Cedric picked at the pages of Iris' book as he looked more and more ready to throw up.

Theodore was once more the only one left unfazed, just tracing Iris in her back-and-forth walk. Catching the faint glimpses of her face as she went back and forth. Her eyes were dazed, no doubt focused on their friends, zeroing in on head-to-head as they returned to reading. Her face was in its most neutral state... a state that almost felt sad the more you looked. Her lips fell into a bit of a natural downturn, eyebrows rested, eyes soft as they pointed at nothing in particular...

Theodore took in a breath before clearing his throat, Sally-Ann and Tracey both just briefly looking up before sharing a look at his focus on Iris. Smiling a bit to themselves when he finally spoke for the first time in hours, "You should eat."

Something about Theodore Nott's voice always seemed quick to grab Iris' attention despite her dazed state... he did have quite a clear voice, though, so perhaps it wasn't much to think about. But still, almost immediately, Iris had snapped back and found Theodore's voice, her pacing stopping for just a moment... such a change despite how nothing changed on her face but her eyes gaining a practiced sort of hardness.

She did glance down to the plate right in front of what was her seat... but so quickly she was shaking her head and returning to pacing. Her turn to be quiet as everyone else talked late into the night... strategizing for Cedric as best they could with what little they knew.... Preparing the boy who would have to face a dragon....