Chapter 47
Dear Ron,
Norma has arrived here safely, and the handover went very smoothly. I hope things are going just as well on your end. If I remember correctly, Filch patrols the castle every night. But I have faith that no Weasley child gets caught—after all, I've never heard of George and Fred being nabbed.
Norma's in excellent health. Honestly, I've never seen such a robust baby dragon. Are you quite sure she really hatched from an ordinary egg found outside? If so, I can only say that your classmate Gabin has an extraordinary gift for caring for magical creatures—perhaps it's something in his Eastern background. If you get the chance, pass on my regards and tell him that after graduation he should seriously consider a career in magical creature protection and research. Trust me, he'd be brilliant at it.
Also, I hear you've become friends with the famous Harry Potter. That's excellent. A good friend can help you grow in ways you can't imagine—just like how I benefited from knowing Lockhart Reese back in the day. Oh, you wouldn't know him; we'll talk about that another time. Anyway, keep on good terms with Harry. You'll gain a lot from it.
I hope everything's all right at home. Mum hasn't been summoned to school over George and Fred yet, and I doubt she will. Those two are far too clever to get caught properly.
By the way, what would you like for your birthday this year? How about a dragon-scale talisman? They're selling well over here.
Love,
Charlie
—
Dear Ron,
This is my second letter, all about Norma.
No need to worry—she's doing brilliantly here. Her health is outstanding, she's happy, and she's already mastered flying. As I said in my last letter, I've never seen a baby dragon in such fine condition. I really wish I could sit down with Gabin and discuss dragon-rearing methods. It would be fascinating.
But let's get back to Norma.
I wanted to ask: during her early days with you, did you ever feed her anything unusual? Because she arrived here extremely... excitable is the best word I can think of. On the very day she landed, she thrashed every other baby dragon in the area. Fortunately she didn't go too far, or we might have thought she was feral.
The adult dragons had a bit of a reaction, but we managed to keep things under control. It gave us quite a fright, I can tell you.
She's also noticeably more intelligent than the average baby dragon. By the second week, she'd already got several of the others following her lead and obeying her like subordinates. Behaviour like that usually doesn't show up until they're fully grown. Still, it's not exactly a bad thing.
Overall, Norma's thriving here. She's developing remarkably quickly, but nothing alarming. We just want to know whether this is simply her natural disposition, or if something she ate or experienced earlier had an effect.
Finally, I heard Harry Potter got caught out of bounds because of the whole Norma business and Gryffindor lost house points. He must be feeling pretty low right now. Be a good friend and cheer him up, won't you? And if you ever need to sneak around at night, maybe get Fred and George to teach you a few tricks. Not that I'm encouraging rule-breaking, of course—just saying that if you must, at least don't get caught.
Hope all's well at home.
Write back soon.
Love,
Charlie
—
Dear Ron,
Thanks for your letter. Good to hear that Norma was only fed ordinary chicken blood and brandy mixed with chicken—no strange potions or anything with nasty side effects. Young wizards aren't always the best at spotting dangerous substances, so I'm relieved.
Norma's doing even better now. She's started gathering followers among the young Norwegian Ridgebacks and has become the clear leader of her age group. I've got a feeling that when she's fully grown she could become the alpha of the whole ridgeback clan. When that happens, we usually give the dominant dragon of a group a unique title to mark them out.
If it's Norma, perhaps "Queen of the Winds" would suit her one day—though we'll have to wait and see.
When you're in fourth or fifth year, you should come visit. By then she might well be ruling the ridgebacks.
I've enclosed a photograph of Norma.
Love,
Charlie
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