The party returned to the tower and headed for the ship berths. A massive Floating Ship—a sail-powered ship of the line with a Raven figurehead—had long since been moored there. This three-masted, three-decked giant was unlike transport vessels such as Squid Ships or the Nautilus; it was used more to proclaim strength and intimidate, and to patrol the perimeter of the Floating City alongside the Dragons. At the moment, it served perfectly as Allen's flagship.
Among the accompanying officials, Percy Weasley straightened his back. He strode over, took the task from a sailor, and set the stairs in place, though for him to personally handle such a trivial matter as the newly appointed director of the Department of Magical Transportation was already somewhat inappropriate.
After the giant ship rose into the air, the immigrants at the entrance to Hogwarts City's gates finally began to return to normal order.
Standing by the gunwale on the top deck and looking down, the streets at the entrance to Hogwarts were bustling with traffic. The population looked far livelier than before.
Suddenly, their vision dimmed, then brightened again. Three Hebrides Black Dragons responsible for patrolling the skies descended from high altitude under the control of the wizards riding on their backs, beginning to escort the warship.
They were a native Dragon species of Britain and more aggressive than Welsh Green Dragons. Black Dragons reached thirty feet in length, with rough scales, bright purple eyes, and a row of shallow but razor-sharp ridges along their backs. The tip of its tail was a thin, pointed arrowhead, and its wings were like a bat's. A Hebrides Black Dragon, if living in the wild, required a territory of one hundred square miles to sustain itself. It primarily fed on stags, and people had long known that it