If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
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125 AC, Dragonstone
Harry Potter stood on the beach with an uncharacteristically morose look on his face. He watched the waves move in the distance, knowing that it was time. It was time for him and Daphne to leave this place, and he couldn't help but feel slightly sad about it.
He found that he would miss this realm, despite the fact that it held many, many undesirable things. It had been a surprisingly interesting journey, all things considered, much more than he had expected when they came to this place. The sheer history that was laid within this single world had been a joy to discover, though he would have loved to see more interesting forms of magic instead of it being mostly the result of some kind of divine interference.
At least things had gotten more interesting on that front. The new framework that he set regarding the divine's involvement in the affairs of the world was finally showing some use, and surprisingly, it was the Seven Who Are One that had gotten it first, relying on faith and dreams to somewhat help them cast magic.
Sure, so far, very few people seemed to realise what they were doing: the faint enhancement in strength when they prayed to the warrior, the increase in quality of their products when they prayed to the smith and so on… This could be refined, of course, into a proper system for casting faith-based magic, but that would likely take decades, maybe even centuries, to get it right. However, this seemed like a great start.
Magic was also spreading across the World and becoming less chaotic every year, enough that eventually, it could lead to a structured form of magic to be thought up, though how long and how extensive this magical system would depend on many factors; but Harry was optimistic.
A voice spoke up behind him, "I was wondering where you'd run off to earlier."
Ah, yes, he had practically run away to White Harbour because he felt little Donella Manderly's gaze on him. It was honestly the realisation that he couldn't teach her, that he would not have the time to do so, that finally reminded him that they would soon leave this realm.
He smiled gently at his wife, "Just a little situation in White Harbour with a girl using her magic."
Daphne's smile turned understanding. "Ah, I suppose that would do it."
He raised an eyebrow at that, "That would do what?"
"A little girl with magic that you won't be able to personally teach her to control it… It would certainly tug on your heartstrings, wouldn't it?"
"It would not," Harry protested vehemently.
Daphne snorted, "Helaena Targaryen would beg to differ."
He pouted at that but did not refute her words. After all, he could hardly do that, couldn't he? Though she had grown into a formidable woman, Harry had helped Helaena because he saw a young girl being hurt by her own magic.
Currently, Helaena was all but running most of the Seven Kingdoms, keeping it together while ensuring that no opportunistic lord would try to destroy the peace that they had worked quite hard to achieve. Honestly, Harry marvelled at the fact that stopping House Targaryen from plunging the Seven Kingdoms into a civil war had been harder than fighting the Gods and Demons that he encountered in Planetos.
There was Viserys's blindness whenever it came to Rhaenyra's actions, which needed her to kill the Queen's father and try to kill her own half-sister for it to finally register. There was also Daemon, constantly finding a way that genuinely surprised Harry to bring it all down, enough that the sorcerer gave up entirely and just tricked him into a vow, and that was barely the tip of the iceberg. Honestly, he wished Helaena good luck, because making sure that this family wouldn't self-destruct would be the work of a lifetime.
He would miss her, as he would Rhaena, Baela, and even Cregan. He couldn't help but feel a measure of pride as he thought about them, for in the last couple of years, they had shown him that they were growing to be remarkable people.
Daphne must have seen through his thoughts, given that she changed the subject quickly, "What was the magic, by the way?"
"Greensight," Harry answered, making his wife's eyes widen in shock at it.
Harry didn't blame her for her shock. Greenseers were something of wild cards, and honestly, neither of them really took the time to study their magic, and whether it would even appear, given what he had done to the Old Gods and the network of Weirwoods that spanned the continent, that's without counting the ones that they planted across the world. He even had some doubt that someone would be able to navigate the Weirwood network without going insane, even a potential Greenseer.
And yet, little Donella Manderly had done just that. The Weirwood network seemed almost at ease with her there, enough that she had gotten lost and did not know how to return to her body, and that allowed Harry to see just how she was able to do that. Her soul was simply… different. It was subtle, but it was like it existed in a different frequency, enough that she did not sink into the mesh of scattered consciousness that made up the Old Gods, and instead floated atop it, navigating it to find what she wanted.
Daphne released an interested hum, "A Greenseer. How surprising. No wonder you're pouting about not teaching her." Before Harry could protest that completely inaccurate description of his manly brooding, Daphne continued, "I'm guessing that you arranged for Helaena to mentor her instead?"
He nodded, "I have. But she'll be an advisor to Cregan after she's fully trained."
Daphne gave him a teasing look, "And you said that you hated politics…"
Harry sent a small stinging hex at her, which she casually redirected. Daphne wasn't wrong, though. Having a Greenseer helping out the Starks would help combat the influence of Helaena's little order in the long run. He trusted Helaena, of course, but things changed over the generations, and a rivalry between powerful seers would keep things relatively stable over the years.
Ideally, he would have taught Donella himself, instead of relying on Helaena, if only to keep things separate. Unfortunately, he would not get to see how things unfold himself, though he trusted Helaena to do what was best. He had sent her a message through a Patronus and knew that she would honour his wishes.
Daphne then gently put her hand on his shoulder, "It's alright to feel sad, Harry."
"I know," he said, "We've already spent more time here than we planned before."
And wasn't that the truth? They had mostly come to this realm on a whim, on the off chance that it might have something that could help them get rid of Daphne's curse, which it did. Harry had planned on showing his wife the Weirwoods, maybe going to see interesting things, and just leaving when they were done. But things had gotten… complicated, and they had both gotten attached.
Daphne shook her head, "This was three years of our life, Harry. Three years where you carefully ensured that this realm would have a chance at a prosperous future. It's alright to be sad because you won't see that future with your own eyes. I don't like to say it much to avoid you getting a big head, but even for you, what you managed to turn this realm into, what it will turn into, is impressive."
His wife's words held a nugget of truth in them. He had invested a lot of himself in this world, maybe a lot more than he probably should have. He had fun slowly making sure that Planetos would put itself back together in a semblance of what a material realm should be like. The interactions with the gods, even the possibility of turning forgotten languages into full magical runes, which was promising, though it would take a historian to figure things out…
A part of him wanted to see it all happen, see his work flourish before his eyes. It was like creating the plans of a great building, a masterpiece, but never seeing it being built. Well, divination allowed him to see it, but that was like seeing a simulation, and not the real thing.
Still, he looked away from his wife's knowing gaze, who had seen straight through him, and smiled warmly, "It is impressive, isn't it?"
Daphne rolled her eyes at that, "I said not to get a big head, and let's not talk about the ridiculousness of you hiding little trinkets in old tombs for no other reason than to amuse yourself."
Well, his wife spoke of a little guilty pleasure of his that he indulged in sometimes when they went to some abandoned ruins across Westeros. While most of these ruins were interesting from a historical viewpoint, they rarely held anything that was really valuable, at least for Westerosi people. And so, he might have hidden a few piles of gold, jewellery, basic enchanted artefacts, and even a few relics and knowledge 'lost to time'.
While most of it was meant as a way to discreetly help improve the technological and magical development of the people of Westeros, like the recipe of Roman concrete that would be found in the tomb of the First King near Barrowton, and the recipe for glass in what was left of Moat Cailin. There were a few enchanted rings that he purposefully made with the runes of the First Men and Old Valyrian, though the latter he left in an Essosi ruin, for it to be more believable. This should progress the use of runes later, though by Harry's divination, he knew that they would likely not figure them out for a few centuries at the least.
However, the main reason he did it, that his wife obviously knew, was that the existence of treasures meant that the profession of 'Tomb Raiding' and 'Archaeology' would be greatly sought after in the future, since they could easily guarantee finding certain treasures of some sort, while also needing to solve a few puzzles, involving the history of each location, to find it.
No, Harry would not be ashamed of having a hobby. He might have gotten a bit bored in the last few years…
Harry blushed at that, "Hey, that was not ridiculous. These things will help a lot of people."
"I'm sure that this was the reason why you did it," Daphne retorted with obvious sarcasm in her tone, which then softened, "I am sure that we can delay leaving, if you want. If only to say goodbye."
Harry shook his head, especially as Daphne instinctively put one of her hands protectively on her belly, "No, I will not risk it. It is better for our daughter to grow in our home, where she would develop magic as we had. Besides… You were right; it's time."
Truthfully, they had planned to leave for some time, but kept pushing it back. It wasn't until Daphne had gotten pregnant that it became a pressing issue. They had been trying for three entire years, to no avail. Even with the curse gone, it seemed like a far-off possibility. They had expected this… somewhat. Harry had modified the ritual on a whim, since he didn't technically kill R'hllor when they performed the ritual, even if he used most of the god's power.
They hadn't really minded then, since the curse had been dispelled and if they were truly desperate, there were ways to guarantee pregnancy. Daphne had refused, wishing to do it naturally, since apparently, she learned during his time as a healer that these methods could negatively impact the child's magic… somehow. At least, certain studies showed it. Harry wasn't sure, but he was also not the one who studied for years as a healer. It was also more fun to have a child the natural way, so he didn't feel like contradicting his wife on the matter.
And yet, now, Daphne was pregnant. It had only been a few days, but his wife was monitoring their child very carefully, already having found out its gender: a girl. Harry was sure she would be beautiful, but the most concerning part was that eventually, she would begin to absorb some of the ambient magic, and that accelerated their plans on leaving; they didn't want to risk any of the magic from Planetos affecting that of their future child, since it could have some pretty unforeseen reactions.
Harry hadn't even had the time to freak out about the fact that he was going to be a father, focusing on making sure that he didn't forget anything before returning to Planetos.
But now, it seemed that he was done.
His wife, obviously happy with his answer, gave him a quick kiss before grabbing his arm and walking alongside him back towards the manse. It was almost empty now, a sight that saddened him after spending three years in this place. He had put everything he needed inside his subspace in the morning, before being distracted by the whole White Harbour affair.
And now, this was it…
This would officially be the end of it.
Harry raised his hand, conjuring a glowing magical circle, which made everything start to shift. The manse's interior began to shrink down, with everything being absorbed into the magical circle itself, even the very colours of the walls, all up until there was nothing more than a single room with a large round table in the middle, and two portraits hung on the walls.
The magic circle was then condensed into a tome in his hand, and he smirked as he saw the inscription on its cover. 'A Song of Ice and Fire by Harry Potter'.
He grabbed the book and put it on the table, letting it dissolve into golden motes of light, which were swallowed by the portraits, giving them authority over the manse, its wards, and its contents.
His wife shook her head, "I can't believe you made this place a copy of the Room of Requirements."
Truthfully, it was a project that Harry worked on out of boredom more than anything. He had what was equivalent to a nuclear reactor in the Dragonmont in the form of the Elder Dragon egg and thought of the most ridiculous way to use the excess energy being generated by it, which was to copy his favourite room in all of Hogwarts.
The trickiest part was to make sure that the Elder Dragon's energies were filtered so that none of the dragon's will could influence the manse in any way. It had taken him months to dissect the Elder Dragons' magic enough to do it, and he already had so many ideas to explore from what he found out about that alone.
Harry simply gave his wife a smile, looked at his surroundings, and whispered, mostly to himself, "I will never forget this place, not one bit. But Time is a funny thing, isn't it? I always thought that every second is a silent goodbye, and yet, this one feels…"
He did not finish his thoughts as multiple roars shook the manse. He turned towards Daphne, only to see her give him a comforting smile and look up. It was only then that he realised that the roof had become transparent, and he could see the sky.
It was then that he saw them, dragons flying in the sky in circles. He recognised them all: Dreamfyre, Solarys, Moondancer, and even Caraxes, Vhagar, Sunfyre, and Vermithor, all of whom were ridden by their Targaryens. He also saw the silhouette of a large glowing Direwolf, joining them in the air, almost like a giant dance.
He turned towards his wife, who said, "When they knew that we were leaving, they all wanted to say their goodbyes. As you once said to me, this song is ending, but the story never ends."
Harry smiled at her and simply said, "I love you, Daph."
With that done, any hesitation he had towards leaving morphed into determination before speaking out, "I'm ready."
Without further ado, Harry Potter raised his hand, conjured his scythe, and with a slice, cut through the very fabric of the world. He grabbed his wife's hand, and they finally stepped through, the portal closing behind them, marking the end of the tale of the Sorcerer of Dragonstone, though his impact on Planetos would persist for a very long time.
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AN: Well, this is it, the Epilogue for this story. It's hard to think that this story is one that I began almost a year ago, and over 600k words. It was honestly a joy to explore Planetos and different interpretations of its lore, even if I have a lot of notes that I ended up not doing.
Admittedly, there is also a lot that I would have done differently in hindsight, and a lot of decisions that I do regret. The story did drag out a bit, and a part of me thinks that it would have been better for me to have just killed R'hllor and ended the story there. I think that it would have felt less forced compared to what I ended up doing, but I just hate the idea of leaving things unfinished, and I guess that included loose threads.
Anyway, with this story finished, I've already started on the sequel (Melodies of the Force). The first two chapters have been uploaded, so you can check them out if you want. I'm also planning on sticking with the same upload schedule as this story.
This has been a wonderful journey, and I hope that you will like what is coming. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.