Whenever the Weasley family is involved, strange occurrences are sure to follow. They seem to have a knack for being in the middle of things. Case in point? Charlie Weasley, who has been working with dragons, has discovered a new subclass of dragons. That is right, a subclass. It is very similar to an existing species of dragon but different enough to be considered something of its own. Well, with how useful dragons are as guards or in potions, how has no one found out about this subclass before? The answer is actually quite simple. The size of the creature made them difficult to discover!
The Hungarian Horntail is known for being one of the most dangerous dragons and also for its place in the Triwizard Tournament that Harry Potter, among others, competed in. The creatures are known to be temperamental and protective of their eggs, which makes getting close a chore. The subspecies itself is very similar, not unlike the way a Sumatran tiger is similar to a Bengal tiger. Indeed, it seems that only the creatures' sizes seems to be the biggest difference. At a distance, it is no wonder they were not discovered! They would look no larger than a particularly big hatchling. When Mr. Weasley was forced to put one to sleep to check her eggs, however, he got quite a nasty shock.
These Miniature Horntails, it seems, like to build their nests within the larger nests of their cousins, easily hiding among the hatchlings. In fact, a particularly large clutch could indicate the presence of several females with their own eggs. These females will hide their eggs along cracks and crevices nearby, sheltering the newborns under their wings and carrying them until they are large enough to venture to more permanent dwellings. The adults then masquerade as hatchlings that attack anything that might be trying to get past the fiercely protective larger adult cousins. I do not know about you, but getting a fully-formed fireball to the face from what looks like a hatchling does not sound fun.
Females more willing to venture a few feet away from their nests were first documented several decades ago, but we have only just not started to figure out why. With protection from the larger breed, the Miniature Horntails have begun to thrive. And if someone did manage to sneak past the mother? Well, they would have to get past the tiny dragon just as fierce, which would give plenty of time for the mother to be alerted and return to protect the nest.
"It's amazing," Charlie said after giving us a count of at least three breeding pairs in the area. "We don't know if they can be as useful as their large cousins or if they would be useful for something else. Just the thought that they have been hidden so well is fascinating!"
Experts are still trying to figure out where they go once breeding season is over or how they even managed to evolve into this state in the first place. However, I think it is safe to assume that the Weasleys have once again defied our expectations when it comes to the bizarre.