Alex frowned. "The Ministry?" That wasn’t what he had expected. "Not Azalea?"
Wimzy shook her head. "Azalea herself is fine. But while tracking her last night, I discovered something else."
Alex sat forward, his focus sharpening. "Explain. From the beginning."
Wimzy took another deep breath before continuing. "Last night, Azalea didn’t return to her home in Godric’s Hollow at her usual time. That alone was strange, so I followed her using a tracking spell."
Alex nodded for her to go on. "I thought she was just making an unusual detour, but then, " Wimzy paused, as if reliving the moment in her mind, "something happened at the Ministry."
She clenched her fists slightly. "Something big."
Alex's expression darkened. This was not what he had been expecting. His mind began racing through possible scenarios. "What exactly happened?" he asked, his tone now serious.
Wimzy met his gaze. "Dragon, master! Wimzy saw a dragon!" Wimzy's voice was filled with excitement, but her words came out rushed and incoherent.
"Slow down." Alex immediately stepped in, his tone firm but patient. "Remember what I taught you? The key points of a report, time, people, location, and what happened. Take a breath and start from the beginning."
Wimzy swallowed hard, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "Apologies, master. Wimzy was just… a little overwhelmed." She took another deep breath before continuing. "I started tracking Azalea around eleven o’clock last night. But according to the tracker, she was still inside the Ministry of Magic. I don’t know exactly what was happening in there, but she didn’t leave at her usual time. Since you told me to watch for unusual activity, I decided to wait outside the Ministry to observe."
Alex nodded, signaling for her to continue. "I stayed in position for over an hour before her location changed, she left the Ministry entirely. I’m not sure if she Apparated or used the Floo Network, but when I checked her tracker, I saw she wasn’t heading home. That was unusual, so I decided to follow."
Wimzy's eyes sharpened as she recalled the chase. "Her travel distance was far. She kept moving westward, and eventually, she left the British Isles altogether. It was a struggle to keep up, but I followed her all the way to the west coast of Ireland."
Alex’s brows furrowed slightly. "She left the country?"
In the Muggle world, Britain and Ireland had separate governments. But in the magical world, the British Ministry of Magic actually governed the entire island of Ireland, including the Republic of Ireland, not just Northern Ireland. Still, it wasn’t often that Ministry Aurors operated that far out unless something serious was going on. "You followed her across that much distance? Were you able to maintain your magic levels?" he asked, slightly concerned.
Wimzy smiled at his concern. "No need to worry, master. The Magical vest provided magical support, so I didn’t expend too much of my own magic. I also stayed hidden the entire time, aside from travel, I barely used any magic."
"Good. But in the future, don’t take unnecessary risks," Alex warned. "Prioritize your own safety first."
"Understood," Wimzy said solemnly.
"Alright, continue."
Wimzy nodded. "By the time I caught up, it was past midnight. I knew I was somewhere on the western side of Ireland, but I wasn’t sure of the exact location at first." She frowned slightly, recalling what she had seen. "When I finally spotted Azalea, she wasn’t alone. She was with a large group of Ministry wizards, dozens of Aurors, all wearing their usual long trench coats. Oh, and one of them was the same female Auror who came to the store on opening day."
"How many people in total?" Alex asked, intrigued.
Wimzy thought for a moment before answering. "At least dozens of Aurors, plus more than a dozen additional Ministry employees. But I’m sure Azalea and her group arrived later, she was following a high-ranking official, and the Ministry employees with him looked completely exhausted, like they had been working all night. I’d guess they had only just reached the site before Azalea got there."
Alex’s gaze darkened slightly. "Apart from Ministry personnel, was anyone else there?"
Wimzy’s expression turned more serious. "Yes," she said. "There were six or seven people at the scene who had been restrained with magical handcuffs." Her eyes gleamed with excitement again. "And there were dragons!"
Alex immediately sat forward, his expression sharpening. "Dragons?"
"Yes, master! Not just one, there were five of them!" Wimzy said eagerly. "They were huge, about five or six meters long, and even when lying down, they stood nearly two meters high!"
Alex narrowed his eyes. "Describe them."
"All five looked identical, like they were from the same species," Wimzy reported. "They had brassy-colored scales, sharp fangs, and a black ridge running down their backs. Their horns were a yellowish color."
Alex absorbed the details. "Were they restrained?"
"Yes," Wimzy nodded. "They were heavily bound in iron chains. Two of them weren’t moving at all, I couldn’t tell if they were unconscious or dead. The other three were still struggling, but the Aurors kept them under control. After Azalea’s team arrived, they took over handling the dragons. The Ministry staff worked together to cast some sort of spell to put them to sleep."
Alex pressed his fingers together, deep in thought. There weren’t many dragon species that matched that description. But from what Wimzy had just told him, he was almost certain, Peruvian Vipertooths. They weren’t particularly large as dragons went, certainly smaller than a Hungarian Horntail or a Ukrainian Ironbelly. But they were some of the fastest dragons in existence. And why would they be in Ireland?
Alex tapped his fingers against his leg, his mind working quickly. Dragon smuggling. That was the only explanation. "Peruvian Vipertooths…" he murmured under his breath.
Wimzy blinked. "master?"
Although the Peruvian Vipertooth wasn’t the largest species of dragon, it was still highly dangerous. Its fangs contained powerful toxins, and some even speculated that Dragon Pox originated from exposure to this particular breed.
Unlike most, Alex knew that wasn’t just a theory. His Magic Tome contained detailed records on ancient curse magic, and one entry specifically described the process of casting the Dragon Pox Curse, which required none other than the saliva and teeth of the Peruvian Vipertooth as its primary ingredients. But what puzzled him wasn’t the danger these dragons posed, it was how they had ended up in the British Isles at all.
The Vipertooth’s natural habitat was in the Americas, specifically in the dense, mountainous regions of Peru. Smuggling one across continents was already a logistical nightmare. Smuggling five was nearly impossible.
‘How did they transport them across such a distance without detection?’ That was the real question. Alex shook his head, pushing aside his thoughts. He didn’t have enough information yet, he needed more pieces of the puzzle before he could draw conclusions. He turned his gaze back to Wimzy. "Did you notice anything else at the scene?"