Harry Potter: The Artisan's Path Chapter 60

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. Harry shows off his new artifact, and Sirius has some surprising news.

Chapter 60

Harry approached the front door of Gabrielle's home. He was about to knock when he heard voices from the back of the house. Curious, he made his way around the back to find Gabrielle standing next to Thibault, her pet bicorn. She was attempting to coax him into an extended trunk placed on the ground. Her parents, sister, and grandparents stood nearby, watching her futile attempts.

He approached the fence and greeted her family before speaking to his girlfriend. "Have you finally taken my advice and are you getting rid of the menace?"

Thibault glared menacingly at Harry, pawing the ground with his hoof as if preparing to charge. His relationship with Thibault remained as strained as ever. Gabrielle rushed over to embrace him as soon as she heard his voice.

"Stop being so ridiculous. As if I will ever get rid of him!" Gabrielle exclaimed. She flashed him a bright smile. "Can you figure out what I am doing?"

Harry glanced at the trunk on the ground and it took him a moment before he realised what she was doing. "Well, I guess you are attempting to replicate Newt's suitcase and create your own world for your magical creatures to inhabit."

"That’s right. I asked Newt about it before we left, and he offered some suggestions. I will begin small and gradually expand as more magical creatures are added. Papa cast the expansion charms, and I have already built a homestead to serve as the entrance with the help of my family."

"You are going to be the next Newt Scamander. That sounds incredible. I hope you don’t grow up to be an eccentric old person like him."

Gabrielle slapped his shoulder. “As if that would ever happen.”

“Thibault doesn’t appear to be interested in entering the trunk,” Harry observed.

Gabrielle shot Thibault an irritated look. “I only wanted to try it out. It’s not that I am going to move him there permanently. He is such a baby.”

Harry stared at her incredulously. She had to be kidding, right? “How does he even get inside safely?”

"Newt has enchantments that transport the magical creatures to a specific habitat," Gabrielle explained. "But I am doing it more conventionally and have built a lift at the entrance that can support even a dragon if necessary."

Her family approached, and Harry released Gabrielle when he noticed her grandfather, Andre, giving him an evil look.

“Hello, Harry,” Fleur said. "I cannot believe I am saying this, but does your presence here indicate that you were able to create the artifact?"

Harry smiled and nodded, and Gabrielle squealed with delight.

“What are you talking about, Fleur?” Seraphine asked.

Fleur's statement took Gabrielle's grandparents by surprise. They had no idea Harry was even close to finishing the artifact, so they demanded to know what was going on. When Gabrielle explained that he had a breakthrough after visiting Greece, their scepticism was clear.

"Don’t be ridiculous," Andre scoffed. "As if a teenage boy could accomplish what others have been attempting for decades."

Even Gabrielles' parents didn’t seem to believe him, but they remained silent and took a wait-and-see approach.

"Harry is not a liar," Gabrielle insisted vehemently. "If he says he did it, I believe him."

"Do you want to bet on whether or not I was successful?" Harry challenged her grandfather.

"I’m not going to make a bet with a little boy."

"Oh, I see," Harry said with a nod. "You are scared that I am telling the truth, and you will look foolish for ever doubting me."

"Impudent boy," Andre replied, chuckling. “Very well. If I am mistaken, I will grant you any request that is within my power. But if you are, you should stop seeing Gabrielle."

“Grand-pere!” Gabrielle gasped.

Apolline frowned. "Papa, stop being so stubborn. I already told you that we approve of Harry."

"It’s fine," Harry replied, waving his hand dismissively. Once he had proven Andre wrong, perhaps he would have him kneel in front of him and beg for forgiveness.

Harry took out the necklace and demonstrated how it worked. "It has a blood-binding sequence inscribed on it, so the first person to drop blood on it will be the only one able to use it. To activate or deactivate it, press this button on the back of the metal encasement.”

He had to change the blood-binding sequence so that the person could bind to the artifact after it was created, rather than during the process. It took him some time to work out the wrinkle, but he was confident that it would work properly.

Seraphine grabbed the necklace from Harry just as he was about to give it to Gabrielle. "If we are going to test its effectiveness, I am the better choice. If it can suppress my allure, then it should work on any Veela."

“No!” Gabrielle protested. "If I am going to join Harry at Hogwarts this year, I will need the necklace."

“Don’t worry,” Harry reassured her. “I have enough materials to make a few more, so I will make you another one. It should only take a few hours now that I have experience making the first one.”

Gabrielle subsided, and Seraphine dripped blood onto the necklace. She pressed the button and held it in her hands as she turned on her allure. Harry smiled when he didn’t feel a hint of her allure, even after a minute of her trying. Usually, he would have to put some effort into resisting it, but now he was at complete ease. If the artifact completely suppressed her aura when it was active, then it would work perfectly with the passive allure as well.

“Incredible,” Pierre breathed. “I can’t feel anything from her.”

Seraphine's face flushed as she attempted to unleash the full force of her allure, but she eventually gave up when she realised it was pointless. Casting a complex gaze at Harry, she continued experimenting by shifting into her harpy form. He had previously only seen Apolline's form, but her mother's appearance was far more frightening. Her appearance was more animalistic and cruel than her daughter's, and he shuddered when he met her gaze; her eyes had no pupils and were completely pitch-black.

"The necklace doesn’t affect any other aspect of a Veela," Harry explained as Seraphine transformed back. “I’m not trying to suppress your entire heritage. Just the one that makes it hard to interact with others on a daily basis.”

Gabrielle lunged into his arms and gave him a passionate kiss. It felt like a wonderful reward for his efforts, and they could have stayed there with their lips locked indefinitely if not for her family interrupting them.

“This is incroyable,” Apolline said, slipping back into French because she was overwhelmed with emotion. "Congratulations, Harry. Do you realise the significance of what you have accomplished?"

Harry nodded. “Gabrielle gets to join me at Hogwarts.”

Gabrielle and Fleur giggled at his words.

"Beyond that," Apolline said with an indulgent smile. "This will fundamentally alter the dynamics of the Veela's interactions with the world. Did you know that it is difficult for us to appear before Muggles because they can not resist our allure?

"I saw some of that when we were in Greece," Harry confirmed. "Even some older men were giving Gabrielle and Fleur lecherous looks."

“Then you understand,” Apolline replied. “But that's only the tip of the iceberg.”

“We need to contact the council,” Seraphine said. She moved forward, sweeping Harry into her arms and burying his face in her bosom. He squirmed, attempting to escape because he felt suffocated, albeit in the best possible way. "This little boy is absolutely adorable. Haven’t you got anything to say to the boy, Cherie?”

"I underestimated you," Andre admitted grudgingly.

“Don’t worry,” Harry gasped as Seraphine finally released him. "I promise not to be too harsh on you with my request. Something that humiliates you in front of a crowd should suffice for me."

Andre glared at the boy.

“What is this council?” Harry asked.

"It is a committee composed of elder Veela who oversee the larger Veela community in Europe," Seraphine explained. "They offer resources and guidance to all Veela and handle criminal matters involving them."

“Criminal matters?”

Seraphine’s face darkened. "Slavery is the primary issue. Every year, a large number of Veelas are kidnapped and sold for the highest bid. In some European countries, selling and owning Veela slaves isn’t even illegal.”

Harry felt sick to his stomach. He shouldn’t have been surprised that slavery existed, given that all Veela were beautiful women and the attitudes some wizards had towards what they considered half-breeds, but he hadn’t realised how bad it was in actuality.

"The matriarch is the head of the Veela Council," Apolline said. "She is usually the oldest and wisest among our kind. She, and the rest of the council, will want to know about this as soon as possible. We will need to proceed with caution, so we must first discuss how things will be handled going forward."

Harry groaned. “Do I have to meet them?”

“Yes. I’m afraid that the matriarch will insist, but you can bring your grandparents with you. Would you like to meet them here instead?”

Harry thought about it before shaking his head. “It’s a little too close to home. We need to be careful about who knows about where I live, considering Dumbledore is still out there.”

"We will need to be careful regardless," Pierre said, "because some people will be upset that you created this artifact. We can set up a safe meeting place that no one else knows about."

Was he referring to the slavers? Why would they be unhappy that a Veela’s allure was suppressed? Unless part of their appeal was how they affected men. There was also the public's perception. A lot of people disliked Veela because it made them lose control of their senses. If that changed, would they be more sympathetic to them and less tolerant of slavery?

"Have you considered how you intend to increase the scale of your production?" Andre inquired. "Once word of your artifact spreads, every Veela in Europe will want one."

“How many Veelas are there in Europe?”

“A little over two thousand,” Andre replied. "But that only includes those who are free. The numbers become more hazy when it comes to those who are enslaved."

"I have not given the matter much thought,” Harry said. "Before I do anything else, I need to have it examined by the guild so it can be recognised as an artifact. Perhaps I can open another workshop and hire a team of enchanters to produce them for me. However, there is a risk that the design will spread, and some people may alter the artifact for more nefarious purposes."

"Perhaps you could hire some Veela," Seraphine suggested. "I know some enchanters who would jump at the opportunity to work on such a magnificent artifact."

Harry rubbed his hand over his face. He had come here, feeling excited to show his girlfriend the artifact he had created for her, and it had now grown into something much bigger than he ever imagined. It was difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the entire situation. Perhaps it was naive of him not to consider the full consequences of creating this artifact.

“You can decide later,” Apolline said, seeing his expression. “Forget about it for now. Go home and tell your grandparents about the situation. We will set up the meeting. It’s probably better to get it done before you return to Hogwarts for your second year.”

Harry nodded in agreement.

“Papa, don’t forget to enrol me at Hogwarts,” Gabriell reminded him.

Pierre hesitated, as if he regretted making that promise, but finally nodded. "Headmaster Flitwick shouldn’t have any issues with it. If I donate to the school, that should cut through the red tape and get you enrolled."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Harry returned home and told his grandparents about the situation, and they congratulated him on his accomplishment. He immediately headed back to his workshop to make another Allure suppressant necklace for Gabrielle. He asked Tonks to shape and refine another sea essence for him, but he would have to learn how to do it himself pretty soon. While he worked, he thought more about the idea of creating a team of enchanters that could manufacture the artifacts he made in the future.

There were several logistics to figure out. First and foremost, he needed to find a workplace for a team to work at that was completely secure and hidden from the outside world. If people were to find out where the artifacts were being made, then he would have to worry about it being attacked and his artifacts being stolen.

He didn’t need anything elaborate because the work was simple, but it had to be a comfortable working environment.

Harry didn’t need a team of artisans because enchanters would be sufficient and more cost-effective to hire. Crafting the necklace was simple; he could even purchase the metal frame and chain separately. The main obstacle was the sea essence. He had managed to secure a steady supply of them, but they needed to be cut and refined before they could be used.

They required a specific skill set, and they were time-consuming to produce. He thought about hiring Tonks to do so, then realised that wasn’t going to work, as she had her career as an artisan. Perhaps she knew some people who could be hired. Otherwise, he would need to train the enchanters to do it, and that would take some time.

"Dobby!" Harry summoned the elf.

Dobby appeared in front of him. “Master Harry has called for Dobby.”

Now that the elf was being paid to serve as Remus’ assistant, he had spent some of his galleons on various pieces of clothing, which he mixed and matched to form truly bizarre combinations. He was currently dressed in a boy's outfit, which consisted of a white dress shirt and black shorts held up by suspenders. His footwear was a pair of clown shoes, and he was wearing a cap with the words "stay weird" printed on the front.

“Hi, Dobby. Can you tell Remus that I need to see him later to discuss some business? He can come for dinner if he likes.”

“Dobby will tell him,” Dobby said and he apparated away.

Harry returned to making the artifact. He finished it late in the afternoon and earned some valuable experience points. It occurred to him that if he wanted to level up quickly, he might want to continue producing some of them himself in the future, given the high ratio of experience earned versus time invested. He would gain even more experience points if he could refine the sea essence himself, as he was penalised for others contributing to it. Furthermore, he would only improve his ability to inscribe the arrays, reducing the time required to create them.

The car kit he had received for his birthday remained in the centre of his workshop, untouched. He was eager to get started, but there were a few things he needed to do first before he could do so.

He had done some preliminary research on how to build a car. It wasn't simple to do so on its own, but when you added enchantments, it became even more complicated. He would have to first decide what enchantments he wanted to add to it and then design an array schematic for it.

Many of the arrays would need to be added while he was building the car. In addition, he intended to build an attached garage on the workshop where he could work on it and store it once completed. Hopefully, the garage would be considered part of the workshop, and it would be added to the trunk automatically, which would allow him to work on it while he was at Hogwarts.

He still needed to create some more allure suppressant necklaces to demonstrate their abilities to the council, so he wouldn’t have time before returning to work on the car before Hogwarts. Furthermore, he needed to make some two-way mirrors for his friends and family. He had some ideas for expanding their scope to an entire network that would connect all mirrors across the country, but it would be a lot of work, and he wasn’t sure if it was even possible yet.

When Harry returned to the house, he found Remus had already arrived and was sitting in the living room with his grandparents. But Sirius and Lauren were with him, and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. Sirius was burning a hole in the floor with all his pacing, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in a long time. Lauren, on the other hand, appeared calm, albeit with a small smile on her face, as she watched Sirius.

“Where’s the fire?” Harry asked.

“Harry!” Sirius rushed over and grabbed his shoulders. ”I am going to be a dad!”

Harry's eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that answer, and it explained why Lauren looked so happy. But why was Sirius freaking out about it?

"Congratulations," Harry said, hugging Sirius. "Do you know whether it will be a boy, a girl, or a mutt?"

Laughter filled the room, and even Sirius cracked a smile at Harry's joke, but panic quickly overtook him again, causing him to resume his pacing.

“I don’t know how to be a dad!” Sirius wailed. "I am going to completely screw it up, and my child will be a mental case with major issues when he grows up."

"It is good to have a level-headed partner on your side who can temper your craziness," Harry told him. "Otherwise, you will have some "Sirius" issues."

"Thank you, Harry," Lauren said, smiling. "He has been driving me crazy for the past few days, ever since we discovered I am pregnant."

Harry walked over and hugged her. “Do you know how far you are along?”

“Two months. Our baby will arrive in March next year.”

“When is the wedding?” Minerva asked.

Sirius paused and exchanged a glance with Lauren. "We haven’t talked about marriage yet."

"You would better do it soon," Minerva said, raising an eyebrow. “Or do you want your child to be born out of wedlock?”

"That is right!" Harry exclaimed. "You need to get married so your kid can become the next Black Heir and relieve me of the responsibility."

"Is that all you are thinking about?" Sirius muttered. “Besides, the title belongs to you.”

"But I don’t need it," Harry countered. "Not with all the responsibilities that will come with the Potter lordship. I don’t need the money, either."

"What about your girlfriends, Harry? Remus asked. "Wouldn’t they prefer it if one of your children became the Black Heir?"

Harry flushed as everyone's attention focused on him. Why did he need to ask such a question?

"First and foremost," Harry said, ignoring Sirius' sniggers. "There is always the chance that none of us will be together in the future when I start thinking about marriage."

“As if that would ever happen,” Sirius said, grinning. "The four of you are so close that I wouldn’t be surprised if more Potters were running around before you finished school."

"If that happens, Harry, I will disown you," Minerva sternly warned.

"Without first discussing it with me?" Chalrus protested.

"Will you please be quiet?" Harry asked, irritated. "Now, if we all get married in the future, everything should work out. Susan would keep her name and pass down the Bones lordship to her eldest child. Daphne can do the same for the Greengrasses, although Astoria could also fill that role. This would leave Gabrielle to take on the Potter name."

"It sounds like you have given this a lot of thought," Lauren said, amused. "Should we expect to hear about your engagements anytime soon?"

Harry huffed as he became the target of everyone's amusement. He supposed he deserved it for teasing Sirius, but that did not mean he had to like it.

“We should move on to discussing business,” Remus said, deciding to take pity on Harry and changing the subject. “Why did you ask me to come here, Harry?”

Harry told them about the Allure Suppressant Necklace and was greeted with a round of congratulations.

“The problem is that I need to scale up production fairly quickly once it has been announced,” Harry said. “Seraphine has offered to find me some enchanters to employ, but I am going to need a secure location where they can work. There will be a lot of interested parties who would be interested in getting their hands on my artifact.”

Remus took some time to think about it. "Well, the location would have to be in France, because Britain is too risky. If you want to keep the location a secret, I recommend purchasing a small property like this, which already has wards installed or can be added easily."

“All properties owned by wizards must be registered with the Ministry,” Charlus said. “You need to ask Pierre to use his connection to keep it hidden from them. He did the same with this property.”

“How much would that set me back?” Harry asked. “Do I have enough galleons in my vault to purchase it?”

“More than enough,” Remus assured him. “The cheaper option would be to purchase a muggle property and then ward it, but you can choose either option.”

"Then see if you can find a property that is already warded," Harry declared decisively.

“Yes, boss!”

"The most important issue will be who you hire," Minerva said. "Even if Seraphine knows them personally, that doesn’t make them trustworthy."

"We can deal with that after we meet with the Veela Council," Charlus stated. "I don’t think anyone who knows Seraphine would dare to cross her. Even I would have a hard time beating her."

“Harry,” Lauren said, touching his arm to get his attention. “Do you want me to write an article on your accomplishments? Regardless of what the artifact does, it’s a fantastic achievement to create a second artifact at such a young age.”

“I guess so,” Harry said. “But you can’t publish it until after the meeting with the Veela Council.”

The discussion came to an end, and they went into the kitchen for dinner. They spent the majority of the meal brainstorming possible names for Lauren's baby. Sirius suggested a couple of names that were consistent with the Black family tradition of naming children after stars. He proposed Scorpius for a son and Delphinus for a daughter. Lauren immediately rejected his suggestions, and Harry had the feeling that their child had dodged a bullet.

Later that evening, Harry was summoned to his grandfather's office to talk about something. He sat in the chair and waited for his grandfather to finish writing a letter. Charlus put the letter in an envelope and sealed it with wax. He then pressed his ring against it, creating an impression of the Potter seal. The image showed a Hippogriff standing on his hind legs, with his hooves balanced on the pommel of an upright sword.

"Why are you still using the Hippogriff to represent the Potter family?" Harry asked. "I thought you would have changed it now that we no longer have the family magic."

"For practical reasons," Charlus answered. "It’s already well-known, and changing it now could confuse some people. Besides, it is only an image at the end of the day, and it doesn’t do any harm."

“I suppose so,” Harry said. “What do you want to talk about?”

“There are two matters I wanted to discuss,” Charlus replied. He stood up and opened the window, and Hedwig soared through. "Do you mind if I use Hedwig to send my letter? She likes to keep busy, and it saves me from having to buy an owl."

Harry shrugged. "That is up to her."

Hedwig agreed with a bark. She waited for Charlus to attach the letter before giving Harry a friendly nip and flying back out the window.

"The first is that I will not be returning to Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor."

“What? Why the hell not?”

"Because I will be preoccupied with other matters."

“Do you mean hunting for Voldemort’s Horcruxes?” Harry asked.

Charlus nodded. “That is one of the reasons. I want you to be on your best behaviour this year and don’t give your grandmother any grief.”

“I feel offended by your lack of trust in me.”

“For good reason,” Charlus retorted. “Another reason is that I am going to start work on rebuilding the family manor.”

That certainly caught his attention. “Why now?”

"Because I want to be prepared in case we are ever attacked and need a safe place to retreat."

“The manor is in ruins,” Harry pointed out. “It doesn’t sound very safe.”

"It took Voldemort and a dozen of his goons hours to break the wards at the Potter Manor," Charlus said. "I will build wards that are even stronger than before, so no one will be able to get in without a massive effort."

“I sure hope so,” Harry sighed. “Who is replacing you at Hogwarts?”

“I have no idea. You will have to wait and see.”

“What was the other thing that you needed to discuss?”

Charlus reached down and pulled a shimmering black cloak out of his drawer and showed it to him. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as something about the cloak was ringing an alarm bell.

“This is a Potter heirloom that has been in our family for centuries,” Charlus said. “It’s an invisibility cloak, but it’s not the same as others of its kind.”

Harry tried to shake the uneasiness that he was experiencing. “What makes it different?”

"A standard invisibility cloak loses its effects after a few years, but the enchantments on our cloak never fade. Furthermore, it protects the wearer from any type of scrying or magical detection."

Harry whistled. “That’s an amazing ability. Where did the Potter family acquire such a cloak?”

“It was passed down from the Peverells,” Charlus explained. "The family was integrated into ours when the last female descendant married into the Potters."

Harry went completely still. "Did you just say the Peverell family?"

"Yes," Charlus said, staring at Harry in confusion. "Is something wrong?

"No," Harry said, breaking out of his stupor. "I have heard the name before, but I had no idea we were related to them."

“They were one of the oldest families around, and their origins are still a complete mystery. Have you read Tales of Beedle the Bard?”

Harry replied in the negative.

“It’s in our library if you want to read it,” Charlus said. “It has a fascinating tale about the cloak.”

Harry had completely forgotten about researching the Peverell family after speaking with one of them from the fae realm. He had been preoccupied with other matters at the time. It quickly rose to the top of his priority list.

Charlus handed over the cloak to him. "Anyway, I wanted to hand this over to you because I no longer need it. I know you have your demiguise ability, but you can never have enough options."

Harry almost recoiled as he was handed the cloak, and Charlus noticed his reaction.

“Don’t worry. It has been thoroughly washed, so you won’t get any of your grandparents' germs."

Harry held the cloak gingerly. "What are you talking about?"

Charlus leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling. “Good times.”

Harry bolted from the office when he saw his grandfather's expression. He didn’t want to think about it, even though he had a good idea that made him shudder in horror. Before going up to his bedroom, he took The Tales of Beedle the Bard from the library to read before he went to sleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Dumbledore awoke abruptly, sitting up in bed, the haunting fragments of a nightmare still vivid in his mind. His heart pounded, and sweat clung to his skin. The dream had such an impact on him that he felt clear headed for the first time in months. He reached over to grab his wand from the nightstand.

"You are to blame for clouding my mind," Dumbledore murmured. "Who knew the Death Stick could be this dangerous? Even though it hurts to lose such a powerful tool, I cannot let you affect my mind so much."

For the past few months, he had been doing nothing but working on the grand array that would see all of his ambitions come to fruition. He had made incredible progress without any other distractions to occupy his mind. If he had managed to get his hands on the Weasley girl, then perhaps he would have made even more progress. Still, he hadn’t given up on acquiring her and already had a plan in place.

“But is the grand array really my idea or am I merely a puppet?”

It was becoming more difficult to tell sometimes. The wand had taken its toll on him. He decided he could not take it any longer. Even though he was upset about losing such a powerful tool, the downsides were far too severe. And what about his revenge on the Potters? It appeared to have taken a back seat, which he knew would not have happened if he had been in the right frame of mind.

Dumbledore tried to snap the wand, but it resisted his efforts. Frustrated, he rose from his bed and approached the window. He opened it and tossed the wand out. He closed the window and went back to bed, content. Tomorrow, he would have to relocate to another hideout to ensure he was truly free of the thing.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he looked over at the nightstand and almost had a stroke. The wand was lying on the nightstand as if it had not been moved at all.

Dumbledore cried out in anguish and confusion.

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, Harry meets the Veela Council, and the days count down to the new school year.

Thanks for reading.