Because they were so rare and precious, most wizards truly never had the chance to see a living fire Dragon in their entire lives.
To be precise, even catching sight of a fire Dragon's shadow from afar would already be something worth bragging about.
As for facing a fully grown fire Dragon at such close range, perhaps a person would only ever get a chance like that once in their life.
Roar.
Above them, those terrifying wings that cast their shadow over the ground seemed capable of sending a person flying with just the slightest flap.
And those slit pupils, each as large as a human head, were staring fixedly at the humans below.
A chill ran across Ginny's scalp. Her legs went weak, and she could barely keep her grip on the wand in her hand.
If Hermione had not still been standing quietly beside her, and if Hermione had not warned her earlier, Ginny might have grabbed them and run at once.
Even so, facing such an enormous shadow put tremendous pressure on her.
She had thought the fire Dragon would simply fly straight over their heads, but things did not seem to be going the way Ginny expected. "Wait... that... fire Dragon..."
"It's coming over."
Luna said the words Ginny had been stammering over.
It was worth mentioning that Luna, who had been so excited and thrilled earlier, now had a faint nervous tremor in her voice as well.
It seemed that even Luna, strange as her behavior usually was, could not control her heartbeat or avoid instinctive fear when faced with a fully grown and dangerous Dragon.
But what the two girls did not notice was...
From beginning to end, Hermione, standing beside them, had not shown any fear. Instead, there was a trace of helplessness on her face.
Because only she knew that the figure Luna had seen sitting on the Dragon's back was real, not some illusion.
And there was only one hateful wizard capable of sitting on Norberta's back.
...
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The fierce wind stirred up by the beating wings forced Hermione and the others below to use magic to steady themselves so they would not be blown away.
Even so, when the Dragon landed on the ground, Hermione and the others still ended up looking quite disheveled.
Luna, in particular, had been wearing a whole pile of strange ornaments. Now, all of a sudden, she looked much cleaner and far less odd than before.
Just as Hermione held down her hair and glared angrily up at the Dragon's back, Ginny tugged at her robe in terror. "Hermione! That fire Dragon is stretching its head toward us!"
Ginny, tense and frightened, had not yet noticed that the fire Dragon's eyes seemed a little too human.
Especially that teasing gaze. It was as if she had been corrupted by her master, and she kept moving her enormous head closer in Ginny's direction.
Sharp fangs.
Sparks of fire.
Just as magic surged violently through Ginny's body, a very familiar and very hateful voice came from the Dragon's back. "Allow me to introduce my companion, Norberta."
"Draco..."
"Come on, Norberta. Say hello to our new friend."
"Roooaaar!"
"Drop dead, Draco!"
"Hahahahaha."
Seeing Ginny Weasley roaring right along with Norberta, Draco let out a deeply satisfied laugh from the Dragon's back.
Faced with this all-too-familiar scene, Hermione could only slap her forehead in exasperation.
"This... awful man..."
...
After they had introduced themselves to each other, sort of, Luna seemed to latch onto Draco.
She apparently wanted to try what it felt like to sit on a Dragon's back.
As for Ginny, because she had just been so emotional, she was now still a little short of breath. She sat off to one side, resting while glaring fiercely at Draco.
However, every time Norberta's gaze swept over her, Ginny still instinctively shrank her head back.
It seemed she had not recovered from the shock just yet.
At this point, it was hard to tell who was actually the Gryffindor student. Luna showed no fear at all as she circled Norberta's body, looking very much as though she wanted to reach out and touch her.
No, in fact, she was already doing it.
"Draco, can I touch her claw?"
"Yes."
"Draco, can I touch her wing?"
"Mm."
"Draco, can I touch her mouth?"
"....."
Faced with a Luna who was completely different from usual, not only Hermione, but even Draco felt a little surprised.
Who would have thought that Luna, who normally showed no emotional fluctuation toward anything, had this side to her?
"Since you're so interested, would you like me to take you for a flight?"
"Really?!"
"Of course. Seeing someone like Norberta so much makes me happy too."
Because Draco liked dragons so much, whenever he saw someone else who liked them as well, he wanted to share that joy with them. He had even offered to take Luna for a flight.
As for Norberta?
In truth, she wanted to soar through the sky more than anyone.