The Sorcerer King - Chapter 8

AN: I’m alive!

I’m really, really sorry for going awol these last few months, but I have an explanation.

I mentioned it before, but, just to remind you guys, I live in north-eastern Brasil.

I was born and raised in Salvador. Now, don’t get me wrong, the city has always been one of the most dangerous in the country, but it wasn’t dangerous for people like me, who were born and raised in ‘the hood’.

That is, until a few years ago, when factions from outside the city started moving in. I was robbed for the first time in my life, and my neighborhood became a war zone, with constant shootouts every single night.

So, I decided to move out of the city proper. I moved north, still in the metro area, but far away from all the gang fights. It is a bit more expensive to live here because the place is mostly weekend homes for rich people, but it was also a lot safer. That was until the start of this year when things started to go bad here as well.

So, I got together with my girl and we decided to move out of the state.

I have a cousin that moved out of the state a few years ago, and I thought he could help us out, and he did. With his help I bought a small plot of land in Porto Alegre, and I was preparing to build a house there. So, I traveled south for a few days, just to meet the contractors that would be building my house.

So, I was there when the flood started.

For those of you that didn’t hear about it, the southernmost state of Brasil, Rio Grande do Sul, went through its worse flood in 100 years. It was a nightmare. Entire towns were washed away by the rivers.

I stayed there to help out in any way I could, first with search and rescue and then with pretty much anything I knew how to do, from construction to even just cleaning up streets from mud.

I traveled all over the state and personally saw some horrible sights, a saw a town of over 100k people under 6 meters (19.5 feet) of water. Hell, I was never deployed to the UN mission over there, but I met some of my old army buddies that where also in Rio Grande do Sul to help out, and they said that the place reminded them of Haiti, just with water instead of an earthquake.

I’m finally back home now, and deciding if I truly want to move there after the nightmare of the last few months, but you guys aren’t here to hear about that.

This chapter had around 8k words before my rant, and another one of the normal size will be coming in the next few days.

Hope you guys enjoy this one.

Chapter 8

“So, what do you think?” Sirius asked.

“They’re good, really good. I think I will try and encourage them to build something bigger.” Harry responded, looking at the first ship built in his town.

Sirius had arrived from Braavos a couple of months ago, bringing with him 10 experienced shipbuilders. And Harry immediately put them to work.

They desperately needed ships. Sure, Harry managed to work with some of the more experienced farmers that emigrated to his kingdom, and they found a way to farm a few things in the cold climate, mostly roots and greens that can survive mild freezing temperatures. Things like potatoes, carrots and cabbages.

It still took some use of magic as wards over the fields for them to not lose crops. But it was nowhere near close to the amount of magic Harry would need to use to make things like soybeans or tomatoes grow. He didn’t even think there was a ward capable of doing something like that. He only found those wards because of some truly ancient books in his library that described them. Books that came from just a few decades after the founding of Hogwarts, when the founders dream of making Hogsmeade a self-sustaining city for all magicals in the country was still alive.

But, despite all that, seafood was still the most abundant source of food in his town. So, building ships became a priority.

Sure, fish was abundant in the bay of seals, mostly because there was hardly any fishing being done in it for thousands of years. But Harry wasn’t willing to deal with the effects of overfishing in the future, especially without the benefits of modern technology. So, he wanted some proper ocean-going ships to fish in deeper waters, instead of the current few ships they had that were useless far from the coast.

The newly built ship was quite interesting. It looked a lot like fifteenth century carrack, which Harry found quite surprising at the start. From what Sirius said, Braavos was quite similar to Venice, so he was expecting something like the venetian galleys of old. But he was quickly proven wrong when talking to the shipbuilders. There was one major difference between Braavos and Venice that he didn’t take into account because he knew nothing about shipbuilding.

Galleys don’t work well in open waters.

Venice was situated in the Mediterranean. They could use galleys because the sea they traded in was quite calm when compared to open waters. Braavos was situated on the coast. The natural waypoint between the southern essosi cities, the cities of westeros, and the port of Ibben. And the shivering sea was far more dangerous than the narrow sea.

Learning that meant that Harry already had a new mission for Sirius. Hiring some experienced sailors to teach their people.

“And how do you plan to do that?” Sirius asked. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the library about shipbuilding, and it is a lot more complicated than we think.”

“I’ll find a way.” Harry answered. “What we really should be looking for is experienced sailors to teach our people. Our fishers are good, but I’m sure there is a world of difference sailing in deep waters to sailing near the coast.”

“You’re right. I’ve been sailing for a few years now, and there is a lot of difference.” Sirius responded, making Harry groan a little.

He had completely forgotten about The Marauder. Completely forgotten about the fact that Sirius has been sailing for years now. He has experience commanding ships, and an experienced crew with him.

“I’m an idiot.” Harry said, and Sirius snickering told him that his godfather realized what was going through his mind.

“Finaly thought about it?” Sirius asked in a teasing tone, and Harry glared at him, making his godfather chuckle a little.

“I’ll leave half of my crew here next time I leave shore, and take a few green boys with us. It should be enough to teach them a few things. And the other half of my crew can use this ship to teach a few more.” Sirius said, and Harry gave him a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Padfoot.” Harry said.

“Don’t worry about it, pup.” Sirius answered.

There was a moment of silence as they looked at the working men, putting a few last touches on the new ship under the supervision of the experienced shipbuilders. This was the one thing that Harry was focusing on right now, teaching his people new skills.

A lot of the young men from his town were under apprenticeships to skilled workers, with Harry paying a premium to those skilled workers so they could take even more apprentices than normal.

It was something that was really popular with his citizens, as apprenticeships were quite expensive for most of his population. The few people that emigrated with teenaged sons pretty much worshiped him for giving the chance for their sons to learn a trade. That’s not even mentioning their daughters being able to work as managers and even own land, something that wasn’t usual south of the wall.

It seemed like his budding kingdom was quickly becoming known as a place where the ‘smallfolk’ could flourish. And this was something that Harry was really proud of. Most of the laws set up, as well as the systems of governance, were built to mirror the modern world he came from, so it guaranteed a lot more equality and social mobility than the medieval laws most of this world followed.

The one difference, the one thing Harry would never allow to happen in his kingdom, was any kind of democratic representation.

There would be no constitution in Avalon. Harry was betrayed by elected officials once, and he would never give them the chance to do it again.

His kingdom did have a bill of rights. It borrowed heavily from the declaration of human rights. Just without the democracy bits, and the other few things that weren’t really relevant in a non-globalized world.

“Your grace!”

Harry heard someone call. Turning his head, he saw the man in charge of the shipyard. A braavosi by the name of Elanzo. Or at least that was what his quick wandless legilimency said.

The town was growing quite fast, and it was getting hard to actually remember everyone’s name.

“Elanzo, how goes the work?” Harry asked, smiling at the man.

“She’s a beauty, your grace. I never worked with ironwood before, most of the ironwood that reached the braavosi markets was too expensive for shipbuilding, but we’ve always knew that it was far better than the traditional oak. Being able to work with it now is an absolute delight.” The man responded, and Harry was distinctively reminded of meeting a young Colin Creevey. The man was that excited.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. And how are the boys adapting to the work?” Harry asked.

“I have to admit, your grace, I really wasn’t expecting much from those boys. Apart from the Ironborn, westerosi aren’t really known for their shipbuilding skills.” The man said in an uncertain tone, and Harry used a bit of passive legilimency to learn that he was afraid his doubts could be taken as an insult, so Harry just gave him an encouraging smile.

“Those boys have been working far better than I ever thought possible. They adapted quickly to the work, and they learn at a frightening pace. Two of them are quickly approaching a level that I would comfortably call them Journeyman shipwright. Usually, an apprenticeship takes around five years, so I imagine those two will become some of the best ship builders in the known world in a few years time.” The man said, and Harry could see the pride he had in his students. Elanzo might have joined his town just because of the highly lucrative contract Harry offered, but the man was a true professional, and one that wasn’t so insecure that he would resent his students surpassing him in skill.

Harry also wasn’t surprised that the boys assigned to work with the braavosi shipbuilders were learning quickly. He had specifically picked the ones that held the most promise for that kind of work, and even added a couple of the few true genius he found. The work was important enough that he could spare a couple of them.

That was one of the benefits of having a wife as brilliant as Hermione was. The time Harry spent perfecting his knowledge of legilimency with the help of Hermione gave him an insight into the mind of a genius that few ever had. Seeing her memories showed him the associations that Hermione could make from seemingly random bits of information, the speed with which she could read, and more importantly, retain the information in books, and many other small things that added to the whole.

Harry could never replicate it, even with such examples to draw from. But he could certainly recognize it in others.

“That is quite good, Elanzo. I’m sure your expert teaching plays an important part in it.” Harry praised, earning a bright smile from the older braavosi man. “And when will the ship be ready for launch?” He asked.

“In a few of days, your grace, a week at most.” The man answered quickly. “Although, we still need a name for her, your grace, so we can finish a few of the details.”

And wasn’t that a surprise for Harry.

Apparently, ships already had their names decided before the launch and naming ceremony. Harry had been thinking about a name for a few days, but still didn’t find anything that was good enough.

“I’m having some troubles thinking about a good name.” Harry confessed. “What can you tell me about the ship? What makes her different from other ships? Maybe it will help me decide on a name.” He asked.

“Well, your grace. I would say that the ironwood makes the most difference. She’s stronger than any other ship I ever build, or heard about. I would brave any storm in this ship because I know she will bring me home safely.” The shipbuilder said.

“Brave, you say?” Harry said, turning to look at his silent godfather. “You thinking what I’m thinking, Padfoot?”

“Well, it is better than your previous idea. Wolf is a good name, but I’m still a little annoyed that you called Moony, Wolfy McWolf.” Sirius responded, making Harry laugh.

“His name was Remus Lupin, Padfoot. I’m pretty sure Greyback bit him just because he though it would be funny.” Harry said, laughing even more at the scowl that crossed his godfather’s face.

His previous idea was to name the ship Wolf, in honor of Moony, and as a way to remember Teddy. But the new name should serve even better, and he could always use the name for another ship.

“HMS Gryffindor, this will be her name, Elanzo.” Harry said, looking at the shipbuilder again.

“I will see it done, your grace.” The man answered. “By your leave.” He added, and Harry nodded his head in agreement, looking at the man as he made his way towards the work crew and started barking orders.

“HMS?” Sirius asked when Harry looked at him again.

“It fits, and it is a good way of remembering home.” Harry answered, making Sirius scoff.

“As if the buildings weren’t enough for that.” Sirius pointed out, and Harry had to agree with him.

The elves were doing an amazing job of teaching his people to build in the style that Harry wanted, he really had to do something nice for Dobby and Winky sometime soon. Walking through the town these days almost painfully reminded Harry of the times he would walk around Mayfair with Hermione and Daphne. The buildings were that similar.

They were also almost the same height of the buildings Harry remembered from back home, which meant that another of his plans for the town was going along as it should. Building tall was smart, the higher the density, the less they had to cut down the natural vegetation. Sure, high-density housing was more likely to spread diseases, but the wards around the town, the magic used in the sewers, and the town wide, magically aided indoor plumbing should help with that.

Although, to be fair, his town wouldn’t be considered high-density in the modern sense. But, for the medieval world he now found himself in, it was.

“Soon enough we will have something even more traditionally British than the architecture.” Harry said.

“What is it?” Sirius asked.

“Like I said, I want our shipbuilders to try building something bigger than the Gryffindor. I did have a good idea of how to do it when I named the Gryffindor.” Harry said, already thinking of how to solve a few issues he could see with his idea.

The biggest issue he could think of was armament. As much as he could do it, he wasn’t going to build any cannons, magical or not. There was no way that he would be the one to introduce gunpowder to this world’s wars, he would be ready for when it inevitably happened, but he wouldn’t be the one teaching people how to make it.

He was no longer the naïve boy he was in school. He wouldn’t be teaching anyone something that they could turn against him again. He learned that lesson when McLaggen and Zacharias Smith, two former members of the DA, joined Nott in attacking his home.

“Again, I don’t know how you plan on doing it.” Sirius said.

“I don’t know anything about shipbuilding, but I did pick up drawing and painting as a hobby after Hogwarts, and I’m good enough to paint the kind of ship I want built. Everything after that I’ll leave to the professionals.” Harry answered, earning a thoughtful look from Sirius.

“It could work. If you can make the paintings detailed enough.” Sirius finally said, after thinking about it for a time.

“I can.” Harry confirmed. “It will be quite easy since I’ve actually seen the ship I want this based around. One of the few museum trips Hermione took me on that I enjoyed as much as she did.”

As a proper British lad, Harry could almost hear Rule, Britannia! in his mind just thinking about the HMS Victory sailing previously uncharted seas.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Harry looked on from the north side of the pitch as his people worked on the stadium. His idea to introduce football was well received by almost everyone but Sirius, who was still complaining about the lack of magicals to play quidditch.

His people were quite quick to pick up the game, proving once again why football became such a big thing on earth. Everyone could play the game as long as you had a ball, and it made for a good pastime for people that didn’t have much.

Harry would say that his people had better living conditions than the bottom class of England in the mid-1800s, it wasn’t a massive achievement when compared to the living standards Harry was used to, but it was still something he was proud of. Even so, despite not needing a way to temporarily forget their terrible lives like the people of England needed to in the 1800s, his people were still embracing football with the same speed.

Harry was also quite happy that his main goal was achieved.

Harry wanted to introduce competitive sports to his people as a way to promote a sense of community, and as a safe way to solve any minor conflicts between the different cultures that made up his budding kingdom.

The vast majority of his people were immigrants from the south, with sizable number of native free folk, or wildlings, and a minor number of essosi immigrants, mostly freed slaves and skilled workers.

The immigrants from south of the wall and the native free folk had a lot in common due to their shared cultural backgrounds. First men culture was the basis for most of their traditions. But they have been fighting against each other for thousands of years, so tensions were always high, even if Harry was keeping a close eye on it.

One of the few things they agreed on was their hatred of slavery. Which meant that they were quite accommodating of the few freed slaves that lived in the town. Said freed slaves were the only ones who traveled freely between the larger town, and the smaller farming town populated by the free folk tribes Harry accepted into his lands.

It also meant that they hated the skilled essosi workers for being ‘slavers’, no matter how many times Harry explained that the regular folk didn’t really have a lot of power in the free cities, or the fact that most of their skilled workers came from Braavos, in which slavery was prohibited.

So the richer people in his kingdom were the most hated by the masses. Or, as Daphne jokingly told him ‘Business as usual’.

Harry’s introduction of football was a perfect distraction to the growing discontent, in the perfect time as well. Just a few days before the first game was played, Harry had to deal with the first hate crime.

A group of free folk from the farming village suffered an attack by 5 men from the town when they last came around to trade their produce. The men mostly came from the Umber lands south of the wall, a land that was constantly attacked by wildling raiders, something Harry learned with a bit of legilimency when ascertaining the guilty of the accused.

Normally, Harry would have exiled the attackers, forcing them on a ship heading south and making sure they knew they weren’t welcomed anymore, the crime wasn’t one of the few Harry was willing to kill for. Harry had worked with Sirius, the town elders, and some of the portraits, and together they crafted what Harry believed to be a pretty solid set of laws. The death penalty was only used for rape, murder and pedophilia, other major crimes were dealt with exile.

It should have been an easy decision, hate crimes were one of the ones that were punished with exile, but this one had extenuating circumstances.

The wildling group that came into town that day had an older man amongst them, an older man that was an experienced raider who had attacked the Umber lands quite a few times in the last two of decades.

The man, a mid-40s wildling called Alfyn ‘Greycloak’, had killed the older brother of one of one of the men that attacked the free folk group. The group of 5 men consisted of said younger brother, two of his cousins and a couple of their friends, and they ended up beating up the group of wildlings pretty badly, while suffering only a broken arm in return.

Thankfully no one died, or else things would be a bit more difficult to solve.

When Harry was informed by Dalla, one of his two advisors and the unofficial spokesperson for his wildling population, he quickly worked to solve the issue. His first action was healing everyone and repairing all the damage done to the surroundings during the fight, mostly broken crates from the wildling trade caravan.

Something that served as both a way to gather their respect as well as fear. They would respect him for solving their injuries first, and they would fear him for his show of power. Harry had to adapt to his new position, as wanted as it was, and many of the portraits, including Daphne and surprisingly Hermione, agreed that a bit of fear was always good when dealing with people that should follow your orders.

He heard both sides, and that was what stayed his hand from exiling the aggressors. Learning that the young man had seen his brother die at the hands of the older wildling had changed Harry’s mind and convinced him to sentence the young man to only a few months of jail time. It wasn’t a case of hate crime, he wasn’t attacking the free folk party just because they were wildlings. He was attacking the man who killed his brother in front of him when he was a kid

The fight wasn’t a long one, and most people involved weren’t injured much, so it was basically a misdemeanor case of assault and battery. So, the young man got only two months of jail time, and Harry was doing a Crouch Jr. turning expanded trunks into prisons.

The two cousins also got the same prison time, they were mostly helping out their cousin get his revenge, but the two friends were a different story.

Their memories didn’t give away much, so Harry broke out the veritaserum for them. Under the influence of the potion, they both confessed to some pretty major discrimination against the major discrimination against the free folk and the essosi. They never did anything physical, but they did a lot of minor things, charging more for the pelts and meat from their hunts, refusing to drink in taverns that accepted free folk or essosi, which was a surprise for Harry since he didn’t know his people were discriminating like that. So, when they found a reason to attack some wildlings, they jumped at the chance.

The fact that they weren’t the ones to initiate the attack, and the fact that they never did, and never thought about doing, anything physical was enough to save them from a harsher sentence, but Harry still sentenced them to a year of jail time and put them on the list of some of the intent wards scattered around the town. The wards would tell if they started to act in a discriminatory way again.

That was, thankfully, the only major issue Harry had to deal with when it came to hate crimes, mostly because just a day after that, the first football match was played in the new pitch. A team made up of immigrants from the south played against a team of essosi, and just three days later the same team played against a team from the farming village.

So, now people were dealing with their xenophobia in the tried and tested way of shit talking the opposition fans.

It was a nightmare to find out how to keep the pitch in a good condition. The weather wasn’t really conductive to a good, natural grass pitch, and they didn’t really have the technology for artificial grass. But Harry found a few wards that could maybe help a little, mostly layering the area around the pitch with heating charms, which should keep the grass in a good enough condition for games to be played.

That ended up working quite well, and interest in football grew quickly enough that Harry decided to build a proper stadium. It was a small stadium in a modern sense, but for their small town it was massive.

With a capacity of exactly 2.000 people, the stadium would have a lot of more modern things that Harry was able to replicate with magic, including lighting, so games could be played at nighttime.

It did take people away from the construction of the palace, but the stadium was a bigger priority right now. The entertainment football provided was one of the few things keeping the bomb that was the town from exploding, that and drinks.

Football and beer, add that to the usual bad teeth of medieval peasants, and Harry was feeling right at home.

He was thinking of setting up a league once they had a few more villages settled, eight more villages should be enough. Ten teams playing, 18 games in total and then a small knockout stage in the capital to decide the champion.

He couldn’t wait.

“Hey Dobby, how are things going here?” He asked the excitable little elf when he showed up with a few of the workers.

“Master Harry Potter Sir’s stadium should be done in a couple of weeks.” Dobby said excitedly.

“Amazing job, everyone.” Harry said, talking to both Dobby and the workers following him, which earned him a few nods from the men and the usual exuberance from the elf.

“we’re looking forward to playing here, your grace. This game of yours is quite fun.” One of the men said, earning a few nods from the others.

“I’m surprised to see you working here, Theon. I thought you would be inspecting your ship.” Harry said, making the man look at him in barely hidden surprise.

“I’m surprised you know who I am, your grace.” The man said. His surprise evident in his tone.

Harry didn’t actually know who he was, but he got into the habit of using a bit of passive legilimency every time he met someone new. It was a good way to make his people just a little bit happier.

Nothing made people happier than their ruler knowing them by name. It certainly worked on Harry when he found out the Queen knew his name after the whole debacle with the reveal of magic to the wider world.

Apparently, the muggle government was quite aware of the magical side of the isles, even before the reveal. Not that it helped much, politicians will always be incompetent, no matter if they have magic or not.

“I make a point of knowing about the people important to our little town. We don’t have much trade around these parts, so everyone engaged in it is important.” Harry lied easily enough.

The guy was a leech, buying the exotic wood and furs that they produced as well as the cheap salt from the magical salt ponds and then selling it for a massive profit in Braavos. And in his return trips he filled his ship with goods to sell at The Sisters, White Harbor and Karhold, so when he finally returned to the town he barely had anything left to sell to them.

Normally that wouldn’t be a problem. Exporting more than you import is a dream to most people in charge of a country, but in this situation, it was a nightmare. They depended on imports for most things in day-to-day life, so having merchants arrive at the town docks without any food or clothes to sell was far worse than it would normally be.

But even so, the leech was still important due to the fact that his entire crew was made up of people from the town. Harry wasn’t trying to build a country with a state-planned economy, so any private citizen employing people was important to the development of the economy.

He didn’t want a system that only worked because he was around to throw money around and fund the economy all on his own.

“The boys can load the ship up on their own. In the meantime, I help around town in any way I can.” The man responded, and even Dobby looked at him weird.

From the brief touch of legilimency on his mind, Harry found that the guy’s ‘help’ was reading from a list of building materials and telling the workers what to do. Sure, any construction project needs a little bit of management, but the guy was creating more problems than he was helping.

At least Dobby was there to keep things from completely falling apart.

“Why don’t you leave the work for the others and go look for Dalla in the town hall. The hunters found a dead mammoth a couple of days ago and they just brought it in today.” Harry lied, knowing that the annoying man wouldn’t miss this, mammoth tusks and fur was extremely valuable.

“Thank you, your grace, I’ll look her up.” The man said with wide eyes, running away as soon as Harry nodded his head in return.

Harry looked down at a smirking Dobby and laughed a little, earning confused looks from the workers still waiting behind the little elf.

“Now that the annoying one is gone looking for mammoth pelt that doesn’t exist, tell me what’s really happening in the construction lads.” Harry said, enjoying the laugh he got when the workers finally realized his little lie.

Hopefully Dalla would understand the joke and send the annoying git running all around town looking for the hunters with the ‘mammoth pelt’.

The oldest amongst the workers was about to respond Harry’s question when Harry was forced to interrupt him as he got a call on his mirror.

“What’s the issue, Padfoot?” Harry asked, looking at his godfather’s face through the mirror as he easily recognized the place Sirius was calling from. The Docks.

“Get your ass to the docks right now, Harry. We are about to have important visitors.” Sirius said, looking oddly serious.

“Visitors?” Harry asked. Who would visit a small town in the middle of nowhere.

“I guess that little spy you found finally reported back to his boss in King’s landing. There’s a ship flying Targaryen colors arriving, and I can see a white cloak from here, so whoever is coming is a member of the royal family.” Sirius explained, making Harry frown in thought.

“Well, this should be interesting if nothing else. I’ll be there soon. I’ll also ask Winky to roll out the ‘red carpet’ so to speak. Bring the good stuff out so we can make a good first impression.” Harry said, after a moment spent thinking about what the family of dragon riders to the south wanted with him.

“I already asked Winky to prepare the good stuff for both of us. I, unlike you never had a Slytherin wife to nag me about every single public appearance, but I was still raised a Black, I know how those things go.” Sirius said, earning a smile from Harry.

His godfather might joke a lot, but he also knew when to be serious. And that wasn’t a pun on his name.

“Dressing to impress foreign monarchs, Padfoot?” Harry asked in a teasing tone. “I’m sure your mother would be proud of the perfect little pureblood she raised.”

“Yes, I always wanted to make my dear mother proud. I’m sure all those cruciatus curses I received as a child was just a way for a misunderstood mother to show her love.” Sirius responded in an awed toned that sounded suspiciously like Colin Creevey whenever Harry talked to him.

“Alright, Padfoot. See you soon.” Harry said, turning off the mirror before he burst out laughing, thinking about Walburga’s portrait hearing Sirius talk about her like a kid that thinks their dad is the prime minister or something.

The portrait would probably self-destroy due to the shock.

“Alright lads, I’m sorry to cut this short but we are about to receive royal visitors from the south.” Harry said earning a few surprised and even a couple of fearful looks. “Just keep up the good work and listen to Dobby and you’ll be fine.”

He tossed a silver coin to each of the workers and nodded to his old friend and head elf before apparating away to his home. He was sure Winky had already prepared his finest clothes.

POV – Maegelle Targaryen

As the ship approached the small dock, Maegelle looked at the town with an approving nod. The place would probably be considered a large town by most, or even a small city. But for her, that lived most of her life in King’s landing or Oldtown, it was tiny.

But despite it’s small size, the town looked better than any other she had ever seen. The buildings were quite tall and extremely elegant when compared to the ones she was used to. In fact, most of the buildings she could see would be considered quite luxurious when compared to even some of the more manors some of the more affluent lords had in King’s landing.

It was clear that even the small folk lived good lives here, something that Maegelle was quite happy to see as it was usually the sign of a lord that cared for his people. Something that bode well for her sister’s future prospects if her mother’s scheme did come to pass.

Maegelle wasn’t exactly happy to make this long trip north, she would rather be with her mother in this difficult moment. Her beloved little sister, Daella, had died in childbirth a few moons ago, and her mother was not dealing well with it.

Daella was the third of her siblings to die before their parents, Aegon died as a newborn babe, and Daenerys died as a child, so her mother wasn’t exactly inexperienced with said pain, but the death of Daella was still hitting her harder than the others. At least according to her father.

Daella died with her daughter in her hands. Little Aemma was a beautiful babe, but the way her mother refused to look at her youngest grandchild was quite telling.

Maegelle could tell that her mother didn’t see the beautiful babe whenever she looked at Aemma. She could only think of the pain of losing another child.

Maegelle herself wasn’t exactly dealing well with it either. In just a few years she lost two sisters, one sister she grew up with, and one ‘sister in faith’ and sister by choice if not by blood.

Her cousin ‘Rhaella’ was the one in charge of Maegelle’s training when her father ordered her to join the faith. They grew to love each other as sister as time went on and Maegelle was sure that she was the only person that ‘Rhaella’ confessed what everyone whispered about.

Rhaella had traded places with her twin sister Aerea during the coronation. So, in truth Rhaella had died a long time ago, after that ill-fated flight with Balerion.

Losing Aerea, her sister in all but blood was painful, losing Daella just a few years later only compounded on the pain. So Maegelle couldn’t even imagine the pain of losing a child that her mother was currently going through.

It was at these moments that Maegelle was glad for her father’s scheming.

Contrary to popular belief, Maegelle wasn’t the ‘pious princess’ everyone thought her to be, she was just the daughter less likely to cause problems, the sacrifice her father made to appease the faith. Alyssa would probably burn down the Starry sept within a week, Daella was too sweet to deal with the politics of the faith and the throne, and Saera was a little too eager for marriage, or more specifically, men, even at that young age, her parents could probably see the problem that could bring.

So, the responsibility fell to her, the only daughter they had that wouldn’t cause a scandal and at the same time was still smart enough to keep an eye on the faith and tell her father if the high septon started thinking about another rebellion. Because her father needed to be seen as making an effort to appease the faith, but he still wanted to keep an eye on them in case of another rebellion like the one against his own father. And he was more than willing to sacrifice his family to do so.

That was Jaehaerys ‘The Conciliator’ at his best. Good king, shit father.

Still, being forced to become a septa wasn’t all bad. Maegelle was never really interested in marriage, she was more than happy to spend her life just making dresses, that had always been her passion. Before she was promised to the faith, Maegelle was ready to do her duty and marry Vaegon, even though Vaegon was promised to Daella, they never liked each other, so Maegelle thought she was the obvious second choice.

But then she was promised to the faith, and her academic little brother started to show his true self. It became clear quite quickly that Vaegon would probably marry a book before he ever thought of marrying a woman. She knew her brother wasn’t a sword swallower, he was just like her, he had no interest in marrying and bedding anyone.

So, her life as a septa started. It wasn’t all bad, despite the fact that she had to give sermons talking about gods she didn’t believe in. Much like the vast majority of her family, Maegelle still prayed to the fourteen. But her life as a septa still gave her enough time to pursue her passion, and she could give away the dresses she made as it was expected of a septa to help the small folk.

Maegelle was quite proud of the fact that a good portion of women from Oldtown and King’s landing had at least one dress made by her.

What she truly hated about her life was the fact that she was expected to spy on the faith by her parents, and spy on her family by the high septon. She wasn’t exactly eager to help her father after he forced her to join the faith without even asking for her opinion, and even worse, he made her mother make the announcement, making it seem like it was her idea.

But, no matter how resentful she was of her father, she would never betray her family, she would never spy on her family for an enemy, and the faith was an enemy of house Targaryen. She especially wouldn’t do anything for a high septon who called her a ‘spawn of incest and magic’ when he thought she wasn’t around to hear it.

Which only made her even more angry at her current situation.

When the high septon heard that her mother had asked for her help to delivery an invitation to visit King’s landing to the new king beyond the wall, he called Maegelle to meet him, and then spent a lot of time trying to tell her to seduce the man without outright saying it.

He talked about how high-ranking members of the faith sometimes had to do things that weren’t exactly covered in the scriptures, that the needs of the people outweigh their honor, and that the seven would forgive holy men and women for their minor indiscretions. He talked about how the maiden would forgive anything Maegelle had to do to convert the king beyond the wall.

Apparently his hatred of magic wasn’t an issue when the magic user he wanted to convert threw gold around like a Lannister.

A knock on the door to her cabin took Maegelle out of her musings. She turned away from the window she was looking through before answering.

“Come in!” Maegelle said, the door opening to show Ser Robin Shaw of the Kingsguard. As a septa, Maegelle was not entitled to a kingsguard anymore, but both her mother and father decided that she should have one for the duration of her trip north.

“We have started our preparations to land, princess.” Ser Robin said.

“I’ve told you many times already, Ser Robin, I’m not a princess anymore, I’m just septa Maegelle now.” Maegelle responded, starting an old argument again.

Another good thing about being forced to join the faith, she was just septa Maegelle now, no longer princess Maegelle. She didn’t need to worry too much about some lords trying to influence her family through her.

“I am a kingsguard, princess.” Ser Robin responded like he always did.

This argument started when the left King’s landing, Maegelle reminding the kingsguard that she was septa Maegelle now, that septas give up their family names when they join the faith. And Ser Robin would always respond that a kingsguard only guards a Targaryen, so if he was guarding her that meant she was still a princess.

“Thank you, Ser Robin. I’ll be ready soon enough.” Maegelle responded, not getting into the argument this time around. She had to prepare herself to meet this king beyond the wall.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

“-Septa Maegelle, daughter of king Jaehaerys and queen Alysanne.”

Maegelle bowed as was expected of her, as she was introduced to the king beyond the wall. And the only thing going through her mind as she got her first good look at said king was that her sister would be quite happy if her mother’s scheme ends up working.

Just because Maegelle wasn’t interested in being with a man, it didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize a handsome one when she saw them.

The man she now knew to be named Harry Potter, a name that wouldn’t be out of place in a landed knight from The Reach, was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen.

Medium length black hair that was a bit longer on the front, covering an old lightning bolt looking scar on his brow, the body of a warrior with the scars to prove it, and the greenest pair of eyes she had ever seen, almost like emeralds, eyes that made the traditional Lannister green pale in comparison.

“Princess Maegelle, welcome to Avalon.” The king beyond the wall said in a welcoming tone. He had a nice, deep voice as well.

“I’m no longer a princess, your grace. Only a humble septa.” Maegelle responded, earning a small frown from the man and then a look of understanding shortly after.

“Ah, I think I understand. I believe your church is quite similar to one from our homeland in which they force their priests to give up their names and claims. Or at least they used to.” King Harry said, and Maegelle almost asked for an explanation. She was quite curious to know how similar this church was to the faith of the seven, but she could satisfy her curiosity later.

“Quite so, your grace. But still, I’m here not as a septa, but in behalf of my father, king Jaehaerys.”

“Then please, join me on a short walk. We shouldn’t talk about such matters in the docks after all.” King Harry said with a smile, and Maegelle felt herself smile back before she even realized what she was doing. The man had a way of putting her at ease.

“Of course, your grace.” She responded.

Together with their respective retinues, they walked the busy streets of the small town, and Maegelle was once again surprised, this time not by its beauty, as it was clear to anyone would look at the town from a distance, but by its cleanliness. Sure, most towns and cities weren’t as filthy as King’s landing, but she had never seen one that had literally nothing on its streets. The smell was quite pleasant, there wasn’t any human feces or even animal feces on the streets.

She could also see a few animals flying in the distance that looked a lot like flying horses but larger than a horse could ever be. She had never heard of any animal like that beyond the wall, and she read every book she could find when her mother asked her to make this trip, so she could only imagine that said animal was a magical beast from the king’s homeland.

She imagined her family’s dragons would enjoy said animals a lot. It was rare for a dragon to have prey they could actually hunt and be satisfied with the chase.

She was guide towards the largest building in the town, at least the largest building already completed since she could see two others under construction that would be quite a bit larger.

The first one reminded her a bit of the old valyrian amphitheaters, while the other was quite similar to the manses of the princes of the free cities, only impossibly larger. The building looked to be quite elegant, in a similar way to the other buildings of the town, but in a scale large enough that she could only compare it to the dragon pit. It wasn’t nearly as tall as the pit, but it was larger.

She imagined that would be where the king would live when it was completed, quite a bit different from the westerosi castles, but she could see the appeal.

She was guided towards a room that seemed similar to the small council room in the Red Keep, the only difference was that this room showed far more wealth than the small council chamber. It was a good reminder that, while his kingdom was a small village north of the wall, her host was not only a powerful sorcerer but probably wealthier than her family.

But while she might have been expecting the show of wealth, what she wasn’t expecting were the moving portraits of two women, one with blond hair and blue eyes, and the other with brown hair and eyes.

“May I introduce you to my late wives, Hermione and Daphne.” King Harry said, pointing first at the brunette and then at the blond.

“Your graces.” Maegelle bowed to the portraits, mainly because she didn’t know what else to do. Of course, she was already expecting magic, it was well known that king Harry was a powerful sorcerer, and she remembered ‘uncle Sirius’ from her younger days, Maegelle and her siblings always liked the man.

Mostly because he would do little magic shows for them, or sneak them candy whenever he was in the Red keep, or when they visited their late aunt, Rhaena, in Harrenhal.

Looking up at the portraits again, Maegelle saw the brunette giving her an exasperated look, while the blond looked somewhat flushed. That is, until the brunette somehow stuck her hand through the portrait frame and smacked the head of the blonde on the other portrait, and then said something that Maegelle couldn’t understand.

King Harry shook his head and smiled fondly at the portraits before taking a seat at the throne like chair, while the rest of his entourage sat around him, Sirius giving her a smile as he did so.

Maegelle and her own entourage sat, Ser Robin by her side and looking a bit nervous, which only grew more pronounced when Sirius looked at her and said.

“I can’t believe that little girl that used to ask me for candy grew up into such a beautiful young woman.”

“Well, there are some who say I look quite a bit like aunt Rhaena.” Maegelle joked, uncaring of the way her companions blistered at the sorcerer’s words.

No man in the seven kingdoms would ever call a septa beautiful, but Maegelle didn’t care, because, as an adult, she realized something she was a bit to young to think about at the time.

Her aunt’s old paramour was a flirt, plain and simple. Sirius would flirt with any woman that stayed still long enough. He didn’t mean anything with it, in fact, she was pretty sure he flirted with her mother on occasion. Her aunt didn’t seem to mind it.

Not that her aunt was that innocent either. Another thing Maegelle realized as an adult was that quite a few women would join her aunt, and occasionally her aunt and Sirius together for ‘private conversations’.

“I’m sure you have quite a few stories about Sirius, be we should get to the reason of this meeting before we trade stories.” King Harry interrupted, and Maegelle could only think that her father would like him.

Her father also preferred to leave the small talk for after the pressing issue was solved.

“Of course, your grace. I traveled here with an invitation from my father, king Jaehaerys, for your grace to visit King’s landing, so talks could be had about trade and other small matters between the iron throne and the kingdom of Avalon.” Maegelle said, omitting the fact that it was truly her mother that wanted him there.

“I’m sure there is a lot that has to be discussed us, and your royal father… and mother.” King Harry responded giving her a pointed look, and Maegelle got the feeling that he knew exactly what she was hiding. Something in his eyes told her that he could find out every single secret she knew about.

“That being said…” King Harry started, still looking at her with those penetrating emerald eyes. “I could arrive in King’s landing today, but I heard from some of my people that your faith isn’t exactly fond of magic, so I rather not use magical means of travel.”

“That is true, your grace. I would also ask you to take some time before the trip so we can make King’s landing ready to receive a royal visitor.” Maegelle answered quickly, mostly to hide her shock at the speed at which he said he could travel.

Her companions weren’t exactly able to hide it as well as her. The other septas with her, as well as the minor lords that wanted to talk trade a little more directly before king Harry’s visit were quite open about their thoughts with the awed look they gave him.

Ser Robin himself had a look of fear in his face. It was well hidden, but Maegelle had known the kingsguard for a long time and she could easily guess what his thoughts were. If king Harry could move an army with the speed he said he could move himself, then he would be unbeatable.

Her education on the matters of war was quite lacking, but she still knew that speed was extremely important in a war.

“My new ship will be ready in a few months, I’m sure that’s plenty enough time?” He asked, and Maegelle nodded her head. She didn’t know what a month was, but it sounded like moon, and a few moons was more than enough time to prepare everything for his visit.

“Good.” King Harry said with a tone of finality. “Now that the pressing issue is solved, we should wait to talk about other business after we introduce you to your accommodations.”

King Harry then gave a smirk to Sirius and turned towards her again.

“In the meantime, we should trade stories. Do you know about Sirius’ unique ability related to dogs.” King Harry asked, and Maegelle nodded her head.

It was quite fun to see a man turn into a dog, and she had fond memories of her childhood about it. She remembered how she once told Alyssa about how she wanted to learn to turn into a dragon.

“Harry, no!” Sirius said, but king Harry ignored him.

“Well, do you know about the time a larger dog almost… had his way with him?” King Harry asked, and Maegelle couldn’t contain her laughter.

It was completely unbecoming considering the present company, but she couldn’t stop herself.

As the day went by, she traded stories with king Harry as he personally gave them a tour of the town and then showed them to their accommodations, which were even more richly decorated than the Red keep. Maegelle realized that king Harry was quite fun to be around, and she hoped they could become good friends.

AN 2: Maegelle will be a pretty important character. She will basically be the new Luna, and Harry’s best friend.

Next chapter we have Harry visiting King’s landing for the first time.

I will see you guys in the next one.