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[---]
123 AC, Dragonstone
Alicent Hightower sat during that accursed dinner and couldn't help but think back at that fateful day when she had first met the Potters. She still had nightmares about what she had glimpsed during their conversation, her children's corpses, one after another. She had all but asked Ser Criston to watch over them for weeks thereafter, only to realise how little that meant compared to what was coming.
She, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and the most powerful woman in the realm, felt powerless, and it hadn't been something that she experienced for years. If that had been her family's fate, should war occur, should Aegon ascend to his rightful place as the future King of the Seven Kingdoms, then she wanted none of it.
Of course, there was no guarantee that Daemon and Rhaenyra wouldn't use their authority to get them killed either way. The Rogue Prince had been quite vocal about his dislike of her family, after all. Neither choice looked appealing to her, but there was very little she could do.
These nightmares overwhelmed whatever she felt regarding her father's dismissal as Hand. She found that politics meant surprisingly very little to her compared to her family's death.
Perhaps the sorcerer simply hoped to frighten her. As sad as it was, it had worked, but she hoped that this would be the case. Oh, how she wished that they had never gone to Dragonstone. Things would have been simpler then.
Her husband's announcement of their return to the Capital gave her some mixed feelings. She ached to leave Rhaenyra's domain; the unspoken threat of the woman's dragons alone made her feel uncomfortable, especially given that her children's beasts were still in King's Landing. However, there was no denying that her children looked happier here than they had in their own home.
Aegon had calmed down significantly since his children had been healed. He had barely had any drop of wine, and she hadn't heard of rumours of him visiting a brothel or inviting whores to his room, something that had worried her in the past.
It seemed that fatherhood agreed with him, and Alicent could only thank the gods for giving her son a distraction to his normal pastimes, and she wished that returning to King's Landing wouldn't make her eldest return to his older habits.
Helaena also looked better. She still smiled dreamily and played with insects, but Alicent tried to listen whenever she spoke, despite barely making any sense of most of it. Her conversation with the sorcerer had made her realise that her daughters liked to speak in riddles, ones that the sorcerer could understand.
Helaena looked distinctly happier since she spoke to Harry Potter, with the bouts of melancholy becoming less and less frequent. It truly was a wonder how a single person understanding her could change things, and she even had a happy smile on her face whenever Alicent tried to listen to her, even if she often refused to elaborate. She only hoped that this wouldn't change when they returned to King's Landing.
Returning to King's Landing would also mean facing her father, who would definitely not be happy for not stopping his dismissal as Hand. He knew fully well how Viserys could get stubborn when it came to a few topics, and this was one of them.
Viserys also seemed chagrined about their return. Dragonstone had done him some good. He was more active and happier, but the realm was in chaos, and it needed its king.
Of course, her husband couldn't leave without scaring her in some way, and he had done so by claiming the Conciliator's dragon of all things. He hadn't told her, but she had heard reports of him flying on the great beast a few hours prior, and it terrified her to her core.
Why he thought he should endanger himself to ride a dragon while she was completely under Rhaenyra's mercy was a good idea was beyond her. Had he died, she would have been lucky to just be imprisoned.
Thankfully, he succeeded, but the lack of thought of the possible consequences of his actions reminded Alicent that he and Daemon were brothers and were alike in many ways.
Still, he had returned in a happy mood and was especially looking forward to their dinner. He also seemed excited, perhaps a little anxious, which meant that he planned something during dinner, likely some kind of announcement, which made her very apprehensive. However, it paled compared to the Potters' presence, who looked to be busy entertaining Rhaenyra's bastards, who were asking him for gifts.
The sight of the bastards, especially the one who took Aemond's eye, angered her, and she spoke up loudly, "Perhaps we should leave the gifts at the end of the meal, I'm quite famished."
Viserys opened his mouth, ready to chide her, much like he always did when it came to the Strong bastards, only for the sorcerer's smile to widen, "That's a very good point, unless…"
He took off that ridiculous hat of his and took out a small handful of brown things. At a closer look, they looked like very small dragons carved out of mud or dirt, and yet the man handed one to each of the children, "…unless, of course, my presents are just as delicious as the coming meal. I don't suppose any of you have had chocolate before?"
He put a handful of the mud dragons, which she still wasn't convinced were any kind of food, in the middle of the table, before speaking up, "Feel free to have some."
Before any of them could react, Rhaenyra's bastards and Daemon's daughters immediately ate the strange dragons without even thinking that they would be dangerous. To her horror, Helaena seemed to have taken one as well and carelessly put it in her mouth, eating it with a calm smile.
Alicent suppressed the urge to protest. Some kind of mud food was not appropriate for the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. She would need to speak with Helaena about how royalty is supposed to comport themselves.
Until, of course, Viserys bit into one of them, and perking up at the taste, "That's quite nice. You called it chocolate, I believe."
"Yes, chocolate. It's made of fermented cocoa beans that are then dried and roasted."
"And where can I find these cocoa beans?" Viserys asked with interest, "My court would sing my praises just after a bite."
"The climate to grow them is pretty specific. It needs to be hot and humid. I'd say that you're more likely to see them in the Summer Isles or Sothoryos."
Aegon chuckled, "For some reason, I find the first one far more pleasant."
Alicent noticed that he, too, had eaten the sorcerer's food. It seems like she would need to speak with both of her children. Aegon should know better than to eat something without a taste tester trying it first. She had employed a few in King's Landing, trying out all the food just before it left the kitchens, and she knew that Rhaenyra did the same here. It was simply safer. After all, the Triarchy would love nothing more than to poison the last Dragonlords in the world and reaffirm their dominion over sea routes and the Stepstones.
Still, they seemed to enjoy it. She turned towards where the sorcerer had left the chocolate and frowned as she saw that it was gone. The children must have eaten it all, especially as the youngest glanced up at the sorcerer with a pleading expression, "Can we have more?"
"After dinner. It wouldn't do to ruin your appetite, would it? And don't worry, there's more where that came from," the man repeated while pointing to his hat once more.
The children cheered at that, and Alicent couldn't help but wonder what was in that chocolate that made them so excited. Oddly enough, the sorcerer's wife rolled her eyes at his behaviour, "Did you have to bring the fedora?"
"Is it so bad to wear something you gave to me as a gift?" The man protested.
The woman's face twitched, "We were twelve at the time."
"I don't see the problem with that. It's a fantastic hat."
"I didn't know what I'd started by giving it to you. It's getting ridiculous, and I don't get your obsessions with hats, of all things. You have more of them than I have dresses, and most of them can't be worn unironically."
The man looked offended, "Hey, I'm proud of my hat collection."
"You have four fezzes, Harry," she replied dryly.
"Hey, don't diss my fezzes. They're cool."
The golden-haired woman rolled her eyes, "They're not. I only wish I could go back in time and tell my poor, foolish younger self not to give you this stupid gift. Alas, I was young, foolish, and didn't know any better."
"Daph, no offence, but you do remember what we were like when we were twelve, right?"
Daphne Potter blushed and looked away, but also did not refute that statement, and Alicent couldn't help but wonder what they truly did at that age. Evidently, she wasn't the only curious one as Viserys spoke up, with a gleam in his eyes, "So the two of you met when you were young?"
"Yes. We met at school when we were eleven," the sorcerer replied.
Everyone furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, and Alicent couldn't help but ask, "What is a school?"
"Ah, yes. I completely forgot you don't have one. It's a place of learning, a bit like your Citadel."
Aegon perked up in surprise, "Women are allowed to go to your Citadel?"
"They have for a while. Our school was founded by four people, two of them being women. Not letting young girls in seems a bit foolish when half of the founders were female. Schooling is about seven years. You could technically leave after five years, but your future prospects wouldn't be particularly promising unless you have some kind of family trade to fall back on. Of course, you can also specialise in a field after graduating in one of the guilds, but it can take a while to be considered a proper master of a field. Daphne, here, studied in the healer's guild. It's why she's more knowledgeable about it than I am."
Alicent didn't know what to say to this. Seven years studying in the Citadel, followed by an indeterminate number of years to be considered a proper master of a field, was a long time. The entire description felt alien to her, especially as a woman who had grown so close to the Citadel and knew how it was run.
One of Daemon's daughters, Rhaena, if she wasn't mistaken, spoke up with a glint in her eyes, "Did you study in a guild too, Lord Harry?"
The man chuckled while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "No, I haven't. I mean, I looked around most of them, out of curiosity more than anything, and thought that I would very much rather explore the world than stay in dusty rooms debating with stubborn old men."
So, the man freely admitted that he was less educated than his wife. It was odd, and most would have found it humiliating. Despite herself, Alicent couldn't help but think less of the man.
Of course, that was when Lady Daphne spoke up, "Trust me, he didn't need it. Harry could keep up with most Masters on topics so complex that most wouldn't even attempt to learn them. He could do that at the age of fourteen."
The sorcerer shrugged but didn't answer, and Viserys decided to steer the conversation away from education slightly, "You mentioned travelling. I assume that you've had your fair share of adventures."
Harry Potter grinned mischievously, while his wife snorted in amusement, "Let's just say that I've had my fair share of excitement over the years."
"Care to share one of them?" her husband asked.
The sorcerer hummed, "Why don't I tell you about my first time exploring an Egyptian tomb?
What followed was a horrific tale that had Alicent feel both terrified and incredulous, which started with the Potters travelling to a land that reminded her of Dorne in terms of weather, before entering a pyramid that was rumoured to be a tomb of an old King. After days of fighting off giant insects, cursed treasure, and solving the riddle of a Sphinx, which she hadn't even known existed despite having statues of them at the Citadel's gate, they realised that it wasn't a tomb but a prison, where the King was trapped by a Dark God of some sort. The story ended with them fighting a Lich, some kind of undead monster who had tied his soul to a jar, which they destroyed to kill him, and claim the pyramid's treasure.
All in all, the children looked completely taken by the story, despite how unbelievable it was. Alicent, personally, thought that the man likely exaggerated most of it, and yet, when she looked around the room, she noticed that the Velaryons looked oddly pale, and so was Daemon. Rhaenyra, thankfully, seemed to share her opinion, given the roll of her eyes, but Viserys acted much like the children had, with complete excitement.
Thankfully, Aegon broke the silence with incredulity in his voice, "You expect us to believe any of that?"
Most of the table stiffened, but the sorcerer didn't seem insulted, "I suppose that your doubts are understandable given the lack of magical creatures, other than your dragons, of course. That should start changing soon, given what happened in Valyria."
Daemon choked on his tongue and spoke up, "Why is that?"
"Given what I've known so far, magic has been in a decline since the Wall was built, which needed a lot of it to be maintained. It stopped at an equilibrium of some sort. That equilibrium broke after the Doom, where the rest of the magic was mostly used to help stop its effects from spreading outwards. With the corruption being gone, magic can roam freely, like a dam finally being broken."
"Was that what the second Doom was?" Rhaenyra practically demanded with a gleam in her eyes.
Alicent couldn't blame her. She knew of the second Doom of Valyria. Her husband had received a raven on the matter, Volantis especially, asking for a Dragonlord's help to go investigate. Viserys refused, of course, even if Alicent hoped that Daemon would volunteer, given how much pride he had in his blood.
If the sorcerer's words were true, if travel to Valyria was possible once more, then the riches there were accessible as well. She would write to her father. Perhaps success from this endeavour could bring him back to Viserys' good graces, enough to give him his position as Hand back.
"It was probably some kind of cleansing effect," the sorcerer's wife answered, "It would also almost certainly wipe out whatever remained of Old Valyria. But yes, as far as we know, the corruption was gone. However, there could still be physical dangers there."
Yet, no one seemed to care, with every Targaryen seemingly taken with the idea of seeing Valyria, their ancestral land, or at least what remained of its ruins. Only Helaena didn't seem to care and just had a smug smile on her face for some reason. One of Daemon's daughters was also frowning.
Alicent couldn't help but pale as she noticed that Aegon also seemed excited by the prospect and quickly changed the topics, "Lord Potter, I can't help but wonder why you chose to stay in Westeros, of all places. If you are looking for adventures as grand as your tale, I'm afraid that you will find very little here."
"Oh, you'd be surprised. Westeros is a lot more fantastical than most people know."
"Where are you planning on visiting?" Aegon asked with excitement in his voice.
"Oh, all over. I think I'd like to visit the Wall, go beyond maybe. Sea Dragon Point is an option, of course. I hear that there are ruins of the First Men and even the Children of the Forest. There are others, of course. Storm's End would be interesting, if only for a day. Maybe Starfall. I'm curious about that sword that the Daynes wield, Dawn. The Gods Eye in Riverrun, and maybe even Casterly Rock, just out of curiosity to find something in the tunnels of that mountain of gold that the Lannisters are so proud of."
Alicent couldn't help but be surprised by the list, "I presumed you would attempt to go to Asshai because of the Shadowbinder attacks."
This was a very faint attempt to see if the man would leave Westeros soon. As thankful as she was for the way that he helped Helaena and healed her grandchildren, she still felt uncomfortable knowing that the man would be near her and her family. The fact that if he stayed on Dragonstone, Rhaenyra would have the opportunity to convince him to support her claim and that of her bastards, if she hadn't already, complicated things.
The sorcerer hummed, as if surprised, "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that."
"You forgot an attempt on your life," Viserys repeated, with a confused tone.
Harry Potter snorted in amusement, "If I got hung up on every attempt of my life, I'd spend the rest of my days hunting would-be murderers and idiots. Although I have to say that I'm still insulted by the quality of the assassins they sent. I might just go there, if only to give them a piece of my mind, but I'd much rather go somewhere I find more interesting."
The Sea Snake stiffened and spoke up slowly, "What could be more interesting than Asshai by the Shadow? I can assure you that you will not have a dull day in these cursed lands."
"Chroyane. Greyscale is one of the few things that I've seen recently that has truly surprised me. I can't help but feel interested in its rumoured source."
The mention of the cursed disease made everyone uncomfortable. No one spoke a word. After all, the sorcerer's claim was all but suicide. The ruins of Chroyane hadn't been explored for centuries, at the very least, as it was riddled with Greyscale. Entire outbreaks had occurred because of every expedition, enough that the disease, which originated from that cursed city, still existed, so much so that there was a wing of the Citadel to contain those afflicted, and that Maegelle Targaryen had died from the illness. Although the princess had been a faithful Septa who particularly tended to those afflicted with Greyscale.
The entire topic was uncomfortable, and Viserys cleared awkwardly, "That is quite the statement, but then again, I have one of my own. I wish to thank you both for your generosity, giving my daughter the means to heal my affliction. The Seven Kingdoms owe you a great debt, one that I will repay. That said, I will not waste my second chance at life, and to prove this, I have claimed a dragon, Vermithor, to be more specific."
The children murmured in surprise, but it was obvious that Vermithor's claiming hadn't been a secret from anyone.
Still, Alicent didn't think that Viserys would have asked for this meeting just to announce something that everyone knew, which meant that there was something else. Her dreaded suspicions were proven to be correct when he continued, "It is no surprise to everyone in this room that House Targaryen is divided. I will not deny that some of the blame lies on my shoulders. However, that cannot continue. I pledge to use my second chance to mend this rift. The House of the Dragon is meant to be united. It must."
Despite herself, Alicent relaxed. She had expected an announcement, not one of Viserys' useless and blind speeches about family unity, as he had when she was younger, when the rift between her and Rhaenyra had started after they married.
"As a first step to mend this, I announce the betrothal of my grandchildren, specifically, Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaenyra, and Jaehaera Targaryen, daughter of Aegon," her husband finished.
It took Alicent a few moments to digest what he had said, and she quickly realised that she had been mistaken. Blanching at the proclamation, she barely noticed the goblet slipping from her fingers before pandemonium erupted.
[---]
AN: I realised that I hadn't written Alicent's perspective in a while and decided to give it a go. It might not have been the best decision, especially since I had a hard time writing her, but I thought that having her or Rhaenyra would be optimal, since Viserys blindsided both.
I also wanted to show the contrast between people who saw Harry in action and those who didn't when he talked about an adventure of his, especially since it's one of the mild ones, while also advancing things a bit, when it came to magic spreading back after the Second Doom. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
[---]
If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.