Harry Potter and the Root of all Evil

by Viscount Anarchy

HP/RR time travel fic. During Harry's limbo trip in the Forbidden Forest, Harry is faced with two choices; to die, or be sent back 1000 years to stop the Root of All Evil before it can manifest itself. Harry chooses to live and emerges in the unknown

14. Tradesmeet

Disclaimer; I would warn you that there are scenes of a sexual nature coming up, but I know every single one of you will read it regardless of warning.

This story has remained un-updated for 5 months, so I hope this long chapter lives up to expectations and adequately sets the scene for the next few chapters. Just a quick note that the first few chapters have been slightly rewritten as well, but that is to keep the story consistent with the later chapters. The plot has not changed, so you do not have to reread them. It is more to draw in new reader.

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Tradesmeet

Harry woke up in the same exact position that he fell asleep in. His limbs were firmly wrapped around Rowena, almost like a cocoon. His right hand cupped one of her ample breasts while the other was wrapped around her stomach. She still had a smile on her face as she slept soundly. It wasn't the first time he woke up in that position and he hoped it wouldn't be the last.

Harry slowly pulled himself out from the bed, trying very hard to not wake her up. He enjoyed the bed very much, having not used it very much at all being away from the tower for many years.

Harry had no luck though as Rowena woke up within seconds of removing himself.

She gave off in involuntary whimper when she noticed Harry was gone, but quickly smiled when she saw him looking down at her with admiration in his eyes.

She looked down at herself and saw that she was still covered in her own wetness from last night. She was honestly surprised with how much she produced last night just from Harry's hand working her.

It was a completely new feeling for her. Of course she knew about it, but knowing about it and experiencing it are very different things, and having someone else induce those feelings into her was almost unimaginable to her. She had never really taking time off for herself for something like pleasure, or even fun. She enjoyed learning and working magic more than anything else in the world. It was like a giant puzzle to her, and she wanted to solve it. The idea of pleasure was now part of that puzzle.

Seeing that Rowena was awake as well, and unlikely to fall back asleep, Harry scooped her up out of the bed and took her into the bathroom to wash. He let her down as he fiddled with one of the shower controls. He was still amazed at the contraptions the Dwarves have created that are far ahead of their time. Sure, magic could be used to create a shower, but having a mechanical shower was novel.

Back in his original time when he lived in the muggle world, he never thought twice about the conveniences of modern day life, but now, such a thing was a marvel. Knowing the Dwarves, the water was probably pumped several thousand feet up the tower with some feat of engineering that would not be replicated for 1000 years.

That was the difference between Dwarven and Wizard ingenuity. The Dwarves could perform the same enchantments as wizards to create warm water right at the nozzle, but they took pride in their work to make something far more impressive. They are not bound by the same beliefs that turn wizards into lazy pencil pushers in the future.

And that is why he admired the Dwarven culture, and defended their home from invaders. And that is why after he finished the shower, he would bring Rowena back down to the Kingdom to help with the cleanup and aftermath.

Rowena seemed fascinated with the various cogs and wheels that controlled the water system and changed the temperature. While she tinkered around underneath the water, Harry was doing some of his own tinkering.

He didn't know what came across him, or perhaps it was merely some of his renowned bravery or as some call it – foolishness, which caused his hands to start roaming.

Her breasts were fascinating, as could be expected. Her back was to him, so the only visual he got was of side-boob, which he did not mind at all. The side profile of Rowena Ravenclaw was very flattering.

Before Harry got too far, he found himself with a Dwarven Crystal container in his hand. There were several dozen of them lining one wall – all scented hair wash of some sort. They were of the quality of type that you would only expect to find in royalty and nobility. The craftsmanship of the jar and the actual product are not something you would see amongst commoners or even wizards. He would have trouble conjuring something like that even with the magnificent Elder Wand.

Harry has not had much exposure to the bad hygiene of the world, but he knew that keeping clean actually improved magical stability and flow. It was the same reason why a keeping a wand in clean operating condition was so important. Wands contained bits from magical creature, and what is a witch or wizard but a magical creature themselves? It made perfect sense to Harry, but the rest of the world had not realized it yet, and likely wouldn't for a long time. The general populace had more important things to worry about, such as feeding themselves and staying alive.

The jar Harry picked smelled nice, but he couldn't identify it. It was probably some exotic wildflower, but the name would be meaningless to someone like Harry. He liked results. The result of washing Rowena's hair was that he liked the way her hair smelled. It was as simple as that.

After Rowena's hair was adequately clean, and smelling good - which Harry is loathed to admit that it took far longer than he expected it to - his hands gained a mind of their own once again. He buried his face in her hair as his hands wormed their way around her torso.

Harry's left hand gentle grabbed her left breast as his right snaked down between her legs. Before Rowena could even protest – which she wouldn't have – Harry's fingers were already playing with her super-sensitive nub.

It did not even take half a minute before Rowena was leaning back into Harry and panting heavily. Not even 15 seconds after that and Rowena was climaxing onto his hand.

"Damn," was all Harry exclaimed as Rowena covered his hand in her juices in under a minute flat. "That did not take nearly as long as I expected."

Rowena slowly gained back her composure and brought her breathing back to normal. "I was not really expecting that. And considering how often I pleasure myself, and that is to say very rarely as proper women don't do such a thing, it is not a surprise that it does not take much effort to make me into a moaning mess."

"Well, most 'proper women' as you put it, are not immortal either. Plus, I'm sure that you enjoyed it. It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Fun?" she said faintly. "I suppose an extremely pleasurable experience could be categorized as fun."

"Good. Because it is almost as much fun for me to make you squirm like that as it is enjoyable for you, and I will keep doing that to you unless you want me to stop."

Rowena saw the sincere look in his eyes, and just rolled her eyes in response. "What about you…?" she asked tentatively, taking a quick peek at his full mast before gasping and averting her eyes.

"I'm not going to ask you do to anything you are not comfortable with. I have lived the past 15 years of my life without any sort of pleasurable experience, I am more than capable of going without it, and making you feel good is more than satisfactory to me."

As Harry said that, he couldn't help feel that that was the corniest thing ever said in the history of man. It was the truth though; he had grown up to be a very patient person. He had more years ahead of him than he could count, and he would not rush into something that could possibly ruin their relationship which had just barely begun. Plus he like the way she reacted to his mere fingers, it was not something he had ever witnessed before and only heard rumors of back in his Hogwarts days.

Harry was tempted to put her through the ringer several more times, but he reminded himself that while time was of no importance to them, it was important to the outside world to which it still effected. The Dwarves were not really expecting him to come back, but Harry felt like it was the right thing to do.

Harry finished washing himself up, and watched as Rowena finished up as well. He could tell that she had never quite washed in luxury like that before, but she quickly adapted. Harry pondered on the idea that this shower was more luxurious than anything he had ever seen even 1000 years in the future. The only thing that came close was the prefects bath and only because that had a hundred magical water faucets. He took a minute to ponder what society would look like if humans adapted the Dwarven technology.

Harry only contemplated for a few minutes before he realized that he could not interfere with something of that magnitude. He was no God, not by any stretch of the imagination. He was a guardian, not a pioneer. He took a quick glance over at Rowena as she was slipping on her chosen clothes for the day.

She, on the other hand, was a pioneer. Rowena did not have his knowledge of the future though, so wherever her mind happened to take the world, it would be legitimate. He was starting to get anxious to see how much the world would change, but he squashed those thoughts immediately.

Harry fumbled around with his clothes and checked to make sure he had all his gear ready. He had to wait for a few more minutes while the Founder was finishing up.

Rowena chose a simple general purpose outfit. It was somewhat flattering, yet could withstand a lot of movement and rough and tumble from any of the day's possible turmoil.

"We are apparating there again?"

"Indeed," Harry responded, holding out his hand.

"When are you going to teach me?" She asked. "I tried researching it, but information on it is nigh impossible to locate."

Harry retracted his hand and scratched his chin. "Now is a good a time as ever I suppose. I've never taught it to anyone before, so bear that in mind."

"What is the first step?"

"My teacher once told me three words to remember; Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The order is not really significant, as long as you remember all three. The first part, and probably the hardest, is complete concentration."

"What happens if I don't concentrate enough?"

"Then there is a possibility of splinching. That is to say, you leave a body part behind. It is not a pleasant experience, and I would rather you not accident lose your girl bits, as I think I am starting to get quite fond of them.

"Yes, well, now I am finding it hard to concentrate…"

"Think of the destination. Closing your eyes should help you visualize. Think of the massive Dwarven citadel doors. Clear your mind and visualize nothing but that."

Harry walked up behind her and placed both of his hands onto Rowena's shoulders. "Now feel for your magic. You know what your magic feels and looks like. Reach out for it and bring it into your body. Now that your magic is within yourself completely, you need to will it to your destination. And since it is your magic, you will go with it."

Harry held onto her shoulders for several minutes without anything happen. He wasn't expecting her to get it. No one gets it in the first try, or even the first week. Harry had an idea though. He was always fond of the hands on approach, and he knew his biggest problem was trying to visual exactly what apparation was.

His idea was to use Rowena's magic to side-along apparate both of them, while he was the controller. It would allow her to feel the sensation of apparation, and what the actual magic feels like during the start, transit, and end. Harry quickly visualized the Dwarven gates, and with a pop, the two of them appeared right in front.

"Open your eyes."

"Wow, I did it?"

"Not exactly. You were halfway there, but I acted as the channel. I pushed your magic towards the destination, and we both hung in for the ride. But now you know what the magic feels like. We will do that few more times later, but right now the Dwarves are looking at us oddly."

All around them the Dwarves were bustling around, repairing their damaged city. Immedietly in front of them were the massive doors to the Whurlode. They were battered and worn, but they held up to the recent assault admirably.

Many Dwarves on scaffolding were making amends to the wall, while several others had chisels and hammers, and what looked like magnifying glasses of some sort.

Harry decided to take a closer look and saw that they looked to be re-carving the runes that the adorned the doors. The magnifying glass was highlighting the magic inside the engraving, ensuring the runesmiths did their best work.

Rowena seemed particularly interested by the lenses, but instead followed Harry inside the Iron Citadel.

Harry spotted the King right away. He was looming over what appeared to be several architectural drawings of some of the buildings in his domain. Next to him were several surly Dwarves who Harry guessed to be architects.

The atmosphere of the citadel itself was different that the other times he had been there. The mood was hard to place, but they were hardly the boisterous bunch he remembered. They were not even basking in the glow of their recent victory. Instead, they were respecting the large amount of casualties their already small numbers had suffered, but yet there was a glint of hope in all their eyes. They held hope for a brighter future, and repairing the city was just the start. The sooner they put the attack behind them, the sooner they can move on into the future. But they would never forget the past.

King Thothic was leaning over the table, but when he saw Harry walking towards him his face broke out into a grin.

"Ah, Artemis! The hero of the day!"

"Greetings to you as well," Harry replied as he greeted his friend

"And I see you brought the lovely Rowena as well," Thothic greeted. He took her hand and gave it a kiss before giving a subtle wink to Harry. "So what brings you back to this side of the underground?"

"I feel obligated to help you clean up down here, as I did cause some of this destruction myself."

Thothic nodded his head, having already suspected his reason for coming. "I'm not one to turn down an extra set of hands, especially when I seem to running low of my own. Come over here, and we shall find you something to do."

The three of them walked over to another table that held a long list of assignments. "Hmmm. You won't be much help with actual repair work, no offence to you, but those things require a skilled Dwarven hand. Are you any decent in the art of Runes?"

"I'm not –"

"I am." Rowena said, cutting Harry off. "I have studied runic magic for many years."

"I'm rubbish at runes. I don't know a single thing about them." Harry said with a slight pout.

Thothic looked between the two of them, studying their dynamic.

"Ok then!" Thothic said clasping his hands together. "Miss Rowena can tag along with some of the runesmiths. You will find that our runes are not so different than goblins, or humans, but they are still our own. You may even learn a thing or two. Maybe you can even add some of your own to our protections?"

"I will help in any way I can," Rowena offered.

"Good. As for you, Artemis, I hate to have to do this, but the streets are still covered in rivers of blood and bodies, and smoke still permeates the air. Not all the fires have been put out either, as some are in ruined sections of the city. I need you to clean up the reminder of this mess. We Dwarves would normally have to give the streets a good ole scrubbing, but with a trained wand you could have it done in a fraction of the time.

"What about any bodies I come across?" Harry asked, not pleased with his assignment, but happy to help his friend all the same.

"At the end of this street is where all the bodies of the Dwarves are being kept. We are giving them an honorable burial amongst their ancestors. As for the enemies, just remove all trace of them ever being here and I will be more than pleased. Tradition calls for our enemies to be buried with honor as well, but they did not fight with honor, and thus they will be disgraced!"

Harry was momentarily stunned by the King's vehemence, but he could understand the situation all too well.

"Do you have a preferred area for me to start?"

"The market is already cleaned. I would like you to do the eastern housing district. Oh, and before you two set off on your tasks, I want you to take this… "Thothic started going through his pockets and patting himself down looking for something.

The King turned towards a random dwarf and yelled something in Dwarven that Harry couldn't comprehend.

"What is a 'salvager'?" Rowena asked curiously.

Both Thothic and Harry turned towards her incredulously. "You understood what he said?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I was speaking in me native tongue."

"What?" Rowena said, astonished. "How could I…"

Harry had a contemplative look on his face. "It must be some sort of magic."

"I have not heard of any magic like this, except for Salazar's snake tongue."

"Somehow you know the Dwarven Language without even realizing it. That is very odd though."

"I would have never noticed if you did not say anything. I thought this whole time they everyone was just speaking our language."

"That is –" Harry then caught sight of something on Rowena's finger. "Hey. That ring. It allowed me to speak with my shaman mentor. Do you think it allows the wearer to understand any language?"

Rowena held her hand up to her face and looked at the ring in a new light. She pulled it off and looked meaningfully at the King.

The King said something in Dwarven once more, and this time neither human could understand it. Rowena shrugged her shoulders helplessly before putting the ring back on.

"Fascinating ring. I have never seen such a thing."

"Sadly, it is one of a kind." Harry replied. He did not miss the glint in Rowena's eye that stated that she would be trying to change that.

"Yes, that is all fine and well," The King interrupted. He held out a small device out to Harry who took it. "That is a salvager. It is a simple runic device that when activated next to an object, it will magic that object to a predetermined location. I think you humans refer to it as 'banishing' or some nonsense. Regardless, it will not work on anything living, be it a corpse, animal, or plant. That makes it a perfect tool for requisitioning all the bits of scrap metal that are left over from broken armor and weapons out in the streets. To activate it, you simply tap the rune with your finger. Think of it as your first lesson in runes. Handy thing, those are."

Harry inspected the device. It was fairly plain, at least by Dwarven standards. It was nothing more than a truncated cone made of silver, with a few runes etched on it. He passed it off to Rowena who examined it in earnest.

"It is fairly simple. The middle rune is the activation, while the others are the target and destination."

"That they are. These are made by apprentices as they are quick and easy to make."

Harry put the device in his pocket while the King bid them farewell, at least for the moment. He pondered the device for a bit and he noticed the similarities between banishing, vanishing, and a portkey. Vanishing is what he would be doing to any enemy bodies he came across. It wasn't much different than the 'scourgify' spell either, although on a larger scale.

Harry saw Rowena walk over to the runesmiths, and heard her talking the language via the Ouroboros ring. That ring was now more than just a safety net being her portkey, but now it was a way of communicating.

His task was about as unglamorous as they came, but the Dwarven Kingdom was spread painfully thin. The quicker the mayhem was repaired, the quicker the Kingdom could be operation again.

It did not help matters that they had no spellcasters of their own. It wasn't that Dwarves could not wield magic like humans, but they would not be called wizards or witches. Harry didn't know what they would be called, but he did know that they were very rare, and there hasn't been one in the Dwarven kingdom for over 50 years. With a lifespan of several hundred years, a low population, a very low birthrate of just a few younglings a year, and coupled with how rare being born with magic was in the first place and you had something that most only spoke of as history.

In truth, that was not far off. The very nature of being the only magical Dwarf in a city full of Dwarves puts them in the spotlight for all to see, and on a pedestal that would probably rival the King's. Harry could emphasize with that. A Dwarven spellcaster would almost certainly have very little control over their life.

Dwarven history was very interesting though, at least from what Harry could tell of the generous amount of statues that lined the streets, several of which were once magic users. Dwarves held memories of their ancestor very close to the heart, and it could almost be described as borderline reverence.

The Dwarves still relied on magic heavily during their day to day lives. All because they could cast spells like Harry could, did not mean they were weak. They were masters of enchanting, runework, potions, and several other terms that had no Human counterpart. It also helped that they were heavily resistant to magic in a similar fashion to giants, and they had the knowhow to create magic resistant armor and weapons.

It was in that way they were similar to Goblins and Humans - they were very proficient at melee fighting. But they did have allies. Harry was not the first wizard to ever visit the kingdom. Even as recent as thirty years ago, a few dozen outsiders could be found living in the city at any times. The Dwarves just rarely ventured to the surface in any significant numbers. It was a smart idea to have. If you can't cast magic yourself, have friends who can. Right now, Harry was that friend. He hadn't seen or heard of the Elves since his very first visit to the Kingdom, but he knew they had their own problems at the moment.

But if he was honest, the Dwarves could do a lot worse that an immortal, survivor, jack-of-all-trades, wizard and who the future would describe as one of the most intelligent and attractive witches to ever live.

His task was straightforward and simple, and if he was honest he was quite looking forward to it. During his lifetime, he has rarely every had a day that wasn't extraordinary, and to do something so mundane and boring was not something he experienced very often.

Truth be told, Harry was thankful he got to do a job like this instead of being out with patrols looking for stragglers. He almost saw it as a break, yet he still was doing a very important role for the King. It would probably take weeks to clean the streets of bloodstains, but he could probably do it in a day. It was a win/win situation for both of them.

Harry wasn't surprised at all that Rowena took an immediate scholarly approach when the opportunity to witness some foreign magic was given to her. He was interested in the magic as well, but he just never had the time to delve through ancient magical tomes for new magic, or explore ancient runes searching for some missing link. He hardly even remembered the brief lessons in runes that he learned during his single year of teaching at Hogwarts.

His lifestyle always forced him to have to rely on a more practical approach towards magic than a theoretical one. He had hopes that one day that would change. The one year of teaching at Hogwarts was nice, but it was not ideal. He longed for a time where he could just relax for a month and do what he pleased.

Harry made his way through the stone hewn streets, using the Elder Wand to eradicate the corpses out of existence. Cleaning the blood was an easy task for the wand as well, and the stone looked cleaner than it ever had.

Bits of armor and weapons were scattered all over the place. The Dwarves would probably just melt it down and reuse the base material instead of trying to repurpose subpar quality gear. He would hold the salvager device against the piece of metal, and simply tap the vaguely spiral shaped rune with his finger. The metal would disappear just like that.

The Dwarven bodies were a different story. Some of them were a gruesome sight, mutilated beyond recognition, or simply a puddle of goo on the ground. For the most part their armor was intact, and that would probably be how they would be identified. Apparation was used in those circumstances.

Luck was on Harry's side once more in his life, as his task was very melodramatic and anticlimactic. No falling debris to watch out for. No surprise enemy ambushes. No magical traps just waiting to be sprung when he crossed a line.

He simple did his job, quick, simple, and efficiently as possible. No tales would be told about them and songs would not be sung on how he cleaned the blood off the streets so the Dwarves could go about their daily life without a constant reminder of the near catastrophe.

It did not take nearly as long as he would have though either, but such is the benefits of magic and the Elder Wand.

Harry finished salvaging the last piece of armor he could find from the district before apparating back to the main gates of the Iron Citadel.

He was astonished at how much progress was made. The door looked almost new. The Dwarves were still working on the runes, but where much higher up in the scaffolding. He spotted Rowena peering over the shoulders of one of the Dwarves as the stout figure explained what he was doing.

Thothic was walking around the site of the main battle with a long scroll made of animal skin. He kept peering up from the drawing as he watched the workers bustle about. He peered over the scroll and waved Harry over when he saw him.

"Artemis! Quick and efficient as always, eh? I am in your debt, surely many times over by now."

Harry shrugged off the compliment. "That is what friends are for, right?"

"Aye, friend, Aye. Just name anything you want, anything, and it's yours. It is the least my Kingdom can do."

By now Rowena had climbed down the scaffolding and was holding a metal case full of what Rowena learned are called "spell lens" They were not the same thing that Rowena had been mucking about with for more years than she care to recall, but they were similar. They revealed concentrations of magic, rather than separating them into their bases. In simple terms, they showed how powerful a rune was.

"Just knowing that a magical species is not going to be extinct is enough."

"Fine, Fine, I see there is no changing your mind. Just don't be surprised if there is a statue of you next to our ancestors."

Harry looked slightly appalled at the thought. If worse comes to worse, he could just call in a favor later when he needed it. "I'm sure I'll think of something."

"Alright, but what I have for Rowena… I doubt she would be able to decline."

Harry gave Rowena a questioning look, which she responded with a mere shrug. King Thothic snapped his fingers and from a side room a young Dwarf rushed out holding an ornate looking box.

The King took the box and turned towards Rowena. He opened it, and inside was one of the Dwarven races greatest works of craftsmanship.

Rowena took a gasp of air as she clutched a hand to her chest. "It's beautiful…"

"I want it to be yours now. It is the Diadem of Gimora the Wise, third daughter of the House of Gildar, created nearly 500 years ago, and not worn in over 200."

Rowena reached into the gem encrusted chest with a shaky hand and took the diadem off the cushioning.

Harry had to squint his eyes as both the metal and the gemstone dazzled in the cavern's ambient light.

"It is made of the purest white gold, and set with the finest blue tourmaline crafted in the last one thousand years. It is one of the t Kingdoms finest artifacts, and I want to give it to you, as a reward for your services rendered to the Dwarven Nation.

"I… " Rowena was still speechless. "I accept."

"Thank you, milady."

"No, thank you." Rowena took the artifact and place it upon her head. Immedietly she gasped once more from the sensory overload.

"It is a magical artifact. When wear it, you will find that your mind is sharper than ever before, and your senses keener."

"It is exhilarating, and overwhelming," Rowena responded in awe. "I am noticing details of this column that I would have ignored otherwise… it is like a haze has been lifted off my mind."

"Aye. It increases the clarity in which you see the world. One of my ancestors likened it as a cure to drunkenness. It is that diadem that gave the great Gimora the nickname 'the Wise'"

Harry chuckled at the analogy. Drinking and Dwarves go hand in hand. You had a better chance of finding a drunken Dwarf than a sober one at any given time of the day, but much of their best work is done in such states of mind. It could be compared to how some of the best pieces of music were written while high.

"If I may be so bold as to ask, dear King, will any of your kind be heading up to the surface for the Tradesmeet?"

"It be that time of the year already?" Thothic responded while stroking his beard. "It has been nearly 40 years since any of me men have gone to the surface. Too long, methinks."

"My grandmother once told me about meeting quite a few Dwarves and Elves in the Tradesmeet. That was when I was a kid of course, and she died not long after that.

"We Dwarves used to make semi-frequent trips up to the surface every now and again, but the Kingdom has been in decline for too long. Aye, we will go. I think we need to remind the Humans that we are still alive down here, and of course show off our ale and weapons. We have been forgotten for too long."

"That's the spirit." Harry agreed. "What exactly is Tradesmeet?"

"It is the largest gathering of craftsmen on the planet, and it happens only once a year." The king replied.

"Shopping."

"Oh…" Harry visibly gulped

Rowena swatted Harry's arm. "You'll enjoy it. People come far and wide to trade their goods, even from lands beyond the sea. It is the one time during the year where most have access to exotic goods that you cannot find on this Island otherwise. Some of the best craftsmen, both magical and non, travel far and wide to show off their products, and do business.""

"Alright. It sounds interesting, I'll give you that."

"I do not think I will be able to go personally," the King stated, "But I will make sure the craftsmen that I send to represent the Kingdom are nothing but the best."

Thothic took a second to steal a glance at the Dwarves working around the room.

"Will you two be staying for a meal? While it won't be as festive as you may remember, it is a meal for the workers so it will be highly restorative. And of course there will be more ale than you can shake a stick at.

Harry gave a look at Rowena who simply had an indifferent face on. "That would be excellent."

---

Harry apparated back to his tower, Duergen, with a sleeping Rowena in his arms. Apparently the King and him had two very different ideas of what 'not as festive as you may remember' actually meant.

The meal took close to three hours, and by the time hour two rolled around, Rowena was pretty much asleep in her seat. The Dwarves were just as boisterous as ever, and the only thing that was different from the previous meal he had there was the lack of Dwarven women dancing about.

And the drunken orgy with the Elven princess and her handlers that Harry still could not remember.

It was for that reason why Harry didn't get himself plastered. He only had two drinks, an ale and a lager, so he was mostly in control of his facilities at the end of the day. The Dwarves brewed very good drinks, there was no question about that.

He just didn't want to make a scene in front of Rowena.

Of course, he needn't have bothered. She only had one drink, and that was just a glass of wine. Harry missed the smile and twinkle in the King's eye when he was more than happy to oblige. Long story short, one glass of Dwarven wine, while very good, was 5 times as potent as an equal glass of their ale. That combined with the weariness of the day was too much for Rowena and she passed out while laying her head down on her arms.

Harry looked around the bedroom briefly before depositing Rowena in the soft bed. It took a wave of his wand to switch her clothes to her sleeping attire. Harry spent a few minutes in the bathroom before joining her in the bed. He pulled her close to himself before drifting off to a good night's rest as a reward for a good day's work.

---

The only thing on his plate for the day was the Tradesmeet. Harry would forget about the roaming blood mages, lost elves, and Azkaban for a few days. It was only a few days after cleaning up the mess in the Dwarven kingdom.

Harry was not sure if he would enjoy the day. He wondered if the rumors in the future that going shopping with a girl was worse than signing a deal the devil, and if they were any less valid in this time period. Rowena was not a very vain girl, and didn't go out of the way to make herself look good, or dress nicely. Not that she needed to. She was a practical girl, much like Harry.

Still, what Rowena had told him about the Tradesmeet seemed fascinating. It was an annual market that convened at London. Thousands of people from across the land would make the journey there every year to try and peddle their wares, hoping to make enough money to last through less fortunate times.

The Tradesmeet has been occurring for many generations, yet it surprised Harry that he was only hearing about it now. But he did know he had lived a mostly secluded life, and he couldn't even tell you who the current ruler of the land was. There was still much to be learned of the non-magic society that was so closely inlaid with his own, but he had never taken heed to it before.

The Tradesmeet itself gave partial reason to why London was starting to become a great city. Over time, many travelers would stop making long journeys, and just settle down in the region instead, setting up permanent shop. This was true for both wizards and muggles.

Wizards and witches of the time are nothing like the ones in the future, but they still had an advantage of those in the past. Floo travel is very limited in nature, and connections to the portal are only in places that receive heavy traffic. You will not find them in remote locations, unless you are someone who knows how to create that connection. Harry was not one of those people.

Only recently had broomstick travel become useful. The brooms of the time were not very fast, but it was still faster than walking. A wheeled cart was still the most common way for a witch or wizard to travel with all their belongings. Knowledge on how to shrink items, make them weightless, and other such useful charms were not common knowledge, but that was in the process of changing.

That is what Hogwarts is for, to spread around knowledge to those who would benefit from it in everyday society.

Harry doubted that most of these people would ever leave the island, and they had no real reason to. It was unlikely that there were other Floo hookups out of country, as Britain has always been one of the forerunners of magical society. It wasn't because there were no other magical communities in France, or Spain, but the reason was of much more practical nature.

It would be too easy to invade other untrustworthy countries if there was such a quick mode of transportation. And the brooms of the day were not even a tenth as fast as Harry's firebolt, and would probably take over a day just to cross the channel.

No, it seemed that boats and horses, but usually just walking, were the common methods of transportation. Apparation was available only to the very highly skilled and disciplined, but wasn't always the case. History has a tendency to repeat itself, but hopefully with the continuation of Hogwarts, knowledge such as apparation will become common just like it was in the pre-Roman era.

Tradesmeet was one of the most important times in the year to many families, not just for selling their goods, but buying as well. While the majority of people are from the surrounding lands, there were some foreigners as well.

It was one of the only occasions where you would be able to find such goods as silk and spice in any large amount. But Rowena was dragging him to the Tradesmeet for a different reason.

When such a large amount of people gather around, it attracts the best of people in certain arts. Master craftsmen, be it tailors, armorsmiths, carpenters, masons - the best of the best will be there.

It just happened that Rowena had a particular family of tailors that she liked to get most of her clothes from, and the Tradesmeet was the most convenient time for her. The family travelled over 100 miles every year to the market, on foot.

Many of the craftsmen use the time to put on demonstrations and performances, to get their names out there into the public. Some of these craftsmen would make more money in the one week of Tradesmeet than they would in three months in their hometown .

But for every crafter, there was an equal amount of food providers and entertainment. With thousands of people coming for one week, farmers from all over also flock to provide food for the masses.

The whole place was sort of a self-sufficient mini city, and it existed outside the Kingdom as well. There were guards, but they were not bound to any king or lord. They were paid for by merchant taxes. Every person at the Tradesmeet paid a fraction of a pence towards the cost of the mercenary guards.

Mercenary may be too harsh of a word though. Just like with the craftsmen, many of the guards were very good at what they did. And just like the craftsmen again, they leave their hometown for one week a year to make more money in that week then they would in the coming month. Many of these men are soldiers retained by various nobles, and even the King himself. It is with nearly unanimous decision that it is their civic duty to protect the masses, and as such, the Tradesmeet has become a neutral ground.

And all this was just the tip of the iceberg. It was something to muse about it, but Harry wanted to see the festivities with his own eyes.

In the few days between his last excursion out of his home, he had done nearly nothing except work with Rowena and her apparation. It turned out she was a quick learner, and Harry was a decent teacher. Of course, he knew both of those already, having taught the DA many moons ago, and a year at the Founder's Hogwarts upon his first arrival into this world. He was just being modest, but he didn't have to convince anyone.

Rowena considered Harry one of the most intriguing and interesting people she had ever met. If he wasn't, there would be no way Rowena would be sharing the same bed with him. Granted, 'nothing' had happened between the two of them, yet, but the possibility was definitely there. She had no qualms about giving her long saved maidenhood to the man she genuinely liked, even if he was a bit different than the rest. She just wanted to wait until the moment was right and their lives less hectic and revolving around hunting evil wizards.

Harry was actually letting Rowena side-along apparate the two of them to the Tradesmeet. She must have apparated nearly a thousand times in the past few days, so he knew she would not fail. Failure was never an option with Rowena. Temporary setbacks, yes, failure, no.

They arrived with a modicum of air displacement from Rowena's calm and focused apparation.

"That was very good. Maybe even better than what I can do," Harry told her with a grin.

Rowena turned her head and made eye contact with Harry. "I'll never be able to go as far as you though. I don't have nearly the amount of magic at my disposal as you do, or the control."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that…"

Harry noticed that Rowena was simply staring at him, unblinking. He saw he subconsciously blow a stray hair out of face, and he couldn't help but marvel how attractive she was. There was not a single blemish on her face, but her hair was done in more of a practical manor than a decorative. Harry found himself leaning forward, and before he could stop himself, his lips met Rowena's in a gentle kiss.

It was soft, and delicate, yet very special. He was hardly an expert kisser, and Rowena's experience was probably even less than his. Yet still, their clumsiness worked in their favor as they both realized that there was some serious chemistry going in between them, and they were going to discover their relationship together.

Harry pulled back from the gentle but promising kiss after half a minute. He saw Rowena was still staring at him, but with a pleasant smile on her face.

Harry realized it was probably the first time that he had seen Rowena with a serious smile on her face, and that thought alone put a smile on his face as well. To think he could bring such joy to a woman such as her made him ecstatic. He wondered if that is what it is like to be in love.

But love was such a foreign word to him. He had never known love, not since he was a year old. He had gone so long without feeling any kind of emotion even remotely close to being called love. His meager dating phase in Hogwarts was simply him trying to fit in like a regular teenager, but love rarely happens so young. He felt attraction to various girls over the year, maybe even harbored a crush or two, but never love. Harry has liked someone for being intelligent, found someone physically attractive, and liked someone because they were fun to be around.

Harry then realized that Rowena fit those three categories and many more besides.

Harry linked arms with Rowena and they walked into the beginnings of the Tradesmeet. Harry looked around in awe, but only after one last parting thought about the burgeoning relationship.

There were some simple facts about history. The truth of the matter is that in the long list of people that Harry could potentially have gotten involved with, Rowena Ravenclaw would be at the top as the most unobtainable person. It wasn't because she was perfect – no one was. She had as many flaws as the next person but the rest of her more than made up for them and you would forget about them right away. Harry would compare the probability of his relationship with Rowena on the improbability scale as roughly the same as him marrying Princess Diana.

Harry has always been good at turning impossible odds into a 50/50 chance and coming out on the winning side. He couldn't help but feel that he hit the lottery. Rowena Ravenclaw was the top of the metaphorical food chain, and there just was simply no woman higher. Not in the mortal world at least.

Harry finally cleared his mind of all the foreign feelings and errant thoughts. His eyes widened as he saw what had become of the normally subdued town of London.

Harry could see wooden carts and temporary stands set up for as far as he could see. There were a few stone structures mixed in, but not many. The main bulk of London was surrounded by a palisade wall, but a gap had been created to connect the city with the sprawling market that was now taking up much of the country side.

There first thing Harry noticed were a pair of guards suited in glimmering coats of chainmail. Each guard carried a kite shield with a sun embossed on it instead of a tradition motif or coat of arms. They also each carried a halberd as well as a sword strapped to their side.

They were very intimidating and looked to be very highly trained if their posture was anything to go by.

Harry clung onto Rowena's arm slightly tighter as they walked through the entrance. Harry could see the guard's eyes through their visor inspecting them, but he also saw the minute nod of their head indicating their approval.

Harry's jaw dropped when he fully saw how many people congregated on the field. All around him people milled about, looking for the best dealer, or a potential customer.

Entertainment came in many forms, including dancing, mock fighting, beer drinking, tests of strength and skill, and several more seedier ventures.

Guards patrolled in groups of three, keeping crime to a minimum. Their presence was much appreciated as the looming figures were seen as much needed safety.

They weren't all-seeing though, as Harry saw a pickpocket nick an elderly mans coin purse and run in the opposite direction. The kid looked to be dressed in rags and had very long, greasy, dirty hair. He disappeared into the crowd, but not before seeing the robbed man was wearing many gold necklaces and bracelets.

It was not Harry's duty to play law enforcement, so he continued on. Petty thievery was a fairly common occurrence during the time period, and nothing Harry could do would change that.

Harry and Rowena stayed in close contact with each other as they walked down the first makeshift path. It would not do to get separated in the busy market. Rowena seemed to have an idea of where she wanted to go, or perhaps she just had a better understanding on how the place was laid out.

Either way, it only took a few minutes before they were standing in front of a travelling cart and Rowena was speaking rapidly to the owner of it. He realized this was the clothier she was looking for. The man was rather unimpressive. He was very old, probably in his 70's. He was about to wonder how he managed the trip by himself but that was before he saw what guessed was to be several sons and grandchildren going about various tasks.

Rowena seemed to be in deep conversation with the man who was scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

Rowena was dressed casually in practical clothes. That is all he ever saw her wear. She did not wear any of his conjured clothes. He did not really blame her. They were foreign and she liked the current style, no matter how bland they seemed. No style of muggle clothing lasted any significant amount of time. Wizarding clothing was another story.

But if Harry was honest with himself, he didn't care. Anything she wore would make her look good. He found his mind quickly wander as old man started talking shop with Rowena. They were talking about quantities of this and that, but Harry was too busy watching passersby and the armor maker across the way.

Harry stayed out of the way as Rowena was attended to by an elderly lady taking her measurements. It was a boring process. Cloth making has remained much the same, the only thing that has changed over the years is the materials and the process of making them.

Before he knew it, Harry found himself walking about 20 feet to the nearby armorer. This little 'shop away from home' had a cart as well, but connected to it was a 15 by 15 fenced off area where the man was currently working and showing off his skill.

Several other people were watching as well. They seemed to be peasants, if the smell coming off them was any hint. Their clothes were various shades of brown and grey. He couldn't tell if that was their original color but they were well kept signifying that these people cared about their material possessions. This kind of person was the most common in this marketplace, but Harry had already seen several rich merchants walk by as well.

And then there wer the craftsmen, like the man in front of him. There had to be hundreds here, all with varying degrees of skill, ranging from master to con artist. All the shoppers were equal in their presence.

Harry watched in fascination as the leather craftsmen kept dunking the leather in a vat of boiling water. He could see the flames flickering from underneath the metal tub and the smoke rise up into the sky.

Harry wasn't exactly sure the purpose of the boiling water, but maybe it made it soft and pliable? The craftsmen then took the leather out of the basin and started stretched it over a form of sorts. It looked metal to Harry, but it could have been wood as well or even bone. Harry could slowly see the leather taking shape as gentle curves were formed into the leather. Judging by some of the completed works that were on display, they were chest protection.

While leather wasn't the strongest of protections, it had good wear resistance and decent cutting protection. Of course, that is ignoring sharply honed blades and arrows. Leather armor was good for most general purposes, but it was mainly used for its durability and easy maintenance. Leather armor from magical creatures on the other hand was a completely different story. The leather and hide from creatures such as dragons, basilisk, or even a nundu were very resilient due to the power of the host creature. Scale armor was another thing altogether, but similar to metal armor.

But this craftsman was as muggle as they came, and that made his work even more impressive. He had to regulate temperature manually, as well as use his own bulk to form the leather to the proper dimensions. He even fitted up the buyer himself, adjusting the lacing as he saw fit. All the finished pieces had a crest emblazoned on them; the trademark of a master craftsmen. The more people who knew your name, the more powerful you were.

Harry was impressed by the work because he knew he would never be able to make such a thing, at least without many years of practice. The man was good at both soft leather and hard leather armors, and even had a few lamellar hybrids as well. He did notice that most of the armors were for males (or perhaps flat chested woman) but he did notice that a few of them had more… robust fronts for the more endowed woman. He couldn't help but imagine what Rowena would look like wearing one, and he decided that it was a very nice image. He doubted that that Rowena would ever wear something like that… at least in public like the tavern wench girls do.

Harry watched for a few more minutes as another man came out from behind the cart holding a half dozen pre-prepared leather 'blanks'. They were already trimmed to manageable size and already had a generic chest molded into them. All they needed were the finishing touches and fasteners. The master craftsman was just finishing lacing a customer's new leather chest piece. He clapped the man on the back and pointed over to where the journeyman was working, presumably for payment.

The immortal wizard just realized that he had been watching the craftsmen for probably close to two hours. He figured that he should probably go check on Rowena… curse Morgana if anything had happened to her in his negligence. He was just turning around when he saw the girl in question was walking towards him, with a huge smile on her face that could only be the result of successful shopping.

He was right.

The first thing Harry did was look around her for any signs of her purchase, of which there was none. "So, where are the clothes?"

"It takes time to make them." She laughed. "They will be done tomorrow. Three of his grandchildren will work through the night to fill the order."

"Through the night? That seems kind of extreme."

"He has 11 grandchildren involved in his shop work. This is an extremely busy period for many craftsmen, and they will work over time to make the big money."

"So exactly how much clothing is he making?"

"Oh, it is a surprise." She said with a wink. She was obviously unused to the gesture, but it was still cute. "He is one of the best here, and he does not hold back when using exotic materials, such as silk."

"Silk?" Harry gulped. "Expensive stuff. Luckily I have more than enough money to spend on rare, foreign materials."

"I'm sure you'll appreciate it just as much as I will." Rowena replied. Harry was not exactly sure what to make of that statement.

Rowena molded herself to Harry as they walked away from the currier. The next closest craftsman was about 100 feet away. They tended to take up corner spots so as to get a large a ground as possibly when putting on demonstrations.

In between the craftsmen were many other types of stalls and temporary buildings. Quite a few of them were the wandering merchant type who dealt in custom orders and random trinkets. Gold, silver, and less precious metal rings and necklaces were a large trade. You also had to be extremely careful or knowledgeable that you did not get swindled. Gold might not be gold, and silver might not be silver.

They ignored these traders for the most part. It would take too long to go through the muggle rubbish to possibly find a good deal, or occasional magical trinket that the trader was unaware of.

As they passed a set of uniformed children sweeping the smooth dirt path and depositing rubbish into a bucket, a crowd was forming in front of another craftsman's stall.

"Want to see what the excitement is all about?"

"Alright." Harry complied.

Rowena tugged on his arm and led him over to the booth. It took only a little bit of subtle and passive magic to find themselves in the front of the crowd to watch the master craftsman work.

The fact that the man was a master at his profession was easy to see. The man moved with a grace that only came from many years of experience.

In front of him on a makeshift wooden table were dozens of glass products. They were in many shapes and sizes, as well as color and use. Harry could tell instinctively that the collection of fine glassware in front of him was very expensive. Glass in the current age was a luxury. Usually only nobles and royalty could afford glass, but Tradesmeet was the one time of the year that prices were reasonable where a lower class man could afford a nice piece that would be a centerpiece of a home.

In the current day, glass did not have much of a purpose beyond decoration. It was not widely used as a container. An alehouse would use much cheaper materials for tankards such as silver, pewter, clay, or even wood.

Harry had seen such a thing only an hour ago. It was a bizarre thing to see if he was honest with himself. There were several… well he wasn't sure the proper term. They were large burly men, and they walked around Tradesmeet with two small casks – one under each arm with straps. They also had a necklace of sort with hooks on it that they carried cheap metal tankards with the proprietor's crest on it. They walked around and sold drinks and generally acted as a form of advertisement. It was quite amazing.

But back to the view on hand. Harry and Rowena observed the glassmaker putting on a show. He had two assistants who did trivial things, such as answer questions about the work and help with simple tasks. Harry observed the master carefully control the temperature of the glowing furnace.

The man then took a hollow rod and stuck it in the furnace, gathering a decent sized chunk of molten material on the end. Harry assumed it to be glass, or the base material of glass. Both him and Rowena watched on in awe as the man started blowing through the pipe. The ball of molten metal glowed hot from the forced air and slowly expanded.

The man then started twirling the rod, making the material push off to the sides. He then blew into the pipe again to keep the molten glass hollow. The man started spinning the glass again, this time like a baton to stretch the glass vertically. The man repeated this several time until he had a nearly round glass sphere.

The man then took some powder from a clay container on hand and gently sprinkled it onto the glass. He repeated the blowing and twirling process a few more time intermingled with have to reheat the glass a few times as well.

Finally it seemed liked it was almost finished and no longer glowing hot. The master glassmith placed the tube on the table, so the hardened glass tangled over the edge, parallel to the ground. An assistant came over with an obsidian knife and carefully held it on the rim of the globe, near where it joined with the tube. The craftsmen deftly rolled the tube while the assistant held the knife firmly to the glass. Once the notch was complete, all it took was a careful knock and the assistant was holding the finish product in his hands.

The master took the round vase from him and started inspecting it. It was a mixture of clear and dark blue glass. Rowena was very impressed, and even Harry would admit it was a pretty piece of art. The master took some tools and applied careful finishing work to the piece by smoothing off the rough cut. When he was done he placed the glass on the table next to the others.

The man took a bow while the onlookers clapped at the performance. Harry and Rowena felt compelled to clap as well. The man then went to a corner where an assistant brought him a drink and towel. He wiped down his forehead while guzzling the ale. It was very hot where they were standing, Harry couldn't imagine what it was like next to the forge.

"That was quite impressive." Harry remarked.

"Indeed. It is no wonder why his work costs so much and desired by many. Magic could not even make something like that, not without many years of practice."

"The things that people can do without magic have always impressed me. You will find yourself amazed in the years to come. Things you cannot even imagine. Things that I can hardly imagine now and I actually lived through the times."

They stood and gazed around for a moment longer before Harry finally took in the detail of the vase for the first time. One part of it was blue, but in the blue tint he could clearly see some markings of clear glass, almost as if someone had written something on the side.

He went and got a closer look, and nearly jumped back in surprise when he saw that what he thought were words, were actually a series of lightning bolts similar to his once famous scar. Harry's eyes opened comically before he decided that he must own the work.

Before he even realized it, he was haggling with the glassblower over a price, and several pounds later, he was the new owner of the fine piece of art. Rowena just watched on in amusement as Harry clutched onto the piece of glass with lightning bolts all over it as if it were a newborn baby.

Rowena simply smirked at Harry's antics, not saying a word as Harry glared at her. She was half tempted to buy the piece of art herself, and was surprised to see Harry buy it without her prodding. She watched as Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the sphere a few times. It disappeared from his hands.

The witch raised an eyebrow at this. "What magic was that?"

Harry smiled at her constant curious nature. "An indestructible charm along with a portkey. Usually portkeys don't work on inhuman material, but with this wand, small details like that are not a big deal. Plus, it helps that I know it is actually possible, since the Dwarves do have those devices that did much the same thing. So it should be waiting for us in Duergen when we get back."

Rowena looked at him strangely for a second before showing him a surprised smile. "Has anyone ever told you that you are smarter than you look?"

Harry chuckled. "No, but I could get used to it. I think you are rubbing off on me already."

"Well, last night you rubbed me off quite a bit…" Rowena could help but blush, not believing that she said that.

Harry was surprised at her sudden display of cheek. Rowena was always full of surprises; that was just one of her good features. Not that she had any bad ones…

Harry linked his arm to hers, and they walked off towards the next stall. The path they walked on had none of the trinket dealers like the previous one. This one was filled with nothing but metalworkers.

Wrought iron, swords, armor, shields, and several that made items not used in warfare.

"Do you think one of Thothic's Dwarves will be here?" Harry asked. They had yet to see any, either smiths or brewers.

"The King did say that there would be. They shouldn't be too hard to find, don't you think? They are quite short after all?"

As it turned out, Rowena was wrong in that regards. It took them nearly an hour to find the Dwarven smithy. There was a group of 4 of them, and they blended in with the other smiths very well. It was only after checking twenty stalls did they finally find the King's men.

The burly beards and large muscles did not stand out amongst the human smiths who were of a similar build. It was only when they got up close did they discover them.

It was through a bit of clever engineering in how they were hiding. The floor to their stall was actually about a foot high off the ground, making them seem normal height. It was done in such a way that you would never notice it either, but Rowena was very perceptive.

Harry briefly thought on how he could get their attention without arousing suspicion with the other bystanders. He remembered back to the fighting he partook in just a few days ago.

"Arrak!" he called out.

Immedietly all 4 Dwarves turned around and greeted "Grarrak" in return.

The smith seemed to know some of the common Human language, at least enough to communicate with Harry. Rowena still wore his ring, and while he could have asked for it back, that would seem inappropriate in his mind.

"Ye be the one they call Artemis, aye?" The grizzled Dwarven smith asked. He was clearly the most experienced amongst the 4, but he can tell none of them were what you would consider a novice or apprentice, and most likely master smiths in their own right. The Dwarf in front of him looked ancient, but definitely not fragile. His white hair and beard were braided, and his muscles rippled with strength. Years of toiling away in a super heated forge and working an anvil had hardened the Dwarf into a fearsome figure.

"That be me," Harry acquiesced. It seemed that whenever he was around Dwarves he subconsciously shifted into their way of speaking.

"Then it be me understanding that it be this lovely lady's idea for use to show off our crasftmanship once more in the land of men. And for that, I thank ye." The Dwarf gently kissed Rowena on the back of the hand and have Harry a firm handshake.

"I'm glad to see the kingdom is trying to make a comeback after all the fighting."

"Your sentiment is appreciated," the Dwarf replied before turning to face the other three. "Alright boys, lets' show these folk what we are capable of. Just to show that we are serious about our work, we will use good 'ole steel and nothing else.

One of the Dwarves went over to the large forge and pulled out a chunk of glowing hot metal with a pair of tongs. He placed the chunk of metal down on the large anvil in the middle of the enclosure.

All at once the Dwarves pulled out hammers and started pounding the chunk of steel into a flat bar. The amazing part is how their worked in absolute synchronization. Dwarves one and two hit the heated metal at the same exact time, followed by Dwarves three and four.

And they worked fast. Very fast. They hammered the metal far faster than their human counterparts, and much more accurately as well. Their speed belied their age and size.

They managed to get the metal down to nearly half an inch thick before it had to be reheated. Harry spied runes carved on the forge and the metal heated up much faster than would be normal.

And they pounded the metal some more until it was about a tenth of an inch thick. Harry wasn't exactly sure how swords were made. He vaguely knew that Japanese did some sort of folding technique, or perhaps it was hammer forge welding, either way he wasn't sure.

The Dwarves techniques clearly brought a lot of low murmuring amongst the watchers, which included some of the other master craftsmen as well.

The lead Dwarf held the metal on edge with a set of hand vices and the other three pounded the two inch wide blade down until it was flat once more. Then they reheated it and repeated that process several times, pounding the metal from vertical to horizontal.

The master, or perhaps grandmaster was the right term, then took the sword up and inspected it. He muttered something in Dwarven and the other three immedietly set about adjusting the furnace and a basin of water.

He then turned towards the audience and spoke for the first time during the show. "The trick is to heat it up very hot, nearly molten, and then slow cool it in the air. Then you heat it up half as much, and then cool it fast in water. This changes the metal structure from being hard and brittle, to being hard and ductile."

His tip seemed to bring a strong amount of disagreement from the watchers. One of the Dwarves came over and joined in on the debate, which was frankly out of both Harry's and Rowena's knowledge range, so they both settled to watch the grandmaster finish the sword.

The cooling process took some time, but like any prospective businessmen who were proud of their work, they showed off many completed pieces of work and several deals were formed right there on the spot. They had lots of fine work with them, and not just weapons either. Plate armor and chain mail was amongst the goods. The presence of high quality plate armor alone was enough to tell the watchers that these smiths were the real deal. Their armor was probably higher quality then what even Human kings possessed. That was partially due to the fact that the grandmaster is the one who had made King Thothic's armor himself.

Eventually the sword was finished and sharpened and the handle was wrapped in a basic grip. They did not bother with a hilt, stating that the sword was for demonstration purposes only.

"I guess ye all watch to see the strength of our forging process? Yes? Fine then. I have here several swords, bought from this very market only a few hours ago. Several be steel and several be iron. This one, for instance be a steel sword."

The Dwarf took the steel sword and placed it across the two foot gap between the railing and a table.

"Watch how it snaps with nothing but me weight." The Dwarf then simply put one foot on the steel blade and it snapped under his weight.

There was more murmuring amongst the crowd at this. There was general agreement that most sword would snap like that.

"Watch how strong our sword is. See how our forging process is superior," the Dwarf said. No one has ever said that Dwarves are modest. He proved his point though by standing on the newly made sword in the same manners as the last one, and it failed to break. It hardly even bent.

"If ye think that be impressive, ye ain't seen nothing yet! Grimlock!"

The Dwarf named Grimlock came forward holding one of the finely made iron swords, a human made sword.

Without warning, the grandmaster swung his sword at Grimlock, or rather, the sword Grimlock was holding, but the sword was neatly cut in half effortlessly. The crowd was stunned into silence. Grimlock swung the remains of the iron sword at the grandmaster, but the sword cut itself in half again, this time edgewise. Murmurs of awe swept through the crowd.

"That was our steel versus plain iron. How about some steel verse steel? Grimlock, again!"

This the result was much the same as the Dwarven made steel slashed through one of the finest Human swords in the market. The crowd was now actively clapping, and the applause only got louder when the sword chewed through a piece of armor as well.

"Would you all be surprised when I say that this is just a sword of average quality compared to what else we can make?"

The crowd was now confused, saying things like "impossible!" and the like. Harry just watched on with amusement as the Dwarves messed around with the humans.

From a weapons rack hidden in the shadows, the grandmaster unsheathed a glimmering sword. Harry could instantly tell that this was one of the Dwarf's masterwork swords, made of an exotic metal that the humans did not even know about.

"This sword just be a sample piece for this demonstration," the grandmaster stated, indicating the steel sword. "This be a real sword."

The crowd oooed and ahhhed at the magnificent sword. It looked as if it was faintly glowing with silvery light, and knowing the Dwarves, it probably was.

"Behold a true weapon!" Grimlock was holding onto the steel sword, fully knowing what was about to happen. With a great heave, the grandmaster slashed down with the sword, cleanly cutting the steel blade in half. The crowd gave a mighty roar in surprise. "There ye have it! A true master piece. Does anyone think they own a blade that can match the might of our work?"

Immedietly several challenges went up through the enraptured audience. The people would not pass up an opportunity to test their own work against their unnamed rivals.

A sort of festival within a festival occurred as many of the smiths brought out several of their best works. Drinks started flowing as beer wenches and kegmasters started walking through the crowds. They would not miss an opportunity like this. The disguised Dwarves had amassed quite a crowd.

One by one, smithies started pitting their swords against each other, non-threateningly of course. They would try to take on the Dwarven sword, fail, and then pit them against another rival craftsman. It was all in good fun and entertaining more than it was a scientific battle of wills. Well for some it was, for others it was the equivalent to a pissing contest, or for the more crude, a dick measuring contest. And that made it all the more fun.

Even Rowena seemed to be enjoying the impromptu contest, and she was laughing at some of the antics. Hell, it looked like everyone was having a good time. Harry realized that really only three things were needed for these simple folk to have a good time; women, beer, and competition. All of which there was now. Then again, that recipe for a good time does not exactly change during the centuries.

Close to an hour must have passed, and the Tradesmeet was even more boisterous than ever. Ale flowed freely, and the women more carefree. Half the beer wenches or more were probably prostitutes as well, but Harry held Rowena firmly on his arm and none of them even came near him. He was good looking, but he was also intimidating.

The showing off of prized masterwork weapons was coming to an end. They did not just fight sword against sword. Bits of prop lay everywhere, fruit, chunks of wood, and even straw training dummies lay scattered about. Young boys and teenagers ran around cleaning up the mess as the grandmaster Dwarf yelled out to the crown once more.

"Any last challengers? You have all seen our superbly crafted blades! Are we so revolutionary in our work whereas not a single blade remains unscathed? Is there not –"

"I will." Harry announced. He decided he had the right to have a little fun as well, having just watched all the previous preceding. After all, he was not a smith by any imagination.

The Dwarf didn't seem surprised. He actually looked amused. "Well then, if ye show me yours, I'll show ye mine!" The Dwarf let out a tremendous bellowing laugh and the crowd responded to his obvious innuendo with their own.

Harry unsheathed his sword – the once famous sword of Godric Gryffindor as it was known in his original time. Now it was his. The once silver blade was now completely black- simply for aesthetic reasons. Very powerful magic was imbued in it, and according to goblins it is goblin made, but they could have just been trying to claim something that wasn't theirs.

He held his sword off to the right. He would never claim to be an expert with it, but he has had quite a few years under his belt with the sword.

The Dwarven grandmaster smith held his off to the right as well. And with a nod of their heads they swung. Both swords slice through the air horizontally with enough room in between the two to make sure neither would get hurt.

The swords met in the center with a thunderous clash. Sparks flew in both directions and a blinding white light friendly flashed the entire crowd. The swords merely deflected off each other, and it was unclear which sword had shed the sparks.

That fact that both swords were still whole brought the crowd to applause. Most of them respected a well built weapon, as it was a livelihood for many.

"Again?"

"Again." Harry confirmed.

Once again they swung their sword through the air, except this time there was a clear winner.

A large thunderous sound echoed through the air, along with a current of static electricity as the Dwarven sword shattered into many pieces.

It took several seconds for it sink in before the crowd started cheering. They were cheering him on simply because he had taken down who they all though was untouchable.

Harry met the still unnamed grandmaster in a handshake, and the Dwarf replied with a "Good show lad."

Harry sheathed his sword and gave a bow to the crowd. It seemed like the proper thing to do. The crowd would probably talk about if for the rest of the night. Tomorrow would be a whole new day, with a whole new batch of excitement. But now it was getting dark out.

The grandmaster pulled the two of them off to the side for a minute. "I can't thank the both of ye enough. You've done more for the Kingdom that you think."

"How so?" Harry asked curiously.

"We have already gotten 19 orders for our weapons. Most of them are just small deals, but we have been contracted for a 100 weapon deal with an emissary for the Human King. Word is there has been a lot of Viking activity in the recent years, and they want to be prepared for the next incursion."

"Vikings?"

"Aye. Big burly foreigners with a penchant for blood, ale, and women. Guess that is not descriptive enough. Heh."

Harry looked at Rowena for more information. She obliged. "It has been mostly a non magical war. The council has defended any magical attacks adequately. There is nothing that either one of us has to do personally, unless they decide to attack your land."

Harry struggled with that in his mind for a few seconds before acquiescing. "Alright. No heroics from me this time. I still got my own agenda to finish first."

"Right. Nasty blood mages." The Dwarf replied. "All they need is a bit of your blood and then they have complete control over you…"

Harry turned to Rowena. "It's getting late. Want to head back?"

"Fine by me. Plenty of sights left to see during the rest of the week."

They said goodbye to the Dwarves before finding a secluded spot and apparating away back to the tower.

It was quite late when they arrived back, but not past midnight. The surprising excitement of the day had made him quite tired, but not overly so.

Harry secluded him off in the corner of his armory and took a few minutes of his time to inspect his sword while Rowena got ready for bed.

The sword was still impressive. The Dwarven grandmaster did not think it was Dwarvish, and Harry didn't think it was goblin-made either. The black blade did not bear a single mark or scratch at all. There was not a single sign of damage or a nick on the blade from clashing with the Dwarven mithril sword. It was a highly magical sword, but anyone could also see it was of a very high quality make.

Harry did a few practice swings in his customized form. The blade was light, strong, and essentially an extension of his body, just like his wand. That is exactly what it should feel like. He nodded with satisfaction and starting undressing himself.

He arrived back in the bedroom with just a pair of undershorts on.

Rowena was already settling in the bed wearing a simple nightgown. Simple might be an overstatement as Rowena hardly needed anything fancy to look her best, even when sleeping.

In a quick movement, Harry was under the covers and sliding up to Rowena. He wrapped himself around her and she accommodated him by sliding her back to his chest as well. Harry just held her for a few minutes and planted a few kisses on her exposed neck.

Slowly Harry's hand started to slide its way up Rowena's smooth leg like it had on the previous nights. The hand was just about to reach her girl bits before Rowena suddenly rolled over to face him.

Harry thought he had done something wrong at first, but the mischievous smile on her face told him different. Rowena placed one of her slender hands on Harry's well defined stomach and he immedietly realized that Rowena had something else in mind.

She spoke up in a silky voice. It was much different than her normal pleasant voice, and Harry could tell it was genuine. It sounded much better than a fake husky or seducing voice. "The past few nights you have always taken care of me, giving me pleasure without wanting anything in return."

Harry made eye contact with her clear blue eyes. "Because I value your contentment far above mine."

Rowena blew a strange of hair out of her face. "Yeah, well, we are both in this relationship together, and therefore, we should both be content."

"I am content." Harry replied.

"Let us see if you will change your turn after I am done with you." Rowena said with a playful smile. "You have given me pleasure many times this week; it is only fair I return the favor."

"Uh…" Harry gulped, his voice having gone completely dry.

"I don't think I am quite ready for sex yet, but I should be able to 'take care' of you, as it were."

"I can't say no…"

"If you did, I would think you are gay."

The covers on the bed were tossed off to the side and Rowena was now lying on Harry's legs.

Rowena's hands grabbed the side of his shorts and she slowly started to pull them down.

"I have never done this before… but I want to. It will be a new experience for both of us, will it not?"

Harry gave a weak laugh. It was much a research project for Rowena as it was anything else. But she did care for him, that much was certain. If she didn't she wouldn't be here still.

The shorts came down and Harry's half soft meat was laid before her.

"Oh my." Rowena said, nearly breathless. "This is more than I was expecting to see. Everything I have read-"

Harry gave a cough, cutting off Rowena who gave him a sheepish look.

"Sorry, getting carried away. This is just so fascinating."

Harry could tell that Rowena had legitimately never touched a penis before as she hesitantly grabbed on to his todger. He was still somewhat soft, more out of fear of the unknown situation rather than lack of arousal. But that changed quick as Rowena's soft hand had a firm hold.

Rowena took in her hand and brought it close to her face. She inspected the veins and the head, and was probably memorizing every detail. She tentatively played with his testicles for a minute before moving back to his shaft.

Harry blinked once and suddenly the most intelligent witch the world has ever known was tasting his shaft with her tongue and mouth.

The sensation was unlike anything he had every felt before, even as inexperienced as she was in her technique, Harry was just as lacking in the receiving end as well. He was quickly brought to full mast under her ministrations.

"Damn!" Rowena said in awe. "Good thing I said no sex tonight, I doubt I would be able to walk if this thing was in me, and there is still a week of Tradesmeet left…"

She was now playing with his rod using both hands. Her hands were not quite large enough to reach around his shaft, and even with both hands working him, there was still enough of his head and shaft sticking out for her to try and fit that in her mouth, which she did.

Harry had never had a blowjob before. Even with all his fame, he had never gotten anywhere with it. He had dreamed of such acts before, and more. Everyone masturbates, even Harry had occasionally. He told himself it was a good stress reliever, but it was more than that. It started with Cho in third year, but Fleur haunted his private thoughts from 4th year and on.

But the real world had a way of crashing down around him. He had tried to get Cho, and failed. His fame was not always enough, and he was happy with that fact. He was too young for Cho at the time, and even during the next year. He found himself just trying to settle for anything, even Ginny. She had a nice personality from what he could remember, but that was it. She was pear-shaped, with her mother's hips but nothing else without having gone through 7 childbirths. Hermione wasn't much better. Even Ron found himself getting tired of the attractive Lavender Brown and going after Hermione's pleasant personality over any appearance issues. That was the real world, at least until he arrived in this world.

He looked down at the way Rowena was handling him. A smile came to his face along with the constant tingling of pleasure and the slow build up that he knew would lead to a finale. Perhaps this was the one area where it was good to be 'the boy-who-lived'.

Harry still laid there as Rowena seemed to be having as much fun playing with his erection as he was having pleasure. She tried to fit as much of him in her mouth as possible – about half, before coming back up for air. She was not skilled, but like anything else, she would learn, and in time master it. Learning was half the fun.

Her technique hardly mattered to Harry though; he was not some sort of connoisseur of blow jobs. Her clumsiness was more than enough to get him off. Rowena seemed to have taken a fondness to the double hand method and was going at a decent clip. She wasn't using her mouth, but was rather focusing at the task at hand.

She was watching Harry intensely as the feeling in his loins gradually changed. She watched as his closely shaven body reacted to something she was causing. Harry didn't have much hair on his body- something he explained as a result of Africa, along the lines of hair being a very good hiding spots for ticks and other insects. Hygiene was an important part to survival, something that commoners during the middle ages would not realize for some time.

It put a smile on Rowena's face to know that his body reacted to her ministrations just as much as her body reacted to his.

Suddenly Harry's breath became very sporadic, and Rowena thought it best to slow down her pumping. Harry's hand clenched onto the bed, his knuckles almost white.

Rowena watched his man bits clench up as she pumped very slowly. Harry groaned quite loudly, and said something that was unintelligible, before loosening up with a loud sigh.

"Unnnnngh ahhhhhh!" was the extent of Harry's vocabulary as he forcefully ejaculated.

Rowena's eyes were wide as Harry's spunk shot right for her face. She didn't have time to move as she was hit several times with his long shots. She wasn't expecting that, even knew she knew that would happen.

She stared at Harry with a look of incredulousness. He was still panting from the intense pleasure he felt and the release.

"So- sor-," he panted and changed his mind, "That was bloody amazing."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it" Rowena responded with a laugh through cum coated lips. She seemed unsure what to do next, but she hesitantly took her finger and dabbed the stick substance and brought it to her lips.

Harry watched in awe as Rowena slowly tasted a small bit of his man juice. She licked her whole finger clean after the first taste, and Harry felt himself growing hard again at the sight.

"Wow that did taste half bad," Rowena exclaimed. She used her wand to clean the rest of the mess through, before noticing that Harry was one more as hard as a rock. "Again? Well, alright. Practice makes perfect."

Harry closed his eyes in pleasure as Rowena used more of her mouth this time.

Yes, sometimes it was great to be Harry Potter.

---

Harry slept well that night, very well. Hell, he still had a smile on his face. So did Rowena for that matter, and he didn't even do anything to her.

Her technique had improved by the third time, her curiosity of male genital replaced with trying to please him… what exactly were they? Boyfriend and girlfriend did not seem adequate, and wife and husband made them sound too old and bound by society. Lovers perhaps? Maybe, but they hadn't progressed to sex yet although he could tell Rowena's curiosity about the act was going to mean that would come sooner than later.

Harry himself wasn't going to push for it. He could wait. They had eternity after all, and he had gotten this far in life without sex, he could go longer. He had all but forgotten about that drunken incident in the Dwarven Kingdom all those years ago, not that he could remember much of the night in the first place.

The satisfied wizard stretched himself on the bed, looking like the cat who caught a canary. He looked down and saw that Rowena was draped over his chest and was now staring at him with a cute smile on her face and a look of affection in her eyes.

He enjoyed that look and returned it with a similar look of his own.

"Have a good night?" she asked with a wink.

"The best ever," Harry admitted.

"Good. I want you to have a good morning as well," Rowena responded.

Before he even realized what was happening, Rowena was devouring his flaccid penis. Granted, it didn't stay that way for long and in just a minute she was gobbling his fully erect hard-on. She couldn't deep throat him, but she did her best with her experience which now only included the previous night.

It was 10 minutes later when they finally reached the shower. Rowena had yet to remove any of her clothing, having performed all the sexual acts on Harry with her clothes on. Harry was feeling surprisingly fresh. He couldn't remember that last time he had felt so good about life.

But she was naked now, washing away to results of their labor.

It was a view that would never get old, in both meanings of the word.

Eventually they were both clean and clothed for another day at the Tradesmeet. They both couldn't help smiling. They were both happy, and that was a rarity in both of their lives. He could honestly say he had never been happier, and that is not because he just had his dick sucked.

Well, that was part of it, but most of it was having someone in his life that actually cared about him. And he cared about her too, more than he thought he would. He thought he had outgrown or forgotten what affection was, but it is a primal human instinct that never leaves you no matter who you are or what you do.

Love was a different animal altogether, but Harry was taking life one day at a time.

They both gave each other a visual once over and deemed themselves acceptable. Harry wore a black tunic with a leather belt with his sword and scabbard attached. Rowena wore a slightly classier outfit compared to the day before. It showed her feminine side slightly more, accentuating her bust just enough to draw some eyes (not that that was hard to do regardless). It was still a more practical than fashionable.

Harry grabbed Rowena's hand with his own, and just like yesterday, Rowena apparated them to the Tradesmeet once more.

The place was still buzzing with activity. It was almost as if the constant trading of goods had never stopped. In actuality, they probably didn't.

Harry kept holding onto Rowena's slender hand as they walked through the crowds. Their first stop was the clothier that Rowena had ordered an untold amount of clothing from yesterday.

They made their way past armored guardsman patrols and other commoners, merchants and noblemen. The alehouses were not quite as busy in the morning as they were at night, but they were still populated. The air was somewhat cleaner compared to the previous night, and the path was somewhat cleaner as well. That would quickly change in the upcoming hours though.

The master tailor and his family were already bustling around their little section of the market. The elder master had a tired but satisfied look on his face, and his eyes lit up when he saw the couple approaching.

One of his grandchildren had just fallen in the dirt and the grandfather quickly bent over and picked her up before brushing the dirt off her small apron.

"Ah, Miss Rowena and friend! You will be delighted to know that I have your order completely finished and tailored to your exact specifications.

"Excellent, I hope you were not presented with any difficulties?" Rowena responded.

"None at all. Some of the clothes partially pre made for this week, but I still spent most of the night working on them with some of my grandchildren."

"Oh, I apologize."

"Don't worry yourself over it, child. 'tis the spirit of the Tradesmeet to get the goods to the customer in an acceptable amount of time. Working through the night is a common practice. Tradesmeet is the season of little sleep and a lot of coin... Come, come, let me show you your purchase."

Harry put hand on Rowena's back as the old man led them to her, no, their, purchase. The man started showing Rowena the clothes she had ordered. Half of them were fairly plain, but the other half, not so much. The old man looked completely at easy as he handled several of her new intimates. But then again, he did make them himself.

Harry was somewhat surprised on how revealing some of the clothes were, even by modern standards, and especially considering Rowena's nature. She would probably never wear them in public, but still, Rowena was constantly surprising him.

He was surprised once again when Rowena tossed an article of clothing at him. Harry's fast instincts caught the piece before it was anywhere close to touching the ground. He held it up in front of him and marveled at the coat of arms on it. It was in the classic style where every piece on it had a meaning. Harry was unlearned in those meanings, but some of them seemed self explanatory. There was an obligatory raven as to be expected.

His attention was drawn to the motto stitched underneath the crest. It read "SCIENTIA EST VOX." Harry recognized it as Latin, but it had been so long since he had used any proper Latin that it took him a bit to come up with a translation. He couldn't agree more with it.

The article of clothing itself he recognized as a tabard. A Ravenclaw tabard, and it was his. Harry took his commitments seriously, and apparently so did Rowena. He said he would be her champion, and he meant every word of it.

Harry flipped the article around, and with a swift motion he put his head through the hole and flipped it over his back. He wore a proud smile on his face and Rowena immedietly rushed over to him and kissed him deeply on the lips.

A coughing from behind them brought their attention back to reality. The old tailor had a smile on his face. "It looks good on you. But then again, all my work looks good. Shall we talk about payment?"

"Fair enough. Your work is excellent. How much do I owe?" Harry asked.

The man started tallying up all material and came up with a price that was more than fair. Harry reached into his pouched and pulled out a handful of silver sickles.

All parties involved were happy with transaction and Rowena and Harry made their way back into the Tradesmeet. Harry turned the bundle of clothes into a portkey just like he did the previous day with the glass. Instead of finding some cover to perform the magic, he simply discretely cast a notice-me-not charm on himself temporarily.

With the large purchase of Rowena's wardrobe out of their way, they were once more unburdened and continued through the Tradesmeet.

They mostly just browsed through the wares and checked out interesting or beautiful pieces of work. The couple made a few purchased for decorations in their bedroom, but nothing of significance.

Lunch was had at one of the many temporary pavilions set up to feed the masses. Harry had a mug of ale and a plate of a mysterious meet. He wasn't sure what it was, and was probably better off not knowing. It was delicious though.

The two of them were currently looking at some exquisite leather armor. He glanced quickly at the proprietor before having to do a double take. The man was wearing a hooded cape, but he turned his head just enough for Harry to see his pointed ears.

This was quite a surprise. The Elf blended in quite well with the crowd.

Harry leaned over and whispered to Rowena. "This man is an Elf."

She looked at him with questioning eyes. "What are you going to do?"

Harry scratched at the nonexistent stubble on his chin in thought. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Rowena jerked towards him. "Never say that! You should know that better than anyone."

"Sorry," Harry muttered. "Let's go say hi."

They walked over to the Elf who was just finishing up with another customer. "Hello, how many I be of service?" the elf asked. "I am called Galasthanion."

"Greetings Galasthanion. I am not interested in any of your goods today, excellent they may be. Instead I am curious…" Harry paused, decided exactly how to ask his question. "How is the blood mage situation? Is the Kingdom still on the run?"

The elf narrowed his eyes while slowly withdrawing his sword. "Who are you? Who sent you? Are you one of them?"

Harry immedietly held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I am known as Artemis Entreri. I am a friend of Princess Israniel Larenlynnlal and the Dwarven King Thothic." He had trouble pronouncing the princess's name and he hope he didn't butcher it.

"Queen Israniel is currently safe." The elf didn't seem to want to say more.

"Queen? How did that happen?" Harry asked.

"The former queen was enslaved by the vile blood mages, just like 95% of our population. Even now those vile beings prowl through forests, not happy until every last one of us is under their control." Galasthanion spit on the ground when he mentioned the blood mages.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Where are they hiding currently?"

"Kill every last one of them you see. Then, and only then, can my races enslavement be dispelled. I do not trust you enough to tell you the last spot I remember them being it."

Harry was about to say something but the elf seemed distracted and staring at something happening over Harry's shoulder.

All of a sudden an ear piercing shriek filled the air. Harry briefly saw Galasthanion's face take on a look of horror before Harry spun around and unsheathing his sword in the process.

Rowena turned around as well, and nearly froze with shock. She brought a hand up to her face and her eyes widened, but she couldn't look away.

A man dressed in completely red robes was standing above an Elf. Harry could see the pointed ears from where he stood.

The gruesome part was the sickly reddish black bolts that were surging from the blood mage's hands and into and around the hapless Elven crafter.

Slowly before everyone's eyes, the Elf shriveled up and shrank, and in scant seconds a small ugly Elf with large eyes and ears stood in front of them all.

He had just witness the horrific act of a free elf being turned into a house-elf. It took all his will power to not vomit on the spot, but others were not so lucky.

Then without warning the blood mage turned and stared right where Harry and Galasthanion were standing.

"This isn't good. Run!" Harry yelled to the elf. "I'll take this guy out."

The blood mage had its eyes firmly set on the Elf and was unwavering in its attention as it calmly walked towards it. Harry wasn't about to show the thing any mercy and he merely lopped its head off with a meager swing of his sword.

The troubles were hardly over though. Several more blood mages came out of the crowd and began chasing after the Elf.

The enemy mages broke out into a run, but the elf was very fast and nimble. Harry joined in the pursuit as did Rowena. Harry may have been fast enough, but Rowena was not. He did not want to leave her open for attack so he stayed close to her.

She had her wand out, as did Harry. They chased after the mages and right into the vast forest.

The couple lost sight of them very rapidly, but the continued on after them. The canopy of branches slowly got thicker above them and the light got dimmer. The foliage got denser and they had a hard time even running over the rough terrain.

Time slipped by and it was hard to tell what time of the day it was, but it was getting quite dark. There had not been any signs of the magi or the elf for well over an hour, but they did not give up hope.

They slowly walked to a halt. Something was not right.

"It's quiet." Harry stated. "Too quiet."

"The animals have stopped moving." Rowena commented.

"Be on the lookout. This place reeks of unfamiliarity, yet it is old… the trees are ancient."

Harry peered through the darkness, and out of the corner of his eyesight he saw a flash of light, and then another, and another.

Harry grabbed Rowena's arm and pointed towards the spellfire.

The both looked each other in the eyes. No words were needed as they both headed off in that direction. Their carefully sneaked through the trees, trying to make the least amount of noise as possible. It was delicate balance of speed and stealth.

It only took them about two minutes to see what the commotion was.

In front of them was a girl, or perhaps a young woman. It was hard to tell aside from the fact that she had nice young feminine curves, but she was quite tall.

Perhaps the most immedietly noticeable thing about her was her attire. She was wearing a skirt that looked to be made entirely out of feathers and leather. Her shirt, if it could be called a shirt, looked like nothing more than a scarf that covered her breasts along with some feathers decorating her shoulders.

It was clearly homemade and nothing like either one of them had ever seen. She also had an exquisite looking gold necklace on that looked vaguely Egyptian but also very out of place. She was wielding a staff as she fought off her enemy, and she looked to be a very powerful magic user

She was attractive in her own rights with her hair as dark as Rowena and dark brown eyes. But there was something off about her, and it made him wary. Harry did not like being surprised.

Harry knew that she was not the enemy though. The enemy the strange woman was fighting was one he had fought in the past, and one he dreaded.

Dementors. Nearly a dozen of them.

Harry was surprised once more when he saw that two remains of dementors already lay scattered on the ground, nothing more than burnt tattered cloaks. Faint wisps of smoke could be seen trailing off the bodies.

He looked at the woman with new respect. He had never heard of anything being able to kill a dementor before.

He and Rowena watched for a few seconds to see what spell she was using to fight them. Not much information was gained however, as it simply seemed like the woman directed her staff at the target and wordlessly unleashed some sort of magic at them.

Harry's druidic magic sensed the familiarity of the spell, but it was still very different. It was clearly related to the patronus charm, but it was inherently different. Perhaps an offshoot or unknown derivative, or perhaps the opposite. He didn't know, and they didn't have time to ask as the dementors effects seem to be taking their toll on her.

It was as he was thinking about the dementor's chill that he suddenly felt their aura of coldness creep up on him as well. Without waiting any longer he pulled out his wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He bellowed. His memory was that of his intimacy with Rowena the night before. It proved more than adequate as his stag patronus diverted to approaching dementors away from the staff-wielding woman.

Rowena joined with her own patronus, that of a unicorn. It was barely cohesive, but Harry had a suspicion that it was the first time she had ever cast the spell successfully.

Harry's stag circled around the outside of the dementors, slowly corralling them up a group. Rowena's patronus acted as a guardian for the three humans, acting a barrier towards the empty void of cold the dementors emitted.

The mysterious witch wasted no time in blasting the dementors with her staff. Harry could feel her power waning, but she showed no outwards signs of fatigue on her features. He could see the patronus were also affecting her as well, but in a positive way. Harry and Rowena kept up their patronus until the witch eliminated the rest. The fallen dementors bodies smoked, and it looked like the very land beneath them burned as their taint seeped into the ground.

The witch took a look around before spotting the two of them. She walked over, a small smile playing on her lips, but still holding onto her staff.

"And what do we have here? A witch and a wizard?" Her small smile turned into a small frown. "Or do you want me to call you savior?"

"It was purely accidental when we came across you fighting these dementors. Say, have you seen any blood mages running by? They were chasing an elf?"

"Blood mages?" she spat the name out. "No, I have not. Chasing an elf you say? A free elf? That is most interesting." Her posture suddenly changed. "I apologize for my rudeness before. I am… not used to other people and showing emotion. I have been under great distress since my partner departed. "

"I – Move!" Harry shouted.

Out of the shadowy trees several more dementors surged onto the group. One of the dementors batted the feather-clothed witch out of the way. She crashed onto the ground before scampering backwards and getting up onto her feet again.

Harry cast his patronus once more and sent it towards the dementors. He noticed something was wrong immedietly. Either his patronus was not as powerful as it was earlier, or the dementors were somehow stronger than the last. The cold aura was slowly seeping into his bones, and Rowena's patronus did not seem to help at all.

The foliage underneath the dementor's feet shriveled up and died, while vines hanging from trees simply rotted away. Harry knew he was in trouble when the dementor clawed at his patronus, and he was surprised to see it actually made contact with it. It disappeared.

Harry panicked and tried casting his patronus once more, but nothing would come out. Rowena's patronus was still up, and she was skillfully keeping it out of reach of the dementors, but it was not nearly strong enough to ward off the feelings of despair.

Harry saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see that the unknown witch had cast another piece of magic he had never seen before. It was like a blizzard, but shaped into a cone coming out of her staff.

The cone of cold seemed to have some effect as dementor was now moving significantly slower. The dementor's aura was still as strong as ever though and his teeth started to clatter. He cast a warming charm of the three of them and he felt the physical effects of the aura go away, but the mental effects were still strong.

Harry had time to dodge another dementor coming from the woods and reaching for his neck. He pulled out his sword. His mind was being taxed from the constant overexposure to dementors, and he somehow thought that a sword would be able to hurt them. He realized his follow that all because they looked like Nazgûl, did not mean they were Nazgûl.

He almost paid the price for his brief moment of disorientation. He sheathed his useless sword and brought his wand up once more. He was going to freeze them like he saw the other girl do. The problem was it had been so long since he had cast a freezing charm with his wand that he could not remember it. His instincts told him that using his shamanistic powers to manipulate the dementor's cold aura against them would do nothing.

Harry fumbled for a second before the words came to his mind.

"Mico Congelio!"

A blue square of energy shot from his wand and soared at the dementor. The frosty transparent square spun a few times before impacting the insidious creature. Harry sighed in relief when he saw that it had an effect. The flash freezing spell did not freeze the dementor completely, but it was a start. He cast the hex again, except this time he focused his shamanistic power through it.

The effect was instantaneous as the dementor froze solid. It looked like some hideous frozen statue. He could still feel the aura coming off the dementor so it was not 'dead.' He remedied that by sending a blasting curse at the frozen creature and shattering it into many fine pieces.

Harry quickly looked for the remaining dementors. Two were following after Rowena, who was backpedalling and using a mixture of slowing and ensnaring spells on them. The other witch had summoned a blizzard on a group of 4.

Harry was quite impressed. Not many could conjure a full blizzard in a middle of the forest in 70 degree weather. Then again, Harry could, and Rowena probably could as well, but probably not in the middle of intense dementor exposure.

A flame whip emerged from Harry's wand as he approached Rowena. He whipped it over his head, arcing it out at the dementors. Fire was an interesting thing. Most creatures were either repulsed by it, or attracted to it. Luckily, Dementors seemed to be repulsed by it.

Harry felt the cold aura sapping away the flames, but he kept the whip bright and strong, and that seemed to deter the dementors even more.

Rowena got up from the spot she tumbled on the ground and pointed her wand at the stalled dementors. Her wand was a blur of movements as she incanted "Aestuo coniecto abyssus plasmestas!"

A look of surprised came over Harry's face when he realized exactly what Rowena had cast. A surge of hellish flame poured out of her wand. It covered the ground like ever-burning napalm, and the smell was not so different either.

The air felt foul though, whether it was from the fiendfyre or the decaying dementors, Harry was not sure. Out of Rowena's cursed fire, creatures of flame emerged. Harry was expecting images of heliopaths, dragons, imps, and other nasties to appear, but instead was something much more benign.

Fiery unicorns and phoenixes devoured the dementors. The flame dissolved their evil and destroyed their souls. Multilayered high pitched wailing filled their ears as the foul creatures left this world in pile of sulphur and brimstone. Only two words could describe what he had just witnessed.

"Holy shit."

Harry had to remind himself that this was still Rowena, his Rowena. And he had to remind himself that she has and always will be more knowledgeable than him. She could take care of herself if the situation demanded it, and this one did. So she did, and without qualm. She uses whatever magic she thinks would be best for the situation, and no one could argue with the results.

Harry's attention faltered from the hellish fiery unicorns and to where the other, still unnammed witch, was finishing up her blizzard. All the dementors near her frozen solid. Harry and Rowena both watched as she walked up to every frozen statue and smashed the heads off with her staff.

When she was done, all three of them noticed the aura of darkness dispersing from the forest. All that remained were the oozing and sizzling remains of the foulest creatures on the earth. Their deaths would surely taint the forest for some time to come, similar to a curse wound. Harry inspected the corrupted earth and knew his druidic power was inadequate for the job of healing the land, but perhaps an archdruid could.

The witch was now learning on her staff, and looking at Harry and Rowena with interest. "Now where were we? Ah yes. I believe we got off on the wrong foot. Considering you two just helped me with a great deal of trouble, etiquette states that I should be nice to you. So I shall."

Harry didn't much like her tone. It was slightly sarcastic, yet slightly friendly. It was clear she had conflicting emotions; perhaps a troubling past was the cause. "I am Artemis Entreri, and this Rowena Ravenclaw. We left from the Tradesmeet in pursuit of a few rogue blood mages."

"Urg, Tradesmeet," She said in disgust. "More disgusting humans that I care to be around, all concentrated in one place."

"Are you… not human yourself? You look human."

"I am human. How rude of me, I never gave my name," she said in mock sincerity. "My name is Morrigan. Some people refer to me as the 'witch of the wilds.' Oh how I loathe that name and the rumors… not saying they are not true. I just don't appreciate anyone talking about me behind my back.

"You seem very powerful for your age. Who trained you?"

"Mother taught me everything I know. Magic-wise at least," Morrigan added as an afterthought. Being isolated from any human settlement did not do much for my manners, as you can imagine. And you two are what, exactly?"

Rowena answered her this time. "I am one of the four founders of the new Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I've never heard of it. A place to learn magic? Sounds… interesting."

"I am a fighter and guardian of sorts." Harry replied. "Right now I am trying to free elves from their enslavement, and also stop the evil housed up in Azkaban."

"Sounds like someone I once knew," Morrigan remarked more to herself than anyone else. "As much as the conversation entertains me, and before we get to the eventual talk of bartering on how to fulfill my life debt to you two, I must go check up on my dear daughter of mine. I left her at my hut, so that is where I suggest we head."

They had just started to walk when an ear piercing scream echoed through the air. It sounded like a young girl.

"No!" Morrigan yelled before breaking off into a run.

Harry and Rowena wasted no time in giving chase once more. Harry was still in pretty decent condition, but Rowena was very worn out.

However they did not have to run far before they came across a fight once more.

Morrigan was once again battling. It was clear that she was no stranger to fighting. Her staff shot a beam of gray light at the nearest opponent, and went straight through. The man toppled over, dead, from the large hole in his chest. The was no mistaking the red robes of the dead man.

"Blood mages," Harry snarled.

Morrigan was quite outnumber and was now constantly dodging enemy spells. She was quite nimble and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

Harry nearly missed it when Morrigan disappeared before their very eyes and in her place a large predatory cat stood. The cat immedietly pounced on the mages, ripping one to shreds before having to dodge spellfire once more.

She was much quicker and agile in her catform, but she was still outnumbered.

Both Harry and Rowena raised their wands at the same time and yelled out curses. Rowena shouted "Labeflactum Flammelus!" while Harry incanted "Artesecotus!"

Rowena's fiery boulder smashed into one mage, killing him instantly, and the same could be said about the mage whose was decapitated by Harry's cleaving attack.

Harry would admit he felt some satisfaction, even if he felt disgusted with himself. But in the end, it was either him, or them, and he was going to pick himself every time.

Of course, now half of the blood mages were focusing on them, while the other half was now on Morrigan alone.

Several spells came at them from the blood mages wands. Harry felt the tendrils of magic soar to him before the actual magic formed itself into a physical spell. It was one of the many lessons his former shaman mentor, Jordan, and taught him, and taught him well.

Harry quickly moved out of the way of the magic before the spells became reality, and he saw Rowena merely flourish her wand in great twirls as she countered the three spells that were sent at her in succession.

He didn't have time to watch her as he grabbed control of some of the vines and had them snake up along the legs of the mages.

That was quickly countered however with a flame curse, and Harry recognized some nasty bone crushing hexes flying at him, followed by a blood boiling. He rolled out of the way of an offensive transfiguration spell. He did not know what it was, but knowing blood mages, it was probably something along the lines of trying to turn his blood into stone.

Yeah, he did not want to get hit by that.

Harry had to dodge once more, but in the process he transfigured some snakes and commanded them to kill the blood mages. Hopefully nature would dispose of the unnatural.

He stepped to the right to dodge another blood boiling spell before it even formed. He sent another cleaving curse in retaliation. It did not kill the man, but it did lop off his arm, which probably would kill him. The mage fell onto the ground, but a second mage immedietly took advantage of the situation.

Harry did not recognize the incantation, but the blood mage used the fallen mages blood as a catalyst for a spell, and Harry was immedietly on the defensive.

A raging tower of fire soared up in front him, threatening to devour his body. It did not react to his shamanistic touch, and was unaffected by a flame freezing charm. He growled in frustration. This was one of the reasons why magic involving blood was so dangerous and looked down upon. It was powerful. And that kind of power comes with a cost.

He bore witness to that cost once before, and now he saw it again as the armless mage on the ground suddenly twisted into a hideous abomination before hopping up on its feet.

Harry did not know of any spell that could combat the blood fire, so he settled for transfiguring a large slab of stone to take the brunt of it.

Apparently Rowena had an idea how to combat it as she started chanting in Latin. "Voragam sepulchrum forame!" was her incantation of choice.

The roaring sound of the fire was replaced with the cackling of a large ball of black electricity rocketed in between them.

Harry realized with horror that it was not ball lightning. The black ball was absorbing light, along with the spells and nearby foliage.

The only thing that Harry could describe Rowena's magic was that of a Black Hole. He then realized that is exactly what it was when one of the blood mages disappeared in the hole never to be seen again.

One by one the blood mages, and turned abominations, disappeared into the hole as Rowena guided it along the forest floor.

The forest was completely still once more as all their enemies lay dead. Morrigan had finished tearing her enemies apart as a large cat.

Harry turned his focus on Rowena, and was astonished to see her drop the spell and collapse immedietly. Harry pulled himself up off the ground in a futile attempt to catch her, but was surprised to see that Morrigan caught her instead.

Morrigan looked down at Rowena and almost seemed concerned, but Harry couldn't read the witches face well. He walked over just in time to see a bird land on the witch of the wild's shoulder.

Harry looked at Morrigan questioningly as she seemed to be examining Rowena.

"Your consort has depleted her magic significantly. We shall bring her back to my hovel where I have a potion that will help. She is also physically exhausted."

"Consort?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Isn't that what she is to you? A lover? I can see it in your eyes." As she said that, Morrigan held out Rowena for Harry to carry.

Harry took Rowena in his arms and then watched in amazement as the bird on her shoulder flew off and changed into a small girl in front of his eyes.

The girl was no more than 5 and had surprisingly dark red hair as opposed to Morrigan's black.

Morrigan bent over to talk to the girl. "Cliodna, daughter, are you alright?"

"Yes mother. The blood mages could not follow me into the air."

"Good. We have guests, daughter, and I want you to be on your best behavior."

"I understand mother."

It was an awkward conversation to listen to, as they seemed too formal with each other, especially for being hermits. He followed behind as they walked towards her hut.

It was only about 300 feet away from where they battled the blood mages. It was larger than what Harry was expecting, and well kept. Inside were two beds and Harry placed his 'consort' down on the bed Morrigan indicated. The rest of the hut was moderately furnished. There was a warming fire and a table, along with several wooden trunks, chests and a wardrobe. There was also a single bookshelf filled with musty tomes.

Morrigan dug through a trunk before pulling out a crystal vial filled with an ambient blue colored liquid.

"It is one of my more potent potions, but after her impressive display of magic I think she needs every bit of it. She is quite powerful. But not as powerful as you, wizard. Or shall I call you druid? Shaman?"

"Artemis is fine." Harry replied nonchalantly, not showing his surprised that she knew what he was. At least she didn't say time-traveler – then there would have been a problem.

"Very well, Artemis. Now, you rescued me from those vial creatures, and as such, I owe you a debt. Of course I could have handled myself, but the nature of magic says otherwise."

Harry first reaction was to decline, but that would probably insult the proud witch. "I noticed that both you and your daughter are an animagus."

"Animagus? I think not. We are shapeshifters. We can take on any form, but we do have our favorites, and there are limitations."

"I've never heard of a mage being able to take on any form before… Anyways I have recently discovered that I too have an animal form, but I have only been able to change into it once. Can you teach me?

A small smile played across Morrigan's face." Can I teach someone to become a shapeshifter you ask? Yes, I suppose I could. Will I? No," the girl snootily said.

"Why not? That is what I want for the debt."

"No, it isn't." Morrigan started pacing around her room, searching for something. "I did not notice it before, but someone was here. Smells of blood mage…"

She stopped pacing right in front of her book shelf. She scanned the books before swearing under her breathe. "It's gone. My mother's grimmoire. Those fiends took it!"

A chair exploded as she kicked it, before she calmed down and faced her daughter. "Sorry for startling you, Cliodna. Something precious has been stolen from me."

Morrigan then turned to face Harry. "I cannot teach you because merely teaching you something would not fulfill a life debt. And I don't think you have quite proved your worth yet to learn something of that magnitude from me."

"What do I need to do? You are the first person I've encountered who can possibly teach me this latent skill of mine. I wouldn't even know where to begin…"

Morrigan looked down at him in curiosity. Her daughter mimicked the action, including bending her neck at the exact same angle.

"Here is what is going to happen. Tomorrow you will travel to Azkaban. I have heard rumors and whisperings for years about the evil that is coming from that place, including mentions of blood mages. My guess is that the evil you search for is still there, and probably my grimmoire as well. Recover my grimmoire and I will teach you what you want to know."

Harry mulled it over for a minute. "And what of the debt?"

"Did I forget to mention that I am to accompany you to this place? There will be plenty of life threatening situations and I am sure that you will not say no to an extra fighter."

"Okay. So you will accompany us on our mission, purge some evil, recover your grimmoire, and then teach me the basic of accessing my shapeshifting skill?"

"In a word, Yes." Morrigan sat down in a chair without bothering to offer Harry one. She pulled out a metal container and a wine glass, and then poured herself a drink. She stared down at Rowena as she grabbed the glass in between her fingers and bought it up to her lips.

She watched as her daughter Cliodna continued to carefully administer the magic renewing potion to Rowena in small portions. Eventually the entire potion was administered and Rowena's tense body seemed to sigh in relief.

"So, Morrigan, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Harry asked hesitatingly.

"If I said yes, would that prevent you from asking? I have already invited you into my home, so I will suffer your inane questions as a symbol of hospitality, and nothing more."

"Alright…" Harry said slowly. "It is probably rude of me to ask, but where is Cliodna's father? Your Husband? Significant other? Surely it wasn't your choice to raise a child alone."

"Awfully bold questions from someone I hardly know. But answer them I shall. It was my choice to raise her alone. Her father died destroying a great evil before she was born. I did not love the man, but her birth was essential to the defeat of the evil. Ask me not, for it is only a tale I will tell to someone I can trust implicitly. My significant other is has been out of the country for several years."

"What does he do? A trader? Cartographer?"

"Nothing so mundane. She is much like yourself. A fighter and a guardian. She protects people who cannot protect themselves, even though I would say that most of them don't deserve it. She taught me the meaning of friendship and love."

"She?" Harry asked, not understanding at first. "Oh. OH!" he exclaimed yes widening. "That is, er, unusual."

"Who are we to understand how love works? I love her, and she loves me, but duty called her away and I have to raise Cliodna. She is important to the future of the world."

Harry wasn't quite sure what to say now. He had many more questions than he had to start with, but he already felt like he had over stepped his bounds.

"Rowena reminds me much of my lover. Willing to tax her body beyond its limits to help someone she doesn't even know. Quite attractive as well, even more than my Liândan. Living in the forest my whole life has given me an appreciation for beauty. Take this necklace for example. It is very exquisite and beautiful, and I like it very much. The female form is much more attractive than the male form, but fear not, my heart lies with Liândan."

Harry was feeling very awkward now. Morrigan was attractive, sure, but she didn't even look remotely capable of love, or affection at all. But Harry knew better than anyone else that outward appearances can be deceiving.

The wizard's musing was cut short as Rowena started to stir. Her eyes opened without warning and she sat up straight in bed. She must have regretted that as she let out a ground and collapsed back down.

"Where am I?" she asked softly.

"You are in Morrigan's hut. It has only been a few hours since the fight against the blood mages."

"Morrigan?" Rowena asked weakly.

"Relax child," Morrigan soothed. "Your body has suffered extreme magical and physical fatigue. I have given you a potion for the magical fatigue, but you will need true sleep for the physical fatigue to go away."

"Thanks," Rowena muttered, "And I am older than you. Probably by at least 15 years…"

"Really?" Morrigan asked, surprised. "You look barely 20. I will admit I am impressed."

Harry kneeled beside her bed as Morrigan left the room with her daughter.

"I swear, if I catch you checking her out…"

Harry actually laughed. "She is attracted to women, not men."

"What does that…Oh. OH!"

"My thoughts exactly. She is strange though. But she has agreed to help us storm Azkaban tomorrow. Plus, you are for more attractive. But now, you need your rest."

"Where will you sleep?" Rowena asked tiredly.

"I will not leave your side."

"Thank you."

Harry held onto Rowena's hand as she fell back into a peaceful sleep. Harry slowly felt his eyes close as well as he leaned up against the wooded wall.

---

Author's Notes (updated 2/27/11)

Sorry about the 5month wait for this chapter. I was busy. I deleted the previous A/N for this chapter because it was long and no longer relevant, 2 months after this chapter was posted.

I had a lot of reviews saying there was a lot of grammar/spelling mistakes in this chapter, and I went through it and didn't find more than a half dozen that I missed the first time through. The dwarves accented English is intentional, and I know my tense usage needs improvement. Still, if you see any major mistakes feel free to tell me the specific instance. Also, if there are any inconsistencies let me know (new chapters verse old. I'm not interested in inconsistencies of my world verse canon HP and real history).

Oh, and the steamy bits are written intentionally awkward. Both characters are unsure, but eager. Hormones cause people to behave in the damndest of ways. The scenes are supposed to be a teaser for the real scene coming up in a few chapters.