Chapter 8

Domeric, or Harry as he was once called was not much of a botanist. No, that badge would go to Neville who was a genius when it came to understanding and nurturing magical plants. But he had learned Herbology in Hogwarts until his 7th year and some of the lessons he learned in those classes stuck in his mind.

So with his knowledge of magical plants and with the help of all the history books in the Maester's library, it didn't take him very long to understand the mystery that was the Weirwood tree.

And the first thing he found out about them was that they were not nature's creation but man made. Or 'Children' made if that made sense. From what little he could find out from the history and his own research, he was sure that Heart trees were just Weirwood trees that the children carved a face on. But that was not all there was to it.

He was sure that some kind of sacrifice was used to create the Heart trees. He would have guessed that the Children used human sacrifices but the first humans to ever arrive in Westeros were the first men and the Weirwood trees have already existed in the Continent if history is to be believed.

Perhaps the Children used to sacrifice other Children for the purpose but from what he had heard of them, they seemed like a peaceful species so he somehow doubted that. Maybe they just used their blood to create new Heart trees. Blood sacrifices after all, were rather common even in his past life.

The particular event in which the rat forcibly took his blood in order to revive his dark master came to mind before he shook his head and removed such thoughts with the help of Occlumency.

The main reason why Heart trees were so different from other Weirwood trees aside from the face carved into them was that the Weirwood trees were able to tap into the magical network running through the world and are connected in some way to the Old Gods.

He was not 100% but he had a feeling that if he had the ability of the seers, then he would be able to use the magical network from the Weirwood tree to look at anything and everything that happens in the world. Though in the end, he was no seer and this speculation would remain just that.

He turned to many Weirwood saplings that he had tried to grow with the help of his magic and found that none of them had connected to the magical network going around in the world.

That was unfortunate. He was sure that if put a lot of time and effort in it then he'll be able to create a proper Heart tree. Something that generate magical energy and increase the level of ambient magic in the world allowing his magic to regenerate at a faster rate and to have large magical reserve over time.

But now he was the lord of his own lands and he had plans to bring new reforms in these lands so it was doubtful that he'll have enough time to research the magical trees.

In the end, he probably have to go North and search for Children of the forest. If they even exist in the world anymore. He hoped they did. The people in the world already seem intent on killing magical beings. If possible, he'll help the magical beings and try to protect as many of them as possible.