Before coming to the Fire Dragon Reserve, Kael thought the atmosphere here would be very tense.
But upon arrival, he realized that it's actually quite peaceful here... no burning Dragon Flame, no roaring dragon screams. Although there were Fire Dragons flying in the sky, there were only one or two.
Everyone around was gathered in small groups, chatting away, as if they were at a gathering of old friends.
Charlie didn't explain much; he just patted Kael on the shoulder and said meaningfully:
"If you had come a day earlier, you wouldn't think this way. You just happened to come at the right time."
Charlie then took Kael around the area for a bit more. When he thought it was about time, they returned to the previous location.
There were noticeably more people than before. Some of them looked similar to Charlie—dark-skinned, in their thirties, wearing coarse clothing and heavy boots—you could tell they were Dragon Tamers.
Others were different, wearing all sorts of outfits and appeared to be older.
"They are Fantastic Beasts experts from different places."
Charlie whispered the introductions: "That person next to the Dragon Saliva Tree with the House-elves is Madam Rosino from North America, the only person in North America allowed to privately tame Fire Dragons."
"The one opposite her, with the big beard, is Mr. Kete. Three of the dragons we have here were sent by him..."
"The one speaking with Mr. Scamander is Professor Rockneil of Beauxbatons. The Abraxans he bred are quite famous in the Magic Realm..."
Charlie gave a detailed introduction of each person, while Kael listened attentively, noting their names one by one.
The number of attendees was not large; including Newt, there were only twelve in total.
As for their assistants, Charlie didn't mention, probably thinking it was unnecessary.
Simply put, the assistants don't deserve to have names, just get to know their faces.
"I always thought you only had muscles in your brain," Kael commented, "I didn't expect you to know so many people, even those as far away as North America... Dragon Tamers also need cultural knowledge."
"Watch your mouth! Who says I only have muscles in my brain!" Charlie retorted indignantly, "I have six N.E.W.T certificates, I could even be an Auror if I wanted."
"Alright, my bad," Kael shrugged nonchalantly, "Let me rephrase that, do you need to take time to learn about those Fantastic Beasts experts when raising Fire Dragons?"
"Of course not," Charlie replied, "Just taking care of dozens of Fire Dragons every day is exhausting enough, and then dealing with those crafty poachers—if I have extra time, I'd rather sleep for an hour.
In fact, we had finalized the list of invitees a month ago; we just need to familiarize ourselves with their photographs before they arrive."
That makes sense.
Kael recalled Charlie's weakest subject was Magic History, which required rote memorization; normally, he wouldn't spend time remembering so many names.
By noon, the Fire Dragon Reserve had also prepared a lunch for everyone.
Here, forget about delicacy; primitiveness and ruggedness are the eternal themes.
Freshly stewed, bone-in meat, each piece larger than a fist, with no extra seasoning, preserving the primitive flavor of Tebo, though most people might find the taste hard to accept.
Unlimited supply of grilled, hard flatbread; it offers substantial fullness, one piece can last you a whole day.
Kael felt a bit stuffed after eating just half.
Honestly, if this thing were any harder, it'd surely be Rock Skin Cake 2.0, Hagrid would probably love it.
While eating, Kael also spotted Chris but didn't go over to greet him.
Because he was accompanied by several well-dressed Wizards, likely from the Romanian Ministry of Magic.
They were also enjoying the bone-in meat and grilled flatbread, savoring it; one seemingly head-like person even went to request another serving after finishing his portion.
"Hey, Charlie!"
At this moment, a burly middle-aged Wizard ran over from afar, "Someone told me you brought a kid, is he your brother?
But he's not a redhead... forget it, no matter who it is, it's very dangerous here now, you'd better send him out quickly."
"Herman, you've got it wrong," Charlie explained, "He's not my brother, he's Mr. Scamander's assistant."
"Assistant?!"
"Yes, I saw them come together with my own eyes," Charlie said, "And he's already fourteen, just meets the minimum age requirement to enter the reserve."
"Oh..." Herman looked at Kael incredulously.
Despite finding it hard to believe, since Charlie said so, it shouldn't be a problem.
He smacked his lips thoughtfully.
Other people's assistants were either House-elves or thirty-something adult Wizards, while Mr. Scamander brought a fourteen-year-old child... really distinctive.
But then...
Herman looked at Kael in a bit of a daze, hesitating whether to assign someone to protect him.
But the issue is that they're already short-handed, and if they lose another person, who knows what unexpected events might occur.
Yet, doing nothing isn't an option.
Mr. Scamander has a characteristic; he gets overly focused when dealing with Fantastic Beasts.
If he accidentally loses sight of the kid...?
Perhaps, find an excuse to keep him at the outer edge?
"You don't need to worry about him at all, Herman..."
It seemed Charlie had guessed his thoughts, so he smiled and introduced some of Kael's past adventures to his colleague.
Escaping from the clutches of the Dark Wizard Oren, even rescuing a classmate, defeating a Werewolf at St Mungo's Hospital, and thereby earning a Merlin Knight Order second-class medal...
These feats left Herman utterly perplexed.
Though he expected that whoever Mr. Scamander brought shouldn't just be an ordinary troublemaking kid, he didn't anticipate the person to be so extraordinary...
Herman furrowed his brow; he's not as careless as Charlie.
Good heavens, a fourteen-year-old Merlin Knight Order member, there's probably no second one like that in the entire Magic Realm.
Such a genius mustn't get hurt, indeed, better find a reason to keep him at the outer edge...
But before Herman could say anything, an angry dragon roar suddenly reverberated around them.
People instinctively looked up.
A gigantic shadow rose from the distant valley, spewing out a blast of flame about forty feet long into the air.
It was like triggering a switch.
The next second, the roaring of Fire Dragons started echoing ceaselessly from all directions.
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