Chapter 55
– How long has Hagrid had a dragon? – Our company hurried towards the hut of the restless forester.
Ron walked ahead, followed by Justin and me, and Hermione and Elvira brought up the rear. With all these adventures and studying, I’d completely forgotten about the movies I’d watched in my past life; there was a dragon in them too, and then there was that weird obstacle course. I definitely won’t go through that, no fucking way!
“About two weeks, exactly. We just happened to be visiting him, and there was this huge lizard crawling under the table!” Weasley turned his head and enlightened me.
– Why didn’t you tell me earlier? – My eyebrows shot up.
“We tried…” Finch-Fletchley grumbled, walking alongside. “But someone,” he made quotation marks with his fingers, “was too busy thinking about their future groom.”
The young aristocrat’s voice was thick with sarcasm, and he was looking at me with a very expressive gaze. I gave him a subtle retort, and he chuckled contentedly in response. “I’ll tell Justin about some of my adventures this evening; it’s time to start trusting my friends.” Hermione, walking on the other side, nudged me and jerked her head back; Elvira was there. I thought for a moment and nodded in response. “Smith is my vassal and obligated to help and keep family secrets, so I can tell her about a few of our adventures.”
“Where did he get the baby dragon?” Hermione asked. “As far as I know, breeding, let alone selling, such dangerous creatures is strictly prohibited. The punishment for that is ten years in Azkaban.”
– Let me guess, he won the egg in a card game while he was in the Boar’s Head? – I think that’s how it was in the movie, so I voiced that version.
– What? – Ron stopped and looked at me with a grin. – Hagrid doesn’t gamble, he just… Anyway, he can’t remember the rules, don’t ask him why. And he bought the dragon in Knockturn Alley, either from Twitch or from Squint, I don’t remember.
“Okay, so we’ll get there, and then what?” Hermione stroked her chin thoughtfully. “We’ll convince Rubeus to kill the animal, and then we’ll quickly butcher it and buy the ingredients at a speculative price?”
“You hang out with Goldstein too much,” Justin grumbled as he walked beside her.
– But seriously, what can we do? – This whole idea is starting to smell more and more like idiocy.
“You’ll convince him to surrender to Dumbledore, and then let the Headmaster deal with the dragon problem.” Ron gave me a satisfied look.
– Why me first?! What stopped you from doing it?! What were you even doing there for two weeks? – I understand that I don’t understand anything about their plan.
“Here’s the thing…” Justin spoke quietly. “Hagrid’s really afraid to confess to the headmaster, and our conscience won’t allow us to turn in our friend.”
– And why is our fearless half-giant so afraid of the “Great Man”? – I was already starting to get angry.
“After the Acromantulas were destroyed, Dumbledore summoned Hagrid and sternly ordered him not to bring any more dangerous creatures to school, otherwise he’d be sorely disappointed in our gamekeeper.” Finch-Fletchley sighed sadly. “Hagrid told us that when he was drunk, and he doesn’t even remember buying the dragon…”
– And you yourself didn’t try to persuade him…
“We tried. We’ve been trying to persuade him for two weeks now!” Weasley interrupted me. “In the end, Hagrid burst into tears, and then he came up with a brilliant plan, as reliable as a dwarf watch! Even I couldn’t have come up with such idiocy, and I’m a master at this sort of thing!”
– And w-what did he come up with? – Elvira, who had been silent the whole way, spoke up.
“For Charlie to fly here on a broom and take Firepaw to the dragon sanctuary! That’s it!” Ron twitched his cheek angrily.
“What’s wrong? He’ll be there quickly, we can even help him, like lifting the dragon’s cage higher, that’s for sure!” The black-haired witch beamed. “We’ll drag this Firefly up to the astronomy tower, your brother won’t even have to land, he’ll grab the cage and fly away in no time.”
“Where?! To Romania?!” Weasley stopped, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then turned to us. “Smith, do you know where Romania is? It’s somewhere in the back of Eastern Europe! How can you even imagine such a long flight on a broomstick, especially across the English Channel? And we’ll have to fly back with cargo; that lizard eats a lot and is growing fast; it already weighs twenty kilos!”
“What if we send it with a portkey?” I asked my friend thoughtfully. “The broom idea is complete nonsense, but what if we send the dragon in a package?”
“No, that’s not an option either…” Ron thought for a moment and continued. “That’s definitely not going to work. Firstly, where are we going to get an international portkey? Their sale and production are strictly controlled by the Ministry. And secondly, how will Charlie explain the new arrival at the reserve? He told me they have terrible control there, every egg counts, and that, what’s his name?” Ginger scratched the back of his head. “I remember! The international number, here!”
“That makes sense. Dragon guts are very expensive, and raising and feeding such a creature is quite a costly affair,” Justin nodded in response.
– What was I talking about? – Weasley nodded with satisfaction. – My brother also told me that his dragon sanctuary is guarded no worse than Gringotts!
“This is all interesting, of course, but explain already why you need Rigel?” Hermione looked demandingly at these blockheads.
“Everything ingenious is simple,” Justin shrugged. “The heiress of the Order of Protestant Knights will intimidate our forester and that’s it.”
– What do you mean? – I stared blankly at these underage swindlers.
“What’s not clear? Hagrid’s afraid of disappointing Dumbledore.” Ron raised his index finger to the sky, then pointed at me. “Rigel will threaten that if Hagrid doesn’t go to the headmaster, she’ll tell Lady Hellsing everything, saying that having a dragon in the school is a gross violation of the Treaty, and then Dumbledore will be in very, very big trouble. That’s it! Hagrid won’t let down a respected man, and the headmaster will then quietly sort everything out.”
– And if he refuses? – I’m definitely not going to turn in the forester or tell my mother about such a trifle.
“Then Hagrid will spend the next ten years in Azkaban,” Ron said sadly, turning silently and walking towards the stone house visible in the distance.
We made the rest of the way in silence, but as we approached the forester’s hut, I realized something was wrong. The half-giant was running around his house in a panic, peering under almost every stone. When he saw us, he froze, then waved his arms invitingly. Maybe I should really activate the portkey? I had a bad feeling about this.
– Kids, how good that you came! – As soon as we approached, the forester shouted joyfully. – I need this… your help! Here!
– Hagrid, what happened? – Ron looked at the panicking giant.
“The light’s gone!” the fellow roared and burst into tears.
We froze for a second, then dragged this sobbing dragon breeder into the house—the last thing we needed was prying ears. It took half an hour and three liters of moonshine to bring the half-giant back to his senses.
“So, I went out on my rounds this morning, yeah, I patrol the forest edge every morning, yeah.” The forester took a sip from his bucket glass. “I come in, and lo and behold, the door, um… It’s open, yeah. I immediately thought something was wrong, but when I went into the house, Fireboy was nowhere to be found. Ah! The little one’s gone!”
– Hagrid, where did you get the dragon egg? – I tapped my fingernail on the table and looked closely at my bearded interlocutor.
– What egg? – The half-giant didn’t understand me at first. – Ah-ah-ah… Well, I bought it when it was already hatched, yeah. He was so sweet, he recognized me as his mother right away, yeah. Look, he bit my hands and burned my beard a little, yeah. So playful, he bit off Kryk’s tail, there. – Dedina waved his hand towards the wolfhound hiding under the bed. – I wanted to dock him anyway, you know, but I just felt sorry for him then. Yeah.
– Hagrid, where did you buy a magical creature of XXXXX danger category? – I looked sternly at this big child.
“Yeah, in Lyutnoye, there’s a decent tavern there, yeah, it’s called Rygalovka, right behind Toshnilovka, yeah.” The forester combed his noticeably shorter beard with his fingers. “They don’t chase me away or call me names there, yeah. The bartender even let me bring my own mug, yeah! Only decent people hang out there, so Krivoy offered me a cheap Ogonyok, yeah, just two months’ salary!”
“Why do you need a dragon?” Justin barely restrained himself from making the famous hand-to-face gesture.
– Well, I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a kid, yeah… And now… When Aragosh was killed… – Tears appeared on the half-giant’s face, he took a small tablecloth from his pocket and blew his nose into it. – Do you know how lonely it is here in the winter? I’m all alone, just Fang and Snowflake, yeah. So I went to the tavern for a drink… And there was Firepaw! I’ve already started training him, but he doesn’t listen to me yet… He’s still quite fluffy…
“Was…” Hermione whispered in my ear with relief. “Dragon babies are helpless and almost defenseless, so without their mother’s care, they often become prey to other predators.”
“Agreed,” I whispered back, smiling contentedly. “No body, no case. Now we’ll calm Hagrid down and we can return to the castle with peace of mind.” And I didn’t have to persuade him…
– Guys! – The forester slammed his mug down on the table. – We have to find Fire! He’s so big! What if someone hurts him?! We’re friends, right? – And he looks at us with the gaze of the cat from Shrek, a huge, bearded cat smelling of fusel oil.
***
“And why did I agree to this?” I mumbled as I made my way through the forest thickets. It was light and quiet all around, but I still aimed the barrel of the machine gun at any sound or rustle.
– Hagrid is good… Hagrid is kind… Tch… He’s a tough bastard… – Hermione was snoring stubbornly nearby. – Hagrid needs help… I’ll personally shoot that freedom-loving lizard!
– Girls… Don’t go… So fast… – Elvira was trailing behind us, breathing heavily.
Ron and Justin sided with the half-giant, and in fifteen minutes the trio managed to talk us into this foolish adventure. According to the forester, there were no “interesting” animals in the forest right now, and those that remained lived deep in the thicket, and we weren’t going there, right? The wisp was really tiny, a fire-breathing, venomous lizard weighing twenty kilos, and he couldn’t have run far from his “mother.” So we decided to look for the little dragon on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, where it was relatively safe, especially since it was daytime.
When they finally talked me into it, I suddenly remembered the first movie. There, too, the first-years went into the forest, alone, at night, without weapons, yeah. So, talking to the gamekeeper has a bad effect on me. Imagining what kind of crap might be lurking in the forest, I decided to prepare, and Mia was completely supportive. We quickly shed our robes and began refilling the vests we were wearing over our flak jackets. Seeing my pink vest and the matching MP-5, Hagrid even sobered up a bit. After some thought, I put my little one in my bag and pulled out my Kalashnikov, Hermione following my example.
The snub-nosed, curly-haired Rambo handed his MP-5 to Elvira and retrieved Valera from the depths of his carry-on bag. At that moment, the forester finally sobered up. Justin also shed his robe, revealing himself in a black flak jacket, a vest, and a compact assault rifle.
Hagrid, looking at us, also reached into his chest and pulled out a leather vest reinforced with metal plates, then took his magical gun down from the wall. Ron, meanwhile, looked us over silently, sighed heavily, and shrugged before drawing his wand from its sheath.
“We keep in touch through Miraclephones.” With these words, I inserted the magic earpiece into my ear. The others followed my example. Finch-Fletchley also had a new magical smartphone; my mother and I brought ten from the Soviet Union and gave them to our friends.
“If anything happens, we’ll indicate the location with sparks: green means we’ve found the dragon, red means we’re in danger,” Hermione gave her final instructions.
After discussing everything and checking our gear again, we split into two groups and began combing the edge of the forest. After getting a bit further away, Hermione and I decided that if we found the dragon, we’d just shoot it; Dumbledore would thank us later. We weren’t worried about the gunshot sound; my Kalashnikov and the MP-5 Smith was holding were enchanted not only to reduce weight and recoil, but also had silencers. Then we’d just tell Hagrid we hadn’t seen Firepaw; the gamekeeper would grieve for a bit and then calm down.
– Oh, fuck! – I caught the strap of my rifle on a dry branch again, jerked my shoulder, and the piece of wood broke with a crack.
We’d been wandering through the winter forest, knee-deep in snow, for about an hour now; just a little more and we’d be heading back. We’d walked slowly and leisurely for about a couple of kilometers, which I think was enough. After all, we still hadn’t found any trace of the dragon! Back at the hut, we’d agreed to walk for an hour each way and then head back, as a group of six is nearly impossible to spot anything fast and agile in that vast forest. Who would have explained that to a giant guy?
– And… What… Breed… Dragon… Did… Hagrid have? – Elvira panted from behind.
“Judging by the description, it’s a Norwegian hunchback…” Hermione answered, saving her breath.
“Are you sure?” I looked at my friend, who was wading waist-deep in snow and, with the tenacity of a rhinoceros, was carrying a heavy machine gun.
“Absolutely… Brown scales and a gray-blue crest and wings, plus aggressiveness… Phew…” Mia stopped and wiped sweat from her forehead. “This is the wildest variety, now I understand why they sold it to Hagrid so cheaply; these creatures even eat their own kind.”
“Okay, if we meet them, we’ll get out of here.” I also stopped and caught my breath.
“Just shoot with armor-piercing bullets.” Curly Rambo took a flask from her belt and greedily sucked on it. “Feels better…”
“Is it armored?” Elvira squealed from behind.
– It will be, in a couple of years… – I grabbed the machine gun more comfortably, I already understood my friend’s train of thought. – We’ll sell it to Goldstein?
“Who else?” Mia smiled contentedly. “A couple of holes through and through won’t affect the quality of the carcass much, the main thing is not to hit the heart and liver, so aim for the head; dragons are brainless anyway.”
“I agree, I generally think…” I was interrupted by the sound of breaking branches and the clatter of hooves ahead.
I stopped immediately, and Hermione, hearing the threat, quickly dodged to the right and took cover behind a fallen tree. While my friend was setting Valera up on a bipod and setting up a machine gun nest, I grabbed Elvira, who had stood still, by the scruff of the neck and threw her over the trunk of the nearest tree.
“Cover!” I whispered the order to Smith and moved forward, positioning myself right between Hermione and Smith, creating a sort of triangle.
My instincts were silent, and I didn’t sense any threat ahead, so the centaurs had decided to talk, or at least threaten to drive us out of the forest. If these humanoid horses wanted us dead, they would have already showered us with arrows. Hagrid said their two-meter bows can hit five hundred meters with almost no misses. Those fucking Legals. Let them just try. Valera will turn every living thing within a two-kilometer radius into mincemeat with his armor-piercing .50 caliber bullets, I’m sure of Mia. Glancing sideways at my friend, I saw her caressing the machine gun’s receiver with a blissfully dreamy smile. So, without much concealment, I released a shower of red sparks into the sky and, straightening my back, took a couple more steps forward.
“What happened?” Justin’s worried voice sounded in his ear.
– Centaurs, they haven’t shown any aggression yet, I’m saying this just in case.
– Understood! Haaaagrid! – I heard my comrade squeal. – Wait! Our giant will be with you soon. Hagriiiiid! Slowlyu …
The cracking noise ahead grew louder, the ground beneath my feet trembled, and centaurs appeared before my eyes… The toe of my army boot took the blow of my dropped jaw…
A retinue of the Prince of Kyiv or Moscow—it didn’t matter—emerged from the forest thicket. The warriors were clad in chainmail, with bright red cloaks draped over their backs, and the typical spire-shaped helmets with nasals. They were armed accordingly: each warrior held a long spear in his right hand, a one-handed sword slung from his left hip, and I also noticed round shields at their sides. These medieval warriors were about three meters tall and walked on all fours, or should I say hooves? But what shocked me most was the enormous square standard bearing the image of the Orthodox Creator, proudly held by a standard-bearer standing next to a real priest! The latter had a gray beard and wore a long black cassock, and his helmet was surmounted by an Orthodox cross. The cloven-hoofed priest stroked the massive gilded cross on his chest with his left hand, and held a smoking censer in his right. I pinched my thigh just in case; it hurt, so I wasn’t sleeping.
The warriors formed a semicircle about ten meters away from me, but showed no aggression, their spears pointed skyward, and their swords left sheathed. We stared at each other for a couple of minutes, and then the priest and their young commander, judging by their appearance, slowly stepped forward. The chief warrior’s armor looked more opulent; his chainmail was reinforced with black metal plates, and his helmet had a visor, which was now raised. The battle priest also wore chainmail under his cassock, and a spiked mace hung from his belt. The centaurs stopped a couple of meters away and began to examine me with interest. The warrior especially carefully examined my machine gun and looked thoughtfully into my eyes, then abruptly looked up at the sky.
“What are you doing here? The Twilight Forest is dangerous and doesn’t tolerate outsiders!” the warrior addressed me in a loud voice as he looked down at me again.
“My son, before you demand anything, you must first greet him and introduce yourself.” The priest looked disapprovingly at the commander and continued in a didactic tone. “Such are the traditions of the atheists; the customs of others must be respected.”
“My apologies, Father.” The soldier bowed his head politely and turned to me. “I am Dionysius, foreman of the heavenly hundred of the enlightened people, and at my right hand stands Father Theodosius. What are you doing here?”
“We were just strolling, got a little carried away, and wandered into the thicket.” I lowered my head and even shuffled my foot in the snowdrift. “Well, I don’t feel threatened by them, just concern and interest.”
“It’s dangerous for little majongs to wander through the forest alone,” Feodosiy continued to look at me thoughtfully. “What is your name, child of the atheists?”
“Rigel Hellsing.” I raised my right arm so that a Catholic cross appeared from my sleeve and pointed at the girls. “My friends Hermione Granger and Elvira Smith.”
As soon as Dionysius saw the cross on my wrist and heard my name, his eyes widened in shock and he grabbed his sword. I quickly aimed the gun at the cloven-hoofed foreman and was about to pull the trigger, but the priest beat me to it. Father Theodosius spun around and brought the censer down on the enraged centaur’s head with all his might. The blow was powerful and resounding, even denting his round helmet, and the aggressive centaur sat down on his butt with a groan. I glanced sideways at the divine weapon in the priest’s hands; there wasn’t a scratch on it! Such is the power of faith!
“What are you doing, you damned thing? Did a mad dog bite your hoof or did the Evil One whisper something to you?” Theodosius loomed over his fellow tribesman.
“Stargazers… An omen…” the foreman muttered. “You kept the chronicle yourself, remember? ‘And a green-eyed warrior maiden named after a bright star will come! And she will be from a tribe of godless people, but with faith in the Creator in her heart! And may she destroy the enlightened people…'”
BOOM! The priest hit his brother on the head with the censer again, causing him to collapse completely onto the soft snow.
“Or will it lead him to prosperity! Why are you taking up the sword, you infidel?” The priest approached the foreman, grabbed him by the lapels, and yanked him to his feet, or rather, hooves.
“Why risk it?” the staggering warrior muttered and grabbed his head.
“The heavenly oracles have read the Lord’s will in the stars! And it is not for you, blessed novice, to interfere with God’s providence! Or have you forgotten what the Holy Scriptures say?” The priest gave the young centaur a resounding slap. “The life of a sinless child is sacred! The soul of anyone who attempts the life of an innocent will be forever damned and will burn in Gehenna until the end of time. Besides, we gave our word and have kept it for ten centuries now!”
I watched this spectacle with my mouth open, in shock: Orthodox centaurs who believe in prophecy, what else has the Creator prepared for me in this world? After watching the squabble between the foreman and the priest once again, I took a couple of steps back and adjusted my grip on my machine gun, just in case. The other cloven-hoofed warriors watched their brothers’ dispute with interest, but didn’t interfere. Meanwhile, passions were running high among the disputants.
“A promise? The Heirs of Gryffindor are long dead, which means there’s no need to keep their word!” the commander exclaimed, having recovered. “The atheists have long since broken every oath and vow they made! They despise us and consider us mindless cattle! Remember their last visit? We are no longer a proud, enlightened people, but magical creatures! And what will happen tomorrow? They’ll harness us to a cart and whip us!”
“Alas… There is a grain of truth in your words, my son, but that does not give you the right to raise your sword against the Mazhonok.” The priest looked sternly at his young comrade, who lowered his head guiltily. “If she is a child of prophecy, then it is the will of the Creator, and only time will reveal the truth of your judgment. Now go to your squad, you are frightening the young maidens.”
The young commander hung his head dejectedly and trudged off to his squad, while the bearded priest turned to me and smiled kindly.
“Child, please forgive Dionysius, he’s still too young and inexperienced, and therefore hot-tempered and hot-tempered. Don’t be afraid, we’ve given our word to protect the students of the Great School.” The centaur straightened the cross that had slipped off his chest and looked us over again. “You truly don’t belong in the Twilight Forest. We’ll escort you to the edge of the forest; it’ll be safer that way.”
“Okay,” I nodded in response and waved to my friends. Elvira lowered her machine gun with relief, but Hermione, clearly regretful, shouldered hers and moved toward me.
“And yet, what were you doing here?” Father Theodosius asked as the trio of us gathered before him. “It’s too early to be gathering herbs; you don’t look like hunters, and you don’t look frightened or lost.”
“We’re helping Hagrid, he lost…” Elvira started to speak, but after receiving an elbow in the side from me, she immediately fell silent.
Hearing the forester’s name, the centaur warriors grew angry; the most zealous even drew their swords, and their commander even reared up. What had displeased them with our simple-minded half-giant?
“Don’t mention the name of this wretched hero, he’ll burn in hell.” The priest spat with hostility. “Even though it’s written that all the blessed are the Creator’s children, this idiot is destined for Satan’s pit.”
– Excuse me, but what did he do? – I asked politely, although I could guess.
“Half a century ago, this Judas of mankind brought a foreign plague into the forest—giant spiders.” Theodosius sighed heavily and slumped. “These eternally hungry creatures multiplied very quickly, and by the time we realized it, it was too late… We lacked the strength to eradicate the plague, and all we could do was contain its advance…”
“But they were killed and the forest was cleared of cobwebs,” Hermione exclaimed.
“They’ve cleaned it out…” Dionysius grumbled as he approached us. “Do you know how many proud sons have died fighting this plague? If it weren’t for the heavenly hundred, these spiders would have devoured the entire forest long ago! And all because of one feeble-minded atheist!”
“Don’t get upset, my son.” The priest patted the foreman on the shoulder in a fatherly manner and turned to us. “Come, we’ll quickly lead you to the castle.”
The centaurs took our box and we slowly made our way back, the girls and I, the priest, and the young commander walking in the center of the impromptu formation. The two ungulates kept casting wary and intrigued glances at me. After about ten minutes of walking, I grew tired of being the object of such attention and decided to find out something—or rather, everything! There’s very little information about centaurs in books, and frankly, I haven’t read about them; I’ve had other things to do.
– Excuse me, but what promise to Gryffindor were you talking about? – I turned to the priest, the girls also pricked up their ears.
“You really don’t know?” Father looked at our interested faces and sighed sadly. “Many centuries ago, our people wandered in search of a home. The stars led us to the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where our ancestors encountered the company of Godric Gryffindor. This great warrior was just returning from an unsuccessful raid on the Greeks; the spoils were small and the losses were heavy, so there was plenty of room on the ships. The school was still under construction then, and the great wizard promised us land in exchange for our service; we were to protect the castle and its students. Thus, the enlightened people ended up on the Tin Islands.
“But the Founders died long ago, and their descendants forgot the word given by their ancestors,” Dionysius said angrily. “Then they came up with the Statute of Secrecy and the Ministry of Magic, and declared us half-witted cattle. For the last couple of centuries, we haven’t been living, we’ve been surviving! And all because of the atheists who betrayed us.”
– Holy shit, – I muttered.
– Don’t swear in God’s house, or I’ll hit you with the censer. – The priest looked at me sternly.
– What do you mean? – I looked around the forest.
“This entire world was created by the will of the Creator, and therefore is His temple!” The priest raised his finger to the sky and continued in a didactic tone. “He created this world and all its inhabitants. He loves His children, well, except for the infidels. No one loves them, and therefore we must bring Faith to the world, and those who refuse to love the Creator should be impaled! But that was before, and now…”
“If life is so hard for you here, you should go somewhere else.” Mia interrupted her father and looked thoughtfully at the young centaur, who sadly turned away. “Or are you sworn to guard Hogwarts?”
“We have nowhere to go…” Feodosiy said quietly. “For centuries, this forest was our home and protected our people. We used to trade actively with gifted people, and some of our brethren even taught astronomy and mathematics in school! But those times are long gone; the gifted consider us cattle, and we cannot survive outside the blessed lands.”
– So wait, what blessed lands? – I stared blankly at the centaurs.
“These are the places where there are sources of power, what you call magic,” the foreman began to explain. “There’s a very powerful source under the castle, and it’s enough for everyone, but the godless are driving us out of other lands.”
“Well, if you’re so unhappy in Britain, you should go to the continent,” Hermione said.
“And how do you imagine this, child?” Father chuckled cheerfully. “After the Statute was passed, the untalented considered anything connected with magic a fairy tale, and then a hundred representatives of a proud people appeared on the road leading to the port. How do you think the authorities will react? We know the laws of the country we live in, but we have no rights as such… So we have to survive in the forest, as if we were savages…”
“Father Theodosius, my mother is the head of the Order of Protestant Knights. We are forced to defend the Empire’s farthest borders, and there’s a constant shortage of men. What if we offer you a move to another continent in exchange for service? As I understand it, there’s nothing holding you here…” A crazy idea, reminiscent of the heavy cavalry chasing Papuans in Africa, popped into my head. “You will serve our Order and the Crown, and in exchange, you will receive full warrior status, and the Ministry of Magic will have no power over you!”
“I’ve heard of such people. You do a good deed, bringing the word of God to the world with fire and sword. I respect you… A tempting offer… The astrologers were right…” The priest muttered, smoothing his beard. “Now, child, such matters are not decided on the spur of the moment. The council of elders must discuss and consider everything, then confer with your elders and only then make a decision… Tell your mother that the proud people are ready to negotiate… We’ll tell you in a month…”
Our conversations were interrupted by the crash of falling trees and the sound of heavy footsteps, and a minute later a flushed Hagrid tumbled out of the bushes with a gun at the ready.
The half-giant was clearly running headlong; his beard and hair were full of twigs, his vest was torn in places, and he was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Upon seeing the giant, the centaurs lowered their spears and hastily began to form a wedge. Hagrid, in response, aimed his monstrous crossbow at them.
“Don’t touch the women! Let them go!” the forester roared. “I’ll turn them all into sausages now!”
“Hagrid, calm down! They’re just seeing us off!” I jumped forward and, arms outstretched, stood between the half-giant and the centaurs. The last thing I needed was a massacre. I don’t want to lose such promising fighters.
– Um… Really? – All the rage evaporated from the giant and he lowered his monstrous crossbow. – And why are they, like, surrounding you?
“That’s called a rip, you worthless idiot!” Dionysius shouted.
“Don’t call me names! I can get angry, yes.” Hagrid pointed his gun at the offender.
“Everyone, calm down! In the name of the Creator, I command you to lower your weapons!” Father barked so loudly that even the half-giant listened, and I stood at attention.
The cloven-hoofed priest, waving a censer, stepped forward and stopped next to me.
“You are very brave, young warrior maiden. I will pass on your words to the elders, and in a month we will be expecting your little ones.” Theodosius addressed me respectfully, then looked reproachfully at the forester. “Hagrid, why did you send the children into the forest alone?”
– So we, uh… Tavo… It’s safe in the forest now, yeah! And we needed to get there quickly, yeah! – The forester scratched the back of his head with his hand. – Feodosiy, you, uh… Have you seen a little dragon along the way? He’s so fluffy, he responds to Fire! He’s really playful, that’s why he ran away from me, yeah.
“Merciful Creator, forgive my sinful soul…” the priest muttered, and then, in a single leap, he found himself right in front of the forester and, with all his might, hit him over the head with the censer. The ringing was even louder than from Dionysius’s helmet; the half-giant staggered and took a step back, but didn’t fall! “Are you completely out of your mind, you bearded devil?! First you dragged some pest into the forest, and now you’ve unleashed a fire-breathing lizard! Has the firewater completely clouded your mind, or do you simply want to destroy the forest?!”
“What are you fighting about?” Hagrid rubbed the budding lump on his forehead, offended. “That’s why I’m looking, yeah, Firepaw’s not supposed to be in the forest, yeah. And the kids are helping me.”
– What kind of dragon? – The centaur priest looked sternly at the forester. – Age, size, what kind?
“A Norwegian hunchback, yeah. He’s really fluffy, he’s not even a month old yet,” the bearded breeder reported. “He’s the same, still completely helpless. So we went looking for him, just in case someone hurt him.”
Theodosius listened attentively to Hagrid and, exhaling, crossed himself several times, after which he quickly muttered some kind of prayer and looked up at the sky.
“There’s no fire-breathing lizard in the forest, Hagrid,” the priest replied, lowering his head. “Try looking for one in the mountains; this species prefers to live in caves.”
“You recognized it by the stars? Yeah?” Hagrid also raised his head and looked at the clear blue sky.
“No… Answer me, you bruised hero, is the forest on fire?” The half-giant shook his head. “Then there’s no fire-breathing lizard here. Take the children and leave in peace.”
“How can I contact you?” I asked Feodosiy when we started saying goodbye.
The centaurs decided not to go any further and handed us over to the forester with the order to deliver us to school safe and sound. Hagrid even took offense at these moralizing lectures.
“The stars will tell me where and when I need to appear,” the priest answered, taking a parchment from his saddle bag. “Write it here and our elders will see. We will come at the first call at dawn.”
When Theodosius fell silent, the cross on his chest glowed with a pure white light. My jaw dropped for the second time that day, “An Apostle!” HE TRULY BELIEVES! There are only a few like him in the entire Empire! I need to tell my mother about this immediately. Then we quickly said our goodbyes and, accompanied by the forester, set off for Hogwarts.
“Hagrid, where are the boys?” Hermione asked when the centaurs were out of sight and we were leisurely walking along the path made by the giant.
“At my place, yeah, drinking tea,” the bearded fellow replied. “When I saw the sparks, yeah, I immediately grabbed the boys in my arms and ran to the edge of the forest, yeah. I left them there, safe, yeah, and then I ran as fast as I could to you, that’s it.”
I practically whistled. Hagrid is a monster! He covered that distance in twenty minutes and wasn’t even really out of breath. Incidentally, he was walking almost silently now, his feet following the tracks he’d left earlier; no wonder he’d been wandering the forest for so many years. We wandered for about half an hour and soon reached the edge of the forest, where Ron and Justin were waiting.
“Kids, you two, run to the castle, yeah,” the forester said to us when our search team had united. “And I’ll go to the nearest cliff and look for Ogonyok there, yeah. Poor little thing…”
Hagrid pulled his tablecloth out of his pocket and blew his nose. The boys looked at us questioningly, and I gestured that we’d tell them everything later.
“Do you really think Firepaw ran away to the mountains?” Mia looked pitifully at the forester.
– Well, what if… Firepaw, who have you abandoned us to… – Hagrid muttered sadly. – I’ll have a look at some other things while I’m at it, yeah.
– What? – Hermione and I both screamed and stared expectantly at the giant.
– Don’t get me wrong… I need it, yeah, yeah. – Hagrid backed away. – It turns out I made peace with the horses, yeah, yeah. And my smokehouse is idle! And there’s a harpy nest in the rocks there! I recently ate smoked Ba-Ba-Ku wings in Rygalovka, and I really liked them. Now I want to repeat it, yeah. I’ll definitely treat you later! Yeah. I promise.
With these words, the forester ran back into the forest, and our group trudged to school. Along the way, Elvira excitedly told the boys about our adventures and our encounter with the centaurs, while I pondered how to pitch my idea of creating a Hellsing cavalry corps to my mother. So we trudged back to the living room, tired but satisfied. Each of us hoped the dragon would never be found.
The rest of the day passed quietly. After dinner, our group headed to the operational base, and Ron went to see his brothers. The twins, led by a Jewish boy, were currently actively testing a protective artifact, and the redhead volunteered; there simply weren’t any others available.
As soon as we had settled comfortably on the sofas and poured tea into cups, the glow of a fire appeared in the window…
