Harry Potter: Dragonborn comes

The Whirlwind and the Little Dragon

Einar walked toward Harry with a gaze so severe it seemed to weigh on his shoulders like an inescapable sentence. Beneath the mask, his eyes shone with the coldness of a judge about to pronounce the verdict. Harry swallowed hard, aware that he was about to receive a scolding more relentless than any punishment he could have imagined, followed by training so brutal that the flames of purgatory would feel like a reprieve.

But suddenly, Einar stopped. It was as if he had frozen mid-step, with a rigidity so absolute that Harry scarcely dared to breathe. Slowly, with a mechanical motion reminiscent of a machine awakening from dormancy, he turned his head back. It was so unusual that Harry felt a chill run down his spine. Never had he seen his master move like that.

He didn't have time to ask what was happening. A blur streaked across the edge of his vision, so fast he barely perceived it as a reddish flash slicing through the air. Before he could react, a small figure appeared in the air before Einar, floating with lethal precision. It was a girl with reddish hair and a determined gaze, holding a stalhrim warhammer almost as big as she was. Its translucent surface glowed with an icy brilliance, as if it contained all the cold of a glacier's heart.

Without warning, Lucia raised the weapon high over her head and swung it down in a descending strike aimed directly at Einar's head. The blow never reached him: he lifted one hand with the calm of someone extinguishing a candle. When the hammer struck his open palm, the impact echoed with the force of a contained thunderclap. The floor cracked in a radius of several meters, the columns shuddered, and a deep rumble rolled through the entire hall.

"Hi, Dad," Lucia greeted with all the innocence in the world, still suspended in the air as her hammer rested against his hand.

Right after, she bent her knees and, pressing a foot against Einar's forearm, launched herself backward in an agile leap, landing lightly several steps away.

That was when he saw her. Sofie waited behind, both hands raised. Her staff lay discarded to the side, forgotten. Between her fingers, a mass of blue energy crackled like a swarm of electric serpents. A low growl preceded the spell. The Lightning Storm erupted in a downpour of bolts that came crashing toward him with a roar capable of splitting stone.

Without missing a beat, Einar raised his hands and, with a barely audible whisper, conjured two spectral swords of ethereal edge. His arms blurred in a movement so fast it was nearly impossible to follow. Each lightning bolt was sliced apart with surgical precision before it could touch him, dissolving into sparks across the shattered marble.

At the same time, two shadows moved at his sides. Blaise and Alesan emerged to the right and left, greatswords raised. Their blades came down in a crossed strike that would have cleaved any other man in two.

Meanwhile, Sissel vaulted over Sofie, her bow drawn with three arrows whose tips blazed with destruction runes capable of reducing a wall to rubble.

And from the front, Hroar charged straight toward him, axes raised high, with the resolve of a warrior who knew no fear. Beside Sofie, Samuel chanted words of power, his hands drawing runes that ignited in golden flame as they poured waves of strength and speed into his companions.

Time seemed to stretch. Einar released both swords, which dissolved into blue vapor, his gaze growing colder than an abyss. In a single movement, he blocked the descending greatswords from either side. His left hand closed around Blaise's wrist and, with a swift, firm twist, he wrenched the weapon free.

Without giving him a chance to react, Einar turned his wrist and struck him with a sharp blow to the chest, lifting him off the floor and sending him crashing against a pillar like a sack of grain. Before the echo of the impact faded, his body shifted in an unrelenting motion.

His leg rose with inhuman speed and delivered a precise knee to Alesan's torso. The strike launched him flying into a wall, which shattered with a dry crack.

Einar did not stop. Without losing momentum, he spun on his heel, lifted the greatsword he had just seized, and traced a descending slash so fast the air itself compressed into an invisible blade. The cut tore through the hall with a pressure-laden moan, like a hurricane contained in an instant.

The Lightning Storm that Sofie still channeled broke apart on contact with the wave, dissolving into a stream of blue sparks that showered the floor. The surge continued without losing strength, striking Sissel squarely just as she drew her bowstring. The blast of air lifted her off her feet and hurled her several meters back, amid a gale of shattered stone and flickering light.

Then Hroar reached him. With a contained roar, he raised his axes and brought them down in a double strike aimed at Einar's chest.

Einar let go of the greatsword, the blade embedding itself on either side of him, and raised both hands. His palms struck Hroar's chest with a thunderous impact that split the tiles beneath their feet. The warrior flew backward like a living projectile, slamming squarely into Lucia.

"Hu-ho!" she managed to squeak just before her brother bowled her over in a tangle of armor and muffled groans.

In a blink, Einar vanished from where he stood and reappeared beside Sofie, who was just about to complete another spell. Before she could conjure it, a sharp flick of his fingers landed on the crown of her head.

"Ouch!" Sofie protested, clutching her head with the expression of a scolded child.

Avento and Runa approached with total composure, brushing dust from their shoulders.

"I told you," Runa remarked with a resigned sigh. "This was never going to work."

"You lot really do enjoy suffering," Avento muttered, grateful he hadn't joined in that madness.

"We didn't even get him to use a Shout…" Blaise lamented as he emerged from a pile of rubble, shaking brick fragments from his head.

Alesan staggered out of a cracked wall, clutching his side with a pained grimace.

Lucia, with considerable effort, pushed Hroar off her and shoved him aside as if he were a sack of potatoes.

Samuel, the only one still unhurt, started inching away in tiny steps, trying to pretend he wasn't there.

A moment later, a hand appeared over his head and delivered a sharp smack that echoed like a whipcrack.

All the witches and wizards of the Ministry watched the scene with horror etched across their faces. They still couldn't comprehend how that group of young people had turned the hall into a wasteland in a matter of seconds.

Einar looked at them all with an expression as severe as an endless winter. And as he folded his arms, he realized that the chaos surrounding him had only just begun.

Yet a faint smile formed beneath his mask as he watched his children and students appear here. Even the havoc these youngsters caused was worth it.

"Dad!" Lucia cried, running toward him with such overflowing joy she seemed to have forgotten all about the destruction they had caused. She clung to one of his legs, hugging it tight with a beaming smile.

Sofie stopped rubbing her sore head and, with a contented sigh, wrapped both arms around Einar in a warm embrace.

The others, far more embarrassed than their younger sisters, only approached with a mixture of respect and quiet satisfaction on their faces. Sissel walked up slowly and, with a faint blush, took hold of the hem of Einar's cloak without raising her gaze too much.

"Hello, Father," Avento said, placing a hand on his chest and bowing his head in a solemn gesture.

"Master," Blaise and the others murmured in unison, inclining their heads respectfully.

"It's good to see you," Einar replied in a firm voice, a trace of pride softening his severe expression. "It seems you've all been training properly."

Those words lit up their faces, making them smile with silent pride.

"By the way…" Einar went on as he glanced over the group, noticing an obvious absence. "Where is Lars? Didn't he come with you?"

The young ones exchanged looks, blinking in confusion.

"Hey, look what I found!" Lars's voice called from a few meters away, demanding their attention.

They had been so focused on their attack that none of them had noticed. Now he was standing beside Harry, completely unbothered, waving a hand in front of a small black dragon. The creature watched him with narrowed eyes and a dangerous gleam, about to breathe fire at him. Harry, only just realizing there was someone next to him, stared wide-eyed in shock.

"Idiot!" Blaise exclaimed, walking over with a scowl. "You were supposed to attack the master's legs! Why the hell did you vanish?"

"It's so cute…" Lucia murmured, abandoning her father's leg to run straight toward the dragon. Sofie looked at Einar, then at the creature, and decided to follow her sister without a second thought.

Hroar, who had only just picked himself up from the floor with a dazed expression, frowned in curiosity and began approaching.

"Wow… I've never seen a baby dragon," Runa remarked, watching the scene with interest.

Avento merely shrugged before strolling over calmly.

Samuel, still nursing the sore spot on his head from Einar's smack, trotted along behind them.

Only Sissel stayed at Einar's side, motionless, though her eyes remained fixed on the small creature. Einar turned to her and gave her a tired look.

"Just go," he said in a resigned voice.

Sissel hesitated for a moment before nodding and hurrying after the others.

And so the reunion between a father and his children turned into a crowd gathered around a little black dragon.

Harry was left standing in the middle of them all, feeling like the floor was shifting under his feet. Viir, the little dragon, squirmed with a look of such annoyance it seemed he was about to bite someone. At last, he released the chick he'd been guarding under his wings and scurried over to Harry, slipping with a sigh under his robes.

Immediately, all the young warriors turned their heads toward Harry with identical interest. The air grew so heavy he could have sworn the dragon was relieved to be hiding in his clothes.

"Hey, you look familiar…" Lucia said, tilting her head and placing a hand under her chin thoughtfully.

"Mmm, you're right," Avento agreed, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Suddenly, all their gazes fixed more intently on Harry, and he felt a nervous tremor in his legs.

Meanwhile, Sofie had found the chick on the floor and was observing it with curiosity. She reached out to touch it lightly with a finger before picking it up with a small smile.

"He looks like the Archmage's son…" Runa commented calmly.

"Aaah," they all exclaimed in unison, nodding knowingly.

But when Viir didn't peek out again from Harry's robes, their collective interest deflated like a popped balloon. One by one, they turned away and returned to Einar as if nothing had happened.

They always did exactly what they wanted… They were a walking chaos.