Reading Time: 94 Minutes

Title: Never A Spare
Author: Strailo
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Angst, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash, Time Travel, Tragedy
Relationship(s): Cassius Warrington/Harry Potter
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence-Graphic, Canon-Level Violence, Torture, Obsession, Violence – Against Children, Kidnapping, Murder
Author Note: Thank you for coming to read my story! This was a trip to write and I’m glad it’s finally done and out there. Enjoy.
Word Count: 121,649
Summary: When Magic Herself decides that things are oh so wrong, She makes her move with Fate, Destiny, and Death standing beside her. They knew the Ripples would come when they chose their Person. Those Ripples touch everyone in the Wizarding World. They touch Harry Potter the most, being the Chosen One to bring balance to an unbalanced world.
Artist: Veevess

04 Wizengamont

Stepping out of the carriage, Harry smiled at the fact that Lady Augusta Longbottom and Neville were waiting for him. Cassius was talking with them about what the meeting to come was going to go over that day. He was glad that he had sent a letter to Neville before dinner, telling him what was going on and what he was planning on doing. Neville had quickly gotten a hold of his grandmother and arranged it so that he could go with them as Harry wasn’t the only person to take up his seat this meeting.

Neville always attended the meetings when a big name in the Wizengamont was taking up their seat. Mostly to see who was voting what faction. Harry was curious about the factions but he had decided to ask on the way to the Ministry if they had time.

“Regent Longbottom, a pleasure to see you. Hey, Neville, Cassius,” Harry greeted, smiling at them and bowing slightly. Augusta gave him a searching look before she nodded once.

“Perfect,” she said, waving a hand towards the carriage. “This is my personal travel carriage and it will take us to the Ministry,” she told them.

“Thank you for offering to take us to the meeting, Regent Longbottom,” Cassius said, bowing slightly before he helped her up into the carriage. “Mother and father would have set up a ride for us if you hadn’t offered when you had.”

“I will tell you now, when my godson had started to use his personal elf to deliver his letters, I found it odd. But accepted it. I have since discovered last night just how much easier it was to get things set up to offer you two rides and act as a chaperon,” Augusta stated as she settled in. Cassius waited for Neville to climb up into the carriage before he helped Harry in and then stepped in himself. Once they were all settled down, the driver started the carriage moving.

“It helps quite a bit to get letters to someone in a short amount of time. But I only use it when it comes to certain people that I need the extra security with,” Harry admitted as he settled to lean against his partner. Cassius smiled and laced their fingers together. “You can call me paranoid, but I really don’t want certain letters to be read.” He frowned. “To change the subject to something else, probably abruptly, Neville, how is Hermione doing? Really doing, not just what she shows,” he asked.

“I take it that she’s still not talking with you outside of the study sessions and only then a few words?” Neville asked, Harry nodding his head. “She’s been reading a lot between classes. She’s been talking with Lavender and Parvati a lot to. Lavender is from a smaller house, the House of Brown, but Parvati does come from a bigger house in India and here in Britian. The Patil’s are well known to be Neutral on the Wizengamont votes and received their seats through marriage to a house that died without any sons. Only daughters.”

“So, she’s been trying to figure things out?” Harry asked him. Neville nodded. “Her letter last night said as much. She’s been asking about how the Wizarding world is run in general, along with traditions and the such. But apparently people aren’t willing to give her the answers she wants. Just tells her to read certain books.”

“It is more than likely because she is going about it in her heavy handed way,” Augusta stated.

“I can see if Daphne and Tracy will sit her down and explain how her headstrong push to get all the answers that she wants won’t work,” Cassius said. He smiled at them, Harry beaming and nodding. “What about Weasley?”

“He’s been…quiet. Really quiet. He’s sending a lot of letters out though. To his older brother, Heir William Weasley, from what I’ve seen, so I’m guessing that he’s getting advice or a lesson in life from the man. Not to mention how he should be acting. Seeing as the blockadge on the Weasley’s returning to their Wizengamont seats ends when Heir Weasley takes over as Lord Weasley. And that does mean he and his siblings will have to act a certain way once Heir Weasley takes over as head,” Neville said.

“As long as his mother doesn’t try to run things for them again. It would have ended with Arthur, but the way that his wife has acted from day one put that off. His father warned Arthur that if he didn’t take his wife in hand, then the rights to the heirship would just skip a generation,” Augusta stated. “And so it did. When their oldest son was born, Lord Weasley named him as his heir and told Arthur that he would get a basic non-heir cut of the family wealth. Or what he has built since.”

“I didn’t know all of that. I’ll have to look into things,” Harry said, frowning to himself. He pulled out a small flip notebook and wrote down the notes with the long list that he had acquired so far.

“We can all help you with anything you need to know,” Cassius promised, getting a small smile from his partner. “Blaise is good at knowing family history no matter the family. The Zabini’s have always been into familial history.”

“Thank you. Especially you, Regent Longbottom. Those books that you have sent me for the last few weeks have helped me quite a bit with the other books,” Harry said. The woman chuckled softly.

“Of course, Lord Black-Potter,” she said, smiling serenely. “I have a feeling though that this Wizengamont session is going to be quite…interesting.”

Harry just smiled as serenely as her. “Very, or so I’m told.”

Taking a deep breath as he walked up to the waiting room for those taking their seats, he smiled as Neville patted his shoulder. Cassius left to go greet his parents after placing a quick kiss on his cheek and a whispered ‘good luck’. The two males headed to their respective seats in the main hall as Harry stepped into the room and found a seat near the other two heirs taking their own seats on the Wizengamont.

It seemed as if the Doge and the Stokes families were getting new members if the crests on their robes were to be believed. A male heir for the Doge family and a female heir for the Stokes family.

He held his own robes laid over one arm, hiding the coats of arms on them, but still dressed neatly. Fleur had gotten a hold of him early that morning and put him into something androgynous once more. Soft pants that weren’t tight enough to show everything, but hinted at soft curving and a loose, simple peasant top that would look good under his robes. He looked like the very young Lord that he was.

“Heir Marius Doge,” the dark haired male said as he stood and bowed slightly to press a brush of a kiss over the back of Harry’s right hand. “You are Lord Black-Potter yes?” he asked as he stood straight.

Harry smiled slightly, doing a partial curtsy in return, nodding. “Yes, that would be me. A pleasure. I have heard of your…grandfather?” He asked, hesitating. “You’ll have to forgive about not knowing for sure. I’m still learning many things about our world.”

“You are correct, Lord Doge is my grandfather. Mother and I left during the last war to hide from the Dark Lord when father was killed,” Marius said as he waved a hand to the seat near them. “I went to Hogwarts after the war had finished, for a few years at least.”

The Stokes heir smiled and bowed her head, patting the cane by her chair. “Katrina Stokes. I am taking over for my mother since she was just promoted to Director in the Magical Orphans department. She has found it to be much harder for her to attend the Wizengamont meetings with her new duties,” Katrina introduced herself. Harry smiled and nodded.

“I read about her promotion in the Prophet. Heir Zabini and Heir Malfoy have both gotten me in the habit of reading the Prophet front to back in the last couple of weeks,” he admitted. “I will send her a letter to congratulate her and a hope that she doesn’t burn out doing the work. From what I know about working with orphaned children, even the muggle version of that department, you tend to end up being over run with work,” he said as he shook his head. “It makes me wonder though how I slipped through the cracks the way I did.”

“I’ve always wandered that myself,” Katrina admitted as she frowned. Harry pegged her for being in her early thirties, and by the bonding bracelet around her left wrist, married. The fact that she probably listened to her mother about her department meant she had heard things. “I’ll have to talk with mother after today and see if she can’t look into your case. Not that it will matter outside of seeing about laws being broken and cracks in the system depending on what she finds seeing as you’ve been emancipated and a Lord now. It is a very concerning thing either way and a hole that needs to be found.”

“I hate to say it, but from what I have learned and heard, it’s likely that Dumbledore had a hand in it. Actually, can you tell me what his official title outside of Headmaster, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock and Transfiguration master is? Is he the head of his family? I know it’s a small house,” he said. “But no one has been able to give me much of a straight answer. Then again, we are still in our fourth year for most of us and don’t really have access to certain information so…” He smiled sheepishly.

“He’s Heir Dumbledore, surprisingly enough. His younger brother, Lord Aberforth Dumbledore was given the headship of their family by the family magics from what mother told me,” Katrina said after a moment. “The only reason why I know this is because my grandmother and Lord Dumbledore are good friends, and still talk often. He got rather drunk when he was named Lord by the family magics when their father lost the ability to hold it. The family name itself is in the dirt, just above the Weasley family in some circles. But that’s only because most only know that their father attacked Muggle teens, not that he was taking justice against those who attacked his daughter, causing her many issues.”

“I have heard about her and her attack,” Harry said softly. “Luna wrote to me one day. She died during a fight between the two Dumbledore’s and someone else who isn’t named. Blaises great-grandmother was friends with Lady Dumbledore and helped her as much as she could. Told Luna during their correspondence,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s was a tragedy what happened. But still, if he was the reason why I was lost in the cracks, I will not be happy. No matter what history he has.”

“I wouldn’t be either,” Marius snorted, shaking his head. He frowned. “I take it that you weren’t told about any of your responsibilities as heir?” he asked. Harry shook his head. “Thought so. Really, no one should have so much power that they some how was able to go around the Ministry. Even the Purebloods are not stupid enough to hurt their own children much less an adopted child. Unfortunately there have been others who have gotten things to the point where it is hard for certain departments to do their jobs when it comes to muggleborns,” he said, shaking his head.

“They should be dealing with muggleborns?” Harry asked, surprise coloring his voice. “Can you tell me more? We do have some time after all.”

“I can tell you now that before Dumbledore took over as Chief Warlock, the Department for the Welfare of Magical Orphans would go to Hogwarts and check over every single student over the weekend with healers. Unlike now, where you arrive at the school the day before it is to start, before they would arrive the Friday before the Monday that they started, allowing time for full check ups, making sure all immunizations are up to date, and search for any sign of abuse in the students.” Kathrine shifted and frowned. “Also, they would place status spells over them that would last for the next year, until it was reapplied. This way the department would be alerted any time that they ended up hurt or were abused. That was stopped though when Dumbledore was able to get enough power consolidated to start putting a stop to things.”

Harry took a slow breath before letting out through his nose. “So, my living situation and the fact no one has seen how badly off I was, was because of him.”

“I would unofficially say yes.” Kathrine crossed her legs. “It’s a mess.”

“Do you think that we could consolidate our own power base to maybe change some things around?” Harry asked softly.

“If we did try, it would take a lot of political power. You as the Boy-Who-Lived, and I am sorry if you hate that title, would have quite a bit of political oomph behind you to start. Add in the Black and Potter names, and the proper moves that show that you do respect the Traditions…Maybe,” Marius said. “It would take something like a Hogwarts Founder house to really get things moving before a few years as you worked to consolidate your power. But the last known heir to a founders house…well he kind of went nuts.”

“That is an understatement of the Century,” Harry snorted. He traded wary smiles with the other two. “Why a Founder’s heir though?” he asked.

“They were the last known apprentices that Merlin had taken in his last years of life before he went to Avalon,” Kathrine said. “It’s not something that is taught now days, but Merlin was really old when he and le Fay helped to create the Ministry seeing as it was in the 1700’s. He had found his last apprentices in the four founders, bringing them together. He made sure that they were well trained seeing the great future that they could build within the magical world. How they would help to keep the magical world a place of safety.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t think that he knew what would end up happening in the magical part of our world,” Marius said. He caught the look that crossed Harry’s face, chuckling. “Both myself and Kathrine come from a family line that were known as Keepers of History. It’s an ancient title. It calls to someone in each generation in our families. We learn from journals that were kept from the family members through the years, along with carefully kept memories from various people. I believe the Zabini family is also one such family.”

“So that’s why you have so much information. And the same with Heir Zabini,” Harry said, the two nodding. “If I was to come to you to learn more about our world and traditions, would you be willing to teach me? To teach those who want to learn about such things?” he asked.

Kathrine smiled. “I would,” she said, nodding her head. “I am a certified teacher and tutor in both sides of our worlds despite the fact that I sit at home and write fantasy books to sell.”

Harry snorted and looked up when the lights around them dimmed before brightening. “And that’s our cue yes? You two should go first. I’ll go after you two. Try to keep the surprise from your faces when I come out though. I promise that I will, in hopes of forging bonds with you and your families, explain later when I can.”

Kathrine and Marius shared a look before they both nodded, agreeing with him. “Agreed,” they said together. Harry beamed brightly as they all stood.

Harry listened as Marius was sworn in first, pledging to follow the charters that had been placed onto the Wizengamont and to do the best that he could for their world. He took a seat in the middle of the room, showing that he was moving the Doge family into the Neutral zone.

Kathrine went next, taking her own vows and sat down near Marius, also showing her family taking on a Neutral stance in things.

“And finally, we have Lord Black-Potter,” Dumbledore introduced. He barely kept his tone even as he watched Harry walk out, pulling on his robes, showing the three crests of the families that he was taking over. Black and Potter he had been expecting, but not the Ravenclaw crest, the magic sparkling in the very threads that made them.

Fleur had explained to Harry that the special threads would only hold their shapes if the crests were allowed to be worn by the person wearing them. No one from the Wizengamont could deny his right to bear the name of Ravenclaw, nor would they be able to deny it with the blood tests done in Gringotts. Everyone knew that the goblins did not fuck around with bloodlines and estates when it came to their clients.

Coming to stand before the orb that everyone put their hands on during their vows, Harry simply watched and listened at the startled gasps from the Wizengamont.

“I fear that I must correct you on my name, Chief Warlock. My name is Lord Black-Ravenclaw-Potter. Quite the mouthful really but I am assured by Gringotts that it is all on the up and up. It seems as if my mother had had a secret that she kept even after death. The Evans were a Squib line from Roweana Ravenclaw and her second husband. From what my mother had been able to learn from the diaries she found from family, Lady Rowean’s first husband had died during a series of witch hunts, having been caught unawares and killed. She didn’t take his name, instead he had taken her name, seeing as her family was of higher class then his. She married her second husband, who also took her name, when her daughter from her first husband had been around ten.

“Just after that, she had helped to found Hogwarts with her three friends,” he said. He held up the scroll with all of the verified information. “With this husband, she had a low magical son, which wasn’t shocking truly seeing as his own father was low on the magical side. The thing is, they didn’t get rid of their squib children, they kept them. Until war and magical issues broke out and she had to send him away with his father. They were lost to the non-magical side of the world.” He wiggled the scroll. “All of this has been confirmed by the magic, Gringotts and her personal journals.”

Dumbledore kept his face blank as he nodded to a page to gather the copy of the scroll. Percy gathered it and brought it to him, looking shell-shocked at everything that Harry had said. Dumbledore opened the scroll and scanned over it before he tapped his wand on the parchment, keeping his sign internal when it was proven real.

“What he speaks is truth,” he stated, the note takers writing that down. “If you will please step up to the orb and state your vow?” he asked.

Harry stepped forward and took a deep breath, allowing the magic of the Orb to tell him what he had to say. “I, Harry James Black-Ravenclaw-Potter, do hereby vow to uphold the Law of Magic that runs through all of us. I vow to do the best for the world and our Traditions, to protect our people even if it is from ourselves. I vow to be the best Head of House and Heir for the House of Ravenclaw, House of Potter, and House of Black. I vow to follow the Path that Magic has laid out for me and to walk the Path that I now step upon,” he stated.

Dumbledore looked as if he had swallowed a lemon covered in salt as the magical vow took hold and sealed Harry to it. He knew from that moment, the young Lord would do nothing but listen to Magic, and to those that he knew Magic had placed into his life to help him keep to his path. And he had a feeling that Magic would tell him to ignore him unless something changed.

“I welcome Lord Harry James Black-Ravenclaw-Potter to the Wizengamont,” Dumbledore stated. “If you will please take your seat.”

Harry smiled at him and walked up the stairs to a chair that had appeared directly in the middle, Kathrine and Marius on either side of him. Lucius nodded in greeting, blank faced but quite obviously angry about something as Augusta smiled at him from her spot. Neville hid his chuckles behind one hand as Cassius smirked at him, winking from his spot behind his father. The man was smirking smugly.

Harry settled and started to arrange the papers that had appeared on his small table and looked over the things that they were going to talk about. He made a note on personal paper that had appeared along with the information to get a history of his family votes for both Potter and Black houses. It would be interesting to learn more about the politics of their world after all.

“Are there any new motions to put forth today?” Dumbledore asked as he scanned over his papers. He would love to be able to skip over new motions, controlling what would be allowed to come past their judgement, but with the way the Wizengamont had been set up by Merlin and le Fay, that wasn’t something that they were allowed to do. He had to do all of the steps and properly do them each meeting.

Lucius held up his wand, the tip glowing green. “I bring to the Wizengamont a motion of House Claims,” he said as he eyed Harry. “I wish to debate on if a child can Claim a house without previous experience.”

Lord Nott held out his own wand, the tip also glowing green. “I must remind Lord Malfoy that the Laws on Inheritance is strong and well worded for what is needed,” he stated, giving Lucius a look. “If this is about Lord…If I may have permission to use only one of your names for ease, this would be a much faster process seeing as your last name is a bit of a mouthful,” he said, turning to Harry.

Harry nodded. “For the Wizengamont, please use whatever name is needed for that moment,” he said.

“Thank you, Lord Potter. As I was saying, if this is because Heir Black claimed the Black Heirship and is acting as his Lord’s regent, then you are well out of bounds. I also remind Lord Malfoy that the Malfoy name is only powerful here in Britain and in France, while the Black and Potter names are powerful world wide,” Nott stated. “As I have said, the laws around Lordships, Ladyships and Inheritances are very clear. As long as magic has claimed you as an adult, you may claim them as proper. From what I understand, Heir Black, Lord Potter, was labeled an Adult by the Ministry and the Hogwarts headmaster when he was forced to be a participant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament just a few weeks ago.”

Lucius kept his face black but his eyes were bright with cold fury. “Indeed.” He did not remove his desire to discuss.

“We shall bring it to a vote if we shall discuss what Lord Malfoy wishes to discuss,” Dumbledore said. “For those who are new, or need a reminder, each table has marbles and grooves. Green marbles are for yes, blue are for abstaining from voting, and black for no. Depending on how many seats you are here for, will depend on how many grooves you have. Please use the marbles and the corresponding groove for each seat for your vote,” he said. He placed his own votes for Dumbledore, scowling at the fact that he only had two grooves, one for Dumbledore and one for himself and his Order of Merlin. The Black and Potter grooves had been removed.

Ignoring that information for now, he watched as the no votes racked up on the counter in front of him. The motion had been denied.

“With a majority of ‘no’ votes, we shall move on,” Dumbledore said, smacking his gavel as the ink, quill and parchment wrote out the final count. “Moving on, there is a new movement from…Lord Weasley?” Dumbledore asked. He turned his head to the Weasley seat where Septimus Weasley sat with Bill sitting next to him.

“I call to form a Discussion of having Hogwarts given a full check over during the Christmas Holidays where every single student is either moved somewhere for the holiday or to return home,” Septimus stated after he had stood.

He had gotten a letter from the Wizengamont scribes stating that since he had a proper heir with a matching heir ring, he could sit the seat until Bill took over. He was going to use it to his advantage.

Dumbledore’s lips pursed before he smiled benignly. “Lord Weasley, I must remind you that to put such a discussion forward, you must have a Founder’s Heir to agree to it,” he said. He looked to where Harry had raised his wand with a green tip. “Yes, Lord Potter?”

“In this moment, I am Lord Ravenclaw. As Head of the Ravenclaw family, I give my approval for this motion,” Harry stated. Septimus nodded in approval.

Dumbledore’s lips twitched, looking as if he had gotten a rotten lemon drop but nodded his head once. “Very well. With the approval fo Lord Ravenclaw, we shall bring this to a vote on if we should discuss this or not,” he said. “Please vote now.”

Dumbledore watched the counter go up, scowling when it was looking as if the majority of the votes were in agreement with them having the discussion. He took a deep breath. “As voted, we shall now discuss the option of opening Hogwarts to a…what is it that you are looking for?” he asked, looking to Septimus.

“I am asking for the wards to be checked over, for any Dangerous Artifacts to be found and removed, for the Forbidden Forest’s wards to be checked and updated, for any creature that is not supposed to be there either removed or killed accordingly, and for the library to be gone over to find or replace any missing books that should be on the shelves,” Septimus stated.

Dumbledore’s lips puckered. “Very well. For a full investigation into Hogwarts. Opening arguments, Lord Weasley?”

Septimus stood, adjusting his robes with a frown. “My grandchildren, including Arthur’s children, have all attended Hogwarts, but I have learned that the quality of education offered has gone quite downhill since Arthur’s years , much less mine. Where the newly found muggleborn wizards and witches had learned etiquette, our history and traditions that help Magic stay strong, they haven’t for quite a long time. The Muggle studies class is so behind on what is going on with the muggle world that it puts our people at danger. We used to teach just why we stay separate from the non-magical world but we stay smart about being able to blend.

“Not only that, but I have heard of things that have happened at Hogwarts, like a baby dragon that had to be collected. Unfair point distribution, detentions and other such things done by professors. The school must be looked into, in full. Before the Yule ball preferably. I have spoken to those who are not a part of the British wizarding world, from communities just as old if not older then ours. Did you know that what few muggleborns do not marry into a Pureblood family, they leave for other communities or back to the muggle side? That they have to take remedial classes in History, Potions and Wizarding Traditions, Laws, and History? That we have less capable healers now because they were unable to gain their NEWT classes since Potions Master Snape requires them to have an EE on their OWLs without teaching them the proper techniques? The school is hurting our community as it is. We must learn why that is and fix it,” he said.

Dumbledore hid his swallow behind a glass of water as it started to feel as if his world was starting to tilt as he listened to Septimus talked. Conversations and questions started to talk, flying hard and fast as they talked about the points made.

Once the hour that was allotted to allow a discussion was finished, the motion passed. Hogwarts would have a specialized team that was chosen by Gringotts and the ICW so that they could come in to check everything from top to bottom. Dumbledore wondered just how he would stop his carefully laid plans from coming undone.

He noticed though that the entire time that the discussion went on, Harry watched, took notes and turned his questions to Kathrine or Marius.

“Well, that was an interesting first day,” Harry said, shaking his head with a rueful smile. “I was kind of surprised at how it went,” he admitted, smiling at the group he was with. “I had never once thought that Dumbledore would be forced to allow people to come into Hogwarts to do a full check up.”

“Usually, it would never get past him to start the discussion at all,” Augusta told him as she settled into the carriage seat.

“Indeed,” Raphael hummed with a smile. “Due to the fact that there were no known heirs that were sitting your seats, he could get away with quite a bit since your parents unfortunately died.”

“But now that I’m sitting them, I have a say in if anything connected to Hogwarts gets to discussion?” Harry asked, Augusta nodding her head.

“That’s right,” Neville chirped as he smiled at him, shifting as Cassius chuckled softly. “You did really good with everything today to. I’m hoping that Dumbledore doesn’t try anything with you though. After today, he’s bound to be spitting mad,” he mused.

Cassius snorted. “Remember, he’s no long Harry’s sole headmaster, nor is he his magical guardian thanks to this tournament,” he reminded them. “It’s a mess of his own making and the man doesn’t have any kind of say in anything. Harry has no reason to speak with him as it is and should Dumbledore try to push things, he will find out that as I’m the one courting Harry, I have the final say if Harry speaks with him. As agreed on in our contract.”

“It’s not like I want to talk with Dumbledore as it is,” Harry said, wrinkling his nose. “Not only did he not try to get me out of this tournament, but I swear that he doesn’t absolutely believe that I somehow didn’t want to be entered. And it’s only because others spoke out for me that I’m not an outcast this year along with the vow,” he said. He shook his head. “I don’t know how to feel about everything I’ve found out so far though. I…”

“It’s a lot to process and you’ve only had a couple of weeks to really process a lot of things,” Cassius said, smiling at him as they laced their fingers together. “Where were you thinking of going for Yule while everything is happening?” he asked.

Harry opened his mouth before Augusta cleared her throat, sitting up straight. “Neville and I were thinking of inviting him to our home seeing as the Potters and Longbottoms have always been close. Seeing as they are godbrother’s through their mothers, it would not been seen quite so odd for him to visit for the holidays.”

“Especially if the school has to be closed down for a short time over the holidays to deal with the wards. Which means that the Yule ball that we were warned about will be moved up to the night before we leave for holidays,” Harry said. “Do we know when the team will be chosen?” he asked.

“It will be done by tomorrow evening at the latest. All sitting members of the Wizengamont and their heirs will receive the notice once it’s been fully settled. Along with the contracts for the board as to what will be happening. Seeing as you agreed to everything that Lord Weasley asked for, it will be exactly as he requested,” Augusta stated.

Harry hummed, leaning into Cassius’ side. Can you tell me why he took up the seat? I mean, we talked about there being a Lord Weasely but I hadn’t known that he could take his seat now instead of later.”

Agusuta hummed. “It is because Heir Weasley took up his place and is able to travel back for Wizengamont meetings through Gringotts. Lord Weasley is now Regent Weasley for the seat. Now, I said that the reason why Arthur couldn’t take the heirship because of his wife, but I didn’t specify why. She’s a bloody harridan, nothing more, nothing less, to her children and everyone around her. She wanted a girl so badly that she had so many children that she can’t properly support them. Most witches have enough issues carrying a child or two, but she seemingly breezed through six pregnancies.’

“I know that most muggle women can easily carry multiple children. Why would witches have issues with carrying?” Harry asked.

Cassius hummed, shrugging one shoulder. “Magic. It takes a lot of magic, both from the mother, the father and from their environment, to help create a magical core in a human,” he said. “Most women hate feeling weak after having their child, and the fact that she had a child nearly a year apart each time says something about what she would be willing to do.”

Harry tilted his head as he thought before shrugging.

“From what I’ve heard, probably potions. Heavily regulated ones, but potions that would boost her magical core,” Neville told him. “She had seven children, Harry. One right after the other. The only other way that she could have gotten through all of that was with rituals that she really shouldn’t have been playing with.”

Harry released a slow breath, allowing his brain time to catch up to what he had just been told by Augusta and Neville. “So you’re telling me, that it’s very likely that she did something that should have been watched closely just to have a girl?” he asked, looking at the table.

Cassandra hummed. “Yes. I did know them during our school years. Or rather knew of their reputations. She had always been known to be brash, loud, and quite demanding. Which was rather unbecoming of the Prewitt family’s reputation. Her twin brothers had been the heirs to the family so it was rumored that she just wanted to land a heir for her spouse,” she said as she looked to Raphael.

“She had tried once with me. And only the once, but she did respect it when she learned that I had already entered into a courting contract that was quite solid. Much like the two of you, Cassandra and I had made sure that our contract had no loops holes, and that our bracelets were covered in protective runes,” Raphael said.

“Actually, the one that you are wearing is one that has the leather parts replaced with each wearer. I have my original leather bits myself at home,” Cassandra told them. Harry smiled as he stroked over the bracelet around his wrist. “I know that she tried with a few others. Nothing solid, but she then did get with Arthur. And…well there are some rumors that she used more then just a ‘notice me’ love potion but an actual love potion on him. Mind you, they’re just rumors though.”

“What’s the difference between a love potion and a ‘notice me’ love potion?” Harry asked them, genuinely curious about it.

“A love potion is dangerous for the person who is dosed with it and any possible children they have,” Augusta stated, sounding disgusted at the thought of using one. “Their will is stripped from them, replaced with a facsimile of love and devotion to the one that the potion is keyed to. It’s not quite…illegal. It can be considered illegal if it’s used on an heir or head, and a child is created, which is considered line theft. A ‘notice me’ love potion though isn’t something you drink and all it does is nudge you to look at the person. To give them a chance. It doesn’t force them to feel anything beyond wanting to match the scent of the potion to the person, and it does wear off after a time.”

“That means if Molly Weasley was able to dose Arthur Weasley with something that sat between those two potions, or was able to make a stronger version of the ‘notice me’ love potion,” Neville mused slowly. He frowned. “She would have been able to most likely sleep with Arthur and get a marriage contract, which would have strengthened the potion. I know a few of the potions in such things can easily be replaced since they’re common items. I have to know such things because of the laws around ingredients,” he explained.

Jessica smiled and nodded at him. “Indeed. Same here. The international laws are quite clear on what must be logged when sold.”

“Right. The ingredients though,” Neville continued, “are things like instead of using dandelion root, you use rose petals. Instead of using ivy, you use the thorns from a Devil’s Snare. Just those two would have made it so that it would stay strong and embedded it in Mr. Weasley’s system.”

Harry and Cassius both gave him confused looks before Harry snorted as he lent into Cassius with a smile. “Please pardon my language, but Snape is an absolute berk, doesn’t teach any of us correctly, and needs to be tossed out if he can’t see that you know your ingredients, and potions. If you want, Neville, and if Regent Longbottom here gives you permission, you are free to join in my potion lessons,” he said.

Neville beamed at the thought and looked to his grandmother with hopeful eyes. She just smiled softly. “I will tell Headmaster Dumbledore that you will be joining Harry in his Potions classes, Neville,” she told him, looking at him proudly.

After she had been very politely chewed out for trying to force her grandson to be someone that he had never known or been, she had finally sat down to think about why she had treated her grandson as anything but his own person.

She was still thinking about everything and had made an appointment for a full flushing of her system under her personal healers watch. Just to be safe.

“Thank you, gran,” Neville said softly in return. He blushed happily when Harry patted his arm. “Are you sure that your tutor won’t mind me joining?” he asked.

“Oh, I know for a fact that he won’t mind. He’s been listening to me speak about my friends who are in Snape’s classes. I’m going to extend an invitation to anyone who wants out of the class until everything has been done with the group coming in to check on the school,” Harry told him. “I’m thinking of doing it for Luna, Seamus, Dean, Daphne, Blaise, Draco, Greg, Vincent, Theo, Markus, and maybe Hermione depending on how she reacts to things,” he said.

“I have a couple of other names to suggest, but I need to feel them out before I suggest them really,” Neville admitted. “I know that Lavender and Parvati both have their own issues with Potions and they’ve only had good things to say about you. They do know better then to make snap judgments after second year,” he mused.

Harry smiled.

“Well, get me a list and we will see if we can’t set up a Potions self-study in a few of the unused rooms,” Augusta suggested, nodding her head. Raphael smiled at her as he sat back.

“If you need some help getting the board on your side, do remember that Lord Ravenclaw has your corner and seems to be willing to fight for this,” Raphael stated. “As am I.” Augusta smiled and nodded as they passed through the gates of Hogwarts.

05 Reuniting and Courtship

Daily Prophet Special Evening Edition

Lord Harry James Potter Claims Three Seats and Three Names in the Wizengamont!

Including one not seen for many generations!

By Marigold Bagman

This months Wizengamont session turned out to be quite the roller coaster with three new people taking up their seats. The first to take up her seats was Kathrine Stokes, taking over the seat as current Regent for the Stokes House. Her mother, Lady Stokes, has found herself promoted to Director in the Department for the Protection of Magical Orphans and admitted that she found it difficult to juggle the two responsibilities.

Lady Stokes told me that both jobs deserved someone who could properly focus on it, thus why she allowed her daughter to take up the seat on the Wizengamont panel.

The next to take up his seat was Heir Marius Doge, who is taking over for his grandfather, the current Lord Doge. Lord Doge was kind enough to comment that it was long past time that he retired to enjoy his later years. This move will allow him to travel the world in a way that he and his wife had done before her untimely death.

But the most surprising person to take up his seats was one Harry James Potter. It was quite the surprise to find that he had come forward to claim not only the Potter seats as Lord Potter, but also to claim the Black seats as the officially named and blood chosen Black Heir, and the newly named Ravenclaw Lord!

It sent quite the shock wave through the gathered Wizengamont….

Witches Weekly Special Evening Edition

The-Boy-Who-Lived Reveals Himself as Lord to Two Houses and Heir to One During a Shocking Wizengamont Session!

By Jared Skeeter

What a shocking revelation! What a twist!

The-Boy-Who-Lived has come out as Lord Harry James Ravenclaw-Black-Potter! Yes, you have read that right, he has raised the Ravenclaw family name back from the dead!

During his speech right before he took his Vow to the Wizengamont and our world at large, his mother had learned that her family came from a squib line of the Ravenclaws. Lady Rowean Ravenclaw apparently had had two husbands in her lifetime, her second husband being the one she had been with when founding Hogwarts. Her child with him had been very low magically and had been hidden with her husband to keep them safe.

Not only that but! He took over the Black family name…

To see the Proof of lineage from Gringotts, see page 26.

To see the full transcript of his speech and vow, see page 30.

Special Evening Edition of the Quibbler

Decision to go Over Hogwarts, Top to Bottom, by a Carefully Chosen Group Approved!

The motion was approved and carried forward by Lord Septimus Weasley with the backing of Lord Ravenclaw!

By Xenophilius Lovegood

Today saw quite the change in how the Wizengamont has been working for the last few decades. The Dumbledore Bloc has found itself suddenly with quite a bit less power then it had in the last two decades. Lord Ravenclaw-Black-Potter has stepped up to take on the Ravenclaw, Potter, and Black votes as the Lord to two houses and Heir to House Black.

A note for those who do not understand how Lord Potter has become Lord Potter instead of Heir Potter: When he was forced to participate in the ongoing Tri-Wizard Tournament, he was named as an adult by those running it. And thus Magic itself now considers him an adult. This is why he was able to claim the Lordship to Potter, and once he learned of Ravenclaw, that house Lordship. There is a current Black Lord current and he named Lord Potter his heir.

For those who have been keeping up with my articles about the Dumbledore Bloc, you will remember this part, but for those who have not read my articles before: The Dumbledore Bloc often has control over those houses that had no one sitting for their votes. For a short time after the Dark Lord had been defeated, it had been the Longbottoms, the Potters, and the Black family votes.

Regent Longbottom took over the voting for the Longbottom house not long after, leaving the Dumbledore Bloc to vote for House Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore’s own votes from his Merlin First Class reward, House Potter and House Black. There have been hints of him trying to claim the four Hogwarts Founders votes for the Bloc, but found that he could not do so due to the fact that, while unknown, there are heirs for the houses.

Due to Lord Potter finding out and claiming the Ravenclaw Lordship, Gringotts is now pushing for all those who are muggleborn to come to the bank and get family trees done. The rate is a galleon for a basic mapping that will tell you if you are connected to a line or if you have the ability to claim a line. For a more in depth, it is five to ten galleons.

This Wizengamont meeting showed just how things would change with the voting that happened…

First Tournament Task Pushed Back Until After the New Year as New Contracts Are Created!

By Kelly Anderson

It has come to our attention here at the Daily Prophet office that it has been decided that the First Task will be pushed back with the second continuing on in the first week of March instead of in February as planned. The Third Task will happen as planned in Late May.

This decision had been made when they had negotiated for November had to be renegotiated….

Harry lowered the Quibbler as he folded it back together, snoring softly as Luna smiled sweetly at him. “Well done, Luna,” he said, shaking his head. “At least on your article. ‘Lord Potter Shows One Card in His Hand With His First Vote, and It’s All About The Students’ really grabs your attention, that’s for sure,” he said as he traded the Quibbler for Cassius’ copy of the Prophet.

He, Neville, Luna, Fleur and Lucas had all been asked if they wanted to eat at the Slytherin table for dinner that day and they had accepted the invitations.

Draco snorted as he snapped his copy of the evening Prophet closed, shaking his head. “Father is going to end up having a conniption fit,” he warned, looking at Harry. “I think I’m going to follow Mother’s orders on this matter though,” he continued after a moment of thought.

Theo hummed from beside Greg on Draco’s left side. “Father is fairly pissed about all of this as it is. He was talking about pulling me from the school before Sam reminded him that he didn’t have control over the Nott name. Or fortune. Despite the fact that he’s supposedly Lord Nott, he married into the Nott family and it was because of mother’s death that he holds the title for now,” he drawled. “But it’s Sam that controls where I go. During the holidays though, I will be staying with Sam or Blaise,” he told his friends. “Sam very much supports Voldemort though so it does make it harder for me to do things.”

“Mother has already said that she was thinking of moving to her personal cottage on the shore for a time,” Draco admitted as he pulled out the letter he had gotten that morning. “She’s just waiting to speak with Lord Black about her marriage and what her options are. Along with speaking with father about things.”

“Your father will end up with two choices: he can continue to support an insane man who will probably end up killing him in some way, using your mother for entertainment, and have you killed in some way because of your father. Or, he can choose to find a third side to support seeing as I don’t think he would consider going to the so called Light side to be used as a pawn by Dumbledore,” Cassius drawled from behind the Quibbler. Harry blushed slightly at the implications, feeling a touch nauseous at it to. He shrugged, still agreeing with Cassius observations.

“You should head the Gray faction, Harry,” Luna said as she smiled up at him. He looked down slightly and raised his eyebrows in silent question. “It is a good time to settle into a position of power, a way to show the world a more balanced life. You are politically strong and the public opinion on you is good. If you can pull together more under the title of Gray, you will have some very strong allies when it comes time for things to start to happen,” she told him.

Fleur made a startled noise, staring at her. “Are you telling me that Harry was not lying when he said that he had to deal with someone trying to kill him every year?” she asked, so surprised by this bit of information that she slipped back into French.

Cassius hummed as Harry shook his head with a huff. “Nope. There was Voldemort on the back of Quirrel’s head in first year. A shade of some kind in what I think is Voldemort’s diary, which means that I might have his actual name now that I think about it. And last year, the real traitor to my family, Peter Pettigrew, who was Ron’s rat Scrabbers, was discovered. And of course this year with the tournament,” Harry said. Cassius pressed a kiss to his head with a sad smile.

“Shall we all have a picnic tomorrow seeing as it’s Sunday and we won’t have anything to do?” Cassius asked, changing the subject. “Have all of us come so that they can’t say we were alone?”

Harry smiled up at him and nodded. “I think I’d rather like that. I can tell you guys what I learned during second year to. Think we can go down to the Chamber?” he asked as he tapped a finger on his bottom lip.

Luna made a considering noise as she twirled pasta around onto her fork. “No. It’s best to have the Goblins come in and deal with the carcass first,” she said. “They can clear it out fast. If you contact them in the morning, you will be able to get them onto the campus by Wednesday. Do not let Dumbledore push you for any of the money that you will make from it,” she warned.

Harry nodded. “If anything, I think that anyone who had been affected by it that year will end up with money to get some much needed therapy. Especially the one who ended up being used by the diary.” Blaise frowned slightly as he thought of something.

“I will need to speak with mother about that,” Blaise finally said before looking down at his food. “I feel as if I know what the creation is but I’m not sure if I remembering correctly. I’d rather speak with mother before talking about it. But she might not have answers until late in the summer.”

Harry smiled and nodded as Luna hummed a happy tune, mixing some corn into her mashed potatoes and then topping with chicken and gravy. She said something about a KFC bowl, the group confused as to what she was talking about but deciding that it was probably something only she knew or saw. Which meant it was from the future.

Harry snagged a bite from her plate when offered and decided that it was rather tasty. He found a bowl next to his plate and used it to make his own mix. Cassius chuckled, noting again that Harry tended to go for things like fish and chicken instead of the heavier beef options or even pork. Luna just gave him a knowing look.

Shutting the study door behind him with a thud, Sirius locked his study down, hiding from not only Molly, who was trying to get the house ready for the Order, but also from Remus. The man had been out and about, never really staying very long ever since they had returned to England.

Sirius knew that he was doing things for Dumbledore, but he wouldn’t say what.

Either way, Sirius had come up with a plan since he had visited Gringotts and continued to work with a healer who hadn’t cared about his criminal status.

The plan was to bypass the records office and the Minister all together, instead writing to Amelia Bones. He had told his godson in their last letters to each other that he was going to work on getting his name cleared and the first step into that was to make it so that he could actually get someone to pay attention to the fact that he hadn’t gotten a trial at all.

He pulled out all of the requests that he had sent in the last few months to try to get copies of his trial transcripts, and the automatic denial letters from the files office. He quickly made copies, using an old Black technique.

While that was happening with the old typewriter, he turned to his parchment and put glass dip pen to paper.

To Director Amelia Bones

Head of the Auror Department

I write to you this day about a concern of possible miscarried justice. I have learned that it is possible that one of my own, one Sirius Black, may have been imprisoned without a proper trial. I find myself hoping that is not the case, but I am not holding much hope.

You see, I have written several requests to the Department of Trials, Transcripts, and Files over the last several months. In return, I have gotten nothing but denials from the department even though, being the Head of House Black, I have every right to those files. I fear because of this, either someone has hidden the files, made it so that no one can gain copies of them, or that there is no files.

Sirius paused in his writing, dunk his pen as he shook out his hand. He hated changing the style of his writing but he didn’t want to tip anyone off about him being Lord Black just yet.

Added to this letter are copies of the several letters that I have personally written to the department along with the rejection letters that I got in return. Seeing as I have received nothing but denials to my requests, again despite having the right to them as the Head of House Black, I fear the worst and that Sirius Black never received a trial.

Which is most concerning. If Sirius could have been sent to jail without a trial or due process, who else have been tried improperly or not at all? What does this mean for the prisoners of Azkaban?

I write to you this day in the hopes that you are not as corrupt as the Files Department has seemed to become. I am requesting the transcripts for Sirius Black’s Trial and all evidence logged against him. And if it comes that he did not get a trial, I am hoping to see about getting him a proper trial.

I will fight for this.

Lord Black

Head of House of Black

Wiping off his pen, he placed it away with the ink well as he waited for the letter to dry and folded the pages along with the copies, tucking them into an envelope. He sealed it using some wax and his ring. With things set up, he smirked. “Dobby?” he called out.

Dobby appeared with a smile and a bounce. “Masters doggy father called Dobby?” he asked.

“Yes. I am hoping that you have permission to deliver a letter for me. I do not need someone to stop this letter from getting to Director Amelia Bones, and you’re the only one I trust right now to get it to her,” Sirius told him. Dobby nodded his head so fast his ears flopped back and forth.

“Master has given Dobby and Winky permission to deliver letters and gather them for doggy father as long as it’s important,” he said as he took the letter. “Director Amelia Bones?” he asked.

“Yes. Please make sure that she’s alone and tell her that you will come for her response when she has one for me if you can,” Sirius requested. Dobby nodded once more. “Tell her that it’s from Lord Black and nothing more. Don’t mention my name or my connection to Harry though. That kind of information would be dangerous to get out.”

“Of course, Doggy Father,” Dobby chirped. Sirius chuckled as Dobby popped out, leaving the man alone.

He blew out a breath and sat back, looking to the wall clock and checked the time, pursing his lips. “It’s still early. She should be there and I do expect a letter in response in the next few hours. Means that I can’t hide here for the day,” he growled before he shook his head. He made a quick decision. “No, no I do not have to deal with them if I don’t want to. I have things to do. House things. Let them think what they want though. I’m not here for them.”

He sat up straight in his seat and pulled the paperwork that his Gringott’s manager had sent him to work on. He started to work his way through them. He was a Lord and had business after all.

Looking up from her cup of morning tea that she always had in her office while going through the morning paperwork, Amelia frowned at the elf. She noted that it had the Potter, Black and Ravenclaw crest on his uniform. He bobbed in a bow.

“Lord Blackies asked Master to borrow Dobby to deliver a letter for him. And to pick up one in return,” he said as he held out an official looking letter.

Amelia put the cup down before she took the letter, looking at the label on the front before flipping it over to look at the wax seal. It was indeed one of the official Black Seals, only placed by one of the Lord or Lady rings. Like most families, the level of detail on the seal showed just how strong the claim on the headship was.

By the level of detail she was looking at, it seemed as if the current Lord Black held the top tier of power.

“Thank you,” she said, placing the letter down. She dug around in her drawer, pulling out two wooden charms. With a tap of her wand, they glowed, and she gave Dobby one of them. “This will glow when I’m done with my letter to Lord Black. This way you can go about your day,” she explained as she hung the matching charm from her wand handle.

Dobby nodded, tucking it on a slim chain that hid under his uniform before disappearing. With the elf gone, Amelia turned her attention to the letter, breaking the seal and reading over it with a frown before she scowled at the copies of letters that Lord Black had sent to her.

“Bugger, this is not good news,” she growled. She stood up quickly and left her office with the copies of the rejection letters in her hand. Her secretary watched her leave with wide eyes as she stormed past, surprised to see the director in such a tear so early in the morning.

She walked from the Auror department, taking the elevator down one floor and stalking into the Department of Trials, Transcripts, and Files. Marianna Lestrange, the Director of the department, looked up in surprise when Amelia stalked into her office and slammed several papers down.

Amelia knew that the woman was smart, being a branch member of the main Lestrange family and having gone to a school in Salem, so she was hoping that she hadn’t been stupid enough to send the denials out of maliciousness.

“Director Lestrange, can you tell me why it is that you refused to find and send copies of the Sirius Black Trial to Lord Black?” Amelia asked. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Marianna’s eyes went blank and her face slack right before her.

“There is no reason for me to find the trial transcripts of Sirius Black. He is guilty of betraying the Potters,” she said. Her voice had taken on a strange monotone, flat and emotionless. Amelia groaned, knowing just what that meant.

She walked over to the door and yanked it open, sticking her head out, looking at the young girl who had been chosen from the secretarial pool for the day. “Go get medical now. It seems as if your boss has been compulsed and needs medical attention. Tell them it’s an emergency,” she instructed. The girl’s eyes widened and she nodded, hopping up and running for the small floo room to call down to medical and get someone there.

Amelia pulled back and closed the door before hitting Marianna with a stunner before pulling up all the information on Sirius Black. She found where the files should be and made a note, waiting for the medical team to come up and gather the woman. Two healers came in and placed the stunned director onto a stretcher. While one of them left with her, the other took notes from Amelia about what had happened and what name had triggered it.

She asked them to try other names based around Sirius Black and the Potters to see if there were other names that she should look into.

They promised to have that information by the next day for her report. She took a deep breath as the assistant director came in. He was a young man named Aaron Kennedy, chosen more for his knowledge of the archives than his blood purity.

She told him that she was looking for the Sirius Black Files and handed him the list that she had found. He found a few more that he told her needed the director or assistant director permissions to get to them.

He quickly gathered them up with his pass and wand, making a few copies for her and handing them over.

“I suggest that you get yourself looked at. I found that the Director has been under a heavy compulsion around all information on Sirius Black. Who knows who set it on her or if others have been hit,” Amelia warned. He promised to have the department checked over.

Amelia returned to her office and sat down to start reading through the paperwork. She started to curse loudly as she read over what paperwork there was. It seemed as if the old administration had just tossed Sirius into Azkaban without a trial.

Taking a deep breath, she reheated her tea cup, drained it, and then pulled out a quill, ink pot, parchment, and an envelope. She wrote out a quick letter that she had found out why Lord Black had been getting the rejection letters instead of the files, and that she was looking deeper into Sirius Black and the lack of trial.

She used the time the letter was drying to clean her quill and put things away before folding and tucking the letter into an envelope. Once it was ready, Amelia removed the charm from her wand and tapped it to let Dobby know that it was ready.

She sighed and rubbed at her face with a groan once Dobby had picked up the letter.

“Damn it. This is not going to be a fun talk all around,” she groaned, shaking her head. She stood up and gathered her copies of the files. “I just hope I can catch the Minister without the pink toad in the office.”

Harry looked up from his book when Hermione set a book down on his table, staring at her in some surprise. Fleur peeked around the bookcase that she had been looking for a book at, Harry waving her off. He wanted to hear what Hermione had to say and he trusted her not to attack him outside of her words. He was curious though.

It had been just about four weeks since he had been called to be the Fourth Champion. Four weeks that had quickly turned his life upside down and inside out in many good ways. The first week had seen him making the Vow that he hadn’t had his name put in or put it in himself. He had also found out about the Ravenclaw name, claimed his Lordships, and become heir to the House of Black.

Cassius had asked to court him at the end of the week, which had been a pleasant, lovely surprise and one that he had happily said yes to.

Finding out his godfather had claimed his own Lordship had soothed him quite a bit. Not only that but his godfather had written to Amelia Bones as Lord Black about his trial and was getting things looked into.

The second week that followed was him had seen him learning just how it was to be courted by Cassius and setting up their contract. A kind of subtle happiness had settled into his heart and magic, something that Harry wanted to grow and work to building into something solid and true.

From the day that they agreed to start courting, they found themselves growing closer and connecting to their growing friend group.

Week three though had been the real change in his life. Harry took his place on the Wizengamont and showed the first card in the carefully built hand that he was creating with his friend’s help.

And he had been well liked for his choice to support checking over Hogwarts by many of the people.

He had also really started to get to know the Slytherins even more. He had learned that Draco’s spoiled brat act was just that, an act. He did come from a rich family and one that had power in their world, but he wasn’t spoiled outside of his mother. He had to learn how to work around their world after all and the best way was to be under estimated.

Harry had also learned more about Blaise, finding him that he was as he portrayed. An Italian male who lived with his mother who was famously considered a Black Widow. The truth of it was that they were from a family line that was cursed, one that would break with her fourteenth husband. None of her other family had ever dared to do it before, but she would. She had told her son when he had been old enough that she refused to allow the curse to follow him.

Blaise had told them that she chose her husbands carefully. Her first had had a taste for children, and once she had had her child from him, the curse had dealt with him. The next six had all been chosen for their own evils and all had fallen to the curse within two years.

Pansy was smart and pretty in her own way, her nose looking slightly squashed because of a childhood accident that had broken it. She had plans on getting it fixed finally once she hit twenty-five because the particular potion that she had to take required her to not be actively growing any more.

Theo was harder to get to know since he had to hide who he was for the most part in public, but he was smart. Sarcastic and was nothing like his brother or father apparently. The current Lord Nott had taken over as head when their mother had died. Theo had said that he thought his mother’s death hadn’t been natural seeing as she had refused to take a potion for a daughter to be used as a bargaining chip for the family to gain more power.

Theo’s brother though had reminded the man that he couldn’t marry anyone and keep the name unless they were both dead and there were caveats to that.

Neville though had really shown just how smart he was. He was brilliant in many ways and had so much knowledge about plants and their world that Harry was glad that he knew the other male. He was figuring out that what his grandmother had done hadn’t been right, and that his uncle had been outright abusive. Harry could commiserate with him about having to come to terms with this, but was glad that Neville was working on it with his grandmother.

Daphne and Tracy, they were best friends and heirs to their respective houses, were close in a way that wasn’t sexual but intimate. Their magic mirrored each other in a lot of ways. Daphne was still called the Ice Queen but she was far from cold to those that she called friends. She was warm and open. Lovely in all sorts of ways and willing to help when asked. Tracy was sarcastic with a cruel streak against those who would hurt her people. But much like Daphne, she was warm and open to her friends.

Vincent and Greg, Harry didn’t know quite as well, but he knew that they had issues because of a learning disability that had been made worse by the inbreeding of their families. Their parents were first cousins twice removed and had had their own issues with learning and magic.

Harry had warned them that they should probably find wives from outside of the British Isles and keep finding brides from outside of their shores. Or find a muggleborn bride if needed.

But during those four weeks, outside of the few times that Hermione had joined to study, and her letter to him, he hadn’t truly spoken to her. Or Ron. He knew that Ron and Ginny were still trying to rile others up, somehow not believing him even after the Vow but he was learning to let go of Ron.

Harry had decided the first friend or not, he was not going to let go of the other male. But he was still on the fence when it came to Hermione.

He would see what she had to say and make his decision based off that. Either way, it was going to take time to get back to where he had been with her, if they ever did. He was kind of hoping that she was changing, growing as a human, learning about their new world. He would hate to lose her as a friend.

“Hermione,” he greeted.

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Hello, Harry,” she said softly. “Do you have time to talk?” she asked.

“I do have time,” Harry said as he nodded his head, closing the book that he had been reading through. He had been working on his Potions essay but it could wait. “What do you need to talk about?” he asked.

“I…I don’t…” Hermione stuttered and tripped over her words before she huffed and groaned.

Harry smiled slightly. “You don’t get wny the Old Bloods sneer at you and tell you that you need to learn things without demanding that information? To watch instead of act?” he asked. Hermione nodded her head. “That’s because you have a habit of demanding to know something instead of asking.”

“What do you mean by that?” she asked. She quickly blanched, realizing what he was saying just by the way she had demanded his answer, sinking down in her seat. “Oh. I see now.”

“Exactly, you demand. You may think you’re asking, but you’re not. It’s all about the tone and wording, Hermione. Your tone is always a demand for an answer. Demanding that the person you’re talking to, to provide information. Demanding to be told everything you want to know right at that moment. You expect answers right then instead of stopping, taking a moment to look for it yourself, or watching to get your answers. You don’t look, Hermione,” he told her as he sat back. “What do you see when you look at someone like Daphne?” he asked.

Hermione frowned for a moment. “A Slytherin classmate who is smart but tends to be stand-offish with the rest of her classmates.”

Harry shook his head with a smile. “That’s surface observations. That’s what she wants you to see. What I see is a brilliant heiress who is growing into herself and needs to be careful around those who would see her fail as the Greengrass Heiress. I see someone who watches, who catalogs, and who moves about our world with an ease that is to be jealous of. I see someone who knows the truth of a person and who they are, just judging them on their actions, their words, and their thoughts. I see a friend and an ally.”

Hermione stared at him in some shock, her mouth hanging open slightly as she thought about what he was saying.

“When I look at Draco, I see that he wears the mask of superiority like most heirs do when in public. What other’s don’t see is that he is a Black first and foremost, but he is also the Malfoy heir to everyone else. Thus he needs to show the world what they think the Malfoy Heir should be. So he shows them that he’s the boy who will run to daddy to get whatever he wants. The boy who thinks that he’s better then everyone. The boy who screams ‘spoiled brat’. But he’s not quite that spoiled. He’s had three years in school to grow, to figure out himself and his place. His mother has helped a lot in her own way. So what he shows to the rest of the world is much different then what he shows to those that he calls friends. It keeps him protected from those who would use him and allows him to find true allies. Hermione, you see things like a muggleborn, not like what Lord and Lady Warrington call New Bloods. You want the Wizarding World to change to what you expect of it, and don’t seem to want to learn what it actually is.”

Hermione slumped in her chair and stared down at her hands. “Do I really come across like that?” she asked softly.

“Hermione, you want to free a race that is dependent on the magic of their bonded humans,” Harry said softly. “You heard about house elves once, and you went on a rampage without talking to them personally. Or even talking to others who would know about them. They have a bond with a witch or wizard so that the magic that they can pull is filtered. Unfiltered magic could kill them. Or drive them insane. If you really want to make a difference with them, remind the Wizarding World of their contracts with having a house elf and that if the elves ever decide enough is enough, they can and will destroy the bonds. That would free them to return to their original home. It’s been far past the time for them to do that without consequences,” he told her. “Work to make conditions better for them but play the game properly, Hermione. Do your research. You have money and access to books after all. You can talk with teachers who will be happy to explain things to you. You have the ability to learn this without demanding the knowledge that is there. You’re not helpless or hopeless.”

Harry pulled out a new piece of parchment and quickly wrote down several books. “Here. I suggest you start with these. A couple of them you might have to go to a second hand store to get a proper copy of but they’re all good starting points. They’re where I started myself,” he said, sliding the parchment over. Hermione noticed that he was a much better writer with a quill then he had been when they had first started the school. She had tried to help him learn how to use the quill but he had never gotten it with her.

She stopped before she asked though and really thought about their interactions and her way of trying to teach him. She had tried to make him learn how she had and gotten frustrated when he hadn’t listened to her in her eyes, but with the time away from the lessons, she could see that he couldn’t hold the quill like she could.

Their hands were built differently and she had been trying to shove her knowledge about her way of writing on him instead of showing him how to adjust to his holding style with the quill.

Harry just smiled at her as he watched her face shift back and forth as she thought over things. “Draco and Daphne helped me to figure out how to write with a quill. I still tend to use a glass dip pen for note taking because it’s easier in class but quills are needed for essays,” he told her as he stood. He gathered up his things and placed the books on the rolling stand near the tables, thanking it quietly for the books before he left with Fleur. He left Hermione to sit and think about everything as she played with the paper in her fingers.

Hermione watched as Harry sat down with Seamus, Dean and Neville, the three talking about their Potions lesson that day. Professor Snape had actually been happy to have Harry out of his classes but to have several others leave to join those lessons had soured his mood after that. He had been taking that bad mood out on those still there but had found out that all of the point deductions and additions were suspended until after the Christmas holidays.

They were being logged into books and they would learn what was taken away or given for the right reasons.

It had happened along with the announcement that the castle was going to be shut down over the holidays. Those who couldn’t return home were going to staying on the grounds in temporary housing. Harry and his friends hadn’t seemed to surprised, telling her that they had plans already. She had written her parents and warned them that she was indeed coming home for the holidays and the day that they were going to come back.

They had agreed that they would see her that day and to enjoy the ball.

She was just glad that she wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of her family while she was thinking about things. She wouldn’t need to deal with her cousins sneering and teasing her again. Not right now.

Hermione sighed, turning to her food as she ate more of her breakfast, thinking about things again. She had used the last Hogsmead weekend to go to every single used book store that she could find in Hogsmead, using Daphne’s map that the other teen had given her. She had been able to find the books that Harry suggested and other books that were connected to those books, but she found that they hadn’t been as helpful as she had hoped when she got to them.

She didn’t mind though. It was better to have them when she didn’t need them then not to have them when she did need them.

Still, she had been thinking about what Harry had said to her. That she didn’t look and see. She didn’t watch things. And really, he had been right. She had sat down and done a therapy lesson that she used to do all the time. She would write down what happened without anything but the absolute truth.

She would then work on writing down her emotions at that time, and what she was thinking. After that, she would put it away for a few days to a month and come back to reread it and really look at it. The process had been shown to her to allow her time to process something and to read it. But she had stopped that when she had started Hogwarts, falling into bad habits in her excitement of a new place. It had taken her almost losing her friendship with Harry to remind her why she did it though.

She finished off her breakfast and picked up her bag, heading to the Potions class for the day. She noted that some of the older students were talking about collecting a pot to pay for a proper Potions tutor since they did need their Potions NEWT for their apprenticeships and they were stuck self studying. She heard one say that since Snape only took those who got EE on their OWLs it meant a lot of them missed the classes.

Another said that it wasn’t fair to them and were hoping that he was either replaced or forced to lower his standards and was forced to taught potions properly.

Hermione frowned to herself as she pulled out a small notebook and pen, something that she had started to do whenever she had questions since her talk with Harry. It had been another suggestion from her therapist once upon a time. She would write down her question and all the questions that connected to it before she worked to research the information if it wasn’t something personal.

If it was something personal though, she would take a bit of time to watch and wait to see if she could figure it out herself. If she could do so, she was happy. If not, she had to figure out just how invasive the question was so that she didn’t dig to deep.

Hermione wrote down her newest question before she tucked the notebook back into her bag again and walked down to the Potions classroom. Her mind was whirling with thoughts and questions.

That day in class, she watched as Snape didn’t teach them a thing about their potion or ingredients used in it. She watched as they learned more about everything from their book then his teaching and still coming out with a proper potion. She knew that she would still end up with a lower grad then some of the Slytherin’s in their class. On a whim, she took a vial of her potion and tucked it into the section of her potions kit that would keep it in stasis.

She was going to find someone who would be able to give her a proper judgment of her potions, and make a record of the discrepancies in the grade she got verses what she should have gotten. Harry had been right to tell her that she needed to learn how to think for herself.

And dealing with Snape’s unfairness by having a record of it would be the first step in doing just that.

Harry walked with Cassius and Krum on either side of him down the hall. Krum had gathered Cassius and then they had gotten him for the weighing of the wands. Cassius had promised that he would also be there as his Courter as well as being the Hogwarts Champion. This mean that Harry would be able to deny anything from others, including any journalist that he didn’t want to speak with.

The three stepped into the room where the ceremony was going to be held, finding that Dumbledore was smiling along with Crouch and Bagman, the two men nearly beaming.

“Ah, and here are our three other champions?” Bagman said, waving them over to the group. A woman with blond curls, a sweet smile that hid razor blades, and large glasses moved closer to them. “This is Rita Skeeter, the chosen journalist for the Tournament.”

Harry eyed her carefully as she walked over to him, making him feel as if he was being covered in slime as she looked him over. He gave her a warning look and moved to Cassius’ other side. “Mr. Potter-.”

“If you must only use a part of his name, it should be Lord Potter,” Cassius cut in sharply, staring her down. Rita tried to just how much Cassius made her fear for her life even if she wanted to get at Harry more. While the Warringtons were fairly easy going in regards to things, they were also well known to be fiercely protective about their loved ones. They also knew the laws better then she did.

“Ah, Heir Cassius. I was just…” She trailed off when Krum snorted from behind her.

“She vas hoping to jump Lord Potter and get a ‘private’ interview with him. Or perhaps, from her reputation, a smear campaign seeing as she has been passed up each time that he hav had something released in his name,” Krum drawled. His eyes ran up and down her. “She vas talking about it before I came to get you.”

Harry hummed, ignoring Rita easily. “Thank you for coming to gather us, Heir Krum. I do not wish to speak with her at this time, and I do believe Lord Black has made it well known that if she is to write about me, all of her articles must go through an approval process,” he said, smiling at Fleur in greeting. “And that goes for anyone who is writing about me even without names, just hinting or suggesting.”

Fleur tittered an waved a hand. “Come, we are to get the wands weighed,” she chirped. Harry smiled as he walked over with Cassius sending Rita one last glare before he followed his partner. Krum joined them and looked to Ollivander who was smiling and watching them with knowing looks.

“Ah, yes. Shall we start?” Bagman asked. He looked confused and slightly upset, Crouch frowning from where he was sitting, watching everything.

“Yes, yes, we shall,” Ollivander said. He easily ignored the flash of the camera going off to the side as Rita fumed silently. He waved Fleur forward and took the offered wand with long fingered hands. “Ah. Wonderful workmanship. I take it that you went to a private wand maker in France?” he asked.

“Yes, my uncle,” Fleur said as she nodded her head.

“Wonderful. Yes, I know of his work and had the option to learn from him once about working with various hairs. He does good things with different woods. Nine and a half inches. A good length for you. Inflexible, which says a lot about yourself. But then again, most rosewood wands tend to be fairly powerful. Ah, I see,” Ollivander mused, smiling at the wand.

“My grandmuzzer’s hair, yes. An ‘air from ze ‘ead of a veela,” Fleur said, smiling softly. “One of ze last that she gave.”

“Very good,” Ollivander said. He smiled as he flicked the wand, a bouquet of flowers appearing. “It’s in perfect working condition. Well done in keeping it up to snuff. Let’s see.” He hand her wand back. “Heir Krum?” he asked, turning to him.

Krum handed his wand over with a nod. Ollivander made several soft sounds as he looked over the wand.

“Ah, good. Ten and three quarter inches long. Wood is hornbeam?” he asked, Krum nodding his head once. “Thought so. It’s a bit thicker then what I would have done with it, but I’m supposing that you have a bit of extra dragon heart-string as your core due to your magical core?”

“Yes. My father had a fairly large strand left from an old hunt,” Krum admitted. Ollivander nodded his head.

“It is strong. By Gregorovitch?” he asked.

“One of his last as a professional wand maker,” Krum admitted.

“He did good work. He worked with hard to shape woods and cores, but for where you live and he worked, I think that it was for the best. The magic is quite wild in Russia and Bulgaria,” he said softly. He flicked the wand and conjured several birds that flew out before they disappeared in a shower of sparkles. “It’s in fine working order, which I am hardly surprised at.” He handed Krum his wand. “Heir Warrington?”

“Mother and father took me to Italy for mine,” Cassius admitted as he pulled out his darkly colored wand. “Unfortunately us Warringtons’ have yet to find a match in your shop.”

“Which is quite true. My wands do tend to lean towards those with either a Light or Dark core, and rarely to a Gray core,” Ollivander said.

Harry noticed from the side of his eye that Dumbledore was looking as if he was sucking on a lemon at those words. He wondered about that before turning back to Ollivander.

“Black walnut and white river monster spine?” Ollivander asked as he stroked his fingers over the wand.

“Yes. A friend of the family owns a preserve. When they die due to the natural run of life, be it a predator, each other, or just old age, if the body is still good, most of the creatures are collected for various reasons,” Cassius told him. “One had died the week before I was going in for my wand choosing so he had fresh parts to use.”

“It’s a good wand for you. Ten inches, fairly bendy but stiff,” Ollivander hummed. He nodded and flicked the wand. A goblet appeared before a stream of wine that smelled like berries and honey filled it. “Perfect. Now, Lord Potter?” he asked as he handed the wand back to Cassius. Harry handed his wand over. “Yes, good. You’ve taken cared of your wand. Eleven inches and made of holly with a phoenix feather core. Still nice and supple,” he said. He eyed Harry. “Should you find yourself in need of a new wand though, Lord Potter, I do suggest that you look outside of our shores for it.”

He flicked Harry’s wand, conjuring silver smoke that twisted into a snake before turning into a small bounding cat with spots and rather large ears before disappearing.

Harry stared at the man with a thoughtful look as he took his wand, going to stand with the other Champions to take their pictures. He would have to talk with Blaise later.

Blaise was the one with wand lore knowledge that he could ask about after all.

“You want to go talk to Blaise?” Cassius asked as soon as they left the room. Harry nodded his head. “I have to wonder why he told you to go beyond England for a new wand,” he mused, keeping his voice low as they passed by chattering portraits.

“Not a clue,” Harry replied as they went down to the lower rooms where his tutoring classes were held. They were heading for the History round, knowing that Blaise and Luna at the least would be there for it. Sometimes Dean and Seamus would join them for it, but the others have started to use their History class as a way to study or to do self-study History themselves.

They stayed silent the rest of the time they walked through the halls, holding hands as Harry frowned and thought about some things.

“You think I should go to Gringotts and get a deeper scan done?” he asked.

“I’m going to suggest waiting until the summer months to get it done,” Cassius suggested. “You’re going to stay in the Potter mansion during that time right?” he asked.

Harry nodded. “For now that is the plan. The goblins have gotten to it. It’s still standing. Apparently the building that was destroyed hadn’t been the main house, just a guest house that my grandparents had been staying in while the main house had been deep cleaned,” he admitted. “It’s the house that anyone who wasn’t family ever saw to. I don’t think the headmaster knew that either.”

“So the main house still stands,” Cassius mused, Harry smiling. “And it’ll be ready for you?”

“Yes. I’ll be able to claim the house once I get there. My Lord ring will take me to the apparation and portkey point when I get to the train station if I don’t meet someone else there. Then I can send you a letter with any information on the home and a floo key so that you and your parents can come visit,” Harry said as he smiled at his partner. “I hope that you and your parents will come join us this New Years. Maybe for Christmas day to. I’m going to be staying with Neville and his grandmother. They’re also going to the Malfoy ball on Yule, but I’ve also been invited. I told them that I would go to,” he told him.

“Me and my parents are going to the Malfoy ball to. We go every year. I do think I’m going to enjoy seeing you all dressed up,” Cassius teased him. Harry blushed slightly as they walked into the classroom that he used.

“I take it that the ceremony went well?” Ariel asked as she set her teaching books up for the day. Seamus, Dean, and Blaise were already waiting for them at the long tables. “Luna sent a letter with Seamus that her father has gathered her for a few hours to get her fitted for her Yule dress. It seems as if Mr. Thomas here was kind enough to invite her as his date.”

“I wanted her to experience the ball with us. She’s just a year younger then us and deserves it just as much as we do,” Dean said, shrugging with a smile.

“That’s good of you,” Cassius said, smiling at him. “And it went fine as far as we could tell. Skeeter was there, but I was able to remind her that pissing off the Warringtons was not a good idea and that Harry was a Lord in his own right.”

“Ollivander also told me something. He said that if I go for a secondary wand, I’m to go outside of England or Britain,” Harry said as he took a seat at one of the tables. “I’m trying to figure out why though.”

“I can tell you that,” Ariel said. She twisted her red streaked black hair up and out of her face into a bun. “At least I think so.” She sat down in a chair near them. “You guys are under some really heavy, hard line laws when it comes to the types of wands, wand cores, wand shapes, and wand woods that you can use. Oh, Ollivander could most likely leave the country, create the wands he wants elsewhere, and then bring them back. No issues. But that’s a bit of a hard thing to do when you’re technically the only mass market wand maker in your country and people constantly need new wands constantly for whatever reasons.”

“She’s right,” Blaise drawled.

“So because of business and laws, he’s confined on what he can do,” Dean summarized.

“Exactly. So if he’s telling you to head outside of the country for a second one, he’s probably telling you that he thinks that something is messing with your connection to your current wand or it’s not a perfect match. That it might be based on one factor instead of several,” Blaise said as he rested his chin on his hand. Ariel nodded her head in agreement.

Harry hummed as he looked at the others with a thoughtful look. “I think I will head to Gringotts this summer to do a deep scan to see what’s going on. And then if I need to, I will go find a new wand,” he said. Cassius nodded his head. “If anyone wants to come with me, just tell me. Tell the others if I can’t get to them would you?” he asked.

“Of course,” Seamus said, frowning before he shook his head. “Alright, let’s go ahead and do this.”

“Well then, today’s lesson is about what kind of real, true facts we have on the founders. Lord Potter, if you can figure out where they are, if you can make copies of Ravenclaw’s journals, I’m fairly sure that they will fill in some information,” she said.

Harry nodded. “I’ve had the goblins set up a small team to go through all of the books in the Ravenclaw vault and find any and all journals from family members. Some things I can’t share, so they are being edited in such a way to remove certain things, but there’s a lot there. There’s also journals from the Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff lines before they disappeared as names,” he told her. Ariel beamed at him before she launched into the lesson.

06 Yule Balls and Winter Holidays

The day of the Yule ball came and it was a cold, snowy one. The trees were heavy with the snow that had fallen over night while Hogwarts was a beacon of warmth and welcome. The carriage for the Beauxabaton’s students had been moved slightly closer with Hagrid clearing a pathway and laying salts to stop the snow from sticking. Or creating a slushy mess.

Harry found himself dressed in a tasteful green robe that Fleur had suggested, telling him that it went well with his eyes. The cut of it was on the androgynous side, two other robes in different styles still hanging in his wardrobe. One had been done in a more masculine cut, laying straight from shoulder to ankle. The other was more of a feminine cut, buttoning at the waist to accentuate the bust and hips with a bit of corseting ties in the back while flowing loose to sit over a full skirt.

His chosen robe though was somewhere between the two. The sleeves were tight and curled around his hand just above his thumb joint while the shoulders fit close to his body, following a line down to three buttons that would sit around his waist, creating an outline that was neither male nor female. With the cut of it, he could wear either regular slacks or a skirt under it depending on what he wanted.

He had gone with a pair of slacks that were loose, pleated in a way to create a kind of skirt style. He had paired it with a light cream, solid shirt as his top, a thin stripe of a tie that matched the robe and finished it all off with a pair of ankle boots with no heel.

Fleur had taken to attacking his hair to get it styled, glad that Harry had started to allow it to grow out seeing as it curled ever so slightly. “I told you that your hair would curl if you let it grow out. It was much to wild short to not to,” she told him as she twisted small bits of his hair around her fingers, watching them curl even more. “Now, it is a matter of fixing the damage of your time with your…aunt and uncle.”

Harry snorted, smiling at her reflection as she continued to work her fingers through his hair. By the time that she was done, his hair was a series of soft waves that curled around his face and part way down his shoulders.

They came to stand in front of the mirror in Harry and Lucas’ room, smiling at each other. Fleur had decided to wear a beautiful, light mint tulle dress for the ball. Leaves created one shoulder strap and went across the top while a single thin strap held up the other side. It was loose and went beautifully with the sprigs of holly leaves that created her hair piece.

“Are you ready?” she asked. Harry smiled at her and nodded. “I am taking someone called Roger Davis. He was the only one to have the actual balls to ask me and be respectful about it. Lucas is going with his fiance, Amanda,” she told him as they left his room, finding Cassius standing in the main area waiting for them.

He was wearing a handsome set of black robes that had been tailored to fit him perfectly with a crisp white shirt and black slacks over simply black shoes. He also wore a tie that matched the color of Harry’s robes that rounded the outfit out along with a tie pin in the shape of a sword with a carnation on the hilt.

“You look…wonderful,” Cassius breathed the moment he caught sight of Harry. Harry smiled, blushing softly, taking the other male’s hand to step closer to him. Roger was swallowing heavily as he greeted Fleur himself, handing her two golden lilies.

“My mother was nice enough to gather them for me,” Roger admitted. “She grows them in her personal garden and I didn’t want to seem like I was here only because you’re beautiful,” he said. “I asked you because I have watched you with your friends and I’m hoping to have the chance to get to know you. Even just as a friend.”

Fleur smiled at him, touched by the gesture, and took the flowers. Her sister swept up to her to gasp at the pretty flower. “Zey are beautiful,” she said, stroking the petals with a smile. She instructed Gabriella to put them into a vase for her before the two couples left the carriage, heading for the castle and the Great Hall.

They greeted Krum, who was waiting for them with his own date, one blushing Hermione Granger.

“Ah, is that where you were when not talking with Daphne, Tracy or studying with us? Secret dates in the library?” Harry gently teased her. She huffed at him, her lips twitching up into a smile.

“No. He…he offered to answer some questions I had after our talk,” she told him. She smoothed a hand over the skirt of her periwinkle blue dress. She then adjusted the off-the-shoulder ties and took a deep breath. “He, along with Daphne, Tracy, and Pansy, have helped me to see what I was missing in a lot of ways. And when he needed a date that wasn’t going to be a fangirl, I agreed to go as a friend.”

“She is very kind, but, misguided in some ways,” Krum said, nodding his head. “I have set her up to speak with mother about the English Culture.” He slightly smiled at them. “Mother iz half-Irish. She came to Hogwartz for part of her schooling,” he explained.

“Then I hope that she’ll be able to help you even more, Hermione,” Harry said in approval, nodding his head. They all turned to McGonagall who looked them over before she nodded her head.

“Alright, form a line please,” she said. “As you all know, because of the changes that are happening, the first task will happen the day after you return to school on the fifth of January. More changes will be announced tomorrow at breakfast before you leave for home for the holidays,” she told them. “I suggest you prepare for that.”

The four champions all shared a look before they nodded in agreement. They then turned to the doors and walked into the Great Hall with their heads held high, more then ready for whatever was to come.

Sitting down at the table for the champions and their dates after the opening dance, Harry blew out a breath and smiled at Cassius. The other male chuckled softly. “You danced very well,” his partner said.

“It’s only because of you and Blaise that I was able to learn how to dance at all,” Harry said. He shook his head with a small smile. Cassius chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to his temple. Percy, who was sitting at the table along with the other people who were running the tournament, looked as if he was sucking on a lemon. The other officials were just ignoring them for the most part.

“Really…” Percy started before he snapped his mouth shut at the bland smile that Harry sent him.

“If you have an issue with me or my courting partner, I am sure that I can care less then I do right now,” Harry warned him. He had been spending quite a few hours since November 1st with the Slytherins, Daphne making him learn how to put someone down without putting them down. Along with acting like he didn’t care what others had to say. “But I am sure that your bosses would love to know what you are saying about one of the Lord’s and his courting partner, who is also the heir of a Most Noble and Ancient Family,” he continued.

Cassius hummed as he acted as if he was ignoring them. “I think that I’ll do the pork dinner with the garlic carrots and a half of a baked potato for my main dish. Have the salad for my appetizer,” he mused as he tapped the menu with his wand. “I’m going for apple cider tonight to. Maybe the chocolate and caramel mousse for desert.”

Harry hummed. “The apple cider sounds just perfect, but I think I’m feeling that I would like a nice fruit tray to start. I’m not looking for anything heavy tonight. Oh, they have a sandwich called a BLT. Looks like thick sliced, crisp bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a nice crisp sourdough bread with a mixed spread on it. It comes with fresh cut chips and a small salad,” he said, turning his attention to Cassius. He tapped his choices. “And I’m feeling like chocolate, so I think I’ll stick with a small slice of chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting.”

“Zey have many French options to,” Fleur said happily as she looked over the list. Rogers smiled next to her.

“I heard around that the Hogwarts Elves got with the other elves of your schools to make sure that there were various options,” Rogers told them as they chose to share a baked Brie with Krum and Hermione as their appetizer. Rogers chose the Coq au Vin, which was just a chicken braised in red wine along with mushrooms and onions. Fleur on the other hand decided on a Steak au Poivre with red wine pan sauce that she said was a good choice when done well.

Hermione agreed with her and ordered the same thing while Krum went for a shopska salad for his first dish. He also chose the stuffed peppers that he enjoyed to go with it.

The rest of the table went with other things like pot roast and vegetables in Percy’s case, a Shepard’s pie for Dumbledore, and a beef stew with crusty bread for McGonagall. Bagman just went with what Percy got and smiled at the champions.

“I see that our four Champions are getting along well,” he said. Harry smiled at him as he picked up the cup of hot cider that had appeared, sipping it.

“Yes. Cassius, Fleur, and Heir Krum have all been very helpful in learning various things. And of course, Cassius is in the process of courting me,” Harry said, smiling up at his partner. He got a small smile from him in return. “It’s been amazing to get to know new people and learn new things. Madam Maxime was very kind in opening her doors to me during this time. And of course, my tutors are teaching me quite a few things that I haven’t learned here during my years as a student,” he told them.

Bagman blinked as Percy scowled. “What do you mean by that, Lord Potter?” Bagman asked, Harry making a considering sound.

“I mean that I have learned more about Wizarding History then anyone who hasn’t self-studied from the start of taking History here. I know how to properly brew a potion because I was taught about the various styles of cutting ingredients and why you need to cut them that way. And I know what their interactions are with other ingredients. Things that all incoming first years really should have learned during the first class instead of being sneered at and told to brew without any instruction,” Harry said. Dumbledore stared at him from over the rim of his cup. “It means that I am thinking of seeing if we can not have someone come in and check on the quality of the education that we are getting. McGongall, Flint, and Sprout are three of the best teachers though.”

Dumbledore’s smile looked a bit straight as the conversation started about what the other students all learned and how their own schools were structured. He could feel his control over things slipping away with every word. His eyes though constantly turned to Harry, who was studiously ignoring where Ron was hanging out with his fellow Gryffindors and their dates, focused on everyone else.

The rest of the ball went by in a blur of talking to people about changes that could happen at Hogwarts, the upcoming tasks, and the group of people that would be going over every inch of the school starting the next day after it was emptied. Cassius and Roger escorted Fleur and Harry back to the carriage before Hagrid escorted them back to the school to make sure that they had everything packed up for the trip home.

Harry was planning on heading to Neville’s home with him, staying with him for most of the holiday and spending Yule with his godfather before he spent Christmas day with the Longbottoms and their friends. He had also agreed to attend one of the balls that he had been invited to by Narcissa. He was going to meet Cassius and go with him. He was kind of looking forward to it but he was glad that he had gotten a second formal robe just in case.

But now, Harry was looking around his room, smiling at Lucas when the other male handed him a smaller trunk to borrow. Seeing as Dobby and Winky had taken the last few weeks to gather every single item that was connected to his various families and tucking them into their proper vaults, including the Slytherin items for some reason, he wasn’t worried about anything being left behind.

Especially since there were rumors that Dumbledore’s impressive book collection had been cut by a third with the recollection of the Ravenclaw family books alone.

The Potter and Black family books that the man had somehow gotten his hands on had probably cut another fourth.

Outside of all of that going on, he was taking what he needed for his time with Neville, knowing that if he had he could send one of his elves to collection what he needed. Lucas was allowing him to borrow a smaller trunk that would hold what he needed for the holidays and a larger book bag for his schooling supplies. With everything he needed packed away, including the gifts that he had set up to be delivered by his house elves later, he was ready.

Harry smiled at Lucas.

“You’ll be staying here, right?” he asked, Lucas nodding his head.

“Yes. It seems as if mother and father are going to stay with grandmother. I…do not get along with her due to the fact that I take after her sister and mother. Both of who she hated. Mother tells me that grandmother would have ended up disowned if they hadn’t had an unfortunate ‘accident’,” he said, snorting. “She is finally stepping down though seeing as she is unable to do everything that a head of house in France need to do. Much less a Lady of France,” he continued.

Harry hummed. “I take it that your mother is going to launch an investigation into that so called accident?” he asked. Lucas just smirked at him, winking before he slipped into his bed as his curtains fell from where it had been held back by.

Harry shook his head with a chuckle, seeing the soft light of a book light as it shined through the curtains before he slid into his own bed.

As soon as he was comfortable, ready for the next day, he easily fell into a deep, easy sleep.

And right into a nightmare.

“What do you mean that the tasksss have been pussshed back to after the new year?” came a voice full of anger. The words had an almost hissing quality of them compared to a normal spoken word.

Harry looked around the room that he found himself in. He was standing in a run down mansion that looked to be on the smaller sides. The fireplace that he could see reminded him of the home that one of his teachers talked about in one of their history classes. It was one of the abandoned mansions where the Riddle family had all been killed in. It had been a big thing that had impacted quite a few businesses and lodged itself in history.

She had glossed over the fact that the family had been killed some eighteen years after the heir to the family had disappeared with a girl of a much lower status. The heir had returned after divorcing her apparently.

Harry shook his head free of the information, deciding that he would research it later, when he felt a rush of fear.

“Master…” a new voice came, sounding nervous and oh so familiar.

Wormtail. If it was him, that meant that the other voice was Voldemort’s.

“Our spy in the school said that that someone had told the Potter boy to look into things. To ask questions instead of just going with it. He now has control over the Ravenclaw and Potter family names, and is currently the regent for the Black name as heir,” Wormtail got out. It sounded as if he was barely keeping his stuttering under control.

Voldemort snarled, Harry moving to watch as he lashed out with a spell, sending the rat like man to the ground, writhing as he screamed under the Crutatious curse.

It broke as Voldemort snarled. “Write to him. Tell him to ssstay sssafe. To leave if he findss need. He could get to the brat later if need be. Ass long assss Potter getss to the end of the tournament,” he instructed before he cursed softly. “Feed me, Wormtail! It is time for my potion.”

“Y-y-yes, my l-lord,” Wormtail stuttered out, turning over on the floor and pushing himself up. He staggered out of the main room to another room that had been turned into a potions lab.

Harry followed close by and watched as he swigged a potion back, wincing as he stared down at his hands.

“Pettigrew, you absolute fool. Why did you have to listen to a pretty man with pretty lies?” he breathed. “You should have just stayed true to them. As least then you would have had a better life then just as a rat and an idiot tied to a wraith,” he scolded himself.

Pettigrew shook his head as he started to mix together in a glass jar, mixing together a yellow liquid with goats milk and a dark green potion that all turned a sickly green color.

Pettigrew stared at his reflection of the glass jar. “But then again, you were never that smart, were you?” he asked his reflection. “Always so jealous of what they had. Sirius with his good looks and Remus. James with his smarts and both of his parents loving him. And Remus, who was so brilliant with his ability to gain love even as a wolf…”

He shook his head head harshly as Harry watched with wide eyes. Pettigrew shook slightly, still under the after effects of the curse.

“And I was just…me. And he made me so…No. No do not remember. Do not think of the pretty lies. It’s to late now. You made your bed, you idiot.”

Pettigrew sighed, pulled off his jacket and laid it onto the table, a piece of paper fluttering out of a pocket. Harry narrowed his eyes as the man left with the jar and a bottle.

Once Harry was alone, Harry walked over to the paper and lent close to it to read what was on it. He blinked at the words in shock before he woke up with a gasp.

The first thing that he saw was Lucas frowning over him and waving his wand in scanning motions. “You were out of body,” he said in heavily accented English.

“I need you to write this down. Come and Go room. Collections Room. Section three, shelf four. Peter Pettigrew’s journal,” Harry rasped out. Lucas gave him a searching look but he did write down what Harry had asked. And a reminder for Harry to go see the Goblins about the fact that he had a connection that should not have been there at all.

Harry groaned as he sat up slowly, rubbing his head.

“What was that?” Lucas asked.

“A connection to Voldemort,” Harry whispered softly. “Somehow, the night that he killed my parents and tried to kill me, one was forged between us.”

“The Goblins will know what to look for then,” Lucas said. He called for one of the night elves that cared for them and asked for some hot chocolate for the both of them. “We have chocolate, then try to sleep without walking, yes?”

“Yes, that sounds good,” Harry said, smoothing a hand through his hair. He wrinkled his nose at the feeling of the sweat in his hair. “And maybe new bedding and a new nightgown. And a shower,” he sighed. Lucas nodded and watched as he slipped out of his bed.

By the time that Harry had taken a shower, the house elves had the bedding changed out for fresh showers and a new nightgown set out for the young Lord.

It wasn’t long after that, that Harry was writing down what he had remembered before he climbed into his bed. Lucas set a monitoring charm just in case Harry went walking again.

Staring at Dumbledore as the man walked up to him and his friend group at the train, Harry just frowned. “No, I am not returning to the Dursley’s. And the fact that you think you can ask that of me when I am emancipated and have a safe place to stay for the holidays is telling,” Harry said. Cassius looked over Harry’s head, giving Dumbledore a bored look while the rest of his friend group watched the interaction.

“It is safer…” Dumbledore snapped his mouth shut when Harry snorted.

“For who? Them? I don’t really find myself caring beyond the normal human amount of a stranger caring for another stranger. I am speaking with my manager about getting protections for their house put up if some idiot thinks that it’ll be a good place to try to find me. But outside of that, no I’m not interested in staying there. Do I want them dead? No. Do I want to live with them for some half-fueled protection? No. That is not a home for me. And you are nothing more then my headmaster at this time. So you really don’t have a say about what I do now that I am a Lord.”

Dumbledore sighed, gave him a sad, disappointed look, but left, knowing that if he pushed, he would find himself in quite the pot of boiling water. With his new emancipation and the fact that Sirius had gotten a trial set up for over the holidays, Dumbledore very much doubted that Harry would turn to him about any thing. He was watching his control slip more and more out of his hands.

Harry just shook his head as he and his friends all started to board the train. Hermione looked rather torn between talking about what that was all about and scolding Harry about his rudeness. Daphne tugged her back so that they were in the back of the group and could talk.

“Nothing Harry said to the Headmaster was wrong, or rude,” Daphne told her softly.

“But…”

“He was not rude. Short, curt, yes. Rude no. He’s a Lord who was speaking to a lower Lord about him over-stepping his boundaries as Headmaster and a low Lord compared to Harry,” Daphne stated. She gave her friend a look. “Remember what we told you about the houses?”

“That there are the Noble, the Most Noble, Ancient and Noble, Ancient and Most Noble, Most Ancient and Noble, and the Most Ancient and Most Noble houses,” Hermione responded after a moment of thinking. “In that order.”

“And where does the Dumbledore house land in that scale?” Daphne asked as they walked down the hall to a compartment.

“Due to the age of the house and their various controversies that the name has come under, it’s an Ancient and Noble house, falling from the Ancient and Most Noble house title,” Hermione said. She was starting to see where Daphne was heading with it.

“And House Potter, Black, and Ravenclaw are?”

“All three are Most Ancient and Most Noble, with Raveclaw also being a Founder. Therefore if anything, compared to Harry, Dumbledore is considered powerless, even if he was Harry’s magical guardian. Seeing as Harry is now a Lord of two of the houses and heir to the third, Dumbledore would be, at best, a vassal of the Houses Potter, Black, or Ravenclaw,” Hermione listed off. She sighed and shook her head. “It’s hard to remember that while yes, he himself has power, he is not powerful based on his family.”

“He was once considered politically powerful because of his defeat of The Dark Lord Grindelwald and the power that he supposedly wields. But his family in general isn’t well looked upon, and he’s been trying to dig the Dumbledore name out of the mud in all of the wrong ways. The fact that he has power, as we’re learning, is because he was holding so many seats for various families. He was seen as if he was wise, strong, and very much on the side of the light,” Daphne said, shaking her head with a frown. “Because of his manipulations, so much has been called Evil when it’s neutral, like all magic is. He’s destroyed so much with his need to control.”

Hermione sighed, shoulders slumping. She had been really working on the way she thought with the help of Daphne, Tracy, Pansy, and even Blaise. The Italian teen had given her a different view point when it came to the world around them, coming from a different country with different laws. They had all helped but she still had quite a bit of ways to go.

She was finding herself very grateful for the four of them and silently hoped that they would enjoy her Yule gifts to them. She was going to be sending them out when Dobby and Winky came by to drop off presents to her since she was still thinking about bonding with an elf herself.

Finding open cabins across from each other, Hermione, Pansy, and Daphne had all chosen one while their friends settled into the other cabin. Hermione was hoping to talk about some more things, as she had explained.

Harry looked out of the window, staring at the cold world past it and smiled as he watched carriages with the Gringotts workers head back to the castle. Those who had decided to stay in the castle for various reasons had all been shown to the tents that they were staying in that morning. There was one large central tent to act as the main area for eating and hanging out. Four ‘hallway’ like tents had been attached to the main tent to smaller tents that were set up as common rooms with smaller tents then connected to those tents for the dorm rooms.

There weren’t enough students to separate them by year but there were enough of them that the tent set up was spread across the whole of the Quidditch field.

He knew that Ron had decided to stay behind at the castle, muttering something about needing to think to Seamus and Dean. Apparently his older brother, Bill, had finally come around to talk with him about things. Harry had remembered seeing Ron being grabbed early that morning by Neville about two hours before they had to leave. He had come back an hour later to pack up the rest of his things to head to the tents. Harry had been there to hang out with Neville since he had been packed and ready.

Cassius smiled and squeezed his hand, drawing his attention. “Thinking about Weasley?” he asked. Draco groaned softly.

“I swear by all that is magical that Heir Weasley needs to take that boy into hand and give him a good, hard shake,” Blaise stated as he sat down next to Cassius, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Draco sitting on the other side.

“I’m just kind of glad that he did stay behind at Hogwarts,” Neville admitted. He shook his head as Luna slipped in and took another seat next to Blaise. “He was talking about maybe trying to corner you, Harry. To ‘talk’ with you about your need to hang out with ‘the slimy snakes’,” he continued.

Draco snorted as he sat, moving over so that Markus could sit, the older male rolling his eyes. “I’m just glad that we have one of the bigger compartments for us even without the girls,” he stated. “I also saw Heir Weasley on the way out to the carriages.”

“He was there to talk with Ron,” Neville told him as he settled back in the seat. “Ron came back real quiet after that talk to since I had to grab him this morning. No idea what happened during the talk, but he looked as if his stupidity had been slapped out of him again.”

“That happens often,” Harry snorted. “The cycle is that he’ll get mad about things and then something will happen, and he’s returned to reality soon after,” he told them. He crossed his legs as he pulled out a small book. “I don’t think I care much anyways. Not truly. In the last few weeks, I’ve found that school is a lot less stressful. Not only in homework and studying, but in my friend group to.” He stared at the ceiling for a moment. “Has it really only been nearly eight weeks since all of this started?” he asked.

“Yes, it has been only eight weeks,” Cassius chuckled. “Amazing what can change in such a short time. Trust me, I never thought that I would ask to Court you properly but at the time, and even now, it feels right.”

Harry smiled up at him, leaning into his warmth as Seamus made teasing cooing sounds, Dean shaking his head and laughing slightly at his boyfriend. “I’ll be nice to get out of Hogwarts for a time though. Especially since so many still believe, somehow, that I lied with the Vow. Or I’ve gotten around it.”

“That’s something that will end up being gone over in the new classes for Wizarding Traditions and Laws starting next year, yeah?” Seamus asked. Cassius nodded as Harry reached down to the bag at his feet, pulling it up and digging around to pull out the information that he had.

“Yes. A part of the decision to have the school looked over was starting a Saturday class for all muggleborns and raised students, and for those who were magically raised whose parents never bothered to teach them about,” Harry told them as he found his binder for the Wizengamont. “Everyone who was magically raised though will have to take a test the day that we return though. Once they’re gone over, they’ll end up set up with what Saturday classes they need to attend and with who. There will be four tutors so far for all of that. Me? I’m already working with a tutor who Lucas’ mother found for me. Along with Cassius’ and Blaise’s help of course.”

“Your tutor is one of the best Wizarding Law, Traditions, and Rituals teachers from what I know of them,” Markus grunted. He shifted so that he could lean against the wall by the door, tugging a blushing Draco to lean back into his arms. “You know what you’re doing for the first task?” he asked, changing subjects.

Harry wrinkled his nose as he tucked the papers away. “I had a note slipped to me. It’s dragons,” he said. Cassius scowled but nodded his head. “We have more time to prepare at the least. We’ve all agreed that if we can, we’re going to make sure the actual dragon eggs are covered in protections before anything.”

“It’s nesting mothers, isn’t it?” Draco groaned when they nodded. “Of course it’s nesting mothers.” He rubbed at his face and shook his head. “Oh, do tell your godfather that once things are cleared up, mother does expect him to come to tea after the the gala.”

Harry snorted. “He knows. He told me that once she heard about what was going on, she demanded he come see her. And talk to her about what he plans on doing with the Black family. Which is a lot,” he said. “Your father is either going to do what needs to be done, or he might end up losing his wife, and possibly his heir depending on what you want to do,” he warned softly.

Draco nodded as he slumped slightly, knowing just what Harry was talking about. Cassius hummed and squeezed Harry close as Markus buried his nose into soft blond hair. Luna looked rather pleased about everything and pulled out a copy of the Quibbler to read upside down as Dean and Seamus shared a look. Neville snorted and pulled out a book on herbology.

The rest of the train ride found the group of friends just being with each other, coming in and out of the two compartments that they had spread through. Hermione had come to chat with the main group, telling them that her parents were going to set up a date for a full blood test at Gringotts over the holidays.

And maybe pick up some investments in the magical world if Draco and Markus had time to come with them to the bank.

The two agreed to write to her at the least about the ones that they held, and what to look for in a Gringotts manager before they arrived at the station. They grabbed their trunks and ignored anyone who was watching them as they left the train. Harry had an odd feeling that some of the people watching them were close with or worked for Dumbledore, but he ignored them.

Instead, he focused on saying goodbye to his friends, Draco first. They promised to write each other and then he turned to say goodbye to Cassius, who was going to go with Markus to stay the night until his parents got home the next day.

Once they had all said their goodbyes and gone their separate ways, Harry greeted Augusta Longbottom with Neville, the three taking a portkey to the Longbottom Manor. They landed just outside of the wards, the two Longbottoms adding him to the ward key, riding in a small carriage that was pulled by a large, gorgeous horse down the path and to the manor. Harry had to smile when they stepped inside, feeling the warmth of the wards firmly settling around them.

“It’s a lovely home,” Harry told them as a house-elf came and took their bags to deliver them to their rooms for them.

“Thank you. The Longbottom family was built for sturdiness and the ability to hold firm against attacks, and our homes matche that,” Augusta said. She shook her head with a sad look. “The night that my son and daughter-in-law were attacked though, they were in a smaller guest house because the main house was having the ward stones gone over. It wasn’t healthy for a child to be there,” she said, gripping her cane.

Harry gave her a small, sympathetic smile as Neville shook his head. “That’s something I’ve been thinking about actually,” he said. “It’s really odd that they chose to do a check just two days after Voldemort apparently fell. It really should have waited until after the Death Eaters all had been dealt with,” Neville stated.

Harry nodded in agreement. “Speaking of, I have to warn you about something,” he said as he turned fully to the grandmother and grandson.

“This is about that trial for Sirius Black, isn’t it?” Augusta asked, Harry nodding his head. “Then let us go sit down and have tea with this conversation,” she decided.

Harry followed after her and Neville, knowing that what he was about to tell them was going to be a hard one, but he wasn’t about to blindside someone he considered an ally or friend. Especially when it would mean that more then likely Death Eaters were going to end up having new trials just because of the miscarriage of justice with Sirius.

Amelia had sent Sirius a warning about what could possibly happen once they shined the light on the fact that Sirius Black, supposed traitor to the Potters and Voldemort’s right hand man, hadn’t actually gotten a proper trial.

Harry blew out a breath and sat down in a chair, smiling at the elf who handed him his tea just the way he liked it before he turned to his friend and his friend’s grandmother. “Alright, let’s get this over with. This is going to be hard to swallow.”

“Tell us what is going to happen,” Augusta requested. Harry sighed as he sipped his tea before putting the cup down.

“As you probably know from Neville, Sirius is my Blood and Oath Sworn Godfather. What you probably don’t know is that he wasn’t the Secret Keeper as everyone seems to believe. Instead that was Peter Pettigrew. Sirius had thought that it would be the best option, having someone else be the Secret Keeper in private while he played the target in public. What they hadn’t known was that Pettigrew was already a Death Eater. That he would end up turning around and giving the man the secret to where my parents were hiding at the time.”

He swallowed and played with his fingers for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

“So, Pettigrew was the one to tell Voldemort about where you and your parents were? And that Halloween night, they died at his hand before…what? He was disembodied?” Augusta asked.

“As far as we’re able to tell, yes. He was a wraith by the records that Gringott’s was able to dig up. But if what I’ve been seeing through the connection with him is real, he has a body. A…twisted body of some kind, but a body nonetheless,” Harry said.

Neville frowned as he rested an elbow on the arm of the couch he was sitting on. “So that means that you being put into the tournament is because of…the Dark Lord?” he asked. Harry nodded.

“I’ll go into what we think is happening later, but first, let me get through all of this. Back to Sirius, because of the way that they rushed so many trials and the lack of trial for him, there’s a chance that we’re opening ourselves up to every single Death Eater that is currently being held getting a new trial. Alone this time. Just them and no one else. I’m going to push for a vote to get them all dosed with Veritaserum. Hopefully with Sirius setting it up with his own trial that he’s getting dosed, it will help push things forward. Our thoughts are, what humans wants to hide things if they are not innocent?” Harry asked as he sat back.

Neville’s face went through a mix of emotions before he put down his cup and rubbed at his face with both hands. “I take it this will include the Lestrange’s right?” he asked.

“Most likely. There’s every chance that they’ll end up some of the first since they were ‘tried’ together. Which is against all the laws of the land. Even ours.” Harry paused. “Especially ours.” He looked at them with a frown. “The fact that we were just coming out of war time doesn’t really excuse the fact that they weren’t tried individually.”

Augusta seemed to stare at him for a long moment before she sighed and nodded. “You seem so much more then what Neville has told me in letters,” she said.

Harry smiled slightly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “I think it’s because I really had a lot of time to think about some things personally. Markus and Cassius both suggested that I read certain books the day that we got on the train to head to Hogwarts. They were very informative. That and I’ve been spending a lot of time with everyone, so I guest I’m just more comfortable with being me. Just…not having to be someone who everyone thinks I am. I’m not the Boy-Who-Lived. I’m just Harry. I was raised in Surry and my only living relatives that I can claim any close relations to hate me. I may be a Lord, and I’ll do what I need to do for my estates and people, but I refuse to be anything more then myself. I won’t compromise my morals,” he said.

Augusta hummed. “It is a good thing that you are willing to tell us what might happen once Sirius has his own trial. When is it?” she asked.

“Seeing as we have a week before Christmas and Yule starts, it’s been set to start the last day of Yule. January first. I’ll be presenting a vote to overturn the protection for Purebloods against the truth serum on the second. We’ll be returning to school on the ninth. I have absolutely no doubt that by then, there are going to be a series of trials that are set up for the summer starting after Janurary fifteenth, when the first task is set to go. The second task will happen the day after Valentines day, and the third on May twenty-fifth. If things go the way that we think it’ll be going, this will all come to a head during the third task. It will either come to a sudden and final halt…”

“Or it’ll be a silent screaming start,” Neville said, voice firm but filled with worry. He shared a look with his grandmother, the woman nodding her head.

“I have always wondered just why the Lestrange brothers were there that night. They were smart before this. Perhaps now we can get some much needed answers and closure,” she mused. “The Longbottom Vote will back the Potter, Black, and Ravenclaw seats.”

Harry beamed brightly at her and nodded, happy about how things were turning out.

Never A Spare – 2/5 – Strailo

04 Wizengamont

05 Reuniting and Courtship

06 Yule Balls and Winter Holidays

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Never A Spare – 2/5 – Strailo

04 Wizengamont

05 Reuniting and Courtship

06 Yule Balls and Winter Holidays

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Strailo

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