Beauxbatons [Charlie Weasley]

Village

"The Chinese Fireball, also known as the Liondragon, is a dragon native to China," Florin states, pacing in front of his eight students. "It is a brilliant red and gold dragon, named for the rounded balls of flame that shoot from its nostrils."

Isabelle stands beside Elena and Avram, along with her other five classmates, all of which managed to succeed in their last task against the Swedish Short Snouts. After everyone had their turn against the dragon, the eight of them gushed about it for hours and hours afterwards, going through what each pair did to their materials.

"The Fireball is scarlet and smooth-scaled with a fringe of golden spikes around its snub-snouted face and extremely protuberant eyes. They weigh between two and four tons, and can reach up to 25 feet."

Isabelle glances over at Charlie, who's barely spoken a word to her since right before the true test of their cloaks. Other than a small sigh of relief on his behalf when he saw her unscathed after the whole ordeal, he hasn't indicated that he wants to speak to her or even be around her at all.

"Its name was derived from the mushroom-shaped flame that comes out of its nostrils when angered, along with the large, mushroom-shaped flame it shoots from its mouth," Florin continues. "The Fireball is aggressive but, unlike other dragons, it is more tolerant of its own kind, and will sometimes consent to share its territory with up to two other dragons. They are also very fast and clever for a dragon."

At first, Isabelle thought Charlie was just resorting to his old ways of not liking people and preferring to be alone. But then she realised it's only her that he's ignoring. He'll talk to all their other classmates, joke and laugh with them too, but when it comes to Isabelle, a gruff response to a question she directly asks him is the extent of his willingness to interact with her.

"Chinese Fireballs generally yield females that are larger than males. The eggs of the Fireball are vivid crimson speckled with gold, and the shells are prized for use in Chinese wizardry." Florin keeps pacing back and forth as per usual, reciting the information he knows like the back of his hand. "Powdered Chinese Fireball eggs have uses that were discovered by Quong Po in the 15th or 16th century."

At this point, Isabelle's just hoping that whatever's going through Charlie's mind about her stops and he goes back to being normal. If he doesn't soon enough, then she'll go talk to him about it, she promises herself.

"Its diet consists of most mammals, usually preferring pigs or humans."

That gets Isabelle's attention. Humans. Brilliant.

As if noticing the class's collective grimace, Florin's grin widens, and he nods.

"Indeed. And that is why this dragon is the perfect type for this task. Which is what, you might be asking?" He pauses for effect, grinning. "You will, as per usual, be divided into pairs, and will have to look after one Fireball egg between the two of you. Now," he continues, halting his pacing and turning to face them all, "this may seem like an easy task. But I hope all of you have learnt enough by now to know that it won't be."

Isabelle nods. They certainly do.

"These eggs that you're about to be given have approximately one month before they should hatch. It is your job for the duration of that time, to look after your egg and make sure the baby inside stays alive. It's been in the egg long enough to be able to survive if kept in the right conditions, so if it dies, it will be your fault, and you will fail the task. Obviously, if you fail this task, you will have to do it again next month, while everyone else moves on to the next dragon, and the next task. Is all that clear?" Florin asks.

Everyone nods, suddenly eager.

"Alright," he says, clapping his hands together. "Time to pair you up. Isabelle and Elena — you two can go together for this one. Avram and Darius together, Charlie and Luca together, and that leaves Christopher and Daniel."