#// Justin fights some poachers & he can talk to magical creatures

[justingrxnt]

edict i : in the jaws

or

local lad fights poachers bare handed

The hamlets population was lower than troupe’s, was Justin’s first thought as he swept through the town, dark curls brushing over his brows as he shuffled down the cobbled street. It seemed untouched by time, like many places he’d visited since he was a baby, simplicity in it’s finest and maybe just a touch mad. His mother would say “Loco de la soledad” or had gone crazy from being alone, far-flung from the world around them. Justin believed maybe they had it right, living in isolation from a world that had gone crazy as a unit. 

But Justin was not here to ponder humanity’s continuous sink into madness, no, Justin was here to find something very special. The mating of a pair of  Hebridean Black’s, a pair had been spotted moving further south, far out of their reserve, not unusual for their kind and the Ministry was losing their minds in fear they’d flying over a hamlet such as thing. Except they came here, to a local wizarding one. The Ministry said it was luck, but Justin had long since hypothesized that dragons could detect magic and were driven towards it rather than muggles especially in the new age of electricity. There was nothing to prove this of course, and without revealing his secret he could not in good conscious or without danger to himself explain himself. So after listening to a few contacts the young man followed their trail, and the trail of several workers at the dragon reserve to watch the creatures.

The hamlet was quiet in the early dew, shutters still tightly closed, sun barely kissing his ankles as he swept through town. There was a small apothecary, no doubt family owned and run for at least a hundred or more years, an inn that doubled as the bar and closed up stalls betrayed they relied on an open air market with more than enough heating and anti-rain charms to last any good Scottish rainfall. The young man was startled however, as he turned down another neatly packed cobblestone path, by a pair of men in neatly pressed robes and leather vest, the stamp of the Regulation of Magical Creatures on their breasts. 

“Ho there!” the shorter one called out, his face twisted like a serpents with equally wormy lips.

Justin nodded his greeting, continuing his walk forward towards the trailhead.

“Not going into the wood are ya?” the taller one asked, frowning, he was obviously a nervous creature, a paper pusher from the Department. “You’ve heard there are dragons about haven’t ya?”

“I have.” Justin’s clipped tone he hoped would deter them from being bothered further. He continued along his path.

“Then you ought to know that we’ve gotta stop ya?”

“Indeed,” Justin took a few steps around them, daring either to lay a hand. 

“Come now son, you’ve a death wish if ya wanna see one of them beasts.”

“I’m a photographer,” he lifted his satchel, the distinct shape pressed against the cloth, “on assignment from my magazine. You know how it is, new guy gets the dangerous work.” his grin was smarmy, and voice low and smooth, sure of his safe passage. 

“Oh aye I remember such days, but it doesn’t change that you ought to not go in there.”

“Hmm,” Justin passed them, without so much as a second glance, “I’ll take my chances with the beasts than my boss nor my landlord.”

“You wouldn’t mind if we saw your credentials now would you?”

“Unless you are with the Department of Law Enforcement, according to the statute on Free Press you cannot demand my credentials. Look it up, it’s a well known law,” there was no such law, “and I’m afraid I must only get a few snapshots of the male mounting, my sources say they are no far off from such a mating.”

The shorted one got flustered obviously taken aback by Justin’s total lack of their supposed authority. But his eyes, no his eyes were hard. Then without nearly as much fight he grinned, “Alright, go watch the two beasts bang one out then, if you lose a limb don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Thank you,” with a nod of his head Justin continued into the forest, noting how the two men fought in whispers. Odd. 

The forest was quiet, far too quiet for a pair of dragons to be getting ready for a mating. Mating were brutal affairs, the female often murdering their partner far before the pleasure came, not that animal’s in particular cared for such things it was a distinctly human trait. Justin dipped into the forest, far off the weathered hunting trail he followed, his hands brushed over the trees and over the bushes, the silence more deafening than anything. He strained his mind, searching for even a whisper of sentience, but nothing it seemed was alive and moving, it was as if the forest slept. The prickle of fear on his spine came further as he went deeper into the woods, the sharp scent of tree and wet compact dirt ought to have been a comfort. Then there was a distinct muffle, some kind of shout or shriek and all at once the forest was alive, it was a cacophony of sounds as he blinked away the magic that someone had placed. 

The it was silent again.

This time Justin ran, far into the woods, towards where he had heard the noise until he came upon an encampment. Several men and women, rough looking creatures with curved mouths like swords and blood on their hands. Literally, wiping it off as they laughed, muffled by their magic. He could see a great cage in the distance, and in it several huddled forms.

Poachers.

Fuck.

Justin backed off carefully settling himself against the tree. Now Justin had to admit he was not the best at magic, at least not in a traditional sense, it had driven his Hogwarts professors crazy when he used spells in a way they were not supposed to be used. But he planned, methodically and then without much preamble opened his mind. Dragons had always been the most difficult to communicate with, not because they were unintelligent, no they were far too intelligent to deal with the likes of him, their magic was ancient, power great and Justin was a twig in their minds. Entering into their space was a bad bet, but even still, one he had to take.

“BOY.” the female boomed in his mind, he winced, it was like being too close to a bombasta, ringing in his ears through the world was silent.

“Ma’am,” his father’s teachings hung on, even with dragons, “you have been captured by poachers.”

“I KNOW BOY.” it hurt, talking to these powerful creatures hurt. 

“i want to get you out of there,” he kept his mind soft, not that trying to be loud would be helpful.

“DO IT.”

“can you still breathe fire?”

“MAGIC”

“can you move?”

“LITTLE”

“what can you do?”

“ROAR”

“could you do that?”

A beat went by before the silence was once again broken, the roar of the dragon beating against the silencing charm. The poachers stood, wands raised and rushing towards the great cage, no doubt to try and silence the great creature. Without much preamble Justin rushed into the camp,the silence charm worked both ways once he was in it. It was their downfall. There was one lagging back, a younger boy and with a quick spell the boy was down, wrapped in vines growing and trapping him in the vines, the wand taken from his twitching fingers. Justin shoved it into the belt-loops of his pants and followed the crowd, pulling his cloak over his head. The second went down, again in silence, trapped in ice. The three ahead he could take, with or without magic. The tallest was weedy, pimply with open sores, some kind of addict they might’ve recruited. Justin caught him a punch to the temple dropping the man like a stone.

That they noticed.

The curse went whizzing by his head, it was only a slide in the mud that stopped it’s direct hit to the nose, his stumble took the man out with a hardly legal rugby tackle. The snap of the man’s wand hardly noticeable as the two other men rushed him, his hands struck out, like a boxer or street fighter, forgetting he even had a wand as he knocked a third unconscious.

The final guy was big, he was meaty, looked ready to eat the dragon for dinner wholly. Maybe there was a bit of Giant blood in him, Just couldn’t be sure, but he was sure he couldn’t take him physically so his wand came out, wand and comfortable in his palm. They dueled, Justin’s timing was calculated and vicious, closing ground to incapacitate the man as the other grew more and more flustered, his spell-work and footwork hardly up to snuff. These poachers were next to useless, he wondered faintly how they even managed to trap a dragon in the first place, maybe they poisoned the food supply in the area or their best poacher was already gone for the day. Either way the fight went on, Justin took shelter behind a large rock, mossy and sweet smelling as the man prowled, trying to heal his curse burns, his legs no doubt covered in pus from an awful curse Justin found in America. 

“C’mon boy, lets dance, you came all the way out here fer our haul didn’t cha.” the surge from Justin’s left warned him of the man’s movement, flinging himself over the edge of the boulder, snagging his shoulder and cutting it wide open as the man hit the dirt. The Slytherin wasted no time in flipping onto his back, his fists punching into the side of his head viciously as he dug his knees into her spine. The man scraped his hands on any bit of flesh Justin could offer, but to avail. 

“I did, now you’ve lost it,” muttering under his breathe the tied the man off from the tree branch, his greasy blonde hair touching the forest floor. 

The cage was easy to spring, Justin was wholly happy to not be eaten by the dragons as they limped from the cage. Iron shackles were left in the dirt as the dragons eyed him warily, booming into his mind like thunder when he ventured too close. The forest was a symphony again, animals whispering as the village awoke again, the spell cast had forced them all asleep. 

Justin sat on the boulder, exhausted and bloody, still gripping his wand as the first few wix stumbled into the clearing, wands drawn and staring at the circle dragons.

“Don’t worry, I got ‘em all, someone should call the Aurors and deal with these poachers. Does anyone have any breakfast I would be most obliged even for a bit of toast.” his smile was infectious even as the dragon above head boomed with flames expelling from her mouth towards her simpering mate. “Even a sip of water would be most helpful.” one of the witches came with a flash that he sipped from, thanking her gratefully as she blushed. Leaning back on his hands he waited for the Aurors to arrive, no doubt with far too many questions for him and a truth serum, his day only mildly ruined as he watched everyone flinch from the dragons above-head. But he smiled, listening to the female above him.

“THANK YOU BOY.”

“you’re welcome.”