Harry Potter and the Song of Ice and Fire
Chapter One
-Weirwood and Direwolf-
"I've got to go back, haven't I?"
"That is up to you."
"I've got a choice?"
"Oh yes," Dumbledore smiled at him. "We are in King's Cross you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to... let's say... board a train."
"And where would it take me?"
"On," said Dumbledore simply.
Silence again.
"Voldemort's got the Elder Wand."
"True. Voldemort has the Elder Wand."
"But you want me to go back?"
"Harry, I have dictated your life since your parents death, this decision is yours. I would only seek to remind you that you have done your duty, Voldemort will die. Without Horcruxes, he will die."
"But…Nagini? She's still alive."
Dumbledore laughed deeply
"Since when have you and your friends struggled to get rid of a snake in your way, I remember the many ways you got past the young Slytherin students in your time at Hogwarts, I would guess that your friends will handle this last challenge well."
"Then I will go on?"
"To the greatest adventure of them all, if you choose so."
Harry sighed, he knew that Dumbledore was right, he'd done the hardest part, and he'd gotten rid of all save one of Voldemorts chains to life. Hermione and Ron would do it, he knew they could and would. But that was not his issue, Harry wondered if he could handle being without them, if they could handle being without him. Was it right to leave them now? After all they had been through together. And what of Ginny, he knew that she would be hurt most of all, he'd shut her out and now her one chance at getting back with Harry would be taken away, could he do that?
"Harry, I implore you to think of yourself in this decision, you have paid much mind to the lives of others over your time, perhaps now you should think on yourself, every person should think of themselves at times, even if it is not in their nature." He said the last sentence with a knowing twinkle in his eyes
Harry closed his eyes for a few moments and then opened them with a determination in his eyes
"Onwards it is." Said Harry
Dumbledore smiled at him.
"I am truly sorry Harry, I hope you find your adventure more enjoyable than this life has been, I must admit that I am to be blamed for a lot of your misfortunes, I was a manipulative man." Said Dumbledore while looking down, Harry went to interrupt but Dumbledore waved him off "Harry, do not argue me in this, please. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me. Truly forgive me, one day you will understand my wrongdoings and I hope you will be able to see that I did them for what I felt was right."
Harry stepped closer to Dumbledore and with conviction said "There is nothing to forgive Dumbledore, I leave this world with no animosity towards anyone, even him…" Harry said this as he nodded towards the curled up child far off.
In the distance Harry began to make out the sound of a train coming closer.
"It seems the time has come to say goodbye my boy, perhaps one day we will meet again. Till that day I will hope for the best for you." Said Dumbledore as he lay his hand on Harrys' shoulder and as the train came rolling into the station.
"Goodbye headmaster!" Said Harry as he walked towards the train.
Dumbledore smiled back and slowly began to face out of sight as Harry walked closer to the train, turning away Harry walked with a smile on his face as he grabbed the train railing and as he too faded out of existence.
Harry was tumbling through darkness, he knew that he was alive, but didn't feel that he was actually in a place. He existed in non-existence, at least that was what he could make out. All until he came crashing into cold hard ground. The first thing he took notice of was that he was naked, not even one item of clothing adorned his body. Nor did he have his glasses, although it seemed to him like he could see better than he had ever seen before.
Pushing himself up, Harry took in his surroundings. He was in a forest, not like the forbidden forest, more like a forest you might imagine Robin Hood roaming in. It was bright and glowing, the sounds of life formed a musical melody all around Harry. It was quite the sight, to Harry at least, who hadn't seen much of the world around him.
Standing up, Harry realised that not only was he bereft of clothes, but his wand was nowhere in sight. With a jump Harry wondered if his magic was gone, perhaps he was beginning a new life in a new world without magic. Carefully flexing his hands he tried to conjure a small light.
"Lumos." He whispered, although he knew that there was no one anywhere near him.
To his joy, a small light appeared just above his palm. He whispered the counter spell and the light went out. Harry knew he wasn't extremely great at wandless magic, nor did he think he could become great at it in any short span of time, he needed a wand and he needed it as soon as he could possibly get it. Perhaps there might be a magical part of this world with a wand maker, then again, perhaps he might need to fashion one himself.
Harry shook away his worries about a wand to come to the more pressing matter…clothes. He didn't know what this world was like, but he was certain whoever lived here, they wouldn't appreciate Harry walking around naked.
Contemplating what to do, Harry decided it would be best to conjure some clothes, even with his lacking wandless magic skills, he could probably accomplish that simple task, the bigger issue though, was what exactly he needed to conjure, he knew nothing of what the people here wore, in fact he didn't even know if there were people her in this new world. Perhaps he was on an alien planet.
Harry let himself chuckle a bit, before deciding that the best thing to do would be to conjure up a robe, in the style of Hogwarts, it may not fit in, but he knew he might be able to supply a story behind the robe with relative ease.
Harry quickly donned the robe he had conjured and began to walk, he didn't know where exactly but he decide upon a path and followed it, he would eventually get out of the forest, right?
It had been hours since Harry had started walking, he wasn't tired but the whole process was getting a bit boring, he'd seen no signs of any form of life, save for a small deer that rushed across his path.
Harry began to think on what exactly he would do in this new world, but without knowing more than he did, his thoughts came to a stop rather quickly and his mind began to stray to a topic he didn't want to think about.
Home…coming to a stop, Harry sat down as he began to think on what exactly had happened back home. He'd made his decision, he knew that there was most probably no way to ever contact or return to his world. But he wished he could just know what had happened, was Voldemort dead? Perhaps his friends had perished…the thought worried Harry, but he didn't dwell on it for too long. Dumbledore had assured him they would succeed and Harry trusted Dumbledores' judgement.
Then again, maybe time passed differently, maybe they had defeated Voldemort and lived their lives and passed on. The thought hurt Harry, the idea that they would live without him. The idea that they would be enjoying life without him hurt. Not that he wanted them to live bad lives, it was just, he had always looked forward to life after Voldemort and now. He had chosen to leave it behind for the next great adventure.
He let tears slowly trickle down his cheeks without rubbing them away. He would miss his friends, his family, they would all be missed, he knew they too would miss him, but he had made his decision. Harry knew he would have to come to terms with the consequences of his actions, now or later, he would have to come to terms with his new life.
So distracted was he in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the footsteps behind him. Jumping round he reached for his wand in his holster only to realise that he had no wand. Here we go thought Harry, just as a fist came crashing into his face and all went black.
Harry groaned as he began to awake, finding himself in darkness. His hand were chained tightly to the wall upon which he rested. From what he could figure, he was in a dungeon of some sort. Thankfully he was still dressed in the clothes which he had conjured. Shaking his head at his predicament, Harry began to think of what to do.
He knew he could get himself out of these chains in seconds if need be. He decided against it, not wanting to anger whomever his captor was. With a sigh he adjusted himself to be more comfortable and waited while deciding what exactly his story was. He still knew nothing of the people around him and as such he couldn't plan a story in advance. However he decided to flesh out a small story, as far as he knew, calling himself Harry Potter would have no consequences, but just in case he decide to introduce himself as Harry Evans. It was a small change, but the name 'Evans' was much more common and acceptable than 'Potter. He didn't want to stand out as unique, all he wanted was to get out of these chains and this dungeon.
It only took a few minutes before a small old man with grey hair walked in, dressed in a large robe of grey wool, he was carrying a small jug of water and a cup. Around his neck was a chain of different links of different elements. Harry silently wondered the meaning of it but did not speak of his curiosity.
The man came to a stop next to Harry and slid down against the wall slowly to sit next to him. Pouring a cup of water he left it in front of Harry, close enough for his reach but Harry did not yet go for it, he waited for the old small man to speak.
"My name is Maester Luwin, I am the Maester of Winterfell. What is your name?" the man said
"Evans, Harry Evans." Replied Harry with a slight hesitance in his voice
"I've never heard of the Evanses. You must be one of the smallfolk, where are you from?"
The question stumped Harry, he knew nothing of the world he was in and wouldn't be able to give any form of location, deciding it was best to just give a cardinal direction, Harry simply said
"East."
"Ah, from Essos, I must say, you don't look like a man from the east but I shall take your word for it, which city do you come from?"
Harry internally groaned, this man kept giving Harry questions that he simply wouldn't be able to answer. Deciding that it was best not to say anything, he went silent.
"Harry, you have nothing to fear in telling us where you come from."
Harry still held his silence and waited for the man to leave him in peace. After a few minutes, the man left the jug of water next to the cup and slowly pushed himself up on to his feet. With a last look at Harry, he turned and walked away. As soon as Harry could tell that the man was gone, he began to drink. He didn't know how long he'd been here but he couldn't deny that he was thirsty, as well as hungry, but if that was the price to pay for his silence, he would pay it.
With Maester Luwins' departure, Harry was once again alone. He had come across to the conclusion that they were in some sort of medieval time, or something like that. Having learnt that little tidbit of information, he came up with a small story that he hoped would work, perhaps if all turned out well, it wouldn't actually have to be a story, perhaps his story would become less of a lie about the past and more of a plan for the future.
With his story made, Harry slowly drifted into sleep, although his stomach kept him from having any form of comfortable sleep.
Harry was awoken to the sound of chains being moved, looking to his right he found Maester Luwin unlocking Harry's constrictions. Above him stood two men, both with their hands on sheathed swords on their hips. They needn't worry, Harry didn't intend to run. Nevertheless, Harry got up slowly after Maester Luwin was done with unlocking the chains, so as to not aggravate the two 'guards'.
Upon reaching his feet, the two men grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him towards an open door. Harry complied and slowly walked in front of the men through a dark corridor until they reached a set of stairs.
"Up!" Barked one of the men
Harry not seeking to anger the man, quickly began to ascend the flight of stairs, which curled around itself over and over. The dungeons seemed to be extremely deep under wherever he was. Upon reaching the top of the stairs he began to walk through another corridor towards open light in the end. Harry needed a breath of fresh air and so had no qualms about walking towards the open air.
Two more men stood at the end of the corridor, they both eyed him up and began to walk ahead of him, forming a square with the two men behind Harry. It all seemed a bit much to Harry, why did he credit such worry, surely they had no reason to set four men to just him. They knew nothing of him after all.
As Harry took in his surroundings and a breath of fresh air for just a moment, he became irritated as it seemed the men had no intention of sticking around what seemed like the courtyard and continued on to walk through a large gate. From what Harry could see, he assumed that he was in a castle or some sort of fort, nothing like Hogwarts but still quite large.
Walking through the castle they arrived at a large door, two of the men pushed it open and the other two pushed Harry through as Maester Luwin followed.
Inside at the head of a large table sat a man, clearly the head of the castle, Harry deduced that the woman beside him was his wife and the children sat around them were their children, five of them in total. Although Harry noted two other children in the far corner of the room.
"Who are you?" Asked the man at the head of the table
Harry waited for the man to introduce himself before actually speaking
"I am Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, you will introduce yourself!" shouted the man as he stood up and began to walk around the table and down towards Harry.
"I am a traveller…Lord Eddard." Harry replied
"A traveller that won't say he comes from eh? Do you take me for a fool?"
"No Lord Eddard, It is just that I do not like to talk of where I came."
"It is Lord Stark…and so you are a traveller who won't speak of where he came, but will happily climb our walls and enter our godswood without request?"
Harry smiled at his misfortune, why did he have to end up appearing somewhere he shouldn't, why did whatever higher power there was decide to put him in such terrible situations.
"Lord Stark, I apologise for entering your…godswood, speaking with all honesty, I cannot tell you why I came here for I myself do not know." This was met by a glare from Lord Eddards wife back behind the table
"The man is clearly lying Eddard, he's here for other reasons." She says
"Perhaps…"replied Lord Stark as he approached Harry "What was his name Maester Luwin?"
"Harry Evans." Replied the Maester
"Is that indeed your name?" Questioned Eddard as he stared into Harrys' eyes, Harry had no doubt that the man would know Harry was lying, Harry was no good liar after all. Making a quick decision Harry shook his head.
"No, my name is Harry Potter." Replied Harry
"Why lie earlier then Potter?"
"As I have told you my Lord, I do not know how I came to be here, I did not know if it would be safe to speak my true name."
"Safe? Do you wish me to believe this story of yours."
"I speak the truth Lord Stark."
"Perhaps our definitions of truth are different." Said Lord Stark "Fine, let me ask again, where are you from in the east?"
"I lied on that too, I am not from the East, or anywhere you would know for that matter, I do not even know where I am."
"Perhaps another night in the dungeon will enlighten you" Said Lord Stark as he nodded to the guards to take him away.
"Just send him to the wall Ned, he's a nuisance." Said Catelyn to Eddard while quickly sowing some sort of pattern.
"He's interesting Cat, it's been a fortnight and he still hasn't changed his story, it certainly isn't pleasant in the dungeons, a lesser man would have confessed and been done with it, it's not like I would sentence a man to anything major for just snooping around the godswood, no I think he truly doesn't know our customs or law. Perhaps he is being partly truthful."
"And perhaps he is here to kill you Ned, what say you then? There are certainly still people who would like your head apart from your body. Roberts rebellion was not so long ago as to forget."
Eddard let out a deep laugh…
"I assure you Cat, if we were to ask the boy on Rob's rebellion, he wouldn't know a thing about it, in fact he wouldn't know who Robert is. King of the seven Kingdoms and that man wouldn't know who he is."
Catelyn sighed and got up to walk towards the door
"I'm going to check on Rickon and Bran." She said and without another look she closed the door behind her.
Eddard Stark sighed, this man certainly was becoming quite Irritating but he was also more intriguing than anyone he'd met for some time. Shaking his head, he wondered what exactly he could do to end this charade. Quickly he stood up and began towards the dungeons.
Within a few minutes he'd arrived to find Harry sat sullenly against the wall fidgeting with his chains, next to him lay an empty plate and cup. Eddard cleared his throat to make his appearance clear then came towards Harry and sat in front of him.
"You are a curious man Harry Potter." Said Ned
"I shall take that as a compliment Lord Stark" Harry replied with a nod
"What do you want here Harry, why are you here?"
"Again Lord Stark? The same question? You know that my answer will remain the same and will remain true."
"Truth is yet to be known."
"May I ask something of you Lord Stark, I wish to make a request, for if I remain in the dungeons without any tasks much longer, I think I'll confess to any old crime to get out and be done with it."
"Within reason I will grant you what you want."
Harry smiled, he had been planning this request for some time.
"This may seem like an odd request but hear me out Lord Stark." Said Harry, he was replied to with a nod "First I would like to ask what kind of trees grow here in Winterfell?"
"Many trees grow here, the greatest of them is the Weirwood tree, holy and sacred to us Northerners, the Old Gods reside in them."
"May I ask that I be brought a branch of this Weirwood."
"I will chop no Weirwood tree!" Ned said as he went to get up
"I don't ask that, bring me a fallen branch Lord Stark, it is a simple request."
Ned sat silently for a minute before nodding an affirmative again.
"Secondly, may I ask that you bring me just a handful of fur from each of the direwolves your children have as pets, I see so much littered on the floor, surely you don't mind bringing me some Lord Stark."
"You will have it."
"Then, my final request is a knife, not to harm anyone Lord Stark, I wish to carve the wood."
Ned once again went silent.
"When you carve you will be watched and then the knife will be taken when you are finished for the day until the next, if you do in fact need more than a day to carve a branch."
Harry smiled and was about to thank Lord Stark but before he could, Lord Stark was on his feet and walking towards the door.
Harry had never done this before, in fact he knew nothing of what he needed to do. Sat on a chair was Maester Luwin, observing Harry. Wanting to seem like he was doing something, Harry cut the branch from its original thirty five inches or so into three smaller pieces around the length of what his wand used to be. Choosing the thickest part he'd cut Harry began to cut off small stumps and smooth out the stick.
Harry decided that he would rather not have a grip on his new wand, as he smoothed it down to elegantly flow from top to bottom, that process in itself took an hour and he hadn't even thought about the design, he didn't want an ugly wand after all and he had the time.
With the smoothed wand in his hand, he felt that it was too smooth, there were no grooves to play with or make the wand look like anything more than a polished white stick. Shaking his head at the discomfort he felt holding it, he decided to carve small ridges flowing from the thinner point of the wand, getting thicker and thicker down to the bottom of the roughly ten and a half inch wand.
The small ridges felt nice in Harrys' hand but still it felt too monotone and plain for his taste. Deciding quickly Harry began to carve small runes along the outside of the Weirwood wand. He knew very little runes, but from Hermione he had learnt how to draw the basic runes such as the Rune for longevity and the rune for power.
Maester Luwin had come down from his chair to observe Harry from closer, as well as inspect the runes Harry had carved. Asking to see them Maester Luwin had commented that he had seen nothing like them in his studies, seemingly expecting Harry to elaborate but Harry had not done so which appeared to leave the Maester in a less than ideal mood as he marched back to his chair and returned to reading a large tome.
After having filled the exterior with what runes that he knew, he calmly chopped the stick straight in half, taking care not to cut a Rune in half. This act surprised the Maester as Harry had been working on the wand for over seven hours only to chop it in half. Harry then went on to carve out a small crevice in the wood, which was where he would place his wand core, after doing so for both halves of the wand Harry once again returned to carving runes. This time on the inside, the runes he carved were of connection and attraction so that when he attempted to unite the two halves again, they would do just that. Upon completion Harry proceeded to hand the knife to the Maester and announced that he no longer needed the knife.
The Maester had promptly left with the knife which had been just what Harry had wanted. Happily he was not in any constraints at all so he was able to continue with his work. Bringing what furs he had Harry held them tightly between his hands and began to push magic into them, raw magic. He knew no spells that would be useful in this situation and instead lead the magic by his will to have the furs become one thick strand. As he pushed more and more magic he began to feel that it wasn't going to waste and was actually absorbing what magic he was pushing into it.
After two minutes or so, he began to feel that the strands had done just what he had wanted and formed one long thick white strand of fur, he let a small smile break loose before pulling the two chopped halves of the wand closer to him and placing his 'core' in the centre.
Putting them together was easy, making them mould to form one was considerably harder. Harry had spent over an hour of pushing magic into the wood and yet it had done nothing. Perhaps he shouldn't have chopped the wood in half.
But quitting was not in the nature of Harry Potter and so he continued on pushing a steady feed of magic in. As time went on, Harry got more and more frustrated and began to push more magic into the wand, to the extent that had begun to pant hard, his eyes were watering and his whole body was seemingly exhausted. But still Harry went on until he felt it, the magic was no longer pushing the two halves together, it was pushing magic into the wand.
With a small whoop Harry realised that he had done it but still he continued on pushing magic, after all the wand needed some its own magic. Harry kept pushing and pushing until he simply couldn't push any more magic in or he would fall unconscious.
With a smile he leant back against the wall gripping his creation and in a small whisper he said "Lumos" and the wand replied with a brighter white light than he had made with any other wand before.
A/N: What do you think? I had quite a bit of fun writing this although I feel its a bit mediocre, especially the wandmaking part, anyhow, leave a review if you want me to continue, thanks!
