15

XXVII. A Rival

There is something to be said for having a rival or competitor, as long as they don't end up defeating you. Not getting complacent and staying sharp is key in keeping some uppity hero from punking you.

Plus, nothing completes the image quite like attracting a foe who is dead set on bringing you down. Are you really a villain if you can't get someone to resent you that much?

After visiting Japan and setting up a little base of operations, Harry's next destination was the Taiwan Strait- both so he could visit China and Taiwan itself, and in part because Harry had heard some interesting rumors. The Awa Maru, a cargo ship, had met its end at the hands (torpedoes?) of a submarine called the Queenfish- rumors said it was piled high with gold, gemstones, and even ancient fossils. Or it was perfectly possible it was just stuffed with nickel and rubber.

It was also, as far as Harry could tell, extremely likely to be haunted. Like, up to 2,000 possible ghosts could have been flitting around that thing. Of course, that was assuming that none of the crew had made peace with it and passed on.

Hopefully, they would be able to find the wreck- the Strait of Taiwan was a lot smaller than most other bodies of water, but that didn't somehow make finding one sunken ship easier. Of course, there was also the matter of what creatures potentially lurked within- like the one they encountered while halfway through the strait, when it rose from the water and came alongside them.

Harry had a hard time describing it, even if his brain immediately thought of a dragon. It was certainly not a dragon by the western definition- the body was too long, too snakelike, the horns more like the antlers of a deer… The scales were a beautiful shade of scarlet, and shine brightly in the sunlight- which had suddenly got much more intense, to the point that it was unusually warm.

"Hello?" Harry decided to try Parseltongue. He had no clue if it would work, but considering the dragon's snake-like body he figured it was worth a shot.

"Greetings, speaker." The voice was powerful, filled with a supernatural authority.

"Uh, hi." Harry said, not entirely sure if he was supposed to be kowtowing or something. "I am sailing on your ocean, or something?"

"It is, but it is not as I cannot tolerate visitors… many ships sail through these waters. To wreck them all…" The dragon shook its head.

Harry really wasn't sure what the proper procedure was here, but some part of him thought that it would be best to stay on the good side of such a being, whatever it was- this one seemed a lot more responsive than the rainbow serpent… which raised the concerning possibility that it could get angry. So Harry gave the dragon a few gifts- including several of the solid gold apples Harry had grown thanks to the bough he had acquired in Tir na Nog- and it seemed to grin with sharp teeth.

"A considerate guest! Quite unlike the visitor I saw earlier today…" the dragon grumbled.

"A magician like me?" Harry asked.

"A shaman? Yes." The dragon nodded, and Harry started thinking. Another magician in the area made a fair amount of sense, Harry supposed- he imagined he wasn't the first wizard to ever get in a boat, but it made Harry curious. What sort of other wizards sailed the seas?

After waving the dragon goodbye, their ship seemed to be going through the water a little easier- Harry wasn't entirely sure if he was imagining things at first, but their sailing seemed smoother, their already obscene pace faster, and Harry certainly didn't remember applying any new spells or even purposely trying to impact the weather...

Thankfully, with Harry's spells and a bit of help from the Mermen, they had all the tools they needed to find the Awa Maru, that ill fated ocean liner. Of course, the considerations of the second World War meant that it never managed to fulfill that original role. Unsurprisingly, getting torpedoed also proved… an obstacle.

As they hunted down the downed vessel, Harry saw something particularly interesting- a ship that sat above the location of the wreck, but not just any ship. It was an honest to goodness wooden sailing ship, her sides painted in vivid white and black, cannons peeking out from gun ports. Above the ship flew a flag in the same shades of white and black: the pattern was a sort of repeating pattern of little splotches of black on the white. Harry couldn't recognize it, but was almost certain that Margaret probably knew- it seemed sort of like a heraldry thing.

Looking closer, Harry could see that the ship had no crew, at least not one that Harry could see with the naked eye, but things were certainly happening. Minute adjustments were made to the rigging, the deck was abuzz with activities as crates were moved around… and most interestingly, a rope went down into the depths, and it was being towed up.

Eventually, the thing being towed up broke the surface of the chop- revealing a platform piled high with gold and gemstones. The platform was tipped over so all the goods fell into a box, which was quickly and efficiently tucked away inside the hold of the ship. Very interesting, but unfortunate, considering that someone beat Harry to the punch. That kind of sucked.

Harry couldn't help but notice the way the cannons moved ever so slightly in their ports- they seemed to be loaded, and while a normal cannon may not have been able to damage the heavily enchanted hull of Harry's ship, he was certain those were no normal guns, in the same way the craft was no normal ship. Idly, he noticed the name written in flowing text near the ship's bow- La Belle Epoque.

Of course, even if he was arriving a little late to the party, Harry was still interested in investigating the wreck itself, no reward of treasure required- so he applied a Bubblehead Charm and dived into the depths.

As it turned out, his advanced vision helped out a lot down in the depths, especially the sort of infrared he had. It was rather hard to miss a living, breathing human being in the midst of the chill of the deep ocean. The figure was busy swimming in and out of a frankly massive hole in the ship's sides, using a wand to move great pallets of gold and loot to be lifted up.

While he approached, Harry realized that scaring the person- he was having a bit of trouble telling if it was a man or a woman at this distance- would probably be a bad idea. He pulled out his wand and cast the brightest light he possibly could- almost immediately catching the attention of the mysterious diver, who spun and cast. Harry swum to the side, avoiding the spell and the wake of bubbles it left behind it, and thankfully, no more followed behind it.

They slowly approached each other, wands held tight in their hands- the man's face was slightly obscured by the Bubblehead charm, but even through it Harry could tell he had roguish good looks, complemented by a shock of blonde spent a few moments trying to communicate underwater, to very little effect, before they realized that getting to the surface was probably a better idea.

To get back up to the surface, they simply hitched a ride on one of the lift things that the man was using to lift his spoils- the man made sure to stack it high with loot first, though. It took them a good few minutes to reach the surface. They spent the time quietly analyzing each other, until they broke the surface- Harry undid his Bubblehead Charm as the man jumped a little upon seeing Harry's ship.

Once the surprise of a second ship had worn off, the stranger immediately put his hand on the pile of treasure. "It's mine." The man snapped immediately (in French), seeming defensive. Of course, it wasn't like Harry really begrudged him the treasure, considering the current state of Doggerland's finances.

"Fair enough, considering that you found it first." Harry shrugged. "I'm Harry Potter. It's a pleasure." Harry reached out for a handshake, which the man quietly refused.

"You may call me Jean Paul, Baron of Ys, Monsieur Potter- and perhaps, if fortune wills it, we shall meet again?" He gave a cocky grin. "Of course, I shall get there first."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps it is, Monsieur Potter- I sail for the Indies next, then perhaps Palmyra Atoll…"

"I already got the Palmyra Atoll treasure, sorry."

Jean Paul grit his teeth. "You have? Congratulations."

The man, Jean Paul, left with haste soon after, clearly upset that his plans for Palmyra were ruined- Harry accidentally bringing up the treasure he found off Colombia probably didn't help. Harry decided to stay a little longer, just to investigate the actual site of the Awa Maru's sinking. Jean had apparently been quite efficient- the ship was completely emptied of most goods that were actually of any value- Harry had no interest in waterlogged sugar. If any fossils had been among the cargo, they seemed lost, unfortunately.

Eventually, after a couple of scares involving the irate ghosts which inhabited the ship, Harry decided to back off. They were obviously not in the best of moods, after being sunk (relatively) recently and having their ship looted. Still, his visit to the ship got Harry thinking.

La Belle Epoque's sides were rife with cannon, and the original designs for the liberty ship even called for a few small guns…. Considering that there was a chance that Harry could run into something in the sea that was malevolent and capable of enacting actual harm, maybe he should install some guns on the ship? Harry liked to think that if he was on board the ship, he'd be able to handle a lot of things, but if he needed support, or if the ship was attacked while he was away, it would be best if it was armed.

And with the help of magic, Harry could give the ship a bit more oomph than a cargo ship should have had. Or a destroyer should have had. Or maybe even a particularly small cruiser… And true to form, the crew were more than happy to mess around with a powerful gun.

Harry managed to get the blokes to calm down just a tiny bit before they sailed for a mooring in China. Firing off naval guns, while extremely fun, was likely to get them in a bit of trouble with the authorities. Perhaps he could go to Macau or Hong Kong? Harry was pretty sure the latter had been returned to China, but he thought that the second might still be Portuguese… but of course, Harry couldn't speak Portuguese.

XXIIX. Generosity

Well, you might reasonably say, I'm a villain! I'm supposed to do villainous things! Being generous isn't villainous! And from one point of view you might be correct in saying that. A villain cannot be indiscriminately generous, but to your supporters, to those you can potentially win over… generosity is important. Some folks are just naturally mercenary- and few things irritate that sort quite like skimping when it comes to payment.

A good villain should eventually become a ruler- a sovereign who metes out rewards with one hand… and destruction with the other. Walk the line between the two, and recognize which followers need the carrot… and which need the stick.

While the Greengrass family understood the reasoning behind the medical procedures taking place on Harry's island, that didn't mean they couldn't be uncomfortable with the idea. Harry didn't seem like the rake that the press portrayed him to be, though…

Astoria was pretty excited about the whole thing- she was unashamedly curious about the island Harry lived on, not to mention his life. She would easily admit that his lifestyle sounded like a dream. No pressure from pureblood society? No restrictions on what he could do, where he could go? Adventure? Yes please.

Of course, potentially getting cured of her disease also brightened her mood considerably. She wanted to live- and she wanted a life that was like Potter's.

When Potter Apparated the whole family to the island, because there was no way her relatives were leaving her alone with Potter… on top of the whole being there for Astoria during the procedure thing. They were Apparated onto a sort of wharf- one that was attached to a massive castle like structure.

Sure, she had grasped the idea that Potter was building a castle, but seeing it was different. It loomed above the sea around them, layer after layer of massive stone blocks and arches and windows… it was hard to believe it had been around for less than a year. As they walked towards the castle, they passed between great greenhouses (expanded to be more spacious on the inside) and paddocks, full of creatures that would have been at home next to Hagrid's hut. Astoria blinked when she saw a Veela carry some feed to a completely empty corral- only for the feed to get eaten! Thestrals, then.

The inside of the castle was… interesting. For one thing, there was the decor- ancient relics and weapons hung on the walls, along with the pelt of the largest wolf Astoria had ever seen. Then there were the inhabitants: she figured some of the more normal looking ones were werewolves, which Potter was completely unperturbed by; there were vampires who bowed to Harry and smiled with sharp fangs; these beautiful Japanese women who seemed to chill the air around them; and Astoria swore she spotted a few girls with fox ears and even fluffy tails, ones that actually moved.

Potter definitely had remarkable taste, Astoria would give him that…

"You have quite a few… unique guests, Mr. Potter." Astoria's mother commented.

"Yes, I do." Harry chuckled. "They're all good people- I'm sure Agathe is around here somewhere…"

Astoria was pretty sure she recognized the name Agathe as that woman who ran away with Potter. Well, that was the story the woman's husband wouldn't stop telling…

Eventually, they reached the room. Or perhaps it was The Room- it certainly had that feeling, exceptionally tidy and with the floors covered in runes. There wasn't much there other than a sort of table- also covered in Runes-, a few bags of blood, and a vampire, dressed in tidy white medical dress. (Once again, Astoria was struck by the fact that Potter knew how to pick 'em)

Then it was a long list of double checks- making sure they had the marrow from Daphne, the blood, that all the complex spells in the room were working properly...

The vampire would be serving as a nurse, although Astoria got the distinct impression that she was the one who actually knew what she was doing, and Harry would be playing the role of nurse. That idea got a smile out of her, at least.

"If this kills me, I will haunt you, Potter."

"I'd probably deserve it."

Astoria took a swig of the potion that would keep her unconscious for the length of the procedure.

Harry found the procedure nerve-wracking, and not just because the Greengrass family were glowering at him. There were a lot of very delicate moving parts, so to speak, in the apparatus keeping Astoria frozen in time.

Unsurprisingly, time magic was a bitch to learn and was generally kept extremely secret. Getting the room set up required a lot of translation on Harry's part, as a fair chunk of the runes they were using were Mayan… but it would be useful for medical emergencies- or maybe even things as simple as making plants grow faster?

Still, those were matters for another time. The first step was removing the marrow outright, once again with help from Parselmagic, killing the old to make way for the new. It was one of a number of steps that seemed counterintuitive- like weakening the immune system so that it wouldn't reject the donated cells… Harry had never taken the Hippocratic oath, and he knew the procedure was for a good cause, but it still made him a little uncomfortable.

Then there was removing the blood- all of it. He wasn't sure if the disease or curse somehow spread through the blood, so they would have to drain all of it, hence putting Astoria in stasis. Seeing Astoria turn deathly pale due to all the blood in her veins being removed was also unnerving… but Harry (and the vampire, who had a much cooler head when it came to handling blood) carried on.

Thankfully, the marrow cells could be inserted along with the new blood, making the process less complicated than Harry feared it would be. Still, it took a lot of time- it could take quite a bit to drain or put in half a liter, much less the five or so that were in you at all times.

Of course, this entire time they were running a litany of diagnostic charms, making sure again and again that something hadn't gone wrong… Harry was sweating bullets by the end of it, but it seemed to have worked, the curse appearing to be gone, or at least pushed back.

She woke up. That was good. The first thing she noticed, after the initial grogginess wore off, was her family sitting around her. She lunged at Daphne, hugging her. Unfortunately, Astoria had slightly underestimated her strength, already being used to the wearing effects of the blood curse negating her efforts to become fit… so the hug turned into an accidental tackle to the floor.

Still, that couldn't even begin to dampen her mood. She felt good. Really good. Is this what normal people felt like?

"It worked!" She crowed. "It's finally gone!".

"Well, I'm still not sure if the curse will come back," Harry said, "but this operation might work in the long term, just redoing it whenever the need arises." That was a bit of a bummer, but Harry proved that it was fixable.

Astoria could live with that. She could definitely live with that. Making visits to Harry's castle every few months, or maybe even weeks didn't sound like a problem. Maybe if she was lucky, father would let her visit more often?

Well, she would have to wait until she graduated Hogwarts, she guessed, but then… Well, it seemed like father and Harry were getting along a lot better now that a cure was possible. Harry looked nearly as relieved as Astoria felt.

Knowing that she had the potential of a lot more time on the clock was reassuring, but the general sense of urgency that it gave her hadn't quite worn off yet. What if to didn't work? What if didn't last? She needed to do what she could now.

So the words stumbled out of her mouth, surprising her nearly as much as everyone else. "Could I treat you to dinner sometime, Harry?"

After her own mortification had worn off, Astoria was aware that she had dropped something of a bombshell. She managed to agree on a date and time for them to meet in muggle London sometime in the summer (once Hogwarts was out), before her father basically dragged her away- a shame. She was hoping that she would get the chance to try dinner.

Still, considering she was still attending Hogwarts, that gave her the right to be giddy like a schoolgirl, didn't it? Daphne seemed a mite jealous, not that Astoria was going to rub it in or anything like that.

Harry was glad to see several of his projects come to fruition at roughly the same time. Astoria definitely seemed better- they were still exchanging letters to make sure she was alright, and she seemed fine- but Harry's book was also in a state where he was ready to print.

With help from the Lovegoods and their presses, the first printing of The Magician's Guide to Parseltongue was completed. Despite Xenophilius' apparent… lunacy, he did have some contacts among the booksellers. Despite Harry's less than stellar reputation among the people, Harry was hopeful that the sheer utility of being able to talk to snakes would sell.

He figured that they'd start modestly, with a few crates of books. The stigma around Parseltongue might have spread in some other Anglosphere countries (Harry couldn't delude himself into thinking he knew enough Americans or Australians to accurately guess), and Harry didn't have any translations written (yet?) so he wasn't sure how sales would be. Still, there was no time like the present, and no reason Harry couldn't share one of his great gifts and maybe remove a bit of the stigma it was mired in.

Flourish and Blotts did buy a number of Harry's books. While he was unproven as an author, he was also Harry Potter, wizarding celebrity and figure mired in no small amount of debate. Missing out on selling the books and exploiting a bit of that fame would just be bad business, and the public was very much interested in Harry Potter. They sold out on the first day- and the bookstore sent out a letter politely demanding more. A lot more.

Admittedly, not everyone was reading the books out of a genuine interest in communicating with snakes. There was a bit of an interest in Potter, whether as a sort of 'bad boy' hero gone wrong figure, or a genuine admiration. A certain sort of fan bought up the book just because it was by Harry Potter, hoping that it might reveal some extra tidbit about his life. Of course, sharing a language with their hero wasn't a bad prospect either, especially if it could serve as a conversation starter...

For those Slytherins who had never really fallen in line with the more… purist types, there was a lot of interest. Other than Harry just being a celebrity, talking to snakes was a useful ability- maybe it could even help them rehabilitate the Slytherin image?

Of course, the stigma surrounding the language was still strong. By the time the Ministry had heard the news and started poking their noses into the situation, all the copies were sold, but to the very Light-leaning Ministry, it was unnerving. Speaking to snakes was dark, after all, and there was a proven market for said dark magic!

There was even a motion to ban the book, or if not, to set up some sort of system of registration for anyone who could speak the language, whether natural or learned. It struggled. There was a party in support of it, of course, but there were others- who weren't dark, of course- who were opposed. Surprisingly, the typically ambivalent Cyrus Greengrass pushed hard against it- and enough neutrals voted with him to swing in favor of Parseltongues.

Over the seas, Harry's books took a little longer to arrive, and a little longer to get off the ground. Claiming that you could teach Parseltongue, through a book, was a bold claim, and not everyone bought it- but word of mouth eventually began to spread. It was the real deal.

Snakes all over the world were, in large part, sort of curious, noticing the sudden rise in speakers. Speakers who were apparently a little lacking in skill, but speakers nevertheless. It wasn't the worst time to be a snake, especially one that happened to be kept as the pet of a wizarding household.

Cyrus Greengrass was… conflicted, and more than a little concerned. He was grateful to Potter, of course, considering the way his procedure actually managed to do something, anything to help his daughter. There was just the matter of Astoria's reaction- he couldn't exactly say no, not after Potter had been so exceedingly generous towards them…

Potter wasn't quite the womanizer that Cyrus had expected, given what the Prophet had reported; either that, or Potter was just good at keeping it under control when guests were around. You would have to be blind not to notice the company he kept on his island. Even with the occasional male werewolf, it skewed female, and maybe it was perfectly innocuous… but maybe it wasn't. The idea of Astoria getting entangled with some sort of dandy made his blood boil, even if some part of him hoped Potter would be too interested in his vampires to really care.

Still, Cyrus Greengrass owed a debt of gratitude to Harry Potter, and there was a non-zero chance that they would be linked even closer together in the future. As long as Potter remained the only possessor of those odd magics in his hospital (and that seemed likely, considering how they were in a language Cyrus couldn't even begin to guess at) he was one of the only people who could keep Astoria alive if her condition resurfaced. It seemed that the Greengrass family and the sole member of the Potter family would be hopelessly entangled, even if Astoria didn't chase Harry.

He supposed this meant he would have to change up his politics a little- it was in his best interest to keep Potter and Britain on as amicable terms as he could possibly manage, for obvious reasons. Even if he didn't like Potter that much, winning over the favor of the Prince of a foreign state was obviously beneficial. He kept herds of thestrals, grew plants, and could apparently raise islands from the sea- he seemed like he had taken to independence quite well.

As spring came around, things in the castle were somewhat normal, at least by Doggerland standards. On the Dogger Banks, the tower had received several new floors- a few of which were chilled- in a slightly Japanese style (despite what anyone else might say, Harry loved his sweet architectural mongrel) and the branch of the base on the Japanese side was completely according to proper native style.

They were also still getting a slow trickle of new werewolves- several of which came thanks to letters written by werewolves already there- who settled in on Doggerland. Harry didn't really mind as long as they didn't cause any trouble… and no one ever troubled him with the fact that he technically held one of the largest packs of werewolves on the planet under his sway. Of course, they weren't really the combat oriented sort (many wanted to leave that behind) so the strength of the pack should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when given a place to live with fellow werewolves under the auspices of a government that didn't treat them like garbage… some of the werewolves got to business increasing the island's population the old fashioned way. Plans for homeschooling were already underway- while Harry was fond of Hogwarts, he would admit that it was, perhaps, not the greatest idea to send Teddy or any potential children of Harry's into a potentially hostile country for months at a time.

Unbeknownst to Harry, people had begun to take notice of the island off of Hokkaido as well, and the characteristics it had which were extremely similar to what was going on at the Dogger Banks… There was definite concern that it seemed like the islands might have become a recurring thing, but thankfully none of them had been plopped down in front of a major port or anything like that. The anomalies and the strange weather that surrounded them were the subject of fierce speculation, especially with oddities like the skies suddenly clearing to make way for the sun with no notice.

(On a completely unrelated note, the great cloud clearing incident happened the exact moment that Teddy first called Harry Potter "dada".)