Aftermath

|Hundreds of students were gathered in the front yard of Hogwarts, waiting for the arrival of the exchange students. The Golden Trio stayed a little behind, in the fourth row of students, and they looked at the already darkening sky; The moon was especially enchantingly bright that night, illuminating the entire yard with its silver rays.

"It's almost six," Ron said after looking at his watch. "How do you think they will appear? By train?"

"I don't think so." Hermione replied.

"Then how? On a broom?" Harry said half jokingly, looking up at the sky as if he expected a hundred students to be riding across the skies on broomsticks with backpacks on their backs and luggage precariously strapped to the broomsticks (like an overloaded motorcycle). The mental image was very humorous and Harry snickered, Ron and Hermione looked at him for a moment and barely suppressed their own laughter.

The Ravenclaw prefect, who was not far away, gave them a pointed look and the trio coughed to regain their composure.

"No, I don't think they haha- ehem. I don't think so." Hermione cleared her throat and put on her most serious expression but even so the sides of her lips still trembled slightly.

"In portkey?" Ron suggested, calmer now. "Can they apparate? Maybe in their countries it's allowed to apparate before the age of seventeen. Or maybe they gave them special permission for the tournament."

"No one can apparate onto Hogwarts grounds. How many times do I have to tell you?" Hermione looked at him in exasperation.

As his best friends got into an argument (ignoring the Ravenclaw prefect's pointed glares) Harry looked up at the darkening sky. There was nothing on the horizon, everything was calm and quiet, and with each passing minute Harry was losing more and more of his patience.

The night was cold and the night breeze passed through the students' robes like water through a handkerchief, it wasn't going to be long before they started to shiver from the cold. Harry regrets not wearing his coat, or even his scarf. He thought the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students wouldn't keep them waiting long, but it's been almost an hour since McGonagall ordered them to the front yard.

He absently recalled what Arthur Wesley told him during the World Cup just a few months ago: "It's always the same. We can't resist showing off every time we get together…"

`This better be quite the show and well worth the wait in this bloody cold.`

As if some deity had heard him, the students in the first row, where all the teachers were, began to shout pointing to the sky.

"Aha! If I'm not mistaken, the representatives of Beauxbatons are coming!" Dumbledore's voice echoed across the courtyard, the headmaster sounding pleased and a little excited.

Harry looked around and saw nothing.

"Where?" A few other students, equally impatient, vocalized the question on the tip of Harry's tongue.

"Over there!" shouted a student pointing towards the forest.

Harry looked in that direction and saw an object flying over the trees. Turns out he wasn't entirely wrong, the Beauxbatons students are coming in a flying object; but it's not a broom, no, it's an object bigger than a hundred brooms together.

"It's a dragon!" yelled a freshman.

"Don't be an idiot... It's a flying house!" Said Dennis Creevey.

"No! It's not a dragon, it's not a house. It's Superman!" Dean Thomas joked. Some students who got the joke chuckled but most of the students' attention was on the flying object.

Dennis's assumption was not entirely wrong, when the gigantic flying object passed over the tops of the trees almost brushing against each other and the moonlight illuminated it, they saw that it was an enormous carriage. A colossal carriage, pale blue in color and the size of a house, drawn by horses bigger than an elephant.

The carriage did not slow down, the students in the front rows crouched down and covered their heads, as if it would protect them if the carriage crashed into them. The carriage turned at what seemed like the last second and landed at tremendous speed. The sound of the horses' hooves hitting the ground echoed through the courtyard for an instant only to be drowned out by the sound of the carriage wheels making contact with the ground. The carriage wheels bounced a few times before settling firmly on the Hogwarts courtyard floor.

Once the carriage stopped moving Harry noticed a huge emblem on the side door: two crossed golden wands, with three stars emerging from each.

The first person to get out of the carriage was a boy dressed in a pale blue robe, he jumped out and after sending them a quick nod he started looking for something under the door; he finally found what he was looking for and a golden ladder unfolded. The boy took a step back and the tallest woman Harry had ever seen stepped out of the carriage.

Some students gasped, others whispered among themselves, and some rude ones pointed their fingers.

The woman was not only tall (`Even taller than Hagrid!` thought Harry) she was also pretty and dressed in elegant and sophisticated clothes.

Dumbledore started clapping and moved towards the woman, the students imitating the headmaster.

The woman smiled graciously and held out a hand to Dumbledore, who took it with a smile and kissed it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said, "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbledorr" Madame Maxime replied in a deep voice. "You look well."

"Not as good as you, dear." The headmaster replied.

"My students," Madame Maxime smiled and turned away, gesturing toward the carriage with a languid gesture.

Noticing nothing but Madame Maxime at first, now Harry saw that about a dozen students, boys and girls, all of whom appeared to be almost twenty, had emerged from the carriage and were standing behind her. They were shivering, which was not surprising since the robes they wore seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them had cloaks. They looked at the Hogwarts students and the castle itself with apprehension and whispered among themselves.

Dumbledore and Maxime started talking to each other about something, Harry wasn't listening as all of his attention was focused on something else. One of the male students moved to talk to a friend and the person behind him became visible.

The world seemed to freeze and everything but her disappeared.

Harry forgot how to breathe, his mind went blank and if it weren't for all the students surrounding him like sardines in a can Harry thinks he might have fallen to the ground as he suddenly forgot how legs are supposed to work as well.

He is sure she must be an angel- She must be, for no human could be this alluring, this enchanting.

The moonbeams caress her head gently and descend to the middle of her back in waves. Her skin is fair and flawless like the finest porcelain and her features delicate like the petals of a blooming flower.

Harry feels her eyes pierce his soul, unwrapping every layer and passing through every wall without even trying. He feels naked, exposed and vulnerable under those silver orbs that shine brighter than the moon and stars.

Time lost its meaning, the wizard could not tell how long he was staring at her, it could have been a few seconds or maybe an eternity. Harry doesn't know it and he doesn't even care, she is all that matters; he could stare at her for all eternity and he won't have enough. Harry feels like a man trapped in a desolate desert, and she is his promised oasis.

The angel averts her eyes from him and looks towards the lake, Harry feels the loss of her gaze as if something tremendously important had been taken from him. Feelings that he can't understand explode in his chest like fireworks, a strange tingle spreading through his hand and legs.

He wants to move, to push aside all these obstacles in his way and go to her side.

Something crashes into his shoulder from behind and sends him reeling to the ground, Harry landing on one knee and wincing as he hits the ground.

"Harry! Are you okay?" Hermione crouches down next to him and examines him with worried eyes.

"Look where you're going!" Ron turned to the student who bumped into him and shot him a furious glare. "You alright, mate?"

His friends help him up, and as soon as he stands up Harry's eyes turn to the Beauxbatons students; The angel is not in sight.

Harry looks around for her and doesn't see that shiny silver hair anywhere.

"Mate?"

"Harry?"

Her friends call her name in concern and Harry snaps out of his reverie.

"I`m fine."

Hermione and Ron send him a concerned look but don't push further knowing that pushing Harry will get them nowhere.

The young Potter looks back at the Beauxbatons students and sighs in defeat when he doesn't find her.

`Have I imagined her?`

"That ship is bloody fantastic!"

Harry follows Seamus's line of sight and for the first time notices the huge ship floating on the lake. The ship looked like one of those pirate ships he had seen in a movie a few years ago, but fancier and much larger.

The sight was impressive enough to distract him momentarily from the silver angel but as hard as he tries (Harry doesn't know if he should-or if he wants to-) he can't forget her.

As he enters the castle his mind is distracted and he vaguely thinks:

`I would wait a hundred years just for the chance to see her, even for a moment`)|

***

"He is barely breathing!" Trystanne Dayne yelled in frustration.

"He is fighting, Prince Trystanne. That is what is important: he is fighting." Maester Wulfric looks at him tiredly, under his eyes there are big dark circles and it looks like he hasn't slept in days. "And so are we, we are all fighting, my boy. As long as we keep fighting we will win, have faith." Wulfric lets out a sigh and turns his attention to the cauldron where he is brewing more blood replenishing potions.

Maester Wulfric and Prince Trystanne are in Doran's room, half of which has been converted into a makeshift potions lab as Wulfric is the best potion-brewer in the world (not counting Doran), he is also the best healer in Dorne (again, not counting Doran). Given Doran's precarious state and how he got to that state, the Martells do not trust anyone but their closest ones, they even distrust using potions from the apothecary because they suspect that they could have been altered; so Wulfric is not only Doran's healer he is also making the necessary potions for his recovery.

Trystanne turned his head and looked at his eldest son. Doran is lying on his bed, a blanket covering him up to his waist leaving his bandaged torso visible. At the edge of the bandages Trystanne can see the black rays from the stabbing slowly expanding.

`The poison, that damned poison.` Trystanne's hands clench so tightly that his nails dig into his palms once again, over the past day the Morning Sword has done this often enough to open crescent-shaped wounds in both palms. He feels the thick and hot liquid wet his fingers and run down his hands, he ignores the pain and the blood.

His child is more important, Doran's state has him on the brink of tearing the hair out of his head and beating anyone remotely connected to the Yronwood to death. Unfortunately the latter is something he is not allowed to do.

His good parents, and his own father, made sure Trystanne stayed as far away from the Yronwoods as possible. They know that if Morning Sword were to have any of those bastards on hand he would beat them to death.

Currently all Yronwood, both family members and their servants, are being interrogated in Sunspear's dungeons. Arthur Uller, Dorna Martell and Jason Dayne are personally supervising the interrogations.

Trystanne hears the door open and his hands move on autopilot, Dawn is up in front of him and he is positioned at the foot of his son's bed faster than someone could say "Morning Sword".

"Is me, ser." Lothar softens his voice to calm the swordsman. `Prince Trystanne seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, not that I blame him. I am not doing much better`

Ser Lothar is dressed in a blue robe with blood stains in several places, he even has some blood staining his face and hair.

"Ser Lothar, if you want to get close to the prince, the first thing you must do is take a bath and change your clothes." Wulfric frowns at the bloodstains on the knight. The knight nods and stays near the door.

"Lothar, did princess Dorna send you?" Trystanne looks at him impatiently but doesn't sheath Dawn.

"Aye," Lothar holds up a hand to calm the impatient prince. "We haven't finished the interrogation yet but the princess thought we should keep you informed of what we've learned thus far."

The prince nods.

"First of all: The clouds and the moon might hide the sun, but they can't dim its light." At the code Trystanne lowers his sword and relaxes his shoulders.

"Few dares to challenge the desert's might, fewer survive it." Trystanne says the second part of the code and Lothar's hand moves away from the hilt of his sword.

It seems they both had their doubts. Until they're sure there are no more faceless men in Sunspear everyone is walking on top of eggshells.

"We found out that the faceless assassin traveled on the same ship as Yronwood, as one of the cabin boys. Edgar Yronwood hired the assassin before being summoned to Sunspear, we suspect it was part of Blackfyre's plans; Daemon and Edarion Blackfyre`s plans to be more precise."

"Was Doran the target?"

"No, the initial target was Princess Dorna. That much Edgar confessed but we are not completely sure. The interrogation is far from over." Lothar sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "This is far from over."

***

NOTE: Advanced chapter in my p@ tre on if you are interested.

p a t r e o n. com /EdenofKovir

New Story: Isekaid in Highschool DxD with a system:

https://www.webnovel.com/book/25714170906928005 (Reincarnated with Fairy Tail System (DxD)

Do you remember the mention of Harry`s lover at the beginning of the story? Well she is not Fleur as many guessed.