The Redhead and the Irish

Chapter 22

Days passed and everyone was still wondering how Harry got his name into the Goblet. I was walking towards the field where the Abraxans were held, near Hagrid's hut. The winged horses were grazing peacefully as I walked towards them. I spotted a couple of barrels filled with single malt whiskey, probably for the Abraxans.

"Rowen! Good to see you here!" Hagrid exclaimed as I stared at the creatures before me. "I figured I should check up on 'em." I smiled as one of the more curious Abraxans approached me. "May I pet them?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure ya can. You might wanna be careful, though. They tend to bite." he warned me.

I took my tattered notebook from my robes and went to the page of Abraxans. "The Abraxan winged horse is known to bite people they don't trust. If one of these horses allows you to feed them, you can safely approach this creature and clean them carefully. However, one must use lukewarm water to do so, for Abraxan fur is extremely fragile." I read. "Where did you learn all that?" Hagrid asked me in surprise. "Bane told me." I stated, stepping towards the curious Abraxan. I plucked some grass and held it out to the horse, who kindly accepted. I lowered my head in respect before climbing into the paddock. Some horses looked at me suspiciously, but after I fed most of them, they accepted me.

"Hagrid, do you have some lukewarm water for me and a cloth?" I wondered, looking at the grass stains on their fur. "Comin' right up." Hagrid answered, walking back to his hut. I looked at the winged creatures and spotted their leader. "Do you trust me?" I asked him. The Abraxan leader lowered his head and I placed a hand on his neck. "Thank you..." I whispered as he arose. "Here's yer water, Rowen!" Hagrid exclaimed, handing me a bucket filled with water. "Lukewarm?" I asked. He nodded as I grabbed the wet cloth and began to clean the leader, washing the grass stains out carefully.

"You appear to be doing great work, miss Weasley." the headmistress from Beauxbatons stated as she walked towards me. "Merci, madame. It is a great honour for me to take care of such beautiful creatures." I answered as I finished washing the Abraxan leader. I dried my hands to my robes and bowed my head in respect to madame Maxime. "I zee you use lukewarm water. How did you know?" she asked me. "Some...friends of my told me. They know a lot about all different sort of creatures." I told the lady.

"Dumbly-dorr was right. You are ze best student to take care of ze horses." she stated, petting an Abraxan. "Continue your work, miss Weasley." she instructed as she walked to Hagrid. They were talking to each other, but I couldn't hear them, because they were a fair distance away. After a short chat between them, madame Maxime walked back to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Before I forget! There's someone here to see ya!" Hagrid exclaimed as he walked towards me. "Really? Who is it?" I asked as I leaned of the wooden fence. "Over here, Rowie." a voice behind me teased. "Charlie?! What are you doing here?" I exclaimed as I spun around, looking at my brother. "I'll show you. If you're not too busy with taking care of the Abraxans, of course." Charlie said with a smirk. I glanced at the leader, who lowered his head in agreement. "I have the time." I smiled, climbing over the fence.

"You can't tell anyone about this, not even your friends or Ron." Charlie informed me as we walked through the Forbidden Forest. "I won't." I replied as I jumped over a fallen tree. The forest became less accessible as we walked deeper into it. I heard a loud roar in the distance, which I recognized immediately. "Is that a Common Welsh Green?" I asked. Charlie looked at Hagrid, who nodded. "It's the first task of the Tournament." Hagrid explained. "What? Dragons?!" I yelled. "That's why I'm here. My team and I are in charge of them." Charlie stated as we stopped in front of some bushes. "Are you ready?" he asked, looking at me. I nodded eagerly, wanting to see the dragons. Hagrid pushed aside the bushes.

There were four different dragons. A Common Welsh Green, like I had predicted, a Chinese Fireball, a Swedish Shortsnout and a Hungarian Horntail. "How did you get them here? I mean, Horntails are notorious for being aggressive." I wondered, looking at the magnificent beasts. "Your tip. Blue oleander. Isn't that right, Ingerman?!" Charlie shouted to a blonde-haired man. He was kind of chubby. "Is this your sister?" 'Ingerman' asked. "Yep, this is Rowen." Charlie introduced me. "I'm Fergus, but everyone calls me Fishlegs. Great to meet you, Rowen." the man said as he shook my hand. "The pleasure is all mine." I replied with a smile. "Where's Haddock?" Charlie asked Fergus. "He's taking care of Hofferson along with Ruff. That Fireball gave her quite the burn." the man replied.

"So, you're the brilliant girl who thought of using blue oleander to sedate dragons, ey? It saved us a lot of trouble, isn't that right, Thorston?" Fergus shouted to another blonde man, this one, however, had dreadlocks. "Yeah, we were done preparing these dragons within three hours. It usually takes us over seven!" 'Thorston' answered. "How old are you?" Thorston asked as he walked towards us. "Almost fifteen, sir." I replied. "No need for formalities. Just call me Tuff. Everyone does." he reassured me. "That's too young, 'm afraid." Fergus mumbled. "Yeah, to be a dragon care taker, you have to be at least eighteen." a black-haired man stated. "Oh, shut it, Snotface. Without this girl's idea, we'd still be flying." Tuff snapped. "Well, just know that you're welcome to join us, when you're old enough, of course." Fergus said with a smile as he shook my hand again.

"Thank all of you." I said politely. "You take care of your sister, Weasley." 'Snotface' told Charlie. "Yeah, we wouldn't want to lose such a great care taker." Tuff added as Hagrid placed a hand on my shoulder. "We should be getting back. It's getting a bit late, don't ya think?" he asked me. "You're right. It was nice meeting you guys." I said, waving Charlie's colleagues goodbye. "See you when you're eighteen!" Snotface shouted as I walked away.

"I believe you found yourself a job, Rowen." Hagrid said with a smile as we walked back through the forest. "I believe I do." I laughed. "Now get back to cleaning those Abraxans. They need it." he replied as we got back to his hut. "Aye, sir." I smirked as I climbed over the fence. I grabbed the cloth and began to clean the other Abraxans.