Chapter Thirty-Six
"Drafted Plans"

Page Two

"Cornelius Fudge?" Madam Pomfrey stepped forward and caught sight of the man causing the ruckus. "What the devil are you doing here?"

Charlie rolled his eyes toward Madam Pomfrey, raised his hands and backed away. "I had nothing to do with it, just so you know," he protested.

"He had everything to do with it!" countered Fudge, the tone of his voice getting more severe with every syllable. "Illegal dragon trafficking? Upsurges in animal relocation? Agents disappearing? Sound familiar, Weasley?"

"What's going on up here?" Snape walked up to the group, desperate to bring some order to the room. The situation was thoroughly agitated already and getting worse with every word that was spoken by the group at the front of the room.

"I told you it would come to this, Snape!" spat Fudge, breaking away from the group, approaching Snape with his finger shaking violently.

"Come to what?" Snape stood his ground, his arms folded and his nostrils flared. "That you'd have to waste the entire Ministry surplus grinding Hogwarts into the ground? Just who did you buy off, Fudge? Voldemort himself?"

A few more screams echoed around the hall as the sound of that name reached the student's ears. Fudge didn't so much as flinch as he reached Snape, staring straight up into his dark eyes.

"Blast your bloody insinuations, I had nothing to do with this," hissed Fudge. "Hogwarts has turned to ruins by your own doing, not mine."

"Shove it, both of you!" bellowed Charlie, storming over toward Fudge and Snape who were dangerously close to coming to blows. "This isn't any time for a civil war, there's a big enough battle already underway."

Charlie brought one hand down upon Fudge's chest and shoved him away from Snape, violently interrupting their argument. "Severus, there's something wonky going on here."

"Has the world died yet?" Some thought Snape's comment was sarcastic, but Charlie knew otherwise.

"Not yet, there's still time," continued Charlie, starting to pace back and forth. "The moon isn't quite at full phase… but the other's beginning to fade."

"What brought you here anyway?" asked Sirius, stepping out from a dark corner of the room. Fudge starred at him wide-eyed, unable to believe it.

"Dragons, honestly," said Charlie thoughtfully, ignoring Fudge's shock completely. "I was shadowing you when I heard that creatures all over Romania were disappearing without a trace. Albus has asked me to keep track of you, make sure Fudge didn't find you."

"Traitor!" shouted Fudge.

"Be quiet, Fudge, you don't know what dung you've gotten yourself into!" shouted Snape, taking everyone by surprise. Before Fudge realized what was happening, Snape's wand was raised and "Somnus!" had escaped his lips. Fudge's eyelids fell and his body began to teeter. After a few moments Fudge fell to his side and landed on the floor, fast asleep.

"Go on, Charlie," said Snape, sounding relieved as he put his wand back in his cloak.

Charlie cleared his throat, then continued, "What caught my attention, though, were the dragons. Norwegian Ridgebacks, our stock of Chinese Reds, all of them, just gone. A creature the size of Charing Cross Station doesn't just up and leave without someone noticing. Later it spread to the rest of central Europe. The Alps lost the mountain trolls, it even came down to Holland's tulip fields losing all of their garden gnomes."

"Have you found any explanations for it?" asked Sirius, not showing any outward evidence of being shocked by such news.

"None as of yet," sighed Charlie. "But I think you're in the evidence right now." Charlie looked up at the enchanted ceiling just as a few clouds parted to reveal the dual moons. "He's coming back. Maybe it was foolish, but we thought we could help. Now I'm not so sure there's much we can do."

* * *

"I thought I'd lost you when I left the Bahamas for Europe," sighed Charlie. "By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late to track you. Thank heavens you made it safely back here."

"I had help with that," said Sirius, sitting carefully against the back wall of the Great Hall. "What are you going to do about Fudge when he wakes back up?"

"Don't you mean, when Snape wakes him back up?" Charlie smiled devilishly back at Sirius. "Seriously, though, I'm not sure. I don't trust the man anymore."

"Since when have you anyway?"

Charlie let out a long breath as he looked around the Great Hall at all of the sleeping bags lining the room, the students fast asleep. "What are we going to do with them, Sirius?"

"I'm not sure. But, more importantly, what are we going to do about everyone?"

Charlie put his head back against the stone wall and stared up at the sky. "We can't just sit here and do nothing with who knows what going on out there. We're so close to it all… it shouldn't be this quiet."

"But what's going on anyway?" asked Sirius. "What did you see from up there?"

"It looked as if the entire forest were moving. Like birds. They take off all at once without a sound and multiple animals move in one giant wave… only trees shouldn't be allowed to do that."

"Trees were flying?" asked Sirius, a comical tone in his voice. "How high was the dragon flying, Charlie? Were you losing oxygen?"

"No, no, no," laughed Charlie. "They were just moving like that; multiple things at once… never mind. It was a stupid metaphor anyway."

They paused as they just stared blankly out at the crowds of sleeping students. A small draft made its way underneath the doors, rustling the tablecloths.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Sirius in an excited whisper. "Is she still out there?"

"Who?"

"Your Norwegian Ridgeback, whatshername."

"Shiva? Yeah, she and the others were left outside to guard the entrance," said Charlie, slightly confused.

"How many dragons are there?" Sirius's hands were shaking as he tried to count the students while paying attention to the conversation.

"About four," thought Charlie. "Shiva, Max's Chinese Red, Artemis's Japanese Whiptail and Nigel's Swazi, Yakubu. Why?"

"How many people can fit on a dragon's back safely?"

"Slow down, Sirius," said Charlie, holding his hand up. "I can't cart children off on a dragon's back. It takes years of lessons to learn how to safely ride one of those things. Tame or not, they're still unpredictable."

Sirius started shaking his head, his eyes alight with thought. "I don't mean to have them ride the dragons, I mean for them to be carried."

"I think you're the one lacking enough oxygen to the brain."

"Look at those tablecloths," said Sirius urgently. "They're made to last, purified spider silk. Could a dragon clasp those in its claws and cart a few students in the sack?"

"Like a hobo-type satchel?" asked Charlie, one eyebrow raised.

"Exactly!"

Charlie stared at the tablecloths as they moved gently in the draft, thinking intensely. "I'm not sure if the Red or the Whiptail could handle it…" said Charlie slowly, rubbing his chin. "But I know Shiva could and maybe even Yakubu."

Sirius's face split into a smile for the first time since the holidays. It made Charlie do a double-take, startled by the dramatic change it made to Sirius's face. "I think we might have to make a few modifications to the tablecloths," said Charlie, "But that's nothing Flitwick can't handle."

"I'm glad you came, Charlie," smiled Sirius.

"Let's get to work," said Charlie, getting back to his feet and brushing off his dirt-encrusted pant leg. "We can leave sentiment for later. We've got a lot to catch up on and I have some questions for you about your activities in the Bahamas." Charlie gave Sirius a quick wink then went over to Professor Flitwick's sleeping bag.

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