Charlie Weasley

Chapter 8: Charlie Weasley

It wasn't until the dark shadow drew closer that Harry could clearly see what it was.

A dragon, a real dragon, exactly like in the comic books.

Why is there a dragon?!

Harry tried to flee, but by then the dragon was already close. It was too fast, reaching him in the blink of an eye. Before Harry could even make it back to the castle, he saw the flying dragon extend its sharp claws and snatch him.

Immense pressure tightened around his abdomen, and a dizzying sense of being lifted into the air overwhelmed Harry. To his horror, he found he couldn't even scream.

Watching the castle recede further and further away, a sense of despair welled up inside him. In an instant, Moonlight Castle was no bigger than a fingernail in his eyes.

Just then, a tremendous vibration shook him. Harry heard a thunderous roar, and then the flying dragon suddenly veered off to the side, spinning several times.

Simultaneously, the dragon loosened its grip, and Harry plummeted rapidly towards the ground.

Swish—

Mu En appeared and grabbed Harry by the collar, looking at the flying dragon with some surprise.

He hadn't expected a dragon to appear so deep in this forest.

If Lucifer hadn't warned him in time, he might have captured this brat and devoured him whole.

Speaking of which...

Mu En tightened his grip on the collar, then suddenly felt it lighten. He looked down and saw Harry sliding out of it.

"???"

"Why is your shirt so big?"

Just as he was about to dive down to grab him again, a dark shadow appeared and caught Harry.

Seeing the dark shadow approach, Harry instinctively grabbed onto it and, with a roll, ended up riding it. When he came to his senses, he realized he was sitting on a Flying Broomstick.

What surprised him was that, even though it was his first time riding a broomstick, he felt completely in control and incredibly at ease. Looking down at the forest below, he felt no fear at all.

Honestly, if not for today's events, Mu En would have forgotten that this guy was a Flying Broomstick. Seeing that Harry was unharmed, he turned his attention back to the flying dragon.

The dragon aimed at Mu En, opened its massive maw, and spewed forth roaring Flames.

Mu En's pupils narrowed into vertical slits. His expression remained unchanged as lightning flashed from his hand.

Instantly, a black bolt of lightning, thicker than a man, shot from his hand, dispersing the flames. In the blink of an eye, it struck the dragon, tearing its hide and emitting plumes of black smoke.

The lightning contained within caused its body to convicv, rendering it unable to flap its wings. It fell straight down.

Under Harry's astonished gaze, Mu En thrust his right hand forward, aiming at the dragon. A black Bow materialized on the back of his hand, and his left hand formed a drawing motion. An arrow with a powerful visual impact gradually took shape along his arm.

Just as the arrow was about to be released, a voice as grand as a bell echoed through the forest.

"Please stop!!"

Harry saw a mist of clouds pass over Mu En's face, instantly concealing his cat-like features.

He then looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure riding a Flying Broomstick rapidly approaching.

"Please stop! Spare its life," said a young man with Red Hair, his voice filled with urgency.

The arrow in Mu En's hand gradually dissipated. He looked at the newcomer and frowned slightly, "Who are you?"

The man arrived and, looking at the dragon that had fallen into the forest, quickly said, "Sir, could you allow me to examine the dragon first?"

Mu En observed him for a moment. His strength was average, but the concern in his eyes for the injured dragon seemed genuine. He nodded.

The man quickly flew down into the forest. He looked at the severely injured dragon lying on its side, barely breathing, and quickly drew his Wand, casting healing spells on it. He then took out an unknown Powder and applied it to its wounds.

Harry flew to Mu En's side, sounding a bit wary, "Uncle Mu En, who is this?"

Mu En shook his head, "I don't know. Perhaps the dragon's owner? If that's the case, I'll have to extort him for a bit."

With that, he patted Harry's forehead, covering his scar with his hair and securing it so it wouldn't blow open in the wind. He then landed on the ground, with Harry following close behind.

Seeing Mu En descend, the man became nervous. He hadn't expected this person to not only fly without a Flying Broomstick but also to inflict such damage on a dragon single-handedly.

Mu En saw that he had provided basic treatment for the dragon and asked, "Can you introduce yourself now?"

The man nodded, his face tense. "Sir, thank you for stopping at the last moment. My name is Charlie Weasley, and I'm an intern at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary."

A Dragon Sanctuary... it's that organized?

"So, this dragon is...?"

"It's a newly discovered wild Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon. Honestly, I didn't expect to find a wild dragon at this time. The sanctuary speculates it escaped from a Dark Wizard, so they urgently dispatched us to capture and retrieve it. After all, we don't want it harming too many Muggles."

"Muggles?" Mu En asked, confused.

Is there a rare herb garden nearby? Or is it some kind of rare Nordic specialty?

"Uh..." Charlie opened his mouth, then mustered his courage. "Muggles are what we call ordinary people who can't use magic."

Mu En suddenly understood. "Oh, oh, so you mean Muggles. Sorry, my hearing isn't very good."

"So there are others from your group nearby, aren't there?" Mu En continued.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, sir. May I have them come over?"

Although it sounded a bit subservient, Charlie had no choice but to be cautious. The oddity before him was too powerful. His mother had told him to always be careful when he was out.

Even though dark wizards had gone into hiding after the Dark Lord's death, it didn't mean they had disappeared entirely.

"Of course, you don't need to be nervous. I'm not a bad person," Mu En said, waving his hand with a hint of disappointment.

What a shame, I can't extort him for some money.

After receiving Mu En's approval, Charlie raised his wand. Red and blue fireworks shot from the tip of the wand, soaring into the sky and exploding like fireworks.

"Alright, my colleagues will be here immediately when they see this," Charlie said, retracting his wand.

Mu En nodded. However, he wouldn't waste the waiting time. He had finally met a wizard he could talk to and wanted to gather more information.

"Charlie, you're still young. Why are you already working?"

Charlie hadn't expected the other party to strike up a conversation so suddenly. He actually wanted to examine this Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon more closely. After all, opportunities to handle these irritable giants like this were rare.

But since Mu En had spoken, he had to answer.

Reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the dragon, he replied, "Yes, I'm still a student, about to enter my seventh year. I'm doing a holiday internship. Dragons are my biggest hobby."

"I see. It's not common to have students with such a career plan. When I was young... cough cough cough. Right, where do you study?"

"I study at Hogwarts," Charlie nodded, then looked at Harry, who was standing beside Mu En, and said, "If you're from Northern Europe, your child should be studying at Durmstrang." Charlie said.

"No, he's in Britain. We're just... temporarily residing here," Mu En explained.

"Oh, then it's Hogwarts. Looks like we'll be schoolmates," Charlie said with a smile, extending his hand to Harry.

Charlie was entering his seventh year, in his teens. School...

This meant the enrollment age for Hogwarts should be between ten and twelve years old...

Mu En put an arm around Harry, smiling. "Yes, this child is also nearing enrollment age. By the way, do you know where the best place to buy school supplies for a child would be? Like, places wizards usually go..."

"Sorry, I've always lived in such a remote place and rarely go out."

Charlie waved his hand and said with a smile, "I understand. Wizards do tend to live far from Muggles, as it's inconvenient to be too close to them. My home is like that too.

As for places we frequent, it should be Diagon Alley. It's located within London's Charing Cross Road. There's a shop called The Leaky Cauldron, which is also the entrance to Diagon Alley.

It's easy to find; it's so old it looks out of place with the other shops. Of course, Muggles can't see it."

"I see, thank you."

Having gotten the information he wanted, Mu En couldn't wait to see it for himself. He said goodbye and left with Harry.

Before long, Charlie's colleagues arrived at the scene. Upon seeing the severely injured Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon, they all gasped.

"Charlie, what happened here?" one of them asked in alarm, looking around Charlie to check if he was injured.

"I'm fine," Charlie said, then suddenly lowered his voice. "I encountered a very powerful wizard. He defeated the dragon. If I had been a moment later, it might have been dead."

"How is that possible? That's a dragon!" the person exclaimed in disbelief, then asked, "Could it be one of those powerful old wizards who has been lurking in seclusion for a long time?"

Wizardry, a profession that relied on knowledge and intellect, generally made individuals 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 actually asked me where to buy things, which clearly indicates he hasn't had contact with the outside world for many years.

Moreover, I felt magical fluctuations on his face. He must have done it to appear younger. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said his hearing was bad."

After Charlie's deductions, he was quite certain that Mu En was an old man living deep in the Scandinavian Mountains. That child was likely his grandson. Perhaps his son and daughter-in-law had met an accident during the previous Voldemort War.

In just a moment, Charlie had already constructed a story about a powerful, lonely old wizard living in seclusion in the mountains, raising his grandson.

If Mu En had heard Charlie's words, he would have beaten him black and blue and then explained that the magic on his face wasn't to make him look younger.

And he wasn't an old man raising his grandson.