"I received a reply from Robert." Eddard said as he handed Harry an opened letter bearing the Royal Seal.
As soon as he finished reading the letter, he heard the familiar POP sound, and a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
[ ~ Sirius last Will]
Sirius died years ago. But he left his last will with you and has always been tough on you. You are not the original Harry Potter, but maybe there is something left of him in you.
Objective: Find Sirius descendants and establish a relationship with them. The choice is yours. (Completed)
Reward: $1,000 Exp
- Alliance with House Stark
- Lordship
- Quest [Locked] ]
"Congratulation. House Potter is now a recognized noble house in Westeros. As soon as Robert heard that you were related to House Stark, he ensured that the Nobility would view you as a Cadet House of the Starks and not a raised Commoner. He even notified the Maesters." Lord Stark said it with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Lord Stark. I am indebted to you." Harry nodded.
"It's fine, lad. For the sake of my ancestors, that is the very least I can do." Eddard replied,
"As for other technicalities, Skagos never paid taxes and actually owes a lot. All of them have been waved. In order to support the effort of rebuilding your land, the taxes for the next 5 years will be waived too."
"That will help a lot." Harry nodded politely, as he didn't really care about the taxes. The amount of taxes Skagos would have to pay right now was low since they were already poor.
"Additionally, I am already preparing letters for the other Northern Houses to notify them. This will open them up to a trade relationship, especially if they hear of your relationship with House Stark." Eddard continued, "You have to follow the same obligations as any other Lord. Uphold the Royal Laws, respond to summons from your Liege Lords during wartime, and pay your taxes in due time. Oh, and I have contacted the Citadel to send a maester towards you. You had to use the Ravens of Eastwatch to contact us. That just won't do. You will need your own. They already replied; they will send one to Winterfell. I will escort him to Skagos as soon as he is here."
'Hmm, a maester. That will complicate things depending on how much interest they put in him.' Harry mused. The Maester Order was actually one of the most influential powers in the world. Every notable lord had a maester whispering into their ears. The Nobles rely on them for knowledge, healing, and counseling, which gives them a lot of power.
He had actually used legilimency on Maester Luwin to learn more about the order. It turns out the man was actually loyal to House Stark. At the same time, he was one of the less likeable members of the order because he didn't share their views. The reason he was a maester in the north was because the order deemed the place too unimportant.
But it somewhat confirmed his worries. At the same time, a place like Skagos was the most desolate place in Westeros. The maester they would send was most likely someone they wanted to get rid of. Which could be an opportunity to recruit a skilled man, depending on the maester, of course.
"It seems my time at Winterfell has come to an end. If it's fine with you, I would still like to take up your hospitality for today and depart tomorrow in the morning. I was far too far away from my land." Harry said as they finished their discussion.
"Aye, that is no problem. You are always welcome in Winterfell, Harry." Eddard nodded as a small smile graced his face. "My children enjoyed your company. And the boys have learned quite a lot from your swordsmanship."
Harry had learned just as much as they had. Like the weakness behind using essence to gain a skill. While he had the movements and techniques down, it didn't mean he could use them properly.
A skill was like an auto-correction for real-life applications. But it didn't mean that he used it correctly in any situation. This became painfully obvious with skills he hadn't leveled from the beginning. While he knew how to do something, he didn't know when.
This was a weakness he had to keep in mind. He was certain it was something the more experienced men had noticed while watching their Spars.
"The pleasure was mine. I will take my leave now, Lord Stark." Harry said as he stood up and left the room while watching the tapestry with the depiction of the White Walkers.
———
The moon was shining high above the old castle, illuminating the ancient stones of Winterfell and bathing them in a beautiful glow. The majority of people were deeply asleep at this time, and the corridors of the castle were almost empty.
Only the guards patrolling the walls and guarding the important places were awake, doing their duty.
As with Harry, before he left, there was one thing left for him to accomplish in Winterfell. The majority of his stay in Winterfell has been spent inside the library, studying different books to increase his understanding of the world and even grind his mental stats a bit. Although it became hard since he assigned most of his stat points to them,.
At the same time, his intelligence and wisdom had made him smarter. It was far easier for him to remember what he was studying, but it was even more important to read between the lines and conclude the hidden meaning behind the information.
But the most important thing he had been looking for had been nowhere in the parts of the castle he could freely access. And he had it now mapped out almost completely.
The only parts missing were the crypt of Winterfell, where he had been allowed to enter once but never to thoroughly explore it, and the private rooms. Which included the solar.
He had visited the Solar a few times, and every time there was something that had been bothering him.
So he chose to take out his father's old cloak and take a closer look at that room. While Lord Stark was aware of his magic, he never learned the true extent of his abilities. Or about his invisibility cloak. He had shown more of the offensive aspect, trying to portray it as a powerful weapon instead of a subtle tool. A bit of deception never hurts, or the man would always distrust him if he knew the true extent of his abilities.
Of course, the Solar was always guarded by one guard; it contained the records and documents of House Stark. It would be bad if someone tampered with them.
But the sleeping charm quickly changed the problem, and Harry could sneak through the door into the room.
With the guard asleep, he directly headed towards the part that was bothering him. The tapestry depicts the White Walkers. Something about it tingled against his magical sensitivity.
As soon as he had removed it from the wall, he knew what it was. An enchanted door, one that had another anti-muggle charm placed on it. The only problem with that door was that it had no lock or handle. How was he supposed to open it?
"Alohomora." He cast it while pointing at it.
[ The door resisted the Spell. ]
'Of course…' Harry complained internally while observing the door. He hadn't had that much time, as it was quite late and the morning was close. He had to ensure that everyone was sleeping. 'Why did Sirius mention these books if I couldn't enter their storage place? He should have known that it was possible that such a large amount of time had passed. The letter was also enchanted to last for thousands of years. Of course... The letter... Mischief managed.'
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry said it with hope in his voice.
As soon as he finished the last word, the glowing depiction of two stags and a doe, a dog, and a wolf appeared on it before it opened and slid to the side.
Behind it was a dark chamber that seemed older than the other parts of the castle. As soon as Harry entered it, the torch on the wall began to light up, revealing the contents of the hidden room.
It turned out to be a small library. Although it was small in comparison to Hogwarts or the Winterfell Library, overall there were still well over 100 different books. While it was old, it was clean and well organized, with each shelf labeled with the general topic.
Pulling one out of the shelf, he saw that it was a tome about advanced transformation. It was even a skill book, giving him a notification for a few different transfiguration spells he had been unfamiliar with.
All of these books were written by Sirius Handwriting. But these books weren't the only things in that chamber. The most eye-catching objects in that chamber were directly on the opposite end of the entrance.
On the floor were a few locked chests, but above them hung two fascinating items. On a bust standing on a shelf was a bronce circlet incised with the runes of the First Men, surmounted by nine black iron spikes in the shape of longswords. According to his observation, it was the Crown of Winter. The Original.
Hadn't it been handed over to Aegon Tagaryen by the King who knelt, Torrhen Stark? At least that's what the newer history books in the Winterfell Library said. Either Starks around 300 years ago were still using the chamber, or the crown that had been handed over was a copy in the first place.
Based on the dust gathered in the chamber, it had been decades since anyone had entered it.
Besides the crown on a holder was a sword. A sword is made of a material resembling ice.
[ Ice (Magical): A Sword once wielded by an Other, won in combat during the Long Night. It had become the ancestral sword of House Stark until they decided to replace it with a Valyrian steel sword to better fit with the other houses in Westeros.
+200% melee attack damage
Freezes anything upon contact, making common steel weapons brittle. ]
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