Chapter 15

"Wait, wait, wait," Remus said, both hands up while he briefly bowed his head. "What country? Where?"

Sirius in the meantime had his fist pressed to his mouth and looked rather like he was trying not to pee his trousers while his shoulders shook in quiet laughter.

"Silgram! I've created it off the southern coast of Ireland," Harry said with proud smile, beaming between the two men. "I mean, it's a large piece of rock right now, but give me a few weeks and it'll be a lush magical land with everything a country needs."

Remus very slowly licked his lips and exhaled a long breath while he stared at Harry. "All right. I'll be happy to hear the details of how you accomplished something like that at a later time. I assume you've put up the necessary muggle repellent wards?"

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again for a moment. "I knew I forgot something." He immediately held up a hand. "It's on my to-do list, I swear!"

"Harry, honestly," Remus said with a disapproving frown. "That should have been your first priority."

Sirius bent double at the waist, unable to hold back peals of laughter, one hand on his thigh to keep his balance. "And here I thought you were nothing like James," Sirius barely managed to say. "I was wrong. You are just as impulsive as your father."

"And coming from Sirius Black, that is saying something," Remus agreed with a fond smile.

"I can take you there now," Harry offered, more than eager to show off his creation.

"Go home, go home!" V agreed while he bobbed his head at the two men.

"We'll grab our cloaks," Remus said while Sirius tried his best to breathe normally again, wiping tears from his eyes.

Once the two men were dressed for a November night, Harry followed them out the door, grabbed both their shoulders, and apparated them to Silgram, right in front of his home.

"Is that a castle?" Sirius asked as he stared up at the dark building, only illuminated by the half moon.

"Hang on." Harry waved his hand around and two dozen large glowing orbs appeared suspended in the air, spreading out around the rocky land to give them all some light to see by. "That's better. And yes, that's my home. Made it myself years ago. I carry it along wherever I go."

"How far out of the coast is this island located?" Remus asked as he looked around.

"Just about 25 kilometres."

Remus gave Harry a frown. "That's not nearly enough."

"It's international waters," Harry insisted.

"Sure," Remus said with a thoughtful nod. "But there is also such a thing as an economical zone, and the British Ministry might argue that you've put this right into theirs." Remus gestured around the rocky shore. "Could you get rid of this island and make it again further out to sea? I would highly recommend you do that to prevent any chance of the Ministry even thinking they'd have grounds to interfere."

Harry shrugged. "Or I could just move it."

"Move it," Remus repeated a little disbelievingly, while Sirius started laughing again.

"Yeah, I've done it before," Harry explained carelessly. "Back when I expanded Sildar, one of the new additions caused a change in the tides of a local bay or something. Anyway, the crab fishers were pissed off, so I moved the land to another location. Took some work figuring out how to do it, but once you get the hang of it there's very little to it."

"Right." Remus nodded and gestured at Harry with a lightly trembling hand. "Then I suggest you move this island at least 30 kilometres westward. Better perhaps even 50, if that's possible."

"Sure." Harry strolled to the eastern-most point of the island and started inscribing the necessary runes into the rock with his wand. It really wasn't difficult as long as you knew what you were doing. He was basically turning the whole island into a large, magically-powered ship that would move slowly but surely along the ocean floor until it reached their desired destination. It only took Harry fifteen minutes to get the runes and charms sent up and with a last few waves of his wand he activated the magic. The island shook fiercely a few times as it first came free from the ocean floor, but once it got going you hardly noticed any movement.

"And now those muggle repellent wards." Remus had a rather resigned expression on his face, as though he had just come to the decision that he simply refused to be surprised by anything Harry decided to do ever again.

"You've got to admit, Moony," Sirius said while they followed Harry around as he cast a few simple muggle repellent wards around the outlines of the island. Harry planned to inscribe much stronger wards into the rock itself once the whole island was done growing but these would do for now. "Creating a new country is a rather brilliant idea. No restricting werewolf laws, for one."

"I certainly appreciate the thought," Remus said with a small nod at Harry. "But I can't help but worry how the international community is going to react to this. I doubt the ICW is going to let this slide without at least some pushback."

Harry stopped casting for a moment to look over his shoulder in question. "The what now?"

"The ICW. The International Confederation of Wizards."

Stumped, Harry looked from Sirius to Remus and back. "I have no idea what that means."

"You had no international agencies that oversaw cooperation between different countries?" Remus asked curiously.

"Nope. Santika was a pretty lawless place, to be honest." Harry went back to silently casting, yet he also kept talking. "When I created Sildar we had the most progressive laws of any land, and I plan to implement those same laws here in Silgram."

"I'd be happy to take a look at those laws if you don't mind," Remus said softly.

"I've got those books in the library," Harry said, with a wave at his castle. "You can read them all as often as you like."

"Are you planning to let just anyone live here?" Sirius asked, pulling his cloak a little tighter around himself since a chilly wind had started blowing.

"As long as they obey my laws, sure." Harry finished with the last wards, and the island was now protected from muggles spotting it. "Come on, we'll have some wine in the castle. It's warm there."

"I like the idea, Harry, I really do," Sirius said as they trudged back to the castle, V flying ahead of them. "I just don't know how I feel about your need for dark magic to be legal here."

Harry didn't reply to that until they were standing in the hallway inside the castle and he closed the door to shut out the cold November air. Igor had already stoked the fires in the castle's numerous fireplaces so they got a warm reception.

"I think I know a few people who can change your mind on that," Harry said with a mischievous grin. And while Sirius looked utterly disbelieving about that statement, Harry brushed his thumb across his amulet and summoned his entire family, pouring enough power into them that they'd be visible to his guests.

Sirius' eyes grew as wide as they could possibly go. "James?" he whispered in a hoarse voice, barely audible. "Lily?"

"Hello, Padfoot," James said with a sunny smile while he floated closer to his friends. "Moony, good to see you."

Lily, however, wasn't as welcoming. "Sirius Black! What were you thinking, handing over my son to Hagrid while you went chasing after that rat!"

Sirius took several very large steps back, releasing an alarmed little noise.

"Harry grew up in Petunia's cupboard!" Lily fumed, not letting Sirius out of her sights as she flew up to him at once. "They starved him!"

"Sirius paid for that," Remus tried to intervene, always the peacekeeper. "He spent over a decade in Azkaban."

"And he has my sympathies," Lily said briefly to Remus before turning back to Sirius. "We trusted you to do the right thing, and you let us down. More importantly, you let Harry down."

"I'm fine, Mum," Harry said with a little wave.

"Sshh!" Lily glared at her son for a moment before turning back to a very pale Sirius, who stood trembling on his legs. "What you can do to make up for your mistakes, Sirius, is to stand by our son now and accept him as he is."

Sirius nodded a little, seemingly unable to speak in the face of Lily's fury.

"Harry needs your help," James added as he floated closer. "From both of you."

"I'm still fine!" Harry called out, but his parents ignored him. "Don't need anyone's help. I'm doing great on my own!"

"Santika was a horrific world to grow up in, and the less said about it the better. The only way Harry could survive was to learn magics that are illegal in the wizarding world," Lily explained, now much calmer.

"We've all supported Harry in this every step of the way," James said, giving both his friends a piercing look. "Some of the magic Harry uses is dark, very dark. But Harry himself is a good man, who cares for others, who always tries to do the right thing, who single-handedly saved the whole magical community in Santika." James offered both his friends a proud grin. "If Harry had attended Hogwarts there is no doubt in my mind he'd have sorted into Gryffindor."

"Our grandson is new to the wizarding world," Fleamont added as he floated closer to Sirius with a warm smile on his face. Sirius' eyes filled with tears as he looked between Fleamont and Euphemia. Harry remembered that his grandparents had all but adopted Sirius after he'd ran away from home when he was sixteen and this must be a very emotional reunion for his godfather. "He needs people around him he can trust, who will support him."

"Give him a chance, Sirius," Euphemia said while giving Sirius a knowing look. "Just like we did for you."

Harry was thoroughly impressed to see his family manipulate Sirius so expertly until his godfather finally hung his head and gave a few firm nods.

"I'll stand by Harry. I promise," Sirius said, and he immediately received lots of thanks and smiles from Harry's parents and grandparents.

"Excellent." Harry turned towards the corridor. "Igor, wine for three!"

"Eurgh!"

After a few minutes Igor came shuffling inside the entrance hall carrying a tray with a bottle of red wine and three glasses.

"Just put it in the sitting room," Harry said while gesturing at his guests to follow him, his family already floating ahead.

Once they were seated in front of the blazing fireplace and Harry had poured them all wine, Remus cleared his throat. "That was an inferius, wasn't it?"

Sirius choked on his sip of wine. "What the fuck?"

Harry shrugged. "They're dead useful. Igor is a great butler. I've also used inferi as extra labour whenever we needed more hands than we had to quickly bring in crops before the weather turned in Sildar. Oh, and one time, when this warlord insisted on going to war with me, I just raised a whole army of inferi from a historic battlefield and let them duke it out with the advancing enemy troops while I went back home to teach transfiguration at our school."

"You're a necromancer," Remus said with wide eyes while Sirius was still recovering from coughing his lungs up.

"Yep," Harry agreed easily, seeing no need to deny it anymore.

"Well, that certainly explains your rather impulsive decision to create a whole new country with its own laws," Remus mused while Sirius stared at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes, his mouth opened slightly. "If you performed that kind of magic in Britain, they'd chuck you through the veil."

"The what now?" Harry asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"The veil of death is an ancient artifact that the Ministry uses for execution purposes. It's located in the Department of Mysteries," Remus explained patiently, and yes, Harry knew right there and then Remus had the makings of a great teacher. Once he got his own school of magic set up and running he'd offer Remus a job for certain.

"That's interesting," Harry replied, while V flew over to sit on the headrest of his chair.

"Look, look," V cawed and Harry looked up at him with a fond smile.

"We're kind of busy with our island now, V. Let's save the breaking and entering for a different time."

"Are you really a necromancer?" Sirius asked, looking like he already regretted his promise to stand by his godson.

While Harry sighed, Euphemia floated closer to Sirius and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Quite the shock, isn't it? And yet it was the only way for Harry to survive. The Dark Lord that ruled Santika was a necromancer of unimaginable power, and the only way Harry could defeat him was to learn those powers as well."

When Sirius still looked troubled by this news, Dorea advanced on Sirius. "Being a necromancer doesn't mean being evil. Just like being dark doesn't mean being evil."

"We understand you grew up with Walburga as your introduction to dark wizards and witches," Charis added with a knowing little smile. "And you have our sympathies for that, but even within the Black family there were plenty of dark witches and wizard who turned out to be decent people."

"And you are a werewolf," Charlus said while staring at Remus. "You're a dark creature, and magical Britain will never let you forget it."

"I'm well aware," Remus whispered in reply.

Auntie Eustice floated closer to Harry and leaned over to speak to him. "That book Voldemort was reading, whose ending I missed, is titled Rhodium's Secrets Revealed, and the author is Arthur Bentham. Please purchase this at your earliest convenience, nephew."

"Really, woman?" Patroclus said with a disbelieving look. "Now is the time to order books?"

"Wait, Voldemort?" Sirius demanded, sitting up straight at once, wine forgotten in his hand.

"The man has excellent taste in books," Auntie Eustice said a little defensively. "I don't know what else to say. He ploughed his way through three books just today. And I must say, the modern theories about ward renewals are absolutely fascinating."

"Voldemort is back?" Remus was quick to conclude while exchanging a worried glance with Sirius.

Harry shrugged and drank more wine while waving a dismissive hand at his guests. "Apparently. But you heard her. All he does is read these days."

"That explains why Dumbledore floo-called us earlier today, complaining that you had rejected the prophecy," Remus said while giving Harry an uncertain glance. "He asked us urgently to change your mind. We assumed this was because Voldemort was trying to come back."

"Get your wine," Harry said as he jumped up from his chair. "And follow me."

Harry led his guests straight to the library and he treasured the looks of disbelief on their faces while they walked around the large hall filled with books top to bottom, gaping in every which way.

"This is impressive," Remus gasped while giving Harry a genuinely happy smile. "Truly impressive."

"Thanks. I'm very proud of it."

"Well," Sirius said with a grin as he walked up to Harry. "It's good to see you've got something of Lily in you as well."

"Aww," Lily said, eyes softening as she looked at Sirius. Then she seemed to remember she was still mad at him and she quickly turned back to glaring.

"Here, catch." Harry picked up the prophecy orb from the table, where it was still helping the keep maps opened.

Sirius barely caught the ball, spilling wine on the stone floor in the process, and then he turned it over in his hand a few times before he was able to read the label. "Wait… is this the prophecy Dumbledore was talking about?"

"It's been fulfilled," Remus said in awe and then he gave Harry a pointed look. "It was that Dark Lord in Santika, wasn't it? It had to be."

"Yeah, it was. His name was Rylan. The whole prophecy fits him perfectly."

Sirius placed the glass orb back on the table and then sank down in a nearby chair. "Fucking hell, that stupid thing was never about Voldemort." He stared at James and Lily while his eyes shimmered. "It was never supposed to be you two."

"That's in the past," Lily said, sounding not nearly as emotional as Sirius looked.

"We got to watch our son grow up, we got to teach him all we know, and we couldn't be happier about that," James said as he floated over to Sirius, crouching down in front of him. "We don't blame you, Padfoot. Wormtail betrayed us and Voldemort killed us. We were at war. Prophecy or not, our number would have come up sooner or later."

"I'm so sorry," Sirius whispered, burying his face in his hands while his shoulders shook. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"We know," Lily said, not unkindly. "Please, Sirius, look out for Harry from now on in our stead. He needs living people around him he can trust."

"Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, we'll move to your new country," Remus said with a sigh while he placed a comforting hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Wait, what country?" James asked as he gave his son a questioning look.

"I made a country, and I've called is Silgram!" Harry beamed at his family. "I went to the DMLE yesterday and found out that all the magic I regularly use is illegal in Britain so I decided to make my own country, simple as that."

Fleamont started laughing in sheer delight, and soon most of the others joined him.

Lily rubbed her hands down her face. "Oh, Harry. You really can be just as impulsive as your father."

"Hey," James said with an offended little noise. "I think it's a brilliant idea. Well done, Harry."

"Thanks!"

"Yeah, we'll move here," Sirius said, inhaling a shuddering breath. "The ministry can't get to me here, and neither can Voldemort."

"I'm not too worried about him," Harry said, while V cackled with laughter on his shoulder. "You two can go and fight him if you want, but I've got a country to build and run." Harry waited for a reply, but neither men had anything urgent to say to that. "I suggest you go home and pack your belongings. Tomorrow I'll build you a house. Or I can bring any existing house here if you want."

For a moment Sirius looked like he wanted to dismiss that suggestion, but then he got a thoughtful look on his face. "Any house? Even a large Manor house?"

"Sure, as long as you give me access to the wards. And any surrounding lands if need be. Will take me half a day at most." Harry looked curiously at his godfather. "Did you want to bring your parents' house here?"

"No," Sirius said while a grin appeared on his face. "I'm thinking of Black Manor. It's mine since my grandfather died several years ago. I haven't been there since I got out of Azkaban, thinking it would be too obvious to hide there and the ministry might come looking for me there first thing." Sirius looked at Remus and nudged him with his elbow. "We could fix the place up once it's here, take our time."

"I'd be happy to help," Remus easily agreed. "And I'd also be happy to help you with the island, Harry."

"Well then, I'd like to welcome you to Silgram, as the first residents, aside from me as the founder, of course." Harry toasted his new subjects with his glass of wine.

Not long after that Sirius and Remus apparated home, after Harry handed them an empty wine bottle which he'd turned into a portkey to his castle. Since the island was still currently moving, it would be difficult to apparate to it again the next day since it wouldn't be in the same location anymore.

The next week kept Harry plenty busy. He checked up on Keket, who was happy enough to camp out in the Forbidden Forest for a while longer, to explore and hunt the giant spiders, while Harry worked on creating a new land for her to hunt.

Harry also spent a day moving Black Manor to Silgram, after Sirius gave him access to the wards. It was a large, gothic Manor house with substantial grounds, including a kitchen garden, wide lawns, paddocks, some woodland and even a small lake. Harry marked the whole border of the property with the necessary runes, and then carefully folded the whole thing in on itself without actually damaging anything. It was dimensional magic, fascinating stuff that Harry had studied extensively over the years. It wasn't quite the same as how he managed the shrink his castle, which had runes inscribed in every aspect of the building to accomplish it's mobility.

"Do you want me to put it beside the shoreline?" Harry asked his godfather before he left to get the manor. "That would give you an awesome ocean view."

Surprisingly, Sirius shuddered and shook his head. "Nah, just plop it down somewhere in the centre. Hearing waves crashing on rocks reminds me too much of Azkaban."

And Harry hadn't asked more and simply transported the whole things to the centre of the island. The whole thing fit nicely, and it also created a nice few feet of instant topsoil with plants and animals already in place.

It took the island a few days to move to its new location further out into sea, and once it was settled down and steady, Harry continued growing the island while he showed Sirius and Remus how to transfigure rock into topsoil. The soil they created was sterile to begin with, devoid of all life, but the lands around Black Manor were filled with life which would expand to the transfigured soil, and once Harry had enlarged the island to a size he liked, he apparated to Britain and scooped up random swats of grassland, heather, forestland and coastal dunes, and transferred those to the sterile soil in Silgram, so life could take hold there. Harry also bought tonnes of grass and clover seeds, and mixed them with wild flower seeds to create the basis for diverse meadows. Then he purchased more aged horse manure than he'd ever needed before and spread it out around the newly transfigured soil to give the seeds something to munch on.

Remus helped him inscribe runes into the rocks all around the island for permanent wards and the strongest muggle repellent charms they could find. Harry also inscribed growth runes for quick plant maturity, and weather runes around the island, to control the temperature. He planned on just letting the seasons happen naturally in the future, but for the coming months he wanted to create a mild spring which would allow all the plants and microscopic life to start growing instead of lying dormant over the winter.

Halfway through the week, Harry was suddenly beset by a whole flock of owls, all dropping letters and parcels at his feet the moment he stepped out of his castle. Fleamont had reported the previous day that McGonagall, who Fleamont spied on, had reminded Dumbledore that he had mail wards up around Harry, and that since Harry was an adult now this was illegal.

Apparently, Dumbledore had decided to finally remove those wards. With a sigh, Harry levitated the whole lot inside the castle so nothing would blow away in the strong winds they got on the island and pulled the door shut.

Both Sirius and Remus laughed in his face when Harry told them what happened, and then they offered to help him go through it all later that day. Which was a good thing, because Harry had no clue what half the mail meant.

They used every detection charm they knew while they were seated around a table in Harry's library, opening one piece of mail at a time. There was a substantial amount of what Sirius dubbed fanmail, random people writing to tell Harry how happy they were to hear he had returned safe and sound. There were also a few anonymous pieces that basically stated he should have stayed away, most which carried minor hexes which were easily detected, but one was imbued with some type of poison that made the detection charm flare up at once. Good thing Harry knew a thing or two about security and never touched any unknown object that others tried to give him. He'd never forgotten that the most powerful warlord he'd ever known, Bram the Red, was ultimately brought down by poison.

Harry also received a large folder of meticulous research pertaining to the tournament, with an accompanying letter asking where he was and that his three young assistants were worried about his wellbeing. Harry set that one aside to answer later.

There were also a few letters from the Ministry. One from Minister Fudge, asking him for a casual meeting, and one from the Department of Education, to remind him that all wizards in Britain needed to have at least three OWLs if they were to carry a wand and that Harry could book an appointment to take said OWLs in December if he wanted to.

"I still have my textbooks from Hogwarts," Remus said while Sirius chuckled in amusement. "You can use those to prepare."

"I've never taken an exam in my life," Harry said while staring at the letter in his hands.

"Not even the magical school you attended?" Remus asked.

"Nah, I burned it down before I was old enough to graduate it." Harry folded the letter and then noticed both men staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"

There was also a letter written in glowing green ink from a woman named Rita Skeeter who asked him very urgently for an appointment.

"Oh no," Remus said with a firm shake of his head. "She's a journalist and not one who values the truth in any way, shape or form."

"She would lie about me?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Yep, and get paid for it, too," Sirius said sagely and that was all Harry needed to know. He added the letter the pile to be used to start fires in the fireplace.

Since Harry had no way of sending mail, and V laughed right in his face when Harry even suggested that he carry a letter to Hogwarts, Harry eventually tossed a small pouch of gold in Remus' direction and basically begged him to go buy him an owl, and to buy himself and Sirius one as well if they wanted one. Harry was far too busy creating his own country to bother.

Remus shook his head, apparated away and came back an hour later holding three large cages with three different owls. Harry immediately zoned in on a giant brown and black speckled bird with bright orange eyes, which Remus told him was a Eurasian Eagle Owl. Harry loved the bird, which he learned was a female, so he named her Poppy, since he'd just seen the first poppies bloom in the meadows around his castle.

Remus had chosen a beautiful barn owl for himself, which he named Lawrence, though he never explained if that name had any special meaning for him. Sirius happily accepted the tawny owl that was left and named her Juniper, which James later told Harry was actually the name of the owl Sirius' late brother Regulus had owned during his time at Hogwarts.

Poppy immediately got to go on a long trip to deliver a letter from Harry to his three assistants, thanking them for their hard work, assuring them he was fine but had merely relocated elsewhere, and to pay them each a Galleon for their first week of employment.

Harry also spent time to add a large mountain in the middle of the island, just because he could, and then decided to add a water feature. He inscribed one side of the mountain with the necessary runes, to summon a large, continuous stream of oceanwater, filter out all the salt and other excess minerals, and then have it fall down the side of the mountain to form a river that flowed across the island and provided fresh water for the wildlife Harry had already transported there by way of the grounds of Black Manor.

Once the grassy meadows had really started growing, greatly sped up by Harry's runework around the island, Harry purchased a large fold of Scottish Highland cattle. Or coos, as they were officially called. He released them onto the meadows and the beasts happily settled in to graze and chew their cud, unperturbed by the hard winds.

Once Sirius spotted them wandering across the lawn of Black Manor one afternoon, he couldn't help himself and changed into a dog so he could chase them around for a while, careful to stay out of reach of their sharp horns. The coos didn't seem very impressed by the wild dog and merely grazed their way across Sirius' property.

Harry also spend an afternoon flying around the island and planting all manner of trees by way of their seeds. Acorns for oaks, hazelnuts for hazel, chestnuts and more. He planted beech, ash and willow, but also birch and elder and hawthorn. Remus had given him a few books on the native plants and trees of Britain and Harry was determined to provide a rich diversity of flora on his island. Remus helped by making lists of things to add in the future, like certain types of insects, reptiles and mammals.

And Harry had a blast, creating his own country from scratch while getting to know his parents' best friends. Of course, James was never far away while Lily sometimes stopped by but mostly returned to Snape's side to keep an eye on him.

"Wait, so you've been spying on us the whole time?" Sirius asked, sounding unsure if he should be delighted or terrified. "But you were invisible?"

"Harry controls who can see us," James said, grinning like it was the funniest thing in the world. "And you really should stop doing that twice a day, Padfoot, or you'll go blind."

"Fuck right off!" Sirius finally barked out a laugh and shook his head. "This is just the afterlife version of your invisibility cloak."

"As long as we're on Silgram, I'll keep him visible. No one can execute me here for that kind of magic," Harry said without a care in the world.

"Thanks," both Sirius and James said at the same time before cracking up while Remus shook his head with a fond smile.

When almost two weeks had passed, and the island was coming along nicely, Harry decided that it was time to start collecting some small animals to add to his new country. Rodents for the owls to eat, some hedgehogs, rabbits, that sort of thing. He stepped out of the castle, V on his shoulder, fur cloak keeping him warm, when a flash of fire had him jump a foot backwards.

Before Harry knew what the fuck was going on, he was engulfed in flames, V screeching on his shoulder in a panic, and the next thing Harry knew he was standing in what was obviously a classroom, filled with the tournament champions, a handful of adults, a highly amused phoenix, and Albus Dumbledore.

"Ah, there is our final champion." Dumbledore gestured for Harry to join them. "Welcome to the Weighing of the Wands."

"What the fuck," Harry said, with feeling.