The Entrance to the Attraction - Source [flickriver.com]
When I approached the entrance to where they kept the dragons, I can tell you I was having major second thoughts. It helped me to know I wasn't the only one, some people didn't seem too keen to get in line. Did I mention, there's a line? People actually go through with this. Though somehow it has to be safe if there wasn't any deaths reported. These must be some really tame beasts. Well as tame as they get.
I asked a person waiting in line about the safety of this situation. She seemed to guess it was my first time, though she referred to it as a 'roller coaster'. Now I have to admit, I didn't do well in muggle studies, so she just kept me more lost.
She did tell me that there was an accident, a person had coins in their pocket, and when the two dragons turned together, the coins fell out and took some of a person’s eye out. So now the dragons fly separate.
This seems a bit too unclear, I’m sure it was because the dragon smelled the money and went off course. Though I wouldn’t know for sure, I wasn’t good in Care for Magical Creatures either.
I’m surprised I was able to have a small conversation with this lady, because most of the line is in absolute darkness. Not to mention all the twists and turns that only get worse in the dark. Many people bumped into walls. Though we all didn’t know this would happen, seeing the first half of the line is outside, with nice banners for people competing in the Triwizard Tournament. Yellow flags with a badger, adorning Cedric Diggory’s name. Red for Harry Potter, blue for Fleur Delacour ,and brown for Viktor Krum.
From here I can see most of what i’ll be expecting when riding this dragon. Which by the way, was flying too fast for me to get a better look. But I did noticed it seemed to follow a metal track. Perhaps it’s bewitched?
Before I entered the next part of the line-maze, I got to spot the car that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley drove in their second year. And when I entered a small room, there was the Goblet of Fire, blue smoke escaping from it’s brim. This is also where some riders get to skip the line on what they call an ‘express pass’. It was rather concerning that people wanted to ride a dragon so bad.
The next room was rather enchanting. It was small and circular, but in the middle the Triwizard Cup stood from a stone platform. It radiated spectacular, blue light. You can feel victory in it’s presence. Too bad the room is so small that you leave quickly. The hallway leads to a glass case hosting three golden eggs. These were given as hints to those in the Triwizard Tournament.
Everything feels lovely until you realize it’s so dark you can’t see where your putting your foot. This part of the line slows down because people are trying not to stumble into each other. The floating candles don’t give much light, but the lanterns do. From there on the only different thing you’ll be seeing besides rocks is a huge door containing a Dragon on the other side. You can hear it’s roars as it pounds at the door fiercely. This doesn’t help my theory of tamed dragons.
Finally after ten minutes of walking (the line usually is at the end when people are trying to find seats. The only wait time is the walking to there.) , I find myself looking at the choices of dragons I can ride. Theres two; Hungarian Horntail or Chinese Fireball. These two dragons practically just destroyed my hopes of a tamed dragon. How on earth is it possible no one has died on this yet?
The answer was right there once I turned left and chose the Hungarian Horntail. Amongst the people, I saw the ‘dragon’ stop for people to sit in.
The dragon wasn’t real.
I nearly slapped myself for my stupidity. How could I actually believe they were real dragons when the Ministry is in charge of this. There are muggles here, have I forgotton? Clearly I was too absorbed on the atmosphere of this park that I thought I was actually in the real Wizarding World.
The ‘dragon’ was just made out of metal and plastic from the looks of it. It was attached to the metal track, and there were loads of rows of seats. People strapped on and the workers made sure they were safe before sending them off. I’ve never done this muggle custom, so I thought I ougth to try. Maybe I could tell my Muggle Studies teacher and she’ll give me extra credit. After all, if riding a broom isn’t terrifying, I’m sure this contraption won’t be so bad.
That didn’t stop me from panicking the whole time until the ride started. The riders around me didn’t seem to care, it must happen to most people. They tried to assure me that the ride was fun and to not worry about it. But my mind wasn’t made up until the moment our dragon flew downward at such a drastic speed. It was amazing. Like riding a broom but with a proper seat.
During the ride I couldn’t help but spot some contruction in progress. A train track was visible for a few moments.
I know this is a long time coming, but I felt the need to write this up. A year ago I made a website for this amazing person, Joshua Dysart. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Dysart] He's a comic book writer and is currently signed on as an exclusive writer for Valiant, writing Harbinger. Harbinger is an amazing series about a group of outcast kids with telekinetic based powers that are fighting for their own revoultion. It's special to me because it shows that the weird kids can prevail. In the fourth book Josh introduced a character named Faith [Zephyr]. Faith is a character to inspire us all. She's the ultimate overweight nerd fangirl escapist that has always dreamed of being a superhero like in the stories she reads.
I think that ultimately Faith, as a character, is a way to be honest about the very complex debate over weight in this country without slowing down the narrative in some ponderous-ass internalized debate. Also, the initial impulse behind Jim Shooter’s creation of her is still very, very relevant. Nowhere in above ground popular culture does the female form suffer more objectification than in comics. Faith’s body has always been about smashing that convention. That’s just as important now as it was then. - Joshua Dysart [http://comicsalliance.com/harbinger-joshua-dysart-interview-zephyr-issue-2-preview/]
Well, amazingly enough, Josh gave us - RofPm - a shoutout in the issue where he introduces Faith. In showing her room and how much of a nerd she is... He let us be a part of her world. THANK YOU JOSH!
A/N. I apologize for not posting last week, but it’s kind of been my theme to get too busy to write every other Monday, so it’s kind of a pattern, haha.
Dear Journal,
I don’t have much time, but I’ll make this quick.
I am currently sitting in Potions, not paying any attention whatsoever. Remus is my partner for the day. James and I flipped a knut for him because it was a practical lesson and Remus was the only one among us who bothered actually trying. Even if he was kind of pants at Potions.
The only good thing that comes from practical lessons in Potions was the potential for chaos. So much could go wrong, so many possible pranks, so many girls squealing in disgust at the eyeballs and spleens of slimy creatures. Personally, I love spleens and guts. Rubbing my hands in them, dangling them over other people’s heads, slipping them into someone’s robes pockets so that next time they reached for their wands… SQUISH. The delicious, oily sound followed by screaming and, if I’m lucky, vomiting.
Remus just asked why I was writing such gross stuff. I told him to stop reading my journal. He said that it was a diary – of all things, a blasted diary! But you know, journal, that isn’t true. I’ll get my revenge for his slander later.
Anyway, back to the point of my writing this. Remus is trying his hardest to complete the potion – I think it has something to do with removing warts or something, I forget – and doing that thing where his tongue pokes out of his mouth while his eyes were wide and concentrated.
So I put a toad’s intestines on top of his head. He is so focused, he hasn’t even noticed. I’m waiting for him to scratch his head and pull away a bloody, squishy mess.
Not to mention that I also managed to hide four dead rats in the bottom drawer of Slughorn’s desk. I put them under a large, outdated textbook. I suspect they will really start to stink a few days from now – maybe even sooner, since the Potions rooms tend to be steamy and hot because of all the cauldrons. Oh, yes. In a few days, the place will stink so bad that they may even have to cancel a class or two while it was set to rights.
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