EDITED previous ITW,H chapter! (Patreon)

I made a small edit to the previous ITW,H chapter because I was doing some reading about the Centaurs in HP and found out they required outsiders to give gifts. If the gifts satisfied them, they were allowed to visit their home. Seeing that, I went back and added a small scene of gift giving in the last chapter.

However, for your convenience, I pasted the added bit here:

....The leader, now named Brontes, eyed him up and down thoughtfully, before nodding. “We do not permit outsiders into our village so easily. You must offer gifts if you wish to enter. What gifts have you brought for our herd?”

Luckily, Harry had read up on centaurs before coming here, and knew about this custom. Honestly, he thought that slaying most of the acromantulas in the forest should have counted as substantial enough service to the forest and their home to have this gift waved, but he didn't want to argue. He was here to make peace.

He opened his trunk, and used his wand to summon the items he had prepared one by one.

The first was a bottle of pure dittany extract. He handed over to Brontes, who smiled appreciatively. He recognized the bottle.

The next gift was a large casserole dish he had enchanted to automatically refill as soon as a portion was taken out. That was one of the weird work-arounds for making food with magic. You couldn't just conjure food out of thin air, but duplicating it worked for some reason. The enchantment itself was simple and wouldn't last for very long, but it would be more than enough to feed the whole herd tonight and tomorrow. The food itself had been hit with preservation charm, so it was still hot and fresh.

Harry handed it over and explained all of this. “The books I read on your culture didn't mention any dietary restrictions, so the casserole itself is pretty simple, it's just a vegetarian casserole. If you do eat meat, it should pair well with whatever meat you want.”

Brontes accepted it with a surprised smile. “That's very kind of you!”

The last item he had prepared was a sneakoscope. “This will make noise whenever someone with mal-intent approaches. It could be useful as a warning system for your village.”

This item didn't seem to phase Brontes at all and he accepted it with an indifferent face. One of the other centaurs even frowned a bit. The centaurs seemed to value the food over an enchanted wizard's object more.

Brontes put the bottle of dittany and the sneakoscope inside the leather satchel he had, and held the casserole dish with both hands. Seeing that, Harry couldn't help but imagine a centaur bringing the dish to a family cookout or something, and had to fight back a smile. It was so strange to see what was once nothing more than a fantasy creature holding a modern day casserole dish, complete with a tin foil wrap lid.

“These gifts are more than generous, we would be glad to bring you to our home. However, if I am to lead you to our glade you must first surrender your wand. I will not have you casting any of your magic there.”....