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Harry Potter In The Witcher [63]
🕑 Added 2025-09-14 15:29:15 +0000 UTCThese people, beaten down and wary as they were, would see it as him just being another powerful figure trying to take advantage of them.
The red-bearded man eyed him for a long, searching moment, before finally, with a curt nod, leading him over to a large tent that appeared slightly bigger than the rest.
Entering it, Harry found it to be only slightly warmer than the freezing air outside, and mostly empty, save for a simple bed, a few rough-hewn chairs, a small, wobbly table, and a small, locked chest where the man likely stored his meager belongings.
"So," the man said, his friendly demeanor gone, replaced by a much more wary, almost hostile one, as he eyed Harry up and down. "What brings you to me, little lordling?"
Harry's lips twitched upwards at the man's rather obvious, and frankly, clumsy, attempt to anger him, to get a rise out of him.
"I wanted to give you an offer," Harry said, not rising to the man's bait and continuing on in his polite, respectful tone. "Well, perhaps it's more of a deal, really. A deal that I believe would be mutually beneficial to both of us. If you were interested in hearing it, of course."
The man frowned and looked on suspiciously at him, his arms crossed over his massive chest. Harry didn't let it bother him. He just continued to look calmly into the man's eyes, his own expression open and honest.
"Let's hear it then," the big man said back to him, his voice a low grumble.
"I will not beat around the bush," Harry said, getting straight to the point. "I am attempting to start a new kingdom. A kingdom of true equality, where everyone will be given rights, and everyone will be treated fairly, regardless of their station, or their race. I can do a fair bit of starting it up all by myself, but a kingdom, as you know, is nothing without its citizens.”
“I am here to offer you, and all of your people, protection, and a real, permanent home, for free. I can make your crops plentiful, your animals grow strong and healthy, and your homes warm and safe. All I ask for, in return, is that you and your people join my new kingdom, as its first citizens."
The man looked at him for a long, silent moment. "Are you sick in the head, boy?" he finally asked, his voice flat.
"No," Harry said, his polite smile not wavering. "And I am not a boy. I am, in fact, much older than you are. I'm a sorcerer."
Immediately upon the admission of that one, single word, the man's eyes became guarded, hostile. "A sorcerer?" he repeated, his voice filled with a deep-seated suspicion and distaste. "A bloody sorcerer is trying to start his own kingdom now?" The man asked, as if the very idea of it was a personal, deeply offensive insult to him.
"I am," Harry stated, his voice firm, unwavering. "The nobles and kings of this realm… they don't seem to be doing the best job of it, do they? So, I will try my own hand at it.
Every single kingdom that I have ever been to, in this world and others, has some deep, fundamental flaw with it, some seed of corruption or inequality that will, eventually, be its downfall.
I want to build a kingdom of true, lasting peace. A kingdom where people of all kinds can come and not have to deal with constant prejudice, a place where they don't have to wonder if this day will be their last. Where they don't have to constantly wonder if their own kings and nobles will turn on them, betray them, for a bit of extra profit or power.
I don't care about all that," Harry said, letting the genuine, burning passion he felt for this cause slip into his voice, hoping it would help convince the wary man of his honesty. He didn't, of course, mention the 'building a massive, magically-enhanced army' part of his plan. That would come later.
"And how, exactly, do you plan to take this territory from the various nobles and kings who already own it?" the man asked, his voice still incredulous, though a flicker of something else, perhaps a hint of interest, was now in his eyes.
"I don't," Harry said simply. "My new kingdom is in the Far North, a land that no one truly owns, that no one has ever truly tamed. I have already, with my own magic, established the foundations for the first settlements, created fertile areas for crops and lush pastures for animals, and erected powerful, magical walls for protection. I have also made sure that the main settlement, the capital, will stay warm and comfortable, no matter what season it is, no matter how harsh the winter. So," Harry asked, his gaze steady and unwavering, "what say you to this offer, leader of Duskband?"
He already knew what the man would say, even before he said it.
"I… I will have to think on this," the man said after a long, thoughtful moment of silence. "And I will need to talk with the others about it, of course."
Harry nodded. "Of course. I shall be back in two weeks' time. Do you think that is enough time for you and your people to think about what I have offered?"
The man nodded again. "Aye. Two weeks will be plenty." He paused, then asked, "One more thing. You have a name I can call you? Other than 'sorcerer'?"
"Grogik," the man said, his voice a low rumble.
"Hm," Harry mused. "You're from Skellige, then?"
"Aye," Grogik confirmed, a hint of pride in his voice. "I was sailing down the coast when a terrible storm hit us. I woke up a week later, right here in this settlement, with the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on tending to my wounds." A huge, fond smirk spread across Grogik's face at the memory.
