Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

The newlyweds dragged themselves out of bed just in time for dinner. Deciding to be formal, they went on a quest and found a small dining room. A few 'wishes' later and they were enjoying a large meal of various dishes. Bellatrix was vaguely reminded of past feasts at Hogwarts.

As they ate, Harry studied Bellatrix discreetly. He had a wife. That sounded strange. He finally broke the silence to voice a concern. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful," Harry said, "but I would like to know where all of this food and service is coming from."

Bellatrix smiled as she sipped her punch. She set down the crystal glass. "I suspect that this castle is infested with House-Sprites."

"House-Sprites?"

She nodded informatively. "Yes, House-Sprites. They're little fairy-like creatures that love to nest in castles that have a magical 'aura' if you will. The magic in the walls of the castle makes them stronger and more comfortable. In return, they exude a sort of 'wishing power' that makes your minor household-like wishes come true."

Harry frowned thoughtfully. "Why is it that I've never heard of them? And why doesn't Hogwarts have House-Sprites? That's a magical place if there ever was one."

"House-Sprites were thought to be extinct when Hogwarts was built, so they chose to use House-Elves instead." Bellatrix explained. "You've never heard of them because they're only talked about in non-standard books."

"What do they look like?"

"No one really knows. If they ever venture out where humans can see them, they use their power to be invisible." Bellatrix said. They continued to eat in silence until Bellatrix resumed speaking. "Do you have any plans for the future? You'll need to complete your education somehow."

Harry shrugged. "I guess I'll look for a library in the castle and study. It would be nice if you could help me a little, although it's kind of pointless without a wand."

Bellatrix smiled at him with amusement. "I'm your wife, of course I'll help you. As for a wand, I'm sure that something will be arranged."

After some discussion about Voldemort, Dumbledore, his friends, and the world in general, Harry and Bellatrix decided to invite Snape, Lupin, Tonks, and Moody over the next evening to talk about various things and to make some decisions.

They both made their way to the private study and Harry wrote out a quick invitation to the four friends to come and visit the next evening. When Bellatrix asked Harry how they were supposed to get there, a Portkey appeared, and Harry attached it to the letter. The magical outbox appeared, and the letter was made.

The couple then elected to take a rather long bath and after that, turned in for the night.

Breakfast had been served on a table in the master suite and Harry was poking at his breakfast boredly with a fork when Reggins the ghost appeared before him. "My lord, you and your lady have a visitor."

"Who? How did they track me down?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised that someone was there.

"I asked him to come." Reggins explained. "You and your lady are in need of wands, so I sent a message to Nasil the Wandcrafter to visit at his earliest convenience. He has come at his earliest convenience."

Harry jumped up and headed for his walk-in closet to find some clothes decent enough for visitors. He was intercepted by Bellatrix who had emerged from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. "You need something imposing. Something that will help your new image." she announced as she stepped in and quickly picked out some black and silver robes for him.

"What image?"

"Just trust me. I'll be down with you in a moment." she said as she removed the bath robe and began to put on a dress.

Harry started putting his robes on. "Where is Nasil from?"

"He has resided among the Ice People for many years. They have access to the rarest materials of the highest quality." Reggins informed Harry. "He is noted to be a crafter of superb skill when it comes to custom wands. You'll find him in your public study."

"Public study?" Harry asked, confused.

"You have a public and a private study." Reggins informed Harry with his familiar monotone. "The public one is for receiving visitors. The private one is where you can keep your private documents and information without having to worry about someone seeing it."

"Okay then. I'll just head on down and greet him." Harry said as he consulted his ring as to where he could find his public study.

The ring led him to a room near the main entrance hall. He stepped into the room and looked around. While his private study was cozy, this was… formal. The room was rather large and had green wall hangings. In the center was a large desk with a high backed chair sitting behind it. It could have been a throne. On the wall behind where Harry would sit, one of the hangings was emblazoned with the black shacked phoenix. The man that Harry assumed to be Nasil was studying it.

Harry put on a friendly smile and spoke warmly. "Thank you for coming Mr. Nasil."

The man turned around and made a small bow. "It's an honor my lord."

"Have a seat." Harry said, waving his hand and wishing for a comfortable chair to appear before the desk. He sat in his own seat.

Nasil smiled and sat down. "You've created quite a stir up North. Some are worried about what a new overlord will bring, others are excited as to what opportunities you'll provide. Your actions from yesterday won you much approval."

"Actions?" Harry asked slowly, unsure as to what he had done that would be so important.

"Those decrees you issued, dear." reminded Bellatrix who had just entered the study Harry. He had told her all about them and the actions he hoped that they would bring the night before. She approached the desk and Harry 'wished' up a chair for her beside his own.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot." Harry said with a faint tinge of red in his cheeks. He wasn't quite used to the normal run of things quite yet.

Nasil shook his head. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, my lord. But, back to business. Your secretary communicated that you and your lady needed new wands."

"Yes, we do." Harry stated. An idea then suddenly occurred to him. "Could you make us two wands each?"

"That will be no problem at all. I'll just need to get your measurements and then carry out some tests to see what kind of wand would be best for you. Who wants to go first?" Nasil said amiably as he pulled a miniature case from his robes and enlarged it. He then pulled out a measuring tape.

Harry smiled and looked at Bellatrix. "You might as well go first."

"Very good, my lord." Nasil said absently as he began to measure Bellatrix in various places. "Which is your wand arm, milady?"

"Left." answered Bellatrix.

Nasil finished his measurements and pulled out a piece of parchment with a lot of numbers written all over it. He studied it for a moment and then pronounced, "I do believe that twelve and a third will suit you."

"Ollivander gave me a twelve inch." Bellatrix said for reference.

"He isn't quite as precise about wand-length as I am." Nasil explained. "He's an excellent wandmaker though. It's just that I'm a wandcrafter instead." He pulled several small blocks of wood from his case and presented them to Bellatrix. "Hold these one at a time and tell me which one gives you the most enjoyable 'feeling.'" He turned his attention to Harry. "While she's doing that, I'll measure you, my lord."

After measuring Harry, referring to the parchment, measuring him again, re-referring to the parchment, and then some extra calculations, Nasil was able to come up with a wand size for Harry. "It'll be a very delicate balance based on your measurements and aura, but I believe that thirteen and a seventh will do nicely."

Bellatrix had finished sampling the wood blocks. She held one up to Nasil. "I like this one the best. It gives me a refreshed feeling."

He took it from her and examined it thoughtfully. "Cherry it shall be then." He moved the stack of blocks over for Harry to sample and then pulled out a handful of plain wands that had no particular type of wood or length. "Sample these, don't wave them or try to do magic with them, they aren't standard wands."

Meanwhile, Harry was getting frustrated. Every single sample of wood felt dead and unresponsive. Finally he gave up. "None of these suit me at all."

"Curious." Nasil whispered excitedly. He gingerly took a small pouch out of the case, opened it, and gingerly placed a small selection of different samples before Harry. "Try these." He left Harry to it and shifted his attention to Bellatrix who had found a 'test wand' she liked. "Phoenix feather! Should have guessed." he said with a smile.

Harry sorted through the special samples until he came to two separate ones he liked a lot. "These two feel great." he stated to Nasil.

Nasil picked them up. "Split personality eh? No wonder measuring you up was so hard."

"What are they?"

"Black Ash and Ivory. They're rarely used for wands, but when they are and suit the owner, they produce spectacular results." Nasil explained. "Fortunately you're purchasing two wands, so having two woods won't be a problem at all. Now try these test wands."

Harry did so and once again, he couldn't find anything that fitted him. He sighed and Bellatrix patted him on the back encouragingly as Nasil tried to ease Harry's concerns. "Don't worry, my lord. I've never found a person I couldn't make a wand for."

"Any special samples?"

"I'm afraid not. The Ice People have always had a large and very broad supply of various materials that can be used for cores though." He pulled a small glass ball out of the case. "Hold this for a moment please."

White and black smoke slowly appeared in the little ball as Harry observed it in his hands. He expected it to mix and become gray, but it never did. After several minutes, the ball filled up completely and Nasil performed a small charm on it. "I can use this to test other samples." he explained to Harry.

With that, the wandcrafter began to pack up and write down their results to refer to later. "When I complete your wands, I'll bring them to you. I suspect that your wands will be particularly special, my lord."

"What do I owe you then?" Harry asked, looking around for Reggins who would undoubtedly have some sort of money order form to sign.

Nasil waved his hand to dismiss the question with a broad grin. "Don't worry about that. Your secretary has already more than compensated me in advance for my service. He'll also take care of the material cost later."

"All right then." Bellatrix said, giving Harry a smile as she did so.

"One last thing, my lord." Nasil said, this time a bit nervously. "Reggins mentioned that you needed to hire a considerable amount of people for your staff, both for political affairs, and managing this castle and my daughters are looking for jobs…"

At this point, Reggins appeared from nowhere. "That's correct, my Lord. Here is a list of positions that need to be filled and the qualifications that applicants should meet when you hire them." The ghost then disappeared again.

"By all means, send them over sometime tomorrow." Harry said, glad that he didn't have to go hunting to find people. "I'd be glad to take them on."

"Be sure to tell others that might be interested as well." Bellatrix interjected as she examined the extremely long list over Harry's shoulder.

"I will then. With your permission, I'll Apparate out of here then." Nasil smiled, as he pulled a wand from his robes.

Harry frowned. "You don't need my permission to do anything."

"Not to be contrary," echoed Reggins monotone voice from wherever he spent his time, "but unless you give permission for him to Apparate in or out, he cannot do it. It's the wards."

"Oh." Harry said, greatly surprised. Did Hogwarts have something similar to that? He then remembered Nasil. "Of course you have my permission, go ahead and Apparate."

"This meeting of DA is hereby called to order." Ron announced formally from the podium on the raised platform that had started appearing when he took charge. Hermione would sit on a chair off to the side. It kind of seemed pointless now, though.

The only DA member other than Ron and Hermione present rolled her eyes. "Is that really necessary?" Ginny asked. "There's no one for you to preside over!"

Hermione looked confused. "Didn't you mark the time on the Galleon?"

"Yes!" Ron said defensively as he pulled his out and showed her. "That means that everyone stands in defiance! We'll just have to give them warnings about not attending. If this keeps up, we'll have to kick them out."

"I don't think they care." Ginny stated. "Maybe they still think that Harry is the only one who can really teach them anything of importance. After all, you haven't faced Voldemort or any real Death Eaters except for last June."

"If you don't mind, I think that I'll go and do some homework." Hermione said, after deciding that they weren't going to get anyone else there that night. There was no point in wasting time.

Ron sighed. "You might as well. I'll go out to the Quidditch pitch and plan for our next game. Ravenclaw shouldn't be too much of a problem, but we should definitely be prepared.

"I'll go with you." Ginny volunteered. "I can do a few laps."

Hermione made her way to the Common Room while Ron and Ginny cleaned up from their boycotted meeting and prepared to go out to the Quidditch pitch so Ron could strategize.

Why didn't anyone show up? Hermione asked herself. Ron wasn't that annoying. He did teach them all Defense after all, Hermione rationalized. But was he the best now that Harry was gone. She wasn't sure about that. Neville had been doing rather well this year.

She soon arrived in the Gryffindor Common Room fully expecting to see the normal crowd up studying or playing games. Much to her surprise, the Common Room was nearly deserted. Only a couple of seventh-years were quietly attending to their studies. Deciding that it was a fluke, she went to her dormitory, fetched her materials, and went down to study on one of the many vacant tables.

After nearly two hours of studying, the Portrait Hole opened and a large group of chattering girls made their way in and up to their dormitories. A glance at her watch revealed to Hermione that it was kind of late. A few minutes later, the missing boys straggled in, having serious discussions in twos and threes. Last to come in was Neville, Parvati, and Lavender.

Neville waved goodnight to the two girls and made his way to his dormitory. Hermione stood up and quickly intercepted Parvati and Lavender before they could go up to theirs. "Where were you two? We had a DA meeting tonight and no one showed up."

Both Parvati and Lavender seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally Parvati spoke up. "We just decided to skive I suppose."

Hermione crossed her arms. "Everyone decided to skive on the same night?"

"Well," Lavender said, slowly as if considering her answer, "Ron isn't a very good teacher."

This made Hermione rather angry. "So you're saying that Harry, who murdered a whole neighborhood full of Muggles, is better!" Before the other two girls could react, Hermione sighed. "All right, so Harry knew a lot more about Defense, but Ron still knows his stuff. You need whatever you can possibly get."

"Harry Potter would not murder Muggles!" Parvati retorted hotly. "He's the Boy-Who-Lived! All he has ever done is sacrifice himself for everyone else. Especially you!"

"Yes, he survived Voldemort, didn't he?" Hermione hissed. She still felt hurt that he had betrayed her like that. "That means he should be feared! He could be worse than Voldemort! Don't let your belief in some Dark person prevent you from at least learning how to defend yourself!"

"A lot you know!" Lavender yelled. "We're learning plenty just fine."

Parvati and Lavender then turned from Hermione and marched off. Hermione could have sworn that she had heard them mutter 'traitor' under their breath as well. Maybe it was just her imagination.

If Hermione had been thinking straight, she would have asked herself why Parvati and Lavender didn't seem to be surprised about how Harry was accused of murdering a neighborhood full of Muggles… . .