The Unseen Scribe
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The Sorcerer King - Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2024-02-16 20:15:11 +0000 UTCAN: Hey guys.
In this chapter Harry has a meeting, in which he starts to set up the economy of his little village and future kingdom.
We will also see the reactions of a certain old king to the news of the arrival of Harry.
Hope you guys enjoy this one.
Chapter 4
Harry shuddered as the wind hit him, and with it came the cold.
The 'winter' came out of nowhere, just a few days after the settlers arrived. Harry could still remember the feeling of the magic coming from the north pole when the first snow fell on the ground. Whatever was up there was immensely powerful, far more than Harry could ever hope to be, but it also had a major disadvantage, it was a being of ice and cold.
It took a weight out of Harry's shoulders when he felt that magic. Sure, the being, probably the legendary White Walkers that the settlers had told him about, was far more powerful than him. But, Harry could also feel that they were also susceptible to fire magic. He would need to go north and take a look at things one day, but he knew that he would have a massive advantage in a fight. A fire whip curse would be good enough in a fight against a being of ice. A fiendfyre would be almost overkill.
So, Harry wasn't worried about the ice demons at the moment. What was worrying him was the food situation.
Sirius was able to go south and buy a lot of food before it became more expensive due to the winter, but Harry was still worried about their lack of production. They would have enough to last about two years, if the winter was longer than that, then Harry would need to look for other ways to feed his people.
He gave up on making his wives change their opinions, so now he had to act like the king they wanted him to be.
Harry sighed in relief as he walked into the main road of his little village, the buildings providing cover from the cold winds.
As he walked west towards the temporary townhall, Harry looked at the buildings around him, and remembered to congratulate his elves. The permanent buildings were completely different from the temporary ones Harry had transfigured when he thought that only a few people would come live with him.
Harry based the entire architecture of the village around his future palace, which was chosen from one of Padma's notes that he found with Hermione's work. Despite working on different things, they were good friends and were always sharing notes about their respective projects.
The plant that Harry chose for his new palace was one of Padma's masterpieces, at least according to Hermione's notes. It was heavily inspired by the Palace of Westminster, and Harry decided to build the rest of the town in a Georgian style since it complimented the neo-gothic really well.
It also reminded him of home.
Harry walked through the two-story houses he built for his people, nodding his head towards Walder, the lone blacksmith working on his forge and receiving a nod back. His people had learned pretty quickly that they didn't need to stop their work and bow when Harry happened to pass close to them.
Of the 265 people that chose to join him, 201 were men, and all of them were at least in their late thirties. Turns out not many people want to settle in a cold place with dangerous natives, not even under the protection of a wizard. The ones that chose to join Sirius when he went around the North were the ones that had nothing to lose, the ones that, if they stayed, would probably 'go on a hunt' this winter, and never would have been seen again.
As expected, desperate people aren't usually skilled workers, especially in a medieval society. So, in the end, Harry only had a blacksmith and carpenter to work with. Apart from Brandon, who used to be a merchant. Those three were the skilled workers Harry had to work with, also the only ones literate.
The 64 women were also in their late thirties and early forties, so Harry wasn't expecting a lot of kids running around in the future. Sure, some of them might still give birth, but the likelihood was really low, which in Harry's opinion was a good thing. The place was nowhere close to being good enough to raise children in, and it would take a lot of work to make it suitable in Harry's opinion.
Although, It wouldn't be the first time that my opinion was wrong. Harry thought as he approached the townhall.
Harry had talked with Brandon about money, and how their economy should work, and they had vastly different expectations. It was only preliminary talk, the real work would be done in this meeting he was about to attend, but it was still enough to surprise Harry. Apparently five coppers a day is an amazing pay for a uneducated peasant. Harry wanted to pay a lot more, but Brandon had counselled him against it, saying that paying that much could actually crash their economy.
So now Harry was trying to wrap his head around the shear poverty of the regular person in this world. Harry had tens of millions of galleons in his expanded trunks, and that was just from the pillaged death eaters fortunes. He left the Potter and Black fortunes to Andromeda and Teddy.
Harry walked into the townhall, paying attention to the intricate runic array all over the walls.
The runes were necessary to make the transfigurations permanent. Every single building was made by Harry using transfiguration directly on the earth around him, so they needed to be covered in permanence runes. The elves did most of the initial work carving the runes, but a few of the settlers learned quickly enough to help them, and were already carving runes in the many new buildings around the town.
Harry walked through the empty corridor and soon reached the door to the meeting room. Opening it, he saw that Brandon was already waiting for him, as well as Daphne and Linfred, having moved from their portraits into the spare frames Harry had installed in the meeting room.
The founding patriarch of the Potter family decided he wanted to lend his experience. Apparently, he was quite important in his village when he was alive. So, he had a lot of experience in a similar situation.
Daphne was there just because she got horny whenever Harry acted like a king.
"Your grace!" Brandon said, rising from his chair and bowing, when he saw Harry enter the room.
Harry ignored the little smirk on Daphne's face, as he stopped himself from groaning in annoyance. This whole king thing was going to annoy him for a lot of time.
"Good morning, Brandon. Now, sit down, we have work to do!" Harry responded, not even trying to make the man call him Harry. He had tried before, so he already knew it was useless.
"Of course, your grace. I have a few reports for you." Brandon said, seating down only when Harry was seated on his chair at the head of the table.
"Let's get started, then." Harry said, casting a quick charm over the glass of lemon juice waiting for him, and drinking from it when the charm didn't pick up anything on his drink. "Now, what do you have for me?" He asked.
"As of this morning everyone is housed. We can finally stop using the warehouse for housing." Brandon started with a smile, and Harry could understand his happiness. The man was a former merchant, he probably had an aversion to seeing a warehouse being used for something that wasn't its intended purpose.
"That is good news. We can start work on the sewers now." Harry said, earning a nod from Brandon.
It was one thing that Sirius said he should prioritize. Apparently, the capital city of Westeros had a worse smell than a chemical plant. Sirius said it was because the city grew far too quickly, and the sewers weren't capable of handling the large population. It was getting better, the king, Jaehaerys, was doing a lot of expansion of the basic infrastructure of King's Landing, but it still wasn't enough.
Harry definitely didn't want his home to smell like shit, so he was taking Sirius' advice.
"Indeed, your grace. There are already a few working on the sewers you dug below the main street yesterday." Brandon said, agreeing with Harry's idea of what they should work on, now that the houses were done.
"Your head servant, Dobby, said that two others are ready to carve the runes." Brandon added, and Harry nodded his head in understanding. Dobby was in charge of overseeing who was ready to carve the runes needed for the buildings, and the elf was nothing if not devoted to him, so, if the elf said someone was ready, then they were more than ready.
"I also sent ten men to hunt in the woods nearby as you instructed me to do." Brandon added, and Harry once again nodded his head. They had a lot of grain, Sirius had brought a few expanded trunks full from the Reach, but they didn't have a lot of meat.
"Do we have word from the fishermen? Is the sea calm enough for them to work?" Harry asked, even if he already knew the answer. Ever since the winter started, the waves had been crazy.
"We have, and no, your grace. They think that they will only be able to work again after the winter ends. The sea here is too dangerous during the winter, especially because we don't really have good ships." Brandon responded, and Harry made a mental note of the need for a shipwright.
"The only other thing of note is the fact that some men saw a few wildlings looking at us from the woods yesterday." Brandon added, and the way he said wildlings gave Harry flashbacks to the purebloods talking about muggles. It wasn't the same, but there were a lot of similarities.
"As long as they don't attack us, we won't attack them." Harry said, stopping Brandon because he already knew what the older man was about to say.
"I still believe it is a mistake, your grace. We should kill them before they have the chance to attack us. The wildlings don't trade, they just take." Brandon said, insisting in the argument they had been having for a few days now.
"And I say that sooner or later one tribe will come willing to trade with us, especially now in the winter." Harry said, insisting on the point he made many times before.
He wasn't willing to live with them, mostly because of their practice of stealing women, but Harry was still willing to trade with the natives. Although, to be fair, it was mostly Daphne's idea. Their population was mostly made up of men, and both Harry and Daphne agreed that this was a problem, even if they had different reasons. Harry was thinking about a lack of genetic diversity in future generations, He was hoping the native women would join his village when they realize they could have a better life joining in than they would have in the harsh woods out there.
While Daphne was mostly thinking about politics, as usual for a Slytherin. Apparently, men are more likely to revolt against their government if their society lacks enough women. It didn't happen much in their world, but the times it did, Daphne said that the men revolted, even knowing they would lose the revolt.
"Maybe they will, but we will also be attacked." Brandon responded, conceding the point but still arguing.
"Maybe once or twice, and I'm hoping the do attack us. It will be a good way to show them that attacking is useless, and show the village how I can protect you all." Harry said with a shrug.
He didn't really care about killing people anymore. He had killed too much in both wars to make an issue of it now. But he still wasn't going to actively look for a fight. That was the difference between him and the people he fought against, Harry would kill in defence of himself and his people, the likes of Voldemort, Malfoy and Nott, killed because they liked it.
"That was all I had to tell you today, your grace. We can start on the important issues." Brandon said, and Harry took another sip from his lemon juice before he started talking about the important stuff.
"Well, I guess we could start with the supply issues." Harry started, earning a nod from Brandon. "Sirius said that he found a merchant willing to sail from White Harbor to here, but he will only start doing it when the winter ends." He added, making the older man smile.
"It will be good to have constant visits from a merchant, trade is the lifeblood of any village." Brandon said. "Now the only problem is, what can we sell for a profit?" He added, and Harry nodded his head in agreement, having already reached that conclusion as well.
"Well, that's why my ancestor, Linfred, is here today. He has a lot of experience that would be useful in this situation." Harry said, making Brandon look at the portrait with the same awed look on his face he had when he first saw a portrait.
"Indeed, grandson. I know many different ways you could stablish a good economy in this village." Linfred started, gathering the attention of the two men. "The easiest is probably sea salt. I don't exactly know the runes needed for it, but I do know that there is a runic array that can make separating salt from seawater extremely easy. I'm sure you can find the runes in the library." Linfred added, and Harry made note of the hungry look that appeared in Brandon's face.
"That… would be incredibly profitable." Brandon said, making Harry understand the look.
It made some sense to Harry. He had forgotten that salt was extremely expensive in medieval times back on Earth, so it wasn't much of a surprise that it was the same in this new world. It would be a good start to their economy, everyone uses salt, so it would be a highly sought after product, but still, they needed more. Salt was a good start, but what Harry really wanted was some type of alcohol. If there was one thing that people always enjoyed and spent money on, was getting shit-faced.
"I will look into it. It shouldn't take more than a few days for me to understand the runes needed." Harry promised, earning a grateful nod from Brandon. He seemed really excited to have a good and cheap source of salt. "But, what I really want is some type of alcohol. Do you have anything for me, Linfred?" Harry asked the portrait of his ancestor, making a thoughtful appear in the face of his ancestor. After a few seconds of silence, Linfred responded.
"I don't know much about it. I'm pretty sure we have some type of manual for beer making in the library, but the climate here isn't the best for the ingredients you would need, and I don't know if we have much more on other types alcohol."
"Actually, I may have something, Harry." Daphne interjected, making Harry look at her in suspicion. Daphne was using that smug tone, and it usually meant that she did something illegal and no one realized that she was responsible.
"I know that the Blacks have married a Russian pureblood somewhat recently, as in the last two hundred years, and she was apparently a drunkard. So, there might be something about vodka in the library." Daphne said, and it was distractingly enough that Harry's suspicions only grew. He knew she was hiding something.
"And what are you hiding?" Harry asked, giving voice to his thoughts.
"You wound me, dear husband. I would never hide anything from you!" Daphne answered, looking at him with a perfectly innocent face.
Harry wasn't buying it.
"Cut the crap, Daphne. I know you're hiding something!" Harry said, making Daphne put her hand to her chest in mock hurt. "What are you hiding?" He asked again, making his wife pout, and earning a little laugh from Linfred.
"Alright, fine." Daphne relented. "Around a year after we finished our education, I may or may not have convinced both Tracy and Luna to help me with a bit of… corporate espionage." She added, making Harry groan. Nothing good could come out of those three working together.
"What did you do?" Harry asked, already fearing the answer.
"Remember that time I was complaining about Ogden stonewalling us in the wizengamot?" She asked, and Harry nodded his head.
Those weeks were filled with complains from Daphne about old Ogden, but she kind of stopped out of nowhere…
She didn't! Harry thought, but he was afraid that his first suspicion was right. And Daphne, seeing the look on his face, continued.
"So, a copy of Ogden's firewhisky recipe might have been, how should I say it… relocated, into my possession."
Harry groaned and smacked his head on the table, while Linfred laughed loudly. Even Brandon was laughing a little timidly, which was the first time Harry saw the man laugh. No matter how many times Harry tried to change it, Brandon still had that medieval peasant mindset saying he shouldn't laugh at his king.
"He was pissing me off, and Trace and Luna thought it would be fun to help me." Daphne defended herself without a hint of shame when Harry looked at her.
Of course they did. Harry thought.
Tracy was basically a Slytherin version of Luna, which, now that Harry stopped to think about it, is honestly terrifying. Luna was already scary as a Ravenclaw, a Slytherin Luna would probably conquer the world on accident, or something equally weird and nonsensical.
That was probably why Tracy caused so much trouble. Harry still remembered how Tracy managed to get the wizengamot to allow lesbian marriages by showing those old fossils some lesbian porn, and then subtly saying that the law could be written in a way that those women would still need to provide heirs for their families. And the old, lecherous men of the wizengamot, in the hopes of threesomes, signed the law. Shortly after that, adverts for muggle IVF started appearing all over magical England.
That was quintessential Tracy. Something completely nonsensical, like getting government officials to watch porn in an official setting. And then, when the law she wanted was passed, she hit them with the Slytherin cunning. Making the only downside of the law completely useless since women would have an easy way to bypass it.
Harry laughed, gathering the attention of the others since they didn't expect it. Daphne gave him a raised eyebrow, and Harry explained the reason for his sudden laugh.
"I'm just remembering Tracy's marriage law." Harry explained, making Daphne snicker a little.
"That was fun to see. Those old men looked like they would have heart attacks when their chance at a threesome with young women was taken away." Daphne said, still snickering. "In fact, I almost thought the muggle hate those days would start another war. 'The muggles are taking our women.'" She said, imitating Malfoy, and breaking down in laughter shortly after.
"That does sound likely." Harry said through his own laughter.
"You know." Daphne started, controlling her laughter and suddenly sounding a lot more serious. "I'm pretty sure you will end up having biological children back in England. Even if you're not there anymore."
Harry stopped laughing, a serious expression also appearing on his face. Daphne and Hermione convinced him once to donate sperm for Tracy and Padma. Harry knew it was stored under stasis charms, so if those two did get married, they would probably use it.
Harry decided to move the conversation forward. He didn't want to think about that right now.
"So, I guess we have firewhisky, and probably normal whisky as well." He said, bringing back attention to the discussion they were having. Although, the look Daphne gave him showed that she knew exactly why he was moving things forward.
"I guess it is a good enough start. I don't know what this whisky is, but wine and beer always sell, so I imagine this whisky will also sell well." Brandon said, easily getting back into the previous conversation. He was a bit silent during the time Harry and Daphne went on a tangent, and Harry silently scolded himself for revealing a little too much.
At least they didn't actually say out loud that Harry came from a different world. That would be a nightmare to explain.
"Now we just need to figure out a proper currency. I imagine we won't be using those coins you gave us, your grace?" Brandon asked, and Harry nodded his head in agreement.
He had given every single colonist a galleon as a thank you for being willing to move to a new place, and apparently, that won him the loyalty of his people. They were peasants in a medieval level society, all but Brandon had never even seen a gold coin. And while the galleon was slightly smaller than the dragon used south of the wall, it was still over two decades of wages for a labourer anywhere in the southern kingdoms.
"You're right." Harry answered. "I have enough of those, but it would be better to make our own coins." He added, taking a few coins from his pocket and putting them on the table. "Those are galleons sickles and knuts." Harry said, pointing towards each group of coins. "There are 29 knuts in a sickle and 17 sickles in a galleon. This is the way these coins were valued in my homeland, but I believe I have another method in mind." He added, gathering the interest of Brandon now that they were properly talking about their currency.
"There were other types of currency in my homeland that used a different system, a decimal one. Coins separated in multiples of ten make it a lot easier for both trading and bookkeeping." Harry said, earning a nod from Brandon.
"I can see how, your grace. It isn't something that was ever done here, but having coins in multiples of ten should make things a lot easier for everyone." Brandon said in a thoughtful tone, already thinking of ways this could work. "In fact, I'm surprise no one thought about doing it before. It makes too much sense."
"I'm not surprised. My homeland only started to use this kind of system in the last two hundred years. Although, there were places that had been using it for close to two thousand years." Harry said, earning a nod in understanding from Brandon.
"I think we should base our currency around the one used in the south." Harry started. "I think there are close to twelve thousand coppers in a gold dragon, right?" And when Brandon confirmed his calculations, Harry continued. "So, I was thinking of having our currency be in hundreds, a hundred coppers in a silver and a hundred silvers in a gold, with smaller coins in multiples of ten whenever needed. It should give us a coin of similar size and value to the ones used south, which would make trade easier." Harry concluded, earning an appreciative sounding hum from Brandon.
"I can already see how good a currency like that could be, your grace. In fact, I'm a little annoyed that I didn't have such an easy system in my trading days." Brandon said, and Harry gave him a commiserating nod. He could only imagine what a merchant would go through with a weird, poorly defined currency like the one used in the south.
"Well, there is also notes and paper money." Harry said, and then prepared himself for the task of explaining fiat currency to someone living in a medieval society.
Unknown to Harry, his arrival was being discussed somewhere else in the continent.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
POV – Jaehaerys Targaryen
Jaehaerys walked into the chambers of the small council, and saw everyone seated, waiting for him.
Seating around the table were the lord hand, his good friend, Barth; the master of coin, Martyn Tyrell, the master of laws, Rodrik Arryn, who would be his goodson by this time next week, the master of ships, Manfryd Redwyne, and grand maester Elysar. The seat of the Lord Commander of the kingsguard was empty, Ser Gyles Morrigen was walking into the room beside him, with Ser Ryam Redwyne as a second kingsguard protecting him today.
Jaehaerys took his seat at the table and looked around at his small council, pausing when he saw the empty chair to his right.
"Will the queen be joining us today, your grace?" Barth asked.
"Not yet." Jaehaerys responded, shaking his head a little. "She is still recovering from the birth of Gael, and she doesn't want to strain herself and risk missing Daella's marriage." He explained.
His youngest daughter was born bringing the winter with her, and her birth was particularly hard on his beloved wife. They aren't young anymore, Alysanne is four and forty, it was almost unheard of for a woman to give birth at her age, but Alysanne did it. And, despite the difficulties, both her and Gael were healthy.
"Speaking of the marriage. How are the preparations for it?" He asked, looking at both Rodrik and Martyn.
"Everything is ready, your grace. The wedding of princess Daella to our master of laws is attracting a lot of people to the capital, but the city watch is handling it well enough. There is the occasional drunk lord or heir making an issue, but overall, things are quite peaceful in the city." Martyn said, and he nodded at his master of coin. It was good to know that the city wasn't falling apart with the visiting lords. King's landing was unstable enough most of the time, add annoying lords to it, and it was a recipe for disaster.
"The sept is ready to hold the ceremony, and princess Jocelyn took over the duties of the queen, so the servants are also ready for the coming feast."
"Anything to add, lord Rodrik?" He asked, looking at the master of laws.
"Just that I'm ready for all this talk to be done with, your grace. If I could, I would marry your daughter right now, and do away with all those talks and preparations." Rodrik joked, making their all laugh a little.
Jaehaerys could understand. His own marriage was a brief affair, the fear of Alysanne being forced to marry Orryn Baratheon making them move forward quickly with it. But he still remembered the wedding of Aemon to Jocelyn was a nightmare, with moons of preparations and even him had to put in some work on it. The king being forced to work on the preparations of a wedding, he didn't think his tyrant of an uncle would ever do something like that.
But he would do it all over again if it brought him another Rhaenys. At close to six, his granddaughter was a clever and energetic girl, and Jaehaerys loved her.
"I hate to bring sad news in such a joyous time, your grace, but there is news from the Starry Sept." Barth said, bringing the attention of the room to him.
"What news?" Jaehaerys asked, feeling a stab of fear but not knowing why he was feeling it. There wasn't any reason why he should.
He was quickly proven wrong.
"Your niece, Septa Rhaella has died of consumption. She caught the disease while helping the sick in Old Town."
Another one of his family dying before her time. Sweet and shy Rhaella, he still thought that Aerea and Rhaella had changed places during his coronation, but now both are gone, so it doesn't matter anymore. At least his sister didn't live long enough to see both her daughters die. No parent should be alive to see one of their children die, much less two of them.
"I want her body brought to King's landing, Barth. Bring her home." He commanded.
"Lord Hightower has already dispatched her body, your grace. A convoy from Old Town should be arriving soon." Barth responded, making Jaehaerys give him a brief, strained smile.
Lord Hightower was a man with a good head on his shoulders. He would keep that in mind for the future.
"Anything more important? Or can we move to the minor Issues?" He asked, and Barth gave him a look that he knew well, it was a look that said trouble was coming.
"The Black sorcerer is in the city, your grace." Barth said, and Jaehaerys felt the headache coming.
The Black sorcerer had appeared out of nowhere some ten years ago, and Jaehaerys knew how powerful the man's magic was. He had seen it being used, when the man turned a large rock into a horse during a tourney, and he did it because the knight he bet on was having some issues with his horse.
The man had magic far more powerful than even the Valyrian sorcery he witnessed Visenya do in his youth, and he used it to help in his bets.
If the man was more ambitious, he would be afraid, his magic was far more powerful than any dragon. But as much as the man was powerful, he was also whimsical, and completely uninterested in ruling. Spending his days sailing the seas and enjoying his time with whores all over the known world.
"What is he doing here?" He asked, fearing the answer, even if he was in the city just the enjoy the girls of the street of silk.
The man burned down three houses the last time he and one of the girls went too far.
"Apparently he is looking for merchants, because something far more important is happening north." Barth said, and Jaehaerys felt fear again. That couldn't be good.
"I heard word that another sorcerer showed up in White Harbor. His name is Harry Potter, he was apparently the foster son of the Black sorcerer, and according to some of my people, they heard talking amongst the Black sorcerer's crew that the new sorcerer is far stronger than his foster father." Barth said.
Jaehaerys thought he was right to be afraid, he actually should shaking in fear. He couldn't even imagine someone more powerful than the Black sorcerer. If the Black sorcerer could turn a large rock into a horse, could this Harry Potter turn something into a dragon, or something even more powerful.
"And it gets worse, your grace." Barth said, and Jaehaerys gave him an incredulous look.
"We have two extremely powerful sorcerers, doing gods know what in my kingdom. How can it get worse?" He asked, and the look Barth gave him was enough for him to know things were about to get worse.
"We don't have two sorcerers walking around, your grace. The new one decided to settle down north of the wall, in the ruins of the wildling town of Hardhome." Barth said, and Jaehaerys had to hold in a groan.
He shouldn't have asked how worse it could get. The last thing they needed was a sorcerer king beyond the wall.
"The Black sorcerer was given leave from lord Stark to gather people from the small villages of the North. And according to my people, around fifty and two hundred decided to leave the North and try their luck in this new village." Barth added. "So, now we have people leaving the kingdom to join a new village beyond the wall, one that is ruled by a sorcerer and could rise into a kingdom to rival the Iron Throne." He concluded.
Jaehaerys looked at the surprised and shocked faces of his small council. He wasn't one for swear words, but there was only one way to describe their current situation.
They were fucked!
AN 2: There's the timeline.
As you can all see, Harry arrived at Westeros in an interesting time. Rhaenys is five years old, Gael was just born, Daemon is yet to be born, and the parents of Aemma Arryn are just getting married.
There will still be a Dance, but the players will be different, and the way it will happen will also be quite different, with a lot of changes being introduced by dropping Harry and Sirius in the middle of the story. Some characters that died will survive, and others that were alive at canon Dance will be dead.
But that will only be revealed in the future.
See you guys in the next one.
Comments
Louis Kasser
Also why isnt he building any kind of walls for defense?
Louis Kasser
What is to stop anyone from scratching out a permanence rune and having buildings collapse? It seems like a pretty big vulnerability.
Lictor Magnus
Glad we know what time he arrived in. I’d been wondering if the dragons were still around. I’m curious if the asoiaf dragons are as resistant to magic as the Harry Potter ones.
