✔️ 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 → 𝑐.𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

13 | R U B Y R E D

   ANA HAD BEEN what you might call a mediocre student. Her grades neither hit the heights, nor a low. Acceptable. But she didn't need that common magic anyways. Ana had her own; more powerful, more useful. More dangerous.

   Durmstrang was known for teaching dark arts to its students from the very first year. What people were so busy tending to forget, was that Durmstrang wasn't for raising evil little creatures. Durmstrang stood for power, and power was taught. The mightiest spells, the most beautiful charms, the cruelest curses; Ana had seen them all, and she had learned to use them all.

   All, but one.

   Anastasia Voinescu was gifted with powers beyond measure, but oh, did she lack of what humans are made of. Though having a beating heart, for all her life it never had felt love, never had experienced affection, never had sensed gratitude. Ana's childhood had been stolen by what they had called her disease, and there definitely was no place for a happy memory.

   That is why Anastasia Voinescu had never been able to conjure a Patronus. It was the one charm she never managed to complete. The one she needed right now.

   The dragons roared out loud into a night enflamed by fire and spells; Ana could see some of the dragon tamers' silhouettes rise up into the sky and she fastened her steps until she was running. Her feet knew their aim before Ana's mind did catch it and she found herself in front of Rosie.

   "Shh, calm, little flower", she cooed, but Rosie roared out loud and a new sting flame enlightened the night sky.

   Almost Ana had laughed out loud. The dragon wouldn't calm down, and it was ridiculous that she had just thought about trying it. Her eyes wandered from the dragons feet up to its head; every inch of this magnificent creature was covered in thick scales, sheltering her like an armor. She was so much taller than her opponents, way more dangerous, threatening ... deadlier.

   All of that, Rosie seemed to have forgotten; she was driven by nothing but fear. The chains that had held her, Ana noticed, had been broken, but still Rosie was standing with her hind feet on the ground, claws buried into the forests underwood, roaring panic-stricken screams out into the night.

   Right in this moment, Ana found herself in the yellow glowing eyes of this so called monster. Hadn't she herself been in the very same situation for years? Though she wasn't literally held in chains, indeed she had spent her days in a captivity, she could have escaped so easily. Her enemies to her, were just like the Dementors flying above Rosie's head: annoying little creatures, who's only weapon against her was growing fear and despair in Ana's mind. No patronus could have saved her. It took Ana sometime that the fire burning inside her was no curse, but a gift. A weapon. And a really mighty one.

   It seemed, that Rosie had forgotten about her own fire. But unlike to the young Ana, the dragon wouldn't have to go through this alone.

   Ana took a step forward, then another; she didn't intend to scare Rosie more than she already was. Her heart was racing in a way it hadn't for a long time. It was not because Ana was scared of the dragon. She knew Rosie wouldn't harm her, though she probably could. Ana neared the dragon with all her guards down, now red glowing aura was surrounding her like it would usually do in situations like this. But not this time.

   Her fingers met the surprisingly cold surface of Rosie's thick skin, and the dragon's head snapped around. Yellow glomming eyes meeting Ana's amber ones, and something incredible happened. Ana watched Rosie's nostrils widen; her throat was already glowing with a fiery breath building up inside, ready to destroy whatever had dared to come this close to her. The dragons chest was rising, she was aiming, and Ana waited for the explosion, closing her eyes.

   But nothing happened.

   When Ana dared to open her eyes again, Rosie was still staring down at her, but the glowing had vanished, her breath softened, and she lowered her head, until she was the very same height with Ana's. The woman's hand left the scales, just to be laid on Rosie's snout.

   "Good girl", Ana whispered. "Now let's show them what monsters are made of, will we?"

   The dragon blinked, before lowering his whole body towards the ground. It felt like climbing a rock; a breathing, living rock. Ana made her way up Rosie's back, and as she found a secure position — not a second earlier — the dragon rose back up, it's leathery wings spread, and with a roar that showed nothing of the fear it withheld before, Rosie shot up into the sky.

   It was incomparable to anything Ana had ever felt before. The night sky hit her face in icy stitches, but she barely felt it. Her eyes were glimming red like ruby's, and the well known warmth of her powers floated through her body, spread into every tiny fibre, and as it met her hands, it started to cover the dragon as well.

   Charlie Weasley, sitting on his broom high above the trees, watched this spectacular scene in awe. The dragon rose higher and higher, and his colleagues surrounding him called out in a panic that Charlie had never heard in their voices. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed some of them aiming their wands at Ana and Rosie —

   "Stop! Don't do anything!", he yelled at them, lowering his own wand. The Dementors' attention was drawn to the red glowing dragon and its stunningly beautiful equestrian. They stopped attacking. All they did was floating in the air like black ghosts against a pale moon.

   "Have you lost your mind, Weasley?", one of his mates called out.

   "Trust me", Charlie replied. "Don't do anything and put your bloody wands down. She won't harm us."

   Ana guided Rosie towards the soul sucking monsters; while one of her hands never left Rosie's back, the other one was raised up high, and now Charlie for the second time in a short while got an impression of why everyone feared this woman. Red flashes of light shot out of Ana's palms, hitting the Dementor closest to her, and it started glowing like mars itself against the sky. The stars around it faded against the blinding red light, just the split of a second — then the night turned dark again, and the creature fell towards the ground.

   The other dementors got stuck midair, unwilling to attack this over mighty opponent. With high pitched screeches, like never had anyone heard them before, those black hooded monsters started splitting out of what had to had been a formation, and they fled, fled in every possible direction. The cold lifted, the sound of the wind blowing through the forest was turned on again, but utterly went under to the sound of Rosie's triumphant roar. Still glowing like the clearest ruby, she landed on the floor again, and not until now did Charlie notice that his mouth had been agape the whole time.

   Yes, he could easily understand, why everyone feared this woman. Even after she saved them, the dragon tamers around him didn't dare to cheer or comment this victory in any way. Charlie still felt the tension in the air, and yes, he really did understand why all of them were scared as hell.

   So why wasn't he?

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