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Chapter Text

Unexpected Love: The Journey Begins

Written by J.C. Vascardi

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Chapter Five

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As Sunday morning dawned, so too did the realization that the Opening Ball was to be held that evening in the ballroom of McKinnon Hall.  Before the death of King Charles Pendragon in 1972, the Opening Ball had always been held in the grand ballroom at Castle Camelot.  However, following the death of the royal family, Camelot was sealed and the infant King Edward was secreted away to the royal family's winter palace in the Duchy of Penderleath, which was the royal dukedom held by his late father, Crown Prince Michael Pendragon.  Since then, the heads of the Thirteen Houses, and in some cases the heirs to the houses, had been taking turns hosting the various balls and this time it was Lord McKinnon's turn to host the Opening Ball.

Having been so busy with everything else that had been happening over the last few days, Harry hadn't given the ball much thought, but now that it was only hours away, he realized something that could be rather embarrassing for him: he didn't know how to dance.  So, seeking out the one person who he hoped could help him, since he too would be at the ball that evening, Harry found him alone in his room and said, "Ric, I need your help."

"Okay, what's up?"  Cedric asked with a smile, giving the younger boy his undivided attention.

"The Opening Ball is tonight," Harry answered and Cedric nodded.  "And, um, well, it's occurred to me that being a ball, there would be dancing involved."

Nodding, Cedric said, "Yes, there is dancing involved."

"Yeah," Harry said.  "The problem is, I can't dance."

"Ah, well, we'll have to do something about that then, won't we?"  Cedric said as he stood up and erected a series of Silencing Charms, before placing a few locking and other security charms on his door.  He was sure that Harry was nervous enough without the possibility of the others overhearing what was going on or coming in.  Using his wand to move some of the furniture to create an open area in the middle of the room, Cedric then waved his wand at the radio in the corner, turning it to one of the Wizarding stations that played classical music all day.

"Come here, Harry," Cedric said.  "The vast majority of the dancing tonight will be slow waltzes.  There's a few different ones, but I'll teach you the steps and we can practice.  That sound okay to you?"

Harry nodded and said, "Thanks, Ric."

"No problem," Cedric said with a grin.  "I did promise I'd do my best to make sure you didn't look like a total prat, did I not?"

Harry grinned and said, "Yes, you did.  I hope you're a good teacher because I'm hopeless when it comes to dancing."

"Don't worry, Harry," Cedric said.  "When I was much younger, my mother always told me that I had two left feet, but somehow she still managed to teach me.  A good thing, really, since while she didn't know it at the time, I'd one day be the heir and have to go to all the nobles' balls with my parents."

"There's more than one?"

"Yes, Harry, there's thirteen main ones every year," Cedric responded.  "It currently works out that there's one every month with two in August.  You have the Opening Ball tonight, as a gathering before the opening of the fall session of the Wizengamot tomorrow morning and later this month you have the Founder's Ball, which celebrates the founding of Hogwarts.  Next month, there's the Ascension Ball, celebrating King Arthur's ascension to the throne.  In October, there's the Masquerade Ball on Halloween, the King's Ball in November to celebrate King Edward's birthday, and the Winter Solstice Ball in December.  I won't bore you with the others, but in addition to the thirteen main balls each year, there's also a handful of others held at different times of the year by the family heads to celebrate various events."

"What kind of events?"

"Well, for example," Cedric answered, "my parents host a ball every March on their wedding anniversary.  Most commonly, these other balls are to celebrate the family head's wedding anniversary, their birthdays, or the birthday of their heir."

"Okay then," Harry said, as he stood there, feeling a little awkward for a moment before Cedric smiled and asked, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes."

Cedric nodded and then said, "Okay, while I'm teaching you, I'll lead and you can look down at my feet to memorize the steps.  Once you feel comfortable with each dance, we can try it with you leading and not looking at my feet to see if you can do it without stepping on them."

"I'll try not to," Harry said.

"Thanks, mate, I would really appreciate that," Cedric said with a grin.

For the next four-and-a-half hours, Cedric taught Harry the steps to the various dances he'd be expected to know that evening.  Much to his surprise, Harry found it easier than he thought it would be and by the end of their lessons, Cedric pronounced him capable of going to the ball.  He did have to cast a mild pain relieving charm on his feet, as Harry had stepped on them a few times, which he apologized for profusely.  Cedric, however, said it was okay because when he'd been learning how to dance, he'd stepped on his mother's feet more than twice the number of times that Harry had stepped on his.  In Cedric's opinion, Harry was a natural on the dance floor, once he got over his nervousness, anyway, and ignored the voice in his head telling him he was a bad dancer, which was completely untrue.

-o-0-o-

Later that day, all the boys had just sat down to lunch, when suddenly a very loud wailing noise sounded throughout the house.  All of the boys quickly covered their ears, as Harry thought, 'What the bloody hell is that noise?  Sounds worse than the klaxon that goes off in the tower if a boy tries to go up to the girl's dorms.'

After a moment, the klaxon stopped and Athena, Rose, Emma, and Eudora rushed into the room.  They all had their wands out, as Rose, Emma, and Eudora made a beeline for the front door.  Athena paused to say, "That noise you heard is an alarm I set up to tell me if one of your doubles was in danger.  I don't know what's going on, but there's some kind of disturbance on Privet Drive.  All of you are to stay indoors until we return.  Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Terence said, as the others nodded.  Athena gave them all a stern look before she too left the house and joined the others at the apparition point.

-o-0-o-

It had been a very interesting week for Remus Lupin.  A few days ago, he'd seemingly by chance run into someone he hadn't seen in many years.  The last time had been James' and Lily's funeral.  His late best friend's seneschal then explained that it wasn't a chance meeting and that he'd been actively asking where he might find Remus.  When asked why, Robert informed him that Harry had claimed his birthright as Lord Potter and that he wanted to petition the King for a pardon for Sirius.  This had come as something of a shock to Remus, as he had been completely unaware of the fact that Harry even knew he was nobility.  Harry had certainly never said anything that would indicate he knew. 

Remus never mentioned it during the year he'd spent teaching Harry because Professor Dumbledore had asked him not to.  He reasoned that Harry had quite enough to deal with just being who he was and thought that Harry deserved time to simply be a child.  Something which would be much harder if he claimed his birthright and all the responsibilities that it entailed.  While a part of him didn't like withholding such an important thing from Harry, Remus did agree with the headmaster, especially after learning of the way Harry had been treated growing up.  He deserved time to be a kid and have fun.  Being emancipated and declared an adult, along with the duty of administering his lands, plus voting in the Wizengamot and the Hogwarts board, would not leave much time for that.

However, it was done and the werewolf knew he couldn't do anything about it.  He would just have to trust that Robert would help him as much as possible.  After James died, Robert had little choice but to step in and run all of the Potter lands and make the decisions that couldn't wait for Harry to reach his majority.  So, Robert had plenty of experience, which Remus hoped he would share with Harry.  At any rate, Remus was more than happy to provide his memories of the night he'd found out Peter was still alive and that Sirius was innocent.  He wanted his old friend to be cleared just as much as Harry did.  A part of him couldn't help but wonder, however, if his memories would be taken seriously due to his lycanthropy.

The day after the news that Harry was now Lord Potter hit the newspapers, Remus found himself up at the castle meeting with Dumbledore.  The venerable old man was worried about Harry and requested Remus to go and check on him at the Dursleys.  Remus was only too happy to go and check up on the young man that his inner wolf thought of as a member of his pack.  And therein lay the problem.  No sooner did Remus enter Number Four, did his senses begin to pick up something not quite right.  Then Harry, or rather his double, entered the room and Remus lost it.

Pushing the young man against a wall, he growled, "Where's Harry?"

"Remus, I'm right here!"  Harry exclaimed, clearly scared by the sudden and aggressive action.  It was never a good thing to be the target of an angry werewolf, even when the full moon was still two weeks away.

"You are not Harry," Remus growled.  "You look like him, but you don't smell like him."

"Smell like him?"  Vernon asked, clearly confused.  After a week now of Petunia forcing him to treat his nephew better, he had to admit, a part of him was enjoying the fear on the boy's face as he was pushed against the wall by the growling man.  He had no clue what the man was talking about in terms of Harry not smelling like Harry, but then the man was one of those people, so he doubted he'd ever understand.

Dudley looked confused too, but remained silent, as he didn't want to do anything around witches or wizards that might result in him getting another pigtail.  Petunia was scared too, but more so because she feared for her own life if the truth came out.  In as calm a voice as she could muster, she said, "Of course he's Harry.  Who else could he possibly be?"

Remus didn't have a chance to say anything, because at that moment, Athena and the other trainers, who had heard enough of the conversation to know what was going on, burst into the room from the back door, wands drawn.  Choosing their targets, Emma, said, "Stupefy!" as Eudora said, "Incarcerous!"  Both of these were directed at Remus, who fell to the ground with a thud.  Rose, meanwhile, said, "Obliviate!" three times, pointing at Vernon, Dudley, and Petunia in rapid succession, as Athena pointed her wand at Harry, incanting, "Somnus!"  Harry almost immediately slumped to the ground in a deep, enchanted sleep.

"What are we going to do with him?"  Emma asked, motioning towards the unconscious and bound Remus Lupin.

Athena sighed.  "We'll bring him back to the cottage.  I don't think we have any choice but to let him in on the secret, seeing as how his heightened senses can tell that Harry's double isn't the real Harry.  We got lucky this time that it was only the Dursleys that witnessed the confrontation, as they're much more easily dealt with than other people I can think of."

"True," Rose said.  "Did you know a werewolf could sense that the double wasn't real?"

Athena nodded and said, "It was mentioned in the book that the double spell came from that werewolves would be able to tell, if they were close enough to the person to consider them pack members.  Honestly, though, I had forgotten about it until now, seeing as I've been training mages for thirty years and this is the first time I've had this particular issue come up."

"Maybe he can help young Mr. Wood with his remedial studies," Eudora suggested.  "As I recall, most of the students thought very highly of Professor Lupin's classes.  I heard several express dismay at his leaving, even after they knew he was a werewolf because they thought he was the best teacher they've had for the subject."  Pointing at Vernon, whom Rose had stunned, along with the rest of the family after Obliviating them, said, "But then again, I think even Dursley here could have taught the subject better than those fools Quirrell or Lockhart."

Rose nodded.  "True.  Honestly, I would have thought Quirrell would have been better, considering that he was possessed by Voldemort at the time.  Guess we know why Dumbledore didn't give him the job when Merrythought retired.  And Lockhart, well, I knew he was a fraud from the start.  He was only just powerful enough to qualify as an Apprentice Wizard when he entered Hogwarts and only gained one level from his inheritance.  There's simply no way that he was powerful enough to do all the things his books said he did."

After a moment, Athena shook her head and said, "Well, let's head back.  The boys are probably wondering what's going on and I'm sure Harry will be glad to see Remus.  So, Eudora, and Emma, take him to the apparition point.  Rose, deal with the Dursleys, and I'll deal with him," as she pointed at Harry's sleeping doppelganger.

-o-0-o-

The four trainers, plus a still stunned and bound Remus Lupin, arrived back at Forest Cottage a few minutes later.  As they entered, the trainee mages immediately noticed the new addition, as Harry stood and asked, "Professor Lupin?  What happened?"

"He was at the Dursleys," Eudora explained.  "I'm sure you're aware that he's a werewolf?"

Harry nodded, at which point, Emma said, "Well, due to his heightened senses and the fact that he considers you to be part of his pack, he could tell the second he came into contact with your double that it wasn't you.  He had your double pushed up against a wall and was growling at him when we arrived."

"We brought him here because he's too big of a security risk," Athena said.  "He's sure to come into contact with your double again at some point and if he can tell it's not you, we don't need him having the same reaction he had to your double today, especially in front of the wrong people."

Harry nodded his understanding, before Athena said, "I'm going to revive him now, but I'm going to leave him tied up for the moment.  Everybody stand back, please."

Everyone backed away from the bound form of Remus, as Rose, Emma, and Eudora formed a protective line in front of their students.  Keeping their wands in their hands, they summoned their staves, hoping that Remus would recognize them for what they were and exercise caution.  Emma's staff was a long shaft of what looked like polished mahogany, which looked similar to the shaft of a broomstick.  A large blue crystal rested on the top end, while several runes, painted with bronze paint, were etched up and down the length of the shaft.  On the bottom end was a large bronze blade which would do a good amount of damage.  While they had already seen it once before, Cedric, Harry, Roger, and Terence couldn't help but think back to Emma's comment in Nick's shop about stabbing a person in the foot with the staff blade.  Much like when she'd first said it, the four boys couldn't help but shudder again.

Rose's staff was made of polished white wood with a golden snake coiled around the shaft.  The snake's head was about an inch above the top of the staff and in its open mouth, it held what looked like a large red ruby.  On the opposite end of the staff, there was a sharp golden blade, which looked more like a large spike or spearhead than a sword.  There was no doubt, however, that it would hurt if it punctured someone and all the boys found themselves hoping that they'd never feel that type of pain firsthand.

Deciding her colleagues had made the right choice, Athena kept her wand trained on Remus, as she too summoned her staff, which unlike the staves belonging to the other trainers, looked like it was made out of metal instead of wood.  Nobody was quite sure what kind of metal it was made out of, but it was a shiny metallic black color.  Except for a section in the middle where Athena held it, the staff was designed in such a way as to look like two separate shafts of metal, twisted together into a flat braid.  It was smaller at the bottom where the scimitar-like blade attached and got wider on the top end.  The two shafts of braided metal stopped about three inches apart at the top, holding a large yellowish crystal between them.  With a practiced swish and flick of her wand, Athena incanted, "Rennervate!"

Remus' eyes snapped open, as he growled and began struggling with the ropes binding him, his inner wolf not liking being restrained when he perceived a member of his pack to be in danger.

"Remus John Lupin, stop struggling and listen to me!"  Athena exclaimed.

"Who are you?"  Remus demanded.  "Where am I?"

"You're in my home," Athena answered.  "My name is Athena Gracey, although you know me by another name.  I'm using Glamour Charms and a charm to change my voice, but I was one of your professors at Hogwarts.  What you most likely didn't know, however, is that I'm a powerful mage, an Archmagister to be precise.  And if you look to your left, you'll see that I'm not alone."

Remus looked to his left and saw the line of three women, staves and wands out, standing protectively in front of a group of people behind them, but from the angle he was sitting at he couldn't see any of their faces.  Deciding to introduce herself, Eudora nodded at Remus and said, "Eudora Douglas, Grand Magister."

"Emma Baldwin, Archmagister."

"Rose Ramsley, Master Magister."

Remus took in a sharp intake of breath as he tried to contain the fury of the wolf inside of him.  Even if the moon was full and he was transformed, a single werewolf would be no match for four very powerful mages.  "Why am I here?" he asked, after a moment.

"You were in Surrey this morning," Athena replied.  "At Number Four Privet Drive.  I know why you became enraged, but there's no cause for concern.  Harry Potter is perfectly fine."  Then looking to her left, she said, "Harry, come here please."

Rose and Emma moved aside so that Harry could step forward.  When he had, Athena looked at Remus and said, "Smell him if you don't believe me, Lupin, but this is Harry and he's fine.  The person you met at the Dursley house this morning was his double."

Sniffing the air, Remus' inner wolf immediately calmed down as he picked up Harry's familiar scent.  There were several other familiar scents in the room, but Harry's was the only one he recognized since the green-eyed youth was the only one the wolf considered pack.  Looking at Athena, he asked, "What do you mean by his double?"

"I'm about to reveal information protected by the Fidelius," Athena said, waiting for Remus to nod in understanding before she continued.  "My colleagues and I chose Harry, along with three of his Hogwarts classmates to train them as mages.  As is standard procedure during this training, a double of the person is created, which is a magical extension of the real person, in possession of all of their memories and abilities up to the point they were created.  This is done because mage training can take several years to complete and usually requires the trainee to cut ties with the people in their lives until it's finished.  When Harry finishes his training, his double will merge back into him and Harry will gain all of the memories and knowledge the double acquired, thus allowing Harry to step right back into his life as if he never left."

Remus remained quiet for a moment, as he took in this information before he nodded and said, "I understand.  I'd appreciate it if you could untie me now.  I swear I won't attack anyone.  The wolf in me is satisfied that Harry is safe.  That was the only reason for my blind ire at the Dursley house."

Athena nodded, before waving her wand in Remus' direction.  "Finite Incantatum!"  The ropes almost immediately disappeared, at which point Athena banished her staff and held out a hand to Remus to help him up which he gladly took.

"You said you were on staff at Hogwarts?"  Remus asked after a moment.

Athena nodded.  "Yes, my colleagues and I are all on staff.  All of us were on staff during your time at Hogwarts.  The glamours and voice-changing charms are a challenge for our students, however.  To test their powers of observation and deductive capabilities."

"Ah, I see," Remus said.  "So, they know you're on staff, but they don't know who you are.  I assume then that you're dropping hints?"

"Indeed," Eudora said, as she and the other trainers banished their staffs and put their wands away.  "The boys haven't figured out who any of us are yet, however.  Speaking of the boys, our other students are Cedric Diggory, Terence Higgs, Roger Davies, and Oliver and Gavin Wood."

Cocking his head to one side, Remus said, "I thought you said you were only training Harry and three of his classmates?"

"It did start that way, yes," Rose stated.  "However, Terence and Oliver are a couple, so we brought him here to test if he was powerful enough to be trained.  Many mage trainers often take on the romantic partners of their chosen students as additional pupils, if they're strong enough for training.  Even if they're not, they're usually told of the training and given the option to stay with their real partner instead of their double.  The reason for that is two-fold in that the partner might feel betrayed if their lover finishes training and comes back more skilled and powerful.  That brings with it the realization for the non-mage partner that they've been having sex with a fake for years.  Many can't handle that and it can lead to arguments that could end an otherwise happy relationship.  The other reason is that if a person is accustomed to having sex regularly, they generally don't like going without for years on end and their libidos begin to adversely affect their concentration and training."

"Some might think that we should tell our students' families, as well," Eudora said.  "But, we don't, because it's been an accepted practice for generations now to keep the training a secret while it's occurring.  Once it's finished, it's up to each individual mage who they tell that they're a mage, although it's instilled in all of them to keep the exact details of the training a secret.  Not all of them adhere to the idea of keeping the details of the training itself a secret, but the majority do and those who do share the details usually do so only with their immediate family members."

Remus nodded.  "And the other one?  Gavin was it?  I can't say as I remember a Gavin Wood at Hogwarts."

"I never went to Hogwarts," Gavin piped up before the trainers could answer Remus.  "Until recently I was a hedgewizard.  Only it turns out my magical core was blocked.  So, Athena and the other trainers unblocked it."

"Actually, Lupin, if you could, I'd appreciate your help with that," Athena said.  "Young Mr. Wood here has studied the theory, but of course until recently couldn't do anything past the level of a second year.  I've been testing him and while he does have a good head on his shoulders and seems to pick up knowledge quickly, he still requires quite a bit of remedial training before he can start mage training.  And it would be much easier for my colleagues and me if you could take over the majority of that training while we focus on training the others.  I can offer you room and board as payment."

"I'm a werewolf, Ms. Gracey," Remus pointed out.

"Yes, I know, Lupin," Athena commented.  "That, however, is neither here nor there.  If you stay, then Rose will get started brewing a batch of Wolfsbane for you.  And then on the night of the full moon - if I recall correctly, the next one is August 21st - you'll take the potion and we can lock you in the root cellar under the barn for the night.  So, in short, you won't be able to harm anyone, if that's what you were worried about."

Before Remus could say anything, Harry took in his former professor's shabby-looking clothes and couldn't help but think it was time he was able to dress better.  After all, Remus had been a good friend to Harry's parents and a good friend to him.  Now that Harry himself was dressing better, he felt that Remus should, as well.  "I'll instruct Robert to put you on my payroll, Remus."  Remus looked like he wanted to tell Harry he didn't have to do that, but Harry just shook his head and said, "No arguments, Remus.  I'm Lord Potter and now that I've seen one of my bank statements, I know how much money I have.  Putting you on my payroll won't put a dent in it."

Harry had looked over the statement Robert had brought over, but he'd never shared with the others exactly what was in it.  So, it was a curious Terence who asked, "Just out of curiosity, Harry, how much are you actually worth?"

Harry smiled.  "Between the gold, jewels, and other treasures in the vaults, plus real estate and stocks, I'm worth just over twenty-five million galleons."

Quickly doing the math in his head, Roger whistled and said, "Wow, that's £125,000,000.  Definitely nothing to sneeze at."

"No, it's not," Cedric agreed.  "Especially since that amount will undoubtedly go up once Harry's house elves finish harvesting the basilisk.  Not to mention the possible sale of the contents of those rooms behind the statue.  In the Wizarding world, there's always a market for old books, especially if they're in legible condition and written by someone famous.  And you don't get much more famous than one of the founders of Hogwarts."

"Basilisk?  Old books?"  Remus asked.

"I told you about my second year," Harry said and Remus nodded.  "I sent Tilly and a contingent of elves down to the Chamber of Secrets to harvest components from the basilisk.  They found several rooms down there as well, one of which is full of old books, possibly written by Slytherin himself."

Remus nodded.  "Harry, you should know, I ran into Robert the other day.  He told me about your desire to petition the King on Sirius' behalf.  I gave him memories to help with that.  Hopefully, it'll be enough."

"Thanks, Remus," Harry said.  "I do hope that the King clears him because he doesn't deserve to live life on the run for something he didn't do.  Now, if only we could get Buckbeak cleared."

"Who's Buckbeak?"  Roger asked.

"A hippogriff that Hagrid showed his Care of Magical Creatures classes last year," Harry answered.  "In a classic show of Malfoy arrogance, Draco completely ignored Hagrid's warnings about how to properly approach a hippogriff and got scratched on his arm as a result.  His father then got the Ministry to condemn the highly dangerous beast to death for attacking his son.  Hermione and I managed to free Buckbeak before the execution could be carried out, however, and he's with Sirius now."

"If I might make a suggestion?"  Athena asked and Harry nodded.  "I'm assuming this attack happened on Hogwarts grounds, at which point Lord McLaggen could give this Buckbeak a full pardon since Hogwarts is on his land.  There's not much that Lord Malfoy could do about it either, since he's only the Earl of Coleford.  Obviously, as the Marquess of Levenmore, Lord McLaggen outranks him.  Not to mention the fact that Lord McLaggen is fully within his rights to rule on any and all crimes that occur on his lands.  And since you've renewed the Potter/McLaggen alliance, he's almost certain to take your word over Lord Malfoy's."

"My uncle is a level-headed person," Cedric said.  "And he's never cared much for Lucius Malfoy, so, I think I can safely guarantee that he'll side with you, Harry."

"Well, I'll make sure to contact Bruce and ask him then," Harry said.

After a moment of silence, Remus said, "Harry, I still don't feel right about taking any of your money, if I'm not going to be doing anything to earn it."

Shaking his head, Harry said, "You will be doing something to earn it.  Helping Gavin will be earning it, but if it'll make you feel better, you can help me train Cedric, Terence, Roger, and Oliver in casting the Patronus Charm.  None of them can cast a corporeal patronus and honestly, it's a good skill to have."

Emma nodded, "That's true, Harry.  While I could probably teach it to them quite easily, as I do have a Mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts and have taught it at Hogwarts a few times over the years when Dumbledore couldn't find someone to fill the post, the mage training will keep me busy enough."

Remus sighed.  "I'll do it.  But, Harry, please don't pay me an exorbitant salary.  I expect it to be in line with what a teacher makes."

"That's fine," Harry said with a grin.  "How about I pay you what you made as a Hogwarts professor?"

"I can live with that," Remus said.

"Good then," Athena said.  "Well, it looks like the boys have finished lunch, but if you're hungry, Lupin, help yourself," as she gestured towards the table.  Remus nodded and sat down, helping himself to some of the food.  He was soon joined by the trainers, and even though they'd already eaten, the boys as well.

-o-0-o-

At precisely six in the evening, Cedric and Harry left Forest Cottage, Athena accompanying Cedric to Willowglen Manor to make his double disappear while Cedric stepped into its place.  The transition between the two was seamless and thankfully, went completely unnoticed by Lord and Lady Diggory.  Eudora, meanwhile, accompanied Harry to Seacliff Castle, dealing with his double who had been moved to Seacliff earlier in the day following the incident at the Dursleys.  Harry was amazed when he first saw the castle and he could immediately see why Bruce McLaggen had said that Kinloch Hold was modest in comparison.

"I know you probably want to explore, Harry," Eudora said, "but that will have to wait for another time."

Harry nodded.  "I know there's no time because of the ball tonight."  Turning to Tilly who had appeared in the entryway the moment her master arrived, Harry asked, "Tilly, if you could show me to my room?  I want to freshen up and change clothes before I leave."

"Of course, Harry, right this way," Tilly said as she led him up a massive white marble staircase and up to the third floor of the house where Harry's private quarters were located.  Once he was in the room and Tilly gave him a quick tour, she left him alone.

Harry looked around the room and was in total awe at what he was seeing.  As bedrooms go, it was the largest Harry had ever seen.  He estimated that it was about half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, so definitely very big.  A huge fireplace of black marble took up a large portion of the east wall, with a pair of couches and two wingback chairs arranged in front of it.  The western wall was made entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows, along with a pair of doors that led out to a balcony.  Harry did not need to go out to the balcony to know that it would give a truly commanding view of the Granston Sea, which on Muggle maps was labeled as two separate bodies of water, the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea.

The most striking feature of the room, however, was the enormous four-poster bed.  While he'd thought that his bed at Forest Cottage was impressive, this one was, much to his shock, even larger.  Looking at it for a moment, his mouth hanging wide open, he couldn't help but think that it was a waste of space.  Unless one of the past Potter lords was into polygamy and kept a harem of wives, Harry really couldn't see the need for a bed that was probably big enough to fit two dozen people comfortably.  The bed's polished mahogany posts were draped in voluminous amounts of red silk, while the bed itself was covered by a thick red duvet with the Potter family crest embroidered in the center in gold thread.  There were also enough pillows that Harry was sure he could give two of them to every current member of Gryffindor House and still have plenty to spare.

Shaking his head after a moment, Harry walked over to the door that Tilly had indicated led to the bathroom and mentally prepared himself for what he was sure would be a shock if the bedroom was anything to go by.  If he thought that he'd prepared himself, he was wrong, because when he entered the room, his jaw just about hit the floor.  Instead of a bathtub, there was a huge in-ground swimming pool, surrounded by about two hundred golden taps.  Walking over, he looked at the nearest one and saw that it was labeled 'Red Bubbles.'  Walking around the pool, Harry found that about fifty of the taps at various locations around the tub were labeled similarly, only in different colors, while the rest were labeled with such things as 'Lavender' or 'Hibiscus.'  Harry could only assume that the taps labeled bubbles filled the tub with various colored bubble bath, while the others would add in various scents of bath oil.

Since he'd already taken a bath back at Forest Cottage, Harry did not need to do so here.  So, after a quick look around at the rest of the room, in which he noticed a counter with a white marble countertop and four sinks, a large glass-enclosed shower room, and four old-style toilets with pull chains, each in their own little rooms for privacy.  Harry was beginning to wonder if there was any truth to his earlier thought of one of the past Potter lords having a harem of wives because he really couldn't understand why anyone would need four sinks and four toilets in the bathroom of their master bedroom.  He could see where two of them could come in handy so that the lord and their spouse could each have one, but four of them?  That seemed more than a little excessive.

Going back out to the bedroom, Harry changed into the dress robes that Cedric had helped him select.  Harry, of course, had no idea what he should wear, since he'd never been to one of these balls before, so, of course, the Hufflepuff had been a great help to him, so far.  The robes Cedric picked were mostly black and green, which Cedric said contrasted well with Harry's black hair and green eyes.  The buttons were all in gold, as was the clasp of the cloak that Harry would wear over his robes until he arrived at McKinnon Hall.  Once he was changed, Harry used the product he'd found in his room and slicked his hair back, once again marveling at its ability to do what he'd previously thought was impossible.  Before leaving Forest Cottage, Rose had insisted upon performing the complicated, mage-level Vision Correction Charm on Harry, eliminating his need to wear glasses.

Heading back downstairs, Harry found that Eudora had gone back to Forest Cottage, but Robert and Katherine, who would be accompanying Harry to the ball that evening, were waiting for him.  Robert's robes were similar to Harry's, though not as finely cut, and they were black and red, with silver buttons.  Katherine, meanwhile, looked stunning in a red gown, with a black and red shawl covering her otherwise bare shoulders.  Her long blond tresses were up in a fancy sort of twist that Harry had no idea what to call.

"You look very nice, Harry," Katherine said with a smile.  "Every bit the handsome lord of an ancient house."

Robert nodded and said, "Indeed.  There is one thing, however, that your ensemble is missing."

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Robert produced a black ebony cane which was topped with a golden lion's head with ruby eyes.  "You'll find that all the lords, no matter how old they are will have a cane, Harry.  The way the dress robes are cut, it's almost impossible to use a wand holster, so this is the alternative."

"I think I've seen Lucius Malfoy using one of these," Harry said.  "Let me guess, the head detaches and my wand goes inside of it?"

"Indeed," Robert said, as he showed Harry how to detach the head, at which point Harry could see that there was a place inside to hold his wand.  Now Harry hoped he wouldn't have any reason to draw his wand at the ball, but if he did, he was using his old holly and phoenix feather wand, just to keep up appearances.  It didn't work quite as well for him anymore, Eudora hypothesizing that the wand was confused by the double, but Harry couldn't risk being seen using one of his new wands in public if he could avoid it.  It would raise too many questions about why he'd gotten a new wand and in turn why his double wasn't using the new wand.

Once his wand was stowed inside the cane, Robert said, "Are you ready to go?"

Harry nodded, at which point Robert and Katherine led him into a room off the entryway, which they explained was the Apparition Chamber.  It allowed anyone who was keyed into the wards by Lord Potter to Apparate directly into the house, while any guests who weren't would have to take a carriage from town, traveling up the twenty-seven-and-a-half-kilometer driveway.  Since Harry had never been to McKinnon Hall and he hadn't gone to the Ministry to get his Apparition license yet, even though he could now that he was legally an adult, Robert took him Side-Along.  Moments later, they were standing in front of the pair of wrought iron gates.

"We'll have to take a carriage up to the house," Katherine explained.

They didn't have to wait long before a carriage arrived and a footman helped them all into it.  The carriage was magically expanded to comfortably seat several people, which turned out to be a good thing, as they were soon joined by a few of the evening's other guests.

"Good evening, Your Grace," Neville said with a grin, as he got into the carriage along with his grandmother.

"Good to see you, Neville," Harry said with a smile.  "And I assume this lovely woman is your gran?"

Neville nodded, as he said, "Indeed.  Lord Potter, this is Lady Augusta Longbottom, Dowager Duchess of Aldersey.  Gran, this is my friend and housemate, Lord Harrison Potter, Duke of Granston."

Augusta shook hands with Harry and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Granston."  Since she was the widow of the former Duke of Aldersey, Augusta held the same rank as Harry and thus wasn't required to call him 'Your Grace'.

"You as well, my lady," Harry said with a smile.  "Although, I'd prefer it if you just called me Harry."

"As you wish," Augusta said.  "You may call me Augusta, Harry."

Motioning toward Robert and Katherine, Harry said, "This is my seneschal, Robert Higgs, and his wife Katherine."

Augusta nodded.  "We've met.  I hope you're both well?"

"Indeed, Your Grace," Robert said, as his wife nodded her agreement.

It was shortly after this that the sound of a whip could be heard, before the carriage moved forward, heading up towards the house.

"I understand, Harry, you've had Robert making inquiries about replacing some of the Hogwarts staff," Augusta commented.

Harry nodded.  "Yes, I think it's high time that Professor Binns was replaced.  As I'm sure Neville will agree, he's not a very good teacher.  He's far too focused on the goblin wars and Robert's son tells me that as a result, he doesn't even teach half of what is covered in the history portion of the OWL exams."  Okay, technically, it had been Roger who told Harry that, but Harry couldn't think of a logical reason for him to be talking to Roger Davies over summer break, but he figured nobody would question him talking to his seneschal's son.  "And then, of course, there's his monotone droning which is enough to lull just about anybody to sleep."

"Yes, Neville has shared similar thoughts with me," Augusta said.  "And, of course, I remember Binns' classes from my own Hogwarts days.  Neville and I were both quite surprised by the comments made by Rita Skeeter in the Daily Prophet."

"So was I, honestly," Harry said.  "I haven't had a chance yet, but I'm going to have a talk with Barnabas Cuffe about Ms. Skeeter because she wasn't being all that truthful in her comments.  There may be a large number of students who might be upset by Binns getting replaced, but that's only because they'd lose out on nap time.  Certainly not because they enjoy his class and find it riveting, I believe were her words."

Augusta nodded.  "And what about Professor Snape?  What are your objections toward him?"

"I admit, Rita was correct in that we don't get along," Harry answered.  "Professor Snape did not have a good relationship with my father, and I'm afraid he takes his hatred of him out on me.  As far as I can tell, the only thing I've ever done wrong where Snape is concerned is be James Potter's son.  However, that is not the reason I'm looking to replace him.  Over the years, he's made it abundantly clear that he hates teaching, so, I believe that means he shouldn't be doing it.  Contrary to what Ms. Skeeter wrote, however, I am not looking to fire him completely."

"Oh?"  Augusta asked.

"My father's portrait tells me that Hogwarts once employed a Master Brewer," Harry revealed.  "I thought perhaps if the board approves, Professor Slughorn could take over teaching the potions classes, while Professor Snape becomes the Master Brewer and spends his time making all the potions for the Hospital Wing.  It simply doesn't make much sense to import finished medicinal potions at a markup when most of the ingredients are grown in the Hogwarts greenhouses.  Most of the commonly used potions can be produced much cheaper on-site if only we had a dedicated brewer with the time to produce them."

Augusta thought about that for a moment, before nodding and saying, "Yes, Harry, you do have a point.  As an added benefit, Hogwarts could sell the extra potions at a profit, which would help offset the costs of having to pay for Binns' replacement, plus Slughorn and Snape.  I quite like it.  You'll have the Longbottom vote at the Governor's meeting next weekend."

"Thank you, Augusta," Harry said.  "The only other concern that I have where Snape is concerned is whether or not he'd still be able to take points while on staff as Master Brewer.  He's always shown very blatant favoritism to Slytherin house, to the point of being extremely unfair to the other houses."

"Can you give me an example?"  Augusta asked.

"I've asked Robert to talk to a few of the current students," Harry said.  "Perhaps he'd be better equipped to answer that."

Robert nodded, as he'd known that Harry was going to direct that question to him.  As Augusta turned to look at him, he said, "I had occasion to visit with my old friend Michael Davies over the last few days, and in doing so I talked with his son, Roger, who's due to be starting his sixth year in Ravenclaw.  He told me about one instance last year where he was paired to work with fellow fifth-year Slytherin Adrian Pucey in class and said that Pucey threw an ingredient into their potion at the wrong time, causing it to blow up.  Now, Snape was watching this as it occurred and instead of punishing Pucey, he took twenty points from Ravenclaw and yelled at Roger for not stopping his partner.  He then awarded Pucey ten points for having to put up with Roger's obvious incompetence."

"Terence wasn't in that class," Katherine added, "as he was a sixth-year last year, but from what he's said, that type of behavior is normal for Snape.  Now, while it's true that Terence is a Slytherin and Snape's unfair methods of taking and giving points tend to benefit him and his house in the end, he still doesn't feel that it's particularly fair."

"I would have to agree," Augusta said.  "If the incident Mr. Davies told you about, Robert, actually did happen that way, then Snape was totally out of line.  Now, I believe the last time there was a Master Brewer on staff, they were placed on the same level as the caretaker, in that they were not allowed to take points or give detentions.  Other professors can assign students to serve detentions with them, but they can't hand them out themselves."

Harry nodded, but before he could comment further, the carriage stopped, as it had arrived at the front entrance of McKinnon Hall.  The door opened shortly afterward and the footman appeared, helping Augusta out of the carriage first, followed by Katherine Higgs and then the three men.  Entering the mansion, Harry's first thought upon seeing the entryway was that it bore a striking resemblance to pictures he'd seen of the Titanic.  Straight ahead from the front doors was a large grand staircase leading up that looked almost exactly like the one on the doomed ship, ornate inlaid wall clock and all.  Above the upstairs landing, Harry could see a large domed ceiling, although unlike the one on the famous ship, this one was much like the Hogwarts ceiling, in that it was charmed to show the night sky.

Stepping forward into the entryway, a house-elf quickly appeared and took their cloaks, before directing Augusta, Neville, and Harry up the stairs towards the wall clock, while it led Robert and Katherine down a nearby corridor, as they had to enter the ballroom from a side entrance since they weren't nobility.  Harry hadn't noticed it at first, as he'd been too preoccupied with looking at the stairs themselves and the ceiling, but there were a pair of wizards standing on either side of the large wall clock.  As the group approached, they were asked for their names, at which point the wizards nodded, before waving their wands at the wall, the entire clock splitting down the middle and Harry realized that the wall the clock was in was not a wall at all, but a pair of double doors.

Beyond the doors, was a large and ornate ballroom, already filled with guests.  The footman from the carriage had informed them that they were the first of the noble families to arrive, other than, of course, Lord McKinnon, since the ball was in his house.  The other guests already present were not from the noble families but were all members of society who were deemed worthy to attend the ball.  Mostly the elected members of the Wizengamot and high-ranking members of the Ministry, along with whomever they had decided to bring along as their guests.

As they stepped through the door, Augusta and Neville in front of Harry, another wizard who was carrying a large staff that wasn't a mage's staff nodded at them.  He then struck the floor with his staff three times and said in a loud and clear voice, "Presenting The Dowager Duchess of Aldersey, Her Grace Lady Augusta Longbottom, accompanied by her grandson, Marquess of Claverton, The Most Honorable Neville Longbottom."

There was applause from those already in the room as Augusta and Neville stepped further into the room and after a moment, the wizard at the door struck the floor three times again, and announced, "Presenting The Duke of Granston, His Grace the Lord Harrison Potter."

Even more applause than what Augusta and Neville got rang through the room at Harry's announcement.  He stood at the top of the stairs and nodded to a few people, as Augusta and Neville had done before him before he followed them further into the room.  Harry shook a few hands along the way, before finally arriving at a small seating area on the far end of the room.  A moment later, a handsome young man with dirty blond hair walked over and nodded to the three nobles, as he said, "Welcome to my home, Your Graces."

"Thank you, Callum," Augusta said with a smile.

Since they'd never met previously, Callum turned to Harry and said, "It's an honor to meet you, Your Grace.  I'm Lord Callum McKinnon, The Earl of Whitecross."

Harry nodded as he shook Callum's hand.  "It's nice to meet you, as well.  You have a lovely home.  I mean no disrespect, but actually, it reminds me of pictures I've seen of a Muggle luxury liner."

This was the first time that Callum had heard this, and raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Oh?"

Harry nodded.  "Yes, the entryway and the staircase look almost exactly like the grand staircase of the RMS Titanic.  Unfortunately, it's been on the bottom of the ocean for many years now."

"How sad," Callum commented.  "What happened to it?"

"Struck an iceberg and sank in April of 1912," Harry answered.  "From what I've read, however, it was one of the most luxurious ships of its time.  It was also a great tragedy, however, as the Muggles were so confident in its construction, they deemed it unsinkable and didn't bother having enough lifeboats for everyone on the ship, so over a thousand people died in the icy waters of the North Atlantic."

"That is indeed a tragedy," Augusta commented.  "I do hope they at least learned something from it?"

"Yes, it did spark new laws," Harry replied.  "First and foremost, from that point on no ship was allowed to leave port if it didn't have enough lifeboats for every person onboard."

Nothing further was said, as at that moment, the wizard at the door struck his staff against the floor again and said, "Presenting The Earl of Coleford, His Lordship the Lord Lucius Malfoy, accompanied by his wife, The Countess of Coleford, Her Ladyship the Lady Narcissa Malfoy, and their son, Viscount Bratton, The Honorable Draco Malfoy."

Harry eyed the Malfoys as they entered, paying particularly close attention to Lady Malfoy, as he'd never seen her until now.  Unlike Lucius and Draco, Narcissa Malfoy had black hair, streaked with grey and had a look on her face as if there was something particularly foul-smelling under her nose.  Harry had no problems in seeing exactly where Draco got some of his mannerisms.

Before Harry could think about it much more, however, the staff struck the ground again, as the wizard said, "Presenting Viscount Cumberworth, The Honorable Arcturus Lestrange, representing his parents, The Earl of Mablethorpe, His Lordship the Lord Rodolphus Lestrange and The Countess of Mablethorpe, Her Ladyship the Lady Bellatrix Lestrange."

At this announcement, both Augusta and Neville visibly stiffened their postures and glared daggers at the young man who had just entered.  He had a rather severe look about him, with jet black hair and aristocratic features, which reminded Harry a little of Sirius, but not in a complimentary way.  There was also a resemblance to Narcissa Malfoy and Harry wondered if they were related in any way.  Callum sighed, casting an apologetic look at the Longbottoms, as he said, "I do apologize for his presence.  If I could host this ball without inviting him, I would, but I'd never hear the end of it if I snubbed the heir of one of the Thirteen Houses.  Especially since he votes his father's seats in the Wizengamot."

Augusta nodded her head, her face softening as she turned to Callum and said, "I understand, Callum.  My grandson and I could do without seeing him, but I fully understand that you can't not invite him, just as much as we can't not invite him to Lakeview Hall when we host the various balls, as much as we may wish we could."

Noticing Harry's confused look, Neville said, "His parents are the reason I live with my gran.  During the first war with You-Know-Who, they tortured them under the Cruciatus Curse until their minds broke beyond repair."

Harry had already heard this, of course, but it didn't make it any less easy to hear.  Giving Neville a reassuring pat on the shoulder, Harry said, "That's terrible, Neville.  They're paying for it, I hope?"

Neville nodded and said, "Yes, they were sentenced to life in Azkaban.  Of course, I do worry they could get out on a technicality."

"What do you mean?"  Harry asked.

It was Augusta who answered.  "Lord and Lady Lestrange were tried and convicted by the Wizengamot, who doesn't have the authority to try the heads of the Thirteen Houses since they're members of the Wizengamot.  Only the King has the authority to pass judgment on one of the family heads, so technically they could get out simply because they were placed there illegally, even though they fully admitted that they did it."

Nobody had noticed it when Arcturus sidled up to their little group and said, "Hello everyone."

"Arcturus," Augusta said.  Harry thought her tone was frosty enough to freeze the fires of Hell, not that he could blame her.

Nodding to Augusta and Neville, Arcturus turned his attention to Harry and said, "Your Grace, it's a pleasure to meet you."

'I wish I could say the same,' Harry thought, though he bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying it aloud.  After all, he had no idea what this man's opinion of his parent's actions was.  He could certainly understand Augusta and Neville not liking associating with him, but he didn't look like he was much older than maybe twenty-five at most, so he would have been about thirteen or so when his parents had tortured the Longbottoms and gone to prison.  Since he wasn't there with them, Harry assumed that Arcturus himself had not actually participated in the torture, so it wasn't necessarily fair to judge him for the actions of his parents - unless he agreed with them, and thus far Harry didn't know if he did or not.

"It's nice to meet you, as well," Harry said, his tone cautiously neutral, as he cast a look at Neville, who nodded his understanding at his friend's greeting.  Raised as an heir to a noble house, Neville knew all too well about the necessity of sometimes being polite to people he didn't necessarily want to be polite to.

"I've heard a most interesting rumor, Lord Potter," Arcturus said.

"Oh and what's that?"  Harry asked.  "Read Rita Skeeter's article in the Prophet, did you?"

"Yes, I did," Arcturus confirmed.  "And while those changes are interesting, that's not what I was referring to.  I heard that you've petitioned the King to pardon my mother's cousin, Lord Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black?"  Augusta asked, looking at Harry with a shocked look.  "Why would you ask the King to pardon the murderer who betrayed your parents?"

"Because he's my godfather," Harry responded.  "And my parents' portrait swears to me that despite what is commonly believed, Sirius was not their Secret Keeper, so he didn't betray them.  I also know for a fact, since I was there last year to witness his confession, that Peter Pettigrew was my parents' Secret Keeper, and that it was him and not Sirius who killed those twelve Muggles."

"Peter Pettigrew is dead, Lord Potter," Callum argued.

"No, he isn't," Harry disagreed.  "It's true, he was believed to be dead, but I saw him with my own eyes last year, along with my friends, Ron and Hermione, Professor Lupin, and Sirius.  All they ever found of Peter was his finger because he's an unregistered Animagus.  He betrayed my parents to Voldemort," he pointedly ignored the sharp intakes of breath from the others at his saying of the name, "and when Sirius confronted him over that betrayal, he killed the Muggles, cut off his finger, turned into his Animagus form, a rat, and disappeared down a sewer, leaving Sirius to look guilty.  As I said, I witnessed him confessing to everything."

"How very interesting," Arcturus said.  "Perhaps I should petition the King myself, to get my parents released, seeing as how their incarceration is just as illegal as Lord Black's was."

"Their incarceration is justified, Arcturus," Augusta said.  "Unlike Lord Black, they did what they were imprisoned for.  They took great pleasure in telling everyone in open court how much my son and daughter-in-law screamed under their torture and that they enjoyed every minute of inflicting it.  You can petition the King if you like, Arcturus, but I will use every bit of power and influence that I can muster to keep them right where they are.  That is a promise!"

"They were acting under the Imperius," Arcturus said.  "Besides, with all due respect, your family doesn't have all that much power and influence anymore, does it?  With the true family head in the hospital, unable to speak or make alliances?  It has put House Longbottom at a rather severe disadvantage if you ask me."

"Nobody asked you, Arcturus," Neville said in a rather angry tone.  "Besides, House Lestrange is in the same position because your father can't make alliances from Azkaban.  Not to mention the fact that as one of three original houses, House Longbottom will always hold more influence than you Viscount Cumberworth.  As for your parents being under the Imperius when they tortured mine, that's a load of bull and you know it."

"Arcturus, perhaps it would be best if you went and socialized with someone else," Callum suggested before the black-haired Viscount could say anything to Neville.

"I quite agree with our host," Harry said, in as neutral a tone as he could muster, which wasn't very easy since by what he'd just said, it sounded as if Arcturus was just as bad as his parents in many respects.

Arcturus looked like he was about to say something, but the sound of a staff striking the floor could be heard again, cutting him off, as more nobles were announced.  "Presenting The Marquess of Taleford, His Excellence the Lord Amos Diggory, accompanied by his wife, The Marchioness of Taleford, Her Excellence the Lady Amelia Diggory, and their son, Earl of Charwell, the Right Honorable Cedric Diggory."

The Diggorys' arrival was followed shortly afterward by more arrivals, during the announcement of which, much to everyone's pleasure, Arcturus Lestrange left the group and slinked off to another corner of the large ballroom.

"Presenting The Duke of Whitehaven, His Grace the Lord Garrick Ollivander, accompanied by his grandson, Marquess of Coulderton, the Most Honorable Gareth Ollivander."

"Presenting The Marquess of Levenmore, His Excellence the Lord Bruce McLaggen, accompanied by his wife, The Marchioness of Levenmore, Her Excellence the Lady Caroline McLaggen, and their son, Earl of Glencoe, the Right Honorable Cormac McLaggen."

Not long after their arrival, Cormac, Cedric, and Nick came over towards Harry and the Longbottoms.  It had been decided beforehand that Cormac, as Harry's housemate, would introduce Cedric and Nick to him, both of them already being acquainted with Neville due to the other balls they'd attended together.  Harry, of course, already knew both of them, but he couldn't admit that without revealing how he knew them.  Cedric could be explained more easily since he was still a student at Hogwarts and Harry had faced him on the Quidditch pitch.  His knowing Nick, however, would have been much more difficult to explain, seeing as how he'd graduated from Hogwarts in June of 1988 and was now living in Cairo.

"It's good to meet you, Lord Potter," Nick said with a smile, as he shook Harry's hand.

"You too, Gareth," Harry said, making a point to use Nick's real first name since Cormac hadn't mentioned that he preferred to be called Nick during his introduction.  Since they were pretending they hadn't already met in Nick's shop in Cairo, there was no explainable way for Harry to know about Nick's preferred nickname.

Smiling, Nick said, "Please, Lord Potter, call me Nick.  It's a family tradition in my family to give males names starting with 'G', but I rarely use Gareth.  I much prefer the shortened version of Nicholas, which is my middle name."

"As you wish, Nick," Harry said.  "You can call me Harry."

Augusta excused herself at this point, leaving the younger people to chat while she went over to greet her elder brother, Lord Garrick Ollivander, and Cormac's parents.  Callum also said his goodbyes, since he was the host and couldn't be seen to be favoring one group of guests over any others.

"Presenting The Marquess of Waringsford, His Excellence the Lord Erik Bones, accompanied by his aunt, Lady Amelia Bones, and his cousin, Lady Susan Bones."

Recognizing the name from his conversation with Cedric upon arriving back to Forest Cottage from Kinloch Hold, Harry looked over towards the entrance.  He soon spotted Susan Bones, whom he recognized from Hogwarts, along with the older woman he'd heard her mention as being her Aunt Amelia, whom Harry had learned was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry.  In the center of the group, however, was a very handsome young man with black hair.  'He's very fit,' Harry thought, as he looked at the nineteen-year-old lord.  'Wait, fit?  Where the heck did that come from?'

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Nick said with a smile.  "Erik is too handsome for his own good."

"I suppose that's true," Cormac allowed.  "If you like that sort of thing, that is.  Personally, he's much too, well, male, for my tastes."

Slinging an arm over his cousin's shoulder, Cedric grinned and said, "Oh Cormac, just because you're straight doesn't mean you can't acknowledge that a guy looks good.  After all, you have to acknowledge that I look better than you almost every time we meet.  You should be used to it by now."

Nick, Harry, and Neville laughed at that comment, while Cormac gave his cousin a dirty look.  "Excuse me?  I don't acknowledge anything of the sort, Ced," Cormac said, knowing that Cedric hated being called Ced since whenever he was it was usually by his father who was bragging about something that Cedric had done and making him feel incredibly uncomfortable.  "On the contrary, it's me who looks better than you."  Giving Cedric a quick look up and down, he then added, "Not that it's hard."

"Ouch, you wound me," Cedric said, his face clearly amused.

The staff hit the floor again and this time, the wizard said, "Presenting The Marquess of Grangemore, His Excellence the Lord Caractacus Burke, accompanied by his wife, The Marchioness of Grangemore, Her Excellence the Lady Ophelia Burke, and their grandson, Earl of Gullane, the Right Honorable Dominick Burke."

As Lord Burke's family arrived, Augusta Longbottom was conversing with Bruce McLaggen, Garrick Ollivander, and Amos Diggory about the changes that Harry had proposed making.  As a Potter ally, Bruce almost immediately said that he would throw House McLaggen's support behind Harry.  After considering it for a while, Garrick nodded and pledged House Ollivander's support.  Amos, meanwhile, was still on the fence about it, wanting to hear Harry's arguments from his own mouth at the governor's meeting before he decided one way or another.  He did, however, agree with Augusta, Garrick, and Bruce that Professor Snape was crossing the line if his blatant favoritism of Slytherin was as bad as it sounded by the description that Robert had shared with Augusta, who had, in turn, passed it on to the other lords.  It was a clear abuse of the authority to take points if the person you were taking them from didn't deserve to have points taken and you were awarding them to the people who did deserve to have them taken.

Meanwhile, over in the corner where some of the younger attendees had gathered, Nick smiled as the Burkes were announced and said, "And there's another one who's too handsome for his own good."

Looking scandalized and just a bit sick, Cedric made a gagging noise as he looked at Nick and said, "Oh Nick, come on.  You can't possibly like Lord Burke that way!  He's old enough to be your grandfather, not to mention married."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Cedric," Nick said, his tone sarcastic.  "You know very well that I didn't mean the old man."

"His wife then?"  Cormac asked with a grin, playing along with his cousin's teasing.  "Merlin knows she's a knockout," which was true since Ophelia, the fifth woman to hold the title of Lady Burke as Caractacus' wife, was at most five years older than his grandson.  "If I was gay, which I'm not, I would definitely go straight for her."

Nick shook his head.  "I admit, she's good-looking, but I'm not about to go straight for anyone.  Besides you bloody well know I meant Nick."

Grinning, Neville said, "Oh you think you're too handsome for your own good?  That sounds more than a little conceited, mate."

Doing his best to stifle a chuckle, Harry nodded and said, "I'd have to agree, Nick."

Nick Ollivander groaned and asked, "What is this?  Let's tease and annoy Nick day?"

"That sounds like fun, where do I sign up?" a male voice said in a seductive tone from somewhere just behind Nick's left shoulder.

Turning his head, Nick Ollivander jumped a bit, before he said, "Nick, don't sneak up on me like that."

Dominick Burke, who often went by Nick himself, grinned as he kissed Nick on the cheek and said, "Are they all giving you a hard time?  Grandfather has a Vanishing Cabinet in his store, you know, I could make all of them disappear."

"Would you, please?"  Nick asked with a grin, while the others looked at the two blond-haired men with varying degrees of shock.

"You two... are together?"  Cormac asked.  "I didn't know you were gay, Dominick."

The two Nicks grinned and gave each other a peck on the lips, shocking their friends even more, before they started laughing.  When he got a hold of himself, Nick Ollivander sighed and said, "Alas, Cormac, no, we're not together, although it's certainly not from any lack of trying on my part."

"Actually, Cormac, I'm bi," Dominick said, as he wrapped an arm around Nick.  "And I do find Nick here to be very attractive.  However, I'm also with someone that I love very much and she's not Nick."

"So, why isn't this mystery woman on your arm tonight?"  Cedric asked.  "Can't say as I've ever seen you with anyone, girl or bloke, Dominick."

"She's visiting family in Greece," Dominick answered.  "Her grandmother is dying or she'd be here."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Cormac said, even as he thought, 'That's the oldest trick in the book.  Does he really think we're that stupid?  He's never had a girlfriend and now he says she's out of the country visiting her dying grandma to explain why she isn't here.  Would just be easier to admit he doesn't have one.'

Before anyone else could say anything, the wizard at the door struck the floor again and announced, "Presenting The Earl of Axton, His Lordship the Lord Malcolm Flint, accompanied by his wife, The Countess of Axton, Her Ladyship the Lady Elizabeth Flint, and their son, Viscount Sarn, The Honorable Marcus Flint."

"I'm surprised Marcus Flint would even show his face in public," Cormac said.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because he did so badly on his NEWTs that he has to repeat his seventh year," Cedric said. "For the second time."

Nodding, Dominick said, "Yeah, I saw his results. His best grade was Acceptable in Potions. The rest were all Poor or Dreadful, except his Charms NEWT - got Troll on that one."

"And yet, somehow, he's managed to stay on as Captain and Chaser for the Slytherin team," Cormac said. "How do you fail all but one class and repeat a year - twice - and yet still get to stay on the team?"

"Simple," Dominick said in a tone that clearly said he thought the answer to that should be obvious. "Have one of the school governors as your father. Lord Flint pressured the Headmaster to let him keep his place on the team."

"My father is a governor," Cedric pointed out, "and I can safely guarantee he would never pressure the school to let me stay on the Hufflepuff team if I had to repeat a year even once, let alone twice. He'd ground me until I'm fifty and make my life a living hell because it wouldn't look good for the future Minister for Magic to repeat a year."

Cormac grinned. "Uncle Amos is still pressuring you to be the Minister, Ric?"

"Yes, he is," Cedric confirmed.  "Ever since he disowned him, all of Dad's hopes and dreams for Noah's future transferred to me.  Never bothered to ask me if I wanted to be Minister.  Just made it clear that not only does he expect me to be Minister, but that he also expects me to be the youngest Minister in Ministry history."

"Um, wasn't the youngest 23, like 600 years ago?"  Neville asked.

"Yes, Neville, he was," Cedric answered.  "So, if my father has his way, I'll be Minister for Magic by the time I'm 22.  Of course, he'd prefer I be even younger than that to make the record next to impossible to beat, but he'll settle for 22 if necessary, since the record I'd be beating in doing so held for over six centuries."

"I take it you don't want the position?"  Harry asked.

"Definitely not," Cedric replied.  "Would you?"

"Hell no," Harry said, as the others laughed.  "I rather think I've got enough positions without adding Minister on top of it."

Striking the floor three times, the wizard at the door said, "Presenting The Marquess of Carringholt, His Excellence the Lord Bartemius Crouch, Sr."

"Well, that should be the last of the nobles," Cedric said.  "There's still one family, but nobody has attended the balls to represent the Blacks since Lord Arcturus Black died in 1991.  The only living member of the family whose surname is still Black would be Sirius Black."

Neville nodded.  "My Great-Grandaunt Callidora is a Black by birth, so she sometimes accompanied the late Lord Arcturus Black to the balls after her husband, my Great-Grandfather's brother Harfang passed away, but she's never officially represented the family."

"Is she here tonight?"  Dominick asked.

Neville shook his head.  "No, she's been feeling a little under the weather lately and didn't feel up to coming.  As for Sirius, even if he is Lord Black, he'd never show his face here unless Harry is successful in his bid to get the King to pardon him."

This led to a quick explanation for the benefit of Dominick, Cormac, Nick, and Cedric, who hadn't been around when Harry had explained to Neville about his desire to have Sirius pardoned.  Cedric knew, of course, but he did an excellent job of pretending that he didn't.  Once they'd heard what Harry had to say, they all agreed that Sirius deserved to be pardoned and thought it was only a matter of time.

Since nobody was expecting any more family heads and their families to show up, Callum walked over to stand on the stairs with a glass of champagne in his hand, while a dozen house elves entered the room with trays of champagne for the guests.  Once everyone had a glass, Callum cleared his throat to give a speech welcoming everyone to his home, when suddenly the wizard at the door struck his staff on the ground again and said, "Presenting Viscount Langleeford, the Honorable Asterion Black, accompanied by his father, Earl of Alnwick, the Right Honorable Regulus Black, representing their uncle and brother, The Marquess of Charlton, His Excellence the Lord Sirius Black."

Silence filled the ballroom, as everyone stopped and stared at the entrance.  On the landing was a teenager, who couldn't be much older than sixteen, with dirty blond hair.  Seeing them standing so close to one another, Harry's most immediate thought was that the teen, who he assumed was Asterion, looked a bit like Callum, possibly suggesting that the boy's mother was closely related to the McKinnons.  However, most eyes in the room were not on Asterion, but on the man standing next to him who had been introduced as Regulus Black, brother of Sirius Black.  The same Regulus Black who died in 1979.  To those who'd known Regulus, however, they could easily recognize him as being an older and more distinguished version of the eighteen-year-old boy they'd last seen at his funeral, fifteen years ago.

The silence was broken as Narcissa Malfoy stepped forward and asked, "Regulus?  Is that really you?"

"Yes, my dear cousin Narcissa," Regulus said with a grin.  "It's really me."

"You're supposed to be dead," Arcturus Lestrange said, as he stepped forward.

Regulus continued to grin, as he said, "I'm afraid reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, cousin Arcturus."  Then giving him a once over, Regulus added, "My, my you've certainly grown, haven't you?  Last time I saw you, you were only a few inches taller than the Hogwarts Sorting Hat."

"I was a child then!"  Arcturus exclaimed, in a somewhat indignant tone, as if he was offended by the idea of being compared to the Sorting Hat.  Or maybe it was being reminded of his once diminutive childhood height.

Regulus nodded and while Arcturus had not specified how old he was at the time, probably because he was embarrassed, Regulus had no problem with saying it.  "Yes, Arcturus you were ten and very short for your age.  You must have had a hell of a growth spurt as a teenager.  Or was it growth potions?"

Before Arcturus could comment, Asterion grinned and said, "I've seen pictures - you were short for a ten-year-old."

Arcturus looked like he wanted to say something, but someone else beat him to the punch.

"Asterion, is that really you?"  Callum asked, just as shocked by Regulus' appearance as everyone else but focusing his attention instead on the younger of the two.

Asterion nodded and said, "Yes, Uncle Callum, it's me."

Pulling the young man into a hug, Callum said, "When your mother was killed and you disappeared, we all feared you were dead.  Where have you been all this time?"

"He's been with me, of course," Regulus said.  "He is, after all, my son.  It's only right that I'd take him in after Marlena died."

"And you couldn't have let her family know that her son was okay and still alive?"  Callum asked, clearly a little perturbed about not really knowing what had happened to his then three-year-old nephew, or even if he was still alive.  "Where have you been all these years?"

"I must agree with our host, Regulus," Lucius said, as he stepped up next to his wife.  "I'm sure we'd all like to know the answer to that.  Especially those of us who attended your funeral and saw you in a coffin."

"It wasn't me you saw in a coffin, Lucius," Regulus said.  "I'm not disputing the fact that you thought it was me and that it may very well have looked very much like what I looked like back then, but it wasn't me.  It couldn't have been, since I'm standing here."

"How do we even know that you really are Regulus Black?"  Arcturus asked.  "All we have is your word on that."

"Are you blind, Arcturus?"  Neville asked as he approached with the other younger nobles.  "The boy clearly has McKinnon blood and it's a well-known fact that Regulus Black had a child with Marlena McKinnon before she died."

"No, I'm not blind," Arcturus said in a scathing tone.  "However, apparently unlike you, I happen to remember that we're wizards and that spells to change one's appearance exist."  Turning back to look at the dais, he added, "How do we know that these two really are Regulus and Asterion Black?  They could be using Glamour Charms."

Regulus shook his head and said, "I suppose I can't fault you for thinking that, Arcturus.  You all thought I was dead.  So, of course, you'd not immediately take my word for it that I'm not.  Narcissa, my dear cousin, could you come up here for a moment?"

"Why?"  Lucius asked before his wife took a step.

"I think that should be obvious, Lucius," Regulus said.  "Narcissa is a Black and therefore she is privy to things that nobody but a Black would know.  Things I couldn't possibly know if I wasn't also a Black.  I thought we could have a short, private chat.  Surely Lady Malfoy's word that I am who I say I am should be good enough?"

It was impossible to grow up in a noble house, especially one like the Black family, and not learn how to manipulate people to see things your way.  Regulus knew immediately from Lucius' expression that he agreed with him.  Of course, Lady Narcissa Malfoy's word that something was true would be enough.  As far as Lucius was concerned, his wife's word was unimpeachable.

"Fine, let's chat, Regulus," Narcissa said, as she stepped away from her husband and came up to the dais.

At this, Callum said, "You two can use my study for your chat if you'd like to keep it just between the two of you."

"Thank you, Callum," Regulus said.  Technically speaking, Regulus should have called him Lord McKinnon, since while it would appear they held the same rank, Callum was an Earl by right, whereas Regulus was an Earl by courtesy and Wizarding custom did differentiate between those distinctions.  The fact that Regulus had a child with Callum's older half-sister didn't mean much, since Regulus and Marlena were never married.  Thus, technically speaking, Regulus was not family the way Asterion was, so while Asterion could say Uncle Callum, Regulus should have waited until he was given permission.  Callum wasn't going to press that issue though, because honestly, he had way more important things on his mind at present.

Callum nodded and summoned a house-elf, directing it to take Regulus and Narcissa to his study.  Once the two of them were alone in the study, Regulus pulled out his wand and said, "Silencio!  Muffliato!"  For added protection, however, and to shock his cousin, he then summoned his mage's staff and cast two more silencing spells, both of which were high-level mage spells that couldn't be cast by just anyone.

"You're a mage?"  Narcissa asked.

"Surprised cousin dear?"  Regulus asked.  Narcissa nodded, at which point Regulus added, "Mage training is a secret so I can't go into details, but suffice it to say that my being a mage is partly how you were able to see me in a coffin when I wasn't dead.  Anyway, Narcissa, back to proving that I am who I say I am.  You were fourteen years old, I was eight, and you caught me reading your diary, which I admit, I stole from your room.  I must say, Cissa, there were some truly juicy tidbits in that book.  Things I know you wouldn't want to get out."

"You'll have to do better than that if you want me to go out there and say you are Regulus Black," Narcissa said.  "You haven't told me anything that proves it's you."

While she was acting cool and unconcerned on the outside, Narcissa was anything but on the inside.  She remembered the incident all too well and she knew that there were indeed things in there she didn't want to get out.  Even now, years later, there were a couple of things in there that she didn't want exposed.

"Oh you want more detailed proof, do you?" Regulus asked with a grin.  "Well, how about the fact that I made copies of your diary and held its contents over your head for years until I supposedly died?  Got you to do all kinds of things, such as lying to my parents and getting you to tell them I was with you when I was with Marlena.  They wouldn't have liked that I was dating someone who wasn't from Slytherin.  But back to you... let's see here, you had a crush on Professor Kettleburn, I believe it was, and went into great and quite scandalous detail about what you wanted to do with him.  Honestly, Cissa, you corrupted my poor eight-year-old mind with all that graphic talk."

'Oh Merlin, it is him,' Narcissa thought, but before she could comment, Regulus grinned and said, "Of course, that was nothing in comparison to the fact that you knew that Dromeda was dating that Muggle boy and didn't tell anyone.  What was it you said?  Oh yes.  'I don't care if he's a mudblood, he's so handsome.  Dromeda is lucky to have gotten him.'  You know damn well you would have been disowned for that kind of talk.  A pureblood girl lucky to be dating a mudblood?  That idea would not have gone over well with our family.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it would go over very well with your husband either."

"Fine, fine, Regulus, I believe you!"  Narcissa exclaimed.  "It's obviously you, as I never told any of that to anyone else."

"Well, of course, you didn't, Cissa," Regulus said with a roguish grin.  "You're still on the family tree, right?  I mean, I'm sure dear old Mum would have blasted you off of it if she knew."

"Yes, your mother would have blasted me off," Narcissa said.  "She took her position in the family a little too seriously, if you ask me."

"Trust me, Cissa, I know that," Regulus said.  "I lived with the woman, after all.  The way she put on airs, you'd think she was the Marchioness of Charlton instead of the Countess of Alnwick.  She routinely acted like my father was the head of the family, even though he was only the heir.  I still remember some of the fights that Mum had with Grandmum Melania, who wasn't the slightest bit amused by Mum's tendency to act like she was Lady Black.  Of course, seeing as how Mum was a Black before she married Father, I suppose she saw Grandmum as some kind of interloper."

"No offense, Regulus, but your mother was crazy," Narcissa said.

"You won't get any arguments from me, Cissa," Regulus said.  "To be honest, that's part of the reason why I allowed everyone to think I was dead.  I didn't want Mum to have any influence over my son."

"Part of the reason?"  Narcissa asked.  "There's more?"

"Well, I also did something to piss off the Dark Lord," Regulus said.  "It was just safer for me to disappear.  Asterion had already lost his mother, I wasn't going to let him lose his father too."

"I see," Narcissa said.  "Well, we should be getting back."

"Yes, I suppose so," Regulus said.  "Perhaps we should get together for tea one of these days though.  We have a lot to catch up on."

"That would be lovely, Regulus," Narcissa said.  "I'll look forward to it."

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, back in the ballroom, Callum spent a moment talking with Asterion on the steps, before they began mingling.  Many people were understandably curious about Asterion Black and if he was who he said he was.  It had been in all of the papers years ago when Marlena McKinnon was killed that no trace of her young son had been found.  The boy was never seen again and many people assumed that he was dead, but there was never any proof of that.  There was, however, proof that his father, Regulus Black, had died, so while they were curious about Asterion, they were even more curious about the man who claimed to be Regulus.

"Well, this is certainly turning into an eventful evening," Cedric commented.

Dominick nodded.  "You can say that again, Ric.  I can't say I ever expected Regulus Black to show up."

"Assuming he is Regulus Black," Nick said.  "I know my grandfather attended the funeral, as did most of the other noble families."

"My gran didn't," Neville said, "but then my grandfather had been seriously wounded in a Death Eater raid and was in the hospital.  Gran refused to leave his side for any reason as she wanted to be with him right up until the end.  He passed on about three days after Regulus' funeral."

"I don't know if my parents did or not," Harry said.  "Maybe I'll ask their portrait when I get home."

Cormac nodded.  "Well, you did say that Sirius was your godfather and Regulus was his brother, so it's possible that your parents went to the funeral.  Although then again, I seem to recall hearing that Sirius and Regulus did not get on well."

"Whoever told you that was lying," a male voice said, as Cormac and the others turned to see Asterion standing there.  With their attention now on him, he said, "My father and uncle were very close as they were growing up.  Practically inseparable according to my father.  Uncle Sirius did leave home, but it wasn't because of a problem with my father, but with my grandmother, Walburga Black."

Nick shuddered.  "I only met her once and, no offense Asterion, but once was enough.  I was five years old and she scared the shite out of me."

"None taken," Asterion said.  "The few memories I have of her all scared me too.  I'm sure many things could have been said about her, but you'd never find anyone who would say that she was a kind person.  Crazy, yes.  Personally, I blame the inbreeding."

"Inbreeding?"  Harry asked.

"Yes, your grace," Asterion answered.  "My grandmother Walburga was a Black before she married my grandfather, Orion.  Their grandfathers, Sirius and Cygnus Black were brothers, making them second cousins.  And that's not the first time that members of my family have married within the family.  Anyway, Father and I have heard about your petition to the King to pardon Uncle Sirius.  We both hope it's successful."

"So do I," Harry said.  "I don't know my godfather as well as I'd like, but I do know that he's innocent of the charges that landed him in Azkaban."

"Innocent people aren't sent to prison, Potter," came a familiar drawl, as Harry turned and saw Draco Malfoy standing there, looking as pompous as ever.

Neville shook his head.  "Malfoy, you should know better."

"Don't tell me what I should know, Longbottom," Draco said with a sneer.  "You're practically a squib, so about the only person you're qualified to give advice to is a mudblood."

"Draco, I suggest you remove that word from your vocabulary," Harry said.

"How dare you call me by my given name," Draco said.  "I didn't tell you that you could do that, scarhead."

"You didn't need to, Draco," Harry said.  "Last time I checked you're a Viscount, by courtesy, as your father's heir.  Unless you can't read the newspaper, however, I'm a Duke in my own right.  I outrank you, Draco, and therefore I don't need permission to call you by your first name.  However, I do believe that you should be calling me your grace."

"I'm not going to call some stupid halfblood your grace, Potter," Draco said.  "Your mother was a mudblood, so don't stand there and act like you have any right to a pureblood Wizarding title."

"There is nothing in the letters patent for the titles that say they can only be held by purebloods, Draco," Cedric pointed out.

"Stay out of this, Diggory," Draco said.  "Nobody asked your opinion."

"You're making an ass of yourself, Draco," Nick said.

Turning on Nick, Draco said, "Well you'd be the expert on that, wouldn't you?  You are a pansy, after all."

"Draco, I suggest you shut your mouth before you put your foot in it any further," Dominick said.

"And why would I listen to you, Burke?"  Draco asked.  "I saw that kiss you gave Ollivander here earlier.  Not to mention the fact that your arm has been around his waist half the night.  You're a queer just like he is aren't you?"

Dominick didn't have a chance to answer.  Removing his wand from his cane, Harry pointed it at Draco and said, "Draco Malfoy, you've insulted me, my mother, and my friends.  I won't stand for that, so as Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, I challenge you to a duel."

Draco looked at Harry as if he was looking at something particularly disgusting.  "A duel with you isn't worth my time, Potter."

"So, you're refusing my challenge?"  Harry asked.

"Yes, Potter, I refuse to duel you," Draco said.  By this point, the conversation had drawn the attention of several other people in the room, who were now watching, most of them shocked at the Malfoy heir's behavior.  He really should have known better than to act the way he was acting.

"Well, in that case, Draco, you leave me no choice," Harry said.  "You've insulted me and those that I care about in my presence and now you refuse to give me satisfaction.  If I'm feeling nice, I might release you in time to go to school, but in the meantime, I'm making you a guest of Seacliff's dungeons."

"You most certainly are not," Draco said.  "You're not a proper pureblood, so you have no authority to do that, Potter."

"I take back what I said earlier," Dominick said.  "You're not putting your foot in your mouth, you're digging your grave."  At this point, he spotted Lucius coming over and he said, "Don't look now, Draco, but your father's coming and he doesn't look happy."

"You think that's going to scare me, Burke?"  Draco said.  "Only reason my father would be mad is that this scarred halfblood son of a mudblood bitch thinks he has the authority to lock me up.  That's a laugh."

"Draco Lucian Malfoy!" Lucius exclaimed.  "You will shut your mouth this instant!"

Realizing that Lucius was mad at him instead of Potter, Draco turned to his father and said, "But, Father..."

"Don't 'but Father' me, Draco," Lucius said.  "You've shamed me and our house tonight.  There's no excuse for that, so, I strongly suggest that you don't say another word."  Turning to Harry, Lucius said, "I whole-heartedly apologize for my son's reprehensible behavior, your grace.  Is there anything I can do to rectify this that doesn't involve my heir's imprisonment?"

"Frankly, Lucius, no there isn't," Harry said, as he put his wand back into his cane.  "Your son has said many hurtful and insulting things to me and my friends this evening and I'm afraid it isn't the first time.  If I had a galleon for every snide or insulting remark he's ever made since I've known him, I'd be the richest wizard in the world and that's without my family fortune.  I think it's high time that he learns that his actions have consequences."

Nodding, Lucius said, "Of course, your grace, if that is your wish.  Draco will report to Seacliff tomorrow morning to serve his time in the dungeons for however long you desire."

"Thank you, Lucius," Harry said, noting with a smile that Draco looked very angry at his father.

Lucius nodded again, before grabbing Draco's forearm in an iron grip that was painful for the blond, as he said, "Let's go, Draco," before he pulled him away from the group.

Narcissa and Regulus returned shortly after this, at which point Narcissa announced that Regulus was telling the truth.  She was as sure as she possibly could be that he was her cousin Regulus Black.  This announcement diverted the attention of the other guests off of the drama that had just played out between Draco and Harry, for which the brunet was eternally grateful.  He'd never much enjoyed being in the spotlight, so he'd felt a bit uncomfortable under the attention of half the ballroom.

Callum made the speech he was going to make before Regulus and Asterion arrived, welcoming everyone to his home and adding in how extra pleased he was to have his nephew back.  He then invited everyone to join him in the first dance of the evening.

-o-0-o-

The following day at breakfast, Robert arrived a bit out of breath and said, "Harry, I got here as fast as I could.  This arrived at Seacliff in the morning post and I knew you'd want to see it immediately."

"What is it?"  Harry asked as he took the parchment envelope which was addressed to him.

Lord Harrison Potter, Duke of Granston

Seacliff Castle

Highever, Duchy of Granston, Albion

"Flip it over," Robert said as he sat down and accepted the cup of tea that Eudora offered him.

Harry did so and noticed a crest in the sealing wax.  Studying it for a moment, he said, "I've seen this crest before at Gringotts."  After a moment, his eyes widened, and said, "On Vault 1000 - the Pendragon vault."

Robert nodded.  "Yes, Harry, that's the royal crest.  I can only assume that it's from the King, possibly his answer in terms of the pardon you requested for Sirius."

"I can't say I expected a response this quickly," Harry commented.

"Why not, Harry?"  Cedric asked.  "You are a Duke now and even if you haven't been officially installed yet, you're one of Edward's Privy Councilors.  If he's anything like his late grandfather King Charles, he'd give a request from you a very high priority."

Harry nodded and then just stared at the envelope for a moment longer, before Remus asked, "Well, Harry, are you going to stare at it or open it?"

"Open it, I guess," Harry said, as he grabbed the knife next to his plate and used it to break the seal, before pulling a single sheet of parchment out of the envelope.  Opening it, he read the missive aloud.

Lord Potter,

We received your seneschal's request that we review the case against your godfather, Lord Sirius Orion Black.  We have reviewed the pensieve memories you supplied proving that Peter Pettigrew is still alive, in addition to your memory of your parents' portrait insisting that Peter Pettigrew and not Lord Black was their secret keeper.  We have also viewed the memories provided by one Remus J. Lupin, which corroborates the events in your own memories, showing Peter Pettigrew admitting to framing Lord Black for his murder and the murders of twelve Muggles.

Since we can find no evidence that any of these memories have been tampered with or altered in any way, we have chosen to ignore the voices in our court urging us not to trust the word of a werewolf and conclude that Lord Black is innocent of all charges levied against him. 

To that end, we have signed an order granting Lord Black a full royal pardon and instructed our seneschal to deliver it personally to our Minister for Magic and the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.  Also in light of the twelve years, Lord Black spent in Azkaban for a crime he was never tried for or convicted of, we offer him our personal apology and have instructed our Chancellor of the Exchequer to remit to the Lord Black the sum of 50,000 Galleons, which shall be his to keep, tax-free, for the rest of his life.

Sincerely,

His Imperial and Royal Majesty Edward Charles Arthur Phillip Pendragon, King-Emperor of Albion and Iwernia, Lord of Camelot, and Head of the Most Ancient and Royal House of Pendragon

When he finished, Harry whooped for joy and said, "He's cleared, Remus!  He's cleared!"

Remus smiled.  "Yes, Harry, he is.  It's excellent news."

Athena, meanwhile, had a contemplative look on her face, before she said, "I'm somewhat surprised that Edward signed his name that way."

"What do you mean?"  Harry asked as he looked at the signature on the letter.  "It's the same way he signed the letter to Gringotts."  After a moment, however, he asked, "Wait, King-Emperor?  You've always simply referred to him as the King, never an Emperor."

"Well, technically he is both," Athena commented.  "It's just that none of the Pendragon monarchs have asserted the Imperial title in over 300 years, even though they are still entitled to do so."

"So, he's both King and Emperor of Albion and Iwernia?"  Harry asked as Athena nodded.  "What's the difference?"

"The difference, Harry," Eudora answered, "is that the title of King applies only to the Wizarding sections of Albion and Iwernia.  The title of Emperor is a higher title than King, however, and unlike the royal title, the imperial title refers to both islands in their entirety - including the Muggle sections."

"Wait, so you mean to say that King Edward outranks Queen Elizabeth?"  Harry answered.

"Yes, Harry, he does," Athena replied.  "You may remember when we were at the bank, I told you that Wizarding Britain and Muggle Britain, while sharing the same landmass, are two separate countries, that are more or less, independent of one another.  The keywords are 'more or less'.  As I said, none of the Pendragon monarchs have used the Imperial title for over 300 years - or more precisely since 1692 when the Statute of Secrecy went into effect.  While they didn't use it, they still retain the rights to it, but with the Statute in effect, it was decided to leave the Muggles completely to their own devices."

Taking over the explanation, Eudora added, "However, by ancient treaty, all of the lands of Albion and Iwernia are under the rule of the House of Pendragon, following the Unification Wars of 781 to 794.  Now, following the war, King Arthur created the Thirteen Houses.  There were already nobles before that point and some of them didn't like the idea of a bunch of previously commoner families being ennobled.  It was particularly galling to the ones who were now outranked.  However, after over a decade of war, none of them wanted to challenge the King on the decision, because they knew it would lead to another war, one which they weren't confident in winning since they felt sure that the vast majority of the realm's wizards and witches would side with King Arthur."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"You see this is why Binns needs to go," Athena said.  "You'd know this if he wasn't so fixated on the goblin wars.  The reason it was believed all the witches and wizards would side with King Arthur, is because they'd been brutally persecuted by Arthur's father, King Uther.  After Uther died in 763 and Arthur became King, however, he threw out all of his father's anti-magic laws and welcomed the practice of magic with open arms, also revealing at that point that he was a wizard - a fact which he'd succeeded in hiding from his father.  In the ensuing years, Arthur became a champion of magic users throughout the islands, and then after the Unification Wars, he granted titles of nobility to thirteen magical families and made the heads of three of those families members of his Privy Council.  All of this, plus the fact that Merlin was on Arthur's side, cemented the loyalty of almost all of the countries' magical practitioners."

"There were some that were loyal to Morgana Le Fey, of course," Eudora said.  "But, no matter how much Merlin and Morgana may not have gotten along, she would never help the Muggles in a war against King Arthur to protest the advancement of magic users in the country.  She was very much so pleased with him for his decisions on that front and would likely have fought with him if a war had broken out.  After King Arthur, Merlin, and Morgana died, however, tensions did begin rising, but it didn't come to a head until the year 1041, when war finally broke out."

"By then, King Arthur's great-great-grandson, King Phillip Pendragon, was on the throne," Athena explained.  "Leading Camelot's armies personally, King Phillip took to the field along with the famed Knights of the Round Table and the Silver Dragons.  The Silver Dragons, by the way, are a knightly order consisting of the Lords of the Thirteen Houses, and a few other knights that had been granted the Royal Star of Camelot."

"The Royal Star of Camelot?"  Harry asked.

"It's an award of merit, Harry," Remus answered.  "Named after the six-hundred-carat flawless diamond of the same name that's set in the Dragon's Scepter, which is part of the Pendragon crown jewels and is used during the coronation ceremony, along with the Crown of the Golden Dragon and the Dragon's Claw Orb.  The crown is the magical equivalent to Muggle Britain's Imperial State Crown, and is worn by the King during major state occasions, or would be if Edward ever appeared in public."

"Now, unlike the Order of Merlin," Athena said, "which can be awarded by the Ministry, only the ruling King can award a person with the Royal Star of Camelot because if the person who it's awarded to is not already in possession of or the heir to a higher title, then the award carries with it a hereditary knightly title, similar to a Baronet in the Muggle world.  The person isn't nobility, but they're still held in very high regard because the monarchy doesn't grant the Royal Star of Camelot to just anyone.  They had to have done something of particular importance to the realm or for the royal family itself.  The title has only been granted a hundred times in over a thousand years and most of the families it was granted to have died out."

'I guess Merlin didn't put his last-of-the-line protections on them,' Harry thought.  'Of course, Athena did say that the holder of the award isn't considered to be nobility, so I guess it makes sense.'

"Out of a hundred there's only ten that are still around," Cedric supplied.  "And all but two of them are Most Ancient and Noble Houses – those two being the Lovegood family and the Gamp family."

Eudora nodded.  "It's the main reason why the Ministry hasn't done anything to stop the production of The Quibbler, which is owned and operated by Sir Xenophilius Lovegood.  No matter how crazy his paper may make him seem, he's still a member of the Silver Dragons and held in very high regard as a result."

"Anyway, Camelot's armies rode out with King Phillip at the head," Eudora said.  "The war started by the rebellious Muggles lasted just over a year, ending in early 1042, with King Phillip's forces victorious.  However, he could see the schism that had developed between magical and non-magical culture, so, he named himself King of only the magical sections of Albion and Iwernia, granting Edward the Confessor the crown of the Muggle sections.  However, it was made clear in the ancient treaty establishing that divide that while the newly named King Edward the Confessor would be allowed to rule the Muggles in any way he saw fit, he would still have to answer to King Phillip, who named himself Emperor of the islands and the ultimate ruler of both sections of the country."

"Fast forward to 1972," Athena said, "and Voldemort made it quite clear when he personally killed King Charles that the reason he was killing off the entire royal family was because he intended to then crown himself King, at which point he also would have been Emperor over the Muggle sections.  Had he succeeded, I can only imagine that he would then have thrown out the Statute of Secrecy so that he could openly and legally torture as many Muggles as he wanted.  Unfortunately for Voldemort, the infant Prince Edward lived, so when Voldemort tried to take the Crown of the Golden Dragon for himself, he was electrocuted and knocked unconscious for three days.  Luckily for Voldemort, his Death Eaters managed to get their prone leader out of the palace before the royal guards could arrest them for the murder of the King."

"Voldemort's attacks and raids became even more brutal after that," Remus explained.  "It's believed that he was greatly angered by his failure to take the crown and would see everyone suffer for denying him what was, in his mind, rightfully his."

"Wow," Harry said, as he glanced up at the clock.  "Well, as much as I would love to stay here and continue this conversation, I can't.  The fall session of the Wizengamot will be opening in less than an hour and since I'm being installed in the Potter seats, I have to be present."

"Yes, Harry, that's true," Robert confirmed.

"Remus, if you could track down Sirius and let him know of his pardon, I'd appreciate it," Harry said, at which point Remus nodded and indicated that he would.  Harry then turned to Athena and asked, "Would it be possible to bring Sirius here?  I know that would mean bringing another person in on the secret of the training, but I've spent so little time with my godfather.  I'd really like to get to know him better."

Athena was silent for a moment, before she said, "I will think about it, Harry, and we'll discuss it later.  For now, you have to be getting to the Wizengamot chambers."

"Yeah," Harry said, as he stood up from the table, already dressed and ready to go.  He'd spent the last couple of days studying law books with the help of Cedric and Roger, brushing up on as much as he could.  He still didn't understand all of it, but he'd been assured that the first day of any Wizengamot session, especially when a new member was being installed, would be more pomp and circumstance than anything else.  It was doubtful that there'd be any issues that Harry would need to vote on and even if there were, Robert would be there to assist and advise him.  Taking a deep breath, Harry smiled at the others and said, "Wish me luck," before following Robert out to the Apparition point and leaving Athena's property.

-o-0-o-

To be continued.