The Leaky Cauldron Storyteller

Dragonclaw Dynasty

A/N: This is my entry for the Cheerful Contest, by TheHappyWriters. The prompt was to write a story based on a song. For this, I have chosen Dynasty, by MIIA. It's not exactly a cheerful story, haha! But I hope you guys enjoy it anyway :)

For those who don't know Harry Potter as well: don't fret, you can read and fully understand this story without knowing anything about the fandom. However, to maximise the experience, this is fairly important to know: Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff were two of the four founders of Hogwarts (the school for magic), and they founded Hogwarts in 990 A.D., in Scotland. Helga's sign is a badger.

Also, since this story is based on a song (as per the prompt), I've put this song at the top of the chapter. You'll find that some of the lyrics come back in the story 😊 . Enjoy!

980 A.D.

Deirde Dragonclaw stood tall, proud, watching over the building she so tirelessly constructed. Look at that, she thought to herself, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards at the fantastical sight. The Dragonclaw Palace, home for the Dragonclaw Institute for Magical Power, was magnificent, there was no other word for it. Five acres of beautiful brick building stuck into the sky, watching over its surroundings. The hundreds of little lights behind the windows looked like stars in the night sky. The clock tower, in the centre of the palace, pointed up into the heavens. And all of that, right in the centre of London. Hidden away in plain sight, with the protection of dozens of cloaking charms.

I built that from the ground up. I built that with my own two hands. It had taken years, but she'd finally completed it. Deirdre rolled her precious wand around between her long, slender fingers.

Never in her life had she been more proud. Never in her life, also, had she been more disappointed.

She and Godric had such great plans for this place. They would find all the young witches and wizards in the country. Invite them to their school. They would teach the children, mentor them, pass on their knowledge, their ideas, their values to the next generation. And then, with the power of hundreds of graduate students, England and all her surrounding kingdoms would be theirs to rule. A dynasty like nothing ever made.

This had been her dream, her vision for the future. But Godric had broken it. Shattered it to pieces. Crumbled it to –

"Deirdre."

As if struck by lightning, Deirdre's shoulders snapped back, her head lifting up to point her chin in the air. Slowly, she turned to face the owner of the voice.

"Gryffindor," she greeted him coldly. "Don't tell me you've changed your mind again."

Though his face barely twitched, Deirdre could sense the glare in his eyes. It wasn't enough. For what he'd done, Godric deserved so much more than a bit of annoyance. She gripped her wand tighter. "Why are you here, Godric?"

"I owe you an explanation," he said. "I want to tell you what Helga told me, so that –"

"I don't care what that weasel said to you!" Deirdre snarled. She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "It doesn't matter. None of it matters now. By breaking your promise to me, you broke everything we had. You let everything fall down, crumble to pieces. But I still came out of it stronger."

Godric gave her a pleading look. "We can still do it, you know. We can still build a school together. Just... Just not like this."

Deirdre stepped forward, raising her wand. "Did you not hear me? I came out stronger. I don't need you anymore. I will rule the world by myself." The right side of her mouth twitched up in a crooked grin. "The time for Dragonclaw Dynasty has come."

Godric's shoulders visibly slumped, making Deirdre's eyebrows knot together in confusion. What exactly had he been hoping for by coming here? "I'm sorry, Deirdre," he whispered. "But I can't let you."

"Let me?" she roared. "You think you have the power to stop me? How arrogant!"

Deirdre closed her eyes, feeling the power course through her veins. She focused it all into her wand, letting the spell take control. Let me, she thought bitterly. I'll show him.

The rough holler typical of a dragon made her snap her eyes open. The enormous ebony-scaled creature flapped its mighty wings, circling through the sky once. It set its beady eyes on Deirdre's opponent, pointed its nose downwards and dove. From a distance, the dragon opened its giant jaws and breathed out a hot, bubbling breath to its target, engulfing the man in flames.

Deirdre's heart pounded as she watched her dragon finish its nose-dive. Would Godric really let himself be beat so easily? He had barely fought back. Would he refuse to fight her? She'd always known his nobleness would one day be his downfall.

Now near the ground, the dragon disappeared into a thick mist of fire, smoke and dust. Finally, she allowed herself to let a smile grace her face. It was over. As easy as it felt, there was no way Godric could have survived that. This world was hers to take.

Just as she moved to turn back to her Dragonclaw Palace, movement among the layer of mist caught her attention. Flapping its wings forcefully, the dragon flew out of the smoke. Deirdre hesitated. The creature she'd summoned had slammed itself into the ground to crush her opponent. How could it still be alive?

The beast shook its head, then aimed its beady eyes at her and roared like thunder. It set out for another dive – this time towards her. In a panic, Deirdre aimed her wand at a building to her right and cast a spell, causing her to snap from her position all the way to the building, like a giant elastic band. She only took a few seconds to recover from slamming straight into a brick wall. When she looked up, her heart sunk and she screamed louder than she ever had before, "NO!"

The dragon had maintained its speed, not even looking back when Deirdre disappeared from her position. It just kept flying, soaring through the air, straight for what had been behind her.

The Dragonclaw Palace.

By the time she'd raised her wand, it was already too late. The dragon, her own creation, had slammed its majestic body into the building she cherished so much. Everything came tumbling down, crushing to the ground, like it had been nothing more than a sandcastle.

"No..." she whimpered, sinking to her knees.

"I'm sorry," said a voice behind her. She couldn't bare turning around. She couldn't bare looking up at the man she'd given everything to, only for him to tear it all apart. All she'd given him was gone. Her heart was irreparably broken.

"Not like this," Godric repeated. "I'm sorry, Deirdre. Goodbye."

Where she had stood proudly before, now Deirdre Dragonclaw knelt on the ground, her shoulders slumped. The building she'd so tirelessly constructed, was nothing more than rubble. Look at that, she thought to herself, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes at the distressing sight. Her dream was no more.