Benedict Ferguson glared at the horde of blood traitors and mudbloods partying away at Potter manor. In his eyes, these people didn't deserve to be happy or enjoy a party. These people should've surrendered to the Dark Lord and allowed his lord to cleanse the undesirables so that good wizarding folk could live free of muggle influence.
For centuries, his people had hidden under a rock and allowed the muggle filth to take control of the world. But the Dark Lord would soon change all that. The Dark Lord would soon destroy the magic-stealing muggles, and then wizards would rule over the world.
But first, the enemies of the Dark Lord in the wizarding world had to be purged. So many muggleborns had already stolen magic from the good pureblood families. Such thieves and their blood-traitor friends had to be put down for good before the Dark Lord could purge the muggles.
It was for this reason Benedict was here in Potter manor. When his lord had tasked him with infiltrating the party in Potter manor, he was understandably worried for his safety. He had no choice but to obey his orders and attend the party.
However, his fears were for nothing, as he was not even searched while entering the manor of his lord's most hated enemy. Once inside, he signalled the rest of his lord's servants through the Dark Mark. He watched his fellow Death Eaters enter the Potter manor one by one.
As minutes passed by, he felt his confidence climb. He was giddy that he was about to become a part of a major attack on the Potter manor. Suddenly, he found a house elf with a tray full of drinks before him.
"Firewhisky master." the elf offered the tray with many beautifully designed glasses filled halfway with his favourite drink.
Benedict happily took two drinks from the tray and drained one glass in one go. But as soon as the liquid drained down his throat, he felt drowsy. It was as if his limbs were weighed down by thousand pounds of iron.
"Does master wish to rest?" the house elf asked in a squeaky voice.
"I…waaaannn…" Benedict felt the words slur in his mouth.
The next thing he knew, he felt like he was being squeezed through a tube, and his vision distorted. He felt a stillness set in for a time before he slowly started to regain his bearings.
Benedict immediately sat up and found himself sitting on the floor in a dark room.
"What in the name of Merlin is this? Where am I?" Benedict muttered as he looked around in the dark room with growing fear.
"Don't worry. Everything will be over soon."
A silky, smooth voice suddenly spoke, startling Benedict. The darkness in the room suddenly disappeared, and Benedict was left facing a blonde-haired girl standing outside a cell. It was then he realised he was behind bars. He immediately searched his pocket and robes for his wand but found it empty.
"Looking for this."
Benedict's breath caught in his throat when he saw his wand in the blonde girl's hand.
"Don't worry. You'll have the rest of your friends to keep you company." The girl gave him a derisive look before turning away to walk away.
"No, wait! You're Damien Greengrass' daughter, aren't you? Help me out of this prison, and you'll be richly rewarded by the Dark Lord." Benedict said desperately.
He saw the girl freeze and look at him with cold blue eyes.
"Really? What sort of rewards?" the girl asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Power beyond measure. The Dark Lord will make you strong. He'll welcome you, a pureblood witch of noble lineage, into his ranks."
"I see. You must've been granted this great power by the Dark Lord if you're speaking so confidently."
"Yes! Yes, of course. The Dark Lord grants power to those of pureblood ancestry and loyalty." Benedict lied easily.
"I see. Then, you'll be capable of breaking out of this cell all by yourself. You only need to muster this great power bestowed by the Dark Lord."
Benedict scowled at the girl, realising she had no intention of releasing him from the cell.
"The Dark Lord will bring death and destruction upon this place. You and your family will die a most painful death." Benedict screamed as he slammed into the cell with rage in his eyes.
"Oh, there'll be a lot of death this night." The girl looked down at him as if he were a fly, making Benedict's blood boil.
"Blood traitor! How could you consort with dirty mudbloods and half…" Benedict started to go off on his tirade, but he found his voice leaving him.
"There – that's better. You'll get the company of your friends shortly."
Benedict watched with baleful eyes as the Greengrass girl walked away while he desperately tried to break the iron bars holding him prisoner. Suddenly, his fellow Death Eaters started to appear in his cell one by one, just as the Greengrass girl promised. With a sigh, he leaned against the wall of the cell and waited for his lord to rescue him and the others.
****
Harry observed the people sitting beside his grandmother at the table. Damien Greengrass was the only man he could tentatively trust because of certain aligned interests. There was Loui Bourbon at the table, the hit wizard his grandmother assigned him for destroying the Giants loyal to the Dark Lord. The other two men at the table were a mystery to Harry.
He felt a localised secrecy ward going up surrounding the table.
"I have to say this party of yours is not half bad. Though, this home could use a better look." Perenelle commented after making a show of looking around.
"Oh. Do you have any suggestions for my home?" Harry asked for the sake of conversation.
"Oh, yes. Don't build one in these damp islands." Perenelle said with a chuckle, followed by the other men sitting at the table.
"Some of us must content ourselves with what we have, Lady Lilith. Not all of us can enjoy the sunny beaches of France indefinitely." said Harry.
"Hmm. Let me introduce you to Christoph Schmidt and Ivan Volkov. These men will help you with your troublesome Dark Lord."
Harry frowned at the two men who waved at him lazily. With a cursory look, he could sense their magic was strong. But having a strong aura was not a guarantee for anything.
"What brought this sudden dose of generosity?" Harry asked, keeping his doubt about the competence of these two men.
"I'm merely fulfilling my end of the bargain, and it is now time for you to reciprocate. Now, give me what I want, Harry." Perenelle looked pointedly at him.
Harry stared into the green eyes that were perfect copies of his own before sighing.
"All right." Harry said with a short nod.
He took an envelope from his pocket and slid it towards his grandmother.
"Inside, you'll find instructions to access Slytherin's Chamber from the Forbidden Forest. There is also a portkey to take you to the site. You'll find a closed lid made of stone on the floor, leading you to the chamber through a long pipeline."
Perenelle stared long and hard at her grandson before taking the envelope.
"You've been scouring the Chamber for years. What interesting things have you found, Harry?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't think it'd be appropriate to deny you the gratification of a treasure hunt, Lady Lilith." Harry evaded giving any information. "If you'll excuse me, I've got some guests to attend to."
With that parting shot, he escaped from the table and took rounds amongst his guests. The music band Gaelic Hummers were starting another jaunty tune when Harry found Daphne at the entrance of the ballroom. He immediately went to her side after exchanging some polite greetings with the guests along the way.
Harry offered his hand and led Daphne to the dance floor.
"They're here. The elves have started to take them into the cells." Daphne whispered as they made slow steps, following the music in the ballroom.
"Mmhmm. Wizards always underestimate the power of those they consider their lesser. I've found the house elves to be wonderful beings with magic surpassing most wizards." Harry said with a grin.
"What're you planning to do with these prisoners?" Daphne asked curiously.
"I'll have some delivered to the Ministry in exchange for favours." Harry mused audibly for her ears.
Daphne shot him an approving look.
"That's smart. What about the rest?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow as they glided through the floor in tune with the music.
"That's a secret."
He was subjected to the infamous Daphne-stare that was in parts cute and compelling.
"But I might be tempted to share more details if you agree to the contract." Harry winked.
Daphne audibly huffed in exasperation.
"Out of the many things that I expected to happen in the future, I never expected Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived to ask for a marriage contract to my face." Daphne said while shaking her head.
"You could consider it being a privilege." Harry smirked while adjusting his hold on Daphne's waist to get a better reach.
"Don't be cheeky." Daphne pinched his shoulder.
Harry retaliated in kind by pinching along her navel, making Daphne let out an 'eep'.
"Stop that. People are watching." Daphne warned him.
"You think they're watching us when they're most likely focusing on their dance partners. Somebody has an over-inflated sense of self-importance." Harry said with a chuckle.
"Oh, in that case, why don't we just dance naked in this ballroom?" Daphne snarked, rolling her eyes at him.
"Interesting thoughts you got there, Daphne. I find it interesting that you immediately thought of getting naked." Harry said suggestively. "There is a lot of subliminal messaging with you, isn't there?"
"Why you..." Daphne looked incensed, her eyes faring up with an affronted look.
A tremor passed through the whole manor before she could tear into him for teasing her so much.
"What was that?" Daphne asked with worry as she looked around.
Harry frowned as the music slowly came to a standstill.
"It's the wards. Someone tried to bring down the wards protecting us."
"Is it holding together?" Daphne asked, looking concerned.
"Don't worry. Voldemort will find that my wards are not so easy to breach." Harry said with a wicked smile.
Harry and Daphne moved outside the ballroom and into the garden, where they could observe the wards outside. They could see flashes of light and slight tremors passing through the area as someone assaulted the wards from outside. Despite the continuous assault on the wards, the protective dome hardly changed, except it became visible to everyone.
While Harry wasn't troubled by the assault on his wards, that was not the case for the wizards and witches in the manor. He tapped his wand against his throat, applying the magnifying charm.
"Sonorous."
"There is no need to worry. The wards surrounding the manor cannot be breached. As for those assaulting the wards…"
He let actions speak rather than some lengthy explanation.
The ground beneath them shook as the sculptures and fountains in the garden started to shift, and in their place, large ballistas came up. He could hear the people whisper amongst themselves as the ballistas aimed their bolts at the areas where the protective dome was being attacked. Once they aimed, the bolts on the ballistas glowed with runes before being shot towards their target.
While the witches and wizards were stupefied at the freely moving ballistas, Harry knew they were being controlled by the house elves from the cellars beneath the garden grounds. There were charmed periscopes fitted to the ballistas that allowed the elves to zoom in on their targets.
Bright flashes of fire and explosion could be seen in the distance. The advantage of seclusion from muggle settlements allowed Harry to use some flashier attacks against his enemies. The elves didn't let up on the offensive and maintained consistent assault on enemy positions.
After a steady stream of assault, the ballistas stopped and folded back into the ground, only to be replaced by sculptures and fountains. Harry initially wanted to use machine guns, but his trip to the past left him with some serious advantages over magical warfare. The secrets of Goblin warfare were quite interesting and adaptable for wizards to master. And he had mastered the art out of necessity.
There was also caution about staying his hand in using muggle weapons against wizards in a public setting. He didn't want to get suspicion on his head for the murder of 'reformed' Death Eaters towards the end of the Third Task.
"I think they're dealt with." Daphne said in awe.
"Of course they are. Was there any doubt?" Harry looked at her in bemusement.
"Believing it and seeing it with my own eyes are different." Daphne muttered.
"That has to be the wickedest thing I've ever seen." Tonks came from nowhere, right behind Harry.
"I've been wondering where you were all this time." Harry looked critically at Tonks.
"I've been around." She answered evasively.
"You mean you were disguised."
"Someone had to keep an eye out for you." Tonks winked, changing her face and hair to that of another woman before retaining her original look.
"Anyway, the Aurors are moving into the position where you attacked. If we're lucky, we'll capture a few Death Eaters. See ya."
Harry stared after Tonks as she walked out of the garden, giving him a backhanded wave.
"She is so rude." Harry muttered.
"I like her." Daphne grinned.
"Of course you would." Harry sighed.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
A pair of blue eyes glared into his own and just like that Harry was in trouble again.
****
There was a brief recess to the party because of the attack but it came back to full swing once the aurors returned with good news that the attack had been successfully repelled. Unfortunately, the Aurors couldn't take any prisoners from the Death Eaters. By the time a squad of aurors approached the site of the enemy, they were already gone. There were a few bodies on the field, but the aurors had already identified most of them as werewolves of Fenrir Greyback's pack.
Seeing the dour face of Amelia Bones and the way she was tearing into the aurors for their inability to capture even a single Death eater, Harry offered the Ministry a way to save face. Harry releases two of the Death Eaters he captured into the Ministry custody. He also sent Bellatrix along with them, and Minister Bones was happy to a few Death Eaters to parade before the press.
The last he saw of Amelia Bones, she was happily chatting away with a few of his guests while her aurors took the prisoners discreetly into the Ministry holding cells. He suspected a press conference was being prepared in the Ministry while the Minister interacted with his guests.
Harry also noticed his grandmother was nowhere to be seen. He suspected the woman felt it was better to leave rather than threaten her exposure with Dumbledore present at the party. The Order members were now prowling his manor openly. Even Professor Slughorn had arrived for the party, but the man stayed close to Dumbledore's shadow, probably fearing another attack.
Harry slinked back into the cellar to meet with Dobby, seeing that the party was going smoothly without any issue.
"Master Harry."
"Good work, Dobby. Now, deliver one of these Death Eaters to Aragog."
"Yes, Mater Harry."
As the excitable elf teleported away with a Death Eater in the cell to the Forbidden Forest, Harry went straight to another part of the cellar. The deal with Aragog was still on for Acromantula silk. He had his doubts about how long it'd last with Aragog's health in decline. The Acromantula silk was making him a lot of gold so he hope he could keep the deal with Aragog's children. Otherwise, he'd have to kill them all.
He found Winky and a few other elves setting up Nagini's cage. With his grandmother having access to the Chamber, he felt it was better for Nagini to stay at Potter Manor.
Besides, he was almost ready to try his hand at extracting the Horcrux from Voldemort's pet snake. He supposed he could close that chapter before Hogwarts reopened. And then, he could try to extract the soul shard trapped in his head if the process he devised was a success.
**** Branch Reality ****
An excerpt from The Age of the Dragon by Diana Black
The Age of the Dragon is commonly acknowledged as the 10th century. However, the exact date would be 930 CE to 1000 CE.
This period of time was eventful in world history, but none so more than in the Scottish Isles. The rise of House Targaryen changed the course of history in the Scottish Isles and the world. It was the first time in recorded history that a wizard bonded with a dragon. All contemporary sources from that era, close to the first Scottish king, highlighted this fact in their writings.
However, the most interesting phenomenon was the continued bond the descendants of Hadrian Targaryen enjoyed with dragons.
Hadrian Targaryen's familiar, the Red Queen, later bonded with his son, Prince Alexander Targaryen. The dragons that hatched from the eggs of the Red Queen bonded with Princess Daenys Targaryen and other Targaryen descendants. This was another event that was unheard of in the wizarding history. The bond that those with Targaryen ancestry enjoyed with dragons allowed them to exert power over the Scottish islands.
Within three years, King Hadrian had assimilated three kingdoms to make the Scottish Kingdom. Prince Alexander and Princess Daenys would expand the kingdom's boundary even further as Queen Rowena reigned by conquering all the kingdoms in the Isles. Before the Queen abdicated her throne and crowned her son king, all the islands came under the Scottish crown.
With the aid of the dragons bonded to Prince Alexander and Princess Daenys, the Viking menace was destroyed on the islands, and all Viking ships later feared to sail into the Scottish channel in fear of the dragon kings of Scotland. But Vikings were not the only foe decimated during the Age of the Dragon.
The power wielded by House Targaryen was such that they started to systematically cull the Roman influence in their newly conquered lands. The non-magical populace was barred from practising their faith in the Roman church. The churches and other religious structures were forcibly taken over by the royal house. While considerable efforts were made to remove religion from all walks of life, the vacuum left by the absence of religion gave birth to a new one amongst the non-magical populace of the kingdom.
The Valyrian faith took birth among the non-magical citizens of Scotland during the Age of the Dragon. Queen Rowena made concerted efforts to cull the spread of the religion, but during her last years on the throne, she changed her opinion. The court records from that time indicate that Salazar Slytherin was the man who convinced the Queen to stop suppressing the new religion. These records were later cited to claim Salazar Slytherin was the one who started the religion. But this was never conclusively proven.
The Valyrian faith proclaimed King Hadrian to be a demigod sent to the Scottish Isles by the heavens to establish God's kingdom in the mortal realm. It was believed that God recalled King Hadrian to the Kingdom of Heaven, only to return when the armies of Hell rose to wage war against Heaven. According to the faith, the war was prophecised to happen in fourteen locations across the planet, and this future war is called the War of the Fourteen Flames. It is believed fourteen Targaryen princes would wage this war against the armies of Hell and save the world from destruction.
It became abundantly clear among the wizards of the time that someone used the details left by King Hadrian about his home island to create a new religion. However, the Valyrian faith only became stronger and spread wide after many wizards failed to find the mythical island of the first Targaryen king.
The Age of the Dragon would strengthen the Valyrian faith in the kingdom of Scotland. When House Targaryen started to expand into mainland Europe, the Valyrian faith came into conflict with the Christian faith and Islam. This later led to the War of Faiths for the next five centuries until the Continental War, waged by Titus Targaryen in the 17th century, cemented the Valyrian faith's dominance in the Eurozone.
AN:
For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf