Only when the dark shadow drew near did Harry truly see what it was.
A dragon, a real one, exactly like those in comic books.
Why is there a dragon?!
Harry immediately tried to run, but by then, the dragon was already close. Its speed was too fast; in the blink of an eye, it was upon him. Before Harry could run back to the Castle, he saw the flying dragon extend its sharp claws and grab him.
Immense force continuously tightened around his abdomen, and a dizzying sensation of being lifted filled Harry. He realized with horror that he couldn't even scream.
Watching himself get further and further from the Castle, a sense of despair rose in his heart. In just a blink, Moonlight Fortress appeared no bigger than a fingernail in his eyes.
Just then, a huge tremor occurred. Harry heard a thunderous roar, and then the flying dragon suddenly flew sideways, spinning several times.
At the same time, the flying dragon released its claws, and he plummeted rapidly towards the ground.
Whoosh—
Howl appeared, grabbing Harry by the collar. He looked at the flying dragon, a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected a dragon to appear so deep in the forest.
If Lucifer hadn't reminded him in time, he might have let this brat be swallowed whole.
Speaking of which…
Howl tugged at the collar he was holding again, suddenly feeling it lighten. He looked down and saw that Harry had slipped out of his collar entirely.
??
Why are your clothes so big?
Just as he was about to dive down again to catch him, a dark figure appeared and smoothly caught Harry.
Harry saw the dark figure approaching and instinctively grabbed onto it, then flipped over and mounted it. When he recovered, he realized he was sitting on a flying broom.
What surprised him was that even though it was his first time riding a broom, it felt as natural as moving his own arm, incredibly easy. Looking at the forest below, he felt no fear at all.
To be honest, if it weren't for today's incident, Howl would have forgotten that this guy was a flying broom. After seeing that Harry was unharmed, he looked at the flying dragon again.
The dragon aimed at Howl, opened its massive maw, and spewed forth raging flames.
Howl's pupils narrowed into vertical slits, his expression unchanged. A bolt of lightning streaked from his hand.
Instantly, a black lightning bolt, thicker than a person, shot from his hand, scattering the flames. In the blink of an eye, it struck the flying dragon, tearing its skin and flesh and causing black smoke to billow.
The lightning contained within caused its entire body to convulse, rendering it unable to flap its wings, and it plummeted straight down.
Under Harry's astonished gaze, Howl extended his right hand forward, aiming at the flying dragon. A black bow appeared on the back of his hand, and his left hand mimicked pulling a bowstring. An arrow with a strong visual impact gradually formed along his arm.
Just as the arrow was about to be fired, a grand, bell-like sound echoed through the forest.
"Please stop!!"
Harry saw a cloud of mist pass over Howl's face, instantly concealing the cat-like features.
Looking towards the source of the voice, a figure riding a flying broom rapidly approached.
"Please stop! Spare its life," a red-haired young man said anxiously.
The arrow in Howl's hand gradually disappeared. He looked at the newcomer, frowning slightly: "Who are you?"
The man approached, looking at the dragon that had fallen into the forest, and quickly said: "Sir, may I examine that dragon first?"
Howl observed him for a moment. His strength was average, but the concern in his eyes for the injured dragon seemed genuine. He then nodded.
The man quickly flew down into the forest, took a look at the severely injured, dying dragon lying on its side, and quickly drew his wand, casting healing spells on the dragon. He also took out some unknown powder and applied it to its wounds.
Harry flew to Howl's side, a bit wary: "Uncle Howl, who is this?"
Howl shook his head: "I don't know. Maybe he's this dragon's owner? If so, I should extort him."
After speaking, he patted Harry's forehead, covering his scar with hair and securing it to ensure it wouldn't be blown open by the wind. Then he landed on the ground, with Harry following closely behind.
Seeing Howl land, the man also grew nervous. He hadn't expected this person to be able to fly without a flying broom, and furthermore, to be able to inflict such damage on a dragon by himself.
Howl saw that he had given the dragon basic treatment and asked: "Can you introduce yourself now?"
The man nodded, nervously saying: "Sir, thank you for stopping at the last moment. My name is Charlie Weasley, and I'm an intern at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary."
There's a Dragon Sanctuary… Is it that standardized?
"So this dragon is…?"
"It's a newly discovered wild Norwegian Ridgeback. Honestly, I didn't expect to find a wild dragon now. The Sanctuary speculates it escaped from a Dark Wizard, so they urgently sent us to capture and retrieve it.
After all, we don't want it to harm too many Muggles."
"Muggle?" Howl was a bit confused.
Are there any rare herb gardens nearby? Or is it a rare specialty from Northern Europe?
"Uh…" Charlie opened his mouth, then gathered his courage and said: "Muggles are what we call ordinary people who can't do magic."
Howl suddenly understood: "Oh, oh, you mean Muggle. Sorry, my hearing isn't very good."
"So there are more of your people nearby, right?" Howl added.
Charlie nodded: "Yes, sir. May I have them come over?"
Although saying so might seem a bit subservient, Charlie had to be cautious. This strange person in front of him was simply too powerful. His mother had told him to always be careful when out and about.
Although Dark Wizards had gone into hiding since You-Know-Who's death, it didn't mean they were extinct.
"Of course, you don't need to be nervous, I'm not a bad person." Howl waved his hand, a little disappointed.
Too bad he couldn't extort him.
After receiving Howl's affirmation, Charlie also raised his wand, and red and blue fireworks shot from the tip of his wand, then soared high into the sky and exploded like fireworks.
"Alright, my colleagues will come immediately once they see this," Charlie said, retracting his wand.
Howl nodded, but he wouldn't waste this waiting time. Having finally met a Wizard he could communicate with, he needed to gather more information.
"Charlie, you seem young. How did you start working already?"
Charlie hadn't expected the other party to suddenly strike up a conversation. He actually wanted to do more checks on this Norwegian Ridgeback, as opportunities to examine these irritable giants up close were rare.
However, since Howl had spoken, he had no choice but to answer.
Reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the dragon, he replied: "Yes, I'm actually still a student, about to enter my seventh year. I'm doing a summer internship. Dragons are my greatest hobby."
"I see. There aren't many students with career plans like yours. When I was young… cough, cough, by the way, where do you study?"
"I study at Hogwarts," Charlie nodded, then looked at Harry who was standing beside Howl, and added:
"If you're from Northern Europe, your child should be attending Durmstrang," Charlie said.
"No, he's in Britain. We're just… temporarily living here," Howl explained.
"Oh, then it's Hogwarts. Looks like we'll be schoolmates," Charlie said with a smile, extending his hand to shake Harry's.
Charlie is going into his seventh year, in his teens, school…
That means the admission age for Hogwarts should be between ten and twelve…
Howl put an arm around Harry, smiling: "Yes, this child is also approaching school age. By the way, do you know the best place to buy school supplies for a child? Like places Wizards frequent…
Sorry, I've always lived in such a remote place and rarely go out."
Charlie waved his hand, smiling: "I understand. Wizards do tend to live far from Muggles, as it's inconvenient to be too close to them. My family is the same.
Speaking of places we frequent, it would be Diagon Alley. It's inside Charing Cross Road in London. There's a shop called the Leaky Cauldron there, which is also the entrance to Diagon Alley.
It's easy to find; it's so old and out of place compared to the other shops. Of course, Muggles can't see it."
"I see, thank you."
Having obtained the information he wanted, Howl couldn't suppress his desire to go and see, so he bid farewell and left with Harry.
Not long after, Charlie's colleagues arrived at the scene. Seeing the severely wounded Norwegian Ridgeback, they all gasped.
"Charlie, what on earth happened here?" one person asked in horror, circling Charlie to check if he was injured.
"I'm fine," Charlie said, then suddenly lowered his voice: "I met a very powerful Wizard. He defeated the dragon. If I had been any later, it might have died."
"How is that possible? This is a dragon!!" The person looked disbelieving, then asked: "Could it be one of those powerful old Wizards who have been lurking in seclusion for a long time?"
Wizardry, being a profession that relies on knowledge and intellect, generally means that Wizards become stronger with age, except for a few geniuses. The man's thought process was logical.
Charlie nodded gravely: "Exactly, that's what I thought too. He even asked me where to buy things, which clearly shows he hasn't had contact with the outside world for many years.
And I felt a magical fluctuation on his face, which must be to make himself look younger. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said his hearing wasn't good."
After his deductions, Charlie was very certain that Howl was an old man living deep in the Scandinavian Mountains. The child must be his grandson. Perhaps his son and daughter-in-law had met with an accident during the previous Lord Voldemort war.
In a short moment, Charlie had already concocted a story of a lonely, powerful old Wizard living in seclusion in the mountains with his grandson.
If Howl had heard Charlie's words, he would surely have beaten him black and blue, and then properly told him that the magic on his face wasn't for making himself look younger.
And he wasn't an old man with a grandson either.