Johann was woken by Ignan's hand on his shoulder. The younger cousin looked up in alarm at his older cousin, and blinking, caught sight of Ignan's change of clothes. That combined with a sluggish feeling indicated he'd been asleep a while, and the sunlight coming through the window was morning, not evening.

"Merlin!" Johann exclaimed, "What's the time?" He leapt up, casting aside a light blanket, and very nearly pitched over it as Ignan elaborated, and asked if he wanted anything to eat.
"No, no thanks, I need to get going, I'll get something later... Did I... oh, never mind." Johann barrelled into the adjoining bathroom and rubbed at his face with water and helped himself to a few other items by the sink. As he hurried out and fished his bag from beside the armchair his cousin folded the Sunday newspaper over and bid him farewell. Johann left the castle wondering if Ignan had been a little more tolerant of him than usual. Johann wouldn't have been allowed to kip on an armchair ordinarily, nor would he have gone to sleep ordinarily either.

Shrugging it all off, he did his best to run down the castle path to the gates, panting and thanking his lanky build for long legs allowing him to cover distance without superior fitness. His black curls shone with water in the morning sunshine from a quick tidy and comb. Altogether not as preened as he had intended before meeting Bai.

She had always moved a lot quicker than him with regards to travelling, but they had spent a while together until he'd had to come to a halt in Paris. Running out of money happened periodically and Johann had opted to stay and get a job for at least a month, which is how he'd ended up working for the potioneers where he met Juliette Vaillancourt. He'd caught Bai up a little over a month later before they headed out of Europe, but again, Johann had always been the one wanting to stay a little longer to immerse himself in language, magic and culture.

As soon as Johann had heard Bai would be heading over for the Tetra-wizard tournament he had written to her and arranged they would meet as soon as was convenient. They'd bumped into each other briefly at the celebrations, but as Johann was on duty he couldn't linger too long to talk.

With a crack he vanished from just beyond the gates and reappeared in Hogsmeade, where he reappeared just beside the bench he had suggested to meet at (unless the weather had been typically Scottish and it had rained).

"Morning!" He greeted brightly, embracing her politely. Hoping Bai wouldn't notice his slightly creased appearance (laundry spells were not his forte) he perched on the bench and rifled through his bag to be sure the portkey was still there. She smelled lovely, he'd always loved that. People assumed that when you spent time with animals you wouldn't, but Bai was impeccable in mind and appearance.
"Sorry for being a bit late - was up at Hogwarts." He apologised, suddenly hoping he didn't smell too obviously of peppermint toothpaste with an undertone of wine from last night. Merlin, how much had he drunk, his head was still fuzzy.
"How long have you got today before you need to be back?" He asked, squinting up into the morning sunshine and hoping it wouldn't be too cloudy in Wales, or well, perhaps enough to cover their brooms.

A few days in since the paperwork had gone through and her place in the delegation was guaranteed, Bai Li had just been thinking of contacting her old friend and contact herself. Johann Storm, she remembered, had been both an amicable face and pleasant company—qualities that, to her experience, were not always mutually inclusive to each other. He had been witty and amusing, knowledgeable in subjects she was curious about but knew nothing of, and had shown an interest in the ones she was well-versed in as well. Traveling with him had certainly been. . . interesting, to say the least.

There had been times when he had left her gazing skyward for patience, yes, but in the end it had been more enjoyable than she’d initially assumed.

That telltale crack by no means startling her out her musings, Bai rose from her seat gracefully, returning the greeting with a smile that was contained but warm. No comment about his appearance—or that abundance of peppermint—followed. On another day she might have raised a brow, perhaps, but not today. “As it happens I have almost the entire day free, actually,” she replied, eyes slanting with the smile. “No doubt there will be more work waiting for me upon my return, but that would be all.”

At least sixty percent of said work would be chasing down Salem’s beloved headmaster, but that was entirely beside the point.

Anyways. . . “When shall we head over, then?” she asked, tone and eyes holding nothing but patient curiosity. There was no edge of impatience to the question, as it had been back in the days of their travels. Then, she had been trying to cover as much ground as she could; today, on the other hand, she was not. “Right away, or were you of the mind to grab a quick bite first?”

"Eat?" Johann asked, with a tone of incredulity, why would anyone want to do something so mundane when they had dragons to see? Then he realised, not everyone ran off sleeping potion and food when they got bored enough.
"Oh, have you eaten?" He asked more politely. "I haven't, but I don't so much, and... if we're going on a broom I don't want to take my chances."

Johann put a hand to his stomach beneath his shirt, his jacket unbuttoned. He'd eat later, no good regurgitating it over Wales. It would be hard to explain why an eagle had excreted a cooked breakfast over the head of a walker (though it would be a curious task for his colleagues in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee).

"I suppose something liquid wouldn't harm. The portkey will keep." He patted his bag over his shoulder. "As long as we turn up by 11 o'clock we won't miss things." Johann fixed Bai with his boyish smile. "Despite knowing I have all year to catch up with you in stints, I still want to hear everything." He shuffled his feet excitedly, and shoved his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to the nearby establishment supplying good food and drink. "That is, unless you're sick of its food already."

Despite herself, Bai smiled a bit more widely. It really had been too long, if she had forgotten how badly he took to flying. “Actually, I rather like it,” she said, adjusting the strap of her own bag. “It is… different, yes-” and heavy, certainly, “-but I rather missed it, to be quite honest. There are just some things one cannot find at home.”

The smile widened further. Had another brought up her penchant dislike for routine fare—and staying in one place for too long, while she was abroad—she would have been irritated. Johann, however, had earned the right to bring it up years ago, back when he had to put up with her and her speed-traveling. “Just a drink,” she agreed, eyeing the building appraisingly. They did not want to miss their appointment, after all.

When he led her inside, and to their seats, Bai gave the interior an appreciative glance and looked back at him, smiling a slight, tiny smile that on anyone else would have been a grin. An errant strand of hair—the rest of it pulled back into a casual, but still elegant, fishtail braid tossed over a shoulder—strayed a little too intrusively toward her face, and she tucked it back behind an ear. “Where would you like me to start?”

"Well, traditionally one begins at the start, but, for the sake of time and effort, begin at the most interesting." Johann grinned, settling down opposite.

He held up his left hand, fingers outstretched and palm towards him.
"Most remote, largest beast, longest hangover, closest point to death..." He tapped each of his left fingers in turn as he counted off each situation, "Oh and best dinner, but can we, urhm, save that for later..."

In her seat, Bai folded her hands, straightening—the equivalent to any humming, foot-tapping, or finger-drumming someone else might have done. It was an ingrained habit she had taken refuge in as a girl, back when she was oh so painfully mindful of her appearance, and it was one she did not mind indulging when she was in certain company. Where to begin…?

“We were passing through the Himalayas,” she began, tone thoughtful—distant—as she thought on the biting cold and the endless flurries of white. “North America isn’t the only one hiding yetis, as you know, and Tibet is known to hide one of the oldest kinds.” Or, the supposed older of two, anyway. Their size, often bulkier from what could only be fat, was bulkier than those of their deciduous cousins, and in comparison their faces seemed much more. . . primordial, boasting an almost exaggerated jaw, deeper-set eyes, and a flat, almost plate-like brow that succeeded a slanting forehead.

And particularly among the local brigands, their coats were highly, highly prized. A wry smile twisted her lips. “Bandits, unfortunately, thought my group and I to be part of a conservation force, or worse: competition.

“I was caught in the explosion of debris from a misfired Blasting Curse,” she finished, musing on the shards that had lodged themselves in her left side, “and almost rolled off a cliff.”

And true to form, she had been more relieved about the emergency stash of Dittany than she had been about her close call.

“The next day, we had drinks afterward. They… claimed a tradition of celebrating right after a near-death experience.” At this, full lips pursed into a thin, almost peevish line. She sniffed. “It would have been rude to decline, you see.”

Smiling dryly, “Is that interesting enough for you?”

Across the table, Johann Storm sat agape.

“Is that interesting enough for you?”

He snapped his jaw shut, suddenly aware of what he was doing, and grinned.
"That's the only interesting thing? Come on now, slipping!"

Johann's tone was jovial, indicating sarcasm. His life was actually rather boring when compared to Bai's - though he put it down to the subject matter. Animals were always unpredictable, and led to similar unpredictability for those dealing with them. People were unpredictable too, but Johann didn't make too much of a habit these days of associating with people outside of bureaucracy at the Ministry of Magic. Other than if he spent his evenings in a pub, alcohol made people do really amusing things.

"Oh well, dragons will be really uninteresting then. I'll have to jinx your broom or tie a steak on the back of it I suppose." He shrugged.

"Do you plan on making your own amusement while grounded in cheery Britain? It seems like an extraordinarily long year ahead. Well, feels like the Ministry have been planning it for several already." He glanced up at Bai. "You do realise if I even hint at what is going on I'll get obliviated into next Wednesday?" Johann rubbed a temple, "And I'm rather fond of my mind and memories, so don't even tempt me into wanting to give you a hint for your school. I already do, as a friend - but so does my father for Durmstrang, and my cousins for Hogwarts. Given half a chance, my mother will be asking on behalf of Beauxbatons."

Having rattled all that off he shrugged and peered at his pocketwatch.

"We should really be off, don't want them getting twitchy or finding an excuse not to let you look at the dragons."

Getting to his feet, he offered his arm.

"There's a portkey in my bag. Shall we?"

She laughed then, at his sarcasm—his ‘threats’—him—a soft, lilting chuckle for once escaping from those oft-pursed lips. “Try that,” was all she replied, the gleam in her eyes daring, “and we shall see.”

There were so few who knew that she would find such jokes amusing.

Aside from the more immediate concerns—schoolwork, her students, the tournament, Ferreole—there were… other things… that were sure to keep her occupied, and only plenty more waiting in the wings. That meeting she’d had with the Auror only two days earlier—that was one. Getting to know her fellow Creatures professor was another. And then there was that other matter that would need to be seen to within two months’ time…

But yes. Her stay wouldn’t be all  business; she would have her pleasure, too. They were about to see dragons, weren’t they?

And speaking of which-

“Let’s,” she agreed, flashing Johann a warm smile as she took his arm. Her other hand reaffirmed its grip on her own pack. She felt a tingle of excitement as she always did, just when she was about to set off.

The feeling of using a portkey could still take you by surprise, Johann decided, as he felt like his midrif had been turned outermost as they both touched the dragon's tooth that been attached with a memo from Johann's contact in the office.

In moments, he stumbled onto the ground in Wales beside a small hut on legs, an observation post, still clutching the tooth between them. The Cardiff Claws Reserve lay beyond.

"Aha!" A jovial Welsh accent proclaimed from somewhere above them. "I'll be right down." There was a glimpse of a hat vanishing back into the window above and then Darryl appeared at the foot of the hut's ladder with a crack.

Having grown up in the area with his father doing the job before him, Darryl had never considered any other job than minding dragons in Wales. He worked with a team of other 'tamers' though had offered to give them both a look and be responsible for them during the visit.

"Reggie's just told me Agnes[1] the common green has just woken up, about two miles from here. She's a beauty, we should hurry over."

It didn't seem like Darryl was too bothered with introductions (Johann, had after all detailed Bai's identity and qualifications earlier and he was bashful). He thrush two brooms at them.

"They're flame charmed, but you won't be as retardant, so don't get singed." He instructed with a brief frown before drawing his own wand and uttering a couple of quick charms at each of them.

"We're going, now, already?" Johann asked, his voice a little faint. "Bai, this is Darryl-."

"Yes, now boy-o, the lady wanted to see the dragons you said, so let's go."

It was hard to complain, Bai was indeed keen, and Darryl was passionate about the beasts. His attire was entirely functional, in neutral colours, and he smelled a bit like dragon dung to begin with, and Johann suspected several smears on his trousers were. Either that or dragons were just as scary to Johann as they were to Darryl after all these years.

Together they clambered onto three brooms and headed off.

1.	The dragon which later kills Reggie, Hephestus and Amir in late August as reported in Prophet