Magic

When I woke up, all I could feel was the cold.

Having always been a bit of a summer baby, I was not well suited to Scottish winters and it was only because I transfigured some of my summer clothes into thermals that I didn't freeze. I seriously envied all the people who pranced around in little more than a shirt, a jumper and trousers. I hated those winters with a passion!

Speaking of which, I wasn't even sure where I was. It was dark, cold and my feet especially where ice cold. Looking down, I could see that I was still dressed in my pyjamas which explained why my feet were bare. As was common in winter, it was dark and I couldn't see anyone about which meant it was either late or I was in an isolated area.

I knew it was generally a bad idea to perform magic when you didn't know anything about your surroundings but it was that or freeze. At least with the first I stood a fighting chance. But could I even do it? Did I have enough magic? I tried first with a simple 'Lumos' grinning when my finger lit up. In my excitement, I almost forgot that I was meant to have a wand. I had slowly been exercising my wandless magic 'muscle'. My theory was that it was akin to one - magicals had been using it since childhood so when they suddenly went to Hogwarts where there was so much magical energy, it practically burned not to perform any and wands were sort of like a coping mechanism.

Wands were great for refining spells but you didn't need them. It was like... writing with a blunt pencil instead of a sharpened one. Wandless magic was more unrefined but if you didn't have a sharpener or in this case a wand, it still worked. If you couldn't write with blunt pencils because you'd forgotten how, well - you'd be in trouble without your wand.

I didn't have mine so I needed to craft an equivalent. My magic had been increasingly balanced after I'd decided to use wandless for tasks that required power and wands for ones that needed perfect control. If I ever needed something in the middle or even more precise, I used words. They were rather helpful when I was trying to concentrate my magic.

Contrary to popular belief, words didn't matter too much in terms of pronunciation or even language. It was about what you associated them with. Pictures could even be used in their place - it was all subjective. However, some spells were very specific - Snape's Sectumsempra (ooh, alliteration) guided the caster into performing it. When wand movements and purposeful movements were put together, it was incredibly difficult for the caster to perform a different spell. It was hard to explain but some incantations and movements were just more restrictive than others.

With that in mind, I instantly set about transfiguring my pyjamas into more appropriate clothing. Now that I knew I could do magic, might as well protect myself. The climate was not going to defeat this witch!

After I had sufficiently warmed up, I cast my mind to more practical matters.

I still didn't know where I was and there didn't seem to be much magic around. Now, I knew Hogwarts was an exception in terms of magical saturation but there was always ambient magic. Here, I only caught little wisps. My presence seemed to be helping though - perhaps distant cousins of Wrackspurts were feeding off my magic? If it helped, I didn't mind. Well - not too much.

I needed to investigate, figure out where I was and find some other people before I got too lonely. I didn't want a breakdown so I needed to actually do something instead of letting my emotions fester.

What I could actually do was a whole other matter.

My first priority was probably to find some sort of focusing tool for my magic and people.

People were a pain and I was a solitary creature most of the time but human beings were social by nature so I needed to find some sort of population.

I wasn't sure which one was going to be easier.

Rest

After quite a bit of exploring, I still hadn't found any trees or people. I seemed to be in the middle of a large forest. The space I had landed or arrived in was a clearing and the trees surrounding it were nothing short of magnificent. They were so tall that even when I deployed my favourite spell (a more versatile version of Wingardium Leviosa which I simply named 'Tollo' - much shorter and it was one of the few Latin words I knew), it took quite a while before I finally got up there.

When I did, I had no choice but to marvel at the beautiful view. I was more than 50m away from the ground but with my magic to anchor me and steady tree branches, I felt secure enough to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough ambient magic to ensure I stayed in the tree so I had to get down at some point. The little there was was mostly being used to ensure my clothes remained transfigured - I thought that was more important and my magic stores were not limitless.

Sulkily, I descended from the tree, relying on my magic to keep me steady. This was the type of situation where wandless magic was appropriate - a good thing because I still didn't have an amplifier - as it was more a task of magical energy than a specialised one.

I thought a twig of some sort would be good as wood was a rather good conduit of magic. Metals were generally too good conduits - magic could be likened to electricity - so insulators generally worked best and wood was a very common one. I could have used a bit from the tree I'd just perched on but it wasn't that effective. I took a piece anyway but I wasn't sure how refined it would be.

Besides there would always be other trees to visit. Perhaps if I had not been so tired, I would have explored more but for now, I really needed a nap.

Dream

If I hadn't been so used to random acts of magic by now, I think I might have freaked out more.

I was having an interesting dream about something - already couldn't remember what - but I suddenly found myself in some sort of throne room. I briefly entertained the notion of being in Percy Jackson but found it rather unlikely as there were only nine seats.

The words of the figures swirled in my head until I couldn't remember who'd said what. I did remember getting a little annoyed when they told me they brought me here, how many times was I going to end up somewhere else? I probably (definitely) yelled at the gods and then somehow got appointed as a representative of them (not looking forward to it) and then being told to tell Torrhen Stark not to kneel. I'd already suspected it but now I knew exactly where I was. When was a little debatable.

I didn't really care for when.

I had no ties to this place, nothing to miss so why should I care?

That last sentence almost felt foreboding. I wondered why.

Crash

I didn't sign up for this.

I might seem like an easy-going person on the outside but I hated being late, losing my keys/glasses/wand, getting separated from companions etc.

I was not okay.

With the not so cryptic message of tell Torrhen Stark not to kneel, I found myself waking up in a tree! A tree with a face carved on it and several weak branches. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Probably the gods revenge for yelling at them but they kind of deserved it. Who am I kidding? They did deserve it! I was actually getting settled before they decided to uproot me! Like, what the hell?

Anyway, it was probably one of the most uncomfortable ways to wake up I had ever experienced. Falling out of a tree is not recommended. Falling onto a person is even more strongly not recommended. Falling onto a king is terrifying. Falling onto Torrhen Stark is even worse so naturally that's what happened.

I managed to grab onto one of the branches in midair but it decided to crack. As I was only a metre or so from the ground, my magic didn't see the need to kick in. I still don't understand how I didn't see the man under the tree.

It was only after I heard a pained grunt that I realised I must have landed on someone. Cheeks burning, I hastily scrambled off. After apologising profusely, realising the guy couldn't understand, casting a translation spell with the broken branch before I'd realise it and apologising again, I took the chance to scream "What the hell!" at the sky.

Then I turned my mind to other matters.

It was cold and I was in my pyjamas again but the ground was covered in snow! I nearly squealed in excitement. Snow was fun!

I think I may have started trying to build a snowman if it wasn't for the distinctly unimpressed visage of the man before me.

"And just who are you?" he asked darkly.

I was absolutely done with being intimidated for the day.

"Who are you?" I asked as innocently as possible. I was quite good at it.

The man looked almost confused by my obvious bewilderment before his face tightened.

"Liar!" he growled "I don't like liars!"

Determined to be as civil for as long as possible, I decided a semblance of subservience was best.

"Forgive me, but I don't know who you are."

The man stared at me for a few seconds before hopefully realising I was telling the truth. I wasn't in the mood for a fight.

"King Torrhen Stark"

Great. But totally called it.

"I bring a message from the gods."

Now I couldn't possibly blame him for his reaction. If a stranger crashed through a tree, wearing strange garments and landed on you, would you believe them? Maybe, maybe not.

The King laughed. I couldn't even say I was surprised so I stood there until he was done.

Then calmly continued as if there had been no interruption.

"You are not to bend the knee."

Message delivered, I prepared to Apparate away.

"Halt!" the King called, slightly unsure, "The dragons".

It didn't sound like a question but I knew it was.

"They will not pass this tree", I promised. Dragons had rather fascinated me, mostly because I was paranoid someone was going to put my name in the cup. I knew quite a few repulsion wards. Even if the dragons were not the exact same, the ward was keyed to giant fire lizards so I thought it was pretty safe and it wasn't like I wasn't going to be there.

Pass

If I was Torrhen I wouldn't believe me.

I didn't think he did. That would be a bit naive and it seemed out of character for him. Still, he seemed to be giving me the benefit of the doubt because his army was several places behind the line that I'd marked.

As there wasn't enough ambient magic, I'd had to use my blood as a conduit. I wasn't squeamish but I was worried about blood loss so I'd been very careful with it.

I'd ended up marking a perimeter of sorts around the North including beyond the Wall. The white walkers hadn't raised yet and I could always break my dome. As the army of the North actually needed somewhere to go, I'd also included the edges of the Kingsroad back.

I just hoped it worked else I'd be witnessing a massacre.

As the dragons flew into view, it was the moment of truth.

The truth was, I simply didn't know whether my blood and the traces of ambient magic would be enough. Weirwoods gave out quite a bit so I needed to investigate them a bit more - something I had no idea how to do. Wasn't that just brilliant?

At first, I thought the dragons were going to fly right through. They seemed to speed up, ready to lunge but found they couldn't pass. They roared loudly.

Wait, were my wards dragonfyre-proof? I hastily threw up some shields just a fireball came smashing this way.

I now had to reconfigure all my wards.

Thankfully, I could Apparate meaning my otherwise torturous trek was shortened. I could've had so many close shaves, at arrow for my face, a dagger for my gut but I remembered to put up the Disillusion Charm.

When I got back to the battlefield, it wasn't great. The numbers did not favour the North. As much as I hate conflict, I couldn't find it in me to simply sit there while the North was thrashed but I didn't want to kill people.

Instead, I settled for sleeping jinx to make the Targaryen men a bit wearier. It didn't seem to work but that was the moment the dragons decided was nap time and promptly crushed the men under them. It must have been a painful way to go but I found myself unable to linger on it.

That seemed to turn the tide and rather than Torrhen bending the knee, it was some of the remaining Lordlings who chose to do so. The Targaryens had long since abandoned the science of crime preferring their prides to suffer rather than die. I respected that decision.

Unfortunately, because of my innate kindness, I then had to go around warding said Lordlings places while leaving a passage to the North.

It was late when and I was on the brink of exhaustion when I finally faced Torrhen Stark again. He was grateful even if he didn't go over the top and told me I would go down in their history. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about that. Then came the part I actually had an idea how to deal with.

In that tent with Torrhen 'The not kneeler' Stark, I planted the seeds of egalitarianism which, in my mind was certainly a good thing.

Back

I'd just radically altered the course of Westerosi history, exhausted myself doing probably illegal and inconvenient blood magic and it wasn't enough. I had hoped I could go back after this.

But where was back?

Was it my original world or my life as Luna Lovegood?

I had just been coming to terms with that life, the dangerous (because it was) life of Harry Potter but now I'd been dragged here by the Planetos gods to serve at their beck-and-call.

It wasn't a one time thing.

I now had to travel to this radically altered future that had had just been created. The gods said I could actually be someone there but I was still first and foremost their mouthpiece.

Yay.

How absolutely fantastic.

I didn't really want to go but I didn't seem to have any choice in the matter. Did I ever?

There was a theory that mortals were simply gods play things and I was wondering whether or not it was true. Did they fancy themselves chess-masters? Did they care for us or were they simply pretending? It was unlikely I was going to get any answers, so I chose to take a deep breath and prepare myself for wherever I was going next.

I didn't actually know where I was going but might as well relax. I'd already had my cry-fest and really, there wasn't much I could do now.

Besides, I could admit that I was incredibly curious about how my presence had altered the course of history.