It was odd living in Nott Manor, everyone else there agreed, but it was well protected and contained a substantial library that, while it was smaller than the Hogwarts Library, contained all sorts of specialty books.
Oddly enough for Luna there was a book on her family history, as well as one on Elias' family. Theo explained that his ancestor Cantankerous Nott had been very paranoid about "half-breeds" as he called them infiltrating the society of Pureblood Merlinian magic. As a result of such instability Cantankerous went to great lengths to acquire the DNA of the sacred twenty-eight and use them to create an updating book for each family.
"I'm sorry about my ancestors." Theo said jokingly when Elias looked concerned.
"My parents aren't much fun either, that's why Harry is technically my legal guardian." Elias said offhandedly.
"No, that is Sirius." Harry responded, his brow furrowed in confusion.
'Actually Harry, my parents specifically said I was your problem, not Dudley's nor Petunia's, yours."
"Oh… right. Then as your legal guardian, I decree that your bedtime is 5pm." Harry said giggling at the end.
"Piss off Harry." Elias said back, not looking up from the book on his genealogy.
"Watch your language, young man, I raised you better than that." Harry mock-scolded.
"Right… you do remember teaching me swear words right?" Elias finally put the book down, looking at Harry with a long-suffering look.
"That is bullshit. Okay maybe it is somewhat true." Harry admitted, his hand resting on the back of his neck.
/^^_^^-^/
"Where has Harry gone?" One of the Elemental students asked, or rather one asked louder than the rest, with Derek and Angelina getting the worst of it.
"He has gone, fled from the war, and won't be returning to Hogwarts. He has asked us to ensure that the Elemental sessions continue and so here we are." Angelina explained for what felt like the fifteenth time that day. "Ihave my own ideas on how to improve your situational effectiveness when it comes to Element usage, as such we shall be learning on broomsticks as we fly and fight, of course we will be starting with only one-on-one duels so that there are people around to catch anyone who falls from their broom. Any questions?"
"I thought that he would lead the fight against Voldemort but it turns out that he has simply run away." Zacharias Smith called out, his tone one of derivement against Harry.
"Shut up Zacharias. Your simple mind may just see it as running away but I know Harry is building an army in secret." Cormac McLaggen responded, smacking the Hufflepuff on the back of the head. "I once thought that Harry Potter was just a coward however now I see that he is one of the bravest people I know."
"Thank you Cormac, I can't say anything to your belief in Harry's building of an army but I can say that he appreciates your support. Now, Fire Elementals will have to go last, and only fight opponents on the old school brooms, that way if you accidentally burn a broom then it won't be someone's personal and expensive broom."
/_^_^^/-
Harry was in Scotland under a glamour, in Glen Shee specifically, with Charlie, Bogan, and the rest of the dragon handlers, and after a bit of a chin-wag with the group he had made his way up to the summit of the hill.
They weren't the only ones there.
"Have you come to hunt these dragons?" One of the unexpected men asked them, his voice filled with joy and mischief.
"We have come to rescue them and bring them back to Bulgaria where they won't be a threat to anyone." Bogdan answered with no joy to be found in his voice.
"They are prime trophies, we accidentally smashed one of their eggs when we were here last so we are being careful this time."
"You killed another one of them? A grand old Elder dragon and a baby not yet free of its shell?" Harry snapped back, causing the men to regard him with shock.
"How do you know about Dale's trophy?" The same man replied with a confused expression on his face.
"His name is Sors'Dzala and you won't get away with his murder." Harry said evenly, his magic however told a different story.
"I would hardly call it murder, why don't you clear out of here or I might end up doing so."
"Did you just threaten a child?" Charlie questioned, his wand, as well as the wands of every one of the handlers, already pointed at the man.
"No, I just told him what was going to happen."
"Revealio." Harry whispered, aiming his wand at the man's left arm, the sleeve of which vanished and revealed the Dark Mark. "I knew I could feel the presence of the Dark Lord." Harry called out, non-verbally creating an illusion of the Dark Mark on his left wrist. "He has asked us to ensure that these weapons do not escape him, he wants them to be part of his arsenal." Harry bluffed, pulling up his sleeve to expose the false Mark.
"How do I know that he has sent you, do you have any proof?" The Death Eater questioned, looking suspiciously at the group.
"He has allowed me to borrow his parseltongue, you simple fool." Harry bluffed again, switching to parsletongue to insult the men.
"I apologise for questioning you, do make sure to mention that I was helpful in this endeavour, the name is Macnair, Walden Macnair."
"I've met your brother Warren, his mudblood loving nature reflects poorly on your family however your dedication to the Pureblood way of life is refreshing to see. I shall be sure to tell Lord Voldemort of your contribution, in fact I can tell him of the involvement of your friends. What is Dale's family name?"
"Boyce. With me I have Contraxia Burbank, Typherius Worthington, Leonidus Abbot, and Frank Noble." Walden informed him, pointing to each person as he named them.
"We can take it from here, we can split the blame for the two previous dragon deaths when we get back to the Dark Lord. You are aware of the new hideout right?" Harry asked with an aura of mystery.
"You mean we aren't at the Lestrange Manor? We moved there only a month ago."
"It hasn't changed since then, I just didn't know if you were high enough on the totem pole to be informed of the new location, some of the newer recruits still have to meet at the old base for debriefing." Harry informed the man, still lying through his teeth.
"That portrait of the late lady Pettigrew always made me uncomfortable if I'm being honest." Walden said uncertainly.
"Finally someone who agrees with me, she was incredibly unsettling, though I'm not one to talk poorly of the dead. I look forward to seeing you in the future Macnair, I am not one to remove my mask during meetings and so I shall seek you out."
"Good luck with the dragons, I don't envy you." Macnair said as he gathered his friends and apparated away from the hillside.
"That could have gone terribly." Harry remarked, turning around to see the wands of the handlers were aimed at him.
"You have His mark." Bogdan whispered, his hand shaking as he held his wand trained on Harry.
"It's just an illusion, see." Harry explained, vanishing the fake Mark from his forearm and allowing Bogdan to examine.
"Sorry about that lad, I had to be sure." The friendly Romanian explained, looking embarrassed at his turning on Harry.
"Let's just get these dragons back. I will go ahead to talk to them first."
Harry shed his glamour and made his way towards the dragons without waiting for the handlers, there could be no room for error and they all knew that. The air was warmer the higher he went and finally, when it became too much, the air cleared out and Harry realised how thin the air was at this altitude. While he was thinking about that his entire world became fire, prompting his body to act on instinct and Harry managed to catch the fire and stop it from hurting him.
The torrents of fire were becoming too much and so Harry released it into a powerful wave of fire, making sure to aim it away from anyone human, dragon, or otherwise.
"Lily, it is Harry." Harry hissed, using the air to carry his voice, and in the next moment the fire stopped.
"We saw you talking with those that killed Sors'Dzala and one of his eggs, what do you say to this?" Lily asked him, the dragon had grown since he had last seen her and looked vastly more fierce.
"They wanted to kill the rest of you, I managed to get rid of them and I have enough information to guarantee that they pay for their crimes. If you wish to kill me to avenge your fallen then I completely understand, I won't fight you." Harry hissed loudly, his arms held out to show he had no weapons in his hands.
"Does your revenge involve the spilling of their blood?"
"I am not here to act as a moral arbiter, I simply want to ask you to return to the dragon sanctuary, to this end I will complete any tasks you give me and carry them out to your exact specifications."
"Our bid for freedom has left us more trapped than ever before, fear for the safety of our young has incensed us, that rage and fear is not healthy. For us to feel safe enough to return to the sanctuary you must promise to personally kill everyone involved in the murder of our family, as well as promise that there will be changes at the sanctuary, if we are allowed to come and go as we want, soaring for days in the sky before returning to the sanctuary willingly, only then will we return."
"I promise you, it will be done." Harry declared, the air thickening with magic and mystery. When Harry had left and the area was clear, the dragons sang again, this song being one of hope and fate.