The Lion Cub Chapter 114: Lunch with the Weasleys (Patreon)

“I’ve got to give it to you, Harry. You singlehandedly smashed the Malfoys into the trash bin.” said Sirius, looking quite content as he lounged on his armchair. 

“I did have a lot of help. I couldn’t have done it without Malfoy’s need to serve as a slave to Voldemort.” said Harry, happily drinking the morning tea Kreacher was so kind to make.

Looking around, Harry almost didn’t recognise the ancestral home of the Blacks. The previous moody feeling he got when he stepped into Grimmauld Place was gone. In its place, a more vibrant energy was in the air. He supposed the influence of a French witch was all that was needed to get some colour into Sirius’ home.

The walls were now painted blue in wave patterns. The walls looked like an ocean, with little plants, fish, and other sea creatures painted across them. The floors were now paved with intricately painted rugs. Gold-coloured curtains decorated each doorway inside Sirius’ home. There were expensive-looking chandeliers hanging from the roof holding some of the best-perforated candles from France.

‘I ought to get some of those back home.’ Harry mused.

He made a mental note to ask Brigitte for more information about those scented and coloured candles she used to fill the place. The French were the experts in such finer aspects of life.

He had to admit Brigitte did terrific work in overhauling the entire look of Grimmauld Place, making it more aesthetically pleasing.

“Brigitte has done a fine work. This place looks more homely.”

Harry observed Sirius while quietly sipping 

“So, when are you going to the Burrow?” Sirius asked curiously.

“About now.” Harry said after looking at his watch, “I’m waiting for Daphne to come along.”

Harry saw the way Sirius’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

“I know. I wasn’t expecting Daphne to accept when I asked, but she agreed for some reason.” Harry said.

He had been pretty surprised when Daphne agreed to go with him when he brought up Mrs Weasley’s invitation to lunch at the Burrow. On different occasions, Daphne had made it known that she disliked getting involved with the Weasleys. He had asked for the reason, but she had always found some way not to answer and distract him somehow. Sirius thought the Greengrasses were too ‘posh’ and ‘stuck up’ and that they’d never get caught mingling with the Weasleys. Even though the Weasleys were purebloods, their reputation was not peachy in certain circles.

Harry would’ve suspected the blood-purity issue if it hadn’t been for the fact that the Greengrasses were quite chummy with the Davis family and they were not purebloods.

So, he suspected it had to do with wealth and the general quirkiness of Arthur Weasley. Even he had to admit Arthur Weasley was too obsessed with muggles enough to make the man toil away in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. The man was half Black from his mother’s side.

Not that it made much of a difference. Arthur Weasley’s mother might’ve been a Black at one point, but she was disowned by the family for marrying a Weasley. He had seen the blackened patch on the Black family tree in Grimmauld Place.

The fireplace suddenly lit with green flames, making Harry sit up and notice. Daphne walked out of the flames dressed in a fine blue and gold dress that complimented her.

“I still don’t know how you managed to step out of the Floo without a single soot getting in the way.” Harry said, letting out a forlorn sigh, thinking about his attempts to replicate such grace.

“That’s because some of us have class. Become my devoted boyfriend and you might gain some insight into the graceful etiquette employed by us noble folk.” Daphne said snobbishly.

“No, thank you. I like keeping my ear to the ground, not my nose high in the air.” Harry sniped back with a grin.

“I’ll inform my father and mother that my attempts to impart nobleness to my boyfriend remain an unassailable task.” Daphne said, dropping her shoulders in disappointment.

“Good. So, are you ready to go?” Harry asked, standing up on his feet.

“I don’t know how you two manage to stay together. It must be one of life’s great mysteries.” Sirius piqued up from the table after watching their banter.

“I don’t know what you mean. We were just flirting.” Harry said, throwing his arm around Daphne’s shoulder while staring at Sirius as if he had some mental disorder.

“Yes, indeed. Are you all right, Sirius?” Daphne asked with a concerned look.

“It must be the Frenchness. They took him in and straightened out his tail. Poor Padfoot.” Harry said, wiping away a fake tear.

“Enough dissing on me, you two troublemakers. Go and do whatever it is that you want to do, but keep in mind that Damien is not expecting to be a grandfather anytime soon.” Sirius shooed them away with a smirk.

“Don’t take him too seriously. I’m sure your father will be happy to have grandchildren as early as possible.”  Harry said, which only made Daphne turn away from him with her cheeks bright red. 

They didn’t dally any longer in Grimmauld Place. They walked out of the wards protecting the manor grounds to safely apparate.

“It’s disconcerting to see you with that beard. It makes you look older and more… rough.” said Daphne, reaching out with her right hand and tracing the trimmed beard on his lower jaw.

“If you dislike it, you show a strange way of showing it.” Harry said with an amused smile, looking pointedly at her hand, which was rubbing his beard.

Daphne immediately withdrew her hand while glaring at him.

“Are you ready?” Harry asked with a chuckle while holding out his hand.

“Yes, I am.” Daphne placed her hand in his.

Harry immediately apparated them to the grounds outside the Burrow.

“This is the Burrow?” Daphne asked with a frown. “It’s…

Snow covered the fields and the trees as far as their eyes could see. At the very centre of the spanning snow-covered landscape, the Weasley home remained covered under snow. Harry raised a repelling shield around them before they walked towards the front door of the Burrow. He could feel a slew of wards from his senses, and he boldly breached the first ward, which was an alert ward.

“An intruder ward?” Daphne asked curiously.

“You felt it then?”

“Yes.”

“Your senses have sharpened considerably.”

“I’m a fast learner.” Daphne smiled.

“I think I saw Mr Weasley looking at us from the window.” Harry said, squinting his eyes at the window in the distance. “Can you feel any other wards?”

Daphne screwed her eyes shut while holding out her wand in hand. He could see and feel small tendrils of her magic reach out and poke at the wards surrounding the Burrow.

“They seem welcoming.” Daphne said after opening her eyes.

“You’re not wrong. Mr Weasley just allowed us entry.” Harry said, taking a step forward inside the warded area.

The snow crunched under their boots as they walked further in until they neared the front door of the Burrow with the wards not acting up.

“You know you agreed to come with me to many other dinners and parties hosted by respected guests, right?” Daphne asked just before they stepped close to the door.

“I know I promised.” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“Good. Trust me, you’ll thank me in a few years. Building a good rapport with Wizengamot members and influential caucuses that control concentrated votes in the Wizengamot is important if you want any reasonable political power. Your fame is a good tool, but don’t think wizards and witches with entrenched power in the Wizengamot would easily roll over and take you seriously just because you are famous.” Daphne muttered.

“Oh, I know. I just think my time is better spent on training and studying those records we got from Perenelle.” said Harry.

“You better not spend the holidays with your nose in those old parchments and stone carvings because you gave me…” Daphne gave him a warning look.

“I know, I know. I promised.” Harry raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

When they finally reached the door, they were about to knock, but the door swung open, and Mr Weasley was by the door with a bright smile on his face.

“Harry, Miss Greengrass. Please come in.” Arthur said, holding out the door for them.

“Good morning, Mr Weasley. I hope you’re having a fine day.” Harry greeted the jovial redhead.

“Quite fine… quite fine indeed.” Mr Weasley welcomed them in.

Steeping inside the Burrow, he was greeted by Fred and George.

“Let us begin by…

“…giving you a…

“…deep bow…”

“…for finally putting…”

“Malfoy in his place…”

“…a prison!”

Fred and George bowed with a flourish, sporting wicked grins.

“Enough of that, you jesters. Give Harry some breathing space.” Mrs Weasley said as she pulled him into a hug.

Mrs Weasley then shook hands with Daphne and invited them in. As they walked in, Harry was surprised to find another guest in the Weasley home. It was none other than Nymphadora Tonks.

“Tonks!”

“Oh, hey, Harry.” the pink-haired auror waved at him, looking up from the game of Gobstones with Ginny.

“I didn’t know you were coming to the Burrow.”

“I had some extra time on my hands.” Tonks waved it off before roping Daphne to her side, engaging in a conversation about hats and dresses.

“Father roped her in on mum’s orders.” Ginny whispered conspiratorially to him, “She is hoping to set up Bill with Tonks.” 

“Uh-huh. Does Tonks or Bill know what they are in for?” Harry whispered back, knowing full well the futility of such an attempt.

“Not yet, but if they have any sense to them, they soon will.” Ginny said.

“So, Harry. We heard Ravenclaw is leading this season in the Quidditch Cup.” Said Fred as he dropped into a couch with George.

“Is our little Gin-Gin not playing up to expectations?” George threw an arm around his twin’s shoulder and grinned indulgently while Ginny threw the twins a dirty look.

“They’re leading only cause they had two matches before the Christmas break. They trounced Slytherin and Hufflepuff in the game. That winning streak will be brought to a halt when they face us.” said Harry.

“Yeah, you tell them, Harry.” Ginny said with a pointed look at her brothers.

“All we’re saying is you got to live up to the Weasley name in Quidditch, little sis.” said George with a wink.

“Yeah. Our hopes and dreams are on you, Gin-Gin since Ron never made it to the team.” said Fred.

“Sod off, you two.” Ron grunted as he came down from the upper floor into the drawing room of the Burrow.

“Maybe grouchy Ron not making the team was a good thing.” George whispered conspiratorially but loud enough for Ron to hear, “They still have a chance to win the Cup.”

Ron threw a pillow at George and started a fistfight with the twins. He saw the way Daphne was eyeing Harry, making him shrug his shoulders with a helpless look. Thankfully, Bill came in and pulled Ron and the Weasley twins back from turning the Burrow into a warzone.

*****

“Are you sure you can’t stay for dinner, Harry?” Arthur asked as Harry and Daphne decided to leave after lunch and a lengthy game of Exploding Snap, which left Harry’s fingers blackened.

“Ah, I promised Sirius and Brigitte I’d be back before the light is out. Also, Daphne has to go back to her parents before the sun is down.” said Harry. “Besides, I don’t think my ego can take another beating today.”

Harry flashed his blackened fingers, which made Arthur laugh and show his own.

“I, too, am terrible with cards. I have the worst luck in this home.” said Arthur. 

“How’s the Order doing?” Harry asked, seeing Daphne was still engaged in an animated conversation with Ginny and the twins. “Surely the news of Draco Malfoy’s interrogation records published by the Daily Prophet must’ve been a curious piece of news to be discussed amongst the Order members.”

“Ah. I’m afraid the Order has been focused on other matters.” Arthur said a tad uncomfortably.

“Like what?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Arthur fell silent at his question.

“Let me guess what happened.” Harry said, seeing the uncomfortable look on Mr Weasley, “Several Order members raised their concern that the Dark Lord is sending assassins to Hogwarts to kill Dumbledore, and strangely enough, the chief spy of the Order is blissfully unaware of any such moves. Am I wrong?”

“I know you have reasons… relevant reasons to distrust Professor Snape Harry. But Dumbledore trusts him, and he has said so many times.”

“Then let me give you some advice, Mr Weasley. You shouldn’t trust a word that comes out of Dumbledore’s mouth. If I were you, I’d stay far away from the man.” said Harry.

Mr Weasley winced and looked troubled, but the man remained stubbornly silent.

Harry genuinely wanted Mr Weasley to be far away from Dumbledore, not because he wanted to pull support from Dumbledore but because he liked the Weasley family. They were good people, and he didn’t want a good, happy family to suffer because they were following a deranged man who was out to do the ‘greater good’. That ridiculous phrase meant nothing but trouble for everyone around Dumbledore. The ‘greater good’ meant whatever Dumbledore thought was good for everyone at the expense of those who were actually the good guys in this war.

“Many people have said it in the past about Snape. Other people raised the same concerns you raised to Dumbledore. I admit, there is not much to be liked about that man, but Harry… you have to understand that Dumbledore has been the one man that delivered us from the dark shadow of Grindelwald and the first war with you-know-who.” said Arthur.

“Then you might be surprised to know that Dumbledore was best of friends with Grindelwald and quite aligned with the former Dark Lord’s idea of world domination. He only broke away from Grindelwald when Dumbledore’s sister was killed by a rebound spell from Grindelwald or Dumbledore.”

“What!” Arthur gasped with wide, frightened eyes.

“Oh, yes. There are all kinds of skeletons in Dumbledore’s closet, Mr Weasley.” Harry said grimly, “I had a little chat with Bathilda Bagshot, and I barely managed to scratch the surface. I’d be cautious in engaging with Dumbledore and get tied to his cause because, trust me, I’m the living embodiment of where that ends up.”

“That’s… Harry… Bagshot…there has to be some mistake…” Arhur said, his face losing all colour.

“Tell me Mr Weasley… Who was the Supreme Mugwump, the Chief Warlock and the Headmaster of Hogwarts of the last two decades where rapists, murderers and blood-purists thrived with a stake in the power lobbies of our world?” Harry asked with a faint smile.

The utter silence that came from Mr Weasley was answering enough.

“Please remember that you are following a man who tolerated the likes of Lucius Malfoy.” Harry reminded the man.

“Look at what has happened by Dumbledore’s inaction. Dumbledore had the power and influence to bring Lucius to justice a decade ago. It’d have dramatically changed the life choices of his son.” Harry said lowly, knowing that Daphne was finishing up her own conversation.

“In my albeit limited understanding of the world, there are two types of people that we should worry about: those who seek unchecked power with the intent of self-gratification, and the other are those who have power but refuse to do anything that brings change.”

“Harry? Is everything alright?” Daphne came to him with a curious look, her eyes darting between him and Mr Weasley.

“Of course.” Harry smiled at her as she slipped her hand into his.

They said their thanks before walking away from the Burrow.

“So, how did it go?” Daphne asked.

“Mr Weasley is already shaken, and I think I just gave him the necessary push. We’ll give that same push to the rest of the Order until it crumbles from within under the weight of Dumbledore’s secrets and lies.” Harry smirked, “The illusion of infallibility and wisdom is already gone from Dumbledore. All it takes right now is just the right amount of pressure.”

*****

Titus Targaryen, King of Germany by Irene von Fitchburg

The Ministry of Magic of Rhineland was formed by several noble families with ambitions of emulating the Scottish Empire. Many wizards and witches within the small borders of the Rhine had hoped to forge an empire right in the middle of Europe between the old and powerful states like France, Poland-Lithuania, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire. The plan was to forge a German Reich emulating their Scottish cousins and show their might to the world.

But such ambitions never came to fruition as the question of who’d become the emperor created conflict among the Rhineland wizards.  

This need for a separate empire was not always present in the Rhineland wizarding community. This idea came forth when the Rhineland wizards failed to draw the interest of the Targaryen royal family to launch their armies and dragons into central Europe to expand the sole wizard-ruled empire. The wizards and witches of the Rhine believed the wonderous lands of Central Europe were the natural ground for the Scottish Empire’s expansion.

But the royal family of Scotland never harboured ambitions of expanding beyond the Scottish Channel. House Targaryen and their dragons remained comfortable in the “Dracheland”, as the Rhineland wizards called Scottland. Still, they held out hope that the “Drachenreiters” would one day turn their gaze on the muggle-controlled lands of Europe.

Therefore, when King Titus launched the Continental War and showed great promise, the Rhineland Wizengamot held an emergency session and passed the “Deutsches Konigreich” resolution. The Wizengamot essentially declared a new German kingdom and proclaimed Titus Targaryen as their king and emperor.

This was a pivotal moment in European history as this declaration later prompted similar declarations from other European ministries.

But this moment had another importance.

Up until this point, Titus Targaryen remained the King of the Scottish Empire. Even though Scotland was addressed as an Empire and recognised as such by other European polities, Targaryen kings never took up the title of Emperor or Empress. They considered Ireland and England to be part of the Home Isles and never saw these lands as other lands.

For the Tragaryens, it was all Scotland. There were no Irishmen or Englishmen within the lands they ruled. There was only the Scottishmen.

But, with the declaration of the Ministry of Magic of Rhineland, House Targaryen’s status changed.

King Titus called the Wizengamot and presented the Rhine Declaration. The Wizengamot accepted the declaration, and from that moment on, King Titus became King of Scotland and Germany, earning himself the title of Emperor.

On the auspicious morning of 5th January 1662, King Titus was crowned the King of Germany in the Ministry atrium of Rhineland. While Titus officially became an Emperor, a massive armada of flying ships accompanied by two Targaryen princesses landed on the Rhine.

Princess Grainne Targaryen and Rhianna Targaryen landed on the Rhine atop their dragons Sunburn and Moonburn, escorting a massive armada of flying ships carrying vast armies from the Irish Isle. They were the only recorded female Targaryen twins. They were the daughter of Princess Adwen Targaryen, the Viceroy of Irish Isle. The Princesses were as their names implied. They were like the sun and the moon. Both were highly beautiful and fierce in their own way.

So, it came as no surprise when they joined the war front with King Titus, as they were the thickest of friends from a young age. The three dragons of the Targaryens, Moonfyre, Sunburn and Moonburn, brought the lands east of Rhine to its knees. The armies of the Holy Froman Empire were quite suddenly overwhelmed by the sudden attack by the three dragons and the air fleet of the Scottish Empire.

The wizards of Rhine were not one to be outdone. They worked tirelessly to deny the armies of the Holy Roman Empire any reprieve by sealing off any water bodies, farmlands and mines from the muggles. Emperor Titus and the Princesses burned the enemy's supply chains, leaving them stranded in a pincer, starving and beaten.

Therefore, they were met with minimal resistance when the royal army marched into Lorraine and Baden. It was a one-sided battle where most of the splintered army either surrendered or ran across the French border in fear.

The French were not looking at who was crossing their border because they were dealing with their own problems.

By the end of February 1662, the road to Bavaria was wide open before Emperor Titus. The Rhine started expanding slowly, setting forth the creation of the German Kingdom.