Johann stepped out of the fireplace and into the Ministry atrium looking most perplexed. He was carrying a portable cauldron with a lid on it, and an oven-glove on the hand that held the handle. Dressed in his usual suit, he was quite warm with the heat, so his long wool coat hung from his shoulders undone. He had intended for this to happen, not at all, but at least he could get some help about it.

As he entered the lifts the other occupants gave him a curious look, mostly because it looked like he was carrying an elaborate packed lunch for someone from the international department, and although there was heat in the cauldron, there was no smell of cooking, but rather a few strands of straw sticking out from under the lid.

He propped it on the floor between his feet for a moment, glad to have put it down. He hardly dared make it lighter with a charm in case it conflicted with the other magic, but as the lift lurched, he hastily picked it up again, in fear it would fall over.

Soon enough he was out and into Level 4, which was always a bit of a mishmash of strange things. From dragons to goblins and werewolves. He'd been here often enough, what with two companions who were locked up here every full moon. But he wasn't seeking the werewolf team today, rather his pals in the dragon section.

Eventually he found a familiar face, gave a wave and stalked over to a nearby desk, encouraging Ghastly over to see. The two of them got on well enough, and she'd been a legend a few months ago, organising for Bai to see the dragons in Wales.

"Heya, got something for you." He explained. "Just met a ... contact ... and he said he was off to the loo and left me with this." He lifted the lid, revealing within the warm nook of the cauldron's belly, an egg, nestled in straw, keeping warm.

Ghastly was standing at her desk rummaging through loose notes, crumpled papers and unfiled reports. She was a whiz in the field and an excellent fearless handler but when it came to paperwork, well let's just say clerical work wasn't her strong suit. Thankfully Balfour endured her, she had a rough time with the former heads she had worked for and had even tried to get other members of the department to fill out her reports for, if anything just to save people from trying to decipher her chicken scratch.

She looked up with a smile when Johann made his presence known. He was as dashing as ever, classically handsome and always so polite. If she wasn't looking elsewhere she may have ended up fancying him. For now though they were working towards being friends. She had managed to hook him up with a special trip to Wales for a lady friend of his and they had been on excellent terms ever since.

She practically bounced over to where he had placed the cauldron down. Her puffy curls were loose today (it was an office day, no field work) which made her bouncing step even more prominent. When he lifted the cauldron lid to show what was inside she let out a noise that could only be described as a squeal. It was obvious just from the heat that was emanating from it that the cauldron was charmed to keep the egg hot. She had to commend Johann for thinking that far ahead.

"Aren't you a beauty." She reached in and stroked the egg seemingly unaware of how hot the surface of it was. By now about 30% of her was covered in mild to severe burns anyways, she just didn't feel the heat like other people did. She didn't dare pick up the egg, not yet at least. She took a few moments to admire it, trying to determine by the shape, size and small markings as to what breed it was.

"Johann, you know this is a Non-Tradeable right? I hope you weren't doing anything foolish." It was always hard for Ghastly to sound stern. She seemed to be perpetually smiling and her voice was so soft, almost child like especially when filled with glee that she came across as teasing more than anything else, "How did you say you got it again? A Contact?" She had no idea what this could imply. Wasn't he just a linguist? What kind of contacts would that afford him?

"Your 'contact' give you an idea what kind it might be?" She could always wait until it hatched but that was a little more problematic. If she knew what breed the egg was she could arrange to have it integrated with a nesting female. So long as the female had a cluster of her own that was more than two it would never notice the addition and raise the hatchling as her own.

The egg seemed to be most pleasing to Ghastly, who let out an uncontrolled squeal of excitement beside him. She was instantly captivated, and her hand reached in to pet the shell. Johann glanced back down to his own hand, still in the oven glove, and raised an eyebrow before sliding it off and putting it down beside the cauldron.

"Me, do anything foolish? Tsh." He waved his hand dismissively. "I wasn't trading it, if that's what you're implying. Well, not intentionally anyhow…" He paused and gave an uneasy shrug. That denial could be quite loose, considering how he'd come about receiving the egg. Perhaps it was better to explain a little further.

"Ok, so maybe he might have left it under the table because he owed me fees for some private work. But I don't want a massive egg!" He gestured with both hands to the cauldron, "Whether it comes with self-heating, portable cauldron or not."

"I've no idea what it is, but figured it was beastly enough." He peered into the cauldron again and made a distrustful face at it. "The man hails from northern Europe, but that could mean nothing at to how he came about it. All I know is that he did a runner and left it under the table. I didn't even realise it was there until I went to get up and leave. Wasn't about to leave it in the pub." He sighed, and looked to Ghastly properly for some sort of reassurance that he'd done the right thing.

"I don't think I'll be seeing my client again, either way, but it doesn't matter. What do you think it is?"

Ghastly gave him a cheeky grin as he explained his story. She was sure she'd have to mention something to Level Two but she could easily omit most of the details even if she didn't think Johann would have gotten into any trouble over it, "thankfullyy you caught it. Who knows what rotten hands it could have gotten into if you hadn't." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Well the bloke knew what to do with it, that's for sure. Given the fact that the cauldron is self heating I'd definitely say it's a dragon." She rolled the egg gently trying to find any identifying marks on it. There didn't seem to be any she could see in this light though. "Can't tell the breed though nor how close it is to hatching. Might have Balfour look at it for me. If we can determine the breed we might be able to get it integrated with a nesting mother. She'll do all the work from there."

A dark shadow crossed Ghastly's features, "though with all the sick ones about, might have to keep it separate for it's own sake . . ."

"A dragon!" Johann marvelled. He'd never been that into studying magical creatures, other than their parts for trade. He followed Ghastly in peering into the cauldron.

"Sick dragons? What do you mean?" He reached a long, pale, slender finger out and poked at the shell gingerly. He'd never held a dragon egg - he'd carried this one up in the cauldron.

"How do you know if they're sick?"

Ghastly looked up at Johann, her caramel eyes wide with surprise at his exclamation. She had spent so much of her life alongside dragons it was hard for her to comprehend that others didn't have the same amount of knowledge as she did, "Of course it's a dragon, silly.What were you expecting?" She asked coyly and playfully. She wasn't chiding him for his lack of knowledge, not at all. If anything she thought he was playing with her pretending to be naive about such a thing, it would help him stay out of trouble at the least.

Her brow furrowed again, such a foreign expression on her normally lively face, "Aye. We're not sure what it is, it's hard enough just to pin point the symptoms but there have been a lot of reports coming in." She was open and honest with him as she was with anyone. Ghastly had no sense of secrecy or need to know information. If she knew it, why shouldn't anyone else? She had no idea there was an epidemic on the horizon and how sensitive information could get her or anyone in the Dragon office in trouble.

"Well the babies seem to be immune or at least they can't catch it while still in their eggs. It may be airbourne, may be by touch but it doesn't seem to discriminate against breed." She rolled the egg again and took her wand out of her pocket, "Lumos!" She lit the tip and placed it against the back end of the egg illuminating the baby inside, "Whoa, this fella's only days from hatching I'd say. Good thing you brought him here as soon as you did!"

When Ghastly looked surprised, Johann gave her an almost equal look.
"What, I studied intangibles not tangibles…!" He protested, as if his explanation of two of the three magical disciplines[1] of Durmstrang would be adequate reasoning for being unsure it was a real dragon egg.

However Ghastly had disregarded the issue and had ploughed on to answer his question. He was intrigued. Someone had mentioned some bother about dragons with colds in passing, but he'd thought they were making a joke.

"Whoa, this fella's only day from hatching I'd say. Good thing you brought him here as soon as you did!"

Johann bent his knees to lower his gaze to be on a level with the egg so he could see better, mouth agape.

"Well, I could hardly leave it under the table. But can't always find baby dragons to give an excuse to invade the Beasties." He shrugged. "But too good an opportunity to miss. If I do see him again, I'll tell him I cooked it and ate it for breakfast, just to see the look on his face." He chuckled despite himself.

"Before turning him in of course." He raised two fingers to his forehead and gave a mock salute from where he was crouched.

He hopped to his feet and slid his hands into his pockets, giving Ghastly a more serious look.
"Is this illness going to be another risk of apothecary contamination, like the O'Morain situation?" He asked, referring to when supplies had been contaminated from a farm breeding magical creatures for use in potions. "Or is it too early to tell?"

1.	3 Magical Disciplines of Durmstrang

At the mention of having cooked and eaten the egg for breakfast like a common chicken egg Ghastly gave him a look a mock indignation with a side of cheek. It wasn't long before her usually bubble of cheer took over again. It wasn't a joke she would have made herself but she could just imagine the look on his associate's face if he had suggested such a thing, 'But thee bloody was about to hatch!' Her inner monologue always seemed to have a Cockney accent, she never really knew why.

Ghastly nodded with her best stern expression as if to say, 'well you better' in regards to turning the man in for illegally having a Dragon Egg. If she wasn't so fascinated by the specimen in front of her she likely would have asked for more info on the fellow so she could past it on to one of her colleagues that dealt in illegal trading of a Non-Tradeable Material.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for Johann to focus on the sad situation the Department was finding themselves in. There was obvious concern in his voice though she would have preferred it was directed towards the Dragon's well being rather than those who may be affected by contaminated Dragon Parts. She wasn't a fan of harvesting Dragon parts, at least not those that required the Dragon's life in exchange for mere potion ingredients.

"Too hard to tell right now, not sure how far this thing is going to spread to be honest. Good news though most Dragon's are on reserves or under protection, being watched, you know? Nothing like that O'Morain mess, no private sellers, see? Easier to control, keep contained and away from the general populace. If any contamination does happens, well then we know it was nothing from our end, black market scags and what not, yeah?"

Ghastly's reaction to his question implied that he was looking at things from the wrong perspective in her eyes. She was concerned most with the dragons and their welfare, whereas he was more concerned that he'd get sick from a potion that contained a poorly dragon. Different priorities - Johann as ever, preoccupied with the human cost rather than nature, beast or spiritual impact.

"Shame they're threatened by this illness," he agreed, "are there many private dragon keepers in the country? I thought they were all kept on your reserves?" He asked. It was probably something he'd once known the answer to, but had forgotten because he'd considered it less imperative to his work. Unfortunately he had to retain the grades of cauldron thickness in his head instead.

"Don't they keep some in Gringotts?" He asked, curious, "Do you help the Goblins with those?"

Eyes still on the egg, absently stroking the warm exterior, Ghastly gave a shrug, "I'd love to think all Dragons were in reserves,, safe and being cared for but with the amount of items that end up on the black market . . . I'm not naive enough to think they're getting there by proper means, you know?"

Ghastly squinched up her nose and waggled her lips a bit at the mention of Gringotts, "no." She lifted her eyes to meet his own, "I  mean yes, Gringotts has dragons but no, the goblins don't let us help them with them." She ran a hands through her bouncy curls, "just over a decade ago, when Potter broke one out of Gringotts, we were asked to try and contain it before any muggles found it. The thing was in rough shape, not to speak unkindly of the Goblins but the poor thing looked like it had been tortured." She let out a sigh completely unaware that most people didn't share her sympathy and compassion for the dangerous, fire breathing brutes.

"Tortured?" Johann echoed, alarmed at this information. "I didn't realise, oh, dragon keeping isn't entirely regulated then in the country? Well, then that certainly does make life a little more difficult." His brow furrowed and he brought his hands together over his middle as he considered things.

"Heavens," He shook his head and stepped away from the table, eyes going back to the egg which Ghastly was petting. To all intents she was like an affectionate mother with a small child, and it was rather reassuring to know that the egg was in good hands, especially in Ghastly's, who he admired.

"This one will be alright though? A nice life in a reserve with all the sheep it can eat." Johann stated almost rhetorically, and gave a smile. He was imagining great green hills and cloudy mountains, where dragons flew with fluffy white sheep hanging from their jaws. "Funny old life." He added, and shrugged his thin shoulders.

Clasping his hands together he took another step back, almost bumping into a stack of papers. He had work to be getting on with, and undoubtedly so had Ghastly. He knew the signs, and also he didn't want to answer too many more questions about his private client and how he might have obtained a dragon egg. Best to leave things simple.

"I'll leave you two to it then." He told Ghastly, and winked, quite sure the egg was in good hands. "Let me know when it hatches, if you can?" Not that he really would want to visit it, just that he was curious about what happened to it, and it gave him an opportunity to perhaps have a drink with his colleague in the future.

He gave her a playful salute before he headed back, an oven glove, cauldron and a dragon lighter.



End