Chapter 53
The next day.
Harry woke up feeling someone hugging him around the abdomen, something soft pressing against his back as he felt Dacey's forehead against his neck.
Smiling, he turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her cheek.
Looking at her small freckles and upturned nose, he gently pinched her waist to wake her up.
"Hey, wake up. Let's take a bath and get ready to leave," Harry whispered, noticing how his voice not only woke Dacey, but also made both pups immediately raise their heads.
He felt a small headache coming on at the thought of taking the little dragon, but he really couldn't leave her behind.
Dacey rubbed her face against Harry's chest as she stretched her body, a small complaining moan leaving her throat before she snuggled closer to him.
"Come on, don't be lazy," Harry said, laughing softly as he gently shook her.
"Carry me," Dacey murmured tiredly.
"Fine, I'll carry you naked. Let's hope we don't run into anyone on the way," Harry said, laughing.
Dacey simply opened her mouth and left a row of teeth marks on his chest.
Making a small grimace of pain, he put on a pair of pants before carrying Dacey in his arms toward his bathroom on the first floor, casting a Disillusionment Charm over both of them so they could get there without anyone seeing them.
Upon entering, steam was already rising from his tub while a blonde figure enjoyed the water.
Not caring about her presence, he undressed before getting into the tub with Dacey in his arms.
"She looks pretty exhausted," Val said as her white leg emerged from the water and she placed her foot on Harry's chest.
"She's stubborn, like someone I'm looking at," Harry said, holding her calf.
"You don't look tired. Tell me, do you use magic to have more stamina?" Val said, looking at him suspiciously.
"If you did that, you'd be cheating," Dacey said, yawning as she rested her head on the edge of the tub.
"My body has changed due to incredibly prolonged exposure to magic. I don't actively use magic for that," Harry said as his fingers played with Val's leg.
"Can you lift a tree?" Val asked thoughtfully.
"Depends on the size, but yes, I can," Harry said, nodding.
"And a ship?" Val asked again.
"That's too much. Probably not even a giant could," Harry said, shaking his head.
"And me? Can you lift me?"
"But without your hands," Val whispered in his ear.
"Enough, we have to leave soon," Harry said, looking at Val as he felt her hand becoming mischievous.
"Your mouth says no, but your body is honest," Val said with an arrogant smile.
"Luckily, my body isn't the one in charge," Harry said, moving her hand away.
"Boring," Val complained.
Harry finished washing and got dressed while Val remained comfortably in the water, bothering Dacey.
"Don't take too long. We're leaving in an hour," Harry said, looking at them. Val barely waved a hand at him to leave, and rolling his eyes, he ignored them.
Leaving the bathroom, Harry went up to his room, put on his black cloak, and hid the little dragon again while carrying the pup in his arms.
When he went downstairs, he noticed that his family wasn't ready, so he put the pup on the ground. It immediately stood firmly and looked around for something to play with.
"Hey, sit," Harry said, looking at the pup, only for it to look at him uncertainly, as if considering whether to obey him.
Harry narrowed his eyes, making the pup's rear immediately touch the ground.
"Good boy," Harry said, stroking its head.
It was then that the pup saw one of its siblings, apparently forgetting Harry's command as it ran off to play.
Rolling his eyes, Harry saw that Sansa and Arya had some small luggage.
Behind them, he also saw Barbrey walking with Lis beside her, holding her arm just in case.
Harry also had to start worrying about her. He had a potion in mind, but there was a plant he was missing, one that grew beyond the Wall. He hoped they had managed to gather it.
Little by little, everyone arrived, so they set off. Walking inside the castle had become rather pleasant since Harry had ordered all the floors and paths to be modified.
So it didn't take them too long to reach the station, which had changed considerably.
Modern-looking five-story buildings rose on either side, serving as inns for crew members or passengers stopping there.
With his request, the train was of course there waiting for them, so everyone simply boarded before the train began to move.
Although Barbrey had heard and actually seen the train moving when she arrived, it was the first time she had ridden it, so she was quite curious.
This was even more true for Daenerys, who looked around with genuine amazement. She had heard that the North was a poor and backward region, but since arriving at Winterfell, she hadn't seen anything that fit that description.
Although at first she thought it moved thanks to magic, after asking Harry, he told her that wasn't the case.
So, like a curious child, she began bombarding Harry with questions and, since only his family was there, he didn't mind explaining the secret of how it worked.
Despite his explanation, he could see that no one really understood why it moved.
The five-hour journey passed rather quickly, and when they arrived at Steam Town, not only was Daenerys surprised, but his family was as well, since it didn't resemble any city they had ever seen.
The entire city seemed to be made of concrete, with five-story buildings here and there.
Right in the center, a massive concrete building rose up, with what looked like the head of a wolf howling toward the sky at the top.
Its builders had truly learned step by step, starting with small buildings, some of which, as far as Harry knew, had even collapsed.
Over time, they gained experience until they managed to achieve this. That enormous wolf's head was impressive to see.
"What do you think? Isn't it great?" Harry said, putting an arm around his father with a smile.
"It's quite impressive," Ned said, nodding slowly, not knowing what word to use to describe what he felt.
"How did they get such a large stone up there?" Catelyn asked in shock as she looked at the enormous head, the same question on the minds of several of those present who really weren't very well informed.
"Mother, you should take more interest in what's happening in the territory. It was made in layers with the same material as the castle floor. Remember how moldable it was? That's why you couldn't walk on it," Harry said, rolling his eyes at her lack of interest.
Several carriages were parked outside the station. Harry climbed into one with his family, and they were taken to the main building.
Unlike the old and simple appearance of the castle, the entire city gave off a sense of luxury, particularly the main building, with its light tones due to the concrete; if someone saw Winterfell and Steam Town, they might wonder which one was really the capital of the North.
Harry looked toward the streets as the carriage moved along. The people were well dressed as they walked along the sidewalks, children played in the street, and the population seemed to be growing.
The workers' families had been moving into the city. The last time he had checked the figures, there were more than ten thousand people living there.
Carriages went back and forth carrying people or cargo, giving the entire city a very lively appearance.
When they reached their destination, the large building with the wolf's head, a group of guards welcomed them with Philip standing behind them.
After the greetings came the customary welcome banquet, since it was almost lunchtime.
With his stomach full, Harry casually let his family go out to explore the city.
Everyone split into groups before heading out, although there really wasn't much to see beyond the new buildings.
Looking out the window high up in the building, he couldn't help thinking that perhaps it was time to build schools, although that was quite a big leap.
But he had no doubt that the North had one of the lowest literacy rates in Westeros, and if it were compared to the Free Cities, the difference would be even greater.
Ideally, he would get Maesters to teach basic subjects: reading, writing, and mathematics.
That would completely change the North and set everything on the path toward a more modern civilization.
But he wasn't sure how the Maesters would react, besides the fact that having a Maester teach such basic things would be excessive.
"Harry, are we going?" Barbrey asked from behind him.
"Let's go," Harry said, setting the matter aside and looking at Barbrey with a smile.
Her large abdomen stood out less because of the thick coat.
"Does it feel warm?" Harry asked, looking at her as he held out his hand.
"Strangely warm," Barbrey said as she extended her hand and let Harry take it.
Her gaze lingered for a moment on their joined hands. Although they had done almost everything possible, now that she thought about it, they had never held hands.
Walking out of the room, they found Lis, who followed them without saying a word.
Barbrey glanced sideways at Harry's profile. His jaw was quite defined, his eyelashes were long, and his nose was straight. Without a doubt, he was handsome.
His eyes occasionally drifted toward her, as if making sure she was all right.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Harry said, looking at her.
"It's nothing," Barbrey said with a mocking smile.
….
After a night in Steam Town, they set off again the next morning after breakfast.
The journey this time was much longer, almost 10 hours, and everyone got off tired and hungry only to be greeted by an icy gust of wind.
In front of them rose an enormous wall that, with the sun shining on it, glowed with magical-looking shades of blue.
None of them could help but stop to contemplate it, looking upward and to the sides. It seemed to stretch to the end of the world.
Murmurs of amazement could be heard among them all, making them forget the cold for a moment.
Even so, Harry didn't let them stay there for long, taking them to Castle Black to warm up.
His siblings could barely stand a few minutes before wanting to go out and explore the place along with their mother and Daenerys, who was very curious.
He sent Dacey with them to look after them.
He left Val in charge of Barbrey so she could also explore the place if she wanted.
For his part, he went out with his father to see Jeor and Benjen, the Lord Commander and his own uncle.
"Benjen," Ned said loudly with a smile.
Benjen laughed as he approached and hugged his brother.
"You look well," Ned said, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"You too," Benjen said with a smile, happy to see his brother again after a few years.
After exchanging greetings, Jeor immediately looked at Harry.
"Harry, I'm glad you arrived in time. The wildlings out there are starting to grow restless again," Jeor said, looking at Harry with a smile.
"I'm not surprised, after what you captured," Harry said expectantly, wanting to go see it immediately.
"Hmm, I didn't believe it at first either, but I know what I saw," Jeor said with a serious expression.
Benjen also had a serious expression and had begun to understand his nephew's actions, which he had questioned so much at first.
The only one who seemed lost was Ned, who didn't understand the reason for their expressions.
Harry simply told him that he would see for himself. The four of them quickly found some horses before crossing the Wall.
The camp had moved beneath the Wall because Mance had told them they would be allowed through to avoid war.
That was clearly a lie—or rather, Mance had simply left out the fact that there were requirements they had to meet before they could cross.
The camp had around 50,000 people. Even so, a large portion of them were highly unstable and aggressive, so Mance was walking a tightrope.
As he rode with the group toward the main tent, no one stopped them. In fact, they seemed to look at him with disbelief and fear.
In the brief instant his eyes met those of one of the wildlings, he saw it: a great whirlwind of fire.
His lips pursed as he understood their feelings.
Mance had mentioned that everyone had been behaving unexpectedly well. It seemed he hadn't only surprised the giants.
"Harry, you finally arrived," Mance said with a smile as he greeted him before greeting the other men.
"Mance," Harry said, nodding in greeting.
Mance's gaze met Jeor's and Benjen's, and he smiled awkwardly before greeting them along with Harry's father.
Noticing that the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, Harry got straight to the point.
"Show me what you captured," Harry said, looking at him.
"Follow me," Mance said, leaving the tent and leading them to an area that all the tents seemed to avoid.
A large post had been driven into the ground and, chained to it, was something that looked human, but with its exposed bones and glowing blue eyes, it was clear that it wasn't.
"Well, it's quite something to see, isn't it?" Harry said with a smile, looking at his father, who was staring at the wight in shock.
Moving closer, Harry saw the creature immediately fix its eyes on him and try to attack him.
Casually dodging the attack, he moved past it, grabbed its chain, and pulled on it. Harry kicked its legs out from under it and easily knocked it to the ground before pressing his knee against its bony back.
"Harry, be careful," Ned said with a frown.
A rotten smell emanated from the remains of its flesh while a dark magical sensation seeped from its bones. Harry couldn't help remembering the Horcruxes for a moment.
"Necromancy isn't something I specialize in," Harry muttered in annoyance. He could barely sense the corrupted soul driving the body's movement as it drew in small traces of magic to maintain its activity.
But this made its movements clumsy and slow, making it little threat to someone trained.
The problem would be when thousands of them came at you without rest.
"The easiest way to kill them is to cut off their limbs and set them on fire," Mance said, taking the opportunity to explain their weaknesses.
"But these things aren't the real threat," Mance said with a worried expression.
"Hmm, you did well leaving it where everyone could see it," Harry said, noticing that they had a large audience.
"It's a double-edged sword. The people are already impatient to cross," Mance said with a shrug.
"About how many people are there?" Ned asked, looking around.
"About 50,000. I'm not sure, there could be more," Mance said honestly.
"I see. Let's start soon. Oh, and send the plants I asked you for as well," Harry said, looking at him.
Mance nodded before leaving to organize everything.
Harry looked at his father, who had a stern expression as he continued staring at the wight.
"Didn't I tell you a couple of years ago?" Harry said with a smile.
"Yes, but I never thought it was true," Ned said with a frown, vaguely remembering that conversation.
"I told you that the unusual movement of the people beyond the Wall meant something was happening. As the saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire," Harry said with a smile.
"Why are you happy to be right about this?" Ned said with a sigh.
Harry simply chuckled. He wished he had been wrong.
"I'll head back first. I have a small matter to take care of," Harry said before mounting his horse.
"I'll see you later," Ned said, nodding.
Harry nodded to the three of them before riding toward the forest.
"Come on, come out," Harry said, stopping a good distance from the camp.
The little dragon emerged from Harry's cloak before looking at him accusingly and letting out a couple of chirps.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just better if people don't see you so easily," Harry said, stroking her little head, feeling both guilty and amused at how human her way of expressing herself was.
"Come on, let's find something to eat," Harry said as he watched the little one climb up his body.
The little one looked around attentively. Harry cooperated by silencing his footsteps, gradually allowing the sounds of the small creatures that survived in that place to reveal traces of their presence.
Harry saw and felt the little dragon's legs move slightly and her tail sway before she made a great leap and flapped her wings with all her strength.
She flew almost 10 meters through the air before opening her mouth and biting down hard on a lemming. A small squeal was heard before it died instantly between the little dragon's sharp teeth.
She tossed the lemming into the air and a stream of flames shot from her mouth before she caught it again and devoured it.
"Looks like you like it medium, don't you?" Harry said jokingly.
Night had almost fallen, and Harry watched as the little one almost seemed to blend into the darkness, although her stealth was rather clumsy.
"Maybe I should call you Nyx, after the goddess of darkness," Harry said, crouching down and rubbing her chin.
Little Nyx made a sound similar to a purr before climbing up his body.
"Looks like your wings are getting stronger. Soon you'll be able to fly as much as you want," Harry said as he walked back to where he had left the horse.
As long as she flew from his tower to the forest or only went out at night, who would recognize a baby dragon flying around? It would be easy to mistake her for an unusually large bat.
Harry suddenly stopped as his gaze turned toward the darkness of the forest, toward places where not even the moonlight could penetrate.
There, a pair of glowing blue eyes stared at him.
----
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