Don't Panic: A Wizard’s Guide to Westeros (HP × ASOIAF)

Chapter Synopsis:

armed with a journal overflowing with ideas from his home universe, and an overactive 'saving people thing', Harry is on a mission to uplift the North. Harry's not going to take no for an answer. Meanwhile, Dobby finds a chamber full of treasure, oh, and there's some stuff in the crypts too. 

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Last Time: ..."I'd hoped that during our stay you might be gracious enough to allow me access to your library?" 

Edwyle contemplated Harry's request a moment, knowing what a boon it would be to grant Harry access the great library at Winterfell. He may not be as wily as his southern counterparts, but Lord Stark knew how to seize an opportunity when he saw it. If they could gain some foreign knowledge or craft from these, likely educated, men who had apparently travelled from distant lands, it could be of great benefit to the North. 

"So few men travel for the purpose of learning, and those that do," he carefully didn't look at the Maester as he said this, "the knowledge is rarely ever shared. I can perhaps see my way to sharing the great repository that is our Winterfell library, in exchange for some of the more practical learnings and observations you might be able to bring to our attention." 

Harry didn't even blink at the stipulation or the offer. "You have yourself a deal" Harry replied, with a broad smile and a nod. 

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Chapter 12: Winterfell and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry made his way back up to the castle early in the morning. A guard had gone off to fetch someone with authority to allow his entry, and he was subsequently greeted at the gate by Maester Garrick, shuffling toward him in his grey robe and heavy chain. The Maester was far too chipper for such an early start, Harry observed inwardly, while still waiting for his own kick of energy from the coffee Dobby gave him earlier. 

Instead of going back to his investigation of the library, Harry found himself being peppered with questions by the inquisitive Maester. Garrick was keen to get a feel for the learnings and foreign designs or concepts Harry intended to share with the Starks, following their agreement the previous day. 

Harry was all too happy to share the knowledge, which he attributed to being well travelled. He'd already jotted down in his journal a number of ideas that he thought might be fairly easy to implement, and should quickly start benefiting the people of Lord Stark's lands. Of course, he intended to draw heavily on his modern-day knowledge, and balancing it to the current level of technology, but the Maester didn't need to know that. 

The two of them settled in the library in front of a large oak desk, with the Maester happily setting out some ink pots and parchment so they could get started. Harry wasn't sure if the Maester's chipper attitude was down to having found a kindred man of knowledge to share ideas with, or if the Maester was just suffering from that terrible affliction of being a morning person. 

Deciding to dive right in, Harry began with what he thought would be a somewhat more complex project. Though one that had the potential to save a massive amount of labour for the North if implemented correctly. That being the design and planning of water mills and windmills. 

Drawing a quick diagram, Harry pushed it over to Garrick. "This, my good friend, is going to be the next best thing since sliced bread" 

Garrick gave him a confused look, probably not quite grasping the diagram "What do you mean sliced bread? Isn't it easier just to tear hunks off as usual?" 

"…" that brought Harry up short. Ok so maybe it wasn't the diagram confusing Garrick. 

"Nevermind the sliced bread." Harry blustered, receiving a raised eyebrow from his companion "I guess we'll get to that later. It's just an expression where I come from. This mill though." Harry gestured back to the page "This will revolutionise labour and production in the North. It certainly did where we come from". 

"Water wheels and windmills can provide mechanical power to perform tasks faster, and with greater output than existing manual methods. and some that are often beyond the capability of normal manpower." Harry now had Garrick's attention as he perused the diagrams. 

"For example, a water wheel can be used to power a mill for grinding grain, which would save an inordinate amount of effort in having individuals manually grinding it by hand." 

"Additionally, it could be used with a few clever additions to power an inhumanly large hammer for faster forging of steel or even pump the bellows for the blacksmith's forge." 

Harry thought for a moment then hammered home the opportunity with one last suggestion, "it is also invaluable in speeding up the cutting of lumber. I'll have to draw up a saw mill for you, it will be game-changing in magnifying the supply of wood for your various needs," 

Going with the flow of thought, Harry added. "with more and cheaper lumber you might even consider river boat construction." 

Maester Garrick's eyes widened with interest, "Intriguing, Intriguing" he paused to contemplate, and decided to explore one of the suggestions that confused him most. "How exactly does the wheel convert the flow of water into the movement of a forge hammer?" 

Harry Harry hummed for a moment before flipping over one of the diagrams and starting to draw a simpler picture. "The water wheel is placed in a stream, where the flow of water causes it to rotate." He explained, demonstrating for Garrick as he spoke.  "This rotation is then transferred to an axle like that on a cart, which can be connected to gears." 

Harry of course realised he'd now have to make an attempt at explaining the concept of rudimentary gears, pulling some more parchment towards him he both realised he'd be doing a lot of rough diagrams this morning, and also that he should determine what they know of paper production.  Continuing to draw and expound on these concepts, Harry settled in for a long but hopefully satisfying lecture. 

Maester Garrick nodded, clearly impressed after having his eyes opened to the various designs and purposes of even the most basic early gear systems. He shuffled through various parchments Harry had scribbled on, trying to absorb the new concepts. Also noting he'd need to order more parchment at this rate. 

"And what about these windmills you mentioned? How do they work?" 

Harry acknowledged the question and continued his lecture. "They operate on a similar principle to water wheels, but instead of water, they harness the power of the wind. The wind turns large sails or blades in a circular motion, creating the necessary rotation for an axel and gear system, just like the water wheel" 

The Maester's curiosity was piqued, "These windmills might be even more interesting to us here in the North. With the rivers freezing over in winter, I could see the water wheels being limited to summer activity, useful though they'd be. Harnessing the wind would allow function in far colder weather." Harry nodded along, thankful that the Maester was getting it. 

As the morning melted into evening Harry and Maester Garrick delved deeper into the potential designs of water-wheels and windmills, discussing how these innovations could revolutionize agriculture, industry, and the daily lives of the smallfolk in Lord Stark's lands. They started to draw up some initial plans for test builds with great excitement. 

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Over the next two days, Harry devoted much of his time to both reading through the Stark library and surreptitiously copying all the books, as well as working with Maester Garrick on detailed diagrams and plans for the construction of their first water-wheel and windmill. The pair Garrick was particularly helpful, once he got his head around the concepts. He was clearly born to be a Maester, and Harry was definitely impressed. 

The water wheel would likely be more productive given the consistency of flowing water, and the position of major towns near flowing rivers. The landscape was dotted with quite a few smaller rivers beyond those larger ones like the White Knife. But they'd try to convince Lord Stark to build both, as the windmill had the advantage of not freezing over in winter. 

Finally they were satisfied that these two project plans were comprehensive enough to be picked up by Lord Stark's carpenters and builders, once they'd pitched them to Lord Stark and received his approval of course. 

Maester Garrick packed up the plans to discuss with Lord Stark another day, once he had a better grasp of exactly how many groundbreaking ideas Harry had to offer. They would have to prioritise after all. The treasury was usually fairly limited after Summer, and they couldn't try every idea that came up. Calling a servant to bring them some tea, the duo happily settled in to start a new brainstorming session. 

Harry was already prepared with his next proposal. He had been thinking of the Northern Kingdom's difficulty in growing enough food-stuff to feed its population. The climate was harsh, and the raw, uncultivated landscape didn't help matters. Surely they would fall over themselves for any chance to fix or increase their crop output, and Harry had just what they needed. 

With that thought, he dove into a lecture on the effectiveness of the four-field crop rotation method. A technique that would increase crop yields by up to 30%, based on what he indicated were his learnings from other lands, but were actually drawn from his modern-day knowledge and some of the muggle books in his tent library. 

Harry explained, "The idea is to divide the farmland into four separate fields. Each year, you would rotate the crops grown in each field. For example, in the first field, you would grow grains like wheat or barley. In the second field, you would plant legumes, such as beans or peas, which help to replenish the soil's nitrogen content. In the third field, you would grow root crops like turnips or carrots, and in the fourth field, you would let the land lie fallow, allowing it to rest and recover." 

Giving a moment for the Maester to scrawl down notes on these instructions, including a small note to follow up on what Nitrogen was, Harry continued, "This system will help maintain the fertility of the soil. While it can be tempting to continue to grow as much grain as possible on apparently fertile land, each different crop takes different kinds of nourishment from the soil, and the legumes or your closes equivalent, will add back what the grains take away." 

Harry, spent a little more time explaining the concept of nutrients and nitrogen in the soil. It turned out the concept of nutrients was known to a basic extent, but they weren't aware of how crucial it was to replenish it, nor that it could be replenished by simply growing alternative food crops; they'd instead relied heavily on manure 

Harry added that "as a nice bonus, it also tends to reduce the build-up of pests and diseases, as they tend to be crop-specific. By rotating the crops, you break the cycle of pest and disease build-up, leading to healthier crops and improved yields." 

Even with all this explanation, Maester Garrick was somewhat sceptical that this would work. "It seems almost too good to be true" he said, furrowing his brow. "While I see the logic in your proposal, Lord Peverell, we must be cautious. Our people depend on the harvests, and any mistake could lead to disaster, starvation specifically." 

Harry, however, was persuasive, and had the advantage of magic. For the good of all the people here in the North he cast a weak compulsion and concluded. "I understand your concerns, Maester Garrick, but I propose that we try this method at least on the surrounding Winterfell lands, where you and Lord Stark will be able to keep an eye on the process and more easily measure the results. Once you see the benefits with your own eyes, I'm confident that you'll be more willing to share this idea with the other Northern lords." 

After some contemplation, Maester Garrick agreed that it made sense to give the four-field crop rotation method a try on a smaller scale, as Harry had suggested. They spent the remainder of the day and the following morning discussing the logistics and implementation of the new farming method. They went over the best way to communicate these changes to the farmers, as well as how to monitor progress and troubleshoot any issues that might arise. 

Together, they considered the likely resistance to change from the local farmers, and subsequently laid-out a plan for several meetings and workshops to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. 

Of course, they would first have to get Lord Stark on board with the ideas, though it shouldn't be too much of an issue as he seemed to put a lot of trust in Maester Garrick. Harry also suggested they ask Lord Stark to personally introduce the concepts to the farmers, as he was well respected by his smallfolk, and would be readily followed. They had a plan now though, and Harry felt happy that his efforts would soon have a direct and scalable positive impact on the lives of the locals. 

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A Few days later, after much time in the library with Maester Garrick and planning with Lord Stark in his solar, Harry took time to get an update on Dobby's wardstone search. 

It seems Dobby had more than one discovery to share, and suggested they plan a clandestine trip into the crypts to show him in person. Harry was intrigued. 

That evening, under the cover of darkness and disillusionment charms the trio made their way back into Winterfell proper, moving from shadow to shadow for added effect. Quickly venturing out of sight into the lowest levels of the vast Stark family crypts. 

After clearing up yet another pile of rocks blocking their way, Harry found Dobby waiting expectantly by a blank stone wall. Dobby had been popping through any blockages, simply making a big enough gap to see through and popping to the other side. 

As Dobby had finally stopped and taken to simply watching Harry with a knowing smile, he got the message that there might be something here. Sirius was casting around with his wand, but Harry instead paused for a moment, internalised his magic, took a deep breath, and pushed, reaching out with his magic to see sense for any clues. Immediately the wispy string of a waiting trigger charm on the wall seemed to snag his magic and test it. Harry recognised this as a family trigger wall, often used in the more sensitive parts of the more ancient family libraries and vaults. 

The charm must have sensed his Peverell ancestry, and possibly his connection to the Hallows, which was a relief, because he'd not intended to trigger the charm. A failed attempt could be rather nasty depending on the built-in defence mechanisms. 

Almost immediately a great rumbling began and the wall itself sunk into the floor, revealing a hidden chamber behind. 

The chamber wasn't grand by any means, almost like it was prepared with great haste. Harry moved into the dimply lit room and was immediately struck by the sight of a beautifully carved weirwood throne sitting in the centre. On closer inspection, Harry noted an ornate weirwood crown hung on the left arm. 

The crown wasn't ostentatious by any means, but held a stark beauty of its own. The silvery white wood of the crown was accented by gems formed of what looked like the fossilised red sap of the trees. A direwolf head carved out of something that looked like obsidian was inlaid into the center piece on the front of the crown. Harry wasn't here for fancy hats though, and he had plenty of jewellery cluttering up his trunk already, so he left the crown where it was and continued to scan the chamber. 

Behind the chair, Harry spied a small collection of wooden cases, they were covered in dust and dirt, but he could tell they were filled to bursting with gold coins. Taking a closer look, he noted the picture of a wolf stamped on the coins inside. Somewhat different to the Dragon and star coins he'd encountered so-far. 

Overall, Harry thought the room had an odd feel to it. With the throne hidden away down here gathering dust and the crown unceremoniously hung on one of the arms. Along with the cases of gold the Starks almost certainly weren't aware of. Harry got the feeling this was all hidden away in a hurry. 

Maybe it was hidden away to keep these artifacts from the Dragon Lords when they swooped down to demand the North bend the knee. Or maybe earlier, during some other calamity, of which he was sure there were many over the last few thousand of years. Either way, the Starks had either forgotten about this room or had possibly born a generation without enough magic to trigger the door mechanism. Thankfully, Harry was sure the current Lord Stark had enough of a magical core to activate the trigger. 

The gold was of little interest to Harry, but would make a welcome addition to the Winterfell treasury if he could find a way to surreptitiously point Lord Stark in the right direction. He was sure they'd be excited to find the crown and throne as well. From the bits and pieces of knowledge he had gleaned in the Winterfell library, both artefacts were of great importance to the history for the North. 

For Harry though, the most important finds were the piles of dusty scrolls and tomes stacked neatly on equally dusty shelves at the back of the room. Seeing this as the opportunity it was, Harry roped both Sirius and Dobby into spending much of the night creating conjured copies of the ancient scrolls so he could study them in detail later. There was bound to be a wealth of knowledge here. He was so gleeful at the find, that he missed both Dobby and Sirius giving him side-eye looks and occasionally making loud exasperated sighs. 

For Sirius's part, he was already a little bit drunk, having not previously been warned about their clandestine night-time mission. He wasn't entirely sure what Harry had pulled him into, but strangely enough, it wasn't his first rodeo with grave-robbing, so he just went with the flow. "I'm so glad you found me Harry, I haven't done such weird stuff since back in my marauder days" he chuckled, while hovering a skull off some more scrolls. 

At a glance the scrolls mainly covered the old Northern kingdom's history and customs, but to his pleasure, a rare few covered the Stark Family magics in the form of Warging and Greenseeing. Harry had read hints of these magics in other books he'd collected in their travels, but never found any detailed guidance or learning aids. He now had exactly that guidance in his hands. 

Still more scrolls finally gave him detailed introductions to the First Men runes that he'd been so diligently seeking in the library above. Harry noted that he'd have to find some way to thank Dobby for finding this loot ... ahem, these books. Definitely not loot. Harry didn't have a book stealing problem. Not at all. Regardless, this find was priceless. 

After the trio had finished copying and storing all the books, Dobby led them further into the crypts, to his next find. Dobby stopped in from of another wall much deeper in the crypts. In-fact, they might have finally reached the end of the crypt tunnels, which wound around in circles, twisting ever deeper under the castle grounds. 

The walls and looming statues that surrounded them in this section had clearly seen the passing of many thousands of years. This time it was clear the space in front of them was supposed to lead somewhere, being framed by an ornately carved archway, and flanked by the statues of Stark ancestors. 

Harry almost did a double take when he noticed that the statue of a lady on the left had the symbol of the Hallows carved prominently in the base. This must have been his ancestor, the daughter of Ignotus that married Bran the Builder and started the Stark line. Now this was interesting. If they brought Lord Stark down here, he would be sure to point it out. 

It was impossible to see if there was any family resemblance given time and damp had worn away the finer features of the statue. Not that it was necessary anyway, given how prominently the living Starks carried the famous dark hair of the Potters and Peverell's. 

Of course, whether they actually brought Lord Stark down here would depend heavily on what they found on the other side of this wall. Harry was excited to see what Dobby had uncovered here. 

Reaching out with his magic again, Harry felt a similar family trigger mechanism on this wall. This time though, the magic felt more familiar. It was very likely it had been cast directly by a Peverell. For the charm to have maintained its potency all this time was a great indication that whatever lay beyond held a vast amount of magic. 

The trigger clicked again at feeling Harry's magic and the wall sunk into the floor with another great rumble. Harry quickly cast bubble head charms over the trio as the rumbling created a large plume of ancient dust from tunnel walls. As the dust settled, Harry released the bubbleheads and gasped as he got his first view of a vast wardstone inlaid with obsidian, sitting entwined in the thick roots of what must be an ancient Weirwood tree judging by the whitish colour. 

This link to the tree might have been the greatest discovery of the night. After waving his wand over the stone and roots, muttering various diagnostic charms, Sirius noted that the tree seemed to be a conduit, condensing magic from the surrounding air and funnelling it into the roots. 

Following Sirius' various charms with diagnostics of his own, Harry noted that the wardstone in turn appeared to draw magics from the roots and cast a vast ward into the surroundings, releasing the gathered magic and creating a sort of symbiotic relationship. 

Harry immediately theorised that these trees could serve a similar purpose to the smaller soil fertility and weather moderation wards he planned to create. 

It struck Harry that if he could show Lord Edwyle the scrolls on magic and the wardstone, he may be able to use it as the segue he'd been looking for to introduce the idea of magic to the man. Surely he'd be receptive if he could see it as a rightful part of his family legacy. 

As they diligently copied down the rune sequences used on the main wardstone, Harry came to a symbol he knew well. The symbol of the Deathly Hallows had been used here in a rune sequence of some kind. A powerful one judging by its placement near the center of the stone. 

Stopping to take a closer look he observed that a small number of the runes in the sequence were Nordic in origin, clearly from his old world. Harry was excited as he knew this could be the key to integrating this new language into some truly powerful rune sequences. They looked fairly basic though, and he could tell much research would be needed before he could combine his wizarding ward schemes with First Men runes. 

Harry let out his magic to feel the ward emanating from the sequence, intent on divining its purpose. He needn't have tried too hard though, the intent of the ward felt clear to his magic the moment it touched. It kept the dead at bay. Nodding to himself, Harry found he wasn't surprised to find his ancestor had placed such a ward at the center of Winterfell. It was just more evidence of the White Walkers sitting in the north. 

With a copy of the main wardstone runes, and a slight gift of magics from each of the trio to boost the trickling wards, they apparated home, keeping the details of this wardroom in mind so they could return at a later date if needed. 

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Dobby was happy to have helped Harry uncover more hidden magics, it always filled Harry with such joy. Particularly when Harry found books to steal. It was an odd thing to collect, and if he was honest, Harry seemed almost unhealthily obsessed with hoarding books, but who was Dobby to judge. 

Dobby would have to keep his eye out for any more hidden caches as they continued their travels. Though really, there wasn't much of interest in those damp underground rooms to interest Dobby. Particularly since Harry had specifically told him not to clean the crypts. 

According to Harry, "underground mazes and graveyards aren't supposed to be in perfect condition". Apparently, it "ruins the ambiance" or something like that. Dobby had just sighed and shrugged his shoulders at that point, it didn't make sense to him, but he would just have to trust Harry on this one. 

Not that it mattered all that much. Dobby had already found a rich treasure room for himself on the first day of his searching. A room filled to the brim with socks of all different shapes and sizes. Now that he'd finished helping Harry, he might as well make a quick visit. 

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Chapter 13 Teaser: 

..." Nella had always seen more than others, she was a dedicated follower of the old gods, and she felt they had gifted her with deeper sight. Some would call it magic, others would call her insane, but she wasn't bothered either way, it never affected her duties. 

Nella was however, quite sure she was going dotty, she was sure of it. Naught but five days ago she saw a Child of the Forrest toddle through the main hall following Lord Edwyle and two strangers into his Solar like it was any other Sevenday." 

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Note: The next chapter is now up for free members on patré ón / PanGalacticBard. If you would like to make comments or suggestions on the next draft chapter before it's published, you can head over there and have a look. If you would like to read even further ahead, or simply appreciate the story, I would welcome your donations.