The Unknown

Chapter 42: Gryffindor's React

Silence in the Gryffindor common room was unheard of, usually if it was silent it was sign for worry and caution to not enter in case they were planning something. It spanned all the way back to their founder, Godric Gryffindor, who was a very loud and a very boisterous man and encouraged his lions to be like him. This time, however, the quietness wasn't coming from some quiet lions discussing some dangerous quest, but by the questions of one friend to three others asking for the truth and now faced with it, had a wider vision of the world, or worlds, they thought they knew.

Hermione was the one to break the silence, no one answering the questions Dahlia asked as she didn't expect them to but the brains of the group asked, "what about Jotunheim, your father tried to destroy them and New York?"

Dahlia hummed, "New York I can't defend so much but Jotunheim, what Thor told you is true but he tried to kill them first. You see, Asgardian children are told bedtime stories of the brave Odin who defeated the Jotun monsters and brought peace among the nine realms. They were told as monsters, and as a young child, Thor used to come out with comments such as how he would, in his own words, 'hunt them down and slay them all'. Thor tried to do just that. My father stayed with Hela to grieve for us but had to return to Asgard as suspicions would arise about where he was. At Thor's ceremony to become heir, frost giants from Jotunheim interrupted, attempting to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters, the very thing that gives Jotunheim its power, something Odin took at the end of the war. Odin stopped them using the Destroyer, a machine, a weapon, but not before they killed several guards. My father let the Jotuns in, he wanted Odin to feel like he wasn't invincible, that he could lose something precious as he did. Just like expected, Thor wanted revenge for the soldiers that died and demanded they march on Jotunheim so that he could be feared like Odin was but Odin refused, not wanting war. It ended up being Thor, my father, Warriors Three and Lady Sif, Thor's friends marching on Jotunheim to teach them a lesson. They found the King, Laufey, and seeing they were outnumbered, my father tried to persuade them to leave but Thor was so enraged that he wanted answers and told my father to 'know his place'. A frost giant insulted Thor and of course, his pride couldn't handle an insult so he attacked which led to a full-on attack. It was them against frost giants and soon a frost giant army launched attack. It was during that very fight that my father first discovered the truth of his heritage. A frost giant touched him and dad expected frost bite but his skin began to turn blue, like theirs. He killed the soldier but couldn't unsee what he saw when he was touched. They ran when one of them got hurt but were confronted with a monster then more soldiers and it wasn't until Odin showed up did it stop. Turns out, my father told a soldier the plan before they left and told him to get Odin, already seeing it ending in disaster".

"He saved them," Hermione said, "if he hadn't told the soldier, they would have died".

"Yep. But the others didn't quite see it that way. When Odin arrived, he tried to regain peace, however, Laufey told them Thor had started war and they quickly left as Laufey tried to kill him. Back on Asgard, Odin was furious and banished Thor to earth, sending his hammer after him and that's where he met Jane". Dahlia rolled her eyes, "he spent a few days and Jane managed to teach him humility and not to act purely on aggression. How she taught the oaf is beyond me. While he was banished, the others didn't seem too impressed with my father over their friend being banished, blaming him because he told a soldier to get Odin, even though it saved their lives. Thinking about the fight, dad went to the vaults to see the Casket of Ancient Winters and he touched it and changed. Blue skin, red eyes, ice, you get the picture. Odin arrived and ordered him to stop and that's when the truth was discovered. He said he found my father at the end of the battle on Jotunheim, abandoned, left to die and small for a Jotun baby...then the big shock, Laufey's son".

"What?" the three of them gasped.

"As in..." Hermione wanted to ask but didn't.

Fred happily did, "King Laufey, frost giant that tried to kill Odin?"