All was quiet in the Norwegian forest, just the sound of snow and the cracking of wood in the dark, late February pre-dawn hours. The Sun would not rise, for some time yet due to the time of year. In fact, the Sun would barely rise over the horizon. And so, it was almost peaceful...
Until, that is, there was a fireball between the trees that dissipated to reveal an old man in garish robes, a one armed and eyed woman in Naval dress, another somewhat young though also worn woman, and a large, red bird in the old man's shoulder.
Looking around, Victory frowned before pulling out a pocket watch and frowning at the time, "Blast it, Bumblebee. How long are we to wait? Because right now it is cold enough to freeze the Devil's own knickers."
Head tilted to the side, Dumbledore hummed a bit, "The Devil's knickers? Does he wear them?"
Scoffing, the shipgirl gave him a look, "Yes, and he looks smashing in them. Brings out the goat legs, don't you know. It is the lace, I think." Victory then narrowed her gaze, "And you did not answer the question."
Chuckling, the wizard checked his own pocket watch and nodded, "It will not be too long now, Vicky. Should be no more than five minutes and then we can get your creaky old bones somewhere warm."
Only glaring, a growl escaped from Victory, "Creaky old bones my arse, Bumblebee. Not all of us have magic to warm us after all!" Moments later, her friend waved his wand and she felt warmth cover her which made her snort, "Better."
Somewhat bemused, the until now silent shipgirl spoke up, "Is this how it usually goes for you, Victory? Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Turning to her, Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "It is, Miss Haarfagre. Us old people need to amuse ourselves somehow."
Just snorting a bit in amusement as Victory demanded to know who he was calling old, the Coastal Defence Ship, Harald Haarfagre shook her head at their antics. Ignoring them for the moment, she glanced around and tried to figure out exactly where in Norway they were. Before she could get too far into her thoughts, she heard the sound of bells and turned as a sleigh right out of a storybook pulled up. 'Hmm...' Her eyebrows twitched a bit as a man with holly green robes came out and a large, white beard that went down to his waist and was tucked into his belt. Glancing at the sleigh, she noted that yes, it was pulled by reindeer, 'Note to self, do not let Troll know about this.'
Shaking Dumbledore's hand, the old wizard was all smiles, "Albus, it is good to see you my friend. It has been far too long."
Dumbledore chuckled as he returned the greeting and nodded, "And you, Eirik! It has been far, far too long. But alas, the war. You know how it is."
With a sigh, Eirik nodded, "The war, yes. Always a terrible thing and I hoped to live out my life without seeing my homeland embroiled in another conflict the likes of which we are." Seeking to look far older, pain in his eyes, the old wizard grimaced, "The war with Grindlewald was enough for me."
Perking up some, Haarfagre now turned an interested gaze on the old man, "You fought in the war?"
Slowly, Eirik made a sound of confirmation, "I did. Was in the local resistance against Grindlewald as a matter of fact and remained here throughout the war fighting." With a nod in Dumbledore's direction, he smiled, "This old bat used Fawkes to transport us supplies. Needless to say, he's been a true friend over the years."
Rather than say anything, the Headmaster simply bowed his head some. Turning towards Haarfagre himself, he gestured at the other man, "May introduce you both to Eirik Bjornson, Minister of Magic of Norway."
Just raising his finger, Eirik chuckled, "Minister of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Magic."
Eyebrow raised as she held out a hand, which was taken by a firm grip, the Norwegian shipgirl hummed, "Royal Norwegian Ministry of Magic?"
Briefly, a saddened look crossed Eirik's face before he nodded, "Despite the separation, we always kept to our roots. We are loyal to our country and crown before we are to the ICW." Glancing at Dumbledore, he smirked a bit, "Despite what some would rather." Ignoring the snort, the old wizard continued, "And, I hope, that this will be the first steps towards that being in more than name only."
Haarfagre gave a chuckle and nodded, "One can only hope."
With a smile of his own, the Minister gestured to the open door of the sled, "Well, we must be off. It is an hour away after all before we can reach our destination even with magic."
Interested, Haarfagre stepped inside only to blink and not from the warmth that surrounded her. The reason being that the interior of the sled was much larger than the inside with plush, leather seating and a carpeted floor. Glancing at her feet, she noted that the snow and slush vanished automatically as did any dirt. With a slight nod, she hummed as she got out of the way for the others, 'Interesting.'
Once they were all inside, the sled began to move through the trees at a high speed. With a wave of his wand, Eirik opened a cabinet and smiled, "May I get you any drinks?" After getting various responses, he poured out the chosen drinks and sat back with a sigh, "I must thank you all for coming. And I... recognize that the cloak and dagger portion of this may be much, but there would be those watching that I would rather not alert to what is going on."
Frowning, Haarfagre narrowed her eye some, "In your own government?"
Simply waving a hand though, the Norwegian Minister of Magic sighed, "There might be a few. But my main worry is any ambassadors or members of the ICW that could be around. Some of them report back on things of interest, which this would be." Lips curling, he chuckled, "Well, except as far as they know, I am using my influence for an early morning sleighride through the countryside. Normal, for someone higher up to take a break as such."
The Norwegian shipgirl only nodded, "I see..." Shaking it off, Haarfagre sipped her drink and felt the burning sensation of the alcohol go down her throat, "It is a good thing then that this is such. Though I will admit that I am not quite sure what I am doing here."
Blinking, Eirik stared at her before fixing an amused Dumbledore with a look, "You have not told her?"
Albus put a surprised look on his face before shaking his head sadly, "I am afraid not, my friend. Must be my age, I think, it makes one forget things."
Pinching his nose, Eirik turned back to Haarfagre and was silent for a few moments to gather his thoughts. Finally, he began to speak, "As I am sure that you understand, the magical world was just as affected in some ways by the various wars as the non-magical world. Like the NoMajs, we saw the coming storm in the 1930s as Grindlewald began his rise. I remember it well, especially in regards to students from Drumstrang, though I never went there." At the look, he shrugged, "I am what the English call a 'Muggleborn', thus I was not allowed to go to Drumstrang. Instead, I had to make due with one of the smaller schools here in Norway."
Her eyes narrowing, Haarfagre frowned, 'An issue that should be rectified...'
Not having noticed her reaction, the Minister continued, "Like our NoMaj counterparts, we began preparations. Our population though is smaller than the other nations outside of Scandinavia, thus we had to leverage what we had. We were not alone in this as both the Ministries in Denmark and Sweden also prepared. One thing that we did was pool our resources and build a small navy."
Sucking in a breath, Haarfagre realized what he meant, "But they did not return when the King called upon them."
Only shaking his head, Eirik frowned, "No, they did not." Looking the shipgirl in the eye, he let out a breath, "Because they had already returned at the start of Blood Week, though mostly in the more northern areas of Norway. We did not have much, mind you. Very few as a matter of fact. They've fought like wolves to keep the Abyssals busy up here. In that, they were helped by our other military forces." At the blink from her, he gave a very thin smile, "We were... prepared, during the Cold War just in case with enchanted aircraft from the Second World War that we scavenged. I was Minister during the late eighties and nineties when the Soviet Union fell and bought some Jets with some gold just in case. We used them as well, though we've started to run out of ammunition for them." Spreading his hands, the Minister sighed, "Most of those in the Magical Military are magical beings who volunteered."
Just leaning forward, Haarfagre considered this, "I see." A group of folders was handed to her and she began to look through them, "Are these them?"
Humming, the Minister nodded, "They are, all of them answered the call of the lone Natural Born, as I believe that they are called, who asked for help." With one finger, he tapped one folder, "In this life, she is known as Karina Rebekkadottir... in her previous one, she was the Coastal Defense Ship, KNM Valkyrien, of the Viking Class that was built between us, Sweden, and Denmark. One deserving of the name."
With a glance at him, Haarfagre opened the folder and her eyes grew wide. There was a picture of a ship twice her size and a number of guns. Reading through it, she flipped the page and paled as she saw the same ship, likely just before her sinking. Being it was a magical photograph, grainy as it was, the picture moved like a modern gif on a computer. From bow to stern, the ship was covered in hellish flame that took the form of various beasts as it tried to kill her. But even as armour melted like wax, the guns kept firing. Leaning in, Haarfagre could see movement but not much else. Feeling more than slightly sickened, she quickly flipped the picture and took a deep breath before looking at Eirik, "What happened to her?"
For several moments, no one spoke. But it was Dumbledore who answered her, "When the King and his family as well as the non-magical government fled to England, the Valkryien and her escorts shadowed them to make sure that they would make it. However, somehow, Grindlewald found out and sent forces to capture, or sink, the ships involved. Among his forces were no less than four controlled Lindorn. But the Valkryien and her escorts managed to stop the Lindorn and sink most of the ships with the escorts sinking in the process. Damaged, the Valkyrien continued to fight in order to distract them... enraged, the wizard in command of Grindlewald's forces there ordered her sunk. They used Fiend Fyre upon her, but despite that, she kept fighting until the bitter end when the flames finally burned through her turrets into the powder room."
Voice soft, Eirik spoke with a near whisper, "There should be a note from a journal recovered from one of those involved in her sinking."
Quickly looking through it, Haarfagre found the bit and read it aloud, "Even with her alight from bow to stern with hellish Fiend Fyre, even with her turrets melting, still she kept firing everything she had at us. Some of those onboard coming out to fire rifles and spells at us, even as they were turned to ash seconds later by the magical flames. Magnificent is the word I could call them, misplaced as their loyalty was against their fellow superior beings. Truly, she lived up to her namesake, the Valkyrie..." No one said anything for almost a minute before Haarfagre closed her eye with a solemn nod, "Yes, she was."
The rest of the ride was spent with the Minister answering various questions for the shipgirl, with Dumbledore adding what little he knew. Finally though, the sled came to a stop and they exited it. One of the first things that the Coastal Defense Vessel did was widen her eyes a bit at the large man who stood nearly fifteen feet tall. Not helping was how he had what had to be a field artillery piece on his back and had thick, steel plates as armour. Spotting them, the man saluted, which they returned, "Minister, Miss Haafagre, welcome to Hulderheim."
Eyes widening slightly, the Norwegian shipgirl stared as she spotted a number of beautiful women watching them. One thing that caught her eye though was that many of them had cow tails with the odd one with a fox tail. Then she gave them a nod before turning towards Eirik, "I hope that you do not keep them here because of what they are."
However, he shook his head, "No, we do not. The Hulder and others live in villages like this in the wilderness because it is easier. They also make charcoal which they sell through various companies to other magical nations, though that has become slightly harder." Pointing at a nearby mountain, the Minister continued, "We actually do help them with their various businesses, such as bergså that mine and the like."
Only humming, but not commenting further, Haafagre gave a small nod to the giant man who she suspected was a frost giant, and followed the Minister with Albus and Victory behind her. They came to a small building near the docks where a young man stood nervously. Seeing them, he saluted, "G-good day, Minister, Miss Haafagre. It is an honour."
Chuckling, Eirik shook his head and waved a hand, "Karl, please, do not be so nervous." Turning to the Norwegian shipgirl, there was a twinkle of amusement, "Karl here is my grandson and helps out with the shipgirls. He is the closest thing we have to a commander. Read all sorts of books on naval warfare so that he could help out."
Heavily blushing, the young man shook his head, "I... I just wanted to do my part and help out."
Lightly laughing, Haafagre clapped him on the shoulder, "Then that is all that one could ask! And it is good that you have done so." For a moment, she seemed to examine him before nodding, "Now where are the others?"
Glancing at his grandfather, the young man took a deep breath, "They are inside, though... Karina might be an issue." Sighing, he shook his head, "She believes that, perhaps, she would not be accepted by the others or by the King because of what she is."
In reply to that, Haafagre narrowed her eyes, "Then she is wrong in every way. Now, have her brought out-"
A squawk made her look up as a young woman in a dress similar to that worn by rural woman was pushed out the door. Behind her, there were various snickers and she turned to them, only for the door to close, "Let me in!"
From inside, various young voices shouted back, "No! Because you are being silly about this, Big Sister! They will like you!"
While the shipgirl, who Haafagre recognized as Valkryien from the ghostly hull, banged on the door, she realized one fact. One which suddenly caused everything to make sense...
Mainly, a cow's tail that was poking out from her skirt.
Just looking at the Minister, he nodded and confirmed it, "She is Hulder, and thinks that because of that she would not be accepted." Grimacing, he shook his head, "I suspect it was due to how she had certain neighbours before moving here lived in a village. Some... do not trust, Hulder due to their reputation."
Scoffing, the Coastal Defence Vessel shook her head and walked up to where Valkrien was still banging on the door before clearing her throat, "Valkryien?"
Very slowly, the Hulder shipgirl turned, "Y-yes?"
Lips curling, Haafagre's arms shot out and pulled her into a hug, "Thank you, for what you have done and have continued to do. You have done well for King and Country." With a chuckle, she continued, "And trust me when I say the King would have no trouble with what you are and would not care."
Bringing her own arms up, Valkryien hugged her silently.
Moments later, she froze as Haafagre spoke, "Which means, of course, we will be presenting you to him at the earliest convivence!"
After all, Troll was not just the only such shipgirl in Norway...
