The next morning, Padma was already waiting for them at the breakfast table. "I've heard that the Headmaster wants to talk with us. Do you think he knows?"
Hermione shrugged. "Since Harry didn't get his letters, it's quite possible that they were intercepted by the headmaster. In that case, he probably knows of our bonds already. He may not yet know about the multiple lordships."
"We shall all know in a short while. No need to think about it on empty stomachs," Harry commented, making the two girls laugh.
"Has Ron rubbed off on you?" Hermione asked jokingly.
"I really hope he didn't," Harry answered seriously. "I'm not too fond of his table manners, if one can call it that, or his manners in general."
Hermione just smiled and started filling her plate. Harry did the same. Breakfast passed pleasantly, with not much talking, yet Harry enjoyed being with his two wives nevertheless. He felt more peaceful and more content when close to them. He wasn't sure if this was the effect of the bond or just his feelings for them getting stronger. He wasn't sure if it even mattered.
As they were going out of the great hall, after eating their fill, they saw Susan Bones coming in. "I'll talk to her," Hermione said and walked forward to speak with her. She joined her mates a moment later. "Susan will wait for us near 'our' room in about an hour," she told them.
The door to the headmaster's office was open. "Come in, please," they heard him call even before they saw him. Harry thought that the headmaster sounded tired, yet in a good mood.
"Please sit down and close the door. I hope you have nothing urgent that our discussion might affect."
Harry smiled reluctantly. "No, nothing that couldn't wait a bit."
Dumbledore smiled at them before turning serious again. "As I needed to stay here for the holidays, due to the visiting schools, I finally found some time to handle several long overdue tasks. I'm sorry to say that a few of them concern you, Harry, or, as I should have told you some time ago – Lord Potter."
Harry looked confused, but not really surprised, and so did the girls. It made Dumbledore suspect that they already knew some of it, making his task somewhat more difficult and more urgent. "You see, as I have so many jobs to handle, I sometimes fail to do all that I need to do. I tried to resign some of them, but too many people asked me not to." He sighed heavily. "One task I've neglected for too long concerns handling your mail for you and keeping you informed of all you need to know as you grow up. I'm sorry I've failed you and I hope you will forgive an old man who has too many worries and forgets to act on some."
Harry looked at Dumbledore expectantly. He wanted to believe it was all just negligence, yet it affected him way too much for him to accept the apology so easily.
"I think I should start from that fateful night. After you were found alive, the only survivor of Voldemort's attack, it was of utmost importance to put you somewhere safe, out of the magical community's reach. At that time, practically nobody could be trusted, and I wanted you to be as safe as possible. Your aunt seemed ideal for the job, being a close blood relative and having a child of about the same age. I couldn't believe she would be indifferent to her nephew, or even hostile. I also knew that raising a child is not cheap, and as you had more than enough money in your trust vault, I had a small sum transferred to your relatives' account each month, to cover their expenses and make you more welcome."
Harry grimaced at that. His relatives would rather throw away some food than feed him. They certainly didn't use that money for its intended purpose. He still preferred not to say a word, letting the headmaster finish telling what he had in mind.
"Like most magical parents, your parents bound your magic as soon as you started showing some, to keep you safe. Since I was leaving you in a muggle house, I added a few more binds, as accidental magic there could be even more dangerous. I also cast some tracking charms, to alert me if anything happened to you. I was thinking mainly of Death-Eater attacks, failing to cast some to detect non-magical attacks or abuse. I didn't expect such alarms to be necessary when leaving you with close family."
Harry really hoped the headmaster would not go into details about how the Dursley treated him. He still felt reluctant to tell this even to his wives, although he was sure he'd eventually tell them everything.
"Your relatives were certainly unfit to handle any of the official correspondence I expected you to get, mainly from Gringotts. I had to cast a redirection ward, sending all your mail to me, so I could handle it for you until you were old enough to do it yourself. As this normally meant only a few letters each year I thought I could handle this nicely."
Dumbledore smiled apologetically. "Alas, I overestimated my abilities. Soon after placing you with your relatives, I had some other urgent matters to handle and I started postponing handling this mail, eventually resulting in a mountain of unopened envelopes in a back room, all unread. By the time you reached Hogwarts, I no longer remembered the binds I had to remove, either. Luckily, these didn't seem to prevent you from becoming a remarkably powerful caster."
He sighed again. "I've spent most of the time since the Yule Ball on checking that mountain of mail. Most of it is already outdated. I filed it in several boxes for your reference, although I don't think you'll find anything of interest there. I kept the last annual report from the bank, along with the quarterly reports received since, in a separate folder that I suggest you study carefully before trying to act on anything in there." He put his hand on a thick folder that lay on his desk and moved it closer to Harry.
He now looked Harry straight in the eyes. "I've also found these two letters that arrived very recently – less than a week ago. They congratulate Lord Potter for marrying Lady Hermione Potter and Lady Padma Gryffindor – both marriages taking place that same day. Care to let an old man know what happened?"
Although Harry expected such a question, he still wasn't sure how to answer. Once again, it was Padma who answered for him. "I asked Harry to take me on a date as compensation for not dancing with me at the Yule Ball. During the date, I suggested helping him with the clue for the second task, along with Hermione. The next night, the three of us had a common erotic dream. A book in the library suggested this was the manifestation of a magical bond that is equivalent to marriage. We tried summoning our rings, and that confirmed our marriages." She let her ring show, and Hermione did the same. Harry also made his Potter and Gryffindor rings visible, keeping the other rings hidden.
It was clear to Dumbledore that Padma had skipped over some embarrassing details, but that was of no importance. It was also clear to him that the three had also lost some of their respect to him as a result of finding Harry's lordships and whatever those rings had removed. He sighed heavily. There was so much that he wanted to tell Harry, if only to take the burden off his own old shoulders and put it on younger ones, but Harry was still too young to be burdened with that, but Harry was still too young. Now, some of the choices had been taken out of his hands. He smiled bitterly at the way fate was playing with people.
"While going over your mail, it also occurred to me that I've neglected to tell you about your position. It's not only your lordship, despite it being important and significant; it's the position your family had been holding in the magical society for many generations as leaders and benefactors who gave us some of the things we're now taking for granted, like the Floo calls and travels, many household charms and some more sophisticated aspects of the magical society that you're not aware of yet. I'm glad you found some of it on your own, yet I failed you again."
"What do you plan to do about that?" Hermione asked.
Dumbledore sighed again. "There's not much I can do until the summer vacation. With the tournament already gone wrong, I must try to keep it as safe as possible, especially for Harry's sake. I doubt I can find the time needed to tell Harry all that I need to tell him. I'm sure you two ladies can find all the relevant information at the library and let him learn it all. Once the tournament is over, I hope I'll be finally able to do my part as well."
Both Hermione and Padma nodded. Dumbledore sighed again, yet some glint returned into his eyes. "Now, I believe you'd like to move into your own apartment, as husband and wives. Being Lord Gryffindor, there's a large apartment you can claim as your own, quite close to your dorms. I'll have the house elves make it ready. I suspect that would take some time, as it has not been used for many generations. They will also move your accumulated mail there, and your personal belongings, of course. One of them will come to show you the way after dinner. Is that acceptable?"
Harry looked questioningly at his wives. Both seemed to agree. "That's alright, headmaster, but what should we tell our dorm-mates?"
Dumbledore gave it a thought and sighed again. "You should tell them the truth, or as much of it as you're willing to disclose, I believe. You don't have to go into details, but it should be safe to tell that you found out that your combined magic created a bond with both girls and it is recognized as marriage. You may tell them about your lordship as well, since everybody can find that information at the library. I don't think you need to tell anything more, unless you want to."
Harry gave it a thought. He wasn't satisfied with what he'd just heard but he had to give the man some credit. Few people in his position ever apologized. "Thank you, headmaster, for your advice, and I really hope there won't be new reasons for you to apologize. We won't take any more of your precious time for now," he said.
Dumbledore smiled tiredly and waved his hand dismissively, letting them out.
"Ron will not like it," Harry mumbled, as they left.
"Harry, Ron has been less than a good friend, less than a friend at all, since you were chosen and up until the end of the first task. As much as I appreciate him being your first friend, others may prove much better friends than him," Hermione told him harshly.
He smiled at her. "You're probably right, dear."
"What do you think about the headmaster?" Harry asked the girls, once they were far enough.
"He seems to be sincere," Hermione noted, "but he may also be a good actor. We should still be cautious with him."
Harry sighed. "Even if he's sincere, his mistakes caused much suffering. The way I understand it, we may not trust him. He may have good intentions, and that is also debatable, but he certainly doesn't know how to act on them. He's very knowledgeable, I agree, but we must treat him and his advice with a lot of caution."
Padma nodded. "I agree. Only time will tell what his real motives are. Now, shouldn't we hurry? I think Susan is already waiting for us"