Antipodean Opaleye at the Magical Creatures Reserve

Antipodean Opaleye at the Magical Creatures Reserve
Physical information
Species	Antipodean Opaleye
Eye colour	Multi-colored
Skin colour	Pearlescent
Affiliation
Loyalty	Magical Creatures Reserve

This Antipodean Opaleye lived in the Magical Creatures Reserve in the 1980s.

Biography

This dragon in the Magical Creatures Reserve

In the 1980s, Jacob's sibling would often bond with and feed this Antipodean Opaleye.

During the 1989–1990 school year, an Antipodean Opaleye egg was found by a Muggle, who mistook it for a fossil. Fortunately, Rubeus Hagrid was able to rescue the egg before any serious damage could be caused, bringing it back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for safekeeping. During a Care of Magical Creatures class, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn allowed Hagrid to show off the egg to his students. Hagrid announced that the egg was healthy and should hatch very soon, with Kettleburn affirming that they would soon send the egg to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, where it could safely hatch.

However, two of the students in the class, Jacob's sibling and Badeea Ali, noticed that Hagrid seemed upset after Kettleburn's last remark about the egg. They decided to approach Hagrid after class to ask him what was wrong. Upon questing Hagrid, they found that Hagrid greatly appreciated the beauty of the Antipodean Opaleye and, although he knew he couldn't keep the egg, he still desired to look at its beauty every day. Jacob's sibling questioned why Hagrid couldn't simply observe this Opaleye in the Magical Creatures Reserve, but Hagrid revealed that his job made him too busy to take regular breaks to look at the dragon there.

Hagrid asserted that, despite artists trying to paint the loveliness of Opaleyes for ages, they were notoriously difficult subjects to paint. When Badeea questioned Hagrid as to why this was, he claimed that Opaleyes were restless creatures that didn't stay in one place for too long or settle down easily. Once Hagrid had left to deliver the Opaleye egg to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, Badeea and Jacob's sibling decided to come up with an idea to lift his sprits. Jacob's sibling suggested that they could give Hagrid a painting of an Antipodean Opaleye as a present so he could look on the dragon's beauty every day. After convincing Badeea to agree to paint the dragon despite the challenge, Jacob's sibling suggested that they could use this Opaleye in the reserve as a willing subject for the painting.

Upon meeting Badeea in the Desert Dunes section of the Magical Creatures Reserve, the pair quickly encountered this Opaleye sleeping in a cave. Badeea, needing to get a good view of the creature in order to paint it, tried to convince it to leave the cave, but was unsuccessful. Fortunately, Jacob's sibling was quickly able to attract this Opaleye's attention, surprising Badeea. Badeea and Jacob's sibling were both amazed by the dragon's beauty, reaffirming their desire to paint it for Hagrid. While Badeea began to paint the dragon, Jacob's sibling kept its attention on them by speaking to it and waving their arms at it to prevent if from retreating back into its cave while simultaneously describing its features to Badeea to give her more ideas on how best to paint the creature.

However, before Badeea could completely finish her work, this Opaleye began to grow restless and flew away from the scene. Badeea still managed to create a painting of the Opaleye in its cave, but she asserted that, while the current painting, which she titled Opaleye Study Number One, with Waving Jacob's sibling, was a good study piece, it wasn't yet good enough to give to Hagrid. The two decided to track down where the Opaleye had landed and attempt to paint it again. Upon receiving a message from Charlie Weasley, the two managed to track the dragon to the orchard of The Burrow, where they ran into an excited Charlie and his mother, Molly Weasley.

After explaining the situation to Charlie, he expressed his excitement that an Antipodean Opaleye had landed in his very own yard, but Molly feared that the dragon would soon be after their chickens if something wasn't done to move it. Charlie reassured her that, in addition to Opaleyes preferring to eat sheep rather than chickens, the dragon seemed quite peaceful, to which Molly agreed that it had scared away the Gnomes for the time being. Molly quickly interrupted Charlie's continued excitement about the dragon to welcome Jacob's sibling and Badeea to The Burrow, offering to make them both a cup of tea. However, the pair declined her offer and instead asked her permission to allow them to paint the dragon, with Badeea suggesting that the orchard would make a fine backdrop. While Molly was still incredulous, she allowed them to paint the dragon while still offering to whip up something for them to eat if they got hungry.

The dragon soon began to become more active, with Charlie suggesting that the Opaleye might be hungry. Jacob's sibling suggested that they could feed the Opaleye to keep it still long enough for Badeea to finish her painting, with Molly offering some slabs of beef she had stored away as food for the dragon. Charlie and Jacob's sibling took turns feeding this Opaleye with the steaks while Badeea painted it. However, upon running out of steaks, the Opaleye quickly became restless and flew away again before Badeea could complete her work. While she thought her second painting was much better than her first, as she had been able to paint a nice portrait of the dragon's head and neck, she still felt that it was too incomplete to give to Hagrid. She and Jacob's sibling decided to refer to this second work as another study entitled Opaleye Study Number Two, Portrait Among the Trees.

Charlie excitedly asked to keep the second study painting, but was shot down by Molly, who reminded him that the painting was meant to be a gift for Hagrid. However, Badeea reassured Molly that she only wanted to give the finished painting to Hagrid, allowing a thrilled Charlie to keep the second study painting. Jacob's sibling and Badeea soon received a message from Barnaby Lee that claimed that this Opaleye had returned to Hogwarts and had landed by the Forest Lake in the Forbidden Forest. Upon arriving at the Forest Lake, the pair indeed found this Opaleye, along with Barnaby and Knarl. Barnaby stated that he found the dragon while taking Knarl for a walk in the forest, to which Jacob's sibling and Badeea informed him of their plan to paint the dragon for Hagrid. Badeea decided that the Forest Lake would be a good backdrop for her third attempt at the painting, but lamented that the dragon wasn't paying attention to them and that they had run out of steaks.

However, Jacob's sibling remembered that Barnaby would sing to Knarl to get its full attention, suggesting that Barnaby could sing to this Opaleye to attract its attention while Badeea painted it. Jacob's sibling suggested a song for Barnaby to sing to the dragon and, upon being offered to by Barnaby, joined in on singing to the creature while Badeea continued to paint. After they had finished singing one song to the dragon, the pair got ready to sing to it again before it became restless and flew away once again. While Badeea was able to paint the whole body and tail of the Opaleye, she still thought the painting, titled Opaleye Study Number Three, A Song By the Lake, was incomplete. When Barnaby asked if Badeea could paint something like her current work for him one day, Badeea offered him the third study painting, which Barnaby gladly accepted.

However, Badeea stated that she was no longer sure how they could make a finished portrait of this Opaleye, as it continuously flew away every time they tried to paint it. Jacob's sibling suggested that they should take some time to regroup and find out more information. They decided that it would best to ask Hagrid for help regarding the Opaleye, to which Badeea agreed, although she warned Jacob's sibling to be careful what they said to Hagrid to avoid spoiling the surprise for him. Jacob's sibling was surprised that Badeea wasn't going with him, but she claimed that Hagrid was too sweet for her to be able to properly keep the secret from him. She offered to instead figure out where this Opaleye had flown to while Jacob's sibling went to talk with Hagrid.

Upon reaching Hagrid's Hut, Jacob's sibling met up with Hagrid, who had just returned from delivering the Opaleye egg to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. Hagrid still said that he missed the egg, to which Jacob's sibling reassured him that the new baby Opaleye would be quite happy at the sanctuary. Despite this, Hagrid continued to fear that the other dragons might not be nice to it and that it would be too small to defend itself, to which Jacob's sibling suggested that it could make friends with other little dragons and combat any bullies. Hagrid asserted that it was good to have friends one could count on, bringing up how Jacob's sibling had befriended this Opaleye. Jacob's sibling, however, brought up their difficulties with keeping this Opaleye's attention and it constantly flying away from them, with Hagrid deciding to help them come up with a potential solution.

Hagrid stated that, other than forming a strong bond with it, the best way to keep an Opaleye's attention would be to allow it to feast on a large flock of sheep. With Jacob's sibling unable to provide the necessary sheep, Hagrid lamented that there wasn't much else he could suggest, as a strong instinct to fly was in the Opaleye's nature. Not wanting to force this Opaleye to go against its own nature, Jacob's sibling realised that it might be better to embrace the dragon's instincts rather than trying to force it to settle, to which Hagrid agreed. Hagrid claimed that he thought Opaleyes looked their best when flying, as their shimmering wings would be completely stretched out. Although Hagrid tried to get Jacob's sibling to explain why they wanted this information from him, Jacob's sibling managed to not disclose their true intentions.

At that moment, Badeea rushed in, hinting to Jacob's sibling that she had found where the dragon had landed and that they needed to get there before it flew away again. Jacob's sibling asserted that they knew how to handle the dragon now, but that they had to grab something first on the way there. The pair then left Hagrid's hut and headed for the Training Grounds, where Badeea had previously set up her easel and paints, with Jacob's sibling grabbing their broom on the way. Upon finding this Opaleye on the Training Grounds, Jacob's sibling suggested to Badeea that, rather than try to force the Opaleye to remain on the ground, they should try to paint it while it was flying in the air. Badeea claimed that painting the dragon while it was moving in the air would be a challenge, but her three study paintings had given her a good understanding of the creature's form, leading her to think he could fulfil the challenge.

When Badeea questioned how they would prevent this Opaleye from simply flying away from the scene like every other time they had tried to paint it, Jacob's sibling suggested that they could fly with the Opaleye on their broom in order to keep it close enough for Badeea to paint. Jacob's sibling was successfully able to keep this Opaleye within the area while Badeea painted it, with Badeea finally managing to complete a finished painting. After Jacob's sibling landed, this Opaleye flew away once again, with Jacob's sibling thanking it for letting them fly with it. Finally proud of their work on the painting, Badeea and Jacob's sibling brought the finished painting to Hagrid's Garden to give their gift to Hagrid.

Jacob's sibling and Badeea called Hagrid back to his hut, surprising him with this Opaleye, which had arrived at his garden. Although Fang was frightened of the Opaleye, Hagrid calmed him down and marvelled at the dragon. Badeea asserted that they wanted the dragon to be present and revealed the final painting, impressing both Jacob's sibling and Hagrid, who found it extremely beautiful. Jacob's sibling revealed that the painting was a gift for Hagrid, who gratefully accepted the present and complimented Badeea on her artistry. Badeea in turn complemented Jacob's sibling for helping her to finally complete her finished painting. After admiring the painting for a long time, Jacob's sibling revealed that the painting was meant to be a gift to lift Hagrid's spirits after having to deliver the Opaleye egg to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. Hagrid was touched by the sentiment and was thrilled to have a lovely Opaleye that he could look at every day. After deciding what to name the painting, Hagrid declared that he would hang the painting in his bedroom so that it could be the first thing he would see in the morning and the last thing he would see at night, asserting that he would now go to sleep dreaming of dragons.

Behind the scenes

• The dragon's name, just like all creatures in the Magical Creatures Reserve, can be customised by the player. The dialogue of the quest will subsequently change according to the name determined by the player.

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance)

Notes and references

	Magical Creatures Reserve