Hello again.

I promised a new chapter on 05.12.2019 on my profile so let's go. Who needs sleep anyway.

Like always let me answer some of your questions. I promise that it won't be as long as in the last two chapters (fingers crossed).

1. Again magic... Yes, I nerfed HP magic, but Harry will get most of it back throughout the story. I am just taking away the most broken things, like instant teleportation, creating an army with transfiguration, etc. I am not saying that he won't be able to get those back in the future. You will need to read and see for yourself.

2. Timeline and characters' ages. At the beginning of this chapter, it will be the late 290AC. Harry was born in 280AC. The rest of the characters will have their ages from the show. If Arianne Martell wins the poll I will give you her age.

3. Pairings... again. The poll will be active until the next chapter. For now, Arianne Martell is winning. Some people gave me good arguments for and against those pairings, but I already let you choose, so I won't change it now. I can work with both Arianne and Dany. Their stories will change greatly if Harry goes into their lives.

4. Harry was a bit stupid when he went to Hous of the Undying. YEES. Yes, he was, but remember I can't take away every part of his character and his rushing into things without thinking was a very important part of Harry's character. It won't be as bad as in the cannon, but it will come out sometimes.

5. I will stay with normal dragons then.

6. Loot from the House of the Undying. Harry was hurt and tired, he didn't care about looting a place that gave him bad feeling. He didn't expect to get so hurt.

I probably forgot about something, but for now, this is it.

Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or GoT.

Chapter 5. By The Shadow

Surprisingly the time to get from Qarth to Asshai was longer than Hary expected. His previous voyage from Myr took 2 weeks so the wizard though that with the lesser distance it would take no more than a week.

He was wrong. Very wrong.

For the first two days, the trip was going without any problems. Unfortunately, it was just like Harry's luck to encounter some pirates. Truthfully it was his first true fight if one didn't count the Undying Ones, but he used magic with them.

Now Harry knew that in Asshai magic was quite popular and no one looked at you if you used it. But he still needed to get there and who knew how the crew would react to his powers. So Harry only used magic when he was sure no one would notice. Small things like pushing someone with magic or getting their clothes aflame.

Luckily for Harry and the ship crew, the pirates weren't too strong and they got defeated with only a few casualties on Harry's side. Thankfully not many noticed Harry fighting during the chaos, so he didn't need to explain where he learned how to fight or how he got a Valyrian steel sword.

The wizard was glad for those small victories because if someone noticed, his life on the boat would get a lot harder.

Unfortunately, because of the pirate attack, their ship was damaged so the Capitan needed to get to the nearest port where they spent one week. Harry didn't mind as one week wouldn't do anything to his plans.

And so when they departed again, Harry was informed that it shouldn't take them more than a week to get to Asshai.

Again they were wrong.

When the storm hit them, Harry was beginning to think Death was just making fun of him. Fortunately for the crew, they were close to Marahai Island so the Capitan ordered to stop the ship there.

The storm raged for almost a week before it finally calmed down and they could resume their trip. Now Harry was quite irritated. When the Capitan came to him to tell him how long it would take to get to Asshai, Harry stopped him with a glare and told him to not jinx it.

The obviously confused Capitan left Harry to brood as he feared the kid would do something stupid.

Luckily after another week, Harry could see Asshai on the horizon.

Asshai sprawled for leagues across both sides of the river that looked similar to the one from Harry's dreams. It was bigger than Qarth and Harry was curious if the amount of population is adequate to the size of the city.

The wizard had mixed feeling about this place. On the one hand, it was one of the only places where people were still supposed to use magic. Harry couldn't waste the opportunity to see it and that's one of the most important reasons why he is here. But on the other hand, the wizard couldn't help but think that he just got out of the frying pan, into the fire.

There were just so many things that could go wrong during his visit to Asshai that Harry reflected a few times if it wouldn't be better to go back to Qarth and maybe travel to Bravos. Maybe it would be, but his gut told Harry he needed to go there.

Most of the times his gut was right... well if one wouldn't count Quirell, Basilisk, DOM and Harry's sacrifice in the final battle against Voldemort. Alright, maybe his gut was not something to follow, but Harry still felt that something was waiting for him in this dark city.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be so bad.

When the ship finally stopped in the port, Harry decided to change his clothing into something that would help him blend in. He already bought some darker clothes in Qarth and now he could finally use them.

So it was Harry dressed in simple black clothing with gray cloth around his head who stepped onto the dry land first. Just when he wanted to walk away, he was stopped by a rough voice of the Capitan.

"Be careful out there lad, there is a reason why children don't live in Asshai. Never go out after dark, it is simply not worth," advised the older man.

Harry turned around and walked away after nodding to the man. The Capitan was an interesting man and Harry found himself talking with him from time to time. The Capitan was curious why such a young person would travel alone and to Asshai nonetheless.

While Harry didn't give the man the full truth, he told him some twisted story he created in case someone got too curious. From there the Capitan would come to him tell some stories about his travels around the world. Harry was grateful as thanks to them, he got some new information about the world he now lived in.

Sighing, Harry finally stepped into the city and took a look.

There was still some time before the sun would go down so Harry expected a lot of people to be walking around. Surprisingly the number of residents Harry saw, was low. The wizard would expect such crowd from a medium populated market-village, not Asshai.

Harry didn't know if people in Asshai preferred to stay at home or they just came out later, but he wasn't complaining. Even if it might be easier to be unnoticeable with a bigger crowd, now Harry would be able to move easier through the city.

Still, it didn't stop the wizard from observing the people and buildings around him.

Well, there was not much to tell about the architecture style as buildings, streets, and walls of Asshai are made out of black stone that seems to drink the light making the city appear to be a dark and gloomy place. Harry much more preferred the buildings in Qarth, at least there everything didn't look like it was the den of a Dark Lord.

Luckily people were a bit more interesting, but only a bit. Most of them had a dark and solemn appearance. They wore masks or veils and often walked alone. The only thing that was the same as in every other city in Essos were slaves. From what Harry saw they were mostly used to carry palanquins made of ebony and iron. Probably only the wealthiest here could afford things like this.

Still, there was one thing that made Harry very happy.

Magic.

During his walk around the city, he already saw a few people using magic. Most of them were able to control fire, but Harry also saw a few who could levitate small things.

Because of this discovery, Harry couldn't help but spread his senses a bit and try to feel the magic around him. There was magic in Asshai, a lot of it, much more than in the house of the Undying. It was vast, wild and had some darkness in it, but it was still magic and Harry was glad to find a place where it was still alive.

Finally, Harry decided to stop his exploration and head into the direction where he saw some shops. He needed to resupply and see what people sell here.

It didn't take him long and after a few minutes, Harry again had a pouch full of food. There wasn't much to chose from as Asshai always needed to buy food for the entire city, but it was enough.

In the market area, Harry also found some shops that he wanted to visit sometime during his stay. He could feel some magic coming from them so he would come back after he found a place to sleep.

At first, Harry wanted to find an inn and buy a room, but he soon realized that Asshai really had a really low population. Thus a lot of buildings stood abandoned. So with that information in mind, Harry found a building close to the market area and made himself fell as comfortable as he could.

Thankfully the house had furniture in a pretty good condition so Harry didn't need to create a makeshift bed for himself. Also, doors were all working so the wizard could place his ward stones without the fear of anyone coming in. He also managed to recreate a low powered locking charm during his travel on the boat, so he could use it on the doors.

After the wizard secured his new home, he laid down in bed and went to sleep.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he saw that he definitely wasn't in Asshai. No, this was another one of his weird dreams.

He looked around and saw the vast lands covered in snow. The wizard couldn't even find one spot where the ice or snow wasn't present. Another confusing thing was that Harry could feel the coldness around him. It shouldn't be possible, it was only a dream.

Just then the winds began to pick on and the snow started to fall. After a few moments, the blizzard encompassed his form and Harry was forced to close his eyes.

He stayed like that for quite some time before the winds went away and he could open his eyes again.

Harry quickly recognized he wasn't in the same place anymore. The snow was still there, but before him on a hill, stood the weirdest tree, expect from the Whomping Willow, Harry ever saw.

It was a very large bone white tree. It had five-pointed leaves and the sap was blood-red. Another interesting part of it was the face carved into its trunk.

Harry watched the tree for quite some time. It seemed really familiar and the wizard needed to go through everything he knew about this new world before he realized what he was watching.

Weirwood tree.

Weirwoods were considered sacred to the followers of the old gods and childer of the forest from legends believed weirwoods were the gods. For Harry, it was a bit weird to think of a tree a god, but he already met Death itself so he could be a bit biased.

The wizard also would love to know, why in Merlin's name he dreamed about white tree. At least in his last dream, he saw a city not a single tree...

Then his thoughts came to a stop when a swarm of ravens appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards the wizard. Harry fell down on the snow and was forced to close his eyes to defend from the swarm. Just then something hit him in the back of his head and Harry was forced awake.

A gasp was heard when Harry finally awoke in the abandoned building. The boy quickly checked himself for any injuries before he sighed in relief. Those dreams were getting weirder and weirder. Plus their realism unnerved Harry a bit. He wanted to belive those dreams were just that, dreams.

Unfortunately, he needed to think about every possibility even if he didn't want to believe in them. The river in Asshai was too similar to the one from his dream and Harry needed to investigate it. Then there is the problem of Death. Harry wouldn't be surprised if the dreams were its work.

After Harry finally came out from his thoughts, he gathered his things and got ready for the day.

He again went for a stroll around the city as he wanted to explore more before he went back to the market area and visited the shops. Harry's mindless walk lead him to a building which was surprisingly colored in another color than black.

The black was still there, but the material from which the chapel-like building was built, had also some crimson coloring. Harry could feel the magic coming out from it, so he couldn't help but take a peek through the open doors.

Inside he saw a woman, who looked like she was in her late twenties and was dressed in a crimson robe, standing on a podium with a big goblet of fire placed before her. Harry shuddered a bit a the sight of another goblet of burning fire, but he quickly pushed it in the back of his mind.

The woman wasn't alone in there. No, around her Harry could see at least twenty people who watched her in daze. The woman then began talking in a language Harry couldn't understand and the wizard could see the flames began to move.

Curious, Harry tried to feel the magic coming from the goblet.

When he got too close to it, the Fire's magic reacted and tried to push on Harry's Occlumency's shields. Harry quickly backed off and ran away from the building as fast as he could.

When Harry was sure no one followed him, he leaned his back against some building's wall and calmed his breath. Fire shouldn't be able to use legilimency and Harry wasn't sure what to think of this event.

The magic in the goblet was controlled unlike anything else in this world and had a mind of its own. While this whole situation was unnatural, Harry decided to focus on it later when he got more information about this city and its occupants.

With the decision made Harry went back to the market area. On his way there Harry walked by the river Ash. The river as completely black and the wizard couldn't think of any reason how it happened. Then there were the fish which from time to time showed themselves on the river's surface. They were deformed and Harry needed to stop himself from trying to take one for some tests. It was better to leave it alone for now.

Finally, Harry arrived back near the shops that caught his interest yesterday.

When he walked into the first one, Harry saw multiple wooden shelves on which stood things made from material that Harry recognized quite quickly.

Dragonglass or obsidian. One of the most important products imported from Asshai and a very interesting material if what Harry felt was right.

The boy walked towards one of the shelves and picked a small figurine. Harry couldn't recognize what it presented, but he didn't care about something so unimportant. What Harry cared about, was the feeling he got from the small stone.

It was the same feeling he got when he held his ward stones. And that meant Harry just found a material he could use with runes which wouldn't cost him a small fortune.

Harry tried to channel magic a few times through the stone and he was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The magic was a bit harder to channel than when Harry used a ruby, but it was good enough.

The wizard then placed the figurine back on the shelve and browsed some more.

After a few minutes, from the backroom walked a man. Harry had problems with identifying his age as the man wore a hood and a traditional mask that hid his face. The wizard was a bit wary of the man and he probably showed this in his posture.

The man chuckled lightly and said in a voice that had some accent in it, "No need to be so tense lad. I am just a friendly shopkeeper."

Harry snorted and replied dryly, "Yeah, you definitely look friendly."

This time the man laughed openly and it took him some time to calm down, "You might be right, kid. Now tell me how can I help you?"

Harry looked around a few times before he settled his gaze at the shopkeeper, "Do you sell unrefined dragonglass?"

It was hard to judge the man's reaction with the mask, but Harry deduced that the shopkeeper was probably curious why a kid would want to buy obsidian.

"I have. If you can provide the coin then I won't ask why do you need it."

Harry nodded and searched for some gold in another pouch inside his bag. He gave one coin to the man and the shopkeeper examined it closely. He then walked out of the room and left Harry alone.

The boy didn't need to wait long as the man came back after a few minutes with a quite big leather bag. "The bag for ten of your coins."

Harry quickly checked the inside of the bag and after he saw the big amount of small stones he nodded. The wizard then exchanged the coins for the bag and walked out of the shop.

With his first transaction done, Harry took another pouch from his bag and quickly filled it with the obsidian. He didn't want to carry them in the previous bag as it was too big.

When Harry finished, he walked towards the other shop, from which he could feel a lot more magic than from the previous one. Again inside Harry saw several shelves and a simple wooden counter.

Unlike the previous shop, in this one the items sold were different. Goblets, stones, weapons and other items one could use in their house filled the store. Harry also saw one important difference between the two shops. While in the last one everything was made out of Dragonglass, in this one almost everything was made out of gold, silver or another high-quality metal.

Harry, like in the last shop, picked one goblet as he wanted to see why he could feel the magic coming from them. After a minute of observation, he finally saw them.

Runes, or at least Harry supposed those were runes. He didn't recognize any of them, but he could feel the magic they gave out. The wizard studied them for a few more minutes before he decided to move onto another item.

He walked to the weapon section where he saw a pure-black blade. It was a simple shortsword without a guard. When Harry took the blade into his hands, he could see the same weird runes like on the goblet.

"Wonder what is it made of," Harry murmured under his nose while he gave the sword a few test swings.

"A blend of Obisidian and a metal that came deep from the Vale of Shadows. Even I don't know what it really is," responded a soft elderly voice. The sound startled Harry and he almost dropped the sword.

"Just like Ollivander," Harry thought after he calmed down. Releasing a last calming breath, Harry turned around to face the newcomer. It was a tall man with short, gray hair that showed his age. He didn't wear the standard mask and Harry quickly deduced that the man was definitely not originally from Asshai. He had blue eyes a few wrinkles on his face.

"I apologize for startling you. I just came out from the backroom and saw you inspecting one of my most prized possessions... My name is Maran, now how can I help you lad?"

Harry nodded and then thought of a name to give. He already decided to use a pseudonym so he might as well start now. "Umbra," Latin for shadow, he was in Asshai-by-the-Shadow so, for now, it should be enough. It was not like he would use it later, he had his own name. "I wanted to ask about the symbols on the items in your shop. Do you know what they are?"

Maran nodded, but Harry saw the slight raise of his eyebrow when the wizard gave him his name. "Those are runes. I engraved each one of them and then fuelled them with magic. Magic that I can also feel from you."

Harry shrugged, "There are a lot of people who can use magic in Asshai, so it is not surprising I also have it."

The man chuckled a bit, "Yes... you are right, but there are a few differences between you and other magic users in Asshai. Your magic is stronger and you are a child of no more than two and ten name days. And if there is one thing everybody knows in Asshai, it is that there are no children in this city."

Harry stiffened a bit. No-one stopped him before because of his age so he thought that no one cared, but here he was. If the man would try something, Harry feared a repeat from the House of the Undying.

Maran noticed the shift in Harry's posture so he quickly raised his hands in a placating manner, "Don't worry young man. My words might have come a bit harsher than I intended. I just wanted to explain my reasons why I breached the topic of your magic. I am not originally from Asshai, I live here because magic is the strongest in this place. "

Harry relaxed a bit, but he was still wary of the man. In hopes of changing the topic, he said, "So about those runes."

The man smiled brightly, "I will explain them to you if you show me some of your magic items. I can feel them on you."

The wizard sighed, it looked like the man had some special ability to sense magic around him even better than Harry could. The boy decided to get some assurance that the Maran wouldn't try anything against him.

Harry looked the man into eyes and sent a soft legilimency probe. He trained with the art during his trip to Asshai and maybe he would be able to at least read Maran's feelings.

And it was a good idea as Harry instantly fest the shopkeeper's emotions. He couldn't feel any malicious intent towards him. The man radiated pure curiosity, so Harry retraced his probe as it wouldn't be good if Maran managed to find out about Harry's ability.

After getting his proof, Harry took out one of his enchanted pouches and gave it to the man.

Maran studied and tested the pouch for a few minutes and then handed it back to Harry, "Wonderful piece of magic. Now if you don't mind, we would sit down and exchange some knowledge about our arts."

And so they talked for the next few hours. Harry was quite comfortable during this talk as he missed the contact of someone who also could use magic.

Finally, Harry decided that it was time for him to go back to his 'home'. After Maran and Harry exchanged goodbyes, the wizard moved towards the exit door but was stopped by the shopkeeper, "Why don't you come back tomorrow lad. I would love to learn more about those runes of yours and some help in the shop would be nice. I am not getting any younger."

Harry nodded and left the shop with a smile on his face. He might have just found someone who would be able to help him as Bronn did.

One and a half year later, early 292 AC

Harry was right about Maran. The man helped him even more than Bronn did.

After a few weeks of Harry's visits to Maran's shop, they decided that Harry would just work for a few hours every day in the shop. The wizard didn't mind as it earned him some money and he could learn more about those new runes from Maran. The shopkeeper was of the same opinion as now he could relax for some time and learn Harry's version of runes. With time Harry began to trust the man more so he told him his true name.

Thanks to Harry's stay in Asshai he managed to learn some of the local language. It wasn't much but it might be useful in the future.

Then there was Maran's and Harry's work on runes. The two worked hard to combine their knowledge on the subject and create something new. They were somehow successful and managed to create a few things that would be really useful in the future. The first one was a rune matrix that created a quite big explosion.

The rune matrix was placed on a small obsidian stone and after Harry or Maran channeled some magic into it, they could throw it and it would explode after a few seconds. Harry wanted to create something like muggle Granade as who knew when some explosive power would be useful.

Their next creation was something Harry wanted to recreate since he came to this world. Stasis enchantment. Finally, Harry could put food under a stasis and it wouldn't spoil. It would be a major help during his travels.

There were also a few minor discoveries, but nothing too important.

Even though Harry spent a lot of time on runes, he still trained with magic and explored the magic in Asshai.

He learned about shadow binders, blood mages, fire mages and some people who could create illusions. Harry stayed away from the first two as this was the kind of magic the wizard didn't want to use. Fire mages couldn't really teach him anything as he already could do almost as much as they could when he arrived in Asshai. Now his fire and ice magic were a lot stronger and Harry could use it longer without tiring as much. He also managed to recreate some charms like summoning or cleaning. It was not easy, but those two spells will be helpful in Harry's not so normal life.

Harry also managed to meet with one of those mages who could use illusions and learn something from them. It wasn't much as Harry quickly discovered he had no talent in illusions. Fortunately now he could put a small illusion over his hair or eyes to change their color. Maybe now he would be able to go into one of the Free Cities without being reminded he looked like someone of Valyrian descent.

Apart from his standard magic training, there was one thing that Harry was proud of. Even if it was still incomplete.

Animagus transformation. Harry feared that with the discovery of transfiguration not working as it should, the wizard wouldn't be able to get back his animagus change. Fortunately, after a lot of meditating with occlumency, Harry finally managed to at least confirm that he still could use the transformation. While his form was nothing special, it would make his life easier. Unfortunately, it would take some time to get the change correctly again.

And so the life in Asshai was surprisingly good for Harry, but he knew he needed to also focus on different things than magic.

Like sword-fighting. Fortunately for Harry, Maran had a friend in Asshai who agreed to train with Harry from time to time. The wizard also received the black shortsword from Maran so he needed to learn how to wield it alone and with Blackfyre. The lessons were going quite nicely and Harry was grateful for the help.

Of course, Harry also wanted to learn more about the Shadow Lands and maybe find the city from his dreams. He finally found his answer in one of the talks with Maran.

Flashback

The unlikely duo of a man above his sixties and a kid barely above ten was walking near the river Ash. The just closed the shop for the day and now it was time to relax.

Harry looked at the river which now without sun glimmers with a pale green phosphorescence. It looked the same as the river from his ream and Harry couldn't ignore the fact any longer.

"Maran," Harry began slowly, "Is there any other city near Ash in Shadow Lands?"

The man looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head, "Not really lad. While there are no active cities out there, there is one which is a ruin. Stygai, also known as the City of the Night. It lies on the Ash, in the Vale of Shadows. Stygai is said to be a haunted corpse city. I don't know what to think of it, but from what I know even shadow binders fear it."

That was probably the city Harry dreamt of. Of course, it would lead him to a haunted and ruined city. Even then the wizard needed to find a bit more about it.

Flashback End

And Harry did search through every book he found for some mention of the corpse city, but he always came up with nothing. Still, his search through some obscure books gave him a very interesting bit of information.

The wizard had no idea if it was even true, but some texts said that when dragons were alive, the magic was much easier to use. Maybe it meant that a few centuries ago people could use magic like in Harry's old world. Unfortunately, he had no way to check the truthfulness of this theory, so Harry went back to his problem with Stygai.

Even if it wasn't for the visions, Harry was intrigued about the City of the Night. He wanted to find out what is so special about Stygai if Harry needed to have dreams about it.

So after his discovery, Harry decided to prepare. And now after one a half year, the wizard was quite sure he would be at least able to escape if he needed. His magic was stronger, his skills with a sword were better and his body grew up a bit.

A year and a half was a long time to stay in a place like Asshai, and Harry was slowly getting sick of some of the things that happened in this city. It is better to move on before he did something stupid.

That's how the time went and now Harry was ready to go. He already prepared a lot of food rations and placed them in his pouch with stasis enchantment.

As of now both he and Maran were standing on the road that led upriver. Harry was now dressed in an outfit that was mostly created out of black leather and every piece of clothing had some protective runes on them. They were quite strong, but Harry knew that they wouldn't save him from anything serious.

Finally came the time for goodbyes.

"It was nice to meet you, Maran. Hopefully, when I come back, I will be able to tell you what I found. Try not to die till then," Harry tried to joke a bit, but he received a glare in reply.

"I still can't understand why you would want to go on this suicide trip. I understand you are strong, but some things are just better left alone."

Harry sighed a ran a hand through his hair, "I know, you already told me this at least a hundred times and I promised that if things get bad, I will turn back. I need to go there or I will go mad."

That was the truth as Harry was getting more and more dreams of the city and the tree in snow lands. He needed to find out if the dreams showed something important or they were just Death's game.

"Alright lad. I see there is no stopping you, but remember to be careful. The way might not be too long, but it is dangerous, so always remember to put wards around when you go to sleep," the old man reminded sternly.

Harry nodded and after they exchanged their last goodbyes, the wizard threw his hood on and covered the rest of his face with a cloth.

Now it was time to follow the river into the Valey of Shadows.

Info: Harry is almost 12 at the end of this chapter.

I did it. I had quite a few problems in the end and they will probably show.

I don't know if I can make it better but maybe I will try.

Now I only need to edit it and the chapter will be ready for tomorrow.

Have a good night or day.

Chaos out.