Chapter 194 : A Birthday Duel and Goblin Secrets
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"Wicked? Un-bloody-believable, that's what it is!" James told Sirius. The general reaction was a numb nod. Severus smirked behind his newspaper, fully aware this was likely to continue during the next school year. That, combined with finally teaching the way he had always wanted to, would make the next months more than pleasant.
Lunch was an interesting affair as Severus was being talkative -for some disturbingly so- Harry was narrating how they had won the jousting tournament -leaving all details of Fleur and Amelie out figuring there was neither need to brag about something of the sort nor was it elegant to do so- and the rest were going through the meal barely eating as if in a daze.
"So you're really good with the sword then?" Ron asked Harry after he completed the story of his first few battles.
"Pretty good, I'd say." He seemed to consider it for a while before exclaiming; "You know, Sev and I would train anyway this afternoon after taking Ghaith and Kadar for a ride; maybe you would like to watch?"
"It's fine by me." Severus assured them. So it was settled and two hours later, leaving the two unicorns in the capable hands of Alfie with the promise to return after their practice, they went to change for their duel. There were two much more medieval looking wizards that appeared at the back yard of the manor to the great surprise of their spectators.
"You have armour?" James asked his son, pointing at the plates covering his shoulders, the right part of his upper chest and his right arm.
"That's only a part of it." Harry stated. "We do train with the complete armour and chainmail on too but we decided on speed today."
"But the swords are magically blunted and we will carry a shield." Severus assured a slightly perturbed Lily.
"If the swords are blunted, why wear armour at all?" Mr. Weasley asked, his eyes alight with curiosity.
"Blunt iron may not cut you but it can still break your bones." Harry piped with a smile, causing a gasp from Hermione and his mother to share a disturbed look with Mrs. Weasley.
"We'll be fine, really." Severus assured them and attacked Harry who grabbed his shield and blocked the strike. They slashed and parried for sometime before the shields were completely discarded, the swords were handled with both hands and the strikes became more vicious. It was right after an impressive vertical slash from Harry and an equally impressive dodge from Severus that Minnie made her sudden appearance followed by none other than Nagnok. The two wizards stopped their practice and turned to look at the newcomers.
"Why did you stop?" Adrian asked completely stunned from what he was seeing.
"Bloody hell! You're good!" James muttered.
"Is that a goblin?" Remus asked looking at the two approaching forms.
"That's Nagnok, our financial advisor." Harry explained panting, looking at the goblin perplexed. "Who has already wished me happy birthday so…"
"Didn't you ask him to proofread that contract?" Severus asked, regulating his breathing. Harry's eyes widened. The new Firebolt! How could he forget that?
"And an assessment of possible investment opportunities." Harry stated, seathing his sword. "Can't believe I forgot."
"You have a goblin for a financial advisor?" James asked his son in mild awe.
"You can't get much better than that." Harry deadpanned and approached Nagnok, greeting him in Gobbledegook and thanking Minnie for bringing him. The goblin greeted back and extended the courtesy to Severus before engaging in a conversation with Harry. Severus listened carefully not noticing the silence aside of the conversation in front of him until after it was broken by Lily.
"Harry speaks Gobbledegook?" She asked unnerved.
"Fluently." Severus assured her. "I started teaching him when he was eight." Lily seemed rather more flustered than relieved by his explanation and was ready to ask more when Harry interrupted her, addressing Severus.
"I have to give Nagnok the blueprints and he wants to walk me through the investment plan he brought along." The teen sent a longing glance towards the stables and Severus chuckled.
"I'll go take care of Ghaith for you; you can go see him when you're done." Harry nodded gratefully and walked Nagnok back to the manor, his family following him, curious to see what was happening. Not that they would understand anything, Severus thought smirking, as Harry tended to speak only in Gobbledegook when a goblin was around in sake of practice and, mostly, good manners; if anything impressed goblins was wizards knowing and respecting their race's protocol.
With a wave of his wand, Severus levitated the discarded shields and swords casting a spell so they would follow him to the stables. Amusing himself with recalling the events of the past day and chuckling softly, he missed a certain redhead that had decided to turn around mid way and follow him instead of her son.
He entered the stables and gently placed the weaponry on the floor. A melodic neighing that could only be produced from a unicorn made Severus smile as Kadar claimed his attention. He winked at the black stallion and started shedding his armour, placing it neatly on the floor so Alfie would have an easier job collecting it. Once the last piece of it -his gauntlet- was placed on the floor, he took a moment to examine his state of clothing; the linen grey-blue shirt he had opted to wear was pretty much drenched in sweat. And wearing that armour, had made him feel impossibly hot during a decisively warm summer afternoon. He turned to his war unicorn smiling.
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