Even though they only caught a glimpse of the silhouette, the two of them immediately recognized the creature—it was the very same dragon that had escaped from Gringotts after being provoked when Audrey purchased her dragonbone wand.
Thanks to its dramatic appearance back then, the Quirrell who had been possessed by Voldemort had died on the spot, sending the plot into a wild spiral so chaotic that even its creator wouldn't recognize it anymore.
"What do we do?"
Edward turned to look at Audrey.
She hesitated for a moment. "...It feels like it's calling for me. Can we get a little closer and see what's going on?"
"Hold on."
Edward took out his pendulum crystal and held it still in the air.
"Proceeding further is dangerous."
"Proceeding further is dangerous."
"Proceeding further is dangerous."
——
After seven repetitions, the crystal slowly began to spin clockwise.
There was danger, but not too great.
"Let's go!"
He accelerated his broom and dove down, landing two to three hundred meters away from where the dragon had crashed. From there, they proceeded on foot.
A few minutes later, they saw the dragon—its body bound tightly in chains, bleeding all over as it lay on the ground. Fury burned in its golden eyes as it continuously spewed fire at the dozen or so wizards trying to approach it.
From afar, it hadn't seemed particularly large, but now…it was clearly at least twice the size of an ordinary dragon.
"Well, well!"
A short figure stepped forward, raising his head to look at the wounded dragon. It was a goblin, grotesque in appearance, holding a whip in one hand. With a casual flick, the whip extended and lashed across the dragon's body, drawing a pained cry from it.
"It's taken us over a month and a fortune in expenses, but we finally caught you."
A wizard stepped out beside him. "Mr. Ringpull, how do you plan to transport it back?" They spoke fluent English.
The goblin looked surprised. "Transport it back? Why would we bother with that? Dismantling it for materials on the spot is just fine."
The wizard paused. The goblin had clearly spent more on capturing the dragon than its value as magical material would return.
Ringpull lashed the whip again, laughing hoarsely. "We didn't go through all this trouble because we were too sentimental to let a dragon go. We wanted to make a point: offend Gringotts, and you'll never escape—not even to the ends of the earth."
He paused and tossed a bag of Galleons to the wizard. "There. The other half of your payment. Enough to earn you Aurors a few years' worth of wages. Get on with it."
Hidden under an invisibility charm, Edward couldn't help but sigh. The goblins had once been defeated in a rebellion, stripped of their wands, yet thanks to Gringotts, they still held considerable sway in the wizarding world.
It was strange, really. How could the losing side end up controlling the magical economy?
Maybe it could only be explained with one phrase: "That's just magic."
"Do you want to save it?"
Edward asked Audrey softly.
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I just felt some kind of connection through the dragonbone wand. Not worth risking our lives for it."
Her answer was a bit unexpected, but it matched her personality. Audrey had compassion, but she wasn't a saint who would risk herself for others.
People like Klein were the rare, truly admirable ones.
Just then, the lead wizard turned and whispered something to his companions. Edward felt a tingle in his spirituality—he knew they'd been discovered.
Sure enough, several wizards shimmered and vanished. A moment later, spells like Stupefy and Aparecium shot toward them from all directions.
Edward's first instinct was to Apparate away, but his Astrologer's intuition warned him that move would be dangerous.
The Disillusionment Charm on them instantly faded, revealing them to the crowd.
"Good evening, gentlemen Aurors."
Edward raised his hands. "We're just tourists in the area. Heard the dragon's roar and came to check it out."
Their young appearance relaxed the Aurors slightly. The lead wizard frowned. "Students?"
"That's right, we're from Beauxbatons. I'm Peter, she's Fleur. We're both of age."
The wizard stepped closer and stared into Edward's eyes. After a moment, he nodded. "He's telling the truth. Let them go."
Edward feigned a relieved sigh. "Thank you, sir. Come on, Fleur."
"O-okay."
Just as they turned to leave, the goblin named Ringpull suddenly shouted, "Wait!"
He stared intently at the dragonbone wand in Audrey's hand, greed flickering openly in his eyes.
"That wand…it's made of dragonbone, isn't it? I remember…when that beast escaped, Gringotts happened to lose a dragonbone wand. Looks exactly like that one."
Audrey replied calmly, "Sir, you must be mistaken. I bought this wand from Mr. Ollivander."
Ringpull's eyes grew crazed.
"Ollivander? That fool who only works with wood? There's no way he could've made…such a magnificent wand. Only we goblins are capable of crafting a masterpiece like that!"
He took a step forward, pointing his whip at Audrey, shrieking, "Give me back my wand!"
Edward, however, turned to the Auror.
"Sir, if I recall correctly, since the goblins' defeat in 1612, they've been forbidden from possessing wands. I wasn't aware that rule had ever been revoked."
Ringpull burst into rage. "Silence! We just want to collect it! Collect it! Hand it over—now!"
"Goodbye, gentlemen."
Apparate!
Just as the two began twisting out of view, Edward suddenly felt a bizarre pulling force yanking them back out of the Apparition—it was the goblin!
Goblins could use certain kinds of wandless magic, but Edward hadn't known they could interrupt Apparition!
"Whoever gets me that wand—I'll pay 1,000—no! 5,000 Galleons!"
In that instant, the wizards' breathing visibly hitched.
Anyone willing to work under a goblin's command was already morally questionable. And now, for just stealing a wand from two students, they'd earn 5,000 Galleons?
That was an astronomical sum—even the Potter family's inherited fortune might not compare.
It's just a wand, they don't have to kill anyone.
They can always erase their memories afterward.
Besides…
"Expelliarmus—"
As the first wizard raised his wand, more than half of the others followed suit and chanted spells in unison.
"Hehehehehehe!"
A shrill, cackling laughter pierced the air. In an instant, every wizard turned away from Edward and Audrey, redirecting their spells toward the grotesque-looking doll.
Audrey didn't escape its influence either—she raised her wand and charged toward it, ready to smash it to bits.
"Confundus Maxima!"
Edward struck first with a wide-area dazing spell. Then he swiftly donned the Ravenclaw Diadem, his wand unleashing a flurry of spells like a magical machine gun.
By the time the doll's taunting effect faded, the ground was littered with wizards—some unconscious, others petrified, and quite a few bound tightly in chains conjured by Transfiguration.
Goblin Ringpull clearly hadn't anticipated such a scene. After a moment of stunned panic, his eyes locked onto the diadem perched on Edward's head. Greed flickered once again in his eyes.
"That crown…that diadem…it's also ours! The goblins'! Give it to me! Give it to me!!"
Like a madman, he charged straight at Edward.
With a sharp kick, Edward sent him flying, following up with a quick Stupefy to knock him out.
Something's wrong.
The goblin's reaction was clearly off.
Sure, goblins were known for their greed, but it wasn't that bad. What, did they think everything they laid eyes on belonged to them? What were they—British?
Unless…it was because both the dragonbone wand and the Ravenclaw Diadem had been imbued with the Grey Fog's residue?
That was likely.
But why would the aura of the Sefirah Castle from another universe drive goblins from the Harry Potter world to the brink of madness?
Just then, Audrey came jogging back, cheeks slightly flushed.
"I…I don't know what happened, I just felt compelled to run up and attack."
"Accio doll."
Edward summoned the now iron block–like doll back to his side.
"It's because of this Mystical item."
He didn't elaborate, instead turning to look at the wizards strewn across the field.
Should I kill them all?
That would certainly be the safest option. But—
BOOM!!!
Before he could think further, a wave of blistering fire surged forward, igniting the field in a blazing inferno. The Aurors caught in the blaze were roasted alive, their bodies instantly charred beyond recognition.
It was the fire dragon.
Well then.
Thanks for making the decision for me.
Edward looked toward the dragon, now free of its chains and furiously spewing flames. Even though the wizards had already been reduced to ash, it kept unleashing its fury, as if venting all its rage.
"Stop! Do you understand me? Stop!"
Edward waved his wand, summoning torrents of water to put out the fire while gesturing at the dragon.
The beast shot him a sideways glance…and ignored him entirely.
No wonder people said dragons were beasts. It really didn't seem to have any intelligence at all.
"Hey, big guy—stop," Audrey tried as well, giving a small wave.
In the next second, the dragon closed its mouth.
"Rrrrrr…"
The dragon let out a low whimper as it gazed at Audrey, dragging its massive body forward like it wanted to get closer—but halfway there, it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. It lay still, wheezing heavily with labored breaths.
"Edward, I think it's badly hurt."
The two immediately cast over a dozen healing spells in quick succession, but they had minimal effect. Dragons weren't just resistant to offensive magic—their magical resistance also dampened healing magic.
Left with no other choice, Edward pulled out nearly all the healing potions he had, levitated them over, and poured them into the dragon's mouth.
It wasn't nearly enough for a creature its size, but the results were visible—it seemed to recover slightly.
"What now?"
They hadn't planned on saving it at first, but now that they had, they couldn't just leave it half-rescued.
"Apparition obviously can't take something this big, and neither of our Extension pouches are large enough…" Edward muttered, then cast an Engorgement Reversal Charm, trying to shrink the dragon—but the effect was still too limited.
"How about this: I'll try to create a container large enough for it using the Extension Charm. Then…" Audrey added quickly, "Then I'll go ask Professor Dumbledore for help!"
Uh…asking Dumbledore to save a dragon?
You probably didn't know that, over his long life, Dumbledore's main contribution to dragon lore was discovering the twelve uses of dragon blood, right?
"…Let me try spirit-summoning on that goblin first. I've got a question that needs answering."
He said "try" because he wasn't sure if Spirit Channeling would work here. After all, the ability relied on divine power and targeted the subject's spiritual essence—both of which were unique to the Lord of the Mysteries world.
Edward stepped back a few paces and set up a spirit-summoning ritual.
After chanting the incantation, he silently repeated the divination phrase he had prepared:
"The reason why goblin Ringpull went mad over the dragonbone wand and the Ravenclaw diadem."
"The reason why goblin Ringpull went mad over the dragonbone wand and the Ravenclaw diadem."
He repeated it seven times.
Then he entered a dreamlike trance—and saw the soul of Ringpull!
Immediately, he reached out to touch the translucent, ghostly figure. In the blink of an eye, the scenery around him shifted—the summoning had succeeded.
In the hazy, surreal vision, groups of hideous, short, and naked goblins emerged from the shadows.
Then, they fell to their knees, bowing and praying fervently toward the depths of the darkness:
"O Lord, thank You for granting us life."
"O Lord, we will forever regard "You" as our Master."
"O Lord, we shall spread "Your" brilliance to every corner of the world."
"Praise be to our Lord, who delivered us from madness."
———
[Note]: Here you go: the promised Extra Chapter! Enjoy~BTW, no Extra Chapter tomorrow. Just 2 'normal chapters.' I like to keep my Sundays a bit stress-free. But don't let that stop you from 'donating' powerstones~ So, GO VOTE!
P.S.—P@tre(on) LINK down below!