Chapter 220: Norwegian Ridgebacks, Freedom
Norway.
The remote northern mountains stretched endlessly.
Three figures bundled in heavy winter clothing trudged through the snow, picking their way carefully between the ridges.
"Dawn, can't we transfer to a different department? The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is absolutely miserable!"
"Tell me about it. And we're assigned to fire-breathing dragons, of all things. One wrong step and you're crippled. Anything worse and your family's collecting the pension."
Listening to his two colleagues grumble, the lead wizard, Dawn, was quiet for a moment before offering what comfort he could.
"The higher-ups said they'd give us a bonus."
That only made things worse. The other two erupted at once.
"A bonus? That's what we're owed!"
"Exactly. It's nearly Christmas. What Muggle is going to wander out to this godforsaken place? And we're supposed to patrol the perimeter of the largest Norwegian Ridgeback habitat, casting Obliviate on any Muggle who spots a dragon?"
"In this weather, no less. The wind and snow are ridiculous. Can't even ride a broom. We're walking."
Dawn sighed, trying to think of something reassuring when a sound cut through the storm.
"ROAR!"
A dragon's cry poured into their ears.
The bellow carried a faint pressure of draconic authority, briefly parting the wind and snow as it echoed between the peaks.
Dawn's face fell. That was unmistakably a Norwegian Ridgeback.
Dragons were among the magical creatures most likely to be accidentally spotted by Muggles. Their sheer size made them conspicuous, and they could fly, meaning they might pass over the edges of human settlements at any time.
On top of that, some Muggles had a habit of venturing deep into wilderness areas, which only increased the chances of an encounter.
And then there was what was happening right now.
"ROARRR!"
A second cry, far more violent and oppressive than the first.
"They're fighting again! Do they ever stop?"
Most dragons had foul tempers, and skirmishes were common. Once a fight started, they lost all awareness of their surroundings.
Smashing a few mountaintops and setting vast stretches of forest ablaze was hardly unusual.
Which sent the chances of Muggle detection through the roof.
For the wizards assigned to this region, it was a thankless job.
And when it came to aggression, Norwegian Ridgebacks were the worst of the lot.
"All right, all right. Let's get over there and set up a perimeter."
At Dawn's word, the other two followed, though the complaints didn't stop.
"Dawn, it really is nearly Christmas. No Muggles are coming out here. Even the loneliest soul alive wouldn't pick this time of year for a mountain expedition, would they?"
"Don't get complacent. Remember two years ago? A group of Muggles deliberately sought out harsh conditions like this. Said they were doing some sort of 'wilderness survival challenge'. Seeing who could last the longest outdoors. Muggles, honestly…"
"Don't remind me. That lot nearly got skewered by a Romanian Longhorn. It was planning to store them as winter rations."
The three quickened their pace. The source of the roaring was getting closer.
They could already see several jets of dragonfire shooting into the sky.
"What's that? Dark gold dragonfire? Is that even a Norwegian Ridgeback?"
"What's so strange about that? A mutation, or maybe a cross-breed between different dragon species. Special magical abilities, that's all."
They reached a valley basin.
Two massive black shapes rampaged through the wind and snow, occasionally blasting dragonfire at each other. The snow along their path melted in an instant, and wherever the flames touched, rock and earth dissolved.
The slightly larger of the two shadows seized an opening and lunged at its opponent, clearly more confident at close quarters.
Just as the two were about to collide, dark gold flame erupted and engulfed one of the black shapes.
The three observers couldn't help exclaiming.
"Looks like it really is a mutant dragon species. Never seen one like that before."
"Never mind the dragons. Keep your eyes on the surroundings. Check the ridgelines and the access points for any Muggles who might have wandered in."
Dawn was the first to put on a monocle and begin scanning the storm-lashed landscape.
Suddenly, as his gaze swept across the terrain, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing on the summit of a peak.
He couldn't tell whether it was a wizard or a Muggle. Instinctively, Dawn channelled magic into the monocle, adjusting its structure to magnify his view, and peered at the figure more closely.
He saw dark golden hair whipping freely in the wind and snow. He was about to study the person's face when, as if sensing the attention, the figure turned and looked directly at him.
Dawn saw a pair of deep, dark green eyes, and his entire body seized up. It felt as though both his flesh and his soul had been frozen solid by the cold.
The figure vanished.
"Obliviate."
"Again…"
Leonardo shook his head, looking at the three people standing rigid before him.
On previous trips to different Norwegian Ridgeback habitats with Norbert, he had run into wizards like these, stationed to monitor the dragons or patrol the area in case Muggle hikers strayed too close.
He had considered setting up confusion wards and boundary arrays around the area, but the territory was too vast, making the task enormous. And dragons had a habit of fighting their way right out of any perimeter, leaving Leonardo to clean up afterwards anyway.
In the end, it was simpler to skip the elaborate setup. Leonardo just picked a good vantage point and did more or less the same job as those wizards.
He cast Obliviate on the three of them again. A dozen or so pale blue tendrils, like tiny hands, extended from his wand tip and reached towards their heads.
He had to admit, the refinements Lockhart had made to the Memory Charm were genuinely clever. The targeted range of deleted memories was far more precise, and the sense of gaps left behind was significantly reduced.
An even more interesting, though arguably more "sinister", improvement was the ability to implant memories that did not belong to the original person.
The implanted memories couldn't be excessive, nor could they seriously contradict the target's personality or will. Making someone commit suicide, for instance, was entirely out of the question. It was more of a supplementary function, meant to make the Memory Charm's application smoother.
When Leonardo had reviewed Lockhart's memories and his notes on the Memory Charm, he found that Lockhart had performed remarkably detailed deletions and adjustments on the memories of those he had robbed of their experiences, smoothing out the chain of cause and effect.
Covering tracks and maintaining lies really were essential skills for a storyteller.
If Lockhart hadn't plagiarised other people's deeds and memories, he might well have become famous on the strength of his writing alone.
Leonardo adjusted the three wizards' recent memories. Any trace of his own presence had to go. Then, the outcome of the dragon fight needed editing.
He altered Norbert's distinctive traits to make them less memorable. In their revised recollection, the unusual dragon had ultimately been defeated by the local alpha and fled, never to return to this territory.
He let the pale blue tendrils dissipate from his wand tip, then moved all three into the Trunk World. He would release them somewhere safe once everything was finished. His gaze turned towards the centre of the valley.
The Norwegian Ridgeback that had been fighting Norbert was showing clear signs of defeat.
Norbert's entire body was sheathed in dark gold dragonfire, and his opponent was unwilling to engage up close.
An ordinary Norwegian Ridgeback's breath, when it struck that layer of dark gold flame, was first consumed by it, and what remained after the weakening was not enough to breach scales that already possessed extremely high magical and fire resistance.
Norbert's growth period had been short. Even though dragons matured quickly, and even with Leonardo bolstering Norbert's constitution through potions and arcane techniques, his raw physical toughness still fell short of a truly mature dragon of the same species.
In close combat, the disadvantage in strength and experience should have been Norbert's weakness.
But the new ability gained from his magical circuit optimisation, coating his entire body in dragonfire, had erased the opponent's advantage. Now it was the other dragon that had to be wary of Norbert's aggressive charges.
Once Norbert's dragonfire shifted to dark gold, it burned hotter than ordinary dragonfire while being far more adhesive. Under sustained exposure, even a fire dragon couldn't endure it.
"Wrrr…"
The fight reached its conclusion. The Norwegian Ridgeback alpha lay pinned beneath Norbert, the dragonfire's burn drawing out a wail of submission.
Leonardo Apparated to the two dragons. Norbert was already bounding over, scattering his flame cloak, pressing his still-warm, enormous head into Leonardo's outstretched palm.
Leonardo checked Norbert over. No injuries. He glanced at the Norwegian Ridgeback still lying on the ground.
He took out several potions, applied them to the dragon's wounds, and forced a few more into that great maw.
If Leonardo hadn't been able to communicate with magical creatures, and if Norbert, who had just beaten it into submission, hadn't been standing right there, the dragon would almost certainly have assumed this human was trying to poison it.
Leonardo noted that this Norwegian Ridgeback was another female.
That fits the species' characteristics. Female Norwegian Ridgebacks were stronger and more ferocious than the males. The pack structure resembled that of spotted hyenas.
The Norwegian Ridgeback, feeling considerably better, let out a few low growls.
"Little girl, you won. My territory and my mates are yours."
Norbert replied with a single rumble.
"No need. I just wanted a fight."
A few seconds passed. Something almost human, like pity, surfaced in the other dragon's eyes.
"Are you ill?"
Dark gold flames flickered back to life across Norbert's scales.
"Hm?"
Leonardo laughed and stepped in before the exchange could deteriorate further. He climbed onto Norbert's broad back, and the two of them launched into the wind and snow, vanishing into the clouds.
Surrounded by warming and windproofing charms, Leonardo considered what came next.
To repay the Magical Pathway Weavecraft (annual loan) he had borrowed last Christmas, he needed to raise Norbert into the king of the Norwegian Ridgeback species. For dragons, the selection process was simple and brutal: fight until the other side yielded. For Norwegian Ridgebacks, the most combative of all dragon breeds, it was even more straightforward.
It was precisely because Norwegian Ridgebacks were so aggressive, fighting and even killing members of their own kind on a regular basis, that their population remained extremely small. Their main habitats were concentrated in Norway and the surrounding regions.
According to the system's definition, Norbert didn't need to challenge every last Ridgeback. He only had to force the alpha of every habitat above a certain size into submission.
Leonardo estimated he could finish before Christmas, which would leave time to go home and spend the full holiday with his aunt.
He had Norbert land at a safe distance from the dragon habitat, then opened the trunk and released the three wizards who had been diligently working right up to the holidays.
…
Trunk World.
Leonardo moved through the layered spaces one by one. A house-elf followed at his heels without leaving a step's distance between them. Dobby.
After demonstrating the process for feeding, caring for, and collecting materials from the Mooncalves, Leonardo asked, "Got all that? Need me to show you again?"
Dobby shook his head vigorously.
"R-remembered, no need to trouble yourself, Boss."
Yes. Dobby now called Leonardo "Boss".
Leonardo moved through the layered spaces one by one. A house-elf followed at his heels without leaving a step's distance between them. Dobby.
After demonstrating the process for feeding, caring for, and collecting materials from the Mooncalves, Leonardo asked, "Got all that? Need me to show you again?"
Dobby shook his head vigorously.
"R-remembered, no need to trouble yourself, Boss."
Yes. Dobby now called Leonardo "Boss".
When Lucius had proposed the transfer, Leonardo had thought it over and accepted. With the number of magical creatures in the trunk growing steadily, having a house-elf to help manage things was genuinely useful. And if Leonardo had refused, Lucius would most likely have dealt with the "traitor" Dobby by other means.
Leonardo had been curious about something, though. How had Dobby managed to act against the master-servant contract and defy Lucius's will?
When he asked, Dobby explained that he believed, deep in his heart, that what Lucius was doing was wrong. Evil..
The master-servant contract demanded loyalty to the family. The family's heir simply had the authority to command the house-elf.
Dobby was an "oddity" among house-elves. He longed for freedom, and his thinking was unusually independent.
He hadn't directly defied Lucius. Instead, he had worked around the constraints, trying to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts through indirect means, never actually revealing his master's scheme. He had operated in the gaps of the contract.
After all, the contract's restrictions on house-elves weren't quite as absolute as they seemed. Over centuries of servitude, obedience had become something close to instinct, bred into the species at a fundamental level.
Devoting their lives to their master's family, working without complaint, expecting nothing in return—that was the house-elf "ideal".
Some of the more extreme ones even hoped to have their heads cut off after death and mounted on the wall as a display.
Elves like Dobby, who craved freedom and actually wanted wages, were extraordinarily rare.
After taking Dobby in, Leonardo gave him a choice.
He told Dobby he could grant him full freedom, and he also recounted the story of Kewby, the house-elf in Nicolas's household, and Kewby's parents before him.
Nicolas had genuinely dissolved the servitude contract. But after Kewby's parents left, they struggled to find work and support themselves.
Leonardo remembered that in the original story, Dobby had faced much the same situation after gaining his freedom. Even when someone wanted a house-elf, Dobby's insistence on receiving wages was considered so outrageous that he was turned away. In the end, it wasn't until the year of the Triwizard Tournament that Dumbledore gave him a position at Hogwarts, with pay and holidays.
After hearing all of this, Dobby hesitated. Leonardo then offered a third option: proper employment. Wages, time off, and benefits.
Free from the contract's chains, living the life he wanted, and getting paid for it—Dobby's enthusiasm ran much higher this way.
Partly, Leonardo simply didn't want to be a terrible employer. And partly, he felt that giving Dobby a genuine choice was better than forcing obedience.
Having choices. That was what freedom meant.