came within four paces of him. Moreover, he kept his eyes fixed on the dragon, as if fearing he might disappear. Ultimately, this meant he had to manage the mount entirely on his own.
‘Now everything should be in place,’ the cavalryman finally remarked. ‘You may lead the bess out of the stable. Please hold the reins firmly.’
The dragon obediently grabbed the thick strap and looked deeply into the bess's eyes.
‘Fen, please, just behave yourself,’ he whispered into the beast’s ear. It seemed that Fenrir understood perfectly. He also rolled his blood-red eyes, as if to say that he knew that already.
Leading the bess out and climbing into his saddle wasn’t difficult. The problems began later. Whilst riding a horse was straightforward and didn’t require much guidance, mounting Fenrir proved difficult. Following the instructions of the vet and one of the cavalrymen, the boy found himself on the beast’s back and was to guide his mount, starting with the slowest gait and gradually increasing the speed. Bess moved quite differently from a horse; some said he was more stable, but for Draco the rhythm of the beast’s movements was hard to bear, especially when it turned out that, depending on the pace, he moved in a completely different way. When walking slowly at a trot, the beast took steps alternately with its two front legs—for example, the upper right and lower left, and the rear right—and then the other way round. This created a strange swaying motion caused mainly by the powerful, double-jointed shoulders working. When breaking into a trot, Fen began to move alternately with the two front legs on one side and the hind leg on the other. It was then that the riding experience most closely resembled riding a horse. The gallop caused the dragon a tightening in his stomach. Fenrir then moved in leaps, alternately pushing off with his front upper and lower legs and his hind legs. The bess's back shook violently at that point, and had it not been for the helpful advice shouted by the gawping cavalrymen, who clearly regarded
