Chapter 3 – Back to Rome
The remainders of the Roman Army trudged back to their camp dejectedly. They had suffered yet another defeat, this time against the Gauls. The Romans had had more soldiers with better equipment and better training. However, the difference between the sides had been the Commanding Generals. The Gaulish one hadn't been very good, but the Roman Supreme General had yet again cost them a victory, through a series of terrible mistakes. In fact, since Ron Weasly had become Supreme General, following the mysterious and suspicious disappearance of Harry Potter, the Roman Army had failed to record a victory. There were deaths was more in one battle than there had been in the whole of Harry's time as Supreme General. The men were almost mutinous. Every new soldier was drilled by the older ones to swear an oath to the memory of Harry Potter, as well as to the Emperor and now that Ron was General, he ordered that the soldiers swear an oath to him as well. Consequently, the army was still loyal to Harry, even though they assumed he was dead.
Several of the more educated soldiers were suspicious of Ron, believing he had something to do with Harry's disappearance. Ron did not go into mourning, as the rest of the Army did. Instead, he seemed happier with Harry gone, and they were supposed to have been best friends. It was also a mystery how Ron had been given the post of Supreme General, over the heads of many better qualified people. After all, Ron had only been a General for a few months before he was given control of the army.
The bigger mystery was how Ron was still holding on to the post. It had been six months since Harry's disappearance, and Ron hadn't had a victory. However, the Emperor seemed to be losing patience with him. The Weasly family, who had been thrust into high society since Ron's promotion, were relegated a social division. They no longer sat with the Emperor during Gladiator battles, or went to the new "Golden House" that the Emperor had built himself. It was a huge mansion, with expansive grounds that had drained Rome's economy, so taxes had to be raised. The standard of living for the ordinary Roman citizen had lowered significantly. They, too, were feeling rebellious, but there were severe penalties for anyone who spoke out against the Emperor.
In short, the Roman Empire was in crisis.
----2 years later---
A thin, pale skinned man was watching Harry and Dean practising sword fighting. He had been watching them for a while now. They were probably the best swordsmen he had ever seen, and he had seen a lot. In particular, the boy with black hair was a truly awesome fighter. He approached the house. He needed to talk to the owner of these slaves and see how much they would be worth.
Harry had been teaching Dean to fight for the past two years. They had been training almost everyday. The two had become firm friends. Harry found that he trusted Dean more than he had ever trusted Ron. Cornelia usually came out to watch. She had developed a great friendship with both of them. Her feelings for Harry, whom she still knew as 'Scar', went much further than friendship, but Harry didn't want to risk being thrown out of the house for being caught in bed with his master's daughter. They had slept together a few times. No one could resist Cornelia entirely.
Just then, Fudge came out of the house.
"Scar, Dean, could you just come here for a second?" They went obediently. Fudge wasn't as bad as they had first thought. They had made it clear to him early that they didn't appreciate being treated like shit. So Fudge treated them with respect and they got on fine, even if he was the most pompous git in the world.
Inside, they met the man who had been watching them fight
"Now, Dean, Scar, I've been having a chat with Severus here, and he is going to buy you off me, and take you to Rome,"
"And what will we be doing in Rome?" asked Dean, a little nervously
"You will become Gladiators," said Severus, simply. Harry was delighted, but then remembered that he may well come face-to-face with his father, and his old friends and enemies. Dean looked scared. Harry saw his expression
"Relax, Dean. I trained you to fight. You'll walk it in the Colosseum." Severus looked at Harry with interest
"What's your name?"
"Scar,"
"What's your real name?"
"You don't need to know," said Harry, dangerously. Severus smirked
"Yes, you'll both do well in the Colosseum. You might even have a chance to fight your ways to freedom,"
"That would involve coming face-to-face with the Emperor, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, that would be the unfortunate prize, but you would also be free, so I suppose it's almost worth it," sneered Severus
"Good, the Emperor and I have a few things to discuss." Severus looked at Harry calculatingly, but then said
"Well, come on. Get your things ready. We must leave soon."
After a tearful good-bye from Cornelia, Dean and Harry were sitting on the back of Severus' cart, being pulled all the way to Rome. It was a long journey. Harry had eventually found out that Fudge's house was in Southern Spain. On the journey, Severus filled them in on what had happened in Rome over the last few years
"Well, of course, Rome is still mourning Harry Potter's disappearance. We'll arrive on the third anniversary of his death, so Rome will be almost silent. The Emperor has dedicated a series of games to mourn the loss. I find this amusing, as Harry Potter was away from Rome on missions from his father so often that he hardly ever went to the Games. The Emperor seems to be taking the loss extremely well. He didn't seem surprised by it, so for those who dislike the Emperor, which is most of Rome, this has proved useful evidence for conspiracy theories. What else is going on? Ginny Weasly is being forced by her brother to marry Draco Malfoy in-,"
"What?" Harry interrupted quickly
"Miss Weasly is being forced to marry Draco Malfoy by her brother Ron, even though she hates him,"
"Why is he forcing her to marry him?"
"Because since he lost his position as Supreme General-,"
"Ron was Supreme General?" asked Harry, shocked. Ron was an awful general. Harry only promoted him because he thought he was his best friend
"Yes, straight after Potter disappeared, but he was removed because he didn't win one battle in more than two years. But as I was saying, since he lost his position as Supreme General, the Weasly family have lost their former status in Rome. Ginny is still well liked, but she has been so miserable since Potter disappeared. But Ron thinks that if there's a marriage between a Weasly and a Malfoy, then the Weaslys will become a powerful family again,"
"When are they getting married?"
"There's no date yet, because Ginny said that she would kill herself before she ever married Malfoy. Most of the family believe her because she wants to see if she's got a better chance with Potter in the afterlife than she had in this life." Harry was silent. He was thoroughly relieved that there was no date for a wedding and that Ginny still hated Malfoy. But it seemed as though Ron would resort to desperate measures to get them to marry. Severus looked slyly at Harry
"Do you know Miss Weasly personally then?" he asked shrewdly
"We met a couple of times before I left for the army," he answered casually. Severus clearly wasn't convinced Harry was telling the full story, but he let it slide.
The rest of the journey was long and boring. They finally arrived at Rome and all his childhood memories of the place came back to him. After just over 5 years away, he remembered it all again. He saw the Imperial Palace ahead
"I used to live there," he whispered to Dean. Dean looked at it, eyes wide enough to fall out of his head.
They went straight past the Colosseum. Dean looked horrified at the thought of fighting in front of 55,000 people, but Harry managed to calm him down slightly. He traced the route in his mind from the Colosseum to the Gladiators area. Their room here was hardly better than at Fudge's house. It was simply a hole in the wall. There were no windows, so it was virtually pitch black. Fortunately, Harry and Dean were living opposite each other. They were informed that their first match would be in three days time and would be a recreation of the Battle of Carthage, where the Roman soldiers had butchered the Carthaginian barbarians.
The remainders of the Roman Army trudged back to their camp dejectedly. They had suffered yet another defeat, this time against the Gauls. The Romans had had more soldiers with better equipment and better training. However, the difference between the sides had been the Commanding Generals. The Gaulish one hadn't been very good, but the Roman Supreme General had yet again cost them a victory, through a series of terrible mistakes. In fact, since Ron Weasly had become Supreme General, following the mysterious and suspicious disappearance of Harry Potter, the Roman Army had failed to record a victory. There were deaths was more in one battle than there had been in the whole of Harry's time as Supreme General. The men were almost mutinous. Every new soldier was drilled by the older ones to swear an oath to the memory of Harry Potter, as well as to the Emperor and now that Ron was General, he ordered that the soldiers swear an oath to him as well. Consequently, the army was still loyal to Harry, even though they assumed he was dead.
Several of the more educated soldiers were suspicious of Ron, believing he had something to do with Harry's disappearance. Ron did not go into mourning, as the rest of the Army did. Instead, he seemed happier with Harry gone, and they were supposed to have been best friends. It was also a mystery how Ron had been given the post of Supreme General, over the heads of many better qualified people. After all, Ron had only been a General for a few months before he was given control of the army.
The bigger mystery was how Ron was still holding on to the post. It had been six months since Harry's disappearance, and Ron hadn't had a victory. However, the Emperor seemed to be losing patience with him. The Weasly family, who had been thrust into high society since Ron's promotion, were relegated a social division. They no longer sat with the Emperor during Gladiator battles, or went to the new "Golden House" that the Emperor had built himself. It was a huge mansion, with expansive grounds that had drained Rome's economy, so taxes had to be raised. The standard of living for the ordinary Roman citizen had lowered significantly. They, too, were feeling rebellious, but there were severe penalties for anyone who spoke out against the Emperor.
In short, the Roman Empire was in crisis.
----2 years later---
A thin, pale skinned man was watching Harry and Dean practising sword fighting. He had been watching them for a while now. They were probably the best swordsmen he had ever seen, and he had seen a lot. In particular, the boy with black hair was a truly awesome fighter. He approached the house. He needed to talk to the owner of these slaves and see how much they would be worth.
Harry had been teaching Dean to fight for the past two years. They had been training almost everyday. The two had become firm friends. Harry found that he trusted Dean more than he had ever trusted Ron. Cornelia usually came out to watch. She had developed a great friendship with both of them. Her feelings for Harry, whom she still knew as 'Scar', went much further than friendship, but Harry didn't want to risk being thrown out of the house for being caught in bed with his master's daughter. They had slept together a few times. No one could resist Cornelia entirely.
Just then, Fudge came out of the house.
"Scar, Dean, could you just come here for a second?" They went obediently. Fudge wasn't as bad as they had first thought. They had made it clear to him early that they didn't appreciate being treated like shit. So Fudge treated them with respect and they got on fine, even if he was the most pompous git in the world.
Inside, they met the man who had been watching them fight
"Now, Dean, Scar, I've been having a chat with Severus here, and he is going to buy you off me, and take you to Rome,"
"And what will we be doing in Rome?" asked Dean, a little nervously
"You will become Gladiators," said Severus, simply. Harry was delighted, but then remembered that he may well come face-to-face with his father, and his old friends and enemies. Dean looked scared. Harry saw his expression
"Relax, Dean. I trained you to fight. You'll walk it in the Colosseum." Severus looked at Harry with interest
"What's your name?"
"Scar,"
"What's your real name?"
"You don't need to know," said Harry, dangerously. Severus smirked
"Yes, you'll both do well in the Colosseum. You might even have a chance to fight your ways to freedom,"
"That would involve coming face-to-face with the Emperor, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, that would be the unfortunate prize, but you would also be free, so I suppose it's almost worth it," sneered Severus
"Good, the Emperor and I have a few things to discuss." Severus looked at Harry calculatingly, but then said
"Well, come on. Get your things ready. We must leave soon."
After a tearful good-bye from Cornelia, Dean and Harry were sitting on the back of Severus' cart, being pulled all the way to Rome. It was a long journey. Harry had eventually found out that Fudge's house was in Southern Spain. On the journey, Severus filled them in on what had happened in Rome over the last few years
"Well, of course, Rome is still mourning Harry Potter's disappearance. We'll arrive on the third anniversary of his death, so Rome will be almost silent. The Emperor has dedicated a series of games to mourn the loss. I find this amusing, as Harry Potter was away from Rome on missions from his father so often that he hardly ever went to the Games. The Emperor seems to be taking the loss extremely well. He didn't seem surprised by it, so for those who dislike the Emperor, which is most of Rome, this has proved useful evidence for conspiracy theories. What else is going on? Ginny Weasly is being forced by her brother to marry Draco Malfoy in-,"
"What?" Harry interrupted quickly
"Miss Weasly is being forced to marry Draco Malfoy by her brother Ron, even though she hates him,"
"Why is he forcing her to marry him?"
"Because since he lost his position as Supreme General-,"
"Ron was Supreme General?" asked Harry, shocked. Ron was an awful general. Harry only promoted him because he thought he was his best friend
"Yes, straight after Potter disappeared, but he was removed because he didn't win one battle in more than two years. But as I was saying, since he lost his position as Supreme General, the Weasly family have lost their former status in Rome. Ginny is still well liked, but she has been so miserable since Potter disappeared. But Ron thinks that if there's a marriage between a Weasly and a Malfoy, then the Weaslys will become a powerful family again,"
"When are they getting married?"
"There's no date yet, because Ginny said that she would kill herself before she ever married Malfoy. Most of the family believe her because she wants to see if she's got a better chance with Potter in the afterlife than she had in this life." Harry was silent. He was thoroughly relieved that there was no date for a wedding and that Ginny still hated Malfoy. But it seemed as though Ron would resort to desperate measures to get them to marry. Severus looked slyly at Harry
"Do you know Miss Weasly personally then?" he asked shrewdly
"We met a couple of times before I left for the army," he answered casually. Severus clearly wasn't convinced Harry was telling the full story, but he let it slide.
The rest of the journey was long and boring. They finally arrived at Rome and all his childhood memories of the place came back to him. After just over 5 years away, he remembered it all again. He saw the Imperial Palace ahead
"I used to live there," he whispered to Dean. Dean looked at it, eyes wide enough to fall out of his head.
They went straight past the Colosseum. Dean looked horrified at the thought of fighting in front of 55,000 people, but Harry managed to calm him down slightly. He traced the route in his mind from the Colosseum to the Gladiators area. Their room here was hardly better than at Fudge's house. It was simply a hole in the wall. There were no windows, so it was virtually pitch black. Fortunately, Harry and Dean were living opposite each other. They were informed that their first match would be in three days time and would be a recreation of the Battle of Carthage, where the Roman soldiers had butchered the Carthaginian barbarians.