The Necromancer

Chapter 15

“Wait, wait, wait,” Remus said, both hands up while he briefly bowed his head. “What country? Where?”

Sirius in the meantime had his fist pressed to his mouth and looked rather like he was trying not to pee his trousers while his shoulders shook in quiet laughter.

“Silgram! I’ve created it off the southern coast of Ireland,” Harry said with proud smile, beaming between the two men. “I mean, it’s a large piece of rock right now, but give me a few weeks and it’ll be a lush magical land with everything a country needs.”

Remus very slowly licked his lips and exhaled a long breath while he stared at Harry. “All right. I’ll be happy to hear the details of how you accomplished something like that at a later time. I assume you’ve put up the necessary muggle repellent wards?”

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again for a moment. “I knew I forgot something.” He immediately held up a hand. “It’s on my to-do list, I swear!”

“Harry, honestly,” Remus said with a disapproving frown. “That should have been your first priority.”

Sirius bent double at the waist, unable to hold back peals of laughter, one hand on his thigh to keep his balance. “And here I thought you were nothing like James,” Sirius barely managed to say. “I was wrong. You are just as impulsive as your father.”

“And coming from Sirius Black, that is saying something,” Remus agreed with a fond smile.

“I can take you there now,” Harry offered, more than eager to show off his creation.

“Go home, go home!” V agreed while he bobbed his head at the two men.

“We’ll grab our cloaks,” Remus said while Sirius tried his best to breathe normally again, wiping tears from his eyes.

Once the two men were dressed for a November night, Harry followed them out the door, grabbed both their shoulders, and apparated them to Silgram, right in front of his home.

“Is that a castle?” Sirius asked as he stared up at the dark building, only illuminated by the half moon.

“Hang on.” Harry waved his hand around and two dozen large glowing orbs appeared suspended in the air, spreading out around the rocky land to give them all some light to see by. “That’s better. And yes, that’s my home. Made it myself years ago. I carry it along wherever I go.”

“How far out of the coast is this island located?” Remus asked as he looked around.

“Just about 25 kilometres.”

Remus gave Harry a frown. “That’s not nearly enough.”

“It’s international waters,” Harry insisted.

“Sure,” Remus said with a thoughtful nod. “But there is also such a thing as an economical zone, and the British Ministry might argue that you’ve put this right into theirs.” Remus gestured around the rocky shore. “Could you get rid of this island and make it again further out to sea? I would highly recommend you do that to prevent any chance of the Ministry even thinking they’d have grounds to interfere.”