What is a Dragonologist?

Simply put, a dragonologist is a kind of magizoologist that specialises in the study of dragons.  To become a dragonologist, one must first study magizoology in general, going on to specialise with just the one beast.  This is vital, as knowing the native fauna and to an extent flora that surrounds the habitats of dragons will explain a lot about the behaviour of a particular breed.  For example, reports of unicorns on a Welsh Green's territory will mostly mean that the beast has moved on from that particular territory, as the two magical creatures tend not to frequent the same areas.  The idea of dragons 'respecting' a unicorn's breeding and grazing grounds are as of now untested, but on more than one occasion the moving in of a herd of unicorn has in my experience caused the local dragon to relocate.  In this way, having a good knowledge of the natural world in general will help you on your way to becoming a dragonologist, if that is your daring wish.

Famous Dragonologists

All disciplines have their famed scholars, although the ones concerning dragons tend to have better tales to tell!  Some names that are important historically are as thus.

Quong Po (1443 – 1539)

Quong Po was the first wizard to discover the full usage of dragon eggs as a magical ingredient, especially those of the Chinese Fireball breed, whom he studied up close.  Sources from the age describe him as a scholarly man, with many accounts suggested he actually befriended a Fireball.  Although this is unlikely, it is true that Po documented many of the intimate characteristics of the breed, remaining the authority on their breeding habits for hundreds of years.  Whilst the discipline of dragonology had not yet been fully formed, his extensive study of the beasts means he remains amongst the greated dragonologists known.

Harvey Ridgebit (1881 - 1973)

Ridgebit was a dragonologist who lived to a very old age, never tiring of telling how he was the first to catch a Peruvian Vipertooth.  I'll leave that tale to be retold by the songs, but his most important contribution to the world of dragonology was no doubt his founded of The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, one of the best equipped reserves in the world for the breeding and conservation of dragons.  Ridgebit was actually the first to undertake such a huge concealment project, personally casting many of the long acting enchantments that keep the reservation free from muggles to this day.

Angus MacFusty (1720-1789)

A member of the MacFusty clan of the Hebrides, traditionally this clan have taken care of the Hebridean Black native to the islands for hundreds of years.  Angus MacFusty, however, was the first documented to travel to London to study at the Institute for Magizoology, gaining extensive knowledge of the discipline before returning to his native isles.  There, he studied up close and documented almost all of the information still in use today on the breed, becoming the first to do so.  Angus, unfortunately, was impaled with his beloved breed's tail whilst attempting to observe their defecation habits.  It is maintained 'it's the way he would have wanted to go' to this day.

Through the examples of leading dragonologists, it becomes apparent with their acheivments what the discipline really means.  When one has had enough of the labelling of Swedish Short-Snout femurs, however, it may be worth remembering how all of the unnamed studiers of dragons have thus collaberated in order to give us the subject as we know it today.