[Belarus] - Usad'ba Grebnitskikh

Currently Oz was looking down at the two dead death eaters with no emotion in his eyes. With a snap of his fingers both bodies were engulfed in flames until they were burnt to nothing but ash. The fire Oz created was controlled so as not to light the trees surrounding him and Alfreda on fire. Alfreda look on at her masters actions with baited breath, knowing it was necessary yet still feeling uncomfortable with the situation as a whole.

As the bodies reduced to nothing, A thought passed through Oz's lips.

"That's right... I neglected to ask them about the wizarding community here..."

"The community master?".

Sighing deeply to himself Oz turned to Alfreda with a slightly self-mocking smile.

"The community here, or at least any sign of a government or such seems completely dead. We've been around the majority of Minsk already yet I haven't spotted a single 'entrance' to anywhere wizarding related. I was half-expecting something like what we have in Britain, with the ministry connected by phone boxes or just using floo powder however no signs of such things seem to be present...".

"Couldn't it be possible that the Belarus wizarding community isn't situated here in Minsk? Maybe they are in another location master".

Oz grimaced a moment looking down at the grass beneath him. The earth still scorched by the fire he had conjured moments ago.

"You could be right... However if I was the wizarding governor of this country I would want my base of operations to be somewhat close to any sorts of 'threats' and be in the hub of the country. Minsk is not only Belarus' capital but its also located close to the sight where the giants reside. With such beasts that can destroy cities in mere moments with their destructive strength residing in your country, you'd want to be close enough to them in the event of a disaster".

Many questions began to fill Oz's mind about Belarus' wizarding community. Maybe he was overthinking it however it felt as though to him it was almost 'too hidden'. If he recalled correct, within the Harry Potter canon the only main mention of Minsk was fully in relation to Hagrid and him trying to connect with the giants here. There was also a disagreement with a Vampire apparently within Minsk when Hagrid and Madam Maxie from Beaubaxtons travelled back here again to attempt to gain a connection with the giants.

'Vampires hmm... I wonder what they are like...'.

Oz decided at this point to push all his doubts and questions to the back of his mind. The moon in the sky was now starting to set and dawn was well on its way around.

"Well... It's not like the government here is a target for me or something. Was only plain curiosity. We got the main information we need now anyway".

Turning to Alfreda, Oz locked eyes with the elf and gave a light smile.

"Before dawn breaks we need to make a move out of Minsk and head directly for Usad'ba Grebnitskikh. As the death eater said, north of there should be a ward in which resides the giants community. We will have to remain cautious though as it seems these giants are a prideful lot...".

Alfreda nodded at her masters words as she followed him out of the trees in Victory park. By the time dawn had broke on the city of Minsk, both Oz and Alfreda had vanished from the city leaving no trace behind.

.

The sun rose on another day for Oz and Alfreda as the two were travelling through the skies via Oz's dragon form towards Usad'ba Grebnitskikh. Oz kept his eyes trained on the land beneath him as he flew through the air. As he glided through the sky he felt a level of comfort nowadays, something that wasn't present before his trip to Romania.

'Meeting Arauthator, that whole journey up the mountain, its helped me in more ways than one... If I was to stay in Hogwarts like originally planned for a lad my age I probably would have never reached this state or at the very least it would have taken decades to finally get comfortable with this blood within me...'.

Oz admits to himself deep down that there's some worry over how the canon story isn't 'within his view' anymore and thats in more ways than one. Its a lingering thought that looms over him constantly. His presence in the world changed the tides of fate for everyone and that advantage he had at the very beginning was now completely lost, he couldn't predict anything that would happen now. All he could do was use the knowledge of the original 'timeline' to infer whose doing what and what 'could' happen next. Travelling out into the wizarding world like this however led to situations he could never have predicted in a million years within the Harry Potter world. Arauthator was one example, a mythical dragon the size of a small mountain residing at the peak of the Carpathian mountains. Ever since Oz met Arauthator, he felt excitement towards what could be hidden within this vast world.

'If mythical beasts do reside in this world hidden I wonder what else is truly out there... Could certain mythologies also end up being-'.

Oz's train of thought was abruptly halted as he heard Alfreda call out.

"Master look below! We've reached Usad'ba Grebnitskikh".

Moving his purple eyes down Oz could see beneath him Usad'ba Grebnitskikh. Usad'ba Grebnitskikh itself was ruined building that seemed to have foundations dating back years ago. Oz didn't know the history of such a place, however such sights always intrigued him.

Oz zoomed down from the skies and landed in an area that was clear of people and out of sight. Oz transformed himself back into his human form and placed his cloak back on. Alfreda hopped off his back before he transformed and stared at her master with expectant eyes, waiting for his word on what they planned to do next. Oz took a look around at the surroundings, a seemingly tucked away location, rivers flowing here and there and green fields expanding out. In front of him he looked at Usad'ba Grebnitskikh.

"Before we head towards the giants Alfreda lets take a look at this place...".

Oz slowly started walking ahead with his eyes trained on Usad'ba Grebnitskikh. Alfreda followed after him with a light smile, bemused by her masters curiosity that to her seemed endearing. As Oz approached the ruined building he looked at its remnants with a melancholic look.

'I wonder how long this place has stood here...'.

A pang suddenly invaded Oz's chest as he got close to the building, reflectively he activated his eyes and peered at the building.

'Residue magic? It feels... old as well...'.

Alfreda caught her masters expression that seemed to suddenly morph and stared at him with curiosity.

"What's the matter master?".

Oz turned to Alfreda and started to explain.

"For some reason as I approached Usad'ba Grebnitskikh I felt the urge to activate my eyes... As I did I could see remnants of old magic here. It's not of the ancient kind though, nothing like Merlin's magic or anything like that. It's just simply old...".

Oz's curiosity to this place grew as he took a step back and looked at the building once more. He started mentally kicking himself for not looking into what Usad'ba Grebnitskikh was before coming here. Maybe if he knew its history he might have been able to get an idea on what could have happened here.

Whilst Oz was stuck in his mind Alfreda seemingly started to survey the building herself. Walking around the building she looked at it in wonder, especially now that her master had mentioned the lingering old magic here. As she came around to the front of the building she spotted a plaque placed in front of the building written in Belarusian.

"Master, come look at this".

Alfreda called out to Oz who snapped out of his daze when he heard her call out. Walking over next to her he looked down at the plaque that seemed to be explaining the history of this place. Oz stared at the plaque for a while as he searched in his mind for the translations. He also took out the book he had gotten from the bookstore to double check here and there just to make sure he was right.

"This place certainly has a lot of history involved with it... The magic however is probably from around the time of the second world war...".

"Second world war?".

"Yes... Thinking about it now It's a wonder why I never thought about wizard involvement in the war. Muggle governments have links to the wizarding world after all. Although if im not mistaken Grindelwald's global wizarding war would have also been taking place at the same time...".

Oz thinking on these points turned around from the plaque and looked behind him seeing a memorial area. As he looked at the memorial he took himself slowly towards it and paid his respects. Alfreda seeing her master do this followed suit as well. Oz might be cold sometimes, might even be brutal yet the one thing he respected the most in this world was death. Death led him to a new path and gave him this life, if he shunned death or was scared of death now he would see himself as a fool.

"I think we've dawdled long enough on this little 'side quest' of ours Alfreda... Let's start making our way to where the giants should be".

Looking north of Usad'ba Grebnitskikh Oz could barely see a dense forest in the distance, He placed his bets that location was going to be where the giants were. He started to depart from Usad'ba Grebnitskikh alongside Alfreda. Leaving the place with history to bask in the morning sun...

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A/N - Im still on hiatus, the last couple months have been busy for me IRL. This break however has allowed me to organise my mind on what to do next and what sort of novel I want this to end up being. My main worry with Harry Potter fanfiction is that its hard to expand upon, however THIS chapter has certain elements that may hint on a direction I may head later on down the line after we get passed the canon story.

Enjoy this chapter, another may be released in the month for Christmas as well. In January however is when I plan to hopefully return fully and release a chapter or two a week again. Happy holidays all :)