AN: Well. Hey. Long-time no see. Yesterday I got my first bit of prolonged urge to write in about a year. There have been a few times this year where I've thought of ideas to continue my stories but as soon as I sat down to write those ideas disappeared and I got distracted by other things. Also I have been extremely busy with college and work which hasn't left me much energy to write. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 3 – Travelling
Harry watched the early morning sky as the sun crept up over the tips of the weirwoods on the Isle of Faces. It had been a mostly sleepless night. He had dosed off a couple of times before being awoken by Arya moving or the strange sound of singing coming from the Isle itself. This had worried Harry for a while as he considered waking Arya up and moving on; but eventually it became a relaxing background noise to accompany his thoughts. And this was something that his thoughts desperately needed. Strangely enough he never had the urge to go and see who or what was singing, he'd even forgotten about it completely by the time morning started to come.
He wouldn't like to admit it but there was a certain fear that sat within his very being. He was in the unknown. Out of his element. This was especially worrying considering everything he'd endured the last 5 years. He had thought that facing fully grown dragons and evil incarnate was about as crazy as his life would get. Being sent to a medieval world and saving a young girl from almost certain death after the execution of her father by a mad boy king was not something that he had considered. And now he was responsible for said girl, travelling through a land he did not know with people who were probably out to get the girl and kill whoever was with her, it was almost more than he was able to comprehend.
At least his magic had not deserted him. That was the one comfort in this mess. He was fairly confident that if a group of bandits, or whatever the criminals of this world were called, tried to attack them he could relatively easily fend them off and escape with Arya….
…well, assuming they didn't outnumber him too badly but even then he was confident they wouldn't have much of an answer for his magic. His time as head of Dumbledore's Army for the past year as well as his preparations for the Triwizard Tournament the year before that had taught him more than 5 years of Defence Against the Dark Arts ever did.
He didn't pretend to have any knowledge of how to use the giant sword that had travelled to this new land with him and that was something he was hoping to rectify soon, not that it would probably do him any good as the sword came up to his shoulders in height.
Knowledge of the land was going to be a big issue. Arya could help him only so much as she was unlikely to have ever travelled due to…well…being 9 years old. Maybe there would be a map somewhere. Though that was unlikely as most maps would be kept in the high lord's castles and trying to enter such a place without his Invisibility Cloak and with only a very limited understanding of the Disillusionment charm would be all but impossible. Plus being caught would bring far too much attention to both of them.
That was another thing. There were probably scores of riders out looking for Arya now, if the man who'd been about to slice her throat was any indication. This would require the two of them to move swiftly and silently. He did not want to try apparating again either as he could splinch both him and Arya, it was a miracle they had even survived the surprise apparition out of the city, King's Landing as Arya had called it.
"Hm" Harry murmured as he looked over towards Arya's sleeping form. Sighing with regret he reached over and gave her a little shake.
Without warning she leapt up and pulled Needle from her belt, more smoothly this time, and pointed it straight at Harry's nose.
Harry cocked an eyebrow at her whilst she blinked.
"Oh," she said "sorry, guess I'm still on edge"
"It appears so," Harry replied "it'll pass with time. I think next time I will say your name in order to wake you, much safer for me."
"Why did you wake me now?" Arya asked, looking towards the Isle of Faces where the sun had risen slightly higher.
"I think it's best for us to get going as soon as possible, people will be looking for you and I don't want to be anywhere near them" he said as he got up and stretched. Arya looked at him before nodding.
"We need to go North" she said. Harry nodded. He looked towards the sun and cocked his head to one side, frowning.
"In which direction does the sun rise here?" he asked Arya. She looked at him strangely.
"West of course," she answered "are you sure you went to school?"
"Huh, interesting" Harry muttered to himself, not really listening to the rest of Arya's sentence, as he turned what he hoped was North.
"Onwards" he said and set off at a relatively quick pace. Arya rolled her eyes before following behind.
They walked for an hour or two before they saw a sight that would stay with Harry for many years to come.
It was a castle. That much was obvious. It was at least twice, maybe even three times the size of Hogwarts. But what stayed with Harry most was the fact that most of it was melted. Pure stone. Melted like candle wax. It was impossible to even imagine what could be hot enough to melt stone, especially stone as thick as the one the walls of this gigantic castle were made of. He heard Arya gasp behind him as he stopped and stared.
"Arya" he asked quietly, for quiet seemed best when looking at such a sight "what castle is that?"
"That's Harrenhal" she whispered before shivering. Harry looked at her.
"Are you cold?" he asked curiously. She shook her head and looked away from the castle.
"I've heard stories from Old Nan about this place my entire life, it's said to be cursed" she said, shivering involuntarily again.
"And why is it cursed?" Harry asked, though he had a good idea why.
"It was built by Harren the Black before Aegon's Conquest. He used slaves from other kingdoms to build it for him and bragged that it was the biggest castle in all the land, and impossible to capture. That is until Aegon's dragons burned him and his sons alive in there. Now it's said that their ghosts haunt the place as no one has ever been able to hold it for long" she said quietly. Harry stared.
"Dragons?" he said unsteadily. "You have dragons here?"
"Not anymore" she replied "the last one died a hundred years ago."
Harry frowned. "I really need to learn some of this history, it's beginning to bug me."
"I could teach you if you would like" Arya said enthusiastically. Harry thought about it.
"You do seem to know a lot, we can talk about it while we're walking" he said as she nodded vigorously.
Over the next 3 hours of walking Arya told Harry everything she knew about Westeros and its history. Harry wondered whether some things, such as the 'Long Night' and the 'Others', were real or just a story that had been told to scare Arya into behaving. His experience with his luck told him that it was probably the former. She also told him about the First Men and the Children of the Forest, the Andals, The Wall and the Nights Watch, Valyria, the Targaryen Conquest and subsequent rule all leading up to the events of Robert's Rebellion.
Needless to say Harry was slightly spun out by the sudden influx of information.
"What about the Starks?" he asked curiously, for Arya had not mentioned their history before now.
"The Starks are one of the oldest families in the Seven Kingdoms, we descend from the First Men and still keep to their gods. The males of the family were once the Kings of the North, until the dragons came of course," she replied.
Suddenly there was the crack of a twig being broken in the bushes to their right. Harry grabbed his wand and fired a stunning spell into the foliage. There was a thump as whatever it was hit the ground.
Terror in his heart Harry ran over to the bushes and pushed the leaves aside. Inside he saw something he'd never expected.
It was his school bag…
And Hedwig…
"What on Earth" Harry muttered as he picked his old friend and the bag up.
"Ennervate" he said, pointing his wand at the owl. She screeched awake and Harry had to shield his face as she gave him a good telling off.
"Harry!" Arya shouted as she drew her sword and ran over.
"Stop!" Harry shouted as he tried to stop the angry owl, and she came to an abrupt halt.
"Hedwig please I didn't know it was you how could I?" he exclaimed. One final nip on the nose later she landed on the ground and turned her back on him.
"Hedwig?" Arya questioned. Harry sighed.
"She was my pet…friend" he corrected as Hedwig hooted indignantly "in my home world, I have no idea how she came to be here now" he finished. Arya frowned at the owl.
"Why did she attack you then? And what is that?" she asked, staring at his bag now.
"Well I don't think she liked being knocked unconscious and this is my book bag from school, maybe all my stuff is being sent over a few things at a time" he reasoned. This should have been a comforting thought but only served to make him more agitated. What if this meant he was here for the long haul? You don't move all of the things from your house to a hotel when you go away, maybe that was what was happening.
"We should keep moving," Harry said finally "Hedwig?"
The owl hooted and flew up onto his shoulder, giving him a firm but affectionate nip on the ear. As close to forgiveness as an owl could convey. Harry sighed.
"Maybe better if you fly above us girl" he said to her, she hooted again and flew up into the air. Harry watched her with envy. He hoped his broom would arrive soon.
After another half hour of walking they came across what was undoubtedly the Kingsroad. It was a wide track which could comfortably fit two carts side by side. The banks on either side were tipped with trees and shrubbery, as most of Westeros seemed to be. They were on a bend which seemed to go on forever. Harry and Arya crouched down in the bushes. There were a few stragglers on their own wandering down the road. Some of them looked injured, some looked merry and some looked downright tired.
"Where are all these people going?" Harry asked.
"Kings Landing," Arya replied "when I was living on the streets I heard someone say that Gregor Clegane was roaming the Riverlands with his lot and burning everything they found. This lot are probably going to beg the King for compensation."
Harry snorted "Well I wish them good luck with that"
Then what Arya had said sunk it. He spun to look at her.
"What do you mean Gregor Clegane's burning everything?" he said, slightly louder than was strictly safe. Suddenly they heard heavy hoofs beating the Kingsroad. Harry made to back away but felt a sharp prick on the back of his neck.
"I wouldn' move if I were you" a gruff voice said. Harry froze.
"But I'm not you am I" Harry said calmly, carefully pointing his wand behind him, out of the mystery man's view.
"No," the man replied "you're not, which is why you won't survive for very long with those men coming along tha' road any second."
"But me not being you I could fight my way out" he said. Harry couldn't see it but he could hear the frown in his voice.
"Even with that there magic o' yours I doubt you could take on 40 men all with steel armour and weapons" he said. Harry thought it might be worth a shot. A well placed Bombarda Maxima would take out at least 15 of them. A Reducto would scatter them. However some would escape and then he would be known to the higher powers. That was not something he wanted, especially having Arya, another very wanted fugitive, under his protection.
"Where do we go from here then Ser" Harry asked. The arrow tip moved away from his neck.
"Follow me" the man said, Harry looked down the Kingsroad for a second. The sound of hooves were getting closer and closer. Stun the man and flee on their own, but with more chance of the riders spotting them, or follow the man into a potential trap.
"I wouldn' bother goin' on your own, you don' know these lands an' the riders have heard word of you" the man said, still walking away. Harry finally turned away from the road and followed after the man, Arya at his side.
"Harry I don't think this is a good idea" Arya said quietly. Harry rather agreed but he didn't fancy sticking around to face a prepared group of soldiers.
The three of them continued walking for a ways until the sound of hooves had faded completely. It was only then Harry decided to speak up.
"How do they know about me?" he asked cautiously. "How do you know about me?"
"Well as t' your first question, I told them abou' you" the man, who Harry could now see had long red hair, replied. He showed inhumane reflexes to dodge Harry's stunner.
"Well, I got some poor sap to tell them abou' you" he said calmly with Harry's wand still pointed at him. Harry himself was furious. Of course this was a trap. They were probably about to be ambushed and captured. Then the second statement set it.
"You didn't personally speak to them?" he asked carefully. The man, now revealed to have a skinny face with freckles and brown eyes, shook his head with a smile.
"Me? God no, they'd cut me down as soon as they saw me, they don' wan' Anguy the Archer to carry on livin'" he said with a laugh.
"Anguy?" Arya asked "I've heard of you!" she exclaimed. Anguy laughed again and bowed.
"My reputation proceeds me, no' totally surprisin' o' course, I am quite famous" he said. Harry did not lower his wand but relaxed slightly. He turned his head slightly towards Arya.
"Who is he?" he asked. Arya turned to him.
"Anguy won the archery tournament they held for…um…for Lord Eddard in King's Landing, 10,000 gold dragons" she said, looking at the archer who smirked. Arya smirked back.
"But I heard he lost it all paying for expensive whores and wine" she said. Anguy lost his smile, affecting a look of mock sadness.
"Alas, for it is tru', I was a procurer of fine wines and fine women. But now I have found my purpose in life" he replied dramatically. Arya sniggered slightly. Harry did not.
"Is your purpose selling us out? Because that's what you did by informing those men about us" he said with gritted teeth. The man sobered up.
"My purpose is t' serve," he said "serve the Red God and bring justice to all 'is enemies. Those men are 'is enemies. You are not. Your job here is yet to be known, but Thoros wants t' meet with you and I didn' think you'd come withou' good cause"
"So you revealed us to them to get us to join your…cult or whatever this is?" Harry replied hotly. Anguy frowned.
"We are no' a cult," he said.
"Well then what are you?" Harry asked. The man smiled.
"We're the Brotherhood Without Banners"
AN: Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter, it may not have been quite as long as the last one but I have work soon and I wanted to get this out asap before I lost the urge. Hopefully I have something back now which I didn't and maybe I'll update "Harry Potter and the Third Age" at some point as well as adding more onto this story. see you soon, byeee