Author's Note: This stupid ass chapter has been a giant fucking pain in my ass. I originally wrote it out way back when - and hated every word of it. I rewrote it and then had a computer malfunction and lost it and then gaining inspiration has been pulling teeth. I still am not happy with this chapter, it's messed up my timeline for the remaining chapters which I then have had to rewrite. I am missing scenes that I wanted to include like Tom seeing the potion's lab and originally, they had the meeting with Ragnok in this chapter which has been pushed back to the next chapter.
I am slowly working on the remaining chapters, changing things around. I don't get as much time as I would like to write, between having a four-year-old now and working two jobs, free time is a luxury I do not get much of.
I promise I have no abandoned this fic, though it definitely seemed like it and I do plan on posting quicker, my goal is to have each of the remaining 4-5 chapters be over 10k words minimum and keeping that thought in my head is stressing me out but that's my goal for this fic.
This entire thing is unbeta'd and only somewhat even nice because thank fuck for grammerly.
The next day brought several meetings that Harry had been looking forward to occurring. Her first meeting was with her personal lawyer, a man named Curtis Bletchley, who was the third-youngest son of Lord Bletchy thusly had been able to pursue his own ambitions - namely being a Law-Wizard unlike Lord Bletchy's first two sons, the Heir and spare. He was a sharp negotiator and while she was his first major client, having only done smaller cases or represented individual claims, Death had directed her to the young wizard. It was one of the few times, Harry found herself approving of the suggestion Death made regarding her future without her own input.
While he had been a Ravenclaw in Hogwarts, he had developed a ruthlessness and cunning level of control in the courtroom that not only would have made any Slytherin proud but that had also garnered her interest and respect after watching him practically demolish his competition to win his case. The witch was impressed with his work so far, as he had helped her not only gather the affairs of her departed father - a mind trip if there ever was one, she had several sets of memories; one from her original life, the lives of the ones in between and even a whole plethora of memories from this life from before she had arrived, memories of her father and grandfather and traveling the world and visiting new countries and it honestly gave her headaches trying to remember it all or focusing on it for too long - thus helping her get her Inheritance as a Lady, renewing older contracts with previous businesses they owned as well as handling any debts owed or awaiting. Her own mother, she had vague knowledge of - only that she had been a branch member of the Black family - and had passed away when she had been a little older than one from a bad case of Dragon Pox - which apparently had been a bad strain and had killed more than hundred witches and wizards that year alone.
She had asked the Law-Wizard to arrive at eight in the morning to deliver some of the contracts she had written up beforehand with him concerning her Heir, mostly for his security and safety and as he was officially a Peverell member and Heir, she needed to update her will again, something tedious and annoying to do but definitely required with all the changes that she would be pushing for - she honestly wouldn't be surprised by an attempt on her life with the next several reforms nor on her Heir. As such, she planned on having an air-tight will and contingency plans in place. Part of those was securing the future of her Heir as while he thought himself above the rest of his peers, he wasn't quite up to the level of some of the other players on the chessboard, one twinkly-eyed wizard came to the forefront. She planned on ensuring that he was safe from any further manipulations or those wishing to harm him ever again. The witch had also painstakingly written up a set of guidelines for future Peverell's to follow as any familial traditions that there had been before had disappeared from use - from the vague memories she had from this timeline's father and his father, they both had a flighty, whimsical personality - dashing off to explore the world and leaving everything else behind.
Her private floo activated as Bletchy stepped through; he was as serious as the previous visits, mouth set firm with sharp brown eyes and the signature Bletchy square jaw. At thirty-one, he was still a striking wizard for all of his younger age, especially dressed in his finely cut robes. "Good morning, Lady Peverell." He greeted her, nodding at her with respect as he walked towards her.
"Greetings, Mr. Bletchey, I'm pleased you were available today; I'm afraid my Heir is still sleeping off the hangover he received from his party last night," Harry answered with a soft little smirk as she stood up briefly to shake his hand, gesturing for him to join her at the seat across from her at her desk.
"Ah, yes I stayed for the first part of the party but I left for home early to prepare for our meeting. I've arranged the paperwork in order of what needs to be assessed first as well as importance."
"Wonderful, we can jump right on it then. Would you care for some tea while we get settled into it?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow in question as she picked up the folder he placed on her desk, glancing through the first documents to familiarize herself with them.
"That would be excellent, thank you," Bletchley said, pulling out his notes from a separate folder.
In mere moments, a complete tea set popped into existence on the small table next to the desk. "Would you care for sugar or milk with your tea, Mr. Bletchy?" Harry asked.
"One lump of sugar will be enough for me, Lady Peverell, I thank you for your hospitality." He accepted the cup of tea from her as he handed her the first batch of paperwork. "To begin, I believe you wished to update your will - but first, we have a small error to correct regarding your personal assets, as you have bought a new property and updated the wards of the locations currently under your control, we need to adjust the will to reflect those in the event of your passing. I assume that you wish for all of them to be left again to your Heir?"
Harry sipped her tea as she regarded the lawyer with half-lidded eyes and a sly smile, "That would be correct except for the last property I have obtained in the last week, Mr. Bletchly."
To the man's credit, he only blinked once at the new information before continuing, "Who would you like to inherit the last location, Lady Peverell?"
"No one shall inherit the property as I have plans of making it a Sanctuary for children. I've drawn up plans for the property as currently, it's an old manor falling apart as the previous family who owned it passed away and it was left to rot. I'm hoping to meet with a few contractors and curse breakers to go through the property, remove anything harmful and dangerous - including the plant life and begin having it remodeled for a new Sanctuary for magical children." She reached over to the locked drawer on her desk, pressing a finger against the lock and feeling it open as she sent a tendril of her magic to verify her identity. The plans she unrolled took up most of the desk from the sheer size and had several layers. "Currently, the building is four stories high with thirty-six bedroom suites and seventeen non-bedroom rooms - I plan on having all of the suits converted to singular bedrooms with private bathrooms attached to all of them. As well as four rooms dedicated to studies with the tutors that I plan on hiring, a library, a full-service kitchen and communal dining room, two playrooms - one for older children and one for younger - as well as a garden with greenhouses, an observatory parlor, an outdoor play area, a nursery, an infirmary, and a music room."
He blinked slowly at the flood of information coming his way and Harry paused in her speaking to show him the plans she had crafted so carefully. "On top of the legislation I am hoping will pass in the months to come, this will give magical children whose home life may be unsafe regardless if it is a magical or non-magical home, a safe place to stay until law enforcement figures out what to do and where the child will be placed. I plan on providing for the first year's cost - in supplies for each child, the cost of the salaries for the adults working there and any additional fees needed to cover the start-up cost. My goal is to make the Sanctuary self-sufficient with a garden and livestock that will produce most of the dietary needs required for the children and possibly a surplus to sell to the community, hence why I am meeting with the team later on this week. The quicker I can get the property cleared, the quicker I can send in some herbologists to begin preparing the land. I've also asked Tully if there are any House Elves in need of a home - my goal is to have several on staff to help take care of any issues with the setup and maintenance of the property.
So far, my ideas for the location would be one adult per six children - as well as a Mediwitch, several tutors, a counselor and an on-call lawyer whose primary job will be making sure the children have someone looking at their best interests and not that of the outside influences associated with the child."
"That is certainly well-thought-out, m'lady." He commented, blinking lightly as his mind processed the information. "If you would like, I can recommend one of my colleagues who I know specialize in cases with children to see if she would be interested." He took a moment to mentally review everything she told him before the realization that she had emphasized Sanctuary and he had to hold back his own smirk at her genius. The ancient laws of Sanctuary in magic were one that even the Ministry of Magic couldn't interfere with - back when clans had been prominent, not Families, asking for Sanctuary was the equivalent and then some of asking for asylum. By granting Sanctuary, the clans promised to not only protect those asking for it, but defend them, raise them, take them under their wing. The Black family was one of the major clans back in the day, with multiple families having joined under their banner of Sanctuary - it was why the entire family itself was so spread out with sects belonging in France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Soviet Russia and Hungary and why the Blacks had several families under their primacy. It was one of the rules of magic that older purebloods respected and it was a surefire way to gain their support - at least until they themselves were investigated and it was a way to rouse the support of the half-bloods as well for being inclusive. It was an intelligent move and one that most wouldn't notice until it was already established and therefore untouchable.
Harry smiled lightly in response, "That would be most appreciated, Mr. Bletchy. Concerning the rest of the properties under my ownership, all of them will go to my Heir and remain in the Peverell family. I would also like to update my contract with the House Elves under the employment of the Peverell family to include the newest ones that have joined us."
To his credit, the man had gotten used to the eccentrics that the woman brought with her with every meeting - sometimes a little odder than his usual clients. One of the first things she had done after employing him was to write up a contract for her elves, something that would guarantee wages, days off, and paid maternity leave. She had also ensured that each elf who signed the contract would be able to leave for another family whenever they wished and that families could never be broken apart - they lived together and died together. To the wizard's amazement, he had already seen several times of the strength of their loyalty towards the woman in one case while they had been in Diagon Alley, a pickpocket had attempted to lift her coin purse and had been blasted away by her Elf who had suddenly appeared with murder clear in their eyes.
She inspired the loyalty of the elves and had a formidable army on her hands. Curtis could only imagine the level of protection her manor had should anyone attempt to ever lay siege to her property. Not only was she a powerful witch, as she often performed wandless magic unconsciously as she summoned items to her or would wave her hand and some task would be executed but she also was innately familiar with runes - if the hundreds of runes he had seen carved into doorways, window sills and the very walls were any indication. Curtis had a feeling that even if the Dark Lord Grindlward attempted to lay siege to the property, even he would fail. The Law-Wizard was thankful for that day that the witch had walked into his office, declared that she wanted him to represent her and then had dumped piles of paperwork on his desk with a very pleased expression. She had already done most of the work, it had just needed fine-tuning and refining to be proper legal documents. "Very well, I assume the new elves in question have signed the contract already? If so, I'll just take an updated copy for myself and Gringott's."
"Ah, yes, they all signed it earlier along with their magical signatures to make sure everything was valid." The woman pulled out the contract before tapping it twice with her wand and giving the two copies to the wizard across from her. "As for my will, I believe I will be becoming the Magical Guardian of a muggle-born child soon enough, I'll be meeting with her parents hopefully tomorrow and as such, I'd prefer if you could write up a standard contract for them regarding the technicalities of such sponsorship."
"Ah, how noble, Lady Peverell. I shall have one written up and delivered to you before noon if that sounds agreeable, depending on how quickly we finish up here and I can head back to my office to write this up."
"Thank you, Mr. Bletchy. Now onto the next matter, I had prepared a family creed that I was hoping to go over with you for future generations." Harry stated, picking up the parchment and handing it over to the man.
"Of course, Lady Peverell. Give me a few moments to look over the document." From there, the pair spent the next hour going over the documents before Bletchley took his leave back to his office, leaving Harry to finish sorting and putting away the updated paperwork she had acquired.
The witch was quick to ask Sipsy to inform Tom that they would be leaving for Diagon Alley within the next hour. After the House Elf left her office, Harry finished organizing the paperwork and retreated back to her suite to change from her at-home wear - which was a set of trousers and a light over-robe to something more appropriate of her status for out in public. Her eyes trailed along with the robes in her closet before choosing a deep maroon day dress and a charcoal grey robe. Quickly changing, the witch made her way to her large vanity across from her bed.
She took a moment to roam over the ample selection of beauty products she had purchased since arriving - quite a few of them were all Potter original potions which was a complete surprise upon finding out. Apparently, the Potter's were well-known for being potion geniuses and had been for generations. Sleekeazy's Hair Potion was created by one of her ancestors and had been developed specifically to handle the infamous Potter hair, it had been a family recipe until Fleamont Potter had the bright idea to market it and had made a fortune off of it. It was still one of the very, very few products that ever worked well with her hair.
The Master of Death was quick to apply it to her hair before she began casting the beauty charms she had learned from Pavarti and Lavender once long ago in Gryffindor Tower. Within several minutes, she had applied eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara as well as a light foundation and powder followed by a soft, shimmery highlighter and a pink gloss for her lips. She took a moment to gaze at her reflection before setting her hair up in an elaborate braid before it was wound up into a bun. Harry nodded once at the overall picture, adding a set of simple pearl earrings and a matching bracelet before she made her way down into the entry hall to wait for Tom.
Thankfully, it was only another ten minutes before he made his way downstairs from his room, dressed sharply in a set of black robes with a Slytherin green trim and the Peverell crest embroidered prominently on the left breast. "Are you ready?" Harry asked as she walked over to hold out her arm to her ward, who slipped his own hand in the crook of her elbow cautiously. "We'll be apparating again to the arrival alleyway of Diagon. So hold on tight, and don't breathe." With the bare minimum description, the witch was quick to apparate from the hall with her charge.
They arrived safely moments later in the semi-busy alleyway and the witch watched with barely concealed amusement as he stumbled around almost drunkenly as he attempted to get reoriented with the ground and reality, garnering looks of sympathy from the other denizens who arrived and left at their own pace. Still, he was recovering quicker than she had - as it had taken her over a year before she stopped throwing up and falling all over the place upon arriving. Though part of that was the fact that her magic had been unbalanced for so long with the Horcrux and then when it had been destroyed, she had taken a while to settle into the mantle of Master of Death. Unfortunately, every other wizarding travel method didn't agree with her, she supposed it was because she belonged in the air, flying to insane heights and performing dangerous tricks.
"Come along now Tom, we have several places to go before I need to be back." The witch placed a hand on her charge's shoulder before steadying him as he swayed momentarily and leading him down the alley. "I need to pick up a few more potion's ingredients and a few more books, I've been researching something newer in theory and unfortunately, Sheffield House and Peverell Manor are lacking considerably in the subject."
"May I ask what subject you have been studying, Harry?" Tom asked, his face open with curiosity. If there was one thing that allowed the witch to forget about the monster of her time, it was the naked curiosity that plagued his face when he yearned for information. The openness in his facial expressions, the purity of it in his eyes, it made her completely disconnect the knowledge that this young man had destroyed everything she loved, tortured her for days, months, years, killed her too (not that it stayed permanent and not from a lack of trying either). It reminded her awfully of a certain stubborn frizzy-haired woman with a thirst for knowledge.
Shaking her morose thoughts away, Harry sent a gentle smile towards her companion, "I'm researching more into the lives of those who have been disowned or squibs who have been cast out. I have a working theory with the Goblins I have been wanting to test out but I need some more information first. In fact," she paused for a moment, "are there any muggle-born you are friendly with at Hogwarts?"
He wrinkled his nose in distaste before replying quietly, ensuring his volume level was quiet enough that no one else would hear his answer. "I have one or two acquaintances that I could send a letter to if you would like me to acquire their aid." The young wizard cast a disdainful eye around him, obviously worried about any of his classmates being nearby and hearing him.
"That would be extremely helpful Tom, thank you. As with you and your surprising heritage, I've wondered how many muggle-born are actually descendants of those castaway - how many are from pure lines. I've been designing a blood ritual with the Peverell Head Goblin, Ragnok, to test for latent magical ancestry and I believe we have it completed, now it is a matter of testing my hypothesis and for that, I need some test subjects."
"You crafted your own ritual?" Tom asked, his posture straightening from the relaxed position he had been in as he gazed at his guardian. From what he had learned from his Runes class as well as from having browsed Hogwart's library - creating rituals from scratch was incredibly difficult and it wasn't an enterprise most practiced. It was highly dangerous - the smallest mistake could prove deadly but the rewards were usually exceedingly high. The rituals that were still commonplace - at least in open society - had been around for hundreds of years and were exceedingly basic. Crafting a single ritual often took months, if not years to make for the more difficult rituals. It was a time-consuming process especially as one had to be familiar with arithmancy and runes as well as having an innate understanding of their own magic to craft one. His opinion of his new guardian raised slightly higher at the thought. Perhaps, perhaps, she would be willing to begin teaching him about crafting and the process that went into it. It would certainly prove useful to his plans.
"Yes, I've created several to get familiar with the process before Ragnok and I attempted to begin making this one. It took both of us six months - and he had help from having lower-ranked goblins to study for key features in it, which saved us about a year or two of work on the entire thing." She mused aloud as they wandered into the bookstore. "Regardless, we will be stopping by Gringott's another time, I have a feeling our next visit there will be a long one and I want to formally introduce you to Ragnok and his ilk." She paused as she pulled out a small shopping list from one of the pockets in her robes. "Feel free to browse and pick out a few books to add to your collection, my dear. I'll find you after I hunt these down." With the last statement, she set off further into the store, leaving the sixth year Slytherin standing by himself.
Blinking momentarily at her sudden departure, Tom decided to take her up on her offer by browsing. There were several subjects he was interested in, runes and arithmancy aside, and there were several books he had read while visiting the Black Manor and the Malfoy Estate that he would like to add to his personal collection for reference. By the time an hour had passed, he had a collection of five books, which had varying titles like 'Numerology and Grammatica' by M. Carneiro and L. Wakefield as well as 'Charms of Defence and Deterrence' by Catullus Spangle and 'Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery, A'. He had also found after searching through several toppled piles, 'Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes' by E. Limus and 'Protection Charm Your Mind: A Practical Guide to Counter Legilimensy' by Franciscus Fieldwake. While Hariel had said he was protected from basic intrusion in his mind thanks in part because of his Heir ring, upon hearing that it was possible for wizards to read his thoughts, he had been attempting to learn the art of Occlumency to protect himself in the event that he didn't have his ring or something it went. The other book looked like it hadn't been touched by a person in decades from the level of dust on it and he thought it might be a good idea to learn some forgotten hexes and jinxes for his repertoire.
The young Slytherin made his way towards the back of the bookstore, keeping an eye out for any sign of his guardian. It was fifteen shelves back that he found her with six books levitating next to her in a stack as she perused through a seventh book, her expression tight with intensity. "Harry?" He called out softly, not wanting to startle her.
She glanced up at him, blinking momentarily as she seemed to gather her focus away from whatever passage she had been reading. "Ah Tom, all done?" She smiled brightly in response, adding the book to her pile before waving her hand, sending the books he had been carrying to add on top of her own. The witch sent a quick look at them before pulling 'Numerology and Grammatica' from the pile, "We have two copies in the Peverell library, you are welcome to add one to your personal collection, Tom." She waved the book away and it began floating back in the direction he had found it.
"Ah, I suppose I don't need to buy it then." He murmured in response.
"I think one of our copies has notes written in it as well from my great-great-grandfather. He was an Arithmancy master and I believe that we have an entire shelf dedicated to the subject. I'll show you when we head back home. Now, let's buy these books and then off to the Apothecary we go."
The duo was quick to make their way up to the front where a young witch stood behind the counter, helping an older wizard with his purchases. Harry stopped and waited for her turn patiently, sending a soft smile towards the witch who rang up their purchases. It was quick work for the price of the books to be calculated and for Harry to pay the girl before she shrunk the bag of books and put it away in her robe pocket, already stepping out of the store and making her way to the apothecary before the purchase had even been put away.
"I still need to replenish our candle selection, let's see," the witch took a moment to pull out her shopping list, before using her finger with a tiny smidge of magic to cross out the list of books she had purchased. "I need to buy some more green, brown, yellow and white. I also need to pick up some black pepper oil, cinnamon, a dozen doxy eggs, a few pearls and turquoise, and a goat's heart. If there is anything you want to buy to restock for your own brewing stores, just add it to the cart. Usually, Sipsy takes care of this for me and restocking our potion's pantry but since we had to come here anyway, I decided to take care of it myself."
Tom blinked once in surprise, pausing briefly to hold the door open for his guardian, "We have a whole pantry dedicated for supplies for potions?"
Harry glanced at him quizzically for a moment, "Did I not show you it before? I could have sworn I had mentioned it."
"No, I'm afraid you forgot to mention it." He answered with a tight smile on his face.
"My apologies, then Tom. Yes, I have a whole brewing corridor on the west side of the house. There are three brewing rooms and the pantry of course. One room is for brewing exclusively at night and has a large window against one wall so you can have the moon's light. One room is for the more sensitive and experimental potions and the third room is just for standard brewing."
"Perhaps, when we return home, you can show me the corridor? I find myself intrigued by the idea of being able to brew at home." Tom suggested, leaning down to pick up a shopping basket for the witch as he followed her around the store.
"Of course, you can even help me brew some Nutritional potions for the baby Hippogriff in the stables. We are running low and that poor thing still needs to put on some weight before I feel comfortable enough introducing him to the herd." Harry replied, noting that the Valerian Spriggs were on sale and added a few to her basket.
"Can I get a few bat wings and some boomslang skin?" Tom asked, eyeing the products further down the aisle.
"If you'd like, go ahead and add them. That reminds me, I need to order you an ingredients case for class." At his questioning look, she explained, "It's a portable case you can carry around with a variety of ingredients in it - like what you are supposed to buy for your first year, except this has more room in it for different ingredients, and often has different settings for the preservation of the ingredients. I have one for the house for when we are out of the area, but you should have your own, it makes it so much easier to keep track of everything and it will give you the chance to organize your own collection into a manner that you prefer rather than a system picked out by the apothecary."
The young sixth year inclined his head momentarily, "That would be very much appreciated, Harry, thank you."
The woman hummed in reply as she picked up some dried newts, frog eyes and a jar of pickled slugs before adding those to her shopping cart as well. It took only a moment of her gazing around before she headed towards the candles, picking up two of each of the four kinds she needed. She paused momentarily, looking over the sale for the pink candles and deciding to pick up five since they were on sale. She would end up using them eventually - no harm in buying some for storage.
Harry glanced around, picking up a few odds and ends before collecting her wayward ward - who was holding up a bottle of porcupine quills and beetle eyes before putting the beetle eyes back. The witch glanced over the item, noting he had put back the slightly more expensive item before she pretending she hadn't noticed his little decision to save her some money. "Tom," she called out distractedly from the end of the aisle as she pretended to browse the selection of hair from Threstrals, Bicorns, Hippogriffs and all of the other four-legged beasties. "Can you pick up a jar of porcupine quills, beetle eyes, and some crushed fireflies? I believe that all three should be in that same section together."
The witch watched from the corner of her eye as she pretending to inspect the Bicorn hair for impurities as the young wizard glanced over at her before he answered, "One moment, Harry." He shifted in place, glancing at her one more time before he picked the jar of beetle eyes he had put back and then the jar of fireflies that were two shelves away before he walked over to her. "I have all three, Harry." He murmured quickly, placing them quickly into the cart.
"Wonderful, I just need to pick up an Owl Order magazine for the kit, so I can customize it, pay for these and we shall head home. It should give us enough time before I have to leave for the Wizengamot meeting to show you the potion's corridor and let you get familiar with everything and where it is all located." Harry informed him, quickly sweeping up to the front to look over the display with various Owl Order magazines with various products on them. She was quick to snatch up two magazines, a standard ingredient shopping magazine and the customizable item magazine. The witch hummed distractedly as she flipped through the others before putting them back and went to the front, paid for the items and left.
It took only another ten minutes for them to meander through Diagon Alley, as they had to stop two separate times for someone to greet Lady Peverell before they made it to the apparition point and Harry was quick to take them home.
As the beginning of the January Wizengamot meeting began, Lady Hariel Peverell took a moment to look over the stack of paperwork that each member had been given upon entering the chambers. The agenda for the meeting was the first in the large stack, followed by each motion, along with any presented evidence or paperwork for it. As the opening ceremonies began, Harry placed the papers to the side, waiting for her moment to change the dynamics of the Wizengamot. As the Chief Warlock called out, "First order of business, is there any House Business that needs to be declared at this moment?" Harry slowly stood up, taking her time to straighten her plum robes, once more gathering the attention of the room upon her. A few of the more intelligent folks in the room seemed to be adept at reading her body language, given that they straightened and focused intently at her. "The Wizengamot recognizes Lady Peverell."
"The House of Slytherin has chosen a new heir, Thomas Peverell. The House of Slytherin has chosen a new regent, Lady Hariel Peverell. The House of Slytherin is no longer an extinct house, so I have sworn, so mote it be." Her words, calm and collected, echoed throughout the nearly silent room. The calm before the storm was momentary before chaos erupted throughout the chambers as numerous Lords and Ladies stood up and began yelling, arguing with her statement and demanding proof. Throughout the several minutes of watching the Chief Warlock attempting to regain control on the Wizengamot, Harry merely glanced around the courtroom, taking notice from the corner of her eyes at those who remained quiet and seated and those who were quietly discussing the matter with those seated near them. Tsking under her breath as the Chief Warlock's inability to control the room, Harry raised her wand before the sound of a gunshot rang, immediately silencing everyone. Scoffing slightly in derision at those who had acted like rash Gryffindors, she spoke calmly and firmly, "If you would control yourselves like the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot and guests that you are, we can continue this meeting." Her eyes sharply cut across the room, daring any to argue, and making numerous witches and wizards older feel shame at their inability to control themselves.
"Thank you Lady Peverell." Gladys Cresswell, the Chief Warlock for the past eight years, commented before clearing her throat. The slight flush of embarrassment across her face went unmentioned but noticed by those with a keen eye. "Do you have proof of what you claim?" She asked.
Line theft was a serious matter and punishable by dementor's kiss - something that not many people attempted due to the severity of being caught. The most notable incident was in the case of a half-blood Andrew Goldhen, who raped a pureblood witch with the intent of getting her pregnant so she would be forced to marry him and he would eventually become the Lord of her house. As she happened to be the Heiress as her family was not a masculine inclined succession family, it was even more heinous as it meant he was attempting to steal not only the family magic but her rightful position in the family as Lady. The then twenty-two-year-old was sentenced to the dementor's kiss before being sentenced to the Veil - one of the few times someone had ever been sentenced to it. Stricter laws had become commonplace to prevent Line Theft, including but not limited to, the use of love potions, the Imperius, rape, coercion, and several other methods. Gringott's, having noticed the way that the laws were leading, had begun providing the option for witches and wizards to take a blood test to show any inheritances they were subject to or their family lineage, depending on what service one paid for. Everything would be verified by Gringotts, as they were known for their neutrality in Wizarding affairs as well as their skill in blood magic.
"Yes." Harry simply stated before snapping her fingers as a parchment with the Gringott's symbol appeared on the desk before the Chief Warlock. "The Goblins have verified its authenticity."
There were several minutes of silence that dominated the tense atmosphere of the courtroom as the older witch read throughout the paperwork, ensuring everything was in the correct order before tapping it with her wand. It glowed briefly gold before fading, signaling the acceptance of the wards placed over the Wizengamot chamber and verifying its accuracy. Gladys Cresswell took a moment to gather her nerves before looking up at the still-patiently standing witch. From the twinkle visible in Lady's eyes, Gladys knew that she was enjoying the moment. "The Wizengamot recognizes Heir Thomas Peverell as the Heir of the House of Slytherin. The Wizengamot recognizes Lady Hariel Peverell as Regent of the House of Slytherin. The Wizengamot recognizes that The House of Slytherin is no longer extinct." The witches and wizards within the room didn't even bother attempting to whisper.
Harry sat herself down, smirking softly from her seat as Cresswell resumed the meeting; though the chattering among the others in the courtroom didn't die down. With that large change of dynamic, Harry knew that her proposal she had entered would gain a lot of support in the upcoming months from those who would wish to curry her favor. With herself as Regent now of the House of Slytherin and Lady of the House of Peverell, she now held two of the highest titles one could within society: a Royal House and a Most Ancient and Most Noble.
It did not take long for the first several motions to be discussed, debated and voted on - with only one having a final decision (concerning the regulation of taxes on cauldrons). During one such discussion, Harry watched with sharp eyes as the Cattermole Lord argued with the Montague Lord over the smallest detail regarding one proposal that had been opened the month previously. Her eyes flitted between the two Lords as they got more and more heated before she cast a glance towards the imperturbable Lord Arcturus Black. The time-traveling witch was just thankful that Arcturus Black, at forty-four, had already gained the Lordship from Sirius Black II who was already sixty-eight years old. The previous Lord Black had a reputation of being a complete arse who enjoyed the power of his position - by pitting family members against each other in wicked games and he didn't care who got hurt in the process. It had been an undercover coup that had resulted in Sirius Black II having the family magics taken away from him and the Lordship passing to his son. And the only reason Harry even knew something had happened, was because her Sirius had explained the family drama one night while they both had been in Grimmauld Place, looking over the family tree and hiding away from Molly's obsessive cleaning spree.
The Blacks had played off the entire thing to society by pretending that Sirius II had stepped down to pursue the chance to retire when in reality, one of the first tasks Lord Arcturus Black had taken on, had been to confine the wizard in one of the many homes and permanently lock him away in the property. It was that action that had probably saved the Black family from complete annihilation. Harry was just thankful that he looked nothing like his future namesake, from the few glimpses she had witnessed of him before his incarceration. She didn't know if she would be able to handle the idea of such an evil, cruel person looking like her beloved godfather and sharing his name.
Shoving the morose thoughts from her head, Hariel turned her attention back to Cresswell who was moving over the next piece of the agenda, reviewing it briefly before calling out to the assembly, "It is now time to introduce new motions presented to the Wizengamot this meeting. Motion T326A - motion for the creation of a Child Welfare Department. Motion presenter, please rise and introduce it."
Standing up, Lady Peverell took a moment to glance around the room, making sure she gathered everyone's attention to her before she began speaking, "Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, motion T326A is one I consider an important matter, and for that matter, so should everyone else within the courtroom and beyond. As the daughter of an Ambassador and entrepreneur, I have had the unique opportunity to spend my childhood traveling to multiple countries and witnessing firsthand how each one is run and how exactly, Magical Britain differs from others in the I.C.W." She deliberately paused, "One of the most prevalent situations I encountered was the response and attitude towards children that ultimately showed the progress of each government. Japan, who currently holds the title for one of the most progressive countries, has one of the largest established child welfare departments along with a strict protocol they follow for every child-related incident. Any reports of possible child abuse is immediately checked out by a caseworker, who is magical with the qualifications needed to make the decisions regarding the children's safety. They have set up a system that if the household is not an approved one, they are placed either first with a family member or if a suitable one cannot be found, they are placed in a foster home. One that is carefully vetted and frequently checked upon to ensure the safety of the child in question.
"A foster home, for those who do not know, is similar to our system of adopting or being the magical guardian to another less-fortunate child. A foster home simply takes in the children who are without a home, caring and raising the child like their own until they reach of age, the previous home they were removed from has been established as a productive environment or someone wishes to adopt them into their family. There are of course certain stipulations, welfare checks from the child's caseworker to ensure they are healthy and happy, and the foster family in question receives payment to help alleviate the financial strain that taking care of another child can do. This system has been largely adopted by numerous countries in the I.C.W. for instances such as MACUSA, Japan, France, and Italy just to name a few.
"There are many countries that happen to currently be leading to child safety. Britain is not one of them." She paused at her last statement, taking a moment for the impact to hit before continuing, "MACUSA, however, is one of the nation's leading the charge towards the protection of their future - children. I've included in the motion what each country has in regard to their children's protection plans. The colonies have a system of fostering children, almost similar to the system we have of becoming magical guardians.
"I, personally, have had experience with the lack of care towards our children. My own Heir, the Heir of the Most Ancient and Royal family of Peverell and the Most Ancient and Most Noble family of Slytherin, spent the first fifteen years of his life, trapped in a muggle orphanage and abused for having magic. He was bullied, tortured and discriminated against by his muggle caretakers for having the most wondrous gift of magic." The venom in her voice only amplified the outrage that spread across the room. "If he wasn't nearly as studious and determined to succeed as he is, he would have suffered greatly upon entering the wizarding world for the first time. There are many other children, forced to grow up in the muggle world, who experience similar or worse experiences at the hands of those who don't understand magic. It is by these methods that the children who become Obscurious' are created, from hatred and those unwilling to understand. That is not to say that there are non-magical parents who love their children but unfortunately it is becoming all too often an occurrence. It is my hope, that the creation of this department will allow us as a society to regain lost standing among the other countries as well as protecting and helping our future citizens grow up where they belong, in our world, surrounded by magic and never fearing for their very lives by something they have been gifted with. Thank you."
As she sat herself down, Cattermole from the Ancient and Noble section stood up to debate it, "Why should we care about this? We already are spending quite a bit of money on other wasteful projects, why should we pour more money down a useless path that has no way of benefiting us?"
Harry simply stared at him for a long moment, blinking slowly as she restrained the urge to simply strangle the twat where he stood. Taking a deep breath to center herself, she stood back up, brushing her robes down to erase any wrinkles made to give her the last few distracting moments to calm herself before she replied, tone filled with disdain. "Those with even an ounce of care or heart in the bodies would understand the rampant disease that is spreading. In the packet included in the motion that everyone should have in front of them, including a recent study, which also relates to motion T326B, indicating that of the one hundred muggle-born children tested by Gringott's this past six months, eight-four either directly or within the last four generations, descended from squibs cast out of their own families and forced into the muggle world. The remaining sixteen have had a magical ancestor in the past seven generations." This immediately drew gasps of surprise as everyone began to look at each other in shock, whispers began to rise again.
"Now, the researchers who performed this study haven't had a chance to include half-bloods, squibs or many of the other Muggle-borns, this is just out of a random one hundred muggle-borns who have come into the bank for business. I have personally invested over half a million galleons into this study as the implications could have serious consequences for our society. Such as that no muggle-born is truly a muggle-born but simply a descendant of a cast-off member of society who went to live in the muggle world after being rejected and spurned from their own family." She took a moment to gaze at some of the Lords and Ladies who were known to have numerous squibs in their families that were almost always cast out if not outright killed. A few notable people adverted their gaze, unknowingly drawing more attention to themselves.
"Motion T326B would authorize every muggle-born who enters our society to take a mandatory inheritance test to best determine where in fact they should go: whether it is to remain in their current family or if to be fostered with a magical family of their blood relations. Children already attending Hogwarts or one of the smaller schools throughout the country would be required to take the test and have a home visit by a caseworker in the Department of Child Welfare.
"If such a fact is true for every child that is born of muggle parents, it is right to assume that they too belong in our world. Regardless of anyone's personal feelings on the matter," she turned her head to stare at an older wizard who had been disrespectful during her speech, chuffing and acting like a spoilt child, making the wizard shift embarrassedly in his seat, she continued, "It would simply be criminal for children who are abused, neglected or ridiculed to remain in the muggle world when it is very possible that they have family in our world. The creation of this department would not only better our society by allowing our future, the children, to learn about their culture, it would also ensure that they understand exactly where they come from and the proud heritage they are a part of. Protecting our children is, after all, protecting our future of magic. Thank you." With a flick of her hands, she settled her robes as she sat down, expression just as regal as before.
"As per rule five hundred and thirty-six, any new motion must be given a waiting period of the next Wizengamot meeting after being introduced before being discussed upon. T326A and T326B will be voted upon at the next Wizengamot meeting, February fifth. Are there any other motions that would like to be presented today at this meeting?" The Chief Warlock asked, waiting for the mandatory two minutes of silence before she continued on with the agenda, "Next order of business, previous motions presented the last meeting will now be discussed and voted upon. Presenter of motion T323 please stand and begin the discussion." Cresswell stated, tapping the gavel upon her stand before taking a seat.
A wizard Harry didn't recognize but that held the house crest of the House of Dolohov stood up and began discussing the uses of increasing the required thickness of cauldrons. Harry tuned out most of the discussion between the wizard and three others - who all either had investments in cauldron making, potion shops or were Potion's Masters/Mistresses. Something as mundane as the topic wasn't able to hold her attention for long before she found herself reading through the papers given to each member upon entering the meeting. Her eyebrow quirked up in surprise as she read through one of the motion's someone had been attempting to slide right through the Wizengamot. She certainly did not remember anyone attempting to introduce the motion that, according to the paperwork, was included in the September meeting. The more that Harry read through the lines of the motion, the stonier her expression became until the two wizards sitting next to her, after glancing in her direction, began to edge away as discreetly as possible.
The motion was held firmly in her hand as she placed the rest of the open packet on the desk in front of her, lips pressed tightly together, the only visible marker of her being upset. She waited a further thirty minutes until the several other motions being discussed were finished. When the Chief Warlock addressed the chambers to see if anyone wished to discuss a motion that was open from previous meetings, the raven-haired witch calmed tapped her wand on the button in front of her. The Lady Cresswell glanced down at the open self-updating book which alerted the Chief Warlock when someone wished to speak; the woman glanced up at her before nodding once to notify the witch that she had seen her. Harry watched intently as Cresswell tapped her gavel for a brief moment before looking over at the other woman. "The Wizengamot recognizes Lady Peverell."
Harry took a moment to stand up before sending her acid green eyes to stare intently at the Chief Warlock, "There is a motion that was included with the September meeting that I am most interested in discussing."
"Ah yes, which one?" Cresswell asked, pulling open the book that lay on the Chief Warlock's podium that was magically self-updating with each motion that was presented to the Wizengamot. There was a similar book for the lower levels of judges as well as one that kept track of every case brought forward.
"Motion Q578 if you please." Harry politely stated, knowing that those sitting close to her could probably witness the tightness of her lips.
"Ah, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one, give me a moment to find it, Lady Peverell."
"It is quite a conundrum, Chief Warlock. I am afraid I'm not familiar with it myself. I certainly don't recall Motion Q578 being introduced during our September meeting which is when it is stated that it was. Perhaps you wouldn't mind consulting with the September meeting records so we can verify it?" Harry asked, eyes glinting with suspicion.
Small whispers began spreading throughout the chambers as the Chief Warlock agreed, taking a moment to summon the meeting book from September from the chamber's file room. It was located directly behind the Chief Warlock and contained a book with the notes, motions, and discussions taken from every Wizengamot meeting since the very first one in 1544. Once the meetings closed, the book was created and sent immediately to the room where it could only be recalled by the Chief Warlock during a meeting so as to prevent tampering.
It took only a moment for Cresswell to summon the book to herself, flipping it open and glancing throughout the pages where each word spoken in the chamber was recorded. A frown began growing across her face as she flipped to the last several pages transcribed. "There is no record of such a motion being presented."
"How… interesting." The witch commented, taking a moment to take her seat back in her hair, chin raised as she swept cool eyes across the room. Distantly, she was aware of Cresswell speaking with her scribe as well as the Head Auror who were most likely discussing how to go about the transgression in the making. The Master of Death, however, was more keenly focused on finding the individual who thought that passing a law requiring the lowering of the age of consent for marriage back down to fourteen was an entirely acceptable plan. A sudden shift of movement had her gaze locking in on the body of an older wizard, who wore the crest of Tremelett if her memory served her correctly began to shift in place, eyes darting around at everyone else without him once trying to communicate to anyone else.
It would seem that she would need to do some research on the man immediately. The witch was quick to pick up the quill on her little table before writing out a quick note before folding it up and leaving it on the table. "Sipsy, please follow the directions on the note." Without Sipsy physically appearing, the note disappeared from the table and Harry knew without needing confirmation that the little elf would find out exactly what she wanted to know - and probably more than that.
Cresswell banged her gavel on her podium to gather the distracted attention of everyone before speaking. "This meeting of the January Wizengamot meeting will come to an early close as we attempt to find out what happened. Short of an emergency meeting, we will reconvene at the scheduled February meeting. Dismissed." The Chief Warlock was quick to step down and walk away from the stands to call the Head Auror, her scribe and several of the lackeys to her side to begin going over the book.
Harry stayed seated, allowing the mass of exiting magicals to leave the stands first. It wouldn't do for her to rush around like one of the common folk. Her eyes flashed briefly over to several of the other Heads who stayed seated, Lord Malfoy, Lord Black, Lord Nott, and Lord Greengrass as well as several others she wasn't completely sure of their house remained seated, having the same thought like her. The witch glanced briefly at the others before she glanced back over to Cresswell who had apparently summoned a few of the Ward Masters under employ with the Ministry to investigate the wards over the room.
There was a soft pop, barely audible over the cacophony of noise the departing magicals produced. Harry immediately looked down at the parchment note that had appeared on her desk. Mouth pulled into a tight line, she picked up the note and read over the contents. It seemed that her intuition was correct. Tremelett was a wizard of fifty - with no children and his Heir was his younger brother. He had recently been seen in the company of Tiberius Alderton of the Elder House of Alderton who had one daughter of thirteen. Harry inhaled sharply as the dots connected from the rest of the information. Alderton had invested in a business in the Americas and it sounded like the business was failing and he was in debt. Most likely, Alderton was hoping to sell off his daughter to Tremelett who was eager to purchase her for his bride.
Harry had to physically bite her tongue hard enough to bleed in an effort not to seek out the man in question and curse him. With restrained effort, she stood, depositing the note in the interior pocket of her Wizengamot robes as she began making her way out of the chambers, noting that she had unintentionally timed her withdrawal to match the others. Her eyes glanced over the group - Lord Arcturus Black, Lord Septimus Malfoy, Lord Reginald Greengrass, Lord Nicolas Nott, Lady Enyo MacNair and Lady Marchesa Montague were strolling without hurry away from the rabble of noise the other Lords and Ladies were making as they walked down towards the Atrium. Harry had a brief moment where she hesitated between advancing her agenda with the Dark leaders on the Wizengamot or saddling up against the Light alliance - her gaze swept over the several Lords currently leading the charge and felt her eye twitch momentarily at their loud guffawing and chatter and turned lightly on her heel to meet up with the group of seven.
"Ah, Lady Peverell, how kind of you to join us." Lord Septimus Malfoy greeted her as he inclined his head towards her, his hand resting genially on his familiar cane that drew her attention momentarily as she was reminded of Lucius Malfoy carrying around a similar cane. It made her curious if it was a Malfoy thing - or simply father and son as Draco had never gotten into the habit of it in the years after the War.
"Lord Malfoy," she nodded her head in greeting before glancing at the others, "Lord Black, Lord Nott, Lord Greengrass, Lady MacNair, Lady Montague, may fortune favor your families."
"Lady Peverell may magic continue to bless yours." Lady MacNair greeted in return, her grey eyes bright in the hallway lighting. Enyo MacNair was a tall woman, standing easily over six feet with sharp features and she was known for being a woman who enjoyed carnal pleasures like her future grandson, Walden MacNair. The MacNair's had been tokenly referred to as the Ministries Assassin's over the years as they were typically employed as Aurors, HitWizards or executioners for the Ministry. Her sapphire robes were cut with a more masculine look that emphasized the fact that the woman could probably chase after her prey and tackle them to the ground if she wished.
Marchesa Montague was known for her sharp tongue and astute mind. The fact that she could and would frequently curse and hex those who wronged her in Italian and Greek often left her victims stuck in difficult situations that made recovery a long process. She wasn't a physically intimidating woman like Enyo MacNair but Marchesa Montague was no slouch either, she was a respectable height for a woman at sixty-eight centimeters with soft, shiny curls that framed beautifully tan skin and a heart-shaped face. While not classically beautiful, her looks were more exotic than the normal, pale skin common in their society.
Reginald Greengrass was a heavier man with soft blonde hair and at fifty-five, he had two sons and a daughter. From what she had gathered, his oldest son Cygnus had obviously done something he considered reprehensible to be removed from the Heir position and it being appointed to Cyril, his second son and youngest child. He wasn't much of a mover and shaker, simply following Lord Malfoy's lead when it came to voting.
"Hariel, I hope your Heir has been well." Nicolas Nott stated, shifting forward to give her more of his attention and inevitably giving away that they were close enough acquaintances to allow the use of their first name. It not only brought a level of intimacy in their interactions but also subtly informed the others that she was more aligned with their way than the other side.
"He has been well, Nicolas, I appreciate your thoughts. He has recently discovered our potion's wing of the manor and I find myself hard-pressed to convince him to leave it." She paused, taking a moment to gaze at the group as a whole before starting with a carefully neutral expression with a hint of pride and boasted, "He has already completed a N.E.W.T.S. level potion just today alone, without any input from myself. I plan on hiring a tutor over Ostara break to encourage his talent with potioneering."
"You have an intelligent Heir, Lady Peverell." Lord Malfoy remarked, his eyebrow quirked up slightly.
"Thank you, Lord Malfoy, I find he is diligent in his studies and he has already begun studying for his N.E.W.T.S. next year," Hariel stated, following the group towards the floo corridor.
"Would you care to join us for a spot of tea, Lady Peverell? We are going to adjoin in my study." Lord Black extended the invitation to the witch.
Harry took a moment to lock eyes with the wizard before agreeing. Socializing for political reasons wasn't how she imagined her day would end, but she couldn't deny that every action she took in society only paved a more distinguished path for Tom to follow. "I would be delighted to join you, I thank you for the invitation."
The group stopped at an open floo network, with Lord Black stepping forward to pick up a handle of purple floo powder before tossing it into the fireplace and calling out, "Lord Black's study." He stepped into the fire and disappeared, Lady MacNair was next followed by Lady Montague before Harry followed after the women. Harry wondered what awaited her on the other side.
Author's Note: Fuck me I'm tired.
I have a tumblr - feel free to follow for updates or to ask questions at darkladyeris.
Don't hate me for taking so long. I'm sorry :( for anyone who is actually genuinely still interested in this story, thank you. Much love, I'm going to go sleep now since it's one in the morning, I just got off of a 14-hour shift and I'm going back to work at 7.
What would you like to see in the next chapter as filler? Tom meeting with his schoolmates and interacting with them, any specific interactions with characters? Let me know and I'll throw some stuff in.