Harry kept his aunt informed about all that was happening. She knew about him being Lord Hogwarts since before the school year started, but she could give him no real advice. This changed after he told her about the confrontations he had with the old pureblood families and with the headmaster. She couldn't yet give him any precise instructions about tackling this or that problem, but she could give him some general advice and guidelines.
The Potters also kept the Grangers updated. Hermione's parents also tried to help, but they were more of the idealistic types, concentrating on what should be changed and modernized and much less on the how. As much as he appreciated his in-laws, Harry found their advice less useful in practice.
The current letter from Petunia attracted their attention to some potential problems in the near future. "I may not know enough of your world, but people there don't seem very different than the ones here. I fear that the old families that feel offended by you will try to use other means to remove your influence. They may challenge your authority to make the changes you deem necessary or even wrestle control back to the ministry. I suggest you get some legal advice about what your rights and obligations are. I remember Lily saying something about Hogwarts having certain ex-territorial rights, but I'm not sure if that's relevant this time. You'll need to check all the legal and monetary aspects of your new position before deciding on the way to act. Once again, I strongly suggest that you find a good lawyer to help you deal with that."
"I think we should really find a solicitor," Hermione said after reading the letter.
"I remember some mention of solicitors while we visited the bank. Do you remember any names?" Harry asked
Hermione smiled apologetically. "We had so much revealed to us that day that I couldn't remember most of it. Certainly not the details. We may need to visit Gringotts again to check that."
She gave it some additional thought and then said, "We got quite a few documents at the bank. I think we should check them, regardless of our immediate needs, and we may also find some interesting facts there."
Harry agreed. "Sure, we somewhat neglected to check those documents. I also think we should assign a solicitor to this task sooner rather than later. I have a feeling that neither Dumbledore nor some elements at the Ministry will let it rest. I'd rather be ready before they try anything."
Still, there were too many documents to scan quickly. Besides, all the documents were from their personal inheritance. "We should visit Gringotts and ask about the Hogwarts lordship and accounts. We may be able to find some important information there," Hermione said.
"We can just Floo there whenever we like," Harry commented.
"I don't think we need to hurry. Learning all we need about your lordships and mine may occupy us well into the next school term. It would be easier if we wait for the winter holidays to go to the bank."
Harry gave it a thought. They were already near the end of November and people everywhere were shifting into holiday preparations mood. He was sure they could wait for the new year before acting. "Yes, that could work well for us," he agreed.
The documents that they managed to scan before the holidays gave them the names and addresses of three solicitors in retainer. None of the names was recognizable to the couple, but only one had a telephone number. They decided to contact that firm first, but only during the school's winter vacation.
They found some other interesting documents besides that. "Did you know that you own about a third of the daily Prophet and a quarter of the Wizarding Wireless Network?" Hermione asked after browsing through another pile of documents.
Harry wasn't impressed. "It doesn't change much. Neither is very profitable and our share is too small to take control of either."
"My account also controls about ten percent of these media outlets," she added.
"It still doesn't give us control. From what I heard, the Ministry is controlling both."
Hermione smiled, some mischief evident in her voice. "Well, I also found out that Sirius holds about ten percent of the Prophet and fifteen of the WWN. If he joins powers with us, we can really make a difference."
Harry concentrated for a moment. "It still doesn't give us control over the WWN."
Her smile turned predatory. "I believe that the seven percent of Longbottom can be counted on to support us too."
Finally, Harry smiled. "That's good news, I'm sure. We'll have to tell our solicitor about that and make certain he assures our control on both these institutes. It's about time they started to give honest news and not just gossip and propaganda."
They only took some notes of what they needed to discuss, making sure to present some concrete ideas when meeting with the solicitor. It was not yet time for action.
They spent the first few days of the holiday with the Dursleys. Vernon showed no interest in anything concerning the magical world, as expected. He only asked about their grades and congratulated them for doing well. Harry assumed that he wasn't updated on his nephew's new position or wasn't interested in it.
Petunia, though, showed much more interest, although not near Vernon. "Have you thought of how to prevent others from endangering your position?"
Harry smiled reassuringly. "We found some solicitors who are handling the family's legal concerns. We intend to contact one tomorrow. We also find that we can probably gain control of two important media outlets that are regularly used by the government to shape public opinion. Once we gain control of them, we won't let them be used against us."
Petunia seemed relieved. "That's the kind of thinking I was expecting from you. I'm glad to see you acting on your own."
It turned quite easy, eventually. The solicitor seemed eager to please his new employers and the job was quite straightforward. Within days, both popular media outlets got new boards of directors, hand-picked to be honest and trustworthy. Aside from Longbottom, a known ally of the Potters for many generations, the solicitor found some more support among the minor shareholders, allowing the Potter block control of roughly three-quarters of the boards. That was enough to put them in line and assure honest and truthful reporting.
They also had another task for the solicitor, once that was done. "There were several agreements and treaties between the founders and the ruling powers of that time. We need you to check them and give us the modern English version, written in a way that doesn't need years of practice to understand. Some of the old families may try to challenge our position and we need to be prepared," Hermione told the solicitor. Indeed she had copies of several old parchments (the originals were too fragile to take out of the vaults,) signed by the four founders and many other names that they couldn't even find in the history books.
The solicitor smiled. "That should be even easier. I expect to have that ready before the new year. I'll also add some suggestions on how to counteract several actions your opponents may try. Would that be satisfactory?"
Harry smiled. "I believe that will do for a while. Some may try to change laws or make the ministry act in other ways. I suspect you'll have to put some more work on that later."
The solicitor seemed delighted. Harry wasn't sure if the man enjoyed legal debates or just the payment. Anyway, after years of getting the retainer fee and doing practically nothing, it was time to justify the fees, so he thought.
Although many of the Death Eaters had died, some were still alive and active, and so were all their supporters and many pureblood believers who may have not been so extreme in their beliefs but also considered themselves to be better than those who couldn't claim a long magical ancestry. Harry and Hermione knew that they would have quite a few challenges to overcome. That didn't frighten them. In a way, they thought of it as a kind of entertainment.
Their attitude was justified when they got the expected documents from the solicitor, along with a letter containing additional explanations and notes:
"The various contract, as a whole, assured the independence of Hogwarts, regardless of the magical or muggle rulers of the country. The terrain, originally bought by the four founders and then expanded, mainly by Gryffindor, was given an ex-territorial status, so that it is in many ways a sovereign country with self-rule. To assure that, any ruler who tries to control Hogwarts would automatically need to pay rent for the school and the land, including Hogsmeade, the forest, the lake and quite a few miles around them, for the last century. The numbers are a bit vague, probably on purpose, but even with the minimalist interpretation, they would add to millions of galleons each year. That's magically enforced and some later annexes made Gringotts responsible for the transfer of funds, once such breach of contract occurs.
As for challenging your position, that is easily refuted by the rings you're wearing and your acceptance by Hogwarts. Neither the castle nor the rings would accept you if you weren't the legitimate owners. The rings may even harm anybody who tries them on without having the right to do so, It's all very ancient magic that very few still know about and even fewer understand."
Both Potters smiled after reading this.
Indeed, as soon as they returned to Hogwarts after the New Year, they got a letter from the Ministry, stating, "By the authority given to me by the Minister of Magic, I hereby demand that you cease doing any more changes at Hogwarts and relinquish control to the Ministry, which is the only authority to decide how to teach our future generations." It was signed by Dolores Umbridge, the senior undersecretary for the minister.
The Potters passed this to their solicitor with their instructions. "Just tell her that we're ready to relinquish control according to the contracts signed at the time of the founders, which means an immediate transfer of hundreds of millions from the ministry into our vaults. Once the transfer is completed, we have no objections tostepping down. Also remind her that as a sovereign territory, Hogwarts is NOT under ministry rule, and such a demand may be viewed as hostile actions, invoking all that hostile action against a neighbouring sovereign may invoke, including, but not limited to, financial repercussion and appeals to the ICW and other international organizations. Please make sure to mention that if she doesn't have the authority she claims, the monetary penalty will be directed against her in person."
Just to assure a proper response, both letters were "leaked" to the Daily Prophet and the WWN, also mentioning that the penalty for breaching the contracts was higher than the total sum of gold held in all the Ministry's vaults, necessitating massive donations from the public along with a drastic increase in taxes just to pay the penalties, not counting the regular expense of the school and the monthly rent.
The information was broadcast that evening and printed the next morning. The Potters got a few howlers, all from die-hard supremacists. They were dealt with by the school's house-elves. They later found out that the Minister got hundreds of howlers, telling him in very simple terms, so that even an idiot could understand, to back off and leave Hogwarts alone.
It took a few more days before another letter arrived from the ministry, one signed by Minister Fudge in person. "I deeply regret the misunderstanding caused by my undersecretary, who grossly surpassed her authority and misused it against my express opinion, that it was really time to do the changes you seem to introduce to Hogwarts. She was demoted and fined for causing an unnecessary disturbance in the cooperation of the Ministry with Hogwarts."
He added some more apologies and promises just to placate Lord Hogwarts and assure continued cooperation for the betterment of Magical Britain. Neither Harry nor Hermione considered his words worth the parchment they were written on, but replied politely. They were sure he wouldn't stay in his position much longer.
Actually, like most youngsters, politics didn't interest them, but knowing how important it could be, they asked Sirius to take care of the political aspects of their new position. Unlike the two children, Sirius had learned about wizarding politics since early childhood. He didn't like it more than the Potter couple but was certainly more prepared to tackle it. His only problem about politics was finding the time to handle it, since he also took his job as a teacher very seriously, yet his employers were very generous in accommodating his combined schedule. Well, they also had a certain interest in that.