Chapter 14
Sirius looked at himself in the mirror. He was fully decked out in a dark dragonscale armor. It was an especially pricy one since it was made out of the scales of a young Hebridean Black dragon, barely out of its mother's nest. The dragon was truly aptly named - as its scales, teeth, and even bones were pitch black. Even its blood and meat were quite dark, having a grayish tint to it rather than a red one.
It was a rarity these days for those materials to be available, since poaching the young of an already endangered species was viewed quite harshly by the international community. The population of this particular breed was estimated at around two dozen worldwide, so it was no small matter.
This one was actually killed in an accident, after it attacked a group of wizards trespassing on its territory, killing two and severely injuring another. By the time the dragon-handlers arrived, it was already quite injured. Getting hit by a few run-of-the-mill reductos in the process actually hurt it due to its immaturity. If it were fully grown the common curses it took would have little to no effect on its hide. In this case, though, they ultimately proved fatal. In its rage, the beast required more powerful charms and time to sedate, in the end succumbing to its injuries, before it could be helped.
The people in question would spend some time in an ICW-regulated prison, even though they had no real malicious intent. They were simply ignorant and had to defend themselves in the end, but it was apparently not much of a mitigating circumstance to the governing body. The law was quite clear on the matter.
They would have to serve a much more severe punishment for encroaching on a protected territory than normal since it resulted in a death. Sirius was all for those international regulations, as beforehand the reward far outweighed the risk in some countries, which did little to curb the poaching. Now at least the punishment fit the crime and there really wasn't a reasonable explanation for forcing yourself through the wards, other than possibly sheer stupidity.
But alas common sense could not extend to Britain as usual, and the laws were still quite lax when it came to the protection of magical creatures on the isles. They were especially biased towards people of high standing, who could pretty much just hunt whatever they wanted and get off with a slap on the wrist.
He resolved himself to bring the matter up in Wizengamot. He would propose that these types of matters be immediately handed to ICW, to handle in accordance with international law. They had a full department dedicated to those matters and were much better equipped to enforce those regulations. That way some of the privileges the rich enjoyed in Britain would be nullified. It would be a much easier way to make sure the law was unequivocally executed than forcibly changing some of the class biases deeply rooted in British law.
Nonetheless, as regrettable as the whole affair was, the ingredients from the dragon in question were auctioned off. Sirius jumped on the opportunity presenting itself, buying up as much as he could. As morally reprehensible as hunting such creatures in their infancy was, Sirius did not feel guilty about acquiring and utilizing those ingredients. The deed was already done and he paid for them through the nose. The proceeds from the auction would go to the aforementioned department, hopefully helping prevent further such incidents.
Two identical suits of armor took more than half the skin he had, but it was well worth it in Sirius' eyes. Sirius took part in the process of enchanting making suggestions and receiving some pointers in the art. The end product went beyond Sirius', admittedly high, expectations. Thanks to the unique size of the scales it was as light as his silk robes and did affect his mobility or range of motion in any noticeable manner. Meanwhile, it still offered significant protection from magical and physical damage.
That made it superior in Sirius' eyes. While the heavier and more restrictive dragon armor, made of the scales of a fully grown specimen offered an admittedly higher level of protection, it was also incomparably more unwieldy and cumbersome. The fact was though that Sirius did not expect the armor to protect him from any direct strikes as armor was able to reliably do that existed. If struck by a truly powerful dark curse it would simply tear through the armor no matter what it was. So the advantages the heavier armor offered were essentially a non-factor for him. All he wanted was for it to block the already weakened curses that somehow got through to him, having gone through either his shields or physical barriers, and maybe mitigate some minor damage from physical or area-of-effect attacks, like shrapnel or heat. Taking all of this into consideration he felt this was truly an optimal choice for his needs.
Sirius also commissioned a goblin-made sword - asking for a black-tinted blade, with the tip of the dragon's tail as a pommel. Its handle would be made of its bones, also dark in color, some mixed in the crossguard as well. Sirius asked for something unique, while most of the Goblin-made blades were made to absorb foreign magic, he asked for a blade that would forcibly repel it. The goblins found the request odd but agreed to it nonetheless. He got the impression that they considered it's forging a simpler, if untested, process. The fact that Sirius offered the use of some of the priceless metals from his family's stores such as adamantine or mithril was probably what enticed the goblins the most. Some of the ancient noble families still hoarded those precious metals, even though they were no longer available anywhere on the market, all the veins in the world were magically located and exhausted long ago. He signed a very precise magical contract with the goblins, ensuring that they would not try to cheat him on anything during the process.
For now, it was meant to be his personal sword, but ultimately it would belong to every subsequent Lord Black. Sirius would ensure that by placing some blood runes on the bone handle of the blade. That part of the blade would be conveniently left smooth and bereft of any enchantments during its creation. When requesting such a thing he alluded that he simply thought it looked better.
Goblins could whine all they wanted, but when the sword was tightly bound to the Black bloodline they would have no choice but to keep their greedy paws to themselves. When agreeing to take the commission, they relinquished any claim to the sword in the eyes of the law. The agreement was based as much on the wizarding law, not on the goblin one. So what Sirius was doing was essentially fully legal, if somewhat underhanded. But it was a necessary precaution.
It was a known fact that goblin-made items oftentimes mysteriously disappeared after a couple of generations, never to be seen again. Some reportedly had anti-theft charms from Gringotts but were still somehow stolen from their owners. It was pretty transparent what was going on behind the scenes.
When negotiating for a better price the goblins would often argue that you had to take into account the fact that the item would serve your family for generations to come. But when you died they would hound your descendants to return it. A decade or two later they would swear they only lent it to the person in question for use in their lifetime. If they felt you were particularly gullible they would risk forging a written agreement where you agreed to give it back or even deny the validity of a writ of possession your family was granted. It was all bluster, they had no power to do anything in the open, but some people fell for it.
But that was not all. From their attitudes, you would expect that goblins abhorred theft and would never lower themselves to commit it. Nothing further from the truth. Looking at history it was clear that if a goblin got their hands on an item they coveted and was able to get away with it, they would steal it in a heartbeat. They tried to justify it, by citing their ridiculous laws, but everyone knew what was going on.
If asked, the goblins would deny the possession of any stolen goods vehemently, while all those missing trinkets and weapons probably laid buried deep in some vault under Gringotts.
Sirius didn't personally have anything against the goblin nation and he believed that if you were stupid enough to trust the word of a goblin you deserved to be robbed. After all the quote 'fool and his money are soon parted' rang true no matter if there were any gobbers around to cheat you. He still sometimes got the urge to punch the little hypocrites in the dick, though, with all the bullshit they spewed. Seriously, when hearing them speak with such revulsion about thieves Sirius had to wonder if they were right in the head.
Anyhow, Sirius was confident that with the measures he put in place he had nothing to worry about where the sword was concerned. It could be summoned from literally anywhere, as it could not be restricted by outside magic, and its innate enchantments would supersede anything.
The cost of labor was quite extravagant, multiple times higher than both the armors combined, but at this point, even that much was a paltry sum to him. He already had a steady influx of cash coming in from his recent investments and he would not shy away from using it. And his magical farms and plantations hadn't even started operating. He was approaching the point of income where he would be able to afford anything and everything that caught his fancy on a daily basis and still make a profit.
He also asked his house elves to fashion two cloaks of the dragon's wings, without charming them at all, since he wanted to design them from scratch himself. He was still not quite done with that, as he wasn't quite able to figure out how to weave in all the spells he wanted at the same time. The main one that stumped him was the one that made the skin more pliable - as the wings were originally quite stiff - and make it fit his frame properly. It was a really complicated enchantment by itself, and incorporating it together with all the other protective, repelling and utility charms was a chore. He was however determined to go through with it, the end product would be positively packed with enchantments. The proficiency and experience in the art he would gain in the process alone would make it worth the effort in his eyes. He was making a steady, albeit slow, progress, but the sense of accomplishment kept him going.
Neither of those was finished yet, but the armor was already fashioned and decked out with enchantments. And that was just as well since Sirius was getting kind of restless. Less than a month from now the tournament would start and he felt that if he wanted to complete a ritual before then, now was the last chance. If he did it later on he would have no time left to get used to his new capabilities. That could prove more of a hindrance than a boon. If he did it correctly however the extra casting speed the first ritual would afford him could make up the difference between a win and a loss. Sirius was under no illusion of being the favorite, with many competitors having decades of dueling experience over him, but he would fancy himself as somewhat of a dark horse. He was in peak physical shape and feeling better than ever, so he hoped to at least reach the knockout stage.
His encounter with the Lestranges also boosted his self-esteem further. When the story broke out in the press his popularity reached an unprecedented degree. He felt like he had a similar level of public support and adoration in Britain as Dumbledore just after his duel with Grindelwald. Even among the lords on the Wizengamot his prestige skyrocketed. More of the older generation now viewed him with respect, earlier simply following his lead out of convenience. The overall appreciation he received was nice, he could swear he actually felt his ego expanding these last few weeks.
That gave Sirius all the more motivation to do well in the upcoming tournament. Even if he won a lion's share of the preliminary bouts, which would normally be an accomplishment for someone of his age group, his reputation could still suffer just because of how high his reputation already was. So his goal was to make it far enough, to not only be respectable but also objectively impressive. With that in mind, it was time to proceed with the first ritual.
END
