The Brotherhood of the Dragon

Chapter Four: Jason's Confusion

Jason woke with a painful start. He was confused, was he in the hospital, or was it a dream. It was hard to tell if it was the dark before morning or the dark after sunset. He did know the pain in his back seemed worse. The skin on his shoulders and spine ached agonizingly. "Hmm," he thought, "I know how I can tell the difference between when I'm dreaming and when I'm awake. I don't feel like screaming my head off when I'm asleep." Slowly, he let his conscious mind experience the scope of his burns. As he identified each burned area in his mind the pain eased into the background of his subconscious. It was still there waiting to erupt at any moment, but it was tolerable. "Cherby, could I have a cup of coffee." There was no answer, as he wasn't dreaming. If this were a dream, "I wouldn't even ask for him. The elf has to sleep sometime." Finally realizing he was awake, he decided to go to the nurses' station and see if they had coffee available.

Mrs. Dupree was very worried about her husband. He was acting confused and disoriented. It was to be allowed that his wounds would cause problems, but this was different. It was if his dreams were both real and a dream at the same time. She wondered where he had really been during the time he had been gone. As she walked up to the door of her home, she saw a letter sticking out of a crack between the door and door frame. It was written on parchment like the letter Jason had received. It had her name and address and the sender was someone named Charlie Weasley. "That is the name of the man who called Jason. Maybe he knows something about this mystery," she thought. She put her things away and made herself a cup of coffee. As she was drinking it, she opened the letter.

"Dear Mrs. Dupree. Your husband has sent us a letter by owl mail. He should not be able to do this. We're very concerned and would like to talk to you about your observations on his condition. He may be in grave danger, if we can not determine what's the cause. If you wish answers, please do the following. Dress warmly. Retrieve a ball with green smoke from the outside of your house. It is on the left of the steps hidden in the shrubs. Find a clear place in your home and insert you finger in the indention in the ball. If you wish to wait, we can contact you in a more normal manner in a few days. I don't believe we have the time for that however. Please trust us. We only wish to help your husband. Thanks Charlie Weasley."

"Whoa," thought Mrs. Dupree. 'This is a little strange. Now it's as if Jason's dream is becoming mine. Everything about his trip has been different from the norm. They believe he is in trouble too. Whoever they are. This letter is definitely different." Walking outside she retrieved a ball from the shrubs. She spun it in her hands and admired the green smoke swirling inside. There was a slight indention where she could place her finger. Going back inside she made up her mind. She went to the closet and chose clothes, ones that she would wear in the mountains. They were the kind of clothes Jason had packed before when he left.

Clearing a space in the living room she breathed deeply and placed her finger in the indention in the ball. The smoke cleared showing her a picture of her standing in the living room. Then the picture changed and she was staring into the smiling face of a red headed young man. With a small pop, a man and a woman walked into her living room as if they had just stepped through a door.

"Mrs. Dupree, a stocky young man with pleasant face spoke. I'm Charlie Weasley and this is Analise Montrose. We're here to take you to see a friend of yours so that you can have your questions answered. We don't mean to harm you in any way. If you don't wish to come, we'll understand.

The middle-aged woman, who was petite with long shiny black hair and gray eyes, spoke with a soft voice. "Please come, Jason needs your help."

Mrs. Dupree answered, "You may call me Maria. Jason trusted you and I guess I can do the same. He is having an identity crisis of major proportions. I will do anything what will help."

The two placed Maria between them with one of her arms on each of theirs and they took a step forward. There was a momentary blurring of her vision and she was in a round room with a fireplace blazing away and numerous candles burning brightly. A tall elderly man with dancing blue eyes and a great long white beard stood before her. At his side was a woman wearing a white dress and nurse's cap with a starched white apron. "Mrs. Dupree, I'm happy to see you again. It's sooner than I expected, but a pleasant surprise none the less."

Maria was taken back. "You're Doctor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. You two are the experts from Britain."

"Actually, I'm not a doctor—just the headmaster of this school. Miss Pomfrey is however a healer as we call them. Charlie has spoken of a letter he received from your husband that your husband should not have been able to send. If you would, please be seated. Would you like some tea? It'll will help to calm you."

Maria sat down in a big cushy armchair and Madam Pomfrey handed her a cup of steaming tea. She stared around the room and looked at all the fascinating things. It appeared even the people in portraits on the walls moved. "Are you people aliens? Am I on a space ship?"

"My, my, no," replied Dumbledore. "You're in our world, which is a part of your world. Our world is a world of magic. Your world is one of a different kind of magic. We can control the forces of nature directly to some degree. You can control them with the use of machines. We call your world the world of the Muggle or non-magical folk. Our world is the world of myth and legend. It does however exist. Many of the things that are legend in your world actually exist, but they're a part of ours. Your husband was asked to help us with a parasite problem we're having with our dragons."

Maria looked stunned.

"Yes there really are dragons. We herd them and use them for many purposes. They have great magical powers. They're rather large, quite strong, intelligent, and totally unpredictable. Charlie is the dragonmaster for a specific breed of dragon. He requested the Council of Magic to allow your husband to help us with a problem he has with his flock. His flock has a parasite infestation. This particular breed is the worst of the lot. They have the strongest magic of all the dragons. They're very aggressive and totally unpredictable. Due to their strong magic, they're also the most valuable to our world. Jason was most valuable in identifying the parasite and aiding Charlie and his team to cure the dragons under Charlie's charge. The last dragon they administered the cure to was the worse of the lot. It's the alpha male of the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon population. It managed to break out of the spells used to subdue it for a second or two. Unfortunately, it was long enough for it to breath fire at your husband. Its breath is what caused the burns on your husband."

"I can't believe you would let some one with no magical ability get close enough to such a beast that they would get injured."

"Jason knew the risks and he was very well protected. He wasn't the only one injured in the attack. Many of the people in your world are injured or killed by cattle every year. Society will not quite raising cattle because of the danger, due to the great benefits cattle are to your society. Dragons are the same to us. We know the dangers, but the benefits to our society are far greater than the risks. While many have been injured, none have been killed in a thousand years or more. The problem lies in the fact that your husband is a Muggle. The wizards who were injured in the attack are already healed and back to work."

"I saw the quickness of the potion as you call it when it worked on Jason's burns. It was quite magical."

"Yes it was a magical potion. Our potions or medicines sometimes work with Muggles and sometimes they don't. We have cures for things Muggles don't even suffer from. The gist of the situation is that Jason has been in close proximity of dragons for a couple of weeks and apparently, the magic of the beasts has affected him strongly. There were suspicious signs, but since it has never happened before, we weren't sure what was going on? We believe he is becoming a wizard like ourselves. He is developing the powers we're born with. I have a theory that humans originally never had magical powers. Perhaps through the association with magical creatures magic was transferred to humans. This would explain what is happening to Jason. The spirit and power of the dragon is entering him. The final push for him to develop these powers was when he was burned. The breath or fire of the dragon is also magical and can do far greater damage that a mere flame would. We feel the magic of the dragon's breath has hastened Jason's conversion. Here in lies the problem. We have never seen anyone develop magical powers out of nowhere. If you're born with the powers, you have some control over them even from an early age. Developing them at a mature age, they must be frightening and confusing. Without training, they can be dangerous and most upsetting. In Jason's case, we feel they are going to be incredible powerful. The dragons he was working with are the most magical creatures there are. As headmaster of this school, I'm in charge of training young people who have magical powers. Some are born to Muggle parents who have no clue about our world. Still the children do have some idea that they're different and they can control their powers to a certain extent. Jason is going through a stage of conversion. His wounds are magnifying the change as he can't properly concentrate on his changing feelings with the severe pain he is experiencing. We had decided to totally erase his memories of the events leading up to his wounding, then however, we changed our mind, as we may have needed his services again. We felt that if his true memories seemed to be a dream he would be more likely to accept the implanted memories of the accident. Since he now has some magical ability, it only confuses him that things in reality are starting to happen just like they do in his dreams. He would have done fine if he hadn't started to develop wizarding powers. We have extensive experience with Memory Charms."

"Why can't you now just wipe his memory altogether?"

"Since he is developing magical abilities, he might go mad not knowing how or why he has the powers as his mind seesaws between the two worlds."

"Then why can't you clear his memories and let him know this is all reality?"

"Unfortunately, politics become involved. The Council of Magic wouldn't allow us to use the services of Jason unless we modified his memories for him to forget. We risk not being able to use Muggles again if the need arises if we go contrary to the Council's wishes. We don't feel he should suffer or perhaps go mad simply because the Council is afraid of wizard, Muggle misunderstanding. In due respect they do have a valid point as wizard and witches have been discriminated against for many centuries often to the point of death. A lot of the misunderstanding is due to the feelings that wizards are superior, whereas we're actually only different. We're still humans and have all the frailties and problems that Muggles have."

"So you feel that there is nothing you can do?"

"No, we have a plan, which is why we brought you here. It will require your help. Our medicine is based on our being magical. Your medicine is based on your not being magical. Your healers know better how to treat you than we do. This is why we sent him to a Muggle hospital. I feel that once his wounds heal he will be mentally strong enough to handle the conversion. The problem is keeping his mind intact until the medicine is ready. It will be ready in about two days. Most of our medicine or potions is very similar to cooking. Since we use mostly natural magical ingredients, bit and pieces have to be added at the proper time and cooked slowly to blend the effects or as in cooking blend the individual tastes until the desired tastes are accomplished. The potion we require is quite complex and the ingredients were difficult to find. There is no way we can speed up the process I'm afraid. Therefore, the problem lies with keeping his mind together until we can get the potion to him and his body heals."

"May I assume that I will be a part of that process?"

Dumbledore looked flabbergasted for a second. "Well yes," he replied, "I assumed you would be willing, as you're his wife and his strongest emotional tie."

"I was beginning to wonder," replied Maria nonplused. "Obviously, you care about him, however you have used him for you needs and perhaps now you're not quite as caring."

The four wizards in the room started to speak all at once telling her that they were there for Jason and they were willing to do anything to help.

Maria smiled at them. "Sorry, I was just checking your motivation. I've an idea, but it will require your help, your unquestioning help!"

The wizards and witches agreed unanimously.

Maria outlined her plan. The others thought about it, discussed it, and modified it based on their experiences and abilities. It became a very good plan. "Do you think there will be any problems with getting approval from the Council of Magic?"

"I don't believe I will ask," replied Dumbledore. "Jason is becoming one of us so we're not really helping out a Muggle we're helping out one of our own."

Charlie laughed. "And I thought dragons were tricky."

"Analise will have to help me as the personnel at the hospital know you both, but they will surely remember Charlie. I believe I can cover for Analise. We'll need to get back to my home as it's not late there yet and I will have to get some clothes for Analise so she will not attract attention." Maria standing put out her arm, "If you will Analise, we must be going." Analise took her arm and they took a step forward and were back in Maria's living room. "Where were we?"

"We were in England at the Hogwarts School of Magic."

"You mean just like that we traveled all that distance?"

"It's not as easy as it seems, but yes. We call it Apparating. It's an advanced skill not all wizards can perform. If you're not careful, not all of you makes it." She smiled at the look of horror on Maria's face. "I've been doing it for over forty years you were safe."

"How old are you, Analise? You don't look much older that thirty-five."

"I'm almost sixty-two years old. Wizards and witches live almost twice as long as Muggles, however misuse of magic can dramatically reduce our life span. Unfortunately, I'm almost at the end of my use as a dragon handler. It's a job for the young."

"Well we must go. We'll talk more in the car." Getting her keys Maria and Analise got into the car and started to the nearest mall.

As they drove along Analise asked, "Is everyone out here trying to kill you?"

"No, there are rules for driving which keeps things kind of under control."

"What's it you wish me to do as far as Jason is concerned?"

"Jason is confused as to whether he is dreaming or not. I believe he will recognize you and you must confirm the things in his dreams have happened so he will not be confused. Don't pay attention to the other Muggles, as they will think you're crazy because you agree with him. For some of it, you probably weren't there when it happened. Be honest and tell him so if you weren't apart of some item of his memory. I think the final day when he was injured will be the most critical."

Analise started crying softly.

"What's the matter, Analise?"

"I was in charge the day he and the others were injured. Jason taught us many things about the dragons that we did not know before. A fresh outlook and opinion does wonders on your perspective. He is a very good leader and was greatly concerned about our safety even though he was the one under the greatest threat. Dragons are very unpredictable and you must be on your guard every second. He was aware of this, but didn't have the experience to understand the danger. The dragon awoke and moved against your husband and others almost instantly. There were four teams watching this dragon, three in training, and my own experienced crew. We stunned it almost immediately, but it had still done its damage. As Jason had taught us if I had been watching its eyes, I would've seen its intentions."

"Exactly how powerful and dangerous are these dragons?"

"They build their lairs or caves in solid rock. They're powerful enough to cut the living stone."

"Whew! It's amazing that you can control them at all."

"The individual must forego their ego and become a member of a team. Only a team working as an individual has the strength to control one. It requires a lot of dedication. Your husband recognized our abilities very quickly and became one with us. He is an exceptional man."

Maria was quiet a long time. As they pulled into the parking lot of the mall, she spoke. "We must get you properly attired so the Muggles will not pay attention to you."

As they returned to Maria's home, Analise protested, "I must pay you for these clothes. I will have wizard money converted into Muggle money."

"Don't worry about it," Maria said. "You have done a great service to my husband and you'll shortly do a far greater one."

"I don't understand. If I had been diligent he wouldn't be in the condition he is."

"Analise," Maria spoke softly, "from what you have told me, dragons do what dragons do. The best you can hope for is not to get hurt when you're dealing with them. If they really don't want you to control them I don't think you can. You protected my husband from being killed. With the dragon in question, I think that is a major accomplishment. You had every safeguard in place. The dragon just didn't much care. With any less skilled individual, both Jason and the others probably would've been killed. From what you have told me, it wasn't anyone's fault. Everyone did what he or she should have. The dragon just didn't do what you thought he would. You kept a cool head and rectified the situation. I'm impressed with you courage and skill. You did the best you could. Now that you know how to deal with the situation, you'll do much better the next time."

"You're a lot like your husband."

"I've learned much from him."

"Mr. Dupree, what are you doing up?"

"I was looking for a cup of coffee."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Just the usual unrelenting pain. Is it dawn or dusk? I don't know for sure, as I've slept a long time."

"It's dusk, Mr. Dupree. Do you like cream and sugar in your coffee?"

"Yes. Every morning Cherby makes me a cup when I go to breakfast."

"And who is Cherby?"

"He is the house elf who is charged with my comfort."

The nurses looked at each other. They had heard of some of the stories that Jason had spoken of. Not wishing to antagonize Jason the head nurse replied. "We have never seen an elf. Could you describe him to us?"

As Jason described the looks of the elf, their mannerisms, and their dedication, the nurses were totally enthralled. He told the story as if he actually knew of elves. Having finished his coffee and story, the head nurse in her knowing way escorted him back to his room.

"Now, Jason, you know you must get your rest if your burns are to heal. Here is your medicine. Now dream of Cherby if it relaxes you."

As Jason relaxed and started to dream he didn't dream of Cherby. He dreamed of flying on a broom.

"Charlie, how do these things work?" asked Jason pointing at a broom.

"Well, they're enchanted or as you would say they have a flying spell on them. The spell has been refined through the centuries so that now the broom is quit responsive to your wishes."

"How do you make them work?"

"It's kind of like you think, what you want them to do and they do it. If you want to go up you think I need to be up there and they take you there. If you want to turn you think the direction you want to go and they take you there."

"I believe I understand. You visualize where you want to be or do and they do it. Let me try it if you don't mind." Jason walked over to a broom and looked at it. Nothing happened. He looked at Charlie.

Charlie smiled at him. "You must have a little magical ability to make them work. Hold your hand over the broom and say up. In your mind, create an image where the broom comes to your hand."

Jason walked over to the broom and put his hand over it. "Up," he said. The broom rolled over on the ground.

Charlie was shocked. Jason was a Muggle the broom should not have moved at all.

Jason closed his eyes and concentrated. "Up," he said. The broom slowly rose to his hand.

Charlie was stunned. This should not have happened at all. He would've to consult with Professor Dumbledore. There was something strange going on here.

Jason straddled the broom. "What do I do now?"

Charlie just looked at him, "Imagine what you want it to do. I suggest some small movements close to the ground until you have built up some skill."

Jason rose on the broom a few feet then moved forward and turned and settled back down. "That takes a lot of concentration."

"If you wish, I will take you up on the tandem broom and allow you to practice a little. I will make sure you don't get into trouble."

"No way, I just wanted to know how they work. To be honest I am not fond of flying I can do it because I must, but I get sick real easy," said Jason.

I will be gentle with you this time. I didn't know your fear. Every child in the wizarding world knows how to fly at an early age. Some of them don't like it either. Hop on and we will go slow. Jason got on the front and Charlie got on the back of the broom. Charlie took them up a few feet and said, "It's all yours Jason. Imagine what you want it to do. Try to keep it very simple at first."

Jason just increased the speed a little then took little slow sweeping turns left and right. He practiced climbing and descending. As Jason refined his thoughts, the broom got easier to control. It seemed to only need a mental nudge every so often and not a full time visual image. Jason realized that after a while if you practiced enough it is almost subconscious to maintain control. "This could be quite addictive," said Jason. "It gives you a great deal of freedom. If I don't make abrupt movements it doesn't upset my stomach."

"It's the favored means of travel by witches and wizards. It's by far not the fastest. We have many ways of traveling, but the broom is the most versatile and not really that slow. Our favorite game is Quidditch, which is played on brooms. Perhaps we'll have time later to show you a game. It's very fast and very dangerous. The dragon handlers play it to maintain their skills at broom handling."

Jason slowly flew over the main inn and circled the area. He was beginning to overcome his fear. Charlie pointed out things they hadn't seen before. Jason finally brought the broom back to where they had started and set it down. As he stepped off, he let out his breath. "Whew! I guess I was concentrating a little too much. That is an intense exercise."

"As you become used to it, it becomes as natural as walking and you don't even think about it any more. You realize, you should not be able to control the broom at all?"

"Are you sure about that. Maybe the broom, once the spell is on it, can sense the flier's thoughts if the flyer concentrates really hard. I can bet there are wizards who can't fly one for one reason or another."

Charlie looked thoughtful. "Right you are. There are very good wizards who have never seemed to learn to fly a broom properly. Perhaps it requires a certain knack or talent to fly one which they don't possess. You have given me a fresh look at my world and it seems we assume a lot that may or may not be true."

"After lunch would you be so kind as to explain the stick you and the others wave around so much, which seems to accomplish such interesting things."

"We call it a wand. You do need to have magical ability to use one of them."