Chapter 111: [Romania] - Dragon Sanctuary's Truth
A/N - Fuck it double upload.
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{Oz I can see the mountains in the distance!}.
Looking forward Oz's gaze was locked onto the mountain peaks ahead. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as they finally had reached their destination. Looking down towards the surface Oz looked for a location where they could descend nearby the mountains so they could continue on foot instead.
{Norberta, just up ahead there's a spot where we will descend to. Follow my lead}.
Considering they were about to enter unknown territory, Oz wanted to make sure his magic reserves were in top condition hence he decided to land nearby the mountains and continue on foot from here on. The dragon form just sucked up too much of his energy to keep up and even though an epic entrance as a dragon would be cool he had to dismiss such a notion for now. As the trio landed Oz transformed back into his human form. Adjusting his outfit and brushing off the dust on himself he looked at the mountains that were in front of him.
'That reminds me... that old goat only told me where the sanctuary was and not its exact location. Hopefully searching for this sanctuary doesn't take too long'.
Oz started to march forward on foot with Alfreda following behind him. Meanwhile he cloaked Norberta again and told her to fly above them both so that she could follow safely and also relay any sign of dragons/witches and wizards in the area. As the trio started to get closer to the foot of the mountain Oz heard Norberta shout from above him.
{Oz I can sense witches and wizards nearby! They are around the side of the mountain! Climb to the peak in front of you and you should see them beneath you from there~}.
Oz nodded towards Norberta in the skies as he and Alfreda started to climb up the small mountain they were on. As they trudged through the snow of the mountain they were scaling they finally find themselves at the peak and looking down to where Norberta was signalling them to go. Oz activated his eyes as he looked down on the area.
"There's an extremely powerful ward place on the whole area... If Norberta didn't notify us that people were nearby It'd taken us much longer to find this place...".
Taking a long look at the wards surrounding this part of the mountain Oz noted that they seemed almost ancient. Such wards were not placed by a common witch or wizard that was for sure. As Oz and Alfreda walked towards the ward the passed on through and as they passed on through they were welcomed by an incredible sight.
Dragon's seemed to be flying around or corners of the mountain range that the ward encompassed. To Oz it seemed like they were all playing. At the very bottom of the mountain range were a vast majority of buildings clumped together and using his eyes he could sense the presence of people residing in those buildings. Looking at the topography Oz noticed that they way this sanctuary was set up within the ward made it seem like the people at the bottom of the mountain range were the 'lower-class' whilst the dragons were the nobles high up the range in the skies.
"Looks like that down there is our destination Alfreda..."
Alfreda nodded at her master as she followed behind him. Looking up to Norberta Oz signalled her to follow them closely before placing another cloaking spell onto her. The dragons on the range seemed to be distracted as they played so none should see her at this point in time. If they did though then the situation could become somewhat troublesome.
The trio slowly scaled down the mountain they had climbed towards the buildings at the foot of the mountain range. Looking at the buildings getting closer Oz noted that all the buildings had a ridiculous amount of wards and protective charms placed onto them. As he thought about it though such things seemed necessary in the presence of dragons. Eventually the trio found themselves at the entrance of the dragon sanctuary.
.
"It's taken us just over a week but we finally made it...".
Looking at the entrance of the dragon sanctuary Oz smiled as he started to stroll on in. As he entered he felt waves of magic 'detect' his entry. Immediately as these waves hit him the people within their houses and on the street approached him with wary expressions. At the forefront of the people was a big Romanian wizard who had a claw mark going from his forehead down past his neck.
"Ce faci aici?!" (What are you doing here?!).
As Oz heard the man bellow out he felt a bit awkward.
'Maybe I should have learnt some basic languages before I went on this trip'.
"Alfreda? Do you have any clue what he's saying?".
"No master... I've only ever known Elvish and English. Other countries tongues evade me...".
Oz sighed as he looked at the Romanian wizard in front of him.
"Do you speak English?".
"...Engleză?" (English?).
The Romanian man seemed to look around the crowd before sighing to himself. He then bellowed out to his fellow companions surrounding him.
"Unde naibii e Charlie!" (Where the hell is Charlie!).
As Oz heard the latter half of the sentence he noted that the man was looking for Charlie. Oz wondered if Charlie was the interpreter for this little village of witches and wizards looking after these dragons.
As the big Romanian man called out a couple of the witches and wizards around him fanned out to look for Charlie. After some time waiting Oz finally saw a red-headed man approach the area. As the man spotted him his eyes widened.
"Ah! You must be the one my mother and father told me about. The descendant of Merlin was it? A pleasure to meet you my names Charlie Weasley".
As Oz saw Charlie introduce himself he noted that the man was incredibly polite especially in comparison to his brothers he had already met. Maybe the order warned him about Oz's potential.
"Charlie, cine este acest vrăjitor?" (Charlie who is this wizard?).
Charlie turned to the big Romanian man and started to speak fluent Romanian.
"E un oaspete Mihai, și încă unul special. Descententul lui Merlin despre care am tot auzit în ultimii ani" (He's a guest Mihai, A special guest at that too. The descendant of Merlin we've received news about in the recent years).
"Descendent al lui Merlin !?" (Descendant of Merlin!?).
The gazes of the Romanian witches and Wizards all changed as they looked towards Oz in awe now instead of wariness. With Charlie vouching for him and his identity now presented they all viewed him differently.
"În orice caz Mihai, am câteva treburi de rezolvat cu el, așa că dacă ne-ai putea acorda ceva timp…." (Anyway Mihai, I have business with him so if you could give us some time...).
The Romanian man from what Oz could tell named 'Mihai' nodded at Charlie as the crowd that had gathered dispersed. Looking at the crowd disperse Oz looked towards Charlie with a smile.
"Fluent in Romanian huh? I guess that comes with the territory here... Impressive none the less".
"I think it's far less impressive than the wizard thats managed to cut off two of that dark lords wings already... Anyway come with me I'll take you to the entrance of where the dragons roam".
As Oz talked to Charlie he noted how bright and seemingly different he was in comparison to the rest of the Weasleys. Oz guessed that maybe him venturing off into the world had changed his world view leading to a more 'mature' personality. After all spending time in a place like this makes you think of how silly such things as 'houses' are in a school in the long run.
Walking through the village of witches and wizards Oz was followed by Alfreda and in the sky above them still trailed Norberta who was keeping a safe distance from them, cloaked still by Oz's spell. As they reached the end of the village they stepped into an area that looked up at the mountain range in all its glory with different breeds of dragons roaming around playing and soaring.
"Quite a sight to behold don't you think? When I first came out here I was awed by the sight of so many dragons soaring the skies doing whatever they felt like...".
Oz looked at Charlies expression as he ushered Norberta down. Charlie seemed to have not noticed her yet as the dragon touched onto the snow ground.
"I'm sure you are aware of the reason why I'm here Charlie?".
"Of course, I was briefed by Dumbledore via my parents. You want to leave a dragon here correct?".
"Yes... That among some other things".
As Oz affirmed Charlies words he snapped his fingers uncloaking Norberta who was behind him and Alfreda. As Charlie looked at the growing dragon his eyes lit up.
"Blimey! A Norwegian Ridgeback! She's already grown to this size too... You've certainly taken good care of her judging by the healthy look in her eyes!".
As Charlie looked in adoration at Norberta the dragon in question felt overwhelmed by his gaze as she hid herself behind Oz. Oz sighed as he began to speak some more.
"She's a bit uh... attached to me at the moment you see. I'd love to have her stay by my side however I know full well dragons like her need to be with their fellow dragons in order to grow. I hope you can look after her well here...".
"Think nothing of it Oz. Dragon's are creatures I deem much more important than most wizards of this age, I wont let anything befall her".
"Thats good... Now onto the main reason why I'm here".
Charlie looked at Oz with a questioning gaze.
"Main reason? I thought dropping off this dragon of yours was the main reason".
"Thats certainly one of them however there's something I need to ask you first...".
Oz looked up at the dragons on the mountain range with a light smile he began to explain his thoughts the Charlie.
"The dragons I know of Charlie are beasts with intelligence that rival their power. Norberta here was even able to pick up our own English language in a little under a year. Hearing about this place I was extremely sceptical of how it functioned after witnessing Norberta's growth. When I arrived here though I started to theorise on the true nature of this 'Sanctuary'...".
"Tell me Charlie, This isn't a place where you have dragons under lock and key is it? It's actually the opposite to some effect right?".
Charlie's gaze towards Oz changed quickly from calmness to almost fear. He seemed to have picked apart this locations true meaning in the little time he had been here already. Knowing he had been defeated and that the 'order' told him to remain on Oz's good side he decided to tell Oz the full truth.
"Y-You're certainly smart as I was told... Yes you are correct, you could say that the dragons are the ones looking down on us instead of vice versa. I mean if you look at the setup here we are at the bottom of the mountain range forever looking up at them. It doesn't exactly promote 'Equality' when you look at it does it?".
As Oz heard Charlie begin to explain he noted in his head that his deduction had been right on the mark when he first arrived.
"To explain the full 'true' situation will take some time so I hope you aren't in a rush".
Oz shook his head as himself and Alfreda listened intently to Charlie's words as he started to talk.
"Your deduction is certainly correct, the dragons before you are dragons who aren't even mature yet that have been let down the mountain to play. Even not matured these dragons are barely within our capabilities to handle. Granted we would never in a million years want to harm these beasts considering who they are looked over by...".
"Going back to when this sanctuary was founded by Harvey Ridgebit, Witches and Wizards found a home here in order to study these pinnacle beasts that seemed to be centered around this mountain. As they started to build homes to live in at the foot of the mountain they were one day visited by a dragon the likes of which they had never seen...".
"This dragon was far bigger than any other ever recorded, in addition this dragon introduced itself as 'one of the elder dragons on the peak'. He warned the people who were here at the time that this area was for their young ones to play in. If any of their young were to be harmed during their time down in the mountainous region then they would make the witches and wizards residing here now take the blame. Harvey Ridgebit who was present at the time reassured the elder dragon that such a thing would not occur and that we'd forever make sure their young were looked after, in exchange however he asked if it was okay for us to study their kind...".
"The elder dragon at the time bellowed out in laughter at Harvey's 'ultimatum' stating that he was in no position to make requests. He ended up backing out though, stating to Harvey that he 'could try' to study them. As he finished off he flew up back towards the peak of the mountain. Ever since then those elder dragons have hardly made an appearance... The only recorded appearance after the first was when Harvey Ridgebit died... Well a better way to explain it would be when Harvey was killed".
Oz eyes widened as he listened intently to the story. Everything Charlie was explaining started to fit together with his theory he had when he first arrived here. The ancient ward placed on the area, the hierarchy. This place wasn't a place where dragons and humans coexisted, this was a playground for dragons where witches and wizards were the babysitters. The angry parents on the peak would retaliate if even one of their children were injured hence the sheer amount of wards and charms placed on all the houses within the wards space.
"Harvey was nearing the end of his life at 92 years old and during that time his desperation towards learning anything he could about dragons seemed to reach its peak. He staged a capture of a young dragon in the mountainous region, a Peruvian Vipertooth to be precise. The second the dragons on the peak learned that one of their young was captured they sent one of the elder dragons down. He attacked the settlement the witches and wizards had established killing many and immediately killed Harvey for his transgressions. They warned all those present that if such a situation were to happen again then not only would they pay for it but the whole country would...".
"Ever since we've stayed low and followed their whims. Some of us have fled whilst others have stayed purely driven by their fascination of such creatures. I'm definitely the latter in that set up".
Oz frowned as a question escaped his lips.
"These dragons... They don't force you to stay here at all?".
Charlie shook his head at Oz's question.
"No, they couldn't care less if we all left or stayed. I think they view us as less than dirt from that lofty peak. With us here they get free labourers for their young and without us nothing much changes. The benefit is extremely little...".
"The reason why Mihai, the man you saw at the entrance, was extremely wary of your arrival was because they see the dragons on the peak as a ticking time bomb. One wrong witch or wizard walks into here and provokes them and suddenly we could find Romania in flames...".
"Granted we cant exactly leave this area unattended less their young do get injured and the dragons on the peak blame us for it, attacking us in retaliation. Hence we are stuck here forever to look after them. For some such a scenario is a blessing whereas to others its a curse...".
Oz turned to Alfreda and whispered into her ear.
"Did Merlin ever interact with dragons that were 'elders' in a sense?".
Alfreda shook her head as she sighed.
"I only ever saw Merlin with the dragons he raised, he never spoke of or mentioned anything about elder dragons that could destroy an entire country if angered...".
Oz frowned as he looked up towards the peak of the mountain.
"Considering there are 'elders' amongst the dragons on the peak there has to be a leader of some sorts... Charlie do you have any clue who that leader is?".
Charlie Weasley shook his head as he too looked up towards the peak.
"The only thing we've heard from the elder dragons that came down in the past was that their leader was able to wipe us out in a flash. All magic and strength was pathetic in 'his' eyes... They did tell the people before me in this sanctuary his name though, telling them to etch it in their hearts...".
"Oh? What was the leaders name?".
Charlie looked up at the peak with a serious expression. The name escaped his lips and drifted through the wind.
"Arauthator".
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
BoiGeorge
BoiGeorge I hope you all like my take on the dragons sanctuary. In my AU i've made dragons into beasts of incredible power and intelligence especially considering Merlin had dragons blood within him. This setup made a lot more sense to me in terms of my AU having the sanctuary be a 'playground' for the young and the witches and wizards present being caretakers rather than actually looking after them.
As for the Tri-Wizard tournament dragons, it makes you wonder what deals/strings they pulled to have them participate. Many questions to be answered...
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