Experimentation

Experimentation 

“Fire-Air-Stone" 

Hadrian sat back and carefully inspected the runes he carved on the rock in front of him making sure that there were no imperfections in his writing.  

Once he was sure that the lines were clean, straight and that there were no cracks he applied a small amount of magic into the scheme using his hand. 

Afterwards he quickly took a few quick steps back. 

Just in time too, as the rock burst into flames. The flames burnt for a few moments before the entire rock exploded showering debris all over the floor. 

Harry took his arms away from his face, where he instinctively put it to protect himself from any small stones that came flying his way, to more carefully inspect the remains. 

He released a groan when he found that powder was all that was left of the rock. 

He picked up the next rock and placed it onto the table. Before he could carve the next runes, there was a knock on the door. “Luwin and Leaf to see you, My Lord.” His guard called.  

Harry didn't take his eyes away from his current project. “Enter!” 

While they made themselves comfortable, he carried on with what he was doing. 

“Fire-Warmth-Stone"  

He carved the next set of runes onto the rock, while blocking out any sounds coming from his observers. 

The rock once again caught fire before it started to melt.  

He sighed. 

“I'm assuming that it was not supposed to do that My Lord?” Came the question from the resident Maester. 

Harry turned around and gave the old man a halfhearted glare for the, in his opinion, stupid question. 

Leaf, who was sitting next to the Maester, on one of the spare seats against the wall and waiting patiently, spoke up. “Lord Hadrian is trying to find a way to make the stone heat the air around it. “ 

“Fascinating.” Luwin muttered. “I'm assuming it is meant to be used to heat castles in winter instead of traditional hearths?” 

Harry nodded. “Yes, if the idea works not only can it be distributed around castles much easier than hearths would, there would be no smoke. It can also be used in glasshouses to raise the temperature higher than it would already be.” 

He grabbed another rock and laid it on the table before jotting down the results of his experiment in his notebook. “At least, that's the idea. If only I could get it to work.” 

Luwin nodded slowly. “If you don't mind my lord, what runes did you use?” 

Seeing no harm in telling the man, hell maybe Luwin would even give a fresh perspective as he is near fluent in First Men writing with all the studying he had done over the years, Harry replied. “Fire, Wind and Stone.” 

Luwin nodded. ”Fire for heat, Wind because you want to warm the air around it but why stone?” 

Leaf answered this one. “To give the runes permanence as stone can also mean unyielding.” 

Harry nodded. “Correct. There are multiple problems though. First, I don't want the stone to actually catch on fire, I just want it to heat up. Second, I don't know if the rock is exploding and melting because of air bubbles in the rock expanding or for some other reason.” 

Luwin nodded thoughtfully. “How long have you been working on this my lord?” 

Harry shrugged. “Not long. This is only my third attempt so far.” 

“I see. Have you considered using the rune for warmth instead of the rune for fire?” 

He tapped his fingers on the table. “I tried that first. The rock melted.” 

“Hmm. What about the rune for the sun? The sun gives off heat.” 

Harry shrugged. “I doubt it would work but why not?” 

Harry returned to carving.  

“Sun-Air-Stone" 

The rock suddenly started glowing extremely brightly. “Fuck!” Harry turned away and covered his eyes. Luckily the rock soon exploded returning the room to normal brightness. 

Harry blinked his eyes a few times to clear the spots from his vision.  

“Not that one.” 

Luwin was quick with another idea. ”What about-” 

“Oh for- You had it right the first time. You just forgot to regulate the heat it gives off. Its warmth-hearth-air and then stone. Hearth because that is what you want the temperature to be. Comfortable, like a hearth.” 

Harry opened and closed his mouth. Now he felt like a bit of an idiot. It was one of the most basic things about runes, you have to specify when you can. He knew that from Latin, Greek and Norse runes. He just forgot to apply it to First Men runes. 

He wasted no time in carving the new runes onto a rock. 

The rock got hot under his touch but remarkably didn't explode. First for a minute and then two. Before he could call it a complete success the rock cracked in half and the runes shut down.  

Leaf explained without any prompting. “That is from air in the rock expanding from the heat and breaking the rock.” 

Right, he thought so. So Harry would either need a way to get all of the air out of the rock or he would need to find a different material that had no air in it in the first place. 

Luwin turned a curious gaze onto Leaf. “If you knew the answer the whole time, why didn't you just say so?” 

Leaf looked a bit disgruntled. “ Because Hadrian asked me not to interfere with his rune experiments. According to him, the best way to learn the limits of runes are to experiment. I only explained now because i did not want to go blind again.” 

When Luwin turned to him, Harry shrugged. “It's true. I'm trying to find the limits and laws for the magic. As it is, I've now discovered a way to destroy stone and another way to blind my foes.” 

The Maester pursed his lips. “That seems dangerous my lord.” 

He shrugged. “Aye, there is some danger. But I've been keeping to basic schemes for a reason. They are easy to power and only have so many ways that they can go wrong. I'm also making them incapable of being powered by ambient magic for a reason. So that if they do cause an accident, the amount of magic I use is unlikely to cause a serious injury.” 

Luwin nodded slowly. “I see. Still, your health is of paramount importance my lord. Would it not be better to have someone else conduct these tests for you?” 

Did Luwin just ask him to stop playing with magic? 

“Not going to happen. For one, I don't trust anybody else to do these tests to my satisfaction and two, I love magic. I won't give up pushing boundaries with it.” 

Luwin sighed but seemed to know when he wasn't getting anywhere and let the argument drop. 

Harry wrote the new rune scheme into his notebook before placing a different stone on the table. Now that he has an idea for the warmth stone, he decided to move onto something else. The last failure gave him an idea. 

“Light-Dawn-Air-Stone" 

The rock started glowing brightly. Unfortunately, it wasn't very uniform. The brightness increased and decreased inconsistently. By the time the glow died down due to running out of magic, Harry was starting to feel like he was in one of those raves he had heard about. 

Harry chucked the rock into a bucket he had for failures and wrote his results into his notebook. The he placed another rock onto the table. 

Before he could get started on a slightly different scheme, Leaf interrupted him. “My Lord, I wanted to talk to you about the potions ingredients.” Her voice was slightly rushed. 

Harry turned to look at her. “Aye, what about them?” 

“We have had a good deal of success with the dittany plants and most of the others but the dragonsnouts are giving us problems. They have all died. No matter which type of soil we put them in.” 

He leant against his desk. “Even the soil I had brought from The Neck?” 

She nodded. “Yes, even then. We aren't a completely sure, but we believe those flowers require moving water. Which we aren't able to give them without a more complicated system.” 

Harry considered things for a few moments. “Very well. Stop trying to grow them for now. I will have to have something built at a later date for those, as they are important in a few fire related potions. Replace them with Wolfeye flowers for now. Hopefully those grow better. The rest of the plants?” 

She nodded hesitantly. “We have got most of the others to grow but some of them still aren't looking healthy. The Yellowpin flower seems like it is on the verge of dying, I believe sunlight is actually killing it. The snakepetals are doing slightly better, but I believe they require wind to actually grow healthy which is impossible in a glassgarden. The rabbitteeth root is growing quickly but refuses to bud properly. I think it requires something to gnaw on it from time to time and the bluelillies aren't growing to the size we want them. I believe the water we are giving them is wrong.” 

Harry ran a hand through his hair. Fuck. Starting up a proper greenhouse just to grow the ingredients for potions wasn't supposed to be this difficult. Madam Sprout made it look so easy. Then again, she had far more versatile magic helping.  

“There isn't much I'm going to be able to do for those for now. It seems like each of them are going to need special conditions to grow properly in a glassgarden. Unfortunately, I don't have the coin or the time to set something up right now. Scrap all the plants that aren't growing properly. Have your observations written down and replace them with different plants from The Neck. I will look at it again in a few moons and decide what to do.” 

She nodded. “Very well.”  

Harry massaged his temples. “While you are here, tell me about how my uncles training is going.” 

She cringed slightly.  

He sighed. “That bad?” 

“It has been almost a year since we began teaching him. Eddard has fully bonded to the hawk we gave him and has started having some success in seeing though its eyes. But he has not learnt how to make it follow his commands or how to see through the eyes of any other animal.” 

She shrugged. “I don't believe he will ever become talented at the art my lord. His mind is too firm. His control over his magic is poor and his personality is just not suited towards the arts. He is too straightforward. He doesn't know how to bend the world to his desires.” 

Harry slumped slightly. “Have his training continue for now. I want him to get to the point he can at least have some control over the hawk before the training can stop. Even just that will be a very useful skill to have.” 

She nodded. “Understood my lord.” 

“Benjen?” 

“He is slightly better my lord. He has only had a moon or so of training, but he has started to see through his hawk when he sleeps.” 

Harry sighed. That was still slow compared to him. “Have him trained as much as possible before the wedding. I fear whatever training he has by then will have to be enough.” 

Leaf shrugged. “Most of it is just mental exercises. As long as he knows what to do and what not to do, he should be able to figure it out for himself now that the process has been explained. As long as he only practices skinchanging and only uses it on his hawk, he shouldn't have any problems or be in any danger.” 

Harry nodded with pursed lips. He wasn't happy, but she wasn't exactly wrong. Benjen has had the entire process explained to him many times at this point. As long as he keeps his mind only in the singular hawk and follows the rules laid out, he shouldn't have any problems. 

“Anything else you needed?” 

She nodded slightly. “I wanted to get you permission to leave for our new home for a few moons my Lord. I want to see with my own eyes what my kin have managed so far.” 

Harry didn't even need to think about it. “Done. You may leave after Benjens wedding.” 

She smiled slightly. “Thank you.” 

Harry just waved her off. Leaf had been extremely helpful since she swore to him. This was the least he could do. Harry was thinking about making her a permanent position in his court. The Children of the Forest live for a very long time. Having her advice his descendants can only be helpful. 

Not only will his descendants have someone with a lot of wisdom to call upon, but it would also help ensure that they would keep the pact he has made with the Children. The Children would likewise not be in a position to threaten his descendants, and it will be in their best interest to do their best to keep the North stable as their numbers will always be fewer than men. A stable North and a strong Stark dynasty will only be to their benefit. 

After a few more words, she was dismissed. 

He turned to Luwin. “You had something you wanted to speak about?” 

Luwin cleared his throat. “A few things my lord. First, Lady Catelyn is asking what the budget is for Benjens wedding. She wants to start preparations as soon as possible.” 

He scrunched his eyebrows. “Never really thought about it to be honest. What's a good number?” 

“I believe ten thousand gold dragons should be enough. Northern weddings are much simpler than southern ones after all.” 

Harry shrugged. “Make it twenty thousand. The North has done well for itself this year. A large feast for the lords will make them happy.” 

Luwin wrote that down in the small journal he always carried. “Very well. Next, there was a letter from lord Blackwood. He said he would keep your offer of shelter in mind if the South becomes too dangerous. In the meantime, he asks if House Stark will be willing to host his daughter and spare son.” 

Harry nodded. “Tell him we would be happy to, and we will send a ship for them. Then write to Lord Manderly, tell him to send two ships to Seaguard for that purpose with adequate protection. I wouldn't trust the Freys with their safety, so they will have to journey by boat.” 

Luwin made a note. “Lord Manderly writes he had to kick a few more southerners out of White Harbour who snuck into the North to preach against the Old Gods. He writes that it is becoming more common as time goes by. “ 

Harry just nodded. It wasn't anything unexpected. “Thank him for letting me know. Then write that he should just keep doing what he has been doing. If it gets too bad, we will discuss closing our borders off to the south completely.” 

Luwin winced. “He won't be happy to hear that my lord. It will be bad for trade.” 

Harry shrugged. “Your right. Doesn't mean there is any better options and he can still trade with Essos.” 

Harry turned back to his projects while Luwin carried on speaking. “The Mormonts write that they are leaving Bear Island. “ 

“Have Benjen be prepared to ride out to meet them with a suitable escort once they have been spotted near Winterfell.”  

Luwin shuffled through a few more pages. “Lord Karstark asks if you will be willing to inspect the soldiers now that they have gotten back from Skagos. To make sure they meet your requirements.” 

He paid a bit more attention. “Tell him I will be there within the next fortnight. That should give me plenty of time to be back before the Lords arrive for the wedding.” 

“The rest is minor correspondence my lord. The letters are in your office.” 

Harry turned back to his projects. “I'll take care of those tomorrow. Was there anything else?” 

Luwin hesitated before speaking. “I also received a request from an old colleague of mine my lord. From the Citadel. He asked for permission to travel to Winterfell.” 

That was enough to bring his attention back to the Maester. “I'm not sure I'm interested in having a foreign Maester snooping around. What does a Maester want to travel here for anyway? Most of our innovations have probably made their way South by now.” Not that he was trying very hard to hide them. New farming practices and book keeping required you to teach others how to use the new methods after all. 

“Archmaester Marwyn was always... strange, my lord. He is obsessed with magic. He dedicated his entire life to learning all he could of the arts. It doesn't surprise me that he wants to come to Winterfell my Lord. I'm only surprised it has taken him so long. “ 

Luwin had his full attention now. “Did you say that he has dedicated his life to learning all he could of magic?” 

The poor man nodded hesitantly. ”Yes, My Lord.” 

“Yes, tell him he is welcome.” This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Hopefully the man wasn't a fraud. Even if he couldn't use any magic himself, he might know quite a bit of the subject due to all the research he has apparently done. 

Hopefully he would be able to significantly improve Harrys own understanding. If so, he wouldn't mind teaching him a bit in return. 

Luwin looked like he was slightly regretting telling Hadrian about this but he complied. ”Yes my Lord. I will let him know. “ 

He folded up his notes before bowing slightly. “If that is all my lord, may i take my leave? “ 

Harry turned back towards the desk and waved dismissively. “Yes, thank you Luwin.” 

He was inspecting his next rock before the door clicked shut. “Now lets see what happens when I combine Sun-Dusk-Air-Stone."