The smoke cleared, and Albus could see the beast from above. It was a large dragon for its age, with wings that dwarfed its frame, it had purple scales which were iridescent, and it stood proudly surveying its surroundings. He had been caged in a large enclosure. For its comfort, piles of gold coins were stacked in the corners of the room, though the dragon paid little heed to those treasures. In most enclosures, Albus had seen the young dragons would pile the coins around the room to make a bed of gold to lie upon, but not this dragon. He reached the last step, and the young dragon caught his scent before turning to face him. Unexpectedly the ridgeback let loose with a volley of flame that caught Albus squarely in the chest. Somehow, he managed to keep his ground, despite the force of the impact and the searing heat of the fireball. Thankful for the dragon scale armour Albus continued to edge cautiously towards the ridgeback. The dragon readied another volley, boiling steam rising from its nostrils and mouth. Before he could be hit again, Albus spoke to the dragon. A revelation he had made some time ago was that dragons could understand parseltongue and spoke in a similar fashion, though not exactly the same. It was enough that Albus could understand them at times.