927Severus pinned the man harshly to the tree, out of sight of the ice cream stand and possible witnesses. The man gasped; his breath knocked out of him. Severus didn't give him a chance to react. He leaned in close, his face inches from the short and scrawny man's, his voice a menacing whisper.
"You!" Severus hissed, his eyes glinting dangerously. "You've been following us all day. Care to explain why?"
"I haven't been following you," the man spat. "You're paranoid."
"Well, Mr. Alarie," Severus smirked, "it would seem given your history, that it would be highly coincidental that you were not following us around, and just happened to be at the same locations my son and I visited at the same time."
Alarie's eyes flickered down to the short beard he sported, a telltale sign of guilt.
"I . . . I'm on holiday. I have as much right to be here as you do."
"Indeed," Severus agreed, his voice dangerously smooth. "A holiday. A magical cruise, no less. How lucky you. Now, let's dispense with the pleasantries. Who bought your ticket, Alarie?"
Alarie's face flushed crimson.
"I don't have to tell you anything. I'm not breaking any laws."
"Oh, but you are," Severus said, his voice dropping to a near-growl. "You see, while squibs are permitted on these cruises, the rules are quite clear. Tickets must be purchased by a witch or wizard. So, again, Alarie, who bought your ticket?"
Alarie's jaw tightened. "A friend."
Severus's eyes narrowed. Fine, two could play at that game.
"A 'friend.' How very convenient." Severus shoved his arm into the man's neck more, and Alarie tried to inch back from the pressure but found himself unable to with the tree behind him. "I find that difficult to believe. Especially given your history with my son." He paused, letting the implication hang in the air. "You have made it abundantly clear, Alarie, that you harbor a particular resentment towards those with magical abilities. A resentment that, I recall, you expressed in rather unpleasant ways towards Harry."
Alarie's gaze darted around, but there was no escape.
"That's in the past," Alarie said with a placating smile. "I am moving on from all that."
"Is it?" Severus's voice was ice. "Because it appears the past has a habit of repeating itself when you're around my son. I'm going to give you one very clear warning, Mr. Alarie. Stay away from Harry. Stay away from me. I will be keeping an eye out for you. Every moment. If I so much as see you within viewing distance of him again, I will personally ensure you find yourself swimming with the sharks. And I assure you, it will be made to look like a most unfortunate accident."
He released Alarie with a rough shove, sending him stumbling back against the tree. Without another word, Severus turned and strode towards the ice cream stand, where Harry was waiting.
Harry, holding two cones, looked up with a grin.
"There you are. I got you . . ." Harry blinked at the dark colored ice cream he was holding up to his father. "Licorice, I think. With chocolate sprinkles!"
Severus raised a skeptical eyebrow as he took the ice cream cone.
"Licorice and chocolate sprinkles?"
"It's exotic!" Harry defended, holding his own chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles and chocolate syrup up to his face. "Thought you might like a bit of adventure."
Severus smirked, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Indeed. A most adventurous flavor." He glanced back towards the tree, his eyes hard. "Perhaps a bit too much adventure for one day."
"What do you mean?" Harry frowned at his father as he took a big lick of his ice cream, getting chocolate all over his face.
"I mean your own cone," Severus said, tilting his head at Harry's dripping ice cream. "You've got enough chocolate on there to induce a sugar-induced coma in a dragon. I daresay, that's quite adventurous enough for anyone."
"Look!" Harry pointed down at his rabbit, who was nibbling on a cone herself. "There was even ice cream for Miss Trifle. Except, it's not real ice cream. Some kind of coconut, raspberry plant ball thing on a cone of some sort. It sounded cool, so I got one for her. She loves it."
"That's the last time I give you my wallet for treats," Severus said as Harry handed it back to him.
"Dad, your ice cream is melting."
Severus sighed as he licked around the ice cream daringly, allowing the taste to linger on his tongue for a moment as he judged it. It was sweet and a distinct herbal flavor with a mild licorice after taste, and the chocolate sprinkles added an extra layer of texture and semi-sweetness. He shrugged and gave it another lick.
"Not bad," he said.
"You like it?" Harry made a face.
"I don't mind licorice," Severus said. He quirked a brow at his son. "Were you hoping I wouldn't like it? As some kind of joke, perhaps?"
"Maybe a little," Harry said holding two fingers close together. He took another messy lick of his own ice cream, succeeding in getting more chocolate everywhere. Severus snorted and decided he'd wait until Harry was finished before he tackled cleaning the child's face up. Despite the small run in with an unwanted familiar face, he had truly enjoyed his time spent with his son.
The soft clatter of chips and the murmur of other gamblers filled the air of the cruise ship's casino, but Harry and Severus were lost in their own little world. Harry, perched on a stool beside his father, held his cards with an intense focus that belied his eight years. Severus, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes, watched his son's brow furrow in concentration.
"Hit me," Harry declared, pushing his cards forward.
Severus dealt him a card, a ten of clubs. Harry's eyes widened.
"Twenty-one! Blackjack!" He beamed, scooping up his winnings with a triumphant grin.
Severus raised an eyebrow, a flicker of a smile playing on his lips.
"Indeed, you seem to have a rather fortuitous hand. Perhaps you've been cheating me, hmm? You're not hiding any cards, are you?"
Harry giggled, stacking his chips.
"Maybe I'm just better at this than you are."
"A bold claim," Severus retorted, dealing the next round. "Let's see if your luck holds."
The game continued, with Harry winning a few more hands, much to Severus's mock chagrin. Harry's excitement was infectious, his laughter echoing softly in the casino.
"Another win!" Harry exclaimed, pulling the chips towards himself. "You're losing. Badly."
"I'm allowing you to win," Severus said dryly. "It builds character."
"Uh-huh," Harry said, rolling his eyes playfully. "Pay up, Dad!"
Severus sighed dramatically, pushing a stack of chips towards Harry.
"Very well. It seems I'm at the mercy of a card shark in training. Perhaps I should just concede defeat and let you take my entire fortune."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Harry said, grinning. "I like playing with you too much."
Severus's expression softened.
"That," he said quietly, "is worth far more than any number of chips."
Harry beamed, his green eyes sparkling.
"Deal me in, again," Harry said after he arranged his chips. "I'm feeling lucky."
"And I'm feeling," Severus said, glancing at his watch, "like it's time for bed."
"Aww," Harry pouted.
"Come now," Severus said, gathering the chips and cards. "Even the luckiest of card sharks need their rest. We can continue our game another night." He stood, offering his hand. "Besides, I believe I require a rematch to restore my . . . dignity."
Harry took his hand, a small smile returning to his face.
"Okay, Dad. But next time, I'm winning for sure!"
"We shall see," Severus said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips as they walked towards the exit.
""Attention passengers," the captain spoke over the loudspeaker, "We have arrived at Veridian Isle, the oldest known wizard and witch only settlement. Please be mindful of the local flora and fauna and remember to return to the ship by sunset."
The island was covered in a dense forest, the trees twisted and gnarled, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. Severus and Harry stepped off the dock and onto the jungle floor, the air thick with the scent of salt and damp earth.
"Wow!" Harry said, looking around the landscape as he and is father followed a crowd walking along a trodden path.
"Harry, look down," Severus said.
Harry looked down at the ground they were walking on, and he gasped as he saw fossilized prints beneath him. They almost looked like hands, though the fingers were very long. Each print, both hand and foot it seemed, had four fingers and an opposable thumb. Harry marveled at what kind of creature could have such large paws. Miss Trifle was able to sit in one comfortably as she paused to groom her face. The group he and his father were walking with were following the tracks through the thick jungle as there was no actual path on the ground.
As they ventured deeper into the island, they stumbled upon a clearing, where a cluster of abandoned houses stood, their windows dark and empty. The houses were built of stone and wood, their roofs covered in moss and lichen. In the center of the clearing stood a large, imposing building, its facade crumbling and overgrown with weeds. The windows were boarded up, and the door hung open, revealing a dark, cavernous interior.
Each building had a plaque standing in front of it that offered details on what each building was used for. Many of the houses were self-explanatory, though each house had a unique fact about it listed on the plaque, such as what activity sometimes still activated due to ancient charms, like the lighting of a torch at night, or if there may be a ghost present and what their name and history was. The large building in the center was revealed to be a school.
"It's a school?" Harry asked as his father read from the plaque. "Can we go inside? Please?"
"Most of these buildings have security and structure enforcement charms on them," Severus said, "so yes. We may check out the inside."
"Yes!" Harry said excitedly before he led the way inside.
The interior did not offer a lot, as it was simply a large empty room with some stone tablets that had an ancient language carved into them. Some tablets had runes carved in them, and Severus took a moment to study them, pulling out his journal to draw what he saw for later analysis. Harry took his time to check out the ratty, old blankets covered in mud and dust that lay on the floor, and he imagined that the children of the past would sit on those blankets while the teacher taught them from somewhere in the front of the room. There were old wooden pots gathered in a corner of the room, and he picked one up, studying the dried remnants on the inside.
"Dad, look at this," Harry said, carrying the pot over to his father.
Severus looked away from the table and down at his son, who was holding a pot up to him. He could see some left-over residue of some kind of potion in the pot.
"They had potions class too," Harry said.
"So they did," Severus agreed. "It's an ancient art."
"What do you think this was?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, Harry," he said, shaking his head at the pot. "It's quite fossilized."
Severus took the pot from Harry and wafted any scents that might exist toward his nose. He didn't really expect to get any smell from it, but he actually did pick up a strong peppermint smell. He raised his brows as he turned the pot every which way, then glanced into the pot, examining the near clay-like remains.
"It seems like this may have been a very early version of Pepper-up," Severus said. "How peculiar."
Harry beamed as his father handed him the pot back. He knew his father would be able to figure out any potion, even one that had been fossilized. His father was just that smart. He couldn't wait to be as smart as his dad one day. He sniffed the pot in the same manner Severus had so he could pick up the peppermint smell.
Meanwhile, Miss Trifle was sniffing at various tools in the back of the room. She tilted her head at the tools, then thumped her foot repeatedly until Harry came over to check out what she had found.
"What is it, girl?" Harry asked. He looked at all the different tools lined up in a row against the wall. Some looked like spears if the sharp points were anything to go by, others were bows with arrows, and some looked like knives, while others just looked like sticks. Harry found a plaque on the wall that started with large words that read: Do Not Touch or Move (A Charm will Stun You).
Here lie what appear to be ancient tools, remnants of a bygone era on Veridian Isle. However, upon closer examination, these are revealed to be the very wands of the settlement's earliest inhabitants. Before the standardized wand woods and cores we recognize today, early wizards and witches of Veridian Isle imbued everyday objects with magical intent. These tools, crafted from local woods and infused with the island's unique magical energy, served as extensions of their will. These wands demonstrate a time when magic was more intimately tied to the natural world. Each tool, from the bone-handled trowel to the intricately carved weaving spindle, holds a story of the wizard or witch who wielded it, their craft, and their connection to this ancient settlement. These wands may still retain residual magical energy that is unpredictable and dangerous. Please refrain from attempting to handle these ancient relics.
"Whoa," Harry breathed out. "This is so brilliant! Dad, did you see this?"
Severus walked over to where Harry was standing, and he pocketed his journal and quill before reading the plaque, then looking down at the items leaned against the wall.
"Very impressive," Severus said. "You learn something new every day, isn't that right, son?"
Harry was very tempted to touch one of the relics, but as the plaque had warned him that he would be stunned if he did, he refrained from touching.
After exploring the school a bit more, Harry and Severus checked out the different houses. One house still had an active charm of a sweeping broom, a twig with several feathers attached, and it dutifully began sweeping the house when Severus and Harry entered it to check it out. It did not last very long, but it had managed to clean the mud and leaf tracks that the previous tourists had tracked in. In another house, the ghost of an elder woman in fur clothing sat in a rocking chair, and she only smiled gently at Harry when he asked her a question before playing her flute softly. According to her plaque, she did not speak, even in her native tongue, and the only sounds she ever made was with her flute.
As they made their way through the jungle leading away from the settlement, they spotted large lemurs leaping through the trees. They stood nearly as tall as Harry, and they ate grapefruit size fruit that they yanked off the ground before they swung up into the trees. Their hands and feet looked a lot like the ones on the ground earlier, but far too small. Harry and Severus paused to watch a few lemurs munching on their snacks for a while before Harry's own stomach rumbled.
After a busy morning of exploring the settlement, Harry and Severus returned to the cruise ship for lunch, where they enjoyed fish and chips on the deck while Miss Trifle had a snack of cucumber. Once they were satisfied, Severus suggested they check out the museum.
"When did they make a museum here?" Harry asked, carrying Miss trifle as he followed his father back off the ship.
"Not long ago," Severus said. "Magi-archaeologists were only recently given permission to excavate, so the museum is still a bit sparce as more artifacts are recovered and pieces of history are put together."
The Museum was a small building perched on a hill overlooking the sea. Inside, they found a fascinating collection of fossils and artifacts. The centerpiece was a towering skeleton of a Veridian Isle Ground Sloth Lemur, its massive size dwarfing the surrounding exhibits.
"Dad, that's what made the tracks!" Harry said, running for the massive fossil.
"Harry, be careful in here," Severus warned, following his son.
Harry stopped at a rope that kept him from getting any closer to the fossil, and all he could do was look up at its massive size. The fossil was standing up on two legs, making it nearly twelve feet tall, but he imagined that if it walked like the lemurs he had seen outside, it would be about six feet tall at the shoulder. Bigger than the ponies back home. Severus came over to stand next to him, and he looked down at the plaque.
"Look at this picture," Severus said, tapping one of the few pictures on the plaque.
Harry leaned closer to see the pictures. They were paintings of what the creatures most likely looked like, and one was of just the creature alone, and another was of a witch riding the lemur, a saddle strapped around the beast's shoulders and the rider sitting on its back proudly, magical spear in hand.
"The Veridian Isle Ground Sloth Lemur," Severus read, "a domesticated lemur that played a crucial role in the advancement of this settlement, contributing to hunting, foraging, and defensive capabilities. Archaeological evidence indicates that Megatherium veridianus played a pivotal role in the socio-economic structure of the early Veridian Isle settlement. Domestication practices, initiated at a juvenile stage via imprinting, facilitated the utilization of these creatures for transport and labor. Upon reaching maturity, specimens were subjected to a process of controlled habituation, enabling them to bear riders and burdens.
"Specialized saddle designs, recovered from excavation sites, attest to the creature's widespread use. Megatherium veridianus maintained close proximity to the settlement, residing in extended familial groups. Dietary analysis reveals a primary dependence on the "mega fruit," a large, pear-shaped fruit that was systematically cultivated by the inhabitants of Veridian Isle. Seasonal harvesting of this fruit ensured a consistent food source for both the lemurs and the human population.
"The dominant predator within the Veridian Isle ecosystem was Avis terroris, the Sky Terror. This avian predator posed a dual threat, preying upon both the Megatherium veridianus and the human settlers, thereby exerting a significant influence on the settlement's survival strategies."
"Wow, they learned a lot about these creatures from just it's bones!" Harry said. "Oh, look, Dad, there's it's saddle!"
On display in a glass containment was a large saddle. It was all black in color, made of what looked like leather. It had runes carved into the sides, and long straps that would have wrapped around the large lemur.
"Can you imagine riding one of these?" Harry asked. "I want to."
"Too bad they are extinct," Severus said. He tapped the plaque, summarizing the rest of what he read. "Looks like a plague took out the village, then the lemurs began dying off. The Veridian Isle lemurs we saw earlier today are close descendants of the Ground Sloth Lemur. They, and the much smaller version of the mega fruit we saw them eating, is all that remains. Their predators now consist mostly of sea birds and other migratory birds of prey, but that mostly applies to the young."
"Do you think they have a Sky Terror fossil?"
"I don't know, Harry."
Harry looked around the room at the many other fossils on display, many different types of rodents and fossilized insects, along with stone paintings chiseled away from their original location. In one stone painting, Harry got an idea of how big this "mega fruit" was as several humans appeared to be circling a large pear-shaped object as if in some sort of ritual. The object stood twice as tall as all the stick figure humans, and a lemur sat nearby, and they were nearly even in height. Harry continued his search until he came across a skull and talon. The skull reminded him of an oversized eagle, especially with the hooked tip at the end, and the skull size was about half as big as he was tall! And then there were the talons. Those talons would have no problem grabbing him around the waist and taking off with him.
"The only evidence of the Sky Terror found to date," Severus read as he walked up to the display. "Hmm. Can you imagine a twenty-foot wingspan flying at you?"
"No," Harry answered honestly, picking up Miss Trifle just to be safe. There could always be one hiding around still. "Why haven't they found a complete fossil?"
"Birds have hollow bones," Severus said as he studied the skull of the bird. "From my understanding, those don't fossilize very well."
Severus looked down at his son.
"Anything else you want to see while we're in here?"
"Are there any more wands on display?" Harry asked. He was curious to see the many objects of the past that were also wands as well. He found the idea very fascinating.
Severus led the way to another room that had many other items on display: clothing, weapons, jewelry, stone tablets, everyday items, and a few more wands. One was a weaving spindle, and it had several intricate designs carved into it. Another was a stone-tipped hammer, and what really intrigued Harry were the cores that were used. Things like whisperwood sap, mega fruit pulp, or even lemur fur were used as wand cores.
Rarely, a Sky Terror feather was used, and they made for powerful wands, but obtaining such a feather was rare, and the wands that had them as cores were far and few. Such as this woven reed staff hanging on the wall that had three Sky Terror feathers within it and had belonged to a Chief Warlock. Like many of the other wands, it had several runes and designs carved into it, and small feathers of a seabird adorned the top of it. It was beautiful, and Harry imagined himself having one someday.
"Want one?" someone asked behind him.
Harry turned around, and Carwyn was standing behind him with a large staff of his own, very similar to the one hanging on the wall. Harry's eyes widened, and he nodded his head.
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked, pointing at the staff.
"Gift shop," Carwyn said, gesturing to the back of the museum.
"Of course they have a gift shop," Severus muttered under his breath as he watched Harry run after Carwyn in the direction of the gift shop. "What good would educational value be if you can't make money off it."
Despite it though, he ended up buying Harry his very own Chief Warlock staff, and Harry carried it everywhere with him for the rest of the day, even to dinner when they were back on the ship and in their formal robes for the night. Veridian Isle was slowly vanishing as the ship moved on to its next destination.
"Harry, please put that down," Severus said.
"I am practicing my wand movements," Harry argued as he swept the staff around every which way.
Severus reached over the table and took the staff from Harry, setting it against the wall behind him.
"Enough," Severus said firmly. "You can play with your staff later, but for the duration of dinner, let us focus on our meal and some polite conversation."
Harry pouted at his father, unhappy with the loss of his new toy. He sighed as he picked up his menu and held it up high so he could obscure Severus's face, however, as he glanced over the top of it, a figure standing in the corner of the dining hall caught his attention, and he frowned as he though the man looked awfully familiar, but the figure moved out of sight, disappearing like a shadow.
"What's wrong?" Severus asked, noting his son's look.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "I thought I saw someone staring at me."
Severus frowned, his gaze sweeping over the dining hall. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual mix of wizards and witches, many he had seen before as the dining hall had seating arrangements. His frown deepened before he allowed his face to go neutral as he turned back to face Harry.
"Well, if they were, they've moved on. Probably remembered it's impolite to stare. Have you picked what you wanted for dinner?"
"I want the mac and cheese," Harry said, pointing at the item on the menu.
"You had mac and cheese last night," Severus reminded his son, a bit of disbelief in his voice.
"It was good," Harry said.
"All this food they could make for you, and you want mac and cheese?"
"Yes," Harry said as he closed the menu.
Severus sighed as he returned to looking over the menu himself. Kids can be very simple sometimes. Unlike some adults who did not seem to get the message the first time.