Chapter 106 - Meeting Werewolves

Harry was about to fail his final exams.

Hermione knew that because he himself had told her about his plans.

Well, it was not entirely unexpected news to her because she already knew of his disdain toward the school and the society as a whole.

That was not what grated in her nerves but the fact that Daphne was following his lead and would fail the exams as well.

The whole system of 'failing your exams' in order to show your disdain was a bit foreign to her and she wasn't really sure what she thought about it all.

But what she did understood was that she felt a bit lonely.

The thought was rather irrational as just because both of them were failing with each other didn't meant that Harry would estrange her but the thought that she would get further away from him if she passed her exams with flying colors while he failed kept her awake at nights.

Her relationship with Harry was already a bit strained and she didn't want to be further away from him.

But she was not sure that she would be able to fail her exams even if she decided to do it.

After all, she had spent her whole life trying to become the best student and get the highest marks in her class. So trying to fail your exams was something that went against all her instincts.

Still, she wanted to do something that would heal her relationship with Harry and she wanted to do it before he could get further away from her.

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A week after the meeting with Remus, he was finally able to set up a meeting with the leaders in the werewolf community.

Initially they wanted to select a neutral place to set up the meeting but Harry wanted to see their community with his own eyes so he insisted that he meet with them in their own homes.

Such a thing might seem illogical to most people and some would even think that he was needlessly putting himself into danger in case some of those werewolves might turn out to be hostile. But in truth, Harry was not really all that afraid of the werewolves.

That had mostly to do with the Robes that he recently upgraded to the next level.

Working for the last two and a half months on the Magical Phone and it's extra functions had given him numerous insights on the use of magic and runes and he had recently created a new Robe for himself that gave the wearer more defense against physical attacks.

Of course, he was not foolish enough to fight all of them.

When he said that he was ready for them he meant that he was ready to make a tactical retreat in case they attacked.

The most important function of the robe was that it created a helmet for him as soon as he sensed any danger around himself.

That way, this new robe also protected the most venerable part of his body. His head.

And that was the robe he was wearing when he entered the slum.

Because this place couldn't really be called anything else but a slum.

Well, it was not as bad as a slum but the whole place certainly gave the feel of a poor medieval village.

Huts made with mud and roofs made with straw and hay.

How a person capable of performing magic could live in such a place would forever remain a mystery to him.

The choice of his attire and his face attracted attention to himself as soon as he removed the Shroud of Concealment and he was now wondering the wisdom of coming here in such a high profile way once again.

Surely he could have used an aging potion and maintained his anonymity.

Oh well, no point in crying over spilled milk.

As he walked around in the slum/old dilapidated village, he could see some of the children playing among each other stop and stare at Selena.

He knew that bringing Selena along with himself in the meeting might not earn him any brownie points among the Werewolves but being a Parselmouth have a person a high status (if dark) in the magical society.

And along with his fame, he was sure that he would able to talk with the Werewolf leaders from a higher position.

As he walked deeper in the village, more and more people stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at him with hostility.

But he could feel that their hostility was not directed toward him but was he represented.

A person who lived in luxury.

A person who was not treated like a third class citizen.

He could hear them talking among themselves about him with his enhanced hearing.

The children were curious and in awe of him.

It seemed like the legend of the Boy-Who-Lived had been spread here as well.

The ȧduŀts were more wary toward him and were questioning his intentions.

It surprising what you could hear when people think that you're not listening to them.

The glares irritated him a bit but he didn't have to endure them for long as soon enough he had reached at the center of village which was occupied by a hut that was thrice the size of the other huts.

The hut of the leader.

Harry could tell that the other one was a werewolf as well because of his enhanced nose.

Werewolves had this wild smell about them that normal people didn't.

Remus gave him a soft smile as he walked up to them and he gave a slight nod in return before he faced the other werewolf.

"He has about 1.5 times more magic than an average wizard." Selena informed and he could see some of the werewolves nearby stiffen at hearing her hiss at him.

Werewolves had enhanced hearing as well (though not as enhanced as him) so he was not surprised that they would hear her from such a distance.

But the fear in their eyes did put a smile on his face before he quickly schooled himself.

He was not here to scare these people.

He was here to hire them.

He reached the larger werewolf who looked him up and down for a moment, as if taking his measure and he felt the urge to scoff.

"I'm Moro Blacktail. The leader of this pack." The werewolf said and brought his hand forward to him.

"Harry Potter." He said and shook Moro's hand, almost matching the strength of his grip with his own enhanced strength.

Moro's eyebrows raised in surprise before a look of respect crossed his expression and he gave nod which Harry returned before they entered the hut.

Turned out the dilapidated hut was not so dilapidated one they went inside.

In fact, he felt like he had entered some mansion. A very clever use of the extension charms along with a few elementary charms.

Well, elementary according to him but not an average wizard.

Which meant that this was done by someone experienced.

And as he looked around at the mansion everything clicked to him.

The werewolves were putting up a weak front in order to make the wizards think that they were merely stupid beasts living in slums.

After all, what kind of Pureblood wizard would go inside a werewolf hut to check if their living conditions were really as bad inside as shown on the outside.

He almost chuckled at thinking about how long the werewolves had fooled the ministry like this.

Which also meant that taking him inside the hut and showing him their prosperity was a sign of trust from them.

And now he knew to not underestimate these people like how the ministry had done.

That was no doubt their intention as well.

Smart.

He gave a soft smile as they went to a room with large doors and entered into a conference room with a long rectangular table.

On one side of the table were six seats. Five of them were filled by older werewolves who were wearing clothes that didn't lose out to the wizarding robes.

Hmm… A simple transiguration job. Good enough, he supposed.

Selena's hold suddenly tightened over his shoulder in before she slapped his back one time with her tail, meaning that there was one more person hiding in the room beside these people.

Not unexpected.

The last chair was left empty for Moro and promptly sat there and gestured him to take a seat as well.

On the side of the table were two chairs. Presumably for him and Remus.

These chairs however, were kept in the lower ground and did not look as impressive as their chairs.

A psychological trick to give them more power in the negotiations.

Well, two could play this game.

Before Remus could move toward those chairs, he waved his wand while maintaining a bored expression and the ground on his side raised to match their ground level and the wooden chairs transfigured into a luxurious sofa adorned with numerous gems and looking for all the world like it was made for a kind.

The werewolves gaped at the wandless and wordless tranfiguration.

In fact, he could have all that he did and more even without a wand but that would have been a bit to excessive for them and he would never show all his cards to them either.

Still, this little bit of magic was more than enough to shock them.

The werewolves were now looking at him with respect and bit of admiration and the youngest looking female, who was also the female werewolf in the room was looking at him with a sultry gaze.

She must have been in her late teens but wasn't that still a bit too old for him?

He felt a chill went down his spine and promised himself to stay away from that girl.

"And now that we've all established that I'm the genius that Remus that probably told you about. Let's get started."