The Nursery of Dragons

 Dragons have been a central theme of fairy tales throughout history, and always being portrayed in a rather antagonising light. But now, in the time we have worked towards, the so called heralds of chaos have been found as a rather fascinating race. many magizoologists have travelled through the world in search for knowledge in the subject, seldom succeeding.

One notable person in the field of magi-zoology is the famous Newt Scamander. in his time as an active researcher of the magical creatures, he has made some rather notable discoveries regarding the ferocious race.

Among the races of the dragons, three, in my personal opinion are the most well known. I today list the three examples of the legendary race and am going to explain their containment and caring as I understood to my visit to the 'Great Romanian Sanctuary' established for the sole purpose to mend after and research the races many may consider dangerous.

The Norwegian Ridge-back Dragon

The Norwegian Ridge-back dragon is one the most well known and docile dragon to exist. if raised from hatching, the ridge=back proves to be one of the most trustworthy and playful partners.

The Norwegian Ridge-back at Adulthood.
By Magi-zoologist Susanne Harper.

The Ridge-back is, as its name suggests, indigenous to Norway and the northern regions. one factor that is rather confusing in the identification of the ridge-back is that it completely resembles the Hungarian Horntail, with the only noticeable difference being the dark coloured ridges on its back. And to add to its fascination, it is observed that the ridge-back females are in fact the dominant gender within their colony. The Ridge-back has a noticeable entry regarding its venomous fangs and its eating palate, as it is known for eating large mammals including sea mammals, which is regarded as rather uncommon for the dragon races.

The Ridge-backs are formed into a colony in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. All Ridge-back colonies are contained with an invisibility spell which works alongside a barrier prohibiting them from exiting the sanctuary in any manner that may cause an incident.

The Hungarian Horntail

The Horntails are indigenous to Hungary and are affiliated with the Romanian Sanctuary. Horntails are known for being one of the most vicious and aggressive breeds of Dragons, which is a unique remark considering that all dragon breeds are known to be ferocious.

The Horntail possesses black scales that cover its body, and contrasting yellow eyes with vertical Pupils. And Unlike the Ridge-back, the Horntail is known for its bronze horns and spikes that scale it body. Especially the spikes, that cover it's tail in a cluster. The Horntail is further observed to possess the most destructive flames, reaching upto fifty feet in range and hot enough to turn stone red-hot in mere seconds.

The Hungarian Horntail, as depicted by
the philosopher Nicolas Flamel.

    The Horntail is a dragon that is hard to care     for and proves to be a rather dangerous           breed to approach. Its appetite largely

    composes of mammals such as sheep,

    cattle, goats, and if possible, Humans. Its

    eggs are cement colour and very hard

    shelled and protected. After the laying of the

    egg, the horntail is known to protect the egg

    against any and all kinds of dangers and

    incidents, and as such are known to be even

    more dangerous while in charge of its egg's

    protection. The Horntails are rather fascinating breed as they prefer to remain in small groups of up-to 10 at a time instead of the common colonising of a breed in large numbers.

The Common Welsh Green

The Common Welsh residided in the higher mountain regions where a reservation was set up for their containment. One interesting featuring the Common welsh was its distinctive and rather musical roar. The Welsh Green's prey usually consist of sheep and other small mammals, and they usually prefer to avoid any kind of human interaction. The Welsh Green's roar, while melodious, issued fire in narrow jets. On the contrary, its flame breath would be slim and long ranged, and could flow in a narrow stream of fire.

A Common Welsh Green as painted by Susanne Harper

The eggs of the Welsh Green are an earthy brown with a green freckled texture. These dragons do not require much in the field of containment as they naturally strive to avoid human populated regions. the only care required is the maintenance of their living conditions and the protection of their eggs.

While many of you may consider dragons to be no cause of concern, it is better to take into consideration incidents such the one in Ilfracombe. While the Incidents should not happen, is not a guarantee that they would in fact be impossible to occur.

And, as a further note from myself to you, i would like to inform you that while it isn't much, there is indeed a difference in the various ranges of Winged Reptile. These differences may be the only factor that may change how one might deal with a Winged Reptile.

As a brief note, here are some differentiating features between the winged reptilian races;

• Dragons : They possess a pair on wings while also supporting four limbs.
• Wyverns : They possess a pair of wings and a pair of hind legs. Their wings possess claws for support.
• Lung Dragons : These are the dragons one might think of while thinking the eastern representation of dragons. They do no possess wings, but rather fly using an unknown phenomenon liking linked with magic.

And finally, before saying goodbye, I'd like to inform you regarding the new research paper released regarding the three dragons breeds mention above. If interested, you may find this research available on the Official website of The Ministry of Magic.