An argument erupted between Harry and Neville the night before, when they tried to determine who would be the one to go with Noel and Jessica to the Capital. Neville, in his defense, said that he should be the one to go, since Harry had already risked himself enough during the Abeau's mansion fiasco. Harry retorted that defending the village was just as dangerous, and since they were both crap at warding, the one who had better chance to get the other two out of danger should it happened, should be the one accompanied them.

That went on for awhile before an irritated Remy banged on their door, reminding them that it was one in the morning, so they should shut the hell up and settle it quietly between themselves like adults.

No one was bothered enough to point out for Remy that he was, in fact, the loudest person in the building. Still, his interruption gave Harry and Neville some time to cool down. In the end, Neville relented and went to bed, but not before drilling Harry with the importance of fleeing the moment he was in over his head.

The following morning, after getting every remaining villager to Count Abeau's previous vacation house, it was finally time for Harry to set off. By this time, Neville was feeling a bit better at the situation. He was still ticked off by their argument the night before, but seeing that they had to ride a horse during the trip put him off a little. Neville was never good on a broom, and the one occasion where he rode a thestral could hardly be counted as proper experience for this sort of thing.

"Aw… crap…" Hearing the murmur, Neville turned to his side to see Harry's dejected face as he looked at the horses.

"I thought you would like this?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Was that a serious question?" Harry glared at him. "I'm good on a broom, or a hippogriff, or a thestral, but a horse is neither of those."

"I could have sworn that they are quite similar," Neville grinned.

"If they could somehow fly, then yes. I don't know, mate. I think this will be a pain in the arse."

"Literally?"

"Literally," Harry winced, but Neville knew that he would never back down. To his credit, the discomfort on his face vanished the moment he heard Noel's voice from behind.

"You ready to go?" Asked the young villager, who was wearing a hesitant smile. On his back was a pack of camping gear - folded tent, some torches, and a backpack of food..

"Your magic is amazing. All of this luggage and they don't weigh anything at all," Noel continued, patting the backpack.

"But will that be enough food for all three of us? We are spending a few days on the road after all," from behind him, Jessica asked.

"Don't worry about that," Harry waved her concern away. "As long as we have a food sample, I can always make more. Well… The taste might be a little off. I'm not that familiar with the spell, but it can be done. Besides, I don't think it's right to take too much food from the rest, given their situation…"

"You're right," Jessica sighed and cast a apologetic at the mansion behind her. Her enthusiasm soon returned as she turned back to the group. "So, we're going?"

"We are," Harry threw a glance at the horses. "Noel, please lead the way."

He and Noel then got up on their horses, and Neville was not surprised to see that Harry had little trouble climbing up his. It was the same way with the thestral back in their fifth year at Hogwarts.

"Umm… So, goodbye, Neville. And thank you for taking care of me," Jessica was the last one to go. She lingered behind and smiled at him. "I've already said goodbye to the other villagers…" She then paused and let out an awkward laugh. "It's strange, addressing a mage like that…"

"Not as strange as suddenly finding yourself in a completely different place one day, trust me," Neville smiled back. "It's good to meet you. Now take care, and don't let Harry rush into stupid things, please."

"I'll try my best," this time, it was a genuine laugh before she got on the last horse and joined Noel.

"Keep them safe, and send a patronus if you need help but can't get out of there, got it?" Neville turned back to his friend.

"Loud and clear," Harry did a mock salute and grinned, only to lose his balance and almost fell down as his horse chose that exact time to turn sideway. "I'll pick you up as soon as I can, so do your best on the wards, yeah?"

"I will," Neville nodded. After the two of them said goodbye, he stood there grinning at Harry's effort to stay balanced on horseback for a few minutes before turning around and walked back into the mansion. There was a lot of work to be done. The villagers were sorting out their sleeping arrangement, and their prisoners had been put away down at the basement, so he should just take a room and start working on the wards right away.

By the time Neville finished preparing the anchors for the most basic wards, it was already two in the afternoon, according to his watch, which meant he had spent over eight hours carving Runes on seven large smooth stones in front of him. Now all he had to do was to set them up around the house.

Technically, it would be better to have every ward he wanted on these stones before powering them up, but Neville decided not to do that. Instead, he would do each ward on a different set and set them up immediately. If by chance anything unexpected happen ahead of their 'schedule', it would be a disaster to have unpowered, unfinished ward stones, which were not any better than decorating rocks.

"Ouch… My arms hurts," Neville stood up and stretched his entire body. He had been sitting down and focusing on keeping his hands steady for way too long. This was one of the reason why he didn't want to go too deeply into this sort of thing back at Hogwarts. With small spaces and tiny houses, just remembering the charms and a lot of wand movements were enough to set up decent protections. A mansion of this size was a different story. Unless you were some sort of warding master, extending just the charms to cover the whole thing without any support from ward stones was ridiculous.

For someone at Harry and Neville's level, when they said that this mansion was within their ability to ward, it actually meant the limit of their skill, but as long as there was a shot, they would do it.

"Should get this done as soon as possible I guess," Neville said to himself before shrinking all seven stones, stuffing them into his pocket and walked out of the room that he and Harry were going to share. It was actually Abeau's old room. The villagers had insisted on them staying here.

The moment Neville opened the door, he was surprised to see Tania on the other side, with her fist raised like she was about to knock.

"Eh… Hi?" She was as surprised as he was, stumbling on her word when she saw his face suddenly appeared "You didn't show up for lunch, so I came to ask if you want any food. We aren't going to prepare supper until later, but if it's bread or something…"

"It's alright, I can wait. I need to set up the ward first anyway. Better to get it out of the way," Neville stopped her with a smile.

"Oh, It's done? I thought it was going to take much longer," Tania's eyes widened and sparkled with curiosity, not as much as Remy whenever he heard about a new piece of magic, but enough for the teacher persona in Neville to smile.

"It is not done, unfortunately. This is just the first set of many. Come on, let's talk while we walk."

Tania nodded and followed Neville out of the mansion and into the large courtyard that still remained almost untouched, except for one of seven large holes that Neville asked the villagers to dig up for him beforehand. After inspect it to make sure the size was perfect, he took one of the stones out of his robe, enlarging it before put it into the hole and filled the rest of the space with dirt.

"Is that it?" Tania blinked and frowned a little. "I was hoping it would be a little… fancier, maybe?"

"No, but I need to bury the rest of them before getting to the 'fancy' part," Neville laughed before casting a few protective spells over the spot. These were easy, and were used to drive the attention of other people away from it, as well as to reduce the damage the ground received in case of a lucky hit. Power-wise, the mages of this world were formidable with their elemental attacks. Neville had experienced that himself, and Harry's story only cemented the fact. He had no doubt that this kind of protection would only hold for so long. They should try to strengthen it whenever they could.

Once they had finished with the first spot, Neville led Tania to the second, which was by the main entrance. On his way, he couldn't help but notice that the mansion was emptier than it should be.

"Where is everyone, Tania?" He asked.

"Most of them are helping the elders to settle down, or resting themselves. Sorting out where seventy-six people are going to sleep was harder than we expected. Families with elders and children were given the nicer guest rooms, but it doesn't matter that much, really. Even the servants' rooms are more comfortable than what we had back home."

"But…?" Neville raised an eyebrow. He sensed a 'but' there.

Tania looked startled for a second before giving him a sad smile. "But it's not home. I find it difficult to rest, so I've been trying to find work to pass the time. And don't you dare say sorry."

She glared at him before the word could leave his mouth.

"Alright, I won't," Neville chuckled.

"Good," Tania nodded and her smile brightened up as they reached the second spot. She then stood back in silence as Neville repeated the necessary steps on the ward stone.

"That size changing spell is very handy," she commented when he finally look a step back and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "You can carry an entire house in your pocket like that."

"I guess, but we never do that back home, so the thought never occurred to me."

"But why? It's such a convenient thing," Tania couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"Because most wizarding houses have a fair number of enchantments on them, like the one I'm doing now," he gestured at the buried stone. "Some were literally help up by magic, or have the space inside expanded by magic. To circumvent all those spells just to shrink a house is too much work, especially when we have other alternatives when traveling."

The conversation then continued on as the two of them walked around the mansion, setting down ward stones as they went. When Neville finally got to the last one, he stood up and grinned at Tania.

"Here comes the fancy part. Well, not that fancy actually, but at least it's more than what we've been doing."

Tania smiled at him and urged him to go on. Neville then tapped his wand on the top of the seventh stone, which was still above ground, and started chanting. From the point where his wand touched, the Runes started to glow and a gentle red light flowed downward until it filled every letter. Almost immediately after that, they all pulsed once, twice, then thrice before a red beam shot up and spread into a dome covering the entire mansion. The light show ended as quickly as it came and everything returned to normal as Neville started the process of lowering the stone to the ground.

"It was amazing," behind him, Tania exclaimed.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"And I'm not the only one who did."

"What?" That answer caught Neville off guard as he turned around. Behind Tania, a distance away, were some of the children from Asburg. Apparently they were on an adventure to explore the yard and came upon the ward powering. It was an adorable sight with all of their eyes glued to the sky while their mouth hung open in awe. The first one amongst them to recover though, looked down and saw Neville looking at them. His eyes widened further in fear and he poked his friends before they all scurried away as fast as their little legs could carry them.

The sight made Neville's heart fell a little. "They are still afraid of me."

"They will warm up eventually," Tania put a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Their parents always tell the children that the mages are scary. They sent them to play elsewhere everytime a Noble came to our village so that they wouldn't accidentally do anything destructive. You're different though."

"I certainly hope so," Neville sighed. He was aware that Tania didn't remove her hand, but chose not to comment on it, while silently blaming Harry for making him conscious of such thing. "How about the adults? They accepted Harry and me awfully fast, didn't they?"

"You fought with some of them, and are now protecting their lives. I can't say that they aren't frightened by you two, but it's a start."

"It is," he nodded, not knowing what else to say. In his opinion, it seemed like the villagers were just putting up with the two of them because they had no alternative, but there was no way he was going to say that out loud to Tania. He then decided that it was time to get out of that awkward topic. "We're done here. You said that you are finding some work to do. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Oh, that, I almost forgot," Tania gasped. "That's something I want to ask you about, come."

Neville followed her as she pulled on his sleeve into the mansion, up the main staircase until they reached the roof of one of the two towers there. The moment Tania opened the door to let him in, he could tell right away what this place was used for. There were rows and rows of brown paper sacks lined up against the railing on one side of the roof. On the other side was some kind of wooden rack with little ceramic pots on it. If the sight alone wasn't obvious enough, then the smell of soil and fertilizer that invaded Neville's nostrils was a dead give away.

"Are you… planting something in here?" Neville asked, gesturing at the little pots.

"Yes," Tania nodded happily. "Last night I gathered everything from the house that I could bring with me. There were some seeds and herbs that could be planted, so I thought I would give it a try."

"But doesn't this kind of thing takes a long time to grow?" Neville frowned as he and Tania stepped closer to the rack to look at the plants. At this stage, there wasn't anything to see but dirt though. "I'm not saying that we're going to lose, but say, if we're forced to flee, or the mansion is not usable anymore, doesn't that mean all of this is going to waste?"

"That's why I didn't plant these down in the yard, but use pots instead," Tania wasn't fazed at his word. It looked like she already anticipated his response. "I was going to ask you if you can do something to make them easier to transport, maybe make them lighter like Harry did with Noel's luggage this morning? Or you can shrink them like those stone?"

Neville mulled her suggestion over in his head for a few seconds. "I'm not sure. Some of the plants will react poorly to magical transformation. We can certainly try though."

"Of course," Tania beamed up. "Actually, I've never planted some of these, since we could get them from the merchant. Do you think you can help me in your free time?"

"Me?" Neville blinked. "But I haven't even seen any of these before."

"But you have experience tending to plants. Besides, didn't you say that you want to learn more about them?"

"I did say that," Neville said slowly. He was taken aback, not so much by the request itself, but by Tania's manner, which seemed more forceful than how she usually acted in front of him. It made him slightly uneasy. But again, everyone had been on edge since Levett's plan was revealed. Maybe she was just under stress?

While he was thinking it over, Tania had taken his hesitation as a sign of rejection. The hopeful look in her eyes were replaced with disappointment as she looked down at her feet.

"It's okay if you don't want to," she said. Her voice so small that Neville almost missed it. "I was just being selfish. You're busy protecting everyone here and I just…"

"I think you're jumping to the wrong conclusion, Tania," Neville sighed and cut her off, stopping the misunderstanding from going any further. "I've never said that I wasn't going to help."

"But you didn't accept either…" Tania's head snapped up at him, a surprised expression on her face.

"Just thinking about it. You haven't exactly let me and Harry help you with anything like this since we first met. Maybe a little chore here and there, but nothing more than that."

"Oh…" To Neville's surprise, her face once again went full blush, just like the time when he complimented her. "Did… Did I make you uncomfortable?"

Now that Neville thought about it, Harry had told him to ask her about that particular incident, but he'd never got the chance. At least this time she didn't run away.

"Not uncomfortable, more like I was puzzled, and a little concerned," he said, shaking his head.

"Concerned?" Tania blinked in confusion.

"Yes, with all the things that has been happening lately. Are you alright?" Neville looked around and transformed a leftover plank nearby into a wooden bench and sat down, before patting the seat next to him, asking Tania to do the same. She hesitated for a second, but finally walked over and sat down next to him. Neville was happy to note that she no longer flinch or shrink away when he used magic around her.

"No, not really," Tania shook her head. The blush had left her face, but not completely, since there were still two faint pink spots on her cheeks. "You're right. Things have been really hectic for the past few days. I'm a little lost, and worried. After that battle, everyone was saying how strong you were, Neville. And Harry broke through hundreds of animated armors and a Noble to bring Jessica to safety. You two are really amazing..."

"But you are worried that it won't be enough if the other Nobles gang up on us," said Neville. He could tell what she was thinking, since the same thought had been appearing on his mind over and over for the past few days.

"No! I mean…" Tania looked at him and was about to protest. However, the moment their eyes met, her words were caught in her throat. She tried to open her mouth again but nothing came out. In the end, she gave up and turned her gaze downward, before giving him a small nod.

"It's okay. Harry and I have thought of that possibility. We both agreed that fighting them head on in our current state is a stupid thing to do."

"Then what should we do?" She asked without looking up.

"We try to hide and avoid a battle altogether," said Neville. "Remember the circle that Harry drew for Jessica? We will try to do the same to this mansion. Once it's up, no one from outside can see or find this place without me or Harry as their guide. The downside is the same though, if anyone goes out, they won't be able to come back in on their own."

"I'm not sure if the others will like it. It's like a prison," Tania sighed. "Can you do something about it?"

"Maybe, but it will take time. Since we are trying to get everything up as quickly as possible, there's just no time for extra functionalities. Who knows, maybe Harry will be able to find us some help from the Capital, but I wouldn't put too much money on that bet."

"Me neither," Her shoulders shook slightly as she chuckled. "Sorry, I shouldn't complain too much. You're just trying to protect us, and Harry is helping my grandma. I'll talk to Remy, then we will try to convince the others."

"That would be a great help," Neville returned her smile. "In return, I'll help you with these plants. Maybe I should try to grow some of my own as well…"

"You will?" Once again, the curious sparkles returned to Tania's eyes.

"Sure, why not?" Neville shrugged. "I've told you that I'll give you some of my plants, and I need something else to do too. Do you want to start now? There's still another hour before you have to come back and prepare supper, right?"

Tania nodded and gave him a bright smile. Despite what he had told Harry, that sight still made Neville feel like a huge weight was just lifted off his chest.

"Say, how long do you think it will take them to reach the Capital?" He asked.

"Normally it would take around three days, but since Harry doesn't know how to ride a horse, it might take longer," said Tania.

Harry didn't know about it, but Tania was right. It took his party over four days to reach the Capital. When they rode through the gate, it was almost noon. The trip was uneventful for a change, for which Harry was thankful. Ever since he first arrived here, so many things had happened in succession, and almost none of them could be considered good. A few peaceful days to rest was exactly what he needed at the moment.

Besides, his butt and thighs were aching like crazy from spending too much time on horseback. He had tried the Cushioning Charm, but its helpfulness was short-lived. If only he had his Firebolt here, or honestly, at this point Harry would even be willing to use a Cleansweep, or an ancient Comet.

"Welcome to Tristania," Noel announced with a wide smile on his face. Over the course of their trip, he had opened up and was getting more familiar with Harry, to the point of calling him by his name without having to think about it. There were still some reservations between the two of them, but that was to be expected.

"Interesting…" Harry murmured. From his position on horseback, he had a good view of the scenery over the bustling crowd of people going on with their day. Even if Harry had been able to figure it out by himself, he was still a little disappointed to see that even at the Capital of a country, everything was closer to the medieval time than the modern era that he was used to.

Still, one didn't survive seven years at Hogwarts without learning to cope with the lack of some muggle necessities. Not to mention that Harry and Neville could perform magic freely in this world, so it wouldn't be much of a problem.

The group then continued to move into the city, this time with Jessica as their guide. Harry couldn't help but keep on glancing at the scenery around him when they passed by a marketplace. There were weapons and armors shops, then potion shop that sold all kind of weird ingredients that he hadn't seen before. There were also some mundane stores that sells meat and all kind of vegetables that looked surprisingly familiar to what they had back home. There were even bakeries and teahouses in the distance.

The city didn't look modern, but it sure wasn't lacking when it came to quality of life.

"Hurry up. This way. We're almost at my father's inn," said Jessica over the sounds of shopkeepers advertising their goods and housewives haggling for a better price. Harry couldn't help but smile at the excitement in her voice. When he first rescued her from Abeau's hand, she seemed a little withdraw from the trauma. Even before that, he had mistaken her to be a quiet, meek girl. Apparently that wasn't the case. Jessica's recovery was amazing, and her outgoing personality soon overpowered the bad memories of her abduction.

"Jessica, I've been wondering, but what's the name of that inn?" Noel asked.

"The Charming Fairies," said Jessica.

"The… What? That…" To Harry's surprise, Noel was a little startled at the answer. It didn't escape Jessica's notice as she turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. Nothing," Noel waved his hand frantically. "I'm just thinking that… Harry is going to enjoy it."

"Me? Why?" Harry frowned.

"You know what? I think he will," Jessica smirked after looking thoughtful for a second, which made him even more uneasy.

"Is there something I should know?" Harry asked warily. While he knew that these two weren't going to harm him, since they had had a lot of opportunities on the way here and didn't do anything, their behaviors right now were way too suspicious.

"We have a lot of cute girls," Jessica gave him a bright smile before her expression turned into that of horror. "Or do you not like them?"

"Well, I'm a healthy bloke so… Yes? I guess?" Harry blinked. He didn't need Legilimency to know that she was telling the truth, since this wasn't the first time Jessica talked about her home, but still… "But it's not why I'm here. I don't think there's time for me to indulge myself."

"You should loosen up a little," said Jessica. "At least for today. Try to befriend the girls and my father. They serve a lot of people everyday, and our customers aren't always tight-lipped, especially when alcohol was involved."

"That makes sense," Harry nodded. He hadn't considered that possibility. Maybe he could ask them some questions over lunch…

Since he hadn't had anything to eat since morning, Harry's stomach gave out a rumble at the thought of meal.

Harry was already walking funnily by the time they reached 'The Charming Fairies', but it didn't stop him from groaning in delight as the three of them climbed off their horses, earning him a couple of chuckle from Jessica and Noel.

After leading the horses into the stable on the side of the inn, Jessica led them back to the front, and without hesitation, pushed the door open and walked in, a big grin on her face as she spread her arms widely and announced.

"Dad! Girls! I'm back!"

"Jessica!"

"Jessica is back!"

"Someone gets the owner!"

That was all Harry managed to hear before Jessica, and subsequently, him and Noel, were swarmed by a platoon of squealing girls in revealing uniform - short dress accompanied by strapless, corset-like top that bared their shoulders and the upper part of their chest. After getting over his confusion, Harry had to concede that the girls here were cute, and this was a very welcoming sight. Next to him, Noel was having trouble placing his gaze, poor bloke.

Unfortunately, all good thing came to an end, and this particular pleasing scene was no exception. It wasn't just ended, but was dragged off into a corner and beaten viciously by what came next. From a room in the back, entered a man? Woman? Harry couldn't be sure until he heard Jessica's 'Dad!' shout. The two of them then embraced. It was supposed to be a heartwarming scene, but Harry couldn't bring himself to appreciate it for what it was.

He was still too shocked to register the fact that Jessica and her father had finished hugging, and were now looking at him and Noel. When he finally snapped out of it, it was too late. The owner of 'The Charming Fairy', who was donned in a short, purple tank top and a matching short that was way too short for his own good, walked over and pulled both of them into a crushing hug.

"Welcome to my inn, boys. Thank you so much for rescuing my daughter," he whispered, tear streaming down his face.

"You're welcome… Sir… I just happened…" Harry gasped, struggling for breath between his words. Next to him, Noel had gone completely rigid, as if he was trying to escape the situation by imagining that it was all a dream.

"None of this 'Sir' nonsense," the owner said in a voice that was in no way suited for his masculine body frame. "I'm Scarron, and here, everybody calls me 'mi mademoiselle'."

"Mi… mi mademoiselle?" Harry repeated. He understood that word, having been acquainted with Fleur Delacour for a long time. It did nothing to ease the horror inside him though.

"Yes, yes," Scarron nodded in satisfaction before releasing the two of them. "Won't you stay for lunch? I feel like thanking you with words alone isn't going to be enough."

"Of course," Harry gulped. Refusing now wouldn't be wise. He was so going to bring Neville here at the first chance he got.

Lucky for Harry, some customers came in and Scarron had to cut their welcome short. He hugged the two boys once more before directing them to a table near the bar and told them to wait. Soon, Harry and Noel were joined by Jessica and two other girls who sat down a little too close to them and began serving their drink.

Harry didn't mind the distraction though.

"So… enjoying our inn, Harry?" Jessica smirked after sitting down on the other side of the table.

"Yes, I guess. Even if the owner is a little… eccentric," Harry shrugged. "I can tell he's a good man."

"He is," Jessica nodded as she looked at the bar, where Scarron were serving the new guests' drinks. "Dad has been taking care of me in place of my mother after she passed away. He tries to fill both parent roles just by himself."

"And he's doing a good job," Noel said, finally able to take his gaze off of the girl next to him.

"He will be glad to hear that," Jessica chuckled. "Poor dad. I heard that he locked himself in his room for days after I was taken away by Count Abeau… Thanks, Harry, for bringing me out of there."

"Don't mention it," Harry shook his head. The conversation then continued with nonconsequential topics until their food was ready.

"So you're saying that you come from outside of Halkeginia?" Scarron asked Harry after they finished the main dishes, and the waitresses were bringing out the desserts.

"Yes, though exactly how to get back there, I'm not sure," Harry said. "I fiddled with something I shouldn't have, and got thrown here."

Hearing his answer, Jessica's eyebrows raised just a little bit, but she didn't say anything.

"Tricky business, eh? I will never understand how all those magic works," Scarron shook his head

"Even us practitioners have a hard time doing so," Harry laughed. "That asides, I have some business here in the capital, and may need some help."

"Anything for you, as long as it's within my power," Scarron nodded. "It's the least I can do to repay you."

"It's nothing drastic," Harry gave him an assuring smile. "I just want some information to make it easier to find my way around the city."

"That's easy, just tell me where you need to go, and I'll give you the direction, or Jessica can take you there."

"That would be great," he nodded. "Then can you tell me if someone in this city want to buy enchanted objects?"

"Most pawn shop will take anything you have. But what do you want to sell though? Some people will pay a higher price depends on what you're selling," said Scarron.

"Just some enchanted gold coins," Harry took out an Galleons from his pocket. "It's my country's money, but it has an enchantment that prevents any kind of physical tampering, so it can't be melt down, get bent, or chipped, that kind of thing."

Scarron took the Galleon and brought it closer for inspection. Jessica then took it from his hand, and just like that, the coin went one whole round around the table before returning to Harry's pocket.

"I know just the guy for this," Scarron frowned slightly. "He's a Noble, a regular here. Very interested in odd magic. He's not easy to meet though…"

"Then any other merchant is fine," Harry waved his hand. "I'm in need of some quick money."

"How about this," said Scarron as he leaned forward on the table. "I'll take it off your hand for five new golds. That amount should last you one week here. After I talked with the Noble, if he's willing to pay a higher price, I'll give you the rest. If it's lower, then I can take some money from the next time you sell it. You won't sell just one coin, right?"

"Of course not," Harry shook his head. "But are you sure it's okay?"

"It is," Scarron gave Harry a sweet smile that made him shudder. "I've already calculated my cut in this. Don't worry, you will still get a better profit than anywhere else."

"Well, in that case, we've got a deal," Harry shrugged and extended his hand. He fully intended to check out the price of the other shops on his own later though. During their meeting, he couldn't detect anything malicious or dishonest about the man(?) in front of him, but Harry didn't know him all that well either. It was better safe than sorry with the limited resources that they had.

On a site note, he should have expected Scarron's grip to almost turn his hand purple when it was grabbed. Trying his best not to let the grimace show on his face, Harry asked.

"Another thing, can Jessica give me a tour around the city later?"

"Sure," Jessica nodded after trading glance with her father. "We'll prepare a room for you to rest for now. Just call me when you're ready to go."

"That would be great," Harry smiled at her.

"You boys sure are lucky," said Scarron as he handed Harry five gold coins after taking his Galleon. "It's rumored that the Princess will have a shopping trip around town tomorrow. It's not easy to get to look at her, you know."

Harry and Noel just looked at each other with their widened eyes. Scarron was right. They certainly were very lucky.

It was finally time to pick Neville up and bring him up to speed. They needed to plan.

Princess Henrietta hadn't been in a good mood lately. Ever since the day she failed her summoning ritual, everything had started going down hill.

Henrietta didn't even expect that she would fail. While it was an ancient ritual and the preparation was complicated, the spell itself was so simple that even a student at the Academy could perform it without problem. Yet she failed. She still remembered that day. There was a blinding flash of light, a small explosion that created enough smoke to fill the large room that they were in, but most of all, the horror and disappointment when she realized that nothing appeared in the middle of the magic circle. Not a single being answered her call.

She still felt that way even today.

To make it worse, there were many witnesses during the ritual that day, and many of them belonged to the party that opposed her being on the throne after her father's death by 'illness'. The news travelled like wildfire, and that cost her a lot of support from the other Nobles. That wasn't to say that she was now alone. There were still people that believed in her, but the current climate was making it hard for them, and for her, to move openly like they were used to.

Just another mistake, and the throne would be forfeited.

On the other hand, things weren't all bad. Today for example, was a great day for Henrietta. It had been so long since the last time she got out of the castle and into the city. In name, it was a shopping trip, but in reality, it was just an excuse for her to go sightseeing, to see the people that she loved so much and loved her in return, and most importantly, to change the atmosphere and clear her head a little.

At first Henrietta was a little anxious, since she didn't know how the people would react to her presence after her failure. That anxiety soon disappeared when her carriage got into the city's main street. It was a sight that she missed. When she passed through, people stopped what they were doing and smiled at her before bowing their head in greeting. Henrietta would then smiled and waved back through the small window of her carriage.

Many Nobles considered the commoners' opinion of them to be worthless, as long as they could hold their superior power over their heads. Henrietta knew better, as she was taught from a young age by her father, that people's support, even the commoners', was valuable when it came to building a strong kingdom. He had done an excellent job at keeping his subjects happy, and now, that responsibility fell onto Henrietta's shoulders.

"Stop right there!" Came a guard's voice that pulled Henrietta out of her train of thought. She then put her head out of the window and looked behind to see what was happening. There, she saw a group of three children not older than six or seven. They might have been trying to get close to the carriage, but were stopped by the guard, and were now looking absolutely terrified.

"What's going on over there?" Henrietta asked. Hearing her voice, the guard's head snapped up as he commanded his horse to get closer to the window, looking a little nervous.

"My apologize, Your Highness," he said. "Some kids were trying to get to you, saying that there's something they want to give you that they made themselves."

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Henrietta smiled at him. The guard must be new if he didn't know that she used to receive flowers from the people during her trips before.

"Well, but… They are still strangers, and…" The guard stuttered, obviously torn between his duty and the Princess's wish.

"They're just kids," said Henrietta with a small shake of her head. "Call them here."

"As you wish," the guard bowed after just a second of hesitation before returning to his position and pointed the kids toward her carriage. When they finally standing right below her window, two of them actually went speechless as they stared at her face, until the third one, apparently the oldest in the group, poke both of them in their ribs. The kids then bowed in a clumsy, cute way, and said as one.

"Your Highness."

"Good morning," she said, trying to appear as gentle as possible. "I heard that you three have something for me?"

"Y...Yes. We made this ourselves when we heard that we can see Your Highness today," the kid in front stuttered and nodded his head vigorously, before pulling out a wooden pin from his pocket. It was crude, and the colors were all over the place, but for something made by three little kids, that was good enough.

"We… kind of broke it on our way here…" The second one chimed in. "But we managed to fix it on time."

"Thank you," Henrietta gave them a smile as she reached out and took the pin, before giving each of their heads a little rub. "This is cute, and I appreciate your effort."

"She took it," the kid in front mumbled. A wide grin appeared on his face as he turned to look at his two friends. They then all bowed to her again before skipping away.

When the carriage started moving again, Henrietta couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she looked at the pin in her palm. A warm feeling spread through the chest at the thought of how the people still loved her as their princess. She thought about it for a second, before putting the pin on her dress.

Harry was enjoying a nice, cold pint of beer at the corner table of the 'Charming Fairies', when he heard the front door opened, admitting various excited chatting voices, all trying to talk over the others.

"Sir! Sir!" One of them called, and Harry turned around to look at the newcomers, a group of kids not older than six or seven.

"Welcome back," he gave them a wide smile as they approached his table. "How did it go?"

"She really likes it," one of the kids said. He was practically bouncing up and down in place. "And she even rubbed our heads."

"Good for you," Harry laughed. "See? I've already told you that the pin you made is excellent."

"But you fixed it for us," the oldest looking kid said. "I don't know what we should have done if you hadn't walked by back there."

"So… Thank you," the last one in their group said and reached his hand out. When Harry looked down, he saw three round, red candies and laughed again.

"You three are good kids. Thank you," he said, taking the candies and popped one into his mouth. The taste was… weird, to say the least, but he didn't let it show on his face. "It was delicious."

"Of course," the candy kid grinned. "Well, we have to go now. I'm sure that our parents will start looking for us soon if we don't."

"Come along then," Harry nodded and waved them goodbye as they rushed out of the inn. As soon as the door was closed again, he turned sideway to look at a grinning Jessica, who was wearing an amused look in her eyes.

"Where did you find those brats?" She asked.

"Eh, they were crying in front of the inn earlier," Harry shrugged. "The pin that they made to give the princess broke, so I fixed it."

He made a little twirl of his finger, mimicking his wand movement.

"That's awfully nice of you," she smiled. "But how about you? Aren't you going to see the princess?"

"Maybe later," Harry chuckled before returning to his beer.

"If you say so," said Jessica. "Just don't be late. Our princess is a true beauty. It would be a waste not to see her when you can."

"Oh, I will. Don't worry," Harry grinned at her. Right at that moment, the inn's door opened again, and this time, it was Noel who walked in.

"I'm back," he said with a wide, goofy smile. "You're right, Jessica. Princess Henrietta is soooooo beautiful."

"Good for you, unlike someone else here," Jessica snickered. "Well, feel free to fill Harry in on what he's missing out on. I have to get back to work."

Harry waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Noel, who just took the seat next to him.

"Princess aside, how did it go?"

"I asked around, of course," Noel gave him a smug smile. "And found out where Countess Jacqueline's mansion is. I didn't see Remy's grandma near that house, but the people there told me that they had seen her before."

"Good job," Harry patted the bloke on the back. "Want some candies?"

He the offered Noel the two red candies from earlier. Noel, to his credit, looked at them suspiciously for a second before giving in and took one, only to scrunch his face the moment the candy touched his tongue.

"It's… very unique."

"That's the right word," Harry laughed again. "This last one will be for Neville. Speaking of which, I need to go see him. Feel free to roam the city as you like. We're going to be here for a few more days, but if you want to go back to Abeau's place, just tell me."

"Sure," Noel nodded. Something told Harry that he wasn't going to go back anytime soon. It was such a rare occasion to be in the Capital city after all.

When Harry came back to the room that he rented from Scarron, Neville was already there, with his arms folded against his chest while looking out of the window, down to the busy street below.

"How did it go?" Neville asked when he saw Harry.

"As good as it can be," Harry answered. "I'm tracking that pin right now. It looks like our princess won't be returning anytime soon. I don't want to confront her with all those guards around."

"There will be time," Neville nodded. "You're lucky that those kids were there though."

"Sure. But even if they weren't, I would have given her something myself," Harry waved his wand and conjured a blue rose out of thin air. "I've asked the girls here about the princess. They said that she usually receives tons of flowers whenever she goes out."

With another wave, he vanished the flower before continuing. "But it's true that I'm lucky this time. Flowers can be thrown away early. She might bring the pin with her and forget about it or something, so I can track her better."

"I see. So how it's going on Noel's end?"

"Good. He didn't see her, but other people have, and Remy was sure that she's there."

"So it's our turn, I guess?"

"Not until tonight, no need to be hasty," Harry chuckled. "We have the whole afternoon free, so do what you want until then. I'll pop back to Abeau's to continue on the wards. We'll meet here at… eight?"

"Sounds good," Neville smiled at him. "Guess I'll take a tour to see if there's anything about obscure magic or something."

"Alright, see you later."

Harry nodded and spun on his heel, disappearing after a loud 'Pop'. It was a good thing that he had already made the room soundproof, so he and Neville could apparate in or out whenever they wanted.

For once, their plan seemed to be going along smoothly, but the more dangerous part - the action, was still awaiting them once the sun went down.

Harry just hoped that nothing too terrible would happen.

End of Chapter 5.