"Oh... is Mr. Scamander planning to take you to the Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve?"
Chris looked at the letter just delivered by the owl, and at the expectant Kael in front of him, thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"Do you agree to let me go?" Kael asked.
"If you want to, we have no reason to stop you." Chris smiled. "In fact, I also received an invitation."
He fished a letter out from the cabinet in the living room.
"I knew it..." Kael blurted out.
On the way back, he had wondered whether Chris had also gotten an invitation.
As Scamander's student and the Deputy Minister of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic, Chris was fairly well-known in the fantastic beasts circle.
Especially after that incident two years ago, when he and Newt helped return the smuggled fantastic beasts to where they belonged, which really boosted their reputation.
So, it's not surprising he was invited this time.
"So, am I going with you all?"
"No, you'll still go with Mr. Scamander. I might be a bit late."
Chris shook his head. "Fudge seems to take this matter quite seriously. He wants me to represent the Ministry of Magic in Romania.
So I'll have to depart from the Ministry and only be able to go to the Reserve after completing a series of tedious handovers with the Romanian Ministry of Magic."
"Sounds like Fudge, all right."
Diana sat down next to Chris. "He probably thinks this will boost his prestige."
"Maybe." Chris took the hot chocolate she handed over and said unconcernedly, "Though he might not like to hear it, but abroad, Mr. Barty Crouch's name is usually more useful."
Diana poured Kael a mug of hot chocolate as well.
"I don't object to you heading off to Romania for the experience," she said, "but you still need to make some necessary preparations... How many uses does your ring have left?"
"Two." Kael raised his hand.
Last summer, he used one Apparition to escape Norbert's over-exuberant enthusiasm.
"Give it to me." Diana said. "Just to be on the safe side, better play it safe."
"Okay." Kael nodded and handed the ring to Diana.
"Can you Apparate inside the Reserve, too?"
"You can." Chris explained, "The Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve is huge. It's almost impossible to completely ban Apparition."
Besides, there's no need. Dragon Tamers have special methods to monitor magical activity in the area; they just need to focus on guarding the dragon eggs and the young dragons...
As for the adult fire dragons, hardly anyone dares go after them, much less steal them silently."
Kael thought about it and realized that was indeed true.
All this time, the Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve had never lost a fire dragon; even that Antipodean Opaleye two years ago had been brought in by Oren's crew from elsewhere.
And he'd also heard that the Dragon Tamer selection process was very strict—other than not needing certificates, it was almost as tough as becoming an Auror.
Who knows if that's really true.
After finishing his cup of hot chocolate, Kael returned to his room upstairs.
This trip to Romania—no one knew how long it would last—so he had to finish all his assignments and his paper for "Today's Transfiguration Technique" within a month.
The homework was easy; Kael finished it in a few days, no problem, but the academic paper was another matter entirely.
Professor McGonagall had given him two months for a reason.
Papers like this needed careful logic; each assertion needed a lot of theoretical backing and had to be tested for feasibility from multiple directions.
Then, he needed to do several experiments, record the full process, and analyze the final results.
...
Though the "Most Promising Newcomer Award" was for current Hogwarts students—so the requirements were more relaxed—Kael still bought over a dozen books on Transfiguration Technique and spent nearly two weeks before finally finishing his paper.
When Kael stepped outside again, July was nearly over.
Meanwhile, something big happened at the house next door—the Weasley family's place.
"Kael, come see this!"
"Ha! Bet you'll never believe it!"
Fred and George came storming over and shoved a copy of the Daily Prophet in Kael's face.
"Congratulations to Arthur Weasley for winning the annual Daily Prophet Galleon Award..."
Beneath was a photo of Mr. Weasley standing together with Barnabas Guffey, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet. Both of them were grinning widely.
"How many Galleons..." Kael asked.
"Seven hundred." Fred waved his arms excitedly. "Normally it's five hundred, but they thought there were too few people this year, so they upped the prize money."
"We entered before too," George said. "But only ever won the quiz prize."
"A grand total of twelve Sickles..."
"Last time we guessed the new Minister of Magic, we lost it all back..."
Clearly, Fred and George were absolutely delighted. Since Kael had taken Dobby the house-elf with him, this was the first time they'd been so happy again.
In fact, everyone in the Weasley family was over the moon.
When Kael followed them to the Shabby Residence, he even saw Percy. Normally, at this time he'd be in his own room, not out here chatting with Ginny.
"Oh, almost forgot the main thing..." Back at the Shabby Residence, Fred smacked his head.
"Kael, Mum wants to use the money to visit Bill. You should come with us."
"Yes, dear," Mrs. Weasley chimed in, walking over. "Seven hundred Galleons! This trip is going to be fantastic."
"I can't wait..." Ginny propped her face on her hands. "Do you think Bill will take us inside the pyramid?"
"Of course he will..."
Everyone was chattering away excitedly.
"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Kael sighed. "I'll be going with Mr. Scamander to the Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve in August, so I probably can't join you on your trip."
"Romania?" Ginny asked in surprise. "Are you going to see Charlie?"
Their brother, Charlie Weasley, went to study fire dragons in Romania after graduating.
"You could say that." Kael smiled. "In fact, I was hoping he'd show me around."
"Mum, why don't we go to Romania too?" George suddenly suggested. "I've never seen a fire dragon before."
Everyone agreed—they'd be happy with either. Fire dragons or pyramids, both sounded exciting.
"If you want to see fire dragons, we can go next year, but this year, let's stick to the plan and visit Bill."
At this point, Mr. Weasley came down from upstairs. "Something major is happening in Romania right now. The Fire Dragon Reserve isn't open to outsiders anymore. Even if we went, we wouldn't get to see Charlie."
"But why can Kael..."
"Oh?" Mr. Weasley wasn't surprised; he asked naturally, "Are you going with your dad, or with Mr. Scamander?"
"Mr. Scamander," Kael replied with a grin.
"Figured as much... They'll definitely have invited him."
Fred looked even more curious, staring at Kael and Mr. Weasley in dissatisfaction.
"Come on, can someone explain? How come Kael gets to see Charlie and we don't..."
"Also, what's the big thing going on in Romania—can't we really change our plans?"