ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ ᴇʀᴀ

xxvi. the dragon

They hadn't gone too far when they turned to the left entrance. The goblin led the way. And when Callie faced left, she gasped.

A white-skinned dragon guarded the vaults. She had expected it thanks to watching the last movie and yet... she couldn't help but be terrified and amazed at the sight of the mythical being.

How often could a girl like she see a real dragon? And oh, Merlin, it was big! Humongous big! Too big that they wouldn't be enough for its dinner.

The thought sent a chill through Callie's spine.

"I shouldn't be surprised. But I am," Sirius gasped, seeing the creature too.

James followed suit and had the same reaction as them.

"How do we get past the dragon?" Regulus whispered.

Callie looked around. Where's the box- Aha! The wooden box beside her. She scoured the dress catching up on her feet and went for it. Inside. There are bells made out of what seemed to be tin cans. She took the out and gave one to Sirius who was the nearest.

"The dragon's trained to expect pain when it hears the noise," she explained.

"They tortured it?" James asked in disbelief.

Callie looked at him with pain and pity for the poor creature. "Yes." It was barely audible.

Sirius and Regulus looked away. How often could someone relate to a dragon? Getting scared just by hearing a specific noise because you'd for sure expect pain the next seconds.

But Callie didn't see that for she began walking across to it. And they rather not let her see it.

The dragon saw them. Its long, bony arms stretched, showing its height further. The chains around its neck clang as it moved. It yelled out a roar seeing the trespassers. Fire came out of its mouth that made the intruders step back in fear of being roasted.

But Callie rang the bell first. Sirius followed.

"I'm sorry," she yelled to the dragon, genuinely feeling sorry for making it undergo a trauma response. She hated herself for doing that. Yet Callie reminded herself she must.

The dragon buckled and stepped away from them. It cried pleas as though it was speaking and asking them to stop.

Both she and the creature felt relieved when they got to the door of the vault. They both didn't have to suffer guilt and fear respectively.

She turned to the goblin, putting down the bell. "Open the vault." Her authority as Bellatrix had disappeared. But the authority of a courageous lady trying to prevent the devastating chapter of the life of her beloved people was present.

Without a question, the goblin walked to the vault and opened it. He pressed his hand to the metal door. It opened with a loud growl.

She gaped at the sight of the pile of gold. Callie had never seen a such mountain of gold in her whole life. What her family had was probably only a bucket worth of all this gold.

But the men she was with did not even bat an eye. They were born with that wealth that it did not come as a surprise anymore.

Shaking the amazement, Callie walked inside. Helga Hufflepuff's cup should be inside.

When the five of them were inside, the door shut.

Callie cast Lumos and the tip of her wand lit up. The three boys did the same and began looking around.

The arrangements of gold and other valuable items were not too familiar to her. Some items weren't in the movie and weren't there too. When she looked up where she expected the cup would be located, it wasn't there.