The Lion Cub Chapter 108: Assassin in Hogsmeade P1 (Patreon)

With a new Gryffindor team forming, they had to ramp up the practice sessions. But this time, it was not just to mesh the individual skills into teamwork but also to get familiar with the new brooms. The brand new Nimbus 2000s became accessible once Katie presented Professor McGonagall with the list of the official playing seven of the Gryffindor quidditch team. The excitement of taking possession of one of the fastest brooms in the market was quite palpable among the team, and when they were finally given access, Katie pushed for more practice sessions.

Katie reasoned that the team needed more time to familiarise themselves with increased speed and manoeuvrability. But Harry thought she was making excuses to make them train hard for the first game against Slytherin, which was only a few weeks away.

But Harry was not complaining, unlike the others on the team. He was entirely dedicated to his role in the training Katie devised for the team. All he had to do was play interference between the Chasers as they passed the quaffle between them. The Beaters, Jimmy and Ritchie, played their usual game, trying to take down the Chasers while Vicky defended the goal hoops.

After half an hour of training, they were packing up from the pitch while the Ravenclaw team took over the pitch for their training slot.

“Do you think we Chasers were not performing well?” Katie asked once they were out of the earshot of the rest of the team, “We scored fewer goals than what I’d have expected.”

“No. You gals were quick as a wink on those brooms. I had a hard time breaking your coordination. Vicky is just a better keeper, and that’s the only reason you scored less.” Harry said truthfully.

“That’s nice to know. These brooms are quite nice. Please convey my thanks to your godfather.” Katie said with a grin.

“I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”

“Did he really have to buy all those brooms and give them to the puffs and ravens?” Katie complained after a short moment of silence.

“Hey, we want the game to be fair play. We’re not like Malfoy and his ilk.”

“There is that.” Katie said, with a grimace, “But still…”

“Hiya Harry!” Hagrid shouted from across the quidditch pitch, waving a lone hand.

“Sorry. Got to go, Katie.” Harry said his goodbyes to Katie and the rest of the team as he ran towards Hagrid.

“Hey, Hagrid. What do you have in that box?” Harry asked once he got close to see the box in Hagrid’s hand, shaking with something inside, trying to break free.

“It’s a Niffler. A sneaky nick, he is. Two times, he sneaked out and robbed Tom.” said Hagrid.

“Here, let me help.” Harry brandished his wand and cast the levitation charm, which made the box float out of Hagrid’s hand.

“Thanks, Harry. I’m knackered after running after this ruddy blighter.” Hagrid said with relief as they walked towards his hut.

“Is he going to be in the lesson the next day?” Harry asked curiously.

“I was planning to. But now, I don’t know Harry. It’ll take time for ‘im to get around, I guess.” Hagrid shook his head, but he perked up with a gleam in his eyes, “But there’s nothin’ ter worry about. I have another lesson planned. Come. I’ll show ye.”

Hagrid waddled to his hut in a hurry and opened the door while Harry followed the friendly half-giant with the box floating beside him. Fang came rushing out of the hut when Hagrid opened the door with his tail wagging happily. Hagrid rubbed Fang’s head sparingly while rushing inside.

“Come in, Harry. I’ve got quite the surprise for ye.” Hagrid yelled excitedly as he nosily walked into the hut.

“Hey, Fang.” Harry patted the friendly dog as Fang rubbed its head against his knees in a friendly manner. “What is Hagrid hiding in his hut? I hope it’s not a dragon or any massive creature that could devour us both and still have enough space for dinner.”

When Harry stepped inside and set the floating box on a corner of the hut, Hagrid came back with a piece of log in his hand. But what was on that log took Harry’s breath away.

“Tada!” Hagrid smiled upon seeing Harry’s gobsmacked face.

“A Bowtruckle!” Harry exclaimed in excitement, seeing the small green twig-like creature.

“Found ‘im and a couple of other fellas of his kind when I was looking for some Mallowsweet leaves in the forest.”

“There are more?” Harry asked in surprise, watching the little creature slowly munch on the wood.  

“Oh, yeah. The whole lot was happy ter follow me when I said I wanted ter show ‘em ter my students. Come, I’ll show ye.”

Hagrid ushered him further into the hut, and he saw several Bowtruckles happily running around a couple of logs of wood in Hagrid’s home.

“Amazing.” Harry’s eyes gleamed upon seeing the cute little creatures. “Can I hold one of em?”

“Of course, Harry.” Hagrid said happily.

Hagrid managed to cajole one of the Bowtruckles running around his hut to climb into Harry’s extended palm.

“Wow!” Harry giddily looked at the twig-like creature, which was making ridiculous poses while standing on his palm.

“He is so cute.” Harry was ashamed to say he nearly giggled when he poked the little green creature on its green skin.

“Bowtruckles make their homes on trees that we use for wand wood. They’re mostly peaceful fellas, but when their homes are harmed, they might just show how dangerous they are.” said Hagrid.

“This will be a fantastic lesson. I’m sure everyone loves these cute guys.” Harry couldn’t help but tickle the Bowtruckle one last time before he let the little guy join his friends in munching on a log.

Suddenly, Harry heard a loud squelching noise that startled him. He noticed a barrel in the corner shaking suddenly with more squelching noises. Then, he saw a ton of large maggots inside the barrel, which made him take a few steps back.

“What are they, Hagrid?” Harry asked, trying not to show his worry that these maggot-like creatures might grow into giant hideous creatures capable of killing ordinary wizards with a simple sneeze.   

“Oh, them,” Hargrid waved it off as if it was a silly question, “Just giant Grubs.”

‘Giant.’ Harry thought warily.

“Oh, there is nothing to worry about, Harry. They’re not like the blast-ended Skrewts.” Hagrid promised. “I just got ‘em ter feed ter Aragog.”

“I see.” Harry hummed.

As Hagrid explained the troubles Aragog has been suffering, he was thinking of another matter. So far, he had maintained a fruitful relationship with the Acromantula clan in the Forbidden Forest, but he was now running short of Death eaters to feed the giant spiders. Besides, he had already accumulated enough Acromantula silk to create a fortune for four generations of Potters to live lavishly. With Aragog’s health declining, the effort to keep his side deal with the Acromantula clan would be in jeopardy.

‘I’ll need to remove these giant spiders from the board quietly and efficiently.’ Harry mused as the beginnings of a plan started to form in his mind.

He went back to listening to Hagrid’s retelling of the heart-touching story of how he came to possess Aragog while making a mental note to wait until Aragog kicked the bucket for Hagrid’s sake.

****

A wave of destructive energy shot out of the palm of his right hand, smashing away the stone knight into rubble. At the same time, with his other hand, he held up an energy shield that made tone knives crumble to dust as they were thrown in his direction.

With a flick of his wrist, Harry transfigured the pieces of shattered stone into a pack of wolves and set them up on the remaining stone golems. A concentrated blast of fire nearly burnt his face if not for his instincts kicking in, forcing Harry to roll out of the way.

“Suffusio.”

A torrent of water was conjured out of his palm and slammed into the wooden dummy with wand in hand, expelling the flames, and he immediately froze the dummy in a block of ice. He put up a shield again, which protected him from more knives as they shattered against the shield.

“Defodio.”

He swiped his hand in a wide arc. The golems attacking him were bifurcated, with their top halves falling unceremoniously on the floor. He ducked immediately and rolled away as the wooden dummy shattered the ice and banished blocks of ice against him.

Harry broke into a run around the dummy and started deflecting the spells that rained down on him. When the dummy realised simple banishing charms, stunners, and blasting hexes were not working, it started to get into transfiguration spells. All sorts of creatures like bears, foxes, and dogs started popping up and starting to chase Harry. He kept them all at bay by using a wide area banisher, which threw them back a good distance, but the dummy began to conjure more such animals to keep him occupied.

Harry took his wand out for the next spell and pulled off a spell he had learned from Dumbledore’s book. He transfigured a small rock into a wide net, which he banished to the transfigured animals. Once he got most of them, the net grew large steel spikes, which destroyed the transfigured animals by disrupting the magic holding them together. A pack of wolves that escaped the net tried to jump him, but Harry summoned a fiery whip and cut them all down in two swift strikes.

He immediately cast the hovering charm on the fallen piece of a stone golem and banished it straight at the wooden dummy. The dummy snapped it in half on a gouging charm with a swift slice of the wand in its hand. Harry used that distraction to perform another transfiguration spell he learned from Dumbledore’s book.

“Riata Laquem.”

A broken piece of the stone golem was transfigured into a giant steel spring, and Harry wrapped it around the dummy. The spring's steel coils were super-hot, burning the wooden dummy as they dug into the wooden body like a hot knife cutting through butter.

“Expelliarmus. Bombarda.”

The wand in the hand of the dummy was pulled away from its hand, and the dummy turned into splintered wood in the next second.

‘Phew. It’s over.’ Harry thought, wiping the sweat on his forehead.

Whenever he came to the RoR to train his wandless magic, the room turned the difficulty up a notch. This was the first time he was forced to use his wand to come out on top with a simulation provided by the RoR. Harry got freshened up and went straight for the Great Hall with his backpack for breakfast. He was nearly late for breakfast, but he managed to put some veggies and bread into his stomach before catching up with his friends in the Herbology class.

“Where were you?” Neville asked once he plopped down next to Neville.

“Just trying out some spells. I lost track of time.”

Professor Sprout walked into the classroom in her bright yellow robes.

“All right, children. Today, we will learn about the different ways to nurture Fluxweed. Now, turn to page 20 of your textbook and read the third paragraph. As you read, I’ll have some pots of Fluxweed distributed…”

The lesson progressed as usual and without any incident. But it hit a snag when Professor McGonagall came and whispered something in Professor Sprout’s ear that made the friendly woman go pale. The next thing Harry saw was Hannah Abbot getting excused from the lesson, and Professor Sprout followed shortly after McGonagall left everyone to gossip and speculate. But by noon, everyone knew that Death Eaters had attacked Hanna’s family, and her mother was found dead.

That day, students from across the four houses were moody as the news of the Abbott family’s tragedy spread like wildfire. Hannah was taken out of Hogwarts to attend her mother's funeral, and no one knew whether she’d return.

****

Harry waited patiently outside the doors of the great hall where the flight of stairs that led to the dungeons were situated. He greeted a few of his Slytherin acquaintances as they left for Hogsmeade. If the older Slytherins had made fast friends with him after the Triwizard Tournament, now it was the younger years of Slytherin students that made the effort to get in his good graces.

Daphne and Tracey had told him the younger years were no longer intimidated by Malfoy and his cohorts. Ever since he dealt a blow to Umbridge and her cronies and Snape got knocked down a few pegs, younger Slytherins were bold enough to resist intimidation from the Death Eater legacies in the house. According to Tracey, most of the Slytherin house was filled with half-bloods who pretended they were purebloods to get away from trouble. Harry’s consistent beating down of the Death Eater groupies in the house and Snape, along with his public display of cutting off Voldemort’s arm, was enough to inject a dose of courage into those students.

“Pssst! Master Harry.”

Harry was slightly startled to hear a whispered voice, but he calmed down when he found Dobby behind a curtain. He immediately put up a Notice-me-not ward around the area.

“Dobby. Did you find anything?”

“Dobby did, sir. The bad Malfoy boy is getting a cursed necklace. Dobby heard the boy whisper his dark words after receiving a letter – yes, he did.” Dobby reported readily, his small face sporting a grave look.

“Good work, Dobby. Do you know who is coming to deliver the necklace and where?” he asked eagerly.

“Dobby doesn’t know who is coming, sir. But Dobby knows the evil Malfoy boy will wait for someone in the Three Broomsticks.”

“Good work, Dobby. I’ll deal with the rest from here. Send Sirius my best.”

Harry watched Dobby teleport away, and he fished out a two-way mirror.

“Amelia Bones.”

It took a minute before the face of the Minister of Magic appeared in the mirror.

“Mr Potter. I hope you have something important to discuss.” Minister Bones said with a frown.

There were dark circles under the woman’s eyes. He supposed the latest death had struck a blow to the Ministry, considering Mrs Abbott was a high-ranking official in the Department of Magical Transportation. There was already speculation that Voldemort was recruiting from beyond the borders of Britain.

“Indeed, Minister. How would you like to capture a Death Eater who is trying to assassinate Albus Dumbledore red-handed?” Harry asked.

The way Madam Bones’ eyes lit up was answer enough. After all, the Ministry needed a victory to boost the morale, and Harry was happy to spell the end of House Malfoy for good. It was a win-win situation for them both.

“I’m surprised you’re offering to capture Draco Malfoy alive. We made this arrangement solely for your extrajudicial activities. So, why let the Ministry capture him?” Madam Bones asked curiously.

It was true he was given immunity from the Ministry so long as he used deadly force against marked Death Eaters. But Madam Bones’ questioning had another meaning. Harry suspected she was gauging his limits to use deadly force and see where his boundaries were.

“You just lost a valuable ministry employee, and Malfoy is a fellow student. He has not yet claimed any lives. So, I’m giving a pass on this one. There are far worse Death Eaters than Draco Malfoy.” Harry answered.

“Hmm.” Minister Bones stared at him briefly before shrugging her shoulders, “Very well. How do you want to proceed, Mr Potter?”

“Don’t send Shacklebolt. He is Dumbledore’s man. Send someone you trust. I’ll be waiting outside the Three Broomsticks. Here is the plan…”  

****

Harry walked hand in hand with Daphne. They chose to do away with their uniform robes and wear jackets over their shirts and ties for the date. They couldn’t wear any casual dress because there were strict instructions to wear uniforms because of security concerns.

“Why is he checking us when we are going out? Shouldn’t the checking be done when we return from Hogsmeade?” Tracey asked with a scowl as they came upon Filch standing outside the large oak doors of the castle inspecting the students.

“You know by now he enjoys anything that torments us.” Daphne whispered back at her friend.

“I don’t know why this man is even hired. It’s not like he can detect anything if we conceal it with magic.” Asif Ahmed scowled at Filch while holding hands with Tracey.

“I sense a funny story to that hostility.” Harry said, eyeing Tracey’s date out of the corner of his eyes.

Harry was genuinely surprised when he saw the fourth-year Ravenclaw accompanying Tracey as her date. While Slytherin students were less hostile with his relationship with Daphne, he supposed they’d have taken up an issue when one of their own started dating a muggleborn. He supposed Tracey’s half-blood status must’ve kept them to turn a blind eye, or he didn’t give due credit to his girlfriend’s prowess within the house. After all, she had kept the Pureblood maniacs at bay on her own, even if he lent her some help in their fourth year.

“That man confiscated a couple of Dungbombs I planned to use on a bully. I got two weeks' worth of detention cleaning the broom closets in the castle.” Asif said with a huff.

“At least you know the location of all the broom closets. I’m sure that’ll come in handy pretty soon.” Harry snickered as he saw Tracey’s cheeks reddening while Asif remained clueless.

“Be nice.” Daphne slapped the back of his palm, but she was enjoying it, going by the smile on her lips.

After going through Filch’s scrutiny, they went out to visit Hogsmeade.

“So, where will we go first?” Tracey asked as they neared the village.

“We should visit Fickle Fabrics. We should look for that blue hat you mentioned last night.” Daphne piqued up.

“I nearly forgot about that. Let’s go.” Tracey rushed them towards the hat shop.

The massive collection of hats with various enchantments was on display as Daphne and Tracey went from shelf to shelf, looking for the best hats in the shop.

“How does this look?” Daphne asked, wearing a bronze-coloured hat with a white feather on top.

“Not bad. It’ll look good if it is green.” Harry commented.

“Where is Neville? I don’t think I saw him with you.” Daphne said as she set aside the hat and searched for another one.

“Neville and Susan went to visit the Abbott family to pay their respects. Neville’s grandma came to pick him up.” Harry said, picking a green hat he saw and placing it on Daphne’s head.

He adjusted the hat a bit to let her tuck in some stray hair which had fallen into her eyes. Daphne stood before a mirror and looked at all possible angles to see whether the hat was a match.

“Yep. Looks perfect.” Harry smiled as he hugged her from behind and pulled the hair over her shoulder to press a chaste kiss against the nape of her neck.

“Hmm. You’ll buy me this one if you like it so much.” said Daphne, smiling at the compliment and the kiss. “Now, let me look for that blue hat Tracey was talking about. She said it had warming enchantments for winter.”

“While I like to see you in many colourful hats, dresses or in nothing at all…” Harry yelped as Daphne kicked his shin with the back of her heel.  

“You should hurry up, Daphs. We’ve got a Death Eater to catch and make ourselves presentable for that meeting.” Harry whispered against her skin before he retracted his arm from her waist.

“You still haven’t told me who we’re meeting.” Daphne said, rolling her eyes.

“It won’t be a secret meeting if all the secrets are known beforehand.” Harry smiled while Daphne rolled her eyes.

“Fine, keep your secrets. You’ll be buying me extra Chocolate Cauldrons from Honeydukes.” Daphne said, brooking no argument from him.

****

An excerpt from The Continental War 1660-1670 by Marcus Slytherin

Titus Targaryen ascended the throne at the age of 24. His ascension caused many rumours across the vast Scottish Kingdom, as his father, Edgar Targaryen, was still in sound health and only 56 years old. Most historians agree, citing contemporary sources and surviving court transcripts, that King Edgar was fascinated by art and magical exploration. He abhorred court politics and was largely unambitious about expanding Scottish power, trade, and influence worldwide.

King Edgar’s eldest son, Prince Titus Targaryen, was the exact opposite. He was a gifted warrior and a sorcerer of great power and skill. From an early age, his mastery of the elements was unparalleled. At the age of sixteen, Prince Titus became a complete master of the element of water. As such, he could summon water with a mere thought. His mastery over the water element was such that he could turn them into the finest blades of ice and rain death upon his enemies at will.

His unparalleled mastery over water, combined with his colossal dragon Moonfyre, made him the most dangerous warrior in the Scottish Kingdom.

Prince Titus was a great admirer of Hadrian I, Alexander I and Visenya I. These three monarchs had ensured the complete subjugation of the surrounding kingdoms of Scotland. There is even a famous saying by the prince;

“Hadrian started the kingdom. Alexander crushed the enemies circling us. Visenya took all the islands she saw, birthing the Scottish Empire. I will make sure the sun never sets on the Scottish Empire.”

His claim was initially dismissed as flights of fancy by a young prince. But when King Edgar crowned his son king, he retired from kingship and retreated to mountains and forests in pursuit of knowledge. With King Edgar’s absence, the royal court started hearing different voices that concurred with King Titus' ambitions. It didn’t take long for the aspirations of a young Prince Titus to become the official policy of the Scottish Empire. The Targaryen court that desired peace suddenly found itself in disfavour of the young monarch who looked to Europe and saw more land to expand and inferior enemies to defeat.  

The Goblins were King Titus’ steadfast allies and advisors. Their voice drowned the court within the year of his ascension, and the loudest voice in the court was calling for the Conquest of Europe, wallowing in the Dark Ages. When King Titus looked upon the old kingdoms that were once the Roman Empire, he saw weak theocratic states believing in an imaginary deity and clergy that had no spark of power to their souls but a power granted by the words of one book.

Before King Titus finished a year upon his throne, he declared war on all of Europe. It was in Yule of 1660 that he declared war and made his intentions known to Europe that the House of Dragon was coming.

When King Titus declared war upon Europe, he famously said this to the detractors in his court, who cautioned him against such naked aggression;

“I have the might of Dragons, Scotland, Magic and Valyria on my side. What is Europe going to do? Pray to their big bearded man in the sky. I say, let him come. I, too, prefer a fight between equals!”  

While many historians credit Titus Targaryen’s ambition, greed and arrogance for the continental war that followed, many more pragmatic historians, such as Lionel Green and Victoria Smith, point to the expanding population of House Targaryen. At the time of Titus’ ascension, there were seventeen Targaryen princes and princesses with bonded dragons. King Titus, a shrewd man with excellent political acumen, keenly observed the internal politics churning inside the House of the Dragon. He was a master of subterfuge and political power plays in his court and abroad, and he saw a remedy to prevent the possible fracturing of his family.

Titus saw the individual ambition simmering within House Targaryen could be channelled effectively, and he saw an easy way to ensure his family could peacefully expand into the vast lands of Europe. Thus, the conquest of Europe became a preventive medicine for internal strife and the expansion of the Scottish Empire.