Chapter 113: The Slug Club

A brilliant blue bubble of energy formed around him as red hot flames poured into the spot Harry stood. The shield kept the fire at bay, leaving Harry to stand unharmed within the eye of the protective bubble. Even as the intensity of the flames assaulting his shield increased, Harry didn't falter. He remained firmly in control of his magic and focused on the energy flow within his body into the surroundings. The flames suddenly twisted and turned before collapsing completely, allowing Harry to glimpse the training dummy constructed by the Room of Requirement.

Immediately, his shield was assaulted by multiple bolts of lightning cackling out of the training dummy's wand. Despite the relentless and intense assault, his shield remained intact and never buckled. The dummy blasted the ground open, turning the broken earth into stone spears. It let the spears assault his shield, but they all crashed into the energy field and crumbled to dust.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked expectantly at the dummy, but it turned its wand away and disappeared into thin air. 

'Looks like I aced this training session as well.' Harry thought.

Lately, the RoR's training sessions have become less and less challenging. His blasting curses could tear away any golems the RoR could conjure. The dummy was also becoming similarly less and less challenging. The shield-breaking charms used by the training dummy were simply no longer potent enough to break the integrity of his energy shield. He could now muster an impenetrable repelling energy force field around his body that could defend him from most spells with a thought. It was the result of hours of methodical training, and he was now in a position where he felt ready to face someone like Voldemort and come out on top.

Finishing up his training for the day, he left for the Gryffindor common room after checking the Marauder's map.

Walking Hogwarts's dark and silent corridors, he chanced upon the snow falling outside. Samhain had passed with little fanfare, and the Christmas holidays were fast approaching. It was the time when most of the students would return to their homes.

Unfortunately, it would not be an enjoyable winter holiday for most families.

Death Eater attacks have grown bold lately.

There was an attack at Diagon Alley two days back. The Death Eaters were met with hit wizards and aurors, but there were many casualties in the ensuing fight. A couple of bystanders were killed in the spellfire, and Ollivander was spirited off from his shop with his shop set on fire. The kidnapping of Britain's premier wandmaker was a severe blow to the Ministry's image despite felling four Death eaters in the fight.

At this point, the ministry was in a bind as they were engaged in a quagmire where they were forced to respond to repeated Death Eater attacks. The Ministry could never go on the offensive simply because they don't know anything about Voldemort's lair.

So, they were forced to react rather than act against the enemy.

Harry wouldn't blame the Ministry. It was the inherent disadvantage the Ministry was saddled with in this game from the very beginning. It was pretty hard to put spies in Voldemort's camp for an extended period. The only one that managed to survive so far was Snape, but the greasy bat remained Dumbledore's creature through and through. It was the only way Snape could play both sides and keep his sorry ass out of a Ministry holding cell or get the Killing curse to the face from the Dark Lord.

As days passed, the icy winds picked up their pace, covering the grounds outside in more snow. As snow piled up, so did the assignments from the different disciplines of magic. The piles of assignments from Flitwick and McGonagall alone were enough to break the bones of his fingers. But worst of all, they were quite mind-numbing.

After going over advanced transfiguration that could make him transfigure shards of stone into flying steel knives or even a transfigured eagle with metallic claws, writing a page-long report about all the wand movements and arithmancy involved behind a spell used to transfigure a mouse into a cat. At this juncture, Harry felt like he was wasting most of his time in Hogwarts with needless schoolwork. As someone who had spent the last three years forging a nation and expanding its borders with his grit and sheer hard work, he found schoolwork entirely unnecessary. Compared to that, Hogwarts only offered him boring lectures, lengthy assignments and boring movie nights with Dumbledore.

"You look like you're trying to burn a hole in that parchment with your eyes." Neville said as he dropped next to him on the couch.

"Would that I could. It's my runes assignment." Harry said with a huff.

"Have you finished the Transfiguration assignment?" Neville asked.

"No. I fell asleep the last time I tried." Harry sighed tiredly, "I'm leaving it out for the last."

"Uh-huh. Keep in mind that there is another one of those Slug Club meetings coming up." Neville reminded him, which made Harry curse.

"Bollocks!" Harry hissed, remembering Slughorn's invite to another party, "I had forgotten all about that."

"You could skip it, mate. I would have, but Susan would have my hide. Her favourite band will be there, and she is eager to be there." said Neville.

"I can't skip it. Daphne wants to go to this one since she missed the last." Harry dropped his shoulders with a sigh.

"There is the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match." said Neville, making Harry frown thoughtfully.

He had never missed a quidditch match so far, but he supposed he could afford to sit this one out and spend the day finishing the assignments in peace. 

"I'm knackered, and I promised I'd help Hagrid with some stuff in the morning." said Harry, stretching his limbs out, "You turning in for the night?"

"I'm afraid not. I've got to finish the Charms assignment." said Neville.

Harry just waved his goodbye before turning in for the night.

The next day, he was up early as promised and made himself present before Hagrid's hut. When he neared Hagrid's home, Fang ran out of the hut, his tail wagging happily.

"Hey there, Fang! Happy, are we?" Harry smiled as Fang happily ran circles around him.

Fang started rubbing against his leg repeatedly while whining pitifully. Harry placed a warming charm on Fang, and Fang immediately stopped whining. Instead, Fang let out a couple of happy barks and licked his feet for good measure.

"That's enough, ya troublemaker. Back off Fang." Hagrid grunted as he came out of the hut with a giant axe and thick ropes.

"It's alright. He is just happy to see me." Harry scratched behind Fang's ears, making the dog purr in satisfaction.

"He 'as been a right prick las' night, I tell ya. He 'nocked off my cuppa last night 'an ruined my lesson plans." Hagrid said with a huff while Fang hid behind Harry with an innocent look.

"He didn't mean to… Isn't that right, Fang?" Harry rubbed Fang's head, earning an affectionate 'woof' from Hagrid's companion.

Harry and Fang followed Hagrid towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest to cut a couple of trees for the Christmas celebrations in Hogwarts. It was tradition for Hogwarts to host twelve trees for Christmas, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why. The Samhain celebrations were over by the first week of December or even the last week of November, depending on the alignment of Pluto and the moon with respect to Terra. That was the usual time when most people in the wizarding world had their own celebrations. Also, cutting down trees was not part of Samhain or Saturnalia. The ritual was bringing a plant into the homes and making sure it survived the ensuing winter.

It was quite a treat to watch Hagrid climb a tree. He had to appreciate Hagrid's knack for doing such a thing owing to his size. But Hagrid had been doing this for years now, so he shouldn't have been that surprised.

"So, Hagrid. Did you send away the Skewts somewhere? I haven't seen them around for a while." Harry asked while watching Hagrid start cutting the top portion of a tree with his axe while sitting on a lower branch.

The only reason the branch hadn't snapped was because Harry put a featherlight charm on Hagrid.

"Oh, them? They are under the wards of Professor Flitwick. Poor fellows got inter' a skirmish with Aragog's folk. A total misunderstanding, 'o course." Hagrid said as he delivered another blow to the tree, which made it sway lightly.

Harry grunted while using his magic to hold the tree in a telekinetic grip. One more strike and the top portion of the tree was dislodged. Harry kept the hold on the tree with his magic and gently floated the severed portion to the ground.

"The Acromantula attacked the Skewts? Why? How come they're coming out of the forest?" Harry asked curiously.

He was a bit surprised to hear about this. His deal with Aragog and his family expressly forbade them from reaching beyond their territory.

'Those infernal spiders were supposed to keep a low profile and be content with the food supply I provide them.' Harry thought with a scowl.

"Aragog 'as been sick these days. He 'as been tryin' ter keep 'em controlled, but he's been strugglin' lately." Hagrid said gruffly with a sigh.

"Oh, that's sad. I hope Aragog gets well." Harry said entirely insincerely.

He knew Aragog was struggling with a flailing health. But he had hoped his steady supply of Death Eater snacks would keep the Acromantula content within their boundaries. It'd seem Aragog was incapable of holding their deal, and the young within Aragog's family were rebelling. That was not tolerable, and he had no intention of allowing the Acromantula to remain unchecked in the Forbidden Forest.

'The Acormantula… I should take care of them after the Christmas holidays.' Harry promised himself while he continued to help Hagrid cut down the trees and transport them to Hogwarts.

******

"You know my father was quite cross with me when he learned I didn't attend Slughorn's party with you." Daphne whispered to him as they walked hand in hand towards Slughorn's office.

"Blimey… even Damien agrees it was unrighteous of you to abandon your betrothed to the unsolicited proclivities of your friend." Harry said eagerly with a look of faux indignation coming into his face. "Tracey dragged me into a most boring and long conversation about Quidditch league matches with Gwenog Jones."

"Oh, come on. It shouldn't have been that bad. You love Quidditch." Daphne said.

"I love playing Quidditch here. That doesn't mean I'm interested in league matches." Harry rolled his eyes, "I was horribly ill-informed, and it was by luck that I didn't offend the Holyhead Harpies."

"Really?" Daphne raised her brow curiously, "Tracey spoke quite highly of the party and her meeting with Gwenog Jones."

"Of course, she'd say that. She was shooting her mouth off about the number of points the Harpies scored on each game in the current season and the season before like an excited fangirl. I just pretended to drink butterbeer and nodded along to what she was saying." Harry admitted with an exasperated sigh.

"Tracey is a staunch fan of the Harpies." Daphne let out a tinkling laugh before grinning thankfully at him. "Thank you for taking her. She was pleased when she came back."

They picked up loud conversations as they closed in on Slughorn's office.

"No silencing charms." Daphne muttered.

The sounds of laughter and music blared as they approached the Slug Club. Unlike last time, Slughorn's office was draped in green and silver curtains.

'Very Slytherin of Slughorn." Harry muttered.

"Shush." Daphne whispered as Slughorn came towards them with a wide, satisfied smile.

"Aha! Come in… come in…" Slughorn happily welcomed them into his office, "Harry and Miss Greengrass… the most unlikely couple to have come out of Hogwarts. A Gryffindor and Slytherin together… it's quite a marvel to watch. I suppose opposites do attract."

Slughorn wore a brown jacket over his cream shirt with a pointy green hat.

Slughorn gripped Harry's shoulder, led him and Daphne, and led them inside to meet the guests at the party. Unlike last time, the guests were a bit older. From acclaimed authors, charms masters, rune masters, politicians, potion masters, to even an old Vampire were present at the party.

Harry exchanged a look with Daphne, and he could swear he saw his girlfriend roll her eyes as Slughorn went around.

"I don't like it." Daphne said to him in confidence when they got some breathing room.

"Don't like what? I thought you liked meeting Damocles Belby and Rufus Scrimgeour." Harry asked confusedly while sipping butterbeer. 

"I dislike the fact that a blood-sucking Vampire is present at the party, especially when many of the Vampires are serving the dark Lord." Daphne whispered with a frown, "I don't know how Slughorn managed to welcome a vampire into Hogwarts. What was Dumbledore thinking?"

"Hmm. There are wizards and witches in Voldemort's employ. Do you think we should keep all witches and wizards from Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's not comparable." Daphne argued.

"Why not? Mr Sanguini might not be as taken by Voldemort as any of us." Harry pointed out.

"I still don't like it. It's an unnecessary risk." Daphne muttered with a displeased look directed at the tall vampire with dark shadows under his eyes, which stood out on his pale skin.

 "He should've brought a werewolf, and we'd have one right party. A vampire, werewolf and my Daphne attend a party…" Harry joked.

"Stop joking. It's just like you Gryffindors to be so unconcerned about the people around you. You trust so easily. This is not a time to be lax, especially for you, Harry." Daphne said, casting a suspicious look around the guests at the party. "Who knows who the Dark Lord sends after you?"

Harry just smiled, hearing her concern for his well-being. He took her hand in his and brushed his lips against her knuckles.

"There is no need to worry. We are perfectly safe." said Harry. "No one can hurt us here."

After all, it was not just the five senses in his body that were keeping watch of his surroundings. His magical power was all-encompassing and spread out into every nook and cranny of the room. Those blessed with exceptional senses could feel his magic washing over them wave after wave. If anyone so much as twitched in Slughorn's office, he knew it before their body could execute that motion entirely.

Even if he trusted Slughorn not to bring any suspicious characters into Hogwarts, Harry did take due cognisance of his surroundings. Dumbledore had been absent in Hogwarts for the last few days. So, he kept a close eye on who came in and went out of the school using the Marauder's map. There were only three more days before he returned to Potter Manor, which was the perfect time for the Dark Lord to try something.

But, he supposed Voldemort was otherwise engaged and not focusing on getting to him using any proxies. He half-expected the Dark Lord to use Snape to pull something, but nothing happened.

'I wonder what the noseless wonder is planning.' Harry mused amusedly. 

 ****

King Titus Targaryen, the Dragon of the West by Alexandra Greengrass

Despite what many in Europe in the 1660s believed, Titus Targaryen was not a mad conquerer on a quest for land and wealth. The preserved documents of court transcripts of old French, Spanish and Austrian kings painted a bleak picture of King Titus. They believed King Titus was a madman who loved war and waged it out of arrogance and greed with no thought behind it.

However, the truth of the matter was that King Titus waged his war with a thorough and detailed strategy, a fact that often went unnoticed by the contemporary powers.

While it is true that King Titus deployed the princes of House Targaryen and their dragons to launch devastating assaults across Europe, these were not reckless acts. Each target was meticulously chosen to draw the attention of the European kingdoms. As they gathered their armies to counter the perceived threat, King Titus clandestinely dispatched a force of wizards and witches into Europe, led by a skilled sorceress called Boudicca Nott.

Lady Nott's mission was simple. King Titus charged her to ward off mainland Europe's mines, water bodies and farmlands from the muggles.

The reason was simple.

King Titus, being an acute student of war and an admirer of his ancestors who waged war against the muggles, knew that the key to victory against muggle armies was to deprive them of resources.

In King Titus' own words;

"Without the mines, the muggles cannot forge their swords, spears and arrowheads. The muggles cannot quench their thirst without access to rivers, ponds, wells and lakes. Without that water, the muggles cannot water their farmlands. And then, when they lose their farmlands, they will starve. A starving, unarmed army with an unquenchable thirst is not an enemy to kill but an enemy ready to sell their souls for survival."

King Titus' strategy was clear from this statement he gave to his war council, which was later revealed to the public in 1810 when King Jaehaeron declassified several documents related to the Empire's war council. This showed that King Titus was keenly aware of the war he was waging and deeply understood the enemies arrayed against him. One of the curious facts was that King Titus had teachers from early childhood who were aligned with pursuing a trade-oriented relationship with the European monarchies.

Therefore, it was a surprise to many that King Titus later strongly disliked the isolationist policies of his father's court and pursued an interventionist policy. However, the royal court and the Wizengamot were left stupefied by the pace with which King Titus pursued his interventionist policy. Everyone knew King Titus had aspirations for expanding the empire's territory. Still, they probably never imagined that he'd wage a war against the entire continent almost immediately after he ascended the throne. Once he started the war, many factions within the Wizengamot worried that the conflict would irrevocably destroy the empire's ties with the rest of European polities once peace was established.

However, the peace faction within the Wizengamot never realised King Titus was not merely interested in winning battles against his enemies but quite intent on subsuming the European kingdoms under the Targaryen reign.

This became clear when he successfully annexed the Dutch Republic, and Prince Henry was crowned as the reigning monarch of the region under the auspices of the Scottish Crown. It was a clear signal to the peace faction within the Scottish Wizengamot that their sovereign would not stop and was not an unthinking warmonger as they thought. Their renewed attempts to end the conflict were equally met with a warmongering faction within the Wizengamot, which suddenly became strengthened by the victory in the former Dutch Republic.

Lords Maesy, Crooke, Vance, Brooke, Rosier, Theovel, Nott, Slytherin, Smith and Bones were the most vocal in the Wizengamot for the complete annexation of France. There was a staunch Francophobes faction within the Wizengamot led by these lords who thought that France was the major obstacle in breaking Europe out of the muggle hold. Interestingly enough, they were quite ready to make peace with the Holy Roman Empire with an independent Rhineland in between Scottish-dominated France.

This was the 'reasonable' war aims of the pro-war faction within the Wizengamot.

However, King Titus' ambitions were far greater than even his supporters imagined. During the complete occupation of the Dutch Republic and its subsequent reformation as the Dutch Principality under Prince Henry Targaryen, the plans were already laid out for war with France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. When it was revealed that King Titus planned to dismantle Spain, France and the Holy Roman Empire, there was chaos in the Wizengamot. Almost everyone in the Wizengamot felt fighting three great nations of Europe was an unnecessary risk and needlessly bloody.

But there came surprise overtures from the Ministries of Magic of the Rhine, France, Bavaria, Austria, Prussia and Russia that changed the perspective of the war. Suddenly, the war was not just a war based solely on Scottish imperialism but one for the supremacy of wizards over those without magic.

AN:

To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf