019 // MC wants to bleach his brain.

Sirius atop on pearl reached his second destination as the sun started shining properly. The rest of pearl had gotten increased her speed. He surveyed his surroundings still airborne as there wasn't a place to land visible to him.

It was a good day with the sun shining, which was already rare in these regions.

As far as he could see, only ice was visible. They were over a glacier. He was applying warming charms over himself and his stead every other minute and was cursing his family and this ridiculous challenge he had to do.

He checked the map and there was a symbol for cave northwest to approximate location which had a golden key marked on it. he didn't even want to think about what he would face in those caves. One thing was clear, he cannot stay here overnight, so he would need to hurry.

He directed pearl toward caves slightly visible from his position. They flew for about 10 mins and pearl landed on the ground where Sirius had sent a very strong incnedio which melted the thin layer of ice present on the ground some distance away from a single cave opening visible.

Sirius performed a point me spell which directed him towards the entrance of the cave, so he was clearly in the right place.

He grabbed a piece of rock and transfigured it into a charcoal stick. Using it, he drew a few warming runes over pearl's body and on her face, dirtying her white coat, and powered them with his magic. they would work only for a few hours but hopefully, it was enough for now.

Sirius applied all the charms masking himself and sent pearl away. He couldn't take pearl in danger and asked her to remain safe and away from the cave until he called. She acted as if she understood but he wasn't super sure.

Bracing himself he walked into the cave. After walking a few hundred metres, it got too dark to see anything clearly, so he applied a night vision charm that was coming in quite handy.

He had known what he could face only a hundred or so metres. Giants! Freaking giants or a minuscule chance of it being a yeti, but larger than average. He had seen gigantic footsteps and bones of animals and even a skeleton lying at the edges of the cave.

He thought about northern European giants while slowly walking not to disturb whatever creature called this cave their home.

'A Giant was a very large humanoid magical being that could potentially grow to approximately twenty-five feet tall, but other than their height, they greatly resembled humans. They were not as intelligent as wizards but were capable of communication. Giants had their language for communication but sometimes spoke the local tongues. They seemed to be able to comprehend magic and are actually fond of its use (provided it isn't being used against them). They had their own language, culture, and societal structure. When breeding, they pride themselves on having large babies, and disappointment would arise if the child was smaller than expected. Unfortunately, most giants did not have the patience for long discussions and seem to prefer "simplifying" matters by killing their audience if the topic they brought proved too complicated. Because of this, it was imperative that one must have had gifts at the ready when trying to appease giants and take one's time, giving the giants the privilege of deciding what to do with what was offered.'

He knew limited information about giants from what he had read in a few texts as well as some of the old memories he remembered from HP fandom.

He didn't know if giants hibernated or not like bears, but that could be possible. They didn't have fur on their skins. On the other hand, Yeti was a creature of cold climate, but not much was known about them. He could face either in the cave.

Yeti feared fire, so they were easier to handle, but giants! A shiver went down his spine.

He was nearing the end of the cave which clearly opened inside the mountain. This wasn't just a cave; it was an entrance inside the mountain. He stood atop a crudely made ramp/stairs combination and looked down.

This was a village. And his assumption about Giants being here was correct. There were about 30 giants visible to his naked eye and more could be inside those 6 times the average primitive-looking huts.

There were about 50 huts visible, each looked big enough for a giant family of 3 to sleep in.

This was clearly the work of intelligent creatures, and he knew giants could possess brains. He would have to be extra careful. This was a mission of stealth and cunning. He couldn't lose focus for even a second. He renewed his charms, which included disillusionment, scent blocking, noise blocking, and added a potent notice-me-not as well.

He used a point me spell to locate the golden key he was looking for and not for the first time thought about who had come here to plant those keys previously. Someone professional that's for sure.

His wand pointed towards the largest hut present, which was roughly in the centre of this village. Light and snow were falling from the opening about 80-100 metres above the ground.

The giants were all wearing huge furs, which looked sewn together somehow. There were some children present roughhousing at some distance from the huts.

Sirius absorbed the culture of this giant's colony as he was sure that this was the only time, he would ever see such a creature in their natural habitat.

He was careful while moving among them, preferring to stay near the edges of huts so he won't be accidentally crushed underneath 20-25 feet tall creatures. (6-7 metres)

He smelled something cooking and saw fire in a pit clearly guarded by a few mean-looking giants.

He avoided them and took a longer route t the chief's hut. A few giants were talking among themselves but in their own language. Whatever they were saying went over his head, but it was fine. He just needed the key. After walking for a long time and carefully navigating the path, he finally reached his destination.

Sirius was careful while using magic as giants could sense it. He used the 'Point-me' spell only once after getting lost and that too extra carefully.

He could see 8 metres tall entrance of the chief's hut. It was equivalent to 3 floors cottage he had seen in the town near home. There was a huge rag acting as a gate hanging from the top but not touching the ground, leaving some space for a tiny human-like him to enter easily.

What he saw inside shocked him to his bones. He won't forget the sight till the day he died and would probably need to obliviate to overcome this.

The giants were mating. Yes, and it looked like they were wrestling, they were clearly in between some heavy action. He pondered if he should wait for them to finish before coming back but the risk of discovery was great.

He was careful to remain closer to walls, to not accidentally look at them. He didn't want these images in his mind. Even if he possessed an adult mind. Using a point, me spell, which would be missed while the occupants of the hut were busy, pointed at a wall.

He slowly moved towards the mud and straw wall; his wand pointed towards a discoloured patch that was clearly made later. A glance at the giants told him that they were busy in their own world, so he tried to find how to open the patch.

He saw a rock lying on the ground, which was pointy enough to dig in the wall. He couldn't risk using much magic here. A few careful strokes on the wall, trying to align them with the grunting of giants, and the mud loosened.

He was near his aim, just a little more. He could already see something shining inside, after a few more careful strikes, he quickly grabbed the muddy key now visible.

Sirius had finally found the second golden key and only needed to get out of here now.

He left the tiny patch, for a giant anyway, as it was. There were similar and bigger indentions all over the wall, so he didn't need to erase them.

It took him about an hour and a half to reach the entrance of the cave when he saw glowing Iprine near the wall. It was a plant used in some rare potions and was hard to come by.

There were about 4-5 bushes of it with glowing leaving. He carefully moved towards it and saw he was out of eyesight even invisible as he was, so he harvested all the bushes quickly. They were small plants so he could fit all of them in 2 containers he had emptied during his previous 2 meals.

As he was leaving, he saw a large stone rolling towards him, which made him move quickly thinking he was discovered. After running for a few minutes, he finally climbed atop the ramp.

As his breath stabilized, he realized that the huge stone was a ball for children, and they were kicking and throwing it around like a game. He felt relief by this, he was not caught but he couldn't risk staying here anymore.

He tried to ramp/stairs quickly, but they were clearly not made with a human in the mind, and that too a human child. It took him hours to climb up to the entrance and he regret not bringing his abraxan inside the cave. Going down was easier but climbing not so much. Only months and months of physical fitness abled him to bear it.

A quick check of time told him it was nearing 4 in the afternoon, and he was on a time crunch to escape this cold hell. He needed a safe and warmer place to set his camp and rest after a lot of walking and climbing he did today.

He wanted to lie in a hot water tub for hours after the vigorous workout he had gotten. But alas, that would need to wait for one more day.

He had 2 keys and probably he won't get 3rd one if Noir had gotten to it already, but he needed to check for sure.

He reached near the entrance of the cave and saw Pearl waiting for him. The runes were intact, and he was happy that pearl was alright.

As they moved forward, Sirius noticed that snow was falling. It wasn't a heavy snowfall but could become a problem, so he skipped lunch for now and directed pearl towards the third destination which was about 2-3 hours away.

As they flew southwards, the snow started falling heavily, and Pearl started whining, snowmaking her wings heavy. Sirius used a warming charm on her again and again, but it was just making everything wet. They needed to land. Sirius checked his surroundings for a place to safely land and potentially stop for the night.

Sirius tried the 'point-me' spell to look for any opening or cave and his wand pointed south-west, so he guided pearl towards that direction, it took some time for Sirius to see where his magic was directing him.

They were above a frozen waterfall, and his wand was pointing directly at the waterfall. Pearl landed on a slippery rock which wasn't a really suitable place to land but magic hasn't guided him wrong till now. After walking for a few minutes, Sirius saw an opening to the cave behind the frozen waterfall.

Pearl moved into the space seeing it as shelter and he used their bond to help pearl navigate the icy path. They finally had a shelter above their heads and Sirius let out a breath of relief.

They won't become icy popsicles that day. He left pearl at the entrance and went inside t scut the cave. It could be home to wild animals for all he knew.

after conjuring light and scouting the cave, he found that there were no animals here and they were safe to stay there.

He didn't wait another minute and warded the entrance like his previous camp.

Now he could relax and take a breather. Tempus told him it was 5 in the evening, he won't be reaching the third location even if it was just an hour or two away as nightfall was upon them, and pearl looked tired and irritated, after having to fly in unpleasant conditions.

He bought out his tent and knew that without fire they won't survive. Bluebell fire would work best in closed quarters without proper ventilation for smoke to escape, so he transfigured a few rocks lying there in large stone bowls and conjured bluebell flames in them. It won't burn stone, so they were relatively safe. Blue flames made pearl look ghostly.

The day ended they struck in that tiny cave, eating pre-packed food. Sirius was happy that he had packed double the requirement of food as it was coming in handy here. They were both hungry after a long day of exertion. He used multiple grooming charms to best clean himself as removing his clothes for proper charms was out of the question in these situations.

He slept uneasily in the sound of howling icy winds and pearl's soft neighing.

--------------------------------------

A/N - Hello dear readers!

So what did you think of second obstacle? too tame? too risky? whatever it was do comment!

Do add this to your libraries and express yourself using power stones if you like this!

Soo, Hogwarts arc is right around the corner and would love all the suggestions for Victorian era Hogwarts! Do comment and tell me, from small suggestions like uniform or greater suggestions like conduct, rules, sorting are welcome. I look forward to incorporate your ideas in the story!

xoxo!