"Order! Order! On the motion of the Baltic Magical Union's ascension in the ICW, the motion passes one hundred seventeen to fourteen. Congratulations president Atin." Jade clapped along with many other delegates, some more enthusiastically than others, but such was politics.
"Now on the matter of the formation of local ministries for the countries of Poland, East Germany, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Ukraine and Hungary, the floor is open."
The newest delegate of the confederation president Atin, raised his wand, and Dumbledore signalled for him to speak, ignoring the others. "Acknowledging the reality of the situation, the BMU moves for the countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to fall under the magical jurisdiction of the BMU."
"I object!" the delegate for the Magical Nordics shouted, and soon the chamber was bursting in support or rejection of the motion. Atin looked to Jade, who nodded, announcing, "China motions for the motion to be moved to a tertiary vote."
"Very well," Dumbledore sighed. "The motion by mugwump Lin has been recognised. A procedural vote does not tolerate abstentions, those in favour of the motion?"
Just slightly over two thirds of the mugwumps raised their wands in support, and Dumbledore nodded. "The ayes have it! The ayes have it! We will skip past debates and move straight to the vote. All those in favour?"
It was definitely close, for many countries were weary of the BMU's rapid expansion and rise, most notably France, Britain, Spain and Italy. Many countries were surprised by the acceptance of the West Germans, though few knew of the deal that the BMU had in private. It was only because she was friends with Raven that she was kindly warned in advance.
"And those against?"
A slight but noticeably lower amount of wands were lit. Several countries had abstained, though most large countries had voted for, recognising the BMU for the regional power it had quickly become. It was a testament to the influence of the fledgling state that such a motion was passed so quickly when discussions on the state of the Soviet Union took three days of constant negotiation for Russia to be declared the sole successor state.
"By a vote of seventy five to fifty three with three abstentions, the motion passes. Cooperation for Poland, and the Baltics is now exclusively under the purview of the BMU. Are there any further motions?"
Votes to incorporate East Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic into West Germany, now just Germany's influence, was quickly approved. Several more motions were passed or rejection on the formation of new spheres of influence, with the now Magical Russian Republic gaining control of the territory of the muggle Federation as well as Belarus and Ukraine.
"And now onto the issue of de-escalation in Romania and the Balkan region, the floor is open."
Several wands were lit, including the delegate for Russia. With a clearly strained smile, Dumbledore ordered, "By the Kaiser's precedence, mugwump Novikov is recognised."
"Thank you. Owing to the historical precedent, Russia motions for them to be formally placed under its jurisdictions." Several protests from the galley, where representatives from multiple enclaves were present, erupted, and the chamber was a cacophony of arguments that took several minutes to quieten to manageable levels.
"A reminder that non-member delegates are here as a matter of invitation and must observe decorum," Dumbledore chided at the still indignant conclave representatives before moving to address the chamber. "Are there any seconds?"
"Japan seconds the motion," the mugwump for Japan called out, "and further motions for a move to tertiary debate."
"Very well," Dumbledore acknowledged, calling for a vote in which nearly unanimity was achieved in moving straight to a vote. Yet it was evident the motion was doomed to fail, with only sixteen votes in favour. "The motion does not pass. A similar motion is now rebuffed by the chamber for a period of seventy two hours. Are there any motions on the floor? Mugwump Nistar?"
"Motion for ICW establishment under safe city principles in the region for a period of ten years." There were jeers from both the Russians and the enclave members, though both were quickly silenced. Jade wondered internally why the delegate for Mexico was the one doing this.
"The motion is accepted by the chair. By the Drafus principle, and owing to the uncontrolled anarchy in the region, the chair is pushing this to a tertiary vote."
"Russia objects!" the Russian mugwump called out, and Jade couldn't help but roll her eyes. Such a motion required a supermajority to repeal the chair's decision, and by the vote that followed, less than a third supported it, quickly rendering their objections mute. Voting followed, and the final result of eighty five in favour was of surprise to no one.
"Very well, the areas designated are to be placed under the jurisdiction of the War Council for a period of ten years, pending a review in five. I now call for an adjournment of today's session. We will reconvene tomorrow at eight thirty."
Jade quickly left her seat, exhausted by the marathon session that had already lasted six days. Entering her office, she paused when there was a package beautifully wrapped on the table. Inspecting it, she opened the note and couldn't help a smile.
'Hi Jade, thought you might like this, open it in private. See you later tonight for dinner.'
Unwrapping the package, she inspected the cloak, a silky material that felt exquisite. Yet it was only when she placed it on her body as a test that she nearly dropped it in surprise when she saw her body disappear. With a wry smile, she knew she had a big shopping trip ahead of her to reciprocate.
-Break-
"Hi Ja-" Harry was cut off when the woman wrapped him in a tight hug. With an amused smile, he returned the gesture.
"How in Merlin's name did you get this?"
"There was a shipment at the tailor's I went to. The ministry snagged most of them, but I managed to get one for you. I suspect they made slightly smaller robes for the state and saved the material."
"You shouldn't have, Harry!" she chided half-heartedly, still getting used to his new name. "These cost a small fortune! Most families don't see this type of money in a year!"
"What's the point of gold if you aren't going to use it?" Harry chuckled, waving off her further protests. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? Like it? Of course I love it! It's way too much!" Jade shook her head. "I can pay you back, that you managed to get one for me is enough already."
"There's no need for that, I can afford it, I assure you," she chuckled. "I got you a few tomes from the family's private collection and a few more from a recent auction of an opened tome. I know it's nowhere near close, but-"
"No, that's great," Harry assured, happily accepting the offered package and pocketing it. "I've always loved a good book. This means a lot. Thank you, Jade."
"Where are we eating?"
"Here," he pointed to the Gherkin shaped building and caused her to gasp. He chuckled at her reaction.
"How? I still haven't been able to get a reservation yet. It's apparently been booked for the next year!" she demanded. He merely chuckled again. Leading her into the restaurant, they were ushered to a private room at the top of the building, and were soon greeted by the head chef.
"Mister White! A pleasure to have you again! And the lovely miss Lin! What can I prepare for you today?"
"Well Jade, any preference?" he prompted. She shook out of her stupor, ordering a Foie Gras sandwich, a Turducken and a baked alaska. "A borsch will do for me."
"Of course, I will prepare them myself," the chef bowed before leaving the room. Once he left, Jade rounded onto Harry.
"Right, you better have some good explanations, mister."
"To have control of industry is important, Jade. With my newfound wealth, I decided to channel it into useful purposes. I spent much of it building businesses such as this one, high end bars, nightclubs, restaurants, shops, even the amusement park is partially owned by me. Of course, I also invested a bit into smaller, more plain businesses, but that's not saying much."
"Just...how much wealth do you have?" Jade sputtered in disbelief. Harry chuckled.
"You'd be surprised how generous people were to the mysterious Raven. In money alone, I've received about two hundred thousand galleons thus far. While a large sum can be attributed to a few wealthy donors, mostly grateful creatures such as various vampire clans, roughly a quarter of it simply comes from people donating part of their wages and business owners parts of their profit. Hell, I technically have a one percent stake in the country's tax revenue. If economic forecasts are accurate, I'm going to be sitting on a money pile of maybe two million galleons from that source alone. Parliament decided that all the funds that would have been paid to the Union, which does not exist now, is instead to be paid to me. That sum is going to be equal if not more than the tax cut. Of course, I've set it up to reinvest in the economy and to donate to various projects, but I'm loaded. That's not considering the capital gains I'm enjoying from equity in so many businesses, big and small."
"You're kinda like a monarch without a title then," Jade giggled, shaking her head in exasperation. "King White, has a ring to it, doesn't it? You essentially could start a country with that kind of fortune...oh wait, you already did. You're probably going to be in the top fifteen richest magicals in the world. Now I don't feel so bad for that invisibility cloak, that's couch change for you!"
"One could say that," Harry agreed, smiling and nodding in thanks to the awed waitress who seemed starstruck at the two, even if she maintained her professionalism and presented the food. "Dig in. See if the Raven Club truly lives up to its name."
Cutting a piece of the Turducken, she chewed, feeling a burst of flavours and sighed contentedly, something which brought a smile to Harry's face. "Happy?"
"Very much so," Jade nodded, quickly taking several more bites. "You really don't want to have some? It's lovely."
"Too heavy for my tastes," Harry admitted with a laugh. "I...find that I prefer the simpler things in life."
"From Soviet agent to Baltic royal, you don't do things by half, do you?"
"I can hardly take the credit. White made sure to create a cult of personality around me," Raven mused. "I've seen the propaganda sent out to advertise the Union, I'm basically this country's equivalent of merlin apparently," he commented amusedly. Jade snorted.
"In terms of influence, you're not far off." At his disbelieving look, she couldn't help a giggle. "You're responsible for the single greatest migration in known magical history. One in thirty magicals are in the BMU already!"
"Don't exaggerate, many foreign statistics don't account for magical creatures. By my best guess we account for maybe one in fourty five," Harry dismissed.
"A number which is seeing no slowing in growth," Jade countered easily, smirking at his frown. "Like it or not, you're making history. Aren't there already plans to build more cities inland?"
"There are," Raven acknowledged, "the plan right now calls for a phase two expansion for another twenty two cities. Our existing ones are already nearing their short term limits in population, I know werewolf immigration was temporarily halted because not enough containment facilities could be constructed."
"So what comes next?"
"I try and live the student life I never had," Harry chuckled. "Durmstrang accepted me, I'm transferring there as a fourth year."
"So you won't come to Longxiao?" she pouted. "A shame, it would have been quite the coup for us to have a student like you."
"If there was an accredited school in the BMU, I would have gladly joined, but while there are several under construction, it's taking time to find and certify educators, develop a curriculum and all that."
"And I don't suppose you're funding this?"
"Of course," Harry chuckled, "to have such influence over tomorrow's generation? It would be foolhardy not to invest in such endeavours."
"What does Durmstrang have to say about this?"
"They can't say much, given they're already rejecting large portions of students due to them being at capacity. They can take, what, two thousand students? In the past that might have been possible, but with the recent immigration? Definitely not. Besides, they don't accept muggleborns or magical creatures. Nor do they teach more muggle subjects in social studies. I doubt they'd be interested in competing with the Orograd school of diplomacy or the Naruv institute of economics, for instance. The tier two to five schools will complain, no doubt, but there's not much they can do," Harry assured.
"You're giving me flashes of the Raven again," Jade teased, before sobering at his serious look.
"It's a part of me. I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't exist, that it never happened, but it's not the only part of me," he resolved. "I've done some heinous things, but I've learned to accept it and myself."
"A good mentality," she nodded before swiftly changing the subject while cutting into her small baked alaska. "So, how's it feel preparing for school?"
"Quite...mixed. I find that using a wand has given me far more precision than before, but a part of me will always prefer the freedom and rawness that wandless magic provides," he admitted. She nodded thoughtfully.
Their idle conversation continued late into the night.
-Break-
Dressed in his Durmstrang robe, Harry waited at the docks along with around a dozen other students, waiting patiently for the Durmstrang ship to dock. Most of the students were still with their families conversing while waiting, so he contented himself to wait alone, watching the horizon.
He was the first to spot it, the appearance of a ship from the mist. Two large masts, square sails containing the coat of arms of Durmstrang, and most prominently, the twin eagle beakhead extending from the bow of the ship, conjured a sense of imperial majesty. Excited whispers from the others, who clearly did not share his slight disappointment at the antique.
Once it drifted into port, a gangway was dropped, and several students scrambled to be the first to bound up the steps. Harry was content to merely watch, waiting until the gangway was clear before sedately ascending it, stepping onto the deck of the ship, where a stern looking professor with a goatee waited.
"Transfer?" he asked in German.
"Yes sir. Harry White."
"Ah, good. I am professor Aribage, professor of advanced runes, I hear you'll be joining my class."
"I look forward to it," Raven lied with ease, causing the man to offer a faint smile.
"It is rare for individuals to test above their grade in runes. Good to see someone bucking the trend." He reached into his pocket, pulling out an envelope, handing it to him. "Your class list."
Opening it, he saw his selection:
Core Classes:
Armithacy: Sixth Year
COMC: Fourth Year
Charms: Sixth Year
Dark Arts: Fourth Year
DADA: Fourth Year
History: Fourth Year
Potions: Fifth Year
Runes: Sixth Year
Transfiguration: Fifth Year
Electives:
Duelling: Advanced Section
Rituals: Sixth Year
Alchemy: Fifth Year
"Impressive," Aribage whistled, peering over his shoulder. Harry suppressed the annoyance. "Four sixth years and three fifth years places you firmly in the top quartile. I look forward to seeing what you will accomplish, Mister White."
"Thank you professor."
"Now go on inside, the ship is about to start moving. I'll see you in class." Sensing the dismissal, Harry descended down the ladder, finding himself in a large hall with hundreds of tables. Most were packed with students, but he eyed several strangely deserted areas around several students.
For some, it was obvious they were the power players, small cliques of older students having claimed their spot for themselves. Yet he couldn't help but notice there was a rather young girl that was sitting alone, reading a book. Curious, he began making his way over there, noticing a hush descend over the students as he stopped in front of the girl, who looked up, quirking an eyebrow.
"Is this seat taken, miss?"
"Lady Zakharov, and no," she supplied curtly. His eyebrows shot up, causing her to sigh and return to reading. Quickly composing himself, he cast a mufflato around them and took a seat. "Huh, you're still here. Are you the transfer?"
"I am."
"You do realise who I am?"
"I know who your grandfather was. Master in necromancy and earth magic. Known as the butcher of berlin or the butcher of budapest, both infamous in their own rights," Harry confirmed. "I've studied him, a most impressive heritage."
"You are not...put off by it?" she queried.
"He turned the tide of the great war with Budapest. He should be a hero. A shame even the Soviets were put off by his reputation," Harry sighed, causing her to drop her book, staring at him in shock. "I hold great respect for the man's accomplishments."
"Most would...disagree vehemently," she pointed out, looking almost daring to hope. "You...are from the Union?"
"I lived there in my youth, yes," he admitted, causing her eyes to light up, "but where are my manners. Harry White, at your service."
"Katerina Zakharov, granddaughter of Ivan Zakharov," she returned, stowing the book in her bag.
"You seem to have a reputation," he mused, causing her to sigh knowingly.
"Just ask."
"Why do you sit alone?"
"Those with Grindelwaldian sympathies hate me for my grandfather's tactics. Those against Grindelwald hate me for my grandfather's tactics. It is probably the only thing the two camps can agree on," she laughed bitterly. "You're probably the first student to say more than four sentences at once to me in all my time at Durmstrang."
"Seems a bit foolish to judge a person by their lineage," Harry mused, causing her eyebrow to raise. "In the Union, on the magical side at least. there were so few of us that blood, heritage all didn't matter. Your worth was your contribution to society. A more...utilitarian society."
"What was it like? Living in the Union?" she asked eagerly. Harry pondered how much to answer.
"It is a difficult life, but a life nonetheless. We lived on very little, and learnt to appreciate what we had," Harry answered, causing her to nod sympathetically. "Where do you hail from?"
"Russia, but living in the Nordics. Father wanted no part of the Union, and uprooted the family. But enough on family history, what classes are you taking?"
He handed her his transcript, causing her to nod, impressed. "Four sixth years...I think that must be a ten year record. We'll be sharing potions, magical creatures, charms, history, transfiguration and duelling then."
"What courses are you taking?"
"Apart from those listed above, fourth year armithacy, sixth year dark arts, defence against the dark arts, fourth year runes and fifth year healing."
"An impressive repertoire. More combat focused, I take it?"
"Very much," she grinned, "we should duel sometime. Far too few dare to cross wands with me."
"A fourth year against a sixth year in DA and DADA? Hardly seems fair," he chuckled. "It'll make it all the more amusing when I finally put you in your place."
"In your dreams, White."
"Oh, I'm certain you're going to be in many of my dreams," he teased, causing her to sputter and a blush to creep up her neck before it quickly disappeared. He frowned, tentatively brushing over her mind to find her occlumency shields had clamped tightly. She clearly didn't feel his intrusion, and he withdrew. "No need to be so uptight, I'm a hormonal young boy and you're a pretty girl, I have no doubt I'll feature in some of your dreams, no?"
"Pervert," she spat playfully, "Father would curse you to Mongolia if you so much as leered at me."
"For you, worth it," he retorted amusedly, smirking at her slight frown. "If you can't take it in, don't dish it out."
"I'll keep that in mind," she answered with humour. "Want to go to the duelling pits?"
"The ship has duelling pits?" Harry asked incredulously, causing Katerina to nod amused.
"The ship has many facilities for when students go on exchange trips. It has a library interconnected with the ones at Durmstrang, medical facilities and several classrooms. It's a necessity given that exchange trips every few years take place."
"Oh, and have you been on one?"
"Of course," she affirmed amusedly. "We visited Beauxbatons, it was a lovely place in the mountains, even if the French were quite prissy and stuck up."
"You'd have fit in perfectly," he laughed, causing her to jab her wand at him, firing a stinging hex. Amusedly, he summoned his wand to his hand and batted it back at her, something that evidently shocked Katerina into stilling and being hit by the spell.
"Spell deflection? How are you not ranked higher in the DA or DADA?" she probed incredulously as they descended down a set of stairs and arrived at a series of six duelling pits, of which three were occupied, though obfuscation wards around them ensured privacy for those duelling within.
"I learnt to master a few spells rather than have a good knowledge of a larger variety," Harry answered amusedly, taking out his wand as they entered the pit. The wards flared up, and both bowed, never taking their eyes off each other.
Katerina fired the first sequence, a dueller's hello, consisting of a cutting curse, a blasting spell and a stunner. Amused by this, he merely weaved past all three spells with quick jumps forward, closing the distance. She had advanced as she cast the spells. Meaning now they were only three paces apart. Leaping into the air, he spun past a blasting spell and fired two stunners, causing her to narrowly roll out of the way.
As they began to circle each other, there was an excited gleam in her eye. "This is going to be very enjoyable."
Harry merely smiled indulgently, waiting for her to go on the offensive again. She fired several cutting spells which he simply ducked and weaved around, until she began firing more advanced spells, trying to conjure objects to entrap him. However, he proved too noble and too fast for that, merely settling for firing blasts of water at her and causing Katerina to get visibly agitated.
"Asshat! Fire an actual spell at me!"
"Fine," Harry sighed, firing a weak lightning spell at a puddle of water on the ground. Her eyes widened at the last moment in realisation, but it was too late, and she spasmed as electricity ran through her body, causing her to stiffen like a board. Striding forward, he caught her easily before she fell, and cast several relieving charms, waiting out the spasming which subsided after a few minutes.
"That...was brilliant," she exclaimed. "You're really something else, aren't you?"
"It's one of my preferred moves," Harry admitted, reminiscing of when he had drenched a battalion of soldiers in water and fried them to a crisp. "Power the lightning more, and you have an effective crowd terminator."
"Speaking from experience?"
"Indeed," he inclined his head, causing her to smirk knowingly.
"Well, I regret to say that I am probably not in a condition to duel, but I'll show you around the ship and answer any questions you have."
"Before you mentioned there were multiple libraries?" Harry prompted. Katerina frowned, then nodded.
"Ah, yes, I suppose I implied it. Shame, I was hoping to surprise you. There is a general library which contains most texts, and subject libraries that contain more specialised resources. To have access to the subject libraries, you need to be a sixth year in the subject or have a pass from a professor. Before you ask, it's because the tomes in the subject libraries are often one of a kind in the world, and thus are reserved for the best students."
"And age is somehow a qualifier?" Harry frowned.
"Oh, sometimes I forget myself," she giggled, an odd sound to hear from Katerina. "I suppose I'll explain the grading system while I'm at it. Each year, there is a test in January, when we return after Yule, to ensure our basic knowledge. This forms the core component of your marks, and is simply pass or fail internally, even if for fourth and sixth year, we follow the ICW OWL and NEWT standards. Where grades are truly earnt is the yearlong project. In each subject, you are expected to produce a project by the end of the year, which will be assessed. There are seven grades: Treason, Failure, Disappointment, Passable, Merit, Honour and Mastery. Treason is a grade so bad you're expelled, it's uncommon, but not unheard, especially in the lower years. Those that fail out transfer to other institutes. Failure means one is barred from taking that subject again. Disappointment is technically the lowest passing grade, but you're not allowed to advance, and remain in the same level. Passable offers a student the choice to remain in the same level or advance one. Most don't risk it, and either remain in the same level or drop it altogether. Merit and honour are passing grades, allowing you to advance to the next level. For the latter, there is a choice of of moving up an additional level."
"And what about masteries?"
"They're so rare you might as well forget about them," she chuckled. "I think about twenty have been awarded in the last hundred years. The record for any one person is six."
"Grindelwald?"
"Indeed," she answered with pursed lips. "He achieved a mastery in his third and fourth year in charms. The year after that, he managed to achieve it in charms, the dark arts, DADA and rituals."
"Four in one year," Harry's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded somberly. "That's very impressive."
"There's a reason he was so feared locally before his rise. Such talent...he was destined for greatness, everyone knew it. When he was expelled the year after that, he left his symbol on the walls of Durmstrang. To this day no one knows how to remove them."
"That's...awe inspiring, even," Harry admitted. "I don't suppose any masteries have been awarded recently?"
"You're looking at one of them," she said proudly. "I managed it in Dark Arts for third year, but then got a reality check when I barely scraped a merit the next year."
"Impressive, I might have to watch myself around you," he chuckled.
"You really should," she agreed with a smile, leading him into one of the rooms. "This is the library, there's a system to transport books from the main library and subject libraries to here and back, and down the corridor are the classrooms."
"Thank you, this was most enlightening."
-Break-
"Welcome to Durmstrang, she whispered as the castle emerged from the mist. They were riding on open back carriages that had taken them from the docked boat to the mountains where the Institute was located. Theirs was mysteriously empty of other students despite the ability to carry six students. Harry noted the structure itself was impressively constructed, if a bit bland. Hedging itself on the side of a tall mountain, the fortress was gloomy and medieval.
"You aren't impressed."
"I know there is more to the Institute than looks," he admitted, causing her to shrug. They sat in companionable silence as their carriage landed on one of the platforms, allowing them disembark and walk into the castle. Following the crowd of students, they quickly made their way to the great hall. The staff table was at the front, while twelve long table radiated outward from it outward. Katerina dragged him towards the middle part of one of the tables, where the two sat.
Soon, the entire hall was filled, and chatter ensued before the sound of drums caused a hushed silence to fall. All stood up with hands clasped behind their backs, and Katerina hissed for Harry to do so as well. Just in time, as the professors entered through the main doors. Stalking up to the staff table, they pulled out their chairs and sat down as one, quickly followed by the students.
"Welcome back to Durmstrang," highmaster Karkoff drawled. "I am not a man of many words, so I will be curt. You are here because you strive to be the best. Nothing less is acceptable. Live up to such ideals, and you will find yourself prosperous within these hallowed walls. Fail...and you will find no place for you here. Consider Beauxbatons. That is all."
Chuckles ensued, and at Harry's questioning eyebrow, Katerina explained, "The highmaster wasn't fond of the last exchange visit. Let's just say he now has a personal grudge against the French."
They ate, bantering back and forth, until finally they were dismissed. Curious, he allowed Katerina to guide him, memorising the path as they ascended several sets of stairs. "Dorms are individualised. Apart from a bed, a wardrobe, a table and a chair, it's up to you to make everything else. I'd also advise you to set up some wards, normally a hazing involves students breaking into a new students' room."
"Thanks for the warning," he dipped his head, finding a room labelled 'White' and entered it. It was largely barren, with a stiff looking bed in one corner and a table and chair in another. Besides that, the room was remarkably barren.
"Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."
After she left, he began to unpack his trunk. Shifting the desk and chair over to clear a two by two meter space, he conjured up a divider, a toilet bowl and a shower unit, beginning to draw runes to make them permanent and add water conjuration and waste vanishing spells.
He made several modifications to the room, including layering significant protective spells and wards, yet the one thing he did not change was the bed. The stiffness was roughly the same he had grown accustomed to in the fortress, and he wouldn't trade such for anything softer.
Author Note:
I'll start by saying I don't like this chapter. It features far too much exposition for my liking, but contrary to what literature class tells you, sometimes telling rather than showing is the lesser of two evils. For those who are fearing that this will devolve into a power fantasy, relax, do I really seem the type? Harry's wealth accumulation was inspired by the events in Thailand, when common people donated their gold to be melted down to replenish the national treasury. I felt that such an event was a natural progression of events. The identity of Raven will have future implications when conflict arises, there's a reason I'm setting this up. Don't worry, this isn't lord Pervell-Ravenclaw-Griffyndor-Slytherin-Hufflepuff-Black tapping his enemies and winning the day. Harry is definitely going to struggle against the titans of Voldemort, Dumbledore and other antagonists in the future. This is also why I'm placing so much emphasis on the friendly, almost familial relationship that Harry and Jade seem to have. They have a healthy mutual respect and affection for each other (platonic not romantic), which will play a role in the future. Harry's actions aren't also entirely alturistic, contrary to what the story may first be portraying. Not taking control of the country was an intentional choice, seeing as there are going to be problems that inevitably arise with the country's rapid growth and ascension. By taking the win and leaving it to politicians, Raven distances himself from any crises that will arise while keeping the reputation earned as the founder of the country. This is a setup for in future when he will use this to his advantage. I explain this motivation here as there wasn't an appropriate place in the story to say this explicitly. With that said, I'm definitely looking forward to exploring more of magical academia in the coming chapters. Don't worry, we're going to see some action, even if not to the same extent as what we enjoyed during the Soviet chapters. This is a school, afterall. As such, also expect more parts out of Harry's POV exploring the real world situation outside Durmstrang.
As always, thank you for the incredible support thus far, in particular to Ifc and Snowbot for their kind words! It's definitely been a difficult transition out of Soviet era Raven, even now I itch to type that instead of Harry, but the show must go on! Please follow, favourite, share and leave a comment, even if just to say hi! Until next time, toodles!