And Charlie certainly tried to be happy. Like everyone else, the focus had all been on the war. He enjoyed his work with dragons, he very much enjoyed teaching (much to his surprise, though he did a fair share growing up with five younger siblings). The wages and sacrifices of the war wore the Order down: too many people were gone and Charlie could not imagine doing what Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Luna had gone through to get to where they were now.
"And Merlin only knows where I'll end up next," he replied with a bit of a chuckle. "Working with dragons has been absolutely brilliant, Flint. They're far more powerful and incredible than a book can possibly describe them. Perhaps you wouldn't be able to do anything else, and I've often thought about what it would have been like to play Quidditch the way you do, but I wouldn't have given up those years in Romania for it," he said, shaking his head a bit. "I fell in love with them: dragons. I can play Quidditch with mates anytime, granted I wouldn't have a packed stadium or a uniform, but there is nothing more gratifying in my life than working with dragons."
Charlie had a tendency to glow a bit, much like the excitement of a child in a candy store, when it came to dragons—but it was the same talking about Quidditch. "I should get out to one of your games before the season ends," he said to Marcus. Charlie began looking at jumpers, hats, scarves, and various other merchandise, some with the Falmouth Falcons' name and logos embroidered on. "What brings you to Hogsmeade, out of curiosity?"