This man was an Alpha.
From his position next to and just behind Harry, Remus said, "Harry, may I introduce you to Ian, Alpha of Mic tíre na hÉireann. Ian, I introduce you to Harry Potter." Harry remembered from Remus's briefings that this was literally the 'Wolves of Ireland'.
The man nodded at Remus's introduction. "Well met, young Harry. I've heard much about you."
"It is my pleasure, sir," Harry commented with a returned nod of his own. Shaking hands was too dangerous between werewolves so a respectful nod was the polite replacement. "May I ask who your nephew is?"
The Irish werewolf smiled broadly. "You may indeed. Roger Davies is the son of my older brother. Good lad. I saw the pictures you took after the Yule Ball."
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Harry snickered. Poor Roger had been so overwhelmed by Fleur's aura at the Yule Ball that by the end he looked like a St Bernard with all the drool running down his cheeks. Certain pictures of the Seventh year complete with a dog collar, traditional flask, and floppy dog ears were taken. Harry particularly loved the ones where it appeared Roger was on all fours following Fleur around on a leash. (Fleur hadn't actually loosened up at that point so it was the magical equivalent of Photoshopped.)
"That was a good night," Harry admitted. "Roger was a good bloke about it. Do you see Roger often – with you being in Ireland I mean?"
The Alpha wolf smiled. "I know what you meant. No, not as often as I'd like. Me getting bit was quickly public knowledge so my Da saw that he had no choice but to publicly kick me out of the Family. But the family (small F) never turned their back on me. Da set me up with a business in Dublin so I had no complaints. We still meet up when they're on holiday out of Britain.
"Oh, and here is Roger's cousin now. Colleen, come here now lass and meet your cousin's friend!"
From out of the crowd emerged a young woman. Harry guessed she was about fourteen with a long, lean build and was only a couple inches shorter than he was. She had a dark red head of hair and her eyes seemed to reflect the fury of the bonfire. Her entire body language spoke of a hair trigger temper. All together it reminded him of the looks of s young Maureen O'Hara with the personality of many of her film characters.
Harry wasn't sure if he should be impressed or run for the hills.
"Father," the girl acknowledged Ian. "You called me." There was a savage undertone to her sweet Irish lilt that promised violence on anyone that disturbed her for less than serious reasons.
The man ignored his daughter's tone saying, "I wanted you to meet Harry Potter and Remus Lupin. Harry is a friend of your cousin's."
"You called me over here for a pair of omegas?" the teen growled. Omegas were the lowest of the pack hierarchy. Abused, attacked, and provided the least in the pack. Few survived for long unless they managed to raise their status somehow. Even rogues were seen as at least having the courage to break from the pack.
It reminded Harry far too much of his early years at the Dursleys. The Beast's instincts screamed for a response.
One of Harry's hands suddenly shot out and wrapped around the girl's throat. With little effort he lifted her and threw her several feet away into the dust.
"Try that again, little girl," he growled back letting some of the Beast out. Harry could feel the crowd watching them intently while seemingly minding their own business.
Colleen moved quickly back to her feet and looked ready to rip out Harry's throat. But a barked order from Ian brought her to his side. Then he turned to Harry.
"My apologies for my daughter. She is a bit of a bitch some times." Ian grinned at his own double entendre.
"I apologize for allowing my anger to get the best of me," Harry replied in a calm voice. Inside he was anything but calm. If Ian had taken his action as an insult to his Pack it could have been disastrous. Remus had mentioned Ian as one of the two Alphas most likely to support Harry even before the link to Roger was revealed.
"Nonsense," Ian waved Harry's apology off with a laugh. "I spoil the girl way too much and it is good for her to see that what I allow her would not be tolerated by another Alpha." Harry's breath caught when he realized the man had referred to Harry as an Alpha. Something told Harry that the other werewolves surrounding him and listening in had caught it too. Harry glanced past Ian where Colleen stood glaring daggers at him.
'Have to watch my throat around that one,' Harry thought whimsically as the realization that the Packs weren't going to instantly try to kill him and Remus. 'The Packs might not want to kill me right now but she still does.' It was oddly reassuring.
"I warned you about that when she was just a cub, Ian," a new voice commented.
A new man appeared near both Harry and Ian but equidistant from both forming a triangle. The newcomer was a taller, older man with dusty skin and snow white hair. He wore short sleeves with thick muscular arms covered in a dense layer of equally white hair. The man was trailed by two women. One was a woman of about the same age but a jovial smile that reminded Harry of Professor Sprout. The other was Charisa, the werewolf from Diagon Alley.
'He's almost as hairy as the Beast,' Harry observed of the man.
"Dyfed," Ian said in welcome. "Be known to Harry Potter. Harry, meet Dyfed of the Glyndwr Pack.
"Well met, Harry," Dyfed said with a polite nod that Harry returned. "The Potters have always been … cordial neighbours to my Pack." That surprised Harry.
"I am sorry. We are neighbours?" Harry asked. Dyfed shot Remus a glance before answering Harry.
"The Potters own a fair bit of land astride the English-Welsh border. More of it on the Welsh side fortunately. Under Muggle names my Pack owns much of the land nearby. We've been buying it up for close to 100 years. Your grand-da and his da helped my predecessors and failed to mention it to the bloody Ministry and their ilk." Harry was a bit confused by that comment.
"But my family lived in Godric's Hollow…"
"Aye, they did. But that didn't keep them from owning the land still," Dyfed replied. "Your great grand-da was friends with the Alpha of the Pack. He allowed the Pack to run on Potter land at will. Its why we let young Remus there to visit us without forcing him to join a Pack."
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