Harry Potter and the Cataclysm

A colossal, twenty-meter-long dragon, its scales a dark shade of blue-black, crashed onto the ground in front of them.

Its massive head slammed against Carnie's crystal barrier, sending a web of cracks sprawling across the surface.

"ROOAAARR—"

The dragon let out one final, weak howl before its body fell still, its lifeless eyes staring into the void.

Carnie exhaled deeply.

"For a second, I thought I was about to meet Merlin myself…"

If the dragon had crashed down at full force instead of wobbling midair, they might have been reduced to mincemeat by the sheer impact.

"CRACK—"

The crystal barrier shattered into countless fragments, raining glass-like shards over their heads.

Carnie dusted himself off, shrugged, and turned to the others.

"See? I told you we were perfectly safe!"

"And didn't I also say we'd hit the jackpot today?"

Fred and George were already up close, running their hands over the dragon's rough, bloodied scales.

"Wow, so this is a dragon… Charlie always talked about them…"

"Pictures don't do them justice—seeing one up close is something else entirely."

Hermione, though still shaken, had grown bolder after multiple high-stress encounters. She didn't touch the corpse but examined it closely.

"Its entire body is covered in wounds. Most of them… were caused by spells."

Carnie nodded.

His magic sense picked up heavy traces of spell residue from the wounds. It was definitely taken down by wizards.

"It must've been the Aurors. They probably found this dragon and tried to capture or eliminate it."

The injuries were severe—some even exposed bone, and the membrane of its wings was torn apart, explaining its unstable flight.

"Aurors will be here any second—we need to move fast!"

Carnie waved at Fred and George, who were still fascinated by the corpse.

"Collect its blood, scales, and meat. Dragon blood has twelve magical uses. Scales can be turned into armor. As for the meat…"

"We eat it, obviously."

Hermione gave him a conflicted look.

"It's already dead…" she muttered, her voice unusually delicate.

Carnie turned to her, meeting her gaze.

Oh. Right. The 'Hermione Syndrome'.

He immediately raised a hand, signaling Fred and George to stop working.

"Alright, everyone—let's take a moment to mourn for this poor, unfortunate, and tragically deceased dragon."

"Three seconds of silence."

Carnie bowed his head solemnly. The twins followed his lead, closing their eyes in forced silence.

Three seconds later—

"Alright, we're done. Back to work before the Aurors catch us breaking school rules."

He conjured several crystal bottles with Aguamenti, handing them to the twins.

Hermione stood frozen, her brain seemingly short-circuiting.

Carnie didn't waste time.

He rolled up his sleeves, activated his cultivation energy, and yanked out seven or eight of the dragon's longest fangs.

"Do we have more bags?"

Fred rummaged through his robes. "Just one left."

"What about the others?"

"Left it with the boar."

"Tossed them when we ran from the spiders."

"Great…"

Carnie pulled off several large dragon scales, filling the last remaining bag to capacity.

His snake-capturing bag still had some space, but it was already holding a knocked-out snake and a bunch of eggs.

(Don't ask what kind. We took them all—bird eggs, snake eggs—you name it. ¯\(ツ)/¯)

"Hey Carnie, what about the meat?" George asked.

Carnie glanced at him. "Didn't they teach you any cutting spells?"

"What do you think?" Fred deadpanned.

"I think not."

"Just… figure something out. If it doesn't work, take more scales instead."

"Alright, let's do this!"

Carnie had another target.

He removed his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and shoved his entire arm inside the dragon's massive throat wound.

Digging around for several minutes, he finally grabbed onto something hard.

"What the hell is this?"

He pulled it out—a black, fist-sized stone with a strange, dense energy swirling inside.

He activated magic sense and saw a powerful magical aura radiating from it.

A dragon core?

That would make sense—dragons were said to have a crystallized magic core inside them.

"Are we done here?"

"All set!" The twins replied in sync.

Carnie pocketed the dragon core and turned to Hermione.

"Look, Hermione. We're just maximizing the dragon's value. Otherwise, how would Dumbledore discover its potential uses?"

Hermione hesitated… then sighed in defeat. "I know…"

Smart people tended to think logically, and Hermione was no exception.

"Time to go. The Aurors will be here any second."

"Maybe the dragon just flew too far." George suggested.

"Maybe… there's more than one." Fred added.

They didn't waste another second, sprinting back toward Hagrid's hut.

Luckily, they encountered no more trouble along the way.

Meanwhile…

Crash Site.

Five Aurors on broomsticks arrived at the scene, scanning the area.

"Boss! Someone already looted the body!"

A leather-jacket-wearing Auror pointed dramatically.

"No sh*t, Sherlock."

A hat-wearing Auror deadpanned, glaring at the dragon's stripped body.

"There's glass-like fragments all over the ground—"

"If we hadn't been busy dealing with the other dragon, we could've stopped this from happening!"

Leather Jacket fumed in frustration.

"What loss? Our mission was to clear dangerous creatures near Hogwarts, as per the headmaster's request."

Hat Auror rolled his eyes.

"Was it Hogwarts students? Or the centaurs?" The glasses-wearing Auror adjusted his frames.

"Baldie! What's your take?"

The bald Auror stroked his chin. "Well… if I had to guess—"

"It was Hogwarts students."

Hat Auror cut him off immediately, his irritation growing.

"Damn, boss! That was fast!"

The female Auror beside him swooned, giving him a lovestruck gaze.

"Footprints. There are four sets, all leading back toward Hogwarts."

"We'll let it slide since they're students. Collect samples of the strange crystal shards."

"Boss, you're only saying that because you graduated from Hogwarts and your son is still a student there."

Glasses Auror muttered under his breath.

Hat Auror smirked. "When you learn to make decisions, you can be boss too. Now get to work!"

"Yes, boss!"

"Understood, boss!"

"Got it, boss!"

"Yes, sir!"

The female Auror giggled.

Back at Hogwarts…

"How do we sneak back inside?" Hermione asked, still concerned.

Fred and George grinned.

"That's our specialty!"

They led the group through a secret passageway, hidden within the castle walls.

"Split apart!"

The wall magically opened, revealing a staircase leading deep inside.

They navigated the winding tunnels for several minutes before emerging inside…

The Gryffindor Common Room.

Carnie turned around.

It was just a wall again.

"Alright. Noted. Gotta remember this passage for later."

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