New Art Revealed (Was: Using available resources)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 170036

Anne Squires wrote:
> 
> It looks like Paul is absolutely correct about Harry using dragons
in DH.  At the very least in the new art we can see that the trio use
a dragon for transportation.
> 
Kamil responded:
> I wonder if it would be possible to tell what variety of dragon 
this is from the art. I don't have my books to hand, so I can't prowl
though FB to read up on color/confirmation issues (and that assumes
MGP did the same thing before laying art to canvas), but personally
I'm wondering if that is Norbert they are riding - if not, it's almost
certainly one of Charlie's dragons.
> 
> But personally, I hope it's Norbert. <g>
> 
> Kamil

Carol adds:

Thanks, Anne!
I just made that cover art my new wallpaper, temporarily(?) replacing
Harry and Voldemort in the arena (or it looks like an arena to me).

I don't think that the dragon is Norbert because Norwegian Ridgebacks
are jet-black, and I think Mary GrandPre would get that detail
correct, if only because she knows how fans would react if she got it
wrong. Based on the dragon's eye (the one we can see), its apparent
docility, and its general appearance, I think it's an Antipodean
Opal-Eye. Here's the description from FBAWTFT:

"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, multicolored, pupil-less eyes, hence its name. The dragon
produces a very vivid scarlet flame, but by dragon standards, it is
not particularly aggressive and will rarely kill unless hungry. Its
favorite food is sheep. . . ." (11). 

Granted, the Opaleye's native territory is rather far from England,
but Charlie seems to deal with all sorts and species of dragons on the
dragon reservation in Romania, including a Chinese fireball. According
to FB, "wizards of all nations study a variety of dragon species"
there (14). If Charlie can get a dragon from China for the TWT, why
not New Zealand as transportation for the Chosen One? 

Also, the eyes look like opals to me.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.chalmersjewelers.com/site/uploads/Image/OpalWhite_EKB.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.chalmersjewelers.com/detail.lasso%3FID%3D53%26SectionID%3D1&h=483&w=648&sz=53&hl=en&start=14&sig2=FGKEKgGKX8iHWFEQkOrxQw&tbnid=LxX7lYgydqcpFM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=137&ei=RxFqRuLHL6KuggOhyonfAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dopal%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DG

If the image link doesn't work, go to the main site,

http://www.chalmersjewelers.com/detail.lasso?ID=53&SectionID=1

 which mentions that opals, an October birthstone, are Australia's
national gemstone and states that Queen Victoria "adored" opals,
giving one to each of her daughters to help dispel their reputation
for bringing bad luck to people not born in October.

Here's another photo, this one of opal jewelry (scroll down to see
them all):

http://www.campuscomm.k12.de.us/gemstone/opal/class3.html

I could, of course, be completely wrong, but based on the drawing, I
think we can rule out any dragon that's described as being black,
scarlet, or blue or having a liking for human flesh. It could be a
Romanian Longhorn, though, given the horn and the fact that Charlie is
in Romania, or possibly a Common Welsh Green, though it doesn't look
very green and the Welsh Green isn't described as having horns. I'm
still going with the Opaleye, with the Romanian Longhorn as a close
second.

Carol, who's been expecting Charlie to make a contribution to the
story and hoping that this dragon isn't all we'll get from him