Chapter 5

It had been nearly half a year since Harry began rebuilding Hardhome and he was almost finished although not without incident. Several times Wildlings, attracted by the warmth, or attracted by wildlife attracted to the warmth had wandered into his lands,the wards informed Harry each who had flown out and confounded them. While Harry was more than happy to welcome people into his lands It had been too early although he had recently decided to relax that policy now that the main defences were constructed. Hardhome was located at the tip of Storrolds point, a decently large and very mountainous peninsula. Its main advantages were its large natural deepwater harbor allowing large ships to dock. And sheer cliffs to its back naturally nestling it against attack. The defences were built in combination with the geography to become nearly indestructible. The main defences were two massive stone walls on either side of the bay spanning in massive half circles starting on land fused with the cliffside and extending far into the sea forming a seawall reinforcing the natural harbor further calming the water within. The Walls studded with towers spanned around 100 feet high reaching halfway up the cliffside. Using transfiguration Harry had molded the walls straight out of the cliffs in continuous 10 feet wide spans of solid rock. Harry had indeed constructed a tower, Starting at the base of the cliffs and climbing its way up before continuing for another 1000 feet. He decided to build so tall after Hearing from StoneFist about the various gigantic structures in this world. Especially the Hightower in Old Town which was as tall as London's highest skyscraper. Harry had gone massively overboard using a combination of gigantic steel I-beams and magic to create a new tallest building in westeros. Harry had never been more thankful that he had helped Mr.Weasley expand the burrow in preparation for Bill and Fluer's wedding. Honestly Whoever would have ever known that in the field of magical construction techniques Arthur Weasley knew more Than Lord Voldemort. In addition to the massive stone defenses. He had also constructed a road network inside the walls with a few lots having basic civic buildings in them such as a library, town hall, jail, barracks, firehouse, warehouses, and a sizable building solely for the use of the harbormaster. As Harry stood at the top of his massive stone wizard tower looking over his lands in what he knew was a very saruman-esque manner he had no idea that soon everything would change. Around 300 miles away in the haunted forest Waymar Royce and his party are slaughtered by the mysterious Others. And over 2000 miles away under the dubious Care of Grand Maester Pycelle The hand of the king Jon Arryn passes away his final words "The Seed is Strong."

Harry is alerted to a party of around two dozen crossing his wards from the west by now they had doubtlessly already seen his monstrous tower and would soon come to investigate and so he elected to await them above the western gatehouse. Casting his FLYHT spell wordlessly he flew around 4000 feet and perched himself upon the city wall between two gatehouse towers. A minute later a party emerged from the underbrush clad in white heavy furs looking quite out of place in the now green lands surrounding Hardhome. Harry placed his hand on his throat, wordlessly casting the amplifying charm Sonorous before calling out to them. "Who approaches the walls of Hardhome?" In his typical general RP accent which luckily was not too out of place in the north of Westeros. A loud boisterous voice called back "It Is I Tormund Giantsbane, Horn-blower, and Breaker of Ice, Tormund Thunderfist, Husband to Bears, the Mead-king of Ruddy Hall, Speaker to Gods and Father of Hosts." Rather bewildered Harry asked rather sarcastically " did you forget a few perhaps Tall Talker and King-beyond-the-wall?" The voice belonging to the now identified Tormund Giantsbane responded. "Well for the first one, yes some call me that although I don't know why. And for the second I am aspiring to be King-beyond-the-wall which is actually the reason for my visit to this place." Canceling the amplifying charm Harry asks his ever present companion his opinion. "Well what sort of Free folk are these?" Stonefist contemplated the question for a few seconds before responding. "They aren't Thenn they speak common to well, and This Tormund Gisntsbane Doesn't seem like a cannibal to me I would advise offering them bread and salt" Harry agreed for the most part so nodded his agreement before reapplying his charm. "I will welcome you and your party as guests here Giantsbane. I will meet you at the gates with bread and salt." Harry then cast Flyht once again gliding down to the foot of the gate. He summoned a platter of bread and salt that he kept for just such an l and conjured a table for it to sit on. Animating the gear system responsible for opening and closing the massive doors Harry stood in the gatehouse tunnel ready to greet his first guests. The group led by Giantsbane began to get closer and Harry got his first good look at them. Tormund Giantsbane was a large man although not particularly tall he had a large white beard and he wore a large black chain hauberk with rather obscene golden bands on his arms. Beside him were two younger men with similar features, most likely his sons. A few other men and women with stern faces surround him. In addition Harry's wards notify him that a few hundred more men crossed the boundary a little while ago and most likely lie in wait among the trees.

The small party enters the gatehouse and they take turns eating the bread and salt while giving Harry some odd looks. Harry believes that is most likely due to his strange clothing. This being a formal event Harry was dressed in full black Wizarding robes with red and gold trimming topped off with a wide brim pointy hat on his head. After they were finished Harry waved his hand clearing the table before conjuring thirty glasses and filled them one by one using the aguamenti charm. Taking a glass he drank it all before setting it down enjoying the astonished looks on their faces. "Well go on then refresh yourselves I am sure you have been traveling a long time and let it not be said that I am a poor host." He told them genially. Keeping his eyes on Harry the entire time, Tormund for once left at a loss for words slowly drank his glass of water prompting the others to follow his example. Harry smiled before waving them into the city " well then now that you are fed and watered let me show you too your accommodations for the night" Harry said and then promptly began walking down the road that led towards His personal tower. Tormund shocked by the site of the burgeoning city where there was only a ruin less then a year ago finally regained his voice "Fucking hell its like Brandon Stark came back from the dead" Not stopping his walk Harry responded calmly "I am afraid not I had to do this all by myself" "All by yourself?" Tormund asked doubtfully, "even Brandon Stark used mammoths and giants." Harry shaked his head "well I am not Brandon Stark and you can doubt me all you want. I am not finished building so If you really want to see how I built this city, you can watch me construct a few houses tomorrow." The rest of the trip went by quietly reaching the skyscraper about ten minutes later. "It looks like a giant pecker," Tormund said whispering to his sons. "I heard that" Harry says "and since it is my tower I get naming rights." Tormund snorted "oh yeah and what do you call it wizard ." Harry hadn't in fact named his tower and so answered with the first thing that came to mind when thinking about towers "Gryffindor Tower" He blurted out. "What the fuck is a Gryffindor? Tormund asked. "A Gryffindor is a member of a group of noble courageous wizards who hunt dark wizards" Harry answered purposefully making it sound grander than it is. He then strode away before any had the time to question him. leading the group towards the main hall, Entering he ushered the wildlings to their seats who were all staring at the sky. He once again thanks Voldemort for his lust for knowledge he had as a teenager discovered the enchantments on Hogwarts roof. And now Harry used that knowledge to give his new house a taste of home as well to impress foreign dignitaries or in this case Tormund Giantsbane And company. "Well" Harry told his guests "I am afraid I didn't have much time to hunt so there will be no meat or chicken." Here Harry could have sworn he saw Tormund blink away a few tears upon hearing this. "However I have fresh bread and fish. And you got lucky I just finished aging my first batch of ale" here the guests reaction was much more positive and many thanks were thrown Harry's way.

Harry ducked out of the hall and made his way to the kitchens opening up several cupboards. He released the stasis charm on several dishes that he had made incase of such an event. Levitating the platters of food behind him he entered the great hall and was met by quite a lot of bewilderment over his shockingly casual use of magic as well as cheers for the Huge properly cooked dishes, that type of fare to come by traveling north of the wall . He set them down and the feast began. The wildlings were a blur of festivities and food. Tormund himself ate an entire 3 pound fish, a loaf of bread and five cups of ale. Harry himself moderated himself and ate a more reasonable portion at less then a third of what Tormund consumed although still a hearty meal by any metric. When the feast was finally finished and everyone had moved to sipping beers and talking among themselves, Harry approached Tormund, determining that now was the time to discuss more serious matters. "So you said you were aspiring to be King-beyond-the-wall what drives you to unite the Free Folk under one banner." Harry asked, sipping his mug of beer. "I have heard tales, Sorcerer, of the Others marching south bringing cold and death with them. A night's watch deserter named Mance Rayder has declared himself King-beyond-the-wall and is preparing to bear his force down upon the wall. I aim to challenge his leadership." Harry didn't like the sound of that, He had hoped for more time before a confrontation with these mysterious necromancers. Although he supposed it only makes sense, while else would he have arrived when he did. "I suppose that's why you came to Hardhome. You were hoping that any that sought refuge here would join their power to your claim." Tormund nodded, gulping down a few more mouthfuls of ale. " Yes though I I didn't expect to find a wizard and his queer city instead. It was quite the shocker. I saw you had a large ship in your harbor. Could you make more?" Tormund inquired. Harry shrugged, "I could make more ships, probably not as good as that one but good enough to cross the ocean." Tormund hummed a uncharacteristicly cunning gleem in his eyes "and would you be opposed to giving some of us Free folk a ride?" Harry shrugged once again "well I had originally planned to populate this city by letting Free Folk live here and I plan to defend this city from the Others but I wouldn't be opposed to letting a few thousand flee across the sea." Tormund stared blankly for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter "HA HA HA HA HA" Tormund calmed himself before talking again. "You and I will get along great, Sorcerer. You said you wanted some Free Folk to live in your city. I will bring you the entire north." "I do like the sound of that, " Harry admitted with a smile on his face. They continued drinking far into the night the world would be forever changed by the wild plans conjured by their drunken minds that night.