Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of the Pottermore Universe, including but not limited to: settings, characters, the mechanics of magic, etc. All of this belongs to the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, and Warner Bros. respectively. Idol characters are purely fictional and have no affiliation with the actual person and/or group. Original characters will be present in the plot. 

Chaeyoung didn’t know exactly when her curiosity of dragons emerged, but that summer before her third year of Hogwarts, she was absolutely obsessed. She purchased numerous of books from Florish and Blotts, reading about all types of species, breeding, caretaking, history, anatomy – everything. Anything in the bookstore that mentioned the word “dragon,” Chaeyoung made sure she looked it over.

Naturally for Chaeyoung, the next step from learning about dragons was wanting a dragon. During the late summer nights, she would stay up and sketch out herself and a pet dragon riding the skies around her home village, feeling the freedom only wings could give. She would whisper to herself underneath her covers what kinds of species she would want and potential names she would give her companion. She would imagine what it’d be like to touch a dragon’s scales, the cool, rough surface at the touch of her fingertips. This interest had transformed into a burning desire, and Chaeyoung searched for ways to make it a reality.

And that is how Chaeyoung found herself in Ye Old Curiosity Shop in Knockturn Alley one July afternoon. Knockturn Alley was a shopping area within London, hidden from prying muggle eyes. Various stores were aligned along the crooked streets with tinted windows and worn-out signs. The quarter was infamous for its fondness of the Dark Arts, and most of the shops prided themselves in carrying horribly nasty valuables and items – often used to harm, control, or kill another person. The people that resided there weren’t much better. Parents always told their children to steer clear of Knockturn Alley unless they wished to be turned into a toad or gobbled up by a flesh hungry witch.

But Chaeyoung was never good at listening to her parents.

The Ye Old Curiosity Shop itself was musty and smelled of cigars; its shelves were adorned with disturbing ornaments ranging from shrunken heads to animal carcasses to human bones, and cobwebs had settled in every crack and crevice. Peculiar antique objects and spell books were on display with signs that read For Every Wizard with a Thirst for Magical Torture or Fifty-Percent off the Exact Fountain Pen that Murdered the Late Wizard Durgee. Above, hung a large brass chandelier from the ceiling with mysterious teeth dangling from it . . . it was a little gross. The store was dimly lit and Chaeyoung was sure everything in the shop was cursed, so she took extra care as she made her way to the counter.

“Whatcha brat doin’ ’ere?” Behind the counter was a disgruntled old man peering at Chaeyoung over his round spectacles. He had wispy brown hair and wore a gray, oil stained apron as his gnarled hands tinkered with some odd-looking instrument. His voice was coarse, reminding Chaeyoung of sandpaper squares being rubbed against each other. “No brats ’llowed in the shop! I won’ be responsible if yeh suddenly vaporize or get all of the blood out of that tiny body of yers!”

Chaeyoung her lips. “I . . . I want to know where I can get a dragon egg.”

“We don’ sell no creatures in this place,” the shopkeeper rasped. “If yeh haven’ noticed, everythin’ in ’ere is dead. Well, ’cept for me.” He wheezed a couple of times, snorting at his own joke.

“I know that dragon eggs aren’t necessarily related to the Dark Arts, but I’ve heard that this particular shop has dealings with the Black Market and perhaps –”

The shopkeeper slammed a fist on the counter, glaring at the small girl. “Where did yeh ’ear that? Bah! Don’ matter ’nyway. Brats shouldn’ be dealin’ with the Black Market. Too young and not clever enough. Come back when yer of age and grow a ’lil taller.”

Chaeyoung bristled at the jab about her height. Rude.

The shopkeeper grunted and turned his back to the girl, signaling that he was finished with her. But Chaeyoung wasn’t done.

“What if you put a price on the information I want?” She took out a sack from her bag and tossed it onto the counter. The old man whipped his head around at the sound of jingling coins, clearly intrigued by the business offer. Chaeyoung slowly opened the sack and let the shopkeeper take a peek of what was inside. A fair amount of golden Galleons smiled back.

Truthfully, Chaeyoung didn’t come from a wealthy family; they had enough to live comfortably, but they weren’t loaded. Her grandmother’s recent passing, however, had left behind a considerable amount of fortune for her and her brother. Chaeyoung’s parents insisted that the children’s share was to be placed in a savings account, and only when they turned of age (in the Wizarding world, it was seventeen) would they get to retrieve it. Chaeyoung was able to convince her grandfather though that by giving her early access, it would be a good lesson on how to manage money responsibly. Much to her pleasure and her parents’ horror, her grandfather agreed and Chaeyoung now had riches at the young age of thirteen. The money didn’t sit in Chaeyoung’s bank account for long before it reached her hot, little hands. She had withdrawn an outrageous sum with one intention in mind: getting a dragon. So much for a lesson on how to manage money.

The owner of the shop eyed Chaeyoung’s offering. With greed written on his face, he reached for the money, but the short girl snatched it away before his grimy hands could even touch it. She knew from past experience that with avaricious people like him, one must always just dangle to the bait until a bite was promised.

“Yeh think yeh some smartass, don’ yeh? Think yeh can handle the Black Market like this?”

Chaeyoung smiled at him innocently. “No, I’m just a brat, remember? Too young. Not clever enough.”

The old man howled with laughter (which really sounded more like he was going to hack up a lung). After calming down, a thin grin curled onto his lips, displaying several rotten teeth. “Gutsy ’lil thing, yeh are. Yeh a student? Hogwarts?” Chaeyoung hesitantly nodded. “Slytherin? Gryffindor?”

“Ravenclaw.”

“Hmmm . . . ’nteresting,” mumbled the shopkeeper, his tone saying otherwise.

Chaeyoung grimaced. She didn’t know why the old man was curious about her House placement, but his words certainly weren’t the first time she heard that she might’ve been misplaced by the Sorting Hat. She too had her own doubts.

“Alrighty brat, yeh humor me. Let’s see how much that bag of yers can buy . . .”

The Red Salamander. The shopkeeper had told Chaeyoung that underground dealings were often held at the small Hogsmeade pub. Not many knew of the place – residents included. The owner, Redman, worked hard to keep everything hush-hush and only trusted those who were part of Black Market’s inner ring and reliable associates. Outsiders were not welcomed.

Chaeyoung had pushed through the pub’s door with all of the confidence her small body could hold, but in reality, she was scared out of her wits. She’d be in so much trouble if anyone found out what she was up to. She selfishly wished that either Dahyun or Jeongyeon had joined her, at least she wouldn’t feel so alone.

Now wasn’t the time to sulk though. Chaeyoung collected herself as best as she could and sauntered over to the bartender. He was burly man with a red handle-bar mustache and tattoos all over his body. There weren’t many people in the pub so he busied himself with cleaning glasses.

Chaeyoung coughed to get his attention. The man spared her a look and then went back to his cleaning. “Sorry girly, I don’t know where your parents are. Go look somewhere else.”

“I’m not lost,” said Chaeyoung crossly, sick of the treatment she always got because she was a kid. First the old man at the curiosity shop, now the bartender! She was thirteen years old for Pete’s sake! Practically a grown-up!

“Well, children aren’t supposed to be in here. Unless you have a license to drink liquor, you have no reason to be in this pub.”

“I’m here to see Eads.”

The bartender paused his cleaning, narrowing his eyes at Chaeyoung. “That’s a dangerous name to come out of a little girl’s mouth.”

As Chaeyoung was about to reply, a hand placed itself on her shoulder and then gave sharp yank. “Son Chaeyoung!” a soft voice scolded.

Chaeyoung spun around to see Myoui Mina glowering at her.

Fan-bloody-tastic.

The small girl internally groaned. The last thing she needed was a prefect to jeopardize her plans. Everyone knew that at Hogwarts, prefects were the definition of fun-ers, always jumping in on her and Dahyun’s pranks and closing the show before it got to the good part. Myoui Mina as a prefect was ten times worse because she was a real stickler to rules and very pretty. It was much harder to rebel against someone Chaeyoung found super attractive.

“Uh . . . Nice day, Myoui?” Chaeyoung greeted weakly.

“Oh good, another one,” muttered the bartender.

Mina continued to scowl at the younger student. The prefect stood only a little bit taller than Chaeyoung, but her perfect posture and killer glare made her seem much more imposing. The older girl was also a little too close for Chaeyoung’s comfort. The young Ravenclaw could pick out each mole on Mina’s face, tracing them down from her forehead to her pointed nose all the way to her lips . . . Yeah, much too close for comfort.

“Son Chaeyoung, we’re going back to the main village this instance! We shouldn’t be here. And he’s right, you’re too young to be in a bar!” Mina tugged on Chaeyoung’s jacket harshly like she was going to drag the girl out the door.

Chaeyoung hesitated. Whoa. Who knew someone could still look extremely pretty when they were furious with you? Chaeyoung considered for a brief second that maybe she should leave.

But only for a brief second.

Pretty or not, she wasn’t going to give up on the dragon for the sake of Mina!

The younger girl shook her head in refusal. “No way, Myoui! You’re not my mother! Leave without me, this is none of your business anyway!” Chaeyoung griped as she shirked off the other student’s hand from her shoulder and stamped her foot on the ground. Yes, she was indeed mature and not a child.

“Business? It became my business when you decided to run off to the outskirts of this town. As a prefect, I’m responsible for the younger students!”

“Oh, right. You and your precious prefect duties. Are you going to report me for this? Dock off more points? ‘Fifty points from Ravenclaw!’” Chaeyoung rudely mocked Mina’s naturally quiet voice. “Yeah, you’re really doing favors for our House.”

“I wouldn’t have to do it if you weren’t such a numbskull!”

“Ugh. Just bug off! I’m here for my own reasons and don’t need some goody-two shoes to get in the way.”

“Why are you here?”

Chaeyoung opened and then immediately clamped it shut. What was the point of explaining? Mina wouldn’t understand. She wouldn’t understand how much this meant to Chaeyoung; she wouldn’t understand that this was something that the younger girl had planned out so carefully during the summer and waited with bated breath until this day came; she wouldn’t understand that Chaeyoung wanted a dragon simply just because. Did she really need to justify why? Despite in all of its stupidity and foolishness, the third year felt like this was her calling. She was meant to have a dragon. She never felt more motivated in her life.

“Go on, Myoui. You shouldn’t be here,” said Chaeyoung bitterly, now avoiding any eye contact with Mina.

The abrupt change in Chaeyoung’s behavior caused the prefect to soften. Mina reached for the younger girl again, speaking gently, “Please, Chaeyoung. Come back with me. I won’t tell or dock off points, let’s just leave before any of this gets out of hand.”

“Listen to the smart one, girly,” added the bartender. “It’s already mid-afternoon, you two should get back before it gets dark.”

However, Chaeyoung’s heart was already set; stubbornly, she didn’t budge. She knew the impending consequences that awaited upon her return to school, but she had already made it this far – she was so close – she wouldn’t leave it all for nothing.

Before Chaeyoung could defend her stance though, a mellifluous, honey-rich voice suddenly disrupted the conversation. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear that someone was requesting an audience with me.”

A young man dressed in silken purple robes stood up from a nearby barstool and walked over to the commotion. He gazed at Chaeyoung and Mina, his lavender eyes shimmering with amusement.

“E-Eads!” the bartender stuttered. “S-she’s just a child!”

The man smiled a toothless smile, although it never reached his eyes. “My dear Redman, we do not discriminate in the underworld; we value and honor anyone who is willing to do business with us. Come,” he gestured to both Chaeyoung and Mina, “I believe we have much to discuss.”

/ / /

Dahyun was pacing. Jeongyeon kept shooting over worried glances as the pale girl walked around their table, muttering to herself. The two students were at the Three Broomsticks Inn, having caught up with Sana and Momo and their friends, with hot butterbeer in their hands. But despite being surrounded by good company, both Jeongyeon and Dahyun were feeling extremely guilty about leaving Chaeyoung – no doubt the small kid was digging herself into some serious trouble – and they didn’t really know what to do next. Chaeyoung’s bizarre wish wasn’t something one could easily ignore.

Their restlessness wasn’t going unnoticed either.

“Is Kim . . . okay?” Jihyo asked as she also watched the girl. Sana and Momo exchanged concerned looks, like this was something they dealt with earlier.

“Dahyunnie was acting a little weird this morning,” mentioned Sana. “She said she was really stressed out from school.”

Jeongyeon pursed her lips. Dahyun was stressed out alright, but it certainly wasn’t because of school.

Momo poked Jeongyeon in the arm. “Hey, what happened to your plans anyway? Dahyun told us that you, her, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu had something going on and we told her to convince you all to join us instead. There’s only the two of you though, where’s Chaeyoung and Tzuyu?”

Jeongyeon took a swig of butterbeer; she was already on her third bottle. It wasn’t alcoholic or anything, but drinking the warm beverage helped her maintain her cool. Or at the very least, suppress all of the anxiety building up inside. “No idea where the kid or Chou is.”

Technically it wasn’t a lie.

“A bit funny Chaeyoung isn’t here,” Momo remarked. “She and Dahyun are usually attached to the hip, and she practically worships you, Jeongyeon. I would’ve thought she wanted to spend time with the two of you on her first Hogsmeade trip.”

A nervous chuckle escaped Jeongyeon’s lips as another wave of guilt washed over her. Maybe she should’ve stayed with Chaeyoung. She silently hoped that the kid wouldn’t get killed. Heavens, she was just a kid!

“Tzuyu actually had to stay at Hogwarts because she fell ill last night. There’s a nasty cold going around Slytherin,” Nayeon explained as she stuffed a pastry in . “But it sounds like we need to reconsider putting a tracking spell on Chaeyoung again.”

Jeongyeon didn’t think that was a half-bad idea coming from the older girl.

“Speaking of missing people, have any of you seen Mina?” asked Jihyo. “We were supposed to meet at the village gate so we could join everyone here at Three Broomsticks. I waited for thirty minutes but she never showed.”

“That’s very uncharacteristic of her,” said Jeongyeon, frowning. Myoui Mina was never late. To anything. She was always on time. Jeongyeon had never met anyone else who could rival the Ravenclaw’s punctuality, and wouldn’t be a surprise if she was even on time for her own birth. That was just how Mina was.

“Do you think something happened to her?” Sana’s brows furrowed in worry.

Silence filled the table.

“Kidnapping?”

“Caught up by one of the professors?”

“Ditched to study instead?”

“Boyfriend?”

“Girlfriend?”

The girls threw out wild (and some plausible) theories about what happened to Mina, but the more and more they imagined wild scenarios, the more their concern grew. The fact of the matter was, Mina wasn’t someone who would abandon a friend meet-up, regardless of how small or casual, and therefore they all concluded that something bad must’ve happened to her.

“Maybe we should tell a professor,” suggested Sana.

Jihyo waved her hand in dismissal. “We shouldn’t get the professors involved unless we know for certain that something awful happened. We still have an hour or two before we need to head back. Let’s spread out and search for her.”

Everyone nodded.

“We should go in pairs though,” said Momo. “You know, in case . . . in case something did happen.”

“I volunteer to go with Jeongyeon!” Dahyun spoke up, the first time she said anything to them since she entered the inn. She linked arms with Jeongyeon and the older girl could feel the Hufflepuff student shaking.

The rest of the table exchanged mild looks of confusion, Dahyun’s abrupt eagerness surprised them. But Jeongyeon just shrugged like she didn’t know why Dahyun chose her and the others shook it off. The remaining girls separated themselves into two more pairs – Sana and Jihyo, Nayeon and Momo – and briefly discussed the areas of the village each set would cover.

“Jeongyeon,” hissed Dahyun as the two stepped out of Three Broomsticks, “We need to find Chaeyoung too. I can’t take it anymore. At first I felt wary of going through with her stupid dragon plan, but now I feel even worse for leaving her. I’m such a failure as a best friend.” She hung her head low in shame.

Jeongyeon draped her arm over the pale girl and gave a supportive squeeze. “It’s okay, Dahyun. I’m sure Chaeyoung understands why you made your decision; she’s not the type to force you to go through with something you aren’t comfortable with. Once we find her, we’ll talk over this whole dragon-thing. Maybe we can appease her wish by taking her to the dragon sanctuary in Romania next summer.”

“Really?”

“If we can afford it, yeah. But we’ll see what kind of compromise we can make with her. For now, we should focus on our missing friends.”

Dahyun nodded and put on a tight smile. “I hope that idiot hasn’t gotten herself killed yet.”

“Me too, Dahyun. Me too.”

A/n:  Thank you to everyone who has read, subscribed, commented, and/or upvoted thus far! I really appreciate it; I have a lot planned out for this story (which is impressive since I can't even do that for my own life) and things will start to pick up soon. See you all next week~