Chapter 9.5

Charlie Weasley had been working with Dragons for quite a few years, and while he was not old, he still had remarkably few scars when compared to other dragon handlers his age. He attributed the feat to the flight harness, which made him more mobile than any other dragon handler, and the unique lightsaber Harry had designed for him.

Instead of just an edge, it also had had a physical force multiplier when used as a baton, and could be locked into place with suspension magic, to create an immovable barrier, should he ever need to block a strike from the massively powerful creatures. Fortunately, the gyroscopic function which allowed the blade to always hit the target in the right direction allowed for the force to be applied in a similar fashion.

Besides impressing the hell out of the other dragon handlers, it had also made the dragons take note when the lightsaber appeared. Try as they might, the strongest of their number had yet to lay a mark on the nimble, flying, red-furred human, earning him both respect and a bit of a leeway, when time came to make changes in the preserve. Charlie never pressed his luck, though, and treated them with kindness, leading to them actually seeking him out when something was bothering them, in their own draconic way, of course… Usually by trying to hit him with their tails with 'mere' lethal levels of force.

He was still happily employed as a Dragon Handler, but he was paid better than when he had started and things were still looking up on that front. The people in charge had seen his talent, even before he was given gifts that had the other Dragon Handlers green with envy and they didn't want to lose him to other preserves, some of whom had already sent scouts to try and poach him.

It was on one of the days, when one of the bigger ones were feeling a little cooped up, and thus needed a few extra handlers, when Charlie was called in from reigning in the angry male Norwegian Ridgeback, when one of their wards detected an anomaly.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked as he unceremoniously kicked the door to his boss's office open.

"Shut it, Weasley!" the man in charge, an ugly, scarred brute of a man with dark brown hair and prominent moustache, said as he stood with his Comm to his ear. "I know, the man just turned up. Do you have your capture teams ready?" he asked into the Comm. There was silence as whoever was on the other side responded, before he nodded. "I'll send him right to you. Get that damn thing under our wards before the muggles see it, or it causes more damage." he said, before ending the call.

"A dragon escaped the wards?" Charlie asked, in shock. That should be impossible.

"No, this isn't one of ours." the man said. "It's coming right for us though, like it knows where we are."

"What species?" Charlie asked. He understood now. He'd play bait, like he did often. To a dragon, he was still just a bite or two, but that didn't stop a dragon from wanting a piece.

"Unknown." the man said, which was shocking, since the man was supposedly one of the world's leading experts. "It's got the strangest colouration, all in variations of black and red, and what looks like a big green gemstone embedded in its chest."

"Understood." Charlie said. The man was basically telling him that if he secured a new species, he was guaranteed a place in history. "Portkey?" he asked.

The man nodded and held up a piece of leather. It was one of the kind that they strapped to their arms for emergency portkey extractions. "I know you're good, Weasley, but don't push your luck. We know nothing about this creature. Don't take any unnecessary chances." he said before he tossed the strap to the young man, who instantly disappeared to the southern-most reaches of the preserve, where the capture team was standing at the ready to subdue and capture the large black and red dragon. "Good luck." the man said, knowing the lad couldn't hear him. He always liked the young man. He had a sense of humour and was strong, quick and dependable. The fact that he loved the job was a bonus.

Charlie appeared, only to be instantly pulled behind an outcropping of stone. "Get out of sight!" the man who had yanked on him demanded.

"What's the situation?" Charlie asked.

"We're fucked! That's the situation!" the man exclaimed angrily. "Some of the new recruits were a bit quick on the draw and gave our location away. The beast looked like it was going to breathe fire, but something else happened. It looked like light, but sounded like dragon fire. When the light stopped, the recruits were gone! Completely destroyed! Not a single piece left! I don't think your normal strategy will work here."

Just then the distinct sound of wings beating was heard and a draconic roar rent the air. Charlie looked up and spotted the large black dragon with red accents, a majestic mane of dark red hair on its head and what looked like a giant diamond-shaped green gemstone, as big as Charlie's torso, stuck in the centre of its chest. It was magnificent. It wasn't the biggest dragon Charlie had ever seen, but he could tell it was powerful. There was also something about this creature that drew his attention.

Curiosity piqued, Charlie ignored the man's exclamations as he lifted up and flew directly after the beast, knowing that dragons seldom checked behind them, especially when hunting, considering nothing attacked a dragon. It didn't seem to notice him as it continued in a lazy circle around the place where the remaining Dragon Handlers were hiding from view. He could suddenly see details he hadn't noticed before. The red mane wasn't just on the head, but went down the spine of the creature all the way down to the tail, where a wicked looking red spike finished it off.

The wings were larger than dragons this size should have, but Charlie suspected that that was an indication that the dragon was immature, like how dogs had larger feet as puppies, to indicate the size that the dog would grow. They also had a rim of red on the pure black wings and Charlie could barely spot what looked like small red markings just above that red rim. He wondered if that was something that was fading with age or if those marks would grow, as often happened with dragons as they matured.

On its head, a wicked looking double pair of horns curved before straightening forward, with what looked like a spiralled growth-pattern, like some deer had. One pair was above the other, the topmost one was slightly more curved and ended pointing slightly in, while the lower pair straightened out more quickly. Were they different colours? Yes, it seemed like the upper pair was slightly lighter in shade, like a very dark red, while the lower ones were pure black, like the majority of the dragon's body. Interesting. It could have developed that so that the more damaging and invasive of the horns would be less easy to spot, camouflaging against the rest of the dragon's body.

"Cool, isn't it?" Harry asked, as he floated next to Charlie.

"Harry?!" Charlie exclaimed as he almost lost focus on his flight control. Almost. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I'm delivering a gift." Harry said, with an excited smile. This was going to be great!

Charlie looked confused for a moment, before the situation caught up with him. "Well, deliver it later. I don't know if you noticed, but I've got more urgent matters to attend to. That dragon's already killed a few men."

"No I didn't!" Harry objected. "I just stored them. They're completely safe and in stasis in my stomach."

"Your…?" Charlie asked. That one caught him completely off guard. He had no idea what to do with that. Had Harry finally lost his marbles? "Whatever. Just, get out of here. I'll speak to you later. I need to handle this." he said, returning his thoughts to how to best handle this dragon. If he couldn't let the thing see him, to avoid being hit by its breath-weapon, how would he distract it? Right! A dragon can't attack itself!

He upped his speed and quickly closed in on the dragon, landing on its back. He could then keep himself safe there, while distracting it, since it couldn't attack him and risk hitting itself.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked innocently, as he floated upside-down above where Charlie had just landed on the Dragon's back, just above the shoulders, where the wings started. No flying creature would willingly risk damaging its own wings.

"Damnit, Harry!" Charlie exclaimed in a harsh whisper, suddenly hoping the dragon hadn't felt him, like he had been before. "I said to get out of here! This thing is dangerous!"

"I'm only dangerous when you attack me, Charlie. You know that." Harry said, calmly.

"Well, I'm not attacking you…" Charlie stopped as understanding finally started dawning on him. "Oh, no. Tell me you didn't send this thing to us?"

"Only in a manner of speaking." Harry said, as the Dragon head finally twisted around, even as it maintained its trajectory of a slow circle around the Dragon Handlers. "HI." it growled in a monstrous draconic voice, the piercing green slitted eyes focussed on Charlie, with no surprise showing on its face, but also no aggression.

Charlie was dumbstruck. He looked between the dragon and Harry. He had thought he knew what was going on, but now… "What's going on, Harry?" he asked.

"Let's get down to the ground, before we have this conversation." Harry said, as the dragon shifted slightly and started going down, toward where he had seen Charlie appear. "Keep your friends off me while I retrieve the others." Harry said, before he vanished.

Charlie didn't know what to think at this point. What was going on?

The dragon soon came in for a landing, and Charlie gently lifted off the Dragon's back, in case Harry hadn't trained it properly… or whatever was happening, before he lifted his hands at the Dragon Handlers, who were getting into position to do their jobs. "Wait!" he called. "Something else is going on here. I think Harry Black has something to do with this." he explained, when some of the older Handlers looked like they were going to ignore him. The leader of the group looked at the floating redhead and narrowed his eyes, but nodded to Charlie and signalled for the others to wait.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Harry." Charlie murmured, as he set himself down, slowly, right in front of the calmly watching Dragon.

"Of course I do." Harry said as he reappeared. "Now, I need you to take a step back. I'm about to eject the others."

The dragon's head reared back after Charlie took a few steps back and opened its mouth.

"Watch out!" the leader of the capture team yelled, but it turned out to be completely unnecessary. The dragon wasn't aiming for Charlie. Instead, the thick beam of red light from the dragon's mouth played over the rocky ground in front of it, leaving the unmoving bodies of the men who had previously been lost. "What the?" the man started, as he noted that the bodies were breathing.

"Harry?" Charlie asked, looking around for his friend, who kept on disappearing for some reason, as the dragon finally sat down, and lowered itself until it was almost lying on the ground.

The gem on the Dragons' chest started to glow, before feet appeared, followed shortly by the rest of Harry's body as he slipped from the gem, like it had no substance. "Hey Charlie." Harry greeted happily. "Do you like your gift?" he asked, with a cocky grin, as the dragon started to shrink, while the people all stared in shock. When the dragon was finished shrinking, it was the size of a small dog and Harry picked it up and placed it on his shoulder. The body still hung off Harry's back, but it didn't seem to bother Harry in the slightest and seemed quite light in its current form. "I don't know why, but he likes hanging on shoulders." Harry said.

"What the HELL is going on here?!" the leader of the capture group exclaimed.

"Oh, hi!" Harry said, with a smile. "I'm Harry Bl-"

"I know who you are! I asked you what the Hell was going on!" he demanded again.

"The short version?" Harry offered. "I designed something new and knew Charlie would love something like this, so I made him one."

"And my people?" the man asked, looking at the younger members of his team as their medic rushed between them to confirm their condition. He received a nod, indicating that they should be okay.

"They attacked me first." Harry said. "Seriously, I thought this was a dragon preserve, not a dragon hunting ground." he reprimanded.

The older man had the decency to nod at that. "You scared them." he mumbled. "Hell, you scared the lot of us. That thing looks mean!" he accused pointing a finger at the little dragon, hanging over Harry's shoulder. Suddenly, it didn't look so mean. The horns had shrunk, visibly dulling as it did so. The glossy black scales had lost some of its lustre as well as the wings shrinking, even in proportion to the dragon.

Harry reached up and scratched below the dragon's chin and it actually purred. "Spike's a friendly dragon. You were the ones who opened fire first. We just stored them away, until Charlie showed up. Spike was supposed to be a surprise."

"Spike?" Charlie asked, as he finally shook himself from the stupor. "You made a dragon?"

"Yes, and yes." Harry said.

Charlie's eyes developed a gleam, then. "You made me one too?" he asked.

"This one is yours." Harry said. He looked at the Dragon. "Go to Charlie. Keep him out of trouble, will you?" he asked, pointing at Charlie.

Charlie was shocked, yet again, when the Dragon nodded and flapped its comically small wings, which still somehow carried it easily as it flew over to Charlie and sniffed him a few times, before going around his head and landing on his shoulder. Tentatively, Charlie reached up and scratched below the chin of the dragon and it purred a bit for him as well.

Charlie looked up at Harry, with big eyes. "You made me a pet dragon?" he asked. It had been a dream of his, that he'd never had the balls to even admit to himself.

"Well, Spike's a bit more complicated than a simple pet, but yes, in essence I made you a pet dragon." Harry allowed.

Harry didn't know the man could move so fast, and was suddenly in one of the redhead's famous bear hugs. "Thank you." he said fervently.

"Thank me after I give you the rundown." Harry said.

"Hold on!" the older man said. "What about my people?" he asked. They were still not moving.

"Ever heard of an enervate?" Harry asked.

"Don't give me attitude." the man said dangerously, even as the healer did just that, and the first man started stirring. "I just saw a dragon bring my people back from the dead. How am I supposed to know how to handle this?"

"They weren't dead." Harry said. "They were just knocked out and portkeyd to a safe location. The light is how that attack works."

"That attack?" Charlie asked. "He's got more?"

"A few, but you need to know how they work before Spike can use them." Harry said.

"What do you mean?" the older man asked, still listening in, but now he was burning with curiosity, since his people were all being successfully revived.

"Sorry, but that's for Charlie to know." Harry said. "As a matter of fact, I'll have to steal him for a bit, so I can teach him."

"Now hold on-" the man started, but Harry lifted up and pulled Charlie with him, with Spike still contentedly hanging on his shoulder.

"You know he'll need to report what happened to the people in charge, right?" Charlie said. "This will likely be in the Daily Prophet by tomorrow morning." he said, indicating one of the Dragon Handlers, who was unashamedly recording what was happening on a Comm.

"So?" Harry asked.

"Aren't you worried that they'll try and take him away?" Charlie asked.

"They can try." Harry chuckled, before they disappeared into a familiar blue light.

Charlie looked up and saw his eldest brother in the co-pilot seat of the Sphere, along with a few wolves and all of Harry's girls.

"Bill!" Charlie exclaimed happily as he stepped to his brother and pulled him into another hug. "Did you know about this?" he asked.

"Harry kept this from me until the last minute." Bill said. "Only Padma knew about this. She and Harry worked on it together."

"Padma?" Charlie asked, turning to the girl and moving quickly to her. He never had trouble telling the twins apart. Not because he had learned from his brothers, but because Padma was usually better dressed than her fashion-guru sister. "Thank you!" he said fervently as he picked her up and spun her.

"Keep those hands where I can see them, Charlie." Harry said, humorously.

"Don't thank me yet." Padma said. "We still need to see if you can feed Spike."

"What does he eat?" Charlie asked. "How did you make him? Is he really alive? How does he shrink? Why does he purr? What-"

"Let's start at the beginning shall we?" Harry asked. "Bill, please take us to the military grounds in Harmony?"

"Just a second." Bill said, as he pulled up a display and transported them directly there. With the Saucer they always had to dock with Prometheus before using the StellarNet, but the Sphere had its own connection and Bill was able to use it like he did on the Prometheus. He was starting to think that he'd like a ship of his own, one day. He was already starting a design in his head.

When they arrived, Harry led Charlie off the Sphere, with Harry's friends following closely. The military grounds had a runway and quite a bit of expanded space to test flight systems with. The fact that all Harmony's ships could perform vertical take-offs didn't necessarily give them all the space they needed for training and so their space had been expanded. It wasn't a wide open space like you'd find on Earth, but for those kinds of tests the ships could simply leave through the designated airlocks and fly over the surface of the planet, with keyed stealth.

"What are we doing here?" Charlie asked.

"You're getting to know your dragon." Harry said. "First off, try asking Spike to grow to his real size."

"Not while he's on your back, though." Padma said quickly. "Spike's a little eager still. We didn't change that, since we thought you'd appreciate it."

"Hold on. How is Spike 'Eager'?" Hermione asked. She'd been told she'd be receiving answers and she had been very good about not asking questions before Charlie received his gift.

"Remember the research on the unity crystals?" Harry asked her, even as Charlie complied and asked the Dragon to take its real form. Hermione nodded. "There's a bit of that involved. It can emulate mental processes, but most importantly, it is highly compatible with magic and a large part of mine and Padma's project had to do with using magic to create both a non-human construct for someone to pilot, like Samantha currently pilots her body here in Harmony, and giving it a faux personality, using some of the information we had gathered and placed in the Black Grimoire."

The Black Grimoire was what Harry called the receptacle for all the stolen knowledge Remus had gathered from the prisoners in Lupin Penitentiary. It contained everything from creating new empowerment rituals, to creating false life. That last was definitely considered dark magic, especially when used to make sentient beings, since the life would always end up being temporary and whatever was created would start life only to die, even if it achieved self-awareness.

The recent discoveries and advancements, however, had led to a bit of a break-through. The Unity Crystal could hold the conscious memories and consciousness, even if the magic faded and the life in the construct ended. That way, when magic was restored, the false life and intelligence could continue where it left off. The trade-off was that you needed to feed the created life your excess magic, on a regular basis. It was basically a magical symbiosis, like with house elves.

There were also a few other things to take into consideration. The Unity Crystal was originally a fully sentient being, or collection of beings. There was a high likelihood that the created life-form could become sentient again, so it would need to be given a choice, should that ever happen. Harry explained most of that, without going into too much detail.

"So, I need to feed him magic?" Charlie asked. "How do I do that?" he asked, instantly willing to do just that, to sustain the new member of his family. He'd never call it a pet. Spike was already family. He even had the red hair to prove it. That was the moment he realised that Harry had likely done that on purpose.

"Before we get to that, let's go over his construction first." Harry said, indicating for Padma to take over.

"We created Spike after Harry's successful first alternate." Padma said. She turned to Hermione, who was about to ask what she meant. "Don't ask. Harry wants to surprise the rest of you." she turned back to Charlie. "Spike's body is constructed of an alien alloy, which we moulded into the correct shape, before transfiguring it to its current, life-like form. We then added runes which would help it maintain the correct shape, even if completely de-powered, meaning it won't turn into anything but its current form. There are many reasons for that, but for the purposes of this explanation, it's important for you to know that Spike's brain is protected, should he ever not have enough power and revert to his metallic form.

"Should he ever run out of magic, he'll return to his full size and turn into a metal statue. The correct way to bring him back is by simply putting your hand on him and willing him your magic, but I'd suggest you rest beforehand. It's a hefty amount of magic to start out with. Fortunately Spike doesn't use a lot of power in his smaller form and he knows what his energy levels are like. He'll become reluctant to do much if he runs low and act tired.

"He can also store an immense amount of power, which is a feature of the metal he's made of. This means you can feed him power every day, even if you don't end up using that power. I'd recommend doing that before bed every night, so that you can recharge as you sleep.

"Spike is an intelligent faux life form. He will learn your habits and remember the people you associate with. Right now he knows very few commands, but he'll understand your intent most of the time, as long as you aren't too demanding or try anything too complicated. Sit, stay, grow, blow up that house… things like that." Padma finished her presentation with a joke. Harry laughed, but nobody else seemed to think it was a joke, since the currently fully grown dragon had looked in the direction she had indicated when she made the joke.

"What about the emerald?" Charlie asked, not caring if what she had said was a joke or not. "How did you enter Spike? What was that?"

Harry took over from there. "Oh, that's the best part. It's what the project started out as. When Spike has enough power, you'll be able to… what's the best word here? 'Enter' sounds wrong."

"Synchronize?" Padma offered.

"Merge?" Harry tried. He shook his head. "Either way, you can become one. When you do so, your mind takes over the body, while your body enters a form of suspension, but he'll be able to assist you, in a manner of speaking. There's simply too much for you to learn it all, not without teaching you how to construct one of these on your own, but I'm not going to allow that."

"Harry doesn't need his own… thing… to be alive for him to use it." Padma said.

"If it was a humanoid form, it would be simple, but using a non-human form has problems, which necessitated the use of a sub-system. Thus, Spike." Harry finished.

"So, the personality in the Unity Crystal is also connected to the body like an operating system, and the person who enters the body, becomes the user." Hermione said, as she pondered it through. "What if Spike refuses to allow someone in? What if he becomes aware?"

"If that happens, Charlie will need to discuss with Spike what he wants." Harry said. "There is a partitioned area where both minds are on equal footing, but separated for security. In there, intentions and feelings, should they ever become real, can be shared. I suspect that two intelligent beings would be able to use that to converse."

"Couldn't Spike try and take Charlie's body over, or hurt him?" Hermione pressed. This mind-meld thing seemed quite risky.

"Only if Charlie allows it." Harry said. "It's how the system is supposed to work. Mutual trust will allow for the strongest connection and the best results. As you share your minds with each other, you will become more familiar with each other.

"Charlie, the life in Spike may be magically sustained, but the mind, the personality, was crafted with the ability to care and feel. He can grow and learn and will definitely become attached to someone who treats him right. When you treat him like I know you will, like he's not just some 'thing', he will start to really care for you. He'll become your very best friend and if you sustain him properly, care for him like family, he'll be the best companion you could ever want." Harry finished with a bit of a smile.

Charlie said nothing, but looked up at the Dragon, who seemed to be looking at him intently, a spark of something more than just animal interest behind the large, golden, slitted eyes. "You and I will definitely be the best of friends." Charlie said to the dragon, who closed his eyes and nodded slightly at Charlie. Then the eyes opened again and the dragon looked up, watching as one of the aerial vehicles flew by. It spread its wings and looked down at Charlie, cocking its head in question.

There was suddenly excitement in the dragon's posture. It seemed it was interested in inspecting the flying vehicle. Charlie looked at Spike, as he quickly lowered his chest closer to the ground. Charlie looked back at Harry.

"He wants to fly. Spike loves to fly." Harry chuckled. "Don't keep him waiting. Get in there. I gave him a good charge."

Charlie's eyes widened, before he quickly placed a hand on the crystal. It slid in like it was made of water and Charlie was soon sucked up into the body of the Dragon. A moment after Charlie disappeared, the Dragon's eyes changed, turning brown, the same shade as Charlie's. The dragon looked around excitedly and flapped his wings once.

"Don't try and force it." Harry said, when Charlie/Spike almost fell over. "Let Spike handle the mechanics. You'll get a feel for it with practice."

The Dragon nodded and its posture changed as the dragon mind re-asserted control over itself, even as the eyes stayed brown. Charlie was learning to work with Spike quickly. It didn't take long for the dragon to become airborne and a roar of exultation flew from its mouth, as Charlie experienced his first flight as a dragon.

Fortunately Daphne had taken the time to inform the military personnel about what was happening that day. That didn't stop the pilot of the small ship from shitting himself, when a large black Dragon aligned above him and looked down at the puny human, before shooting ahead with the magically enhanced speed of anything Harry built himself. If Harry made it and it could fly, it could do so very fast. The test vehicle, created by the magical R&D division, wasn't as fast, but would allow for mundane use, which was what they were currently working on.

It took half an hour before Charlie came back down. He hadn't used any of the attacks the dragon could, since he could tell it would be draining on his new friend and he'd wait for a need to arise before doing anything like that. During the flight, Charlie learned what he could of the dragon. He could feel the storage space where the people had been kept and realised that it was quite large. The transportation beam, as he now understood that breath weapon to be, was instantly available and he just knew how to use it, when the draconic mind somehow inquired of him if he wanted to use it. It wasn't with words, mind you. It was more of a feeling, like a question had been asked and the intent behind it carried the meaning to Charlie's mind.

When Charlie exited through the Gem, he had a look of awe on his face. "That was the best thing I have ever experienced in my entire life." he said softly, before turning to Spike. "Thank you, Spike. That was amazing." he finished, as his voice broke and he wiped away at a manly tear. He wasn't crying, of course. He must be allergic to something here on Mars. Yes, that made sense to him. Neville must have planted something new and that had somehow ended up all the way on this side of Harmony.

Bill wasn't going to let that go, though. "Did I just hear your voice crack?!" he asked incredulously. "Seriously, since when are Dragon Handlers such sissies?" he mocked, with a smile.

Charlie turned around, but the angry look on his face was broken by the small smile on his lips. Trust Bill to say just the right thing to bring his mood back to something approaching normal. "You��re just jealous that I can become a dragon and you've never been that cool."

"I can press a button and see the other side of the Galaxy." Bill said smugly. "I'm cooler than that on a daily basis."

"He's also dating a Veela." Harry pointed out.

"Engaged, actually." Bill said, with a smile.

"What?!" Harry exclaimed. "I didn't know that!"

"When did this happen?" Charlie asked, despite himself.

"Harry's birthday." Bill admitted. "With the twins' fireworks and the formal setting, with all our friends around and everything, we went to get some privacy and I decided it was time."

"Wait, that's what you were doing in Sirius's bedroom?" Harry asked. He'd spotted them leaving that wing of the house, but hadn't had the time, nor cared enough to find out what they were doing.

"No, we were celebrating our engagement in his bed." Bill said with a smirk. "Did he ever find out?"

"I don't think so, but then I don't know that he'd find a body in that room if you left it there for a week. The place is a sty." Harry countered. Sirius insisted that he had a system and didn't allow the elves to touch his room. It was something that had come up a time or two, as some of the more fervent elves requested the right to clean Sirius's room as a reward for good behaviour.

"Fair enough." Bill allowed. It had been a bit on the unkempt side, but neither he, nor Bella were really there for the décor.

Bill received many congratulations and soon they were having drinks. Charlie refused, though, stating that he needed to get back to work.

It wasn't long before Charlie was standing before his boss again, Spike hanging over his shoulder.

"This that pet dragon thing?" the man asked.

"Spike isn't a pet. He's going to be my partner. He's still learning the job, but he learns quickly and he's going to be an asset to the Dragon Handlers." Charlie said.

"What is it?" the man asked.

"I don't know that he is classified as any specific thing, but he was artificially created by Harry Black." Charlie admitted. "Spike is likely closely related to a golem, but one with brains and the heart of a dragon."

"Should I be getting ready for an influx of new species?" the man asked.

"I don't think so." Charlie said. "The way Harry put it, he's only made one. Spike is one of a kind."

"Thank Merlin for that." the man said. He looked critically at Charlie, then. "Can you disillusion… him? We don't want distractions."

Before Charlie could reply, Spike disappeared. It was how Harry had flown Spike through the country without people noticing. "Seems like he can do it himself." Charlie said, also not having expected that. He'd need to charge Spike up that evening. He didn't think he really needed it, but something told him that invisibility came with a cost in the creature's stored magical energy.

"Smart little thing, isn't he?" the man smirked. "Fine, then. But don't let me hear that he's been causing trouble, okay?"

"Of course not." Charlie scoffed as he turned and left without anything further. Dragon handlers seldom stood on ceremony.

OOO

With the Dragon out of the bag, Hermione decided to unveil her own achievement. She called the group together the next day and conjured a wall in her lab. Then she proceeded to cast a single spell on herself. No visible change happened, but when Hermione walked through the wall with no resistance, it became clear that she'd not only devised a form of phasing, but she'd already turned it into a spell which you could learn.

"It's not quite as simple as just learning a spell." Hermione explained. "You have to understand the basics of how matter interacts and that there are massive spaces between particles. Once you know that, using the spell I designed allows your molecules to distinguish and isolate themselves from the matter around it, bending and passing by the other matter without physical interference. The magical cost is almost negligible, but you need to ensure the spell is always powered. If it runs out of power, you could get stuck, or die. The denser the substance you're moving through, the more power it drains to move through."

"What about the floor?" Harry asked. He was impressed, but he didn't understand how she was currently standing on solid matter, if she was supposedly insubstantial.

"Intent is built into the spell." Hermione said. "Just like how our understanding of how the universe works allows us to perform certain spells, our perception of what matter needs to be affected, does exactly that. Otherwise I wouldn't be affected by gravity, because the matter that should be attracting me isn't affecting the matter in me. I'd not be able to breathe either, or see, or much of anything really."

"Brilliant." Harry said. He'd not even thought of that. He was also glad that Hermione had finally achieved something on her own. He'd been worried that his achievements had somehow affected her confidence. Seeing her success in this had put his mind at ease. Even if she had helped come up with uses for his technology, it was never truly her own. "Simply brilliant, Hermione!" he exclaimed emphatically. "Now those Tollans don't have that over us anymore, either. Ha!"

"I don't think their technology and my spell works the same way." Hermione admitted. "If I understand what we were able to extrapolate correctly, their technology doesn't affect the person. Rather the effect is on the wall they wish to pass through. In some ways that's better, in others, not so much."

"You'd need to program the solidity of the space you're moving through, and on, and risk matter being affected incorrectly if the substance suddenly changes." Padma said, in understanding. "Your method simply requires the correct knowledge, power and insight. That really is brilliant, Hermione." she complimented.

Hermione smiled at her lab partner, glad her friend wasn't upset at being left out of this project. "Thanks." she said, as all the gathered group started congratulating her. When they were done, she added, "Now I just need to work on some sort of monitoring method, which will stop a person from attempting a phase if the power isn't enough."

"Well, you've got me all to yourself." Padma said. "Harry wants to start expanding on his current project on his own."

"Seriously, what is he working on!?" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated all over again. "It's not like it can be any more impressive than that bloody dragon!"

"Well, the dragon is definitely one of the more impressive uses of my current project," Harry admitted, "but I'm working on something that will become necessary in the near future. A few things will become possible if my plans work out. The dragon was necessary as a proof of concept, but it's not everything I'll need."

"You're being way too secretive about this." Hermione accused.

"Just because I'm not letting you girls see everything in my life anymore, doesn't mean I'm being too secretive." Harry said. "In fact, I'm almost certain this is the normal amount of separation for any healthy relationship. On the plus side, I'm finally able to surprise you girls again. Also plausible deniability." he finished in a whisper.

"I heard that." Hermione said.

"I love surprises." Luna interjected.

"Me too." Daphne said. She seldom got any from Harry, being in such close proximity to him most of the time.

"I'm partial to plausible deniability, myself." Pansy joked. She was a Slytherin, after all.

Susan had nothing to say, while Fleur and Parvati just smiled at the byplay.

"And I'm willing to give you a lot of that, Pansy." Harry joked along with her. "Anybody else got any cool new tricks?" he asked. It had been a busy while. He'd finally completed part of his ongoing project and done something he'd wanted to do for years, by giving Charlie a pet dragon. Hermione was practically finished with her phasing project. Pansy had more work and testing to do with the Transformation Module, alongside Madam Pomfrey and, as Harry understood it, Doctor Fraser from the SGC was also being invited to help.

Susan was now a full-time member of the wolves, with a senior partner who used to be an auror. Luna was making good progress with her first Harry Black movie. The cast were not very well known and the quality of acting wasn't all that good, but magicals were wonderful at making fantasy into reality, so they used many means to get the most out of said actors. Some of them charmed themselves, others used potions or limited illusions. The rest would be done in production. Harry didn't even know what she would do for the score, but Luna seemed to be having a whole lot of fun learning her trade.

Fleur and Parvati were also quite busy with their individual, and quite successful, businesses.

It seemed that there were no other new developments that the girls wanted to talk about, but the conversation wasn't over just yet.

"What about Hagrid?" Luna asked.

"Hagrid?" Harry asked, not understanding.

"He'll want a dragon too, of course." Hermione said, like it should have been obvious.

"Oh… right." Harry said. He knew he'd forgotten something. Knowing Charlie, Hagrid already knew about Spike, and thought Harry just didn't care. "Well, fuck."

OOO

It had taken a week for Harry, with Padma's assistance, to construct a dragon for the half-giant as well. It was by no means a cheap operation either, since they had very limited stock of the unity crystal and Naquadah was more valuable than gold to them. Harry didn't mind the time he spent on it too. The repetitive functions and detail work allowed him to consider his plans for Oma Desala.

When the dragon was complete, it looked a lot like Spike, except this one had black and brown coloration, with a blue gemstone in its chest. The horns, tail, mane, wings and spine were all almost exactly the same, with slight changes to make them unique still. The only other big difference was that 'Sparky', the new dragon, didn't have a secondary fire breath-weapon, like Spike. His was lightning instead. It used more magical energy, but Harry had no misgivings about the fact that Hagrid would be sharing this dragon with his lady, Madam Maxime. They could charge him together. Only one would be able to enter and merge with the dragon, but Harry decided to leave it up to them and the dragon to decide who would be the one to do that. Whoever did, would likely just lift the other anyway.

OOO

Not wanting to delay his mission to meet the Ascended being any longer, Harry waited just long enough to confirm that the personality of the dragon was stable, before he called the big man in for a meeting, asking him to invite his lady along for the event.

It was still school holiday, but only barely, and Hagrid was still working at Hogwarts, but he was commuting to Beauxbatons on weekends to see his lady. The Marauders may have installed a secret transportation room in his cabin. His magical education was almost complete as well, with Madam Maxime tutoring him over weekends, and him studying the recordings of classes at night, in his free time. He was already a qualified fifth year, meaning he could technically be allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts since he was of age.

He never ended up needing to explain the origins of the Prism Wand, a wand Harry had created with the, then, newly discovered magical medium, blue diamond. Dumbledore, of all people, had performed some complicated security magic, which would not allow anyone to touch his two most precious items; the wand and the Problem Solver, a massive pistol, sized for Hagrid's hand. It was as deadly as could be, with a few of Harry's own tricks to make it into the most advanced and deadly weapon imaginable, for people who didn't know shit about lasers, anyway.

Hagrid and Madam Maxime were elegantly attired when they arrived for dinner that Saturday evening, by Transport Tunnel, on the girls' night out. The wolves had arranged a large carpet to pick them up and it flew them to the Black Mansion, where Hathor, in her maid outfit, greeted the guests and saw them in. Hathor had not expected to see such huge humans and a small part of her wondered if a Goa'uld would be able to possess them. If they possessed magic and were as strong as the man looked, then these would be considered prizes. She shook her head, reminding herself that she didn't need to think about such things ever again. Her lord gave her everything she could want and more, for performing a chore she ultimately didn't mind doing.

When the guests entered the den, a smaller, but more comfortably appointed room, where Harry tended to lounge when he wasn't required for formal engagements, they saw Harry chatting with Charlie Weasley and Hagrid's back straightened immediately. Harry was not wrong about Hagrid finding out about the Dragon, and there Charlie sat, chatting with Harry, with his dragon sitting on his lap as he absently petted it. To make it worse, it seemed Harry had one of his own, who was in a similar position.

"Be calm, dear Rubeus." Madam Maxime murmured. She knew about Hagrid's disappointment and they had talked about it. Hagrid was mostly just quiet and slightly grumpy when the subject came up, which to Madam Maxime screamed that he was massively offended, but that he felt he had no right to demand something like that for himself, even though he was jealous as could be.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed happily, as he shot up, unceremoniously dumping his dragon on the floor as he did so. The small dragon didn't even feel it, being more durable than Hagrid knew, but it growled lowly and sent a zap of electricity into Harry's right leg.

"Hey, now!" Hagrid objected immediately, as he made his way over to the grumpy little dragon. "The little tyke didn'a deserve tha' now did 'e?"

Harry was rubbing at the spot where the dragon had hit him, while Charlie just laughed. Harry had given the little guy a bit of a bite, personality wise, knowing that it would simply endear him to Hagrid. He didn't know how quickly that would come up though. "He didn't feel a thing. You could use him as a club to knock out a real dragon and he could sleep through it." Harry said, as he finished massaging the sensitive spot on his leg. "Ouch, by the way. Bad Sparky." he reprimanded the little dragon. Sparky, for his part, simply blinked at Harry and his forked tongue shot out for a second, in a draconic attempt at blowing a raspberry.

"Don' blame the little guy for nippin' ye when you don' treat 'em righ'." Hagrid said, as he bent before the little dragon and held out a hand for Sparky to sniff. Hagrid seemed to have forgotten his jealousy, in that moment of caring for a creature. It was exactly why Harry had also orchestrated the entire situation.

"Yeah, yeah." Harry said. He turned to Madam Maxime and bowed slightly. "Madam Maxime. You are radiant as ever." he complimented. "Welcome to the Black Mansion."

Madam Maxime was watching the by-play and had her eyes narrowed at Harry, having picked up that something was going on. This had the feel of a setup. Charlie being here and the second dragon, had her hoping, but not daring to address that thought. It would be devastating to Hagrid if it turned out to be incorrect. "Good evening, Monsieur Black. Sank you for ze invitation." Her accent had never really improved, but then, she'd never tried.

Hagrid was still kneeling in front of the dragon, who had been sniffing at Hagrid's hand and then jumped into it, uninvited. "'E likes me!" he exclaimed happily. Damned fool he had been to be angry at Harry for not getting him his own dragon. Of course Harry wouldn't mind if he came to visit his dragon. Harry was a good lad, after all. "Yeah, thanks for the invitation." Hagrid finally said after he got up, cradling the brown topped black dragon in one hand and stroking his scales with the other, quite gently.

"Eez zees one of your new creations?" Madam Maxime asked, as she approached Hagrid and inspected the little dragon.

"Yes." Harry said. "His name's Sparky. He's got a bit of a temper, but he's a sweetheart, really."

"Oh, 'e's a good boy, I can tell." Hagrid enthused.

"It's probably a good thing that you like him." Charlie entered the conversation.

"Why?" Hagrid asked. "Need someone to take care o' him?" he asked hopefully. Maybe Harry was going on one of those long missions to help aliens again and they needed a babysitter. Hagrid would not mind taking that responsibility at all.

"No." Harry said, expecting a disappointed look and not being let down. "It's good that you like him, because he's yours." he said with a grin.

"Congrats, Hagrid." Charlie said, when Hagrid's mouth just fell open and he stared at Harry in shocked amazement.

Madam Maxime smiled broadly at Harry and quickly stepped forward to hug him. "You 'ave probably made 'im 'appier zan I could. I don't know if I should be upset, impressed or grateful."

"Well, if you settle on grateful, you'd do me a great favour by helping Hagrid keep the little guy alive." Harry said back.

Hagrid was finally getting himself back together and tears were welling up in his eyes. "Really?" he asked. "You wouldn't be playin' a cruel prank on me, would ya 'Arry?" he asked, holding the dragon to him more closely, like he couldn't imagine giving him back after being told that.

"Do I look like Sirius to you?" Harry asked. "I do classy, not cruel. Pranks should be funny, not cause scars."

Hagrid nodded at that. "O' course not, 'Arry. I shouldna said tha'." he apologised. Then he looked down at what was suddenly his most precious possession. "'e is a beaut." he enthused. "How does 'e work? What does 'e eat? I'm thinking raw meat, but he's just a baby. Does 'e need milk or something special?"

"Sparky isn't a baby, but his mind is still young." Harry said. "Also, he eats magic, so you're going to need to get used to powering him yourself. Fortunately, he works like a battery, and he can store up a lot of power, but when he uses his powers, it will drain his magic more quickly."

"Harry's not even to the good part yet." Charlie enthused, as he walked up to Hagrid, with Spike now hanging off his shoulder. "Let's go for a walk." he suggested.

"Hey! What am I supposed to do? Just hang out here while you steal all the fun parts?" Harry objected.

"If you want." Charlie shrugged. "You were doing a horrible job at introducing Hagrid to Sparky, anyway."

"It's not like I could use the same method I used for you, now can I?" Harry said.

Charlie just nodded, but continued to lead the way out of the house. He'd not gotten a license for Harmony yet, even though he had a flight harness, but fortunately Harry had Transport Rooms all over the place.

It was just a short while later, that they were standing in the Military district again. Both Hagrid and Maxime gaped, when they saw Spike grow. Apparently the whole story hadn't reached them. They had heard Harry had made a living pet dragon for Charlie and that was about it. Whoever had passed the message along had apparently decided that Hagrid deserved a surprise.

"An' Sparky can do the same thing?" Hagrid asked in shock, as he looked up at the intimidating face of Spike, fully grown.

"Oh, that's not even the best part." Charlie said enthusiastically. "Watch this."

Charlie walked up to his dragon and made eye-contact, before he moved his hand in a signal of some sort. It was similar to what dragon handlers used to communicate when they couldn't hear each other. Dragons could be loud after all. Spike seemed to understand and lowered himself for Charlie to access his gem.

When Charlie was fully integrated into the dragon, his eyes changed again and he looked down at Hagrid and smiled, with way too many teeth. "SSSSEE?" the dragon asked, in a horrible imitation of speech. The mouth and tongue were simply not designed for speech, but Hagrid seemed to understand.

"They can become one?" Hagrid asked. This was so far beyond what he had been expecting he didn't know where to start.

"'arry, can Sparky do that with Hagrid, too?" Maxime asked, as Charlie lifted up and started flying about.

"That's up to Sparky." Harry said. "I gave him a bit of help to develop a personality, but from there he's Hagrid's to train and teach. If he treats him well, Sparky would likely love to Merge with Hagrid." 'Merge' was the term they had decided to use, because nothing else seemed to work. Two becoming one, rather than one taking the other over, like a parasite. Like a Goa'uld.

That was about it for the introduction phase. Charlie soon came back down and emerged from his dragon, stating he wanted to save his energy. He had not yet reached the limit of what Spike could do, and he rather preferred it that way. He never wanted the creature to run out of power. He did have a question for Harry, though.

"What happens if Spike runs out of power, while we are merged." he asked.

"You will be ejected as soon as his energy becomes too low, and he will shrink to preserve what power he has. Spike will know when he starts running low and you can give him power directly when you are merged, so don't worry about being caught out over the ocean or something." Harry said. "That being said, please just apparate or take a portkey over large bodies of water? It would be really difficult to get him back if he fell into the ocean and turned to metal for some reason."

"Metal?" Hagrid asked. The conversation picked up from there, informing Hagrid about how the dragon worked and a limited bit of information about the alien alloy. Hagrid was excited to try merging, so he coaxed Sparky into growing and asked politely if he could try. The dragon seemed to consider the man before him for a moment, before he looked at Harry, for confirmation. He'd only really gotten to know Harry and Padma and he didn't know this man yet.

When Harry nodded, the Dragon looked down and then lowered himself, so that Hagrid could more comfortably reach the large blue gem. Hagrid touched his hand to it and was sucked in rather quickly. It seemed the dragon was excited for its first merging. It was partially its primary function, after all.

Hagrid was in a complete state of bliss by the time they returned to the Mansion. He'd quickly connected with the little dragon and it seemed like they were made for each other… well, Sparky literally was, but that wasn't the point. They merged and synchronized instantly, the draconic body not struggling once to take off. Before long, he'd landed before Maxime and lowered himself, indicating with his head that she should get on. She didn't need another invitation and soon they were both enjoying the flight of a dragon.

As they sat down to dinner, Sparky walked around the table to play with Spike, who seemed game, and they were soon running about, chasing and playfully bumping into each other, with little hisses growls and grunts. Soon the mostly black little dragons were running about full-tilt, bumping against furniture and nearly upending chairs as they ran under them. The elves didn't mind keeping an eye and only needed to repair one vase which had been standing on a pedestal.

Hagrid forgot about his food on more than one occasion as he marvelled at the completely alive-seeming creature. "I still don' understand 'ow you made 'em." Hagrid admitted to Harry. "They are alive and playing and I'm seeing them learning quickly, like baby animals do."

"The magic involved has been around for ages, but the technology is quite new." Harry explained. "The magic would be considered dark, because the life is temporary. If a faux-life construct runs out of energy, it dies and loses all memory of what or who it had been. My method includes a way to ensure that never happens. Even if it runs out, when it receives power again, it becomes who it was just before going to, what amounts to sleep, for them."

"I don't know everything myself, but I've done a bit of reading." Charlie said. "If I'm understanding it right, it's like this; imagine you woke up tomorrow, having forgotten who you were, where you were, what you were, even. Now imagine that happening every time you went to sleep."

Hagrid shuddered. Such an existence would be torturous. "I think I understand." he said as he nodded. He took a long drink from his glass of whiskey, before continuing. "I can't imagine such a thing feeling good."

"But you 'ave resolved ze issue entirely?" Maxime asked.

"I tested it properly first, and yes, my methodology allows for perfect recall." Harry said. "Now, the dragons don't have what you would call a soul, but every time you merge with your dragons, it will impart what I'm going to call an imprint of yours. The soul isn't a quantifiable substance, of course, but for the purpose of this conversation it will do." Harry was talking about the psyche of the dragons. They literally needed human interaction to grow in any kind of healthy way. "The short explanation is, these dragons need people, for more than just the power we provide. They are like children, willing and able to learn from you. If you raise them right, they'll be part of your family for as long as your family exists."

There was silence after that. It wasn't something any of them had considered before, but it made sense that as long as these creatures ran on magic and didn't physically age, they were technically immortal. If what Harry said was true, the alloy that made their bodies was also one of the stronger ones in the universe, making them very hard to kill. Harry hadn't even told them that they were technically not in the body of the dragon, when they merged, but rather in a completely separate location, where the Unity Crystals were housed as well. Harry wouldn't risk shock or trauma to damage either the minds or the bodies of his friends or their dragons. Crystal was susceptible to shock, after all.

Hagrid had not been told exactly how to feed his dragon, but thought he had understood the concept of giving the dragon his magic. At some point, he reached into his pocket and withdrew the Prism Wand. Thinking for a moment, Hagrid held the wand over his hand and conjured what looked like a large bone in it. Then he proceeded to hold the wand over the bone for a while, as he poured magic into the magically conjured snack, after which he presented the bone to a curious Sparky.

Sparky, for his part, didn't necessarily understand what he was being offered, but he wanted to learn from his human, so he inspected the bone he was being offered. All it took was one sniff, before the little guy snatched the bone from Hagrid's hand and started chewing on the bone, slowly sapping the magic out of the conjured food, and looking quite content at doing so.

"That's brilliant." Charlie said, as Spike walked to Sparky, only to receive a warning growl from the other dragon. Spike didn't know how to react to that, but recognized real aggression for the first time in it's life, as he stepped away quickly. Charlie hadn't allowed him near the other dragons yet. He wanted to train him up first. "Come here Spike. I'll make you something to chew on, too." Charlie said, taking out his own wand and copying Hagrid.

"That really was a good idea, Hagrid." Harry complimented.

"You said I need ta feed 'im magic, righ'?" Hagrid asked, not understanding.

"Usually, I place my hand on him and send my magic into Spike that way." Charlie said, with some humour as he handed Spike his own magical snack. Spike didn't take long to follow Sparky's example, and soon he too was curled up on the floor, chewing at his own bone noisily, seemingly enjoying the snack immensely. "I'm thinking Spike will be wanting at least one of these for his meals from now on, as well." he said, chuckling at the little dragon as he gave his entire focus to the bone he was chewing on.

"Rubeus 'as always 'ad a knack for understanding creatures." Madam Maxime said proudly.

"Well, it doesn' seem righ', does it?" Hagrid said. "'ere we're enjoyin' a meal and the little tyke is running himself ragged, without even a bit 'o food to tide him over till I can feed 'em properly."

Harry smiled at the soft-hearted half-giant. "Never change, Hagrid." he said.

"Wasn' plannin' to." Hagrid said, smiling back at Harry. He didn't know what, but he was going to have to do something nice for Harry one of these days. He wasn't the smartest man under the sun, but he hadn't failed to notice the help Harry had given him to snag himself the best girl in the world. He'd also not forgotten all the magical gifts Harry had given him, just for being his friend. Yes, he'd definitely need to think on how to thank Harry properly. Maybe his beautiful Maxime could help him plan something?

When the guests left that evening, it was to two seemingly tired dragons, snoring slightly in the arms of their owners. Padma had added little things like circadian rhythms and moods, sometimes depending on weather and temperature. They could also learn their moods from those around them. Both these dragons had a steady body heat, but they still liked to stretch out by an open fire or cuddle into a warm body, at night. Harry had thought it cute that Padma had thought of things like that, and she'd explained it as something to help them bond, but he knew she just though they were cute, when they were small. He had to admit, the slightly chubbier bodies, and blunted edges when they shrank, gave them a cuddlier look.

When Harry arrived by his room, it was to find a host of girls, all seemingly waiting for him. Most of them seemed tipsy. All of them were randy. 'Oh the things I do in the name of love.' he thought to himself as he grinned at them.