The Dragons of Raveana

The Library Heist

Harry blinked slowly and smothered a yawn with the back of his hand. His eyes shifted from the slip of blue sky revealed by the window to the Professor floating at the front of the class. Resting his chin on the back of his folded hands, he yawned again and allowed his eyes to drift closed. History was definitely the most boring class in the curriculum and should be banned, he thought lazily. Frowning at the faint nudge to his side, he opened one eye and glared at Hermione.

"Pay attention, Harry." She admonished, quill flying as she made notes on Professor Binns' lecture. The witch appeared frazzled as she tried to keep up with the professor, muttering under her breath every now and then.

"At least I'm awake." He mumbled, tipping his head and gesturing at Ron. The redhead was slumped in his chair, book standing open before him and chin resting on his chest. Smirking, he watched Hermione shoot an angered look at Ron before shaking her head in exasperation.

"Wake him up." She hissed, the tip of her quill slowly burying itself into the table under her parchment. "I'm not letting the pair of you use my notes again. I swear-"

"Is there a problem, Mister Potter?" The Professor's stern voice broke the relative silence of the classroom. Immediately all heads turned to look at the student in question, not wanting to miss the chance of seeing a classmate issued a detention.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry purred sweetly, sitting straighter in his chair and donning the persona of the perfect student. "Hermione was talking, could you please repeat that?"

Frowning in warning, the ghost shook his head and turned to face the blackboard. Mumbling to himself for a minute, he reread his last notes before reissuing his last comment. "Please flip to page two hundred and four in your text."

Rolling his eyes, Harry slid back down in his hard chair and narrowed his eyes at the thick tome resting closed in front of him. Planting an open hand on the book, he dragged it closer and turned to the first page. Sitting beside him, Hermione thwacked 'History and it's Mysteries' with her wand and ordered it to turn to the correct page. Shaking his head and sighing over her enthusiasm, Harry flipped to the second page and stared blankly at it before flipping to the next page. In the way of many students, rather then flip immediately to the assigned page, he took his time and revisited past lessons.

A moving picture on one page caught his eye and he halted his slow turning. Smoothing the page down, he pulled the book into his lap and read the title. Chewing his lip, he glanced at the image. A massive green dragon spat fire and threw its angular head back, golden eyes flashing. Its wings curved and snapped downward ruthlessly, long tail skidding across the dirt. Wizards rushed around the silently roaring beast, wands leveled as they secured the chains binding the animal in place. The picture stopped there; the dragon completely secured and awaiting its death.

Reading the short blurb, he frowned and replaced the book on the desk. Drumming his fingers on the scarred wood, he allowed his eyes to travel over the short passage next to the picture. Over a three-month period, two hundred Mage Dragons were killed mercilessly. The most successful hunting troop was led by Lord Reginald Malfoy; his prowess and ingenious methods of trapping led to the capture and destruction of sixty-three dragons. As ordered by the council, no Mage Dragon was left alive. Resistance against the court motion was small but extremely troublesome and led to no more then six deaths. The last Mage Dragon was destroyed in 1573.

Licking his lips, he watched as the dragon's capture was played out again. Not once did the dragon seem afraid. Its shimmering eyes promising a painful death as it thrashed against the metal pinning it to the earth. Held in a submissive position, the green dragon screamed defiance. Running a finger over the animal's head, he closed the book and sat up in his chair.