Chapter 2 Dragonland

A/N 1: My apologies if my OC female behaves a tad like a cliché mary sue here for the first couple of chapters. She doesn't really have a role here until the fourth chapter, besides being eye candy and advisor for Harry.

A/N 2: I hope you enjoy my Enraged Dumbledore. Have no fear, Dumbles will have a much more active role than in most fics. Hell, maybe even more so than the actual canon.

A/N 3: As much as I love the tales of King Arthur, they just don't hold the same level with me. I also think that Merlin deserves his place as the most powerful of all mages, but he doesn't deserve the god like treatment the Wizards seem to give him.

A/N Final: Remember that Harry doesn't know about the Prophecy yet. I am also pleased to find out that I was correct in placing Saint George as the Dragon Slayer after a little research.

Aleroth took Harry to one of the many giant towers that dotted the barren landscape. Harry noted that the land looked like it hadn't rained in over a thousand years, and was a veritable desert. Craggy peaks jutted out of the ground at random intervals, each looking as sharp as knife. The screams of some type of giant lizard rang everywhere. Aleroth informed him that the cries he was hearing were the Challenge Screams of the wild dragons. Challenge screams were exactly what they sounded like. A harsh, insulting challenge to any stray dragon that entered another's territory.

The winds were harsh, and the air smelled of smoke. The sounds of metal ringing and harsh training filled the air louder than the challenge screaming of the wild dragons. Aleroth lighted down onto the giant tower. The tower was jet black, like it had been scorched by a very hot flame. By design, there were several large platforms where the artisans and other servants plied their trade. One such platform was the one he was on right now, the Aviator's Platform.

Harry watched as Aleroth was consumed by flames again, and when they died out, the pinnacle of what a warrior should look like, was human again. He didn't have his helmet on, and Harry was surprised to see that Aleroth had long blonde hair, not that much unlike Lucius Malfoy. Aleroth addressed this, " Hah! I guess someone you know has hair like mine by the way you looking at me. Someone you don't particularly like? Am I right?"

Harry nodded, causing Aleroth to burst out laughing. This caused all the servants to look at him with a lot of fear in their eyes. Harry pried, " Sir? Why are they looking at you like that?"

"AH haha! What? Oh, the servants? Pssh. They look at me like that all the time. I inherited the title 'The Damned One' from my father Stangmar. Though I don't think I've quite lived up to the title yet."

Harry cocked an eyebrow, but Aleroth dismissed him. Instead, he gestured for Harry to follow him towards a strange blue shimmering Veil like apparatus. Harry felt an odd sensation as they entered it, and suddenly, they were in what looked like a large throne room. The room had several banners, the most prominent being a large, very ornate and intricate, golden banner featuring an owl flying through a tumultuous sea and a wall of flames toward a glimmering ray of light shining through black clouds. Aleroth walked up to the black throne and sat heavily on it. He announced, " Welcome to my Battle Tower, Harold James Potter. Now, this is also your residence. Within these halls, you shall find all the tools, persons, money, and other resources needed for your training as a Dragon Knight. You will also get to meet my son!"

Harry was surprised by this, " You have a son?"

" Of course! I've lived for almost twenty thousand years Mr. Potter. I would like to have a son at some point in my long life. Before I'm killed by some self fabled Dragon Slayer. You do realize that over three quarters of all the dragons killed by your Wizards were actually DracoKnights who were performing their duty of vigilance?"

Harry's mouth hung open at the statement, allowing Aleroth to continue, " Oh yes Mr. Potter! A certain Saint by the name of George is particularly famous for slaying a Dragon who was quite dear to me."

" Who?"

" My Wife. Oh yeah! Wouldn't that drive the Church nuts if they found out that their so called Saint hadn't slain a Godless beast, but rather a thinking, breathing, human being! That is why I so very much hate British lore and legends. Doesn't help that Arthur was such a pussy either."

Harry was very shocked by these revelations, so he asked, " The legendary King Arthur?"

Aleroth scoffed, " Legendary? My ass. If my half-brother hadn't been there holding his hand the whole time, the pompous bastard would have killed himself by falling down the stairs to the throne. Half that stuff he did was done by the knights who served him, not he himself. He just took a lot of the credit."

Harry muttered, " I guess Lockhart had a good historical basis for his actions then."

The two were about to discuss something else, when the doors to the throne room clanged open. Two people walked in. They looked like they were Harry's age, though the male was a foot taller than Harry. The girl had long blonde hair like Aleroth's but Harry could tell by looking at her, that she wasn't a direct family member. The male looked enough like Aleroth, save the blonde hair, that it was easy to deduce that he was Aleroth's son. Rather than blonde hair, he had black hair like Harry's. He wore large, black plate armor. The woman wore tighter armor that looked less impressive, but had plenty of chainmail on as well. She had a shapely figure, and was quite attractive. She had icy eyes like Aleroth, and the same blonde hair, but otherwise, there were few resemblances.

Aleroth shouted, " Ah… here they come! Harry, let me introduce you to my son, Damian, and my third niece Carolyn."

Damian intoned in a deep voice, stretching out his hand." My pleasure to meet you, Harry."

Harry shook Damian's hand, " Pleasure to meet you as well, Damian."

Carolyn smiled a kind smile, " Hello, Lord Potter."

Harry nodded back, " To you too, Carolyn."

" Please, call me Cary."

Aleroth clapped his hands together, " There's a good boy! Now, Damian my boy, would you escort Mr. Potter to his chambers? Please fill him in on his training schedule!"

Damian muttered as he led Harry away, " Will do, father."

Damian and Carolyn led Harry up what seemed like a hundred flights of stairs, before reaching the door to his chambers. Damian laughed as Harry tried to open the door, before giving him the key. Carolyn commented, " Vigilance and security are a must, no matter the situation. Even here. A lesson you shall learn shortly, Harry."

Damian snorted, " Yeah, you have the same training schedule as us, since we are the same age. Well, technically. By appearance we are at any rate. I'll come get you when it is time to go train. Take a long view at the landscape of Dragonland while you're at it. You'll miss your homeworld."

" Homeworld? What is this Dragonland? Where exactly is it?"

Damian laughed, " I guess we will spend some time in the library tomorrow. Dragonland is this land. There are thousands of towers almost exactly like this one dotted throughout the land. We are not exactly in a singular place. There are many secrets that you shall be privy to shortly, but now is not the time. Just know that we are kind of in the middle. Neither the real nor the imaginary. Neither underworld nor firmament."

The two left Harry with a very confused look on his face. He turned into his rooms after the door closed, found that there was a nice dinner, if it were rather American, waiting. Harry couldn't quite wrap his mind around all that was going on. I find that crystal, and suddenly! I'm a Dragon Knight, and I need to be whisked off and be trained for war. What is this world coming to? Wonder what Dumbledore is thinking of right now? Harry wondered. Little did he know, his Headmaster was right distraught.

(Hogwarts)

Kingsley Shacklebolt, nor anyone else, had ever seen Albus Wulfric Brian Percival Dumbledore lose it and fly off. But Dumbledore certainly had lost it. When Kingsley had told him of the death of Potter's family members, he had flown into a rage that a drunken troll might be proud of, summoned Fawkes, and disappeared in a rain of fire. Now that he was back, it was even worse.

" What the fuck is that belligerent little churl playing at? Killing his relatives? Who does he think he is? If I didn't need him, I would kill him myself! Or better yet! Me and Severus would take turns torturing him! That would be a good punishment! Haha! Ahahahaha!"

Kingsley grimaced as the Headmaster laughed maniacally. He heard McGonagall shout, " Calm down Albus! How do you know he wasn't kidnapped? How do you know it was he who killed his relatives?"

Albus rounded on her, " Do not take me as a fool woman! Do you think I am deaf? The little bastard bitched about his relatives enough that I swear even Fudge could have implicated him for the murders! The Wizengamot will have his ass! I swear they will! I will see to it that he spends a hundred years in Azkaban for each!"

Dumbledore was about to go off in another rant, when Madame Pomfrey slammed him across the head with one of his silvery instruments, knocking him out. She commented, " God damn! I swear, no wonder Voldemort wants him dead! He was giving me a hell of a headache!"

Sprout nodded, " Thank you, Poppy. I thought for a second we were going to have to kill him ourselves just to shut him the fuck up. I swear, he has temper tantrums like a little child. This happened when Black got away too."

( International Wizarding Sports Association)

" All hands quiet! The Bulgarian Director of Magical Recreation would like to speak."

The Bulgarian Director stood up in the packed room, reading a letter, " I am most sorry, Director, but ze Veela cannot be present for zis Vorld Cup. I vould suggest you find new mascots."

The Director then addressed his colleagues, " Fellows. It is my pleasure to announce Lord Aleroth has accepted the plea for his Dragons to be our mascots."

Several Directors, including Ludo Bagman, passed out.

( Dragonland)

" Up Mr. Potter! You can do better than that! I sense it!"

Harry grunted as he lifted himself up off the ground from being Pommel Smashed again by his instructor. Harry found that he liked the mobility of Dual Blades better than using mighty claymores and Flamberges. But his instructor loved to use the larger blades, and as a result, liked a technique called the Flat Bash. The attack always knocked Harry flying, and was starting leave bruises. He had been at this for three hours.

Harry ducked beneath the elongated swing of his instructor, trying to sneak closer. He short hopped above the whirling blade. He landed running and drove his gauntleted fist into his instructor's face, sending him reeling. Instructor Flangel shouted as he drug himself up, " Well done Potter, I knew you had it in you. I can always sense when someone has used a blade previously. You have much potential. When did you first grip a blade?"

" I killed a seventy foot Basilisk when I was twelve years old back at Hogwarts."

Flangel patted him on the shoulder, " Don't worry kid. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Legends are either really lucky, or really cowardly. Either they lucked through their battles, or someone else fought them and they took credit. Like ole Arthur."

Harry had learned swiftly that the Legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were heavily scorned in Dragonland. Merlin was even more than scorned. He was hated with a passion that would make Voldemort and the Death Eaters look like kind school boys. Apparently, Merlin was the first person ever born to a family of Dragon Knights but wasn't one himself. Aleroth explained it in great detail, and with great loathing.

" Ah, my good old half brother. Brings such great shame to the family line he does. You see, Merlin was the first person born to my line that was not a Dragon Knight. Like wizards, you either are, or you aren't, a Dragon Knight. But it didn't used to be that way. When Merlin was born, he was born blind, so we knew he wasn't one of us. Dragon Knights suffer from no disease or physical ailment. We can see even if our eyes were ripped from our skulls.

" We are like dragons in that we live forever unless killed. Now, Merlin, he was born without the spark. Granted, he was a great wizard and all, but he will forever be remembered as the First of the Forsaken Ones, as they are called. That is why I am so happy to have Damian.

" So many of our children these days are born without it, that many of us simply do not mate anymore. Poor Carolyn was supposed to be mated already, but so few males want to risk giving us another Forsaken One, that they choose to also not give us a Dragon Knight.

" It is like a disease, Harry. Once Merlin was born, it was like it spread to everyone else. It affected our genes. If you don't believe me, look at my familial line. Before me, every single child, be it male or female, was a Dragon Knight. Whether the parents were both Dragon Knights or just one, the children were also Knights.

" So some of the Dragon Knights began to take special crystals and send them to the various worlds we have access to in an attempt to gain recruits. Unfortunately, you are the first one anyone has ever been able to track down without getting killed in the process."

So Harry found out a good deal more about the Emrys family than anyone had ever known about them. For one, it was Merlin's father, Stangmar, who had tried to arrange his marriage to some woman he would never meet. Instead, he fell in love with Morgana, and ran off, in the process, destroying his family's reputation. Despite that Merlin was never able to consummate his love for Morgana, the action of refusing his arranged marriage was unprecedented.

Unlike his half brother, Aleroth was a good son. He was actually arranged into a marriage by his wife's mother. Aleroth made it sound like his marriage was the best thing that had ever happened to him, at least, until she was killed. Aleroth had done some snooping around and found out that the Kakaroff family was responsible, the eldest son being jealous. He had falsely reported a Dark One sighting, and then had arranged for Islia to be killed. Harry sympathized for the man. After all, his parents had been killed for virtually no reason, just that Voldemort didn't like them.

As for Aleroth's son, Damian, he couldn't have asked for a nobler man in the world. Harry had no doubt that Damian would be a Gryffindor if he ever came to Hogwarts. Brave beyond the call of duty, his father had kept him under his wing for a long time. While it wasn't a torturous existence, and Damian was a very nice, unselfish man, there was always something about him that reminded Harry of Ronald Weasley.

Carolyn Elwing was from Aleroth's mother's side of the family. In other words, she was blood related to Aleroth, but not Merlin. Harry couldn't quite place it, but there was something different about Carolyn. Her intelligence reminded Harry of Hermione, but unlike Damian, who sometimes did things almost exactly how Harry would see Ron do them, Carolyn was nothing like Hermione. First of all, she like to be called by nickname, Cary. Harry remembered when Hermione blew up on Ron for calling her Mione.

Second of all, Cary had a very serene, easy going temperament, but was someone who certainly know when to get angry. Very much unlike Hermione, who, as much as she probably denied it, was a Gryffindor through and through. She could be very overbearing when she was right. Harry had come up with a rule about Hermione and Ron. Hermione was always right. Except when she was emotional. Ron was always wrong. Except when he was making a joke.

Thirdly, Cary was stunningly beautiful. Granted, Harry now realized that he was quite stupid for not noticing that Hermione was one of the better looking girls in Hogwarts, she still held nothing to Carolyn. Harry had heard legends of how other races like Elves and Dwarves, sometimes bred with Humans. He found himself wondering whether or not Cary had extra-human blood in her.

Harry found that Dragonland was far superior to whatever world he thought he had been living in. Here, he could actually train, and become stronger without drawing attention to himself. He vaguely remembered the one time Ron had caught him studying at Hogwarts. It should have been an indication that the ginger was not the kind he should have been consorting with. Damian forwarded an interesting theory about Ron, based off of what he called an Internet Meme. He asked, " If Gingers don't have souls, then why was Ron affected by Dementors?"

Maybe Ron really was just a stereotype. It was something that merited watching. He wondered if Ron was worried about what might be happening to him?

( The Burrow)

" That sorry git hasn't messaged me back yet!"

Ronald Weasley ducked beneath a well aimed pot swing from his mum about his language. He continued, " It's been a month since I sent that letter! He still hasn't replied! I mean, I know he lives rather far away from the Burrow, but still! Hedwig could make that journey in a couple of nights. It would be one thing if Errol was the one carrying the reply."

Hermione scorned Ron, " What if something is really wrong Ron? What if Harry was really in trouble or something? How would you feel then?"

Ron answered, " I don't care. I'm rather interested in the World Cup. I heard that Bulgaria had to change its mascots because of some Veela specific disease breaking out."

Hermione huffed at Ron's remark. Arthur Weasley gently scorned his son, " Come now, Ron, you know you wouldn't feel that way if Harry went missing or something…."

Arthur was cut off when Albus Dumbledore Phoenix Flashed directly onto his dining room table. Arthur asked, " Something we can help you with, Dumbledore?"

Albus asked, " Have any of you had any correspondence with Harry? Any at all?"

Ron said as Hermione shook her head, " Nope. Not since about two weeks after term let out."

Dumbledore frowned and looked very sad. Ron asked, " What! What happened to him?"

Dumbledore looked all of them in the eye as best he could, " I am sorry. Harry's residence was attacked and his relatives brutally murdered. His cousin was impaled on a steak, his uncle completely eviscerated, and his aunt was tied and bound to the fridge with hate symbols written in her own blood. I fear that Harry is either kidnapped, or he is dead. The investigation is not proceeding well."

The sound of a glass shattering filled the room as George Weasley accidently knocked his brother's glass of wine over.

( Archery Training)

Aleroth leered at everyone gathered for Archery training. Harry had been hopeful that Aleroth himself would be easier than his other instructors, but Damian swore to him this was not true. Aleroth, odd as it may seem, was the best archer in all of Dragonland. He had won several competitions to get and retain this title. He instructed, " Now, listen to me carefully. I am not trying to dissuade you from taking up other weapons, or bashing those weapons. I am simply telling you that archery is not like other weapons. With a sword, you can pick it up and have some effectiveness in combat just by swinging it around. Same with an axe. With a spear, all you gotta do is stab

" With archery, it is not like that! To be an archer is to have years and years of training. Luckily for you, I can implant what to do in your head using memories. Still, you must keep incredible discipline when firing a bow."

He took one arrow, placed on the string, and drew, " You must be able to hold steady even through incredible distractions. You must be sure that your arrow will kill your opponent before he gets to you. You must be certain that you will hit the eye. The throat. Anywhere to kill!"

He fired his shot. It struck a perfect bull's-eye. " Now, I have set up a test to determine your skill and focus. Many of you have already done this several times, but for the new boy's sake, you will do it alongside of him. Hit three bulls-eyes. Each will be moving. One will move side to side. Another backwards and forwards. The last will be doing both. You will fire through a wall of fire, with very loud heavy metal music blaring on the speakers. You will have one minute. Got it?"

Harry nodded, and strung his bow. He drew one arrow at Aleroth's command. He took a preliminary aim. He saw the most difficult target coming into view. Aleroth shouted, " Fire At Will!"

Harry aimed, and fired. The arrow arced above the first two targets, and sailed into a perfect bull's-eye on the third. Harry sized up the second shot, and fired. It hit a bull's-eye. The final shot struck perfect. Aleroth commented, " Well done Mr. Potter. Thirty seconds is an admirable time on this trial. You have much potential. I grant you these memories to teach you."

Aleroth handed him a vial of memories. Harry retreated to his room to peruse these. He had nothing better to do. Until Damian sent him the message that they would go bonding dragons the next day.

A/N: For me, this is an extremely long chapter.

Easter Eggs: None in this chapter, other than that Aleroth is named after a town in Divinity 2 and his son his son has the same name as the game's Damned One.

Armors

Chain: Chainmail is a unique advancement in armor. It was the first type of armor that a Blacksmith had to truly specialize in. Thousands of interlocking rings forming a net to defend against slashing attacks. Horrible against penetrating attacks such as arrows.

Plate: Plate armor is the armor that everyone see when they envision the Knight in Shining Armor. A knight in full double plate armor could even withstand a bullet. Very heavy.

Clothe Armor: A generic type of armor that refers to anything from cotton to tanned leather. Not particularly effective at blocking any type of weapon save for blunt weapons and early bows.