Chapter Text
Harry, Severus, Lucius, Lady Longbottom, and Bill Weasley stared at Harry's results. "How?" Harry was puzzled. He thought his mother was a muggle-born.
"We were unsure but figured you were asking for the testing late at night for a reason. We began to research your family tree and discovered many interesting things." Ironclaw pulled a few scrolls closer to him. Ironclaw was the head account manager at Gringotts and had taken over the Potter accounts when they discovered several of their minor account managers were being bribed by Dumbledore. Bill Weasley mentioned it after the twins had informed their brother of the situation at Hogwarts.
"I see." Harry wondered what the scrolls revealed as he watched Ironclaw unroll the first one.
"This scroll shows the Potter family tree." Ironclaw pointed to Harry's name at the bottom and ran his finger up the tree. "As you can see, the family changed their names a few times. They were once the Peverells and before that, they were a mix of Gryffindor and Slytherin including the sons and daughters of the founders. The lines intermix a few different times but several generations apart."
"It explains my parseltongue skills. It's not a trait from Voldie?" Harry had hoped it wasn't but Dumbledore was the one to suggest it was.
"It isn't. The skill can't be transferred via any magical means. Slytherin, himself, attempted several different ways. If you notice-" Ironclaw pointed to a line on the Peverell section as well as the Slytherin section "Voldie is from a minor line. He comes from the third son of Slytherin whereas your family line comes from the first son. On the Peverell side, he comes from the first son and you from the second son."
Ironclaw rolled the scroll up. He unfurled another scroll. It was the Black family tree. "As you saw, James' line also had the Black family line in it. In their tree, Harry is connected a few different ways. One is from his father and another is from Sirius Black. Sirius Black did a blood adoption before his parents removed him from the family tree." Ironclaw pointed to where Sirius' name should have been and Harry's name was in the space below it. "You became Lord Black."
"It explains the Slytherin, Gryffindor, Peverell, Potter, and Black titles but the rest?" Lucius looked at Harry's test.
"It also explains why Dumbledore wants control over him," Bill muttered but everyone heard him in the quiet office as they pondered the results.
Ironclaw grinned. "Yes, but this is where Dumbledore made a mistake. Lily Potter never did an inheritance test. Most muggle-borns don't. We had to pull the family trees of each of the remaining titles and followed the trail as it were. We pulled her muggle birth record. She was adopted. Her original name was Alena Helena Scrathclyyde Prince. She was the daughter of Lord Prince's younger cousin twice removed who was married to Mary Mac Alpin. Prince of Strathclyde and Lady Mary Strathclyde nee Mac Alpin died in an accident and many believed their daughter did as well. If you follow the line backward, Lily Potter was related to the Prince, Snowbell, Slytherin, Mac Alpin, and the princess of Strathclyde. The Prince family got its name from the line when Professor Snape's grandfather took the name Prince since he was the great-grandson of the Prince of Strathclyde when he became of age."
"Harry could remove magic from anyone? I mean there isn't a family name not below the Peverells, Slytherins, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff line is dead." Ironclaw announced at the shocked faces. "He can take control of the Wizenagamot with the Prince of Strathclyde and Mac Alpin titles alone since those two titles are directly related to Merlin and Morganna. Their family lines come from the Prince of Strathclyde and Mac Alpin lines." Ironclaw unfurled another scroll. He showed them on the family tree the names Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin) and Morganna Le Fay.
"Dumbledore isn't aware of this?" Harry finally asked.
"No, if he was, I am sure he would have discovered a way to use those seats. He would have assigned them as a block and he would have complete control over the magical world."
Harry groaned. He didn't want that type of power. It would paint a huge target on his back. "I am not going to be like some ruler or something?"
Ironclaw smiled which scared everyone. "No, because Merlin and Morganna saw the issue and worked out a way to prevent any one person from becoming a king or rule of the magical world. They recognized that magic needed to be balanced. We need a Light and Dark Lord but not self-proclaimed ones as we have now. The Sacred Twentyeight was designed to prevent that from happening. Each of the families mentioned in the unofficial book belongs to a branch related to the founders but yet were far enough apart that for example, the Malfoy and Longbottom families do not fall under the Peverell family lines. At the end of the last war, if Dumbledore had been aware of the situation with his power and reputation, he could have used your titles to remove families using the families charters under the Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw titles. lt currently wouldn't work because the magical world isn't under a time of war. Dumbledore would have been able to award those on his side some of the family titles of the losing side to the winning side if they were closely related under the founders' charters. The charters tried to prevent the lines from dying out during a time of conflict and a very short period after the conflict ended."
"So I don't have that kind of power, thank Merlin. How could this help us with Dumbledore and Voldie? Voldie wants me to get an inheritance test with him present. How can we prevent him from gaining this knowledge? Could I remove him from any of the lines and have him become a squib or barely magical?" Harry was thinking about the material the Gryffindor's girls provided. "What about the marriage contract that Dumbledore wants to use for me to marry his daughter? Could I pass judgment on it?"
Ironclaw rolled the scrolls up and began to pull batches of parchment paper forward. "Bill was able to provide us with those questions so we were able to pull as much information as we could locate in the charters for the titles you control. Yes, you could disown Voldie using his given name and I am not sure how much magic would remain. You could also ask for Lady Magic to pass her judgment on his actions which I believe might even kill him. However, based on the information from this test, we need to deal with the Horcrux that is in you as well as any others that might exist. We would require some time to research this aspect so I would suggest doing nothing as of yet. As for the inheritance test he wishes to have carried out in front of him, I believe we will be able to assist in that aspect. It would require us to use this test and remove certain information and during your next time, we just change a few words and ingredients in the bowl to have the ink reappear as we desire."
"Lucius and Lady Longbottom, which titles do you think we should have him see? He is aware of the parseltongue so maybe making me heir Slytherin?" Harry didn't want to alert Dumbledore or Voldie that he was aware of the type of power he had or that he was planning on removing them for power.
"I believe Potter, Black, and heir Slytherin would be best. He would be aware of Sirius' relationship with you and would expect it since Draco isn't heir Black." Lucius remembered the fit Draco had when he learned he wasn't heir Black at the age of seven.
"He would feel secure in that you do not have any power over him. If he requires one of me, I know only the Prince family would show up so he would believe I would be in charge since I do have a title and am older."
Lady Longbottom reviewed the test. "Yes, if he saw the founders' titles, he would want to control you as Dumbledore does. His obsession with remaining alive would cause him to want to kill you if he believed he could become Lord Peverell. The Potter and Black seats would be best as Lucius suggested. Heir Slytherin, I do question as I believe he was rumored to be heir Slytherin."
"He believes he became Lord Slytherin after he killed his grandfather, Mortin Gaunt. He might have a muggle title as I believe his father was a muggle with a title. I am not sure of the title but the last name was Riddle." Severus learned that information from Dumbledore. "Dumbledore has a lot of memories from those he questioned about the Dark Lord and his past. Most of the deeds he claims the Dark Lord had committed he doesn't have any evidence to show that the Dark Lord did those deeds."
"True, he is always telling me tales but I wonder about them as most of the tales are a lot like the ones he believes about me. He ignores so much of what is the truth for his version of the truth. I don't know how many times I have tried to tell him about my home life and his comment was he was aware I would not arrive as healthy or happy as he hoped but I did arrive alive. I always wondered what he would have done if I have been sorted into Slytherin. He arranged for Hagrid to pick me up for my school supplies, made sure the Weasleys were on the other side of the platform with Mrs. Weasley asking where the platform was while commenting on muggles, and Ron lied to be about the empty seats on the train in which he spent most of the time bad mouthing those in Slytherin. Hagrid did the same thing while gushing about how great Dumbledore was."
"I will research the Riddle family as well as the Gaunt family before you arrive with him."
"Oh, I should mention he was the one who broke into the bank during my first year. He was after the stone that was in vau.t 713 which Hagrid had removed when he brought me to the bank. Dumbledore kept it at Hogwarts and we were able to get to it and prevent Voldie from stealing it. I can provide the memory if you wish."
Ironclaw was furious for a second. "How much for the memory?"
"Free. If you deal with him and these Horcruxes instead of me, I will give you every memory I have of him including his resurrection. I do have some information about banking in the muggle world that would help the magical one if you are interested."
"Deal." Ironclaw summoned a memory vial. "If you would please provide us with every memory of your interactions with him."
"Would you mind if Professor Snape removed them?"
Bill was looking at Harry a bit strange as he thought about the information he just learned. He was going to have to inform his father about the events at Hogwarts and what happened at the platform. "I do not mind." Ironclaw began the paperwork required for the memories. Once he had the vial, he started to work on the financing deal with Harry. Lucius and Ironclaw worked out the contract with Lady Longbottom, Severus, and Bill signing as witnesses.
"We need to get back to Hogwarts. I do not want Dumbledore to wonder where we have been if the wards alert him to our return. He will suspect something if we are too late."
The group agreed to meet again after Voldie joined Harry on his testing.