He flew higher. The horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer....

"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "Come on, come and get me ... up you get now..."

The Chinese, when they encountered the term naga in Buddhist scripture, translated it as lu or lung which means 'dragon' and so in China the ancient dragon concept took on a broader significance.

Chinese Fireball (Liondragon)
native to: China
habitat: mountains (?)
appearance: scarlet with a fringe of golden spikes around its face
eyes: protruding
flame: mushroom-shaped
food: pigs, humans
eggs: vivid crimson speckled with gold

DRAGON
M.O.M Classification XXXXX

Probably the most famous of all magical beasts, dragons are among the most difficult to hide. The female is generally larger and more aggressive than the male, though neither should be approached by any but highly skilled and trained wizards. Dragon hide, blood, heart, liver and horn all have highly magical properties, but dragon eggs are defined as Class A Non-Tradeable Goods.

There are ten breeds of dragon, though these have been known to interbreed on occasion, producing rare hybrids. Pure-bred dragons are as follows:

ANTIPODEAN OPALEYE

The Opaleye is a native of New Zealand, though it has been known to migrate to Australia when territory becomes scarce in its native land. Unusually for a dragon, it dwells in valleys rather than mountains. It is of medium size (between two and three tonnes). Perhaps the most beautiful type of dragon, it has iridescent, pearly scales and glittering, multi-coloured, pupil-less eyes, hence its names. THis dragon produces a very vivid scarlet flame, though by dragon standards it is not particularly aggressive and will rarely kill unless hungry. Its favourite food is sheep, though it has been know to attack larger prey. A spate of kangaroo killings in the late 1970s were attributed to a male Opaleye ousted from his homeland by a dominant female. Opaleye eggs are pale grey and may be mistaken for fossils by unwary Muggles.

CHINESE FIREBALL
(sometimes known as Liondragon)

The only Oriental dragon has a particularly striking appearance. Scarlet and smooth-scaled, it has a fringe of golden spikes around its snub-snouted face and extremely protuberant eyes. The Fireball gained its name for the mushroom-shaped flame that bursts from its nostrils when it is angered. It weighs between two and four tonnes, the female being larger than the male. Eggs are a vivid crimson speckled with gold, and the shells are much prized for use in Chinese wizardry. The Fireball is aggressive but more tolerant of its own species than most dragons, sometimes consenting to share its territory with up to two others. The Fireball will feast on most mammals, though it prefers pigs and humans.

COMMOM WELSH GREEN

HEBRIDEAN BLACK

HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL

NORWEGIAN RIDGEBACK (Baby Norbert)

PERUVIAN VIPERTOOTH

ROMANIAN LONGHORN

SWEDISH SHORT-SNOUT

UKRAINIAN IRONBELLY

The Latin word for a dragon, draco (genitive: draconis), actually means snake or serpent, emphasizing the European association of dragons with snakes, not lizards or dinosaurs as they are commonly associated with today

The Chinese dragon (spelled Long in transliteration), is a mythical Chinese creature that also appears in other East Asian cultures, and is also sometimes called the Oriental (or Eastern) dragon. Depicted as a long, snake-like creature with four claws, in contrast to the Western dragon which stands on two legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, it has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. Like real world reptiles living in water, Chinese dragon controls water in an agricultural water-driven nation. This is the contrast of the western dragon, which controls fire to show its mythical power. The dragon is also the embodiment of the concept of yang (male) and associated with the weather as the bringer of rain and water in general. Its female counterpart is the Chinese phoenix.

sárkánykígyó - Hungarian dragons
A giant winged snake, which in fact a full-grown zomok. It often serves as flying mount of the garabonciások (a kind of magician). The sárkánykígyó rules over storms and bad weather.

In Asturian mythology the Cuélebres are giant winged serpents, which live in caves where they guard treasures and kidnapped xanas. They can live for centuries and, when they grow really old, they use their wings to fly. Their breath is poisonous and they often kill cattle to eat. Asturian term Cuelebre comes from Latin colŭbra, i.e. snake.

They could be multi-headed like the Hydra,or they could shape-shift, using varied forms. The word "dragon" comes from the Greek "darkon" for serpent or great worm. It was the Greek perception of the dragon that became the prototype for the Western world. Dragons are often depicted as guarding treasuers or doorways to treasures, as in the spring next to the tree upon which hung the Golden Fleece or that which guarded the golden apples of Hesperides. This is often symbolic of hidden wisdom that is going to open up or a new threshold that you willl soon cross in your life. The Basilisk was a dragon of great virulence. It is cobra-like and often depicted as a terrifying creature. It breathed fire and had a deadly venom. It could kill with a look from its eyes. If a human encountered a basilisk and laid eyes upon the monster first, the human would live. If the basilisk saw the human first, the human would die. Many of the qualities of the basilisk & other dragon forms are symbolic. The perception that it could kill probably had as much to do with the shock of seeing something so strange & powerful as it did with the changes that would result in the individual's life & consciousness as a reslt of such an encounter.The death may reflect a death of some aspect of the individual's life.

As frightening as the basilisk dragon was made to appear, it had great magical properties as well. Its skin could repel snakes & spiders, and silver rubbed with its ashes would become gold. Crystal will reflect its deadly wision and its venom. It has been said that the eyes are the gateways to the soul, and it is through the basilisk form of the dragon that we learn how to read the true soul of individuals by looking into their eyes. This dragon has the knowledge of how to use the eyes to entrance to control.