Beauxbatons [Charlie Weasley]

Researching

"The Swedish Short Snout is a species of dragon native to the uninhabited mountains of Sweden," Florin says, pacing back and forth in front of his eight students. "It is a silvery blue dragon that breathes a brilliant blue flame."

It's been two months since Isabelle got the scrape on her arm from the Romanian Longhorn, and thankfully she received no more injuries when working with Mihaela. Nor did Luca.

Their distraction tactic with the Patronus worked for about a month, before Mihaela was no longer interested in the silvery horse. She simply doused it in fire and turned towards Isabelle and Luca. The two of them managed to escape just in time, and were forced to change their tactic yet again for the final month.

This time, they would just put magical shields up around them and charge into Mihaela's enclosure, dumping the food and running back out again, too fast for her to react. And if she did react, they'd have the shields, which were almost perfectly effective. The only problem was that while they'd be able to stop the dragon's fire, they weren't able to stop the heat of it, so Isabelle and Luca were forced many a time to drop their suddenly scorching wands.

"The silvery blue skin of this dragon is sought after for the manufacture of protective gloves and shields. The flame that issues from its nostrils is a brilliant blue and can reduce timber and bone to ash in a matter of seconds," Florin continues.

Isabelle and Luca finally succeeded in keeping their Longhorn alive until adulthood at the end of the three months, Mihaela growing to be almost forty feet tall, over double the size of Codrin, and seemingly much more deadly. All the other pairs succeeded in the task as well, and now they stand in front of Florin, who's giving them a broad overview for the next dragon they'll cover. The Swedish Short Snout.

"This dragon has fewer human killings to its name than most dragons, though as it prefers to live in wild and uninhabited mountainous areas, this is not much to its credit," Florin continues on, never ceasing his pacing, his hands clasped behind his back as the students look on.

"The Short Snout is also deemed a highly dangerous species due to its agile flying and extremely hot fire." Florin finally stops pacing, turning to face the eight students in front of him.

"So," he says, clapping his hands together, "what's your task this time, you may ask? Well, you're going to be working in pairs again, and will have to study the Short Snouts. The main thing to note about these dragons, as I have said, is that their fire is extremely hot, however their scaly skin is perfectly immune to another Short Snout's fire."

Isabelle takes a deep breath in, knowing what's coming next.

"So your task is to create a new material that can withstand a Short Snout's flame. You will have one month to research everything about this dragon, and you will also have the chance to study them in person in this Sanctuary, and at the end of the month, each pair will face off against a Short Snout's flame, with only their material acting as a barrier," Florin explains.

Collectively, every single students' eyes widen, realising the danger that task poses. If their material isn't fireproof...

"If you fail this task, we will have Healers on standby, and you will, of course, have to try it again while everyone else moves on. And if you succeed, then you will obviously move on to the next dragon, but you will also have the opportunity to keep the material you have created, and wear it as a cape or a coat or a whatever when you face other dragons in the future," Florin says.

None of the students say anything, all of them frozen in fear at the prospect of failing this task.

"Ok, time to pair you up!" he says enthusiastically, grinning around at all of their terrified faces. "Charlie and Daniel, Elena and Darius, Isabelle and Avram, and Christopher and Luca. Right," Florin claps his hands again, "follow me."