CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: THE SKY IS FALLING!
FRIDAY, JULY 26th, 1996 – Potter Manor, Charenwell.
Harry woke up yet again with two lovely witches in his arms. This morning, following the Prime Minister's visit, it was Fiona and Laura. They were quite eager to make sure Harry was wide awake for breakfast.
"I have the feeling I'm in way over my head," Harry commented as they soaked in the huge bath tub, a wet and very naked witch under each arm.
"How so?" Fiona asked.
"All of this," Harry replied. "Prime Ministers, Queens, and all of it."
"You did just fine, Harry," Laura said.
"And you're not really in over your head, you know," Fiona added. "You have the lot of us."
"You really did well yesterday, Harry," Laura said. "But yeah, if it was just you, you'd be in over your head. But it's not, is it? You got a lot of smart people helping you and eager people as well like Fiona and me. You're doing just fine."
"You're not just saying that," Harry said.
"I'll admit, Harry," Fiona said, "I don't think many of us have any rich Heads of State we can compare you against in our backgrounds. But we know you did your best…"
"And while Fiona and I don't know you as well as some of the others, what we saw was impressive."
"We think you succeeded, Harry. Now close your eyes so we can rinse your hair."
"Yes Dear," Harry said with a chuckle.
FRIDAY, JULY 26th, 1996 – Ministry of Magic, Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, London, U.K.
There was a reason why the concubine registration was passed to the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, although that reason was never published in the Daily Prophet. With the absence of Houses Potter, Longbottom and Bones and no proxies appointed to fill their seats or votes in the Wizengamot, the ability to pass new laws was abrogated. The three houses controlled enough votes to prevent a quorum. But the converse was also true. With no quorum, old laws could not be repealed.
Legislative Affairs was tasked with finding a way for the Ministry to legally locate and identify every Concubine in the British Isles. The problem was, of course, they had to do it within the existing code of laws. Not many people knew why, not even those tasked to do the research. The Minister's Inner Circle knew that they would be hard pressed to come up with the four point two Million in reparations, but also knew they had little choice without leverage. They were notified that the demand had been filed with the I.C.W. just days after the British delegation was evicted in the wake of the sacking of Albus Dumbledore. The I.C.W. had made it clear they would not intervene in what was "purely an unwarranted personal dispute with interpretation of international law on the part of the Ministry" and would not intervene should an embargo be imposed. Thus, the Ministry either had to find a lot of money fast, or offer the return of the illegally obtained concubines. No one believed confiscating the women would eliminate any reparations payments, but it was hoped that the return, as an act of good faith, would convince Charenwell to request a more reasonable sum.
It turned out there was an obscure law on the books that could be used to find the missing girls. It was passed in 1702, not long after the Ministry was founded and granted the then Board of Regulation broad authority to license and monitor any magical creatures in the possession of any witch or wizard. Concubines were, after all, magical. Moreover, as insulting as it seemed, human begins were creatures as well. And, as concubines were legally owned by their masters, they could be regulated just as the Ministry regulated the ownership and breeding of common Crups. Of course this interpretation of the old law was not something the Ministry wanted to advertise, but it did get around the lack of the ability to legislate. And, most importantly, the original statute imposed severe penalties for failure to register or providing false information in registering the "creatures" in question. Given that the original statute had been meant to deal with very dangerous creature such as dragons, it imposed "all penalties hereby authorized under our criminal law short of execution as the Courts or Commissions (as appropriate) deem justified under the circumstances."
It was within this office within the Ministry that a young, red haired man and a short, plump red haired woman stood in a queue
"I don't see how it's any of their business, Mum," Ron complained. "Why do they care about the slags?"
"Ronald, we are required to register," Molly said. "That's all you need to know. It's not my fault or the Ministry's that you have one of those … You will comply with the rule because I am not about to pay your fine for not complying! If you don't want to do this, sell her."
"But I need her…!"
"Think with your brain, not your loins! Why?"
"She's got N.E.W.T.s and such, Mum. I was gonna use Hermione to get me through classes. I can use her instead!"
"If you studied harder…"
"I can't play Quidditch and study at the same time, don't you understand?"
"Ronald, there's more to life than a silly game!"
"Not to me there isn't."
"Fine then. But you are going to register your plaything!"
"Fine!" Ron moped.
"Next?" a voice called out. It was their turn at the counter. A young man sat before them with a stack of forms. "A bit young to be registering, aren't you?" he said accusingly.
"Whatever," Ron said.
"You do understand this line is for men with concubines, right?"
"I'm not stupid," Ron replied.
"Fine," he said. "Fill out this form completely."
There were several pages of questions. Ron began to look it over:
REGISRANT'S FULL NAME:
AGE:
DATE OF BIRTH:
ADDRESS:
OCCUPATION:
BLOOD STATUS:
PARENTS NAMES:…
There were then pages of detailed questions about the concubine. Ron could not understand why anyone cared about any of them. They apparently wanted to know everything there was to know about the concubine and the more he read, the more he realized he knew next to none of the answers.
"I don't know this stuff," he began.
"Fill it out completely or you will be fined!" the man said irritated. "That means, Sonny, go home and ask her for the information. You will note a detailed health questionnaire as well. That means you need her to undergo a full physical and magical examination. You have two weeks to return the form to this office. Understand?"
"And if I don't?"
"A thousand galleon fine."
"I can't pay that!"
"You're still in school?"
Ron nodded.
"In lieu of a fine, you can forfeit your wand and accept expulsion."
"WHAT?" Ron and Molly shrieked.
The man shrugged. "Just be thankful he's in school. The other option is a stay in Azkaban. And don't think you can ignore this. By showing up, you are now known to us and we will find you if you fail to comply. Got it?"
Ron nodded. "Fine!" he growled. He took the form and he and Molly left.
FRIDAY, JULY 26th, 1996 – Ministry of Magic, Department of International Cooperation, London, U.K.
Percy Weasley had been back in his old office for about a month now. With that fight at the Department of Mysteries and the revelation that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were back as that brat Potter had been saying for a year, anyone who had eagerly supported Fudge had suffered. True, Fudge was still Minister for Magic and Potter's messing with the votes in the Wizengamot meant he would keep his seat for now, but it was not considered career enhancing to remain loyal to the lame duck in office. Percy had been one of the first of the rats to leave that sinking ship.
He was once again a junior official in what passed for Magical Britain's Foreign Office. However, his return had earned him a slight promotion. He was no longer a low level bureaucrat writing reports about trade and import/export duties. He was now a low level bureaucrat with the office that was tasked with dealing with the International Confederation of Wizards.
His "promotion" carried with it a pay raise, but little else. While Dumbledore had been Chief Mugwump, this was the office those who were out of favor with someone were condemned to. It existed only because the various treaties required it. Percy knew this was a backwater, a penalty for being on the wrong side of things and supporting a Minister who was now out of favor.
Then, within days of that Potter brat demanding reparations of all things, Dumbledore had been sacked as head of the I.C.W. Percy had been busier than he ever had been in his life. Literally within hours of Dumbledore's departure, demands had been coming in from the I.C.W. for various reports that were required under the treaties. Apparently, the idiots in this office had not sent any of the required reports. As near as Percy could tell, the last reports were sent before he was even born. Hell, it was before his older brothers had been born!
Naturally, creating the backlog of reports fell on Percy's shoulders.
The problem was, to make any effort at creating any of the old reports required cooperation from the various other Departments within the Ministry. The I.C.W. was demanding reports on every magical incident that had involved a Muggle since 1969! If the Ministry had any occasion to interact with a Muggle for any reason or had any information of magic being used near or upon any Muggle, it had to be reported. They also demanded information on any and all prosecutions, names of any witch or wizard implicated in any magical even involving Muggles and explanations regarding all failures to prosecute suspected violations of the treaties. It was almost immediately clear to Percy that his government was in serious trouble. As hard as he tried, there were few records about anything. The Obliviators' Office never recorded what they did. All he could get from them were expense reports for travel and meals. There was no record as to whether any of those deployments involved Muggles. And they had better records than most departments!
Did anyone in this Bloody Government work?
"Weasley, get in here!" a voice boomed.
Percy knew the voice. It was his boss, Tiberius Hutchins, head of the I.C.W. Liaison Office and a person at least two steps removed from head of the Department. The fact that Percy was now further from those in power than at any other time in his career told him just how high a price he had paid in backing that fool Fudge. Percy thought about that as he walked into his boss's office.
"You see this yet?" his boss said handing Percy a parchment.
Percy looked at it. It was from the I.C.W. and said the whole Ministry was subject to an audit pursuant to some section of some treaty. "No Sir. Can't say that I'm surprised. We haven't been in compliance for years, Sir."
"I'm well aware of that, Weasley," the man snapped. "Fudge told us not to bother as had Bagnold before him. They had no worries so long as that arrogant ass Dumbledore was head of the I.C.W. I argued we should still try and comply, as Dumbledore would not be around forever. Well, the bloody birds are most assuredly coming home to roost now! Those foreign bastards have it in for us."
Percy nodded in agreement.
"Got a letter from my French counterpart," the boss continued. "Says they're tired of our country stepping on their toes and ignoring our obligations. It was a huge hint that this audit will not go well for us."
"We don't even have the records," Percy agreed.
"And they're sure as Merlin's Beard going to shove that up our arse! Perfect timing too, you ask me. We got the damn Death Eaters running about again, a major treaty violation particularly 'cause we didn't lock the lot of them away the last time as the treaty required. Fudge spent a year trying to cover up that mess, which will blow up in his face now. We'll be lucky to avoid a full I.C.W. embargo! Then there's this Charenwell mess."
"I'm sure it's just a bluff," Percy began. "Potter always was full of himself…"
"As well he should be, Weasley. It's no bluff. He's got us by the short and curlies, he has. If he pulls that embargo … well, I hope you know how to pass as a Muggle."
"Surely we could import food from elsewhere."
"The I.C.W. would love to watch us starve, Weasley. If Charenwell cuts us off, you can bet Europe will at least consider doing the same. Then again, they might not. But you can bet your paycheck that none of us are making enough to pay for our food if Charenwell acts. You better hope the Ministry comes up with their demands, Weasley. There'll be hell to pay if we don't account for those whores."
At least I still have some money left from selling Penny, Percy thought.
FRIDAY, JULY 26th, 1996 – Ministry of Magic, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, London, U.K.
The last two weeks had been a hell on earth for Arthur Weasley in a way. His whole life had been dedicated to one thing: family. Everything else was subordinate to that. He never chose to rise much above his current position in the Ministry. The job paid enough. It was not a lot, but despite raising seven children, they were not in debt. To be ambitious would necessarily have meant placing his career first, which was never what he intended.
Things began unraveling about two years ago for certain, although now that Arthur finally had time to think about it, he was not certain if maybe it had begun much sooner and he had not even seen it. His first indication that his world was not what he hoped it would be was the Tri-wizard Tournament.
Arguably, his family was not really involved directly. Harry Potter had been named as champion and forced to compete against his will. Arthur heard about it from his younger children in letters that followed hard on the heels of a lengthy article in the Daily Prophet. The writer should have been sued for slander for that one. Arthur knew enough about Harry to know the article was a pack of lied. The fact there was not a suit was just one of an increasing list of issues Arthur intended to raise with Harry's Magical Guardian as soon as he figured out who that man was.
It was, however, a slip by his son Percy that really got Arthur going. Percy was a "junior undersecretary" to Barty Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Cooperation. The hob title was a recent invention. "Junior Undersecretaries" were little more than errand boys mostly. The title suggested protégé, but that did not change the fact that before Fudge had become Minister and started with these nonsense positions, the job was really that of an Office Boy. In Percy's case, it was the worst thing that could happen to the ambitious lad. He acted like someone far more powerful and influential than he was or could hope to be for some years, an attitude that would end the boy's career if he picked the wrong patron.
Percy, apparently, was present when Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, probably because Barty was too full of himself to carry his own briefcase. According to Percy, no one truly believed Harry could have cheated the Cup, although Percy was fool enough to believe Harry would have tried. Percy did not know the young man; that much was obvious. Despite the fact that no one believed that Harry could have gotten his name into the tournament, Crouch had insisted Harry was bound by magic to compete. Dumbledore had confirmed that fact that night and the boy very reluctantly agreed.
While Arthur might not have coveted higher office, one would be a fool to believe the man was either lazy or a fool. Arthur had a keen legal mind and knew far more about magical law than most people would have guessed. He knew that there were very few kinds of magic that could force a person to comply against their will, and fewer still that did not carry a term of imprisonment in Azkaban for using such magic. The only three forms of compulsion magics that could bind a witch or wizard and were not illegal were the Life Debt, Debt of Honor, and the Concubine Bond. In two of those cases, the person arguably owed their binder something. In the case of the life debt it was arguably their very life. In the case of the Debt of Honor, they agreed voluntarily to what they were asked because their family had committed acts of a nature that would justify a blood feud against them. And as for the Concubine Bond, that technically was not involuntary at all. It was the right and duty of the Magical Guardian, who acted not unlike a parent as to a child. A child did not agree to go to school, that agreement was between the parent and the school and whether the child wanted to go was of no moment. The Concubine Bond was little different from a legal stand point, not that Arthur thought it was either moral or appropriate, but it found at least some support in the broader law of magical contract.
Arthur knew there was no way Harry could assent to compete in the Tournament. Only his parent or Magical Guardian could bind him to those terms as he was underage. Crouch was dead wrong in that regard. Countless would be contestants had been barred from competing by their families in the past and the ban was honored and the Cup merely put forth another name. The fact that Harry had to compete suggested his Magical Guardian had consented to his entry, yet everything Arthur heard told him that if this was the case, Harry was totally unaware of it.
Harry's competing in the tournament began to open rifts in Arthur's family he had not known were there. Percy openly denounced Harry, a position that Arthur thought was unjustified. Arthur's attempts to get his son to investigate the irregularities were rebuffed. His efforts to get others to do so met similar resistance, although it was clear the center of that resistance was coming from the Department of International Cooperation. What was most disturbing was that Dumbledore was ignoring his letters on the topic.
Ron had broken off his friendship with Harry, beginning a disturbing pattern of putting his self interests above everything including reality. Molly, on the other hand, seemed to become obsessive about the young man. While Arthur liked Harry as a person, he would never consider Harry as a son. That would be wholly improper as the boy was, after all, Heir to a Noble and Ancient House. Arthur knew that trying to manipulate an heir without authority from the House by Will or otherwise was asking for trouble and reminded Molly of that fact on more than one occasion, only to be written off by her.
The fallout from the conclusion of that damnable tournament was more than any could have expected. First of all, Harry had won which spoke very highly of the lad. The fact that he was even in the running was more than could reasonably have been expected, and yet to Arthur's surprise the doubters and critics had mounted against the boy all year. Something else was in play, and Arthur knew that whatever it was, it would not go well for Harry in the end.
Secondly was his son Percy. In the fallout that followed it was revealed that Percy had spent most of the year covering up the fact that his department head was, for all practical purposes, incapacitated. His cover up continued when the man disappeared altogether. All year long, Percy had been acting as if he was under orders from Crouch when, in fact, Crouch had issued no such orders since not long after the Champions were announced. It was a power grab, plain and simple and in most cases should have ended Percy's career. But it had not. When it was clear that Minister Fudge sought to suppress all information that You-Know-Who had returned and launch a campaign to discredit Dumbledore and Harry, Percy was the man's most vocal supporter and quickly became part of that inner circle of incompetents. The boy even had the gall to order Arthur to tow the Minister's line. Arthur, as Head of House, refused and told Percy in no uncertain terms that any attempt to rope the family into the lad's schemes or discredit the family in any way would result in his immediate banishment. Even that arrogant lad knew that as a Pureblood from an ancient line, to be disowned for any reason would cost him his career at the Ministry. Molly had not taken that well at all, but it was not hers to say. The honor of House Weasley was the concern of House Weasley, not House Prewett! It was one of the few times in their marriage they had ever fought and the only time, until recently, that Molly was forced to back down, which might explain recent events.
Their next fight was at Christmas when Bill announced his engagement to Fleur Delacour. Arthur already knew it was beyond engagement. Bill had confided in him that Fleur was already his Consort, which effectively meant there was little or nothing anyone could do to separate them. Not that Arthur would. Fleur was from a very prominent French family and her father was considered next in line to head the government. To be honest, Arthur believed Bill could do no better. Unfortunately, Molly disagreed most vehemently. Arthur had no idea until then how myopic his wife's view of things really was and just how bigoted she could be. Fleur was a true Half Blood. Her father's line was magical and unbroken for over a thousand years or more, but never intentionally married into what Molly seemed to consider proper families. Fleur's grandmother was a Veela, which apparently Molly believed meant her son was lowering himself to "copulate with animals." Whether Bill knew his mother's opinion at that time was unclear, but he had left altogether only a couple of weeks ago and it was clear he wished no further contact from Molly … ever.
Then there were the most recent revelations. Arthur was appalled at his wife's behavior. Ginny was the first girl born to his family in generations, and Molly was all but planning to act as the girl's pimp! Arthur had offered Ginny in payment of the Honor Debt Molly's patently illegal actions had incurred for two reasons. First of all, from what he had seen of the lad since he first met him, he could not disagree with his wife that Harry was a fine young man who might be a good match for his daughter, if things had gone that way. He thoroughly disagreed with using that as a justification for forcing the two together. Still, deep down he believed that Harry would never be cruel to his little girl, which was more than he could expect under the circumstances. Second, regardless of Ginny's fate at Harry's hands, Molly had shown her true colors. He would not allow his little girl to be a pawn in her vile schemes. By becoming Harry's concubine, Ginny was forever out of that vile woman's clutches. Arthur was infuriated to learn that the plot was supported by Albus Dumbledore and had removed the girl to keep that man out of his family as well.
Arthur was further infuriated with his son Ron. It appeared that the boy had less than honorable designs on Hermione Granger and justified his designs solely on the basis of her birth status. Hermione might be a Muggle Born – a status Arthur had always believed was no important in and of itself as Hermione proved time and again – but she was clearly a far better person and far more capable witch than Ron could ever hope to be. That Molly had cultivated Ron's vile idea sealed the deal, as it were.
Next week, Molly would be notified of their divorce. The more he thought about it, the more Arthur wondered how he ever got involved with that woman. He wanted to believe she had changed. He wanted to believe the Molly of today was not the same woman as the one he had eloped with years ago. There was one minor problem: if they had loved each other as much as they believed they did back then, why was it the Consort Bond never took hold? This was not unusual, as many loving couples were unable to achieve that bond, but it was suspicious given recent events.
Ron's actions were unforgivable on so many levels. Most notably, his admissions all but destroyed what Arthur had spent his entire career trying to build. It had reinforced the Pureblood prejudices while at the same time – from what he had been hearing – alienated most of the magical population. The government could not change the laws he had seen enacted, but their bigotry only required a minor push to see the laws unenforced. A selfish, petty and lazy boy had destroyed any hope of bridging the gap between the Statuses in society, at least for now. As House Weasley had championed equal rights for centuries, Ron had given its opponents justification to quash that cause. Ron would learn his fate on his seventeenth Birthday this coming March when he would be disowned; there being little point announcing such before hand as the law did not recognize the disowning of a minor male in the line of succession. If Percy did not come around by then, there would be two letters delivered.
Arthur knew that Bill, Fred and George had left the country. He knew why, or at least thought he did. To be honest, he had no reason to remain as well. He had enough time in the Ministry to qualify for retirement; even though under other circumstances he was decades away from it. But he could not serve this government anymore. He sent his retirement papers off to the Personnel Department and then turned to his next project.
Dear Bill:
He wrote.
FRIDAY, JULY 26th, 1996 – Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster's Office, Scotland, U.K.
Insult had piled upon injury upon insult almost daily in the two weeks and more since the reading of Sirius Black's will. It took him time to realize just how massively the dead Marauder had pranked him and the world and even longer to realize just how damned near impossible it had become to undo the damage. Dumbledore was forced to wonder how much of his current misery was directly the fault of one Sirius Black and how much was really the fault of House Potter. He was certain that both factors had led to his current state of political paralysis.
A month or so ago, despite all appearances to the contrary in the press and in the minds of many in magical Britain, Dumbledore was de facto ruler of magical Britain and had been for decades. Few truly knew the truth of the matter for it was a truth he had perfected in hiding through decades of careful manipulations and deceptions within deceptions. But the truth was for all practical purposes nothing happened in his world without at least his tacit approval.
It had taken decades to position himself for his ultimate rise to power. From the moment he finished Hogwarts, he had been moving towards the goal of attaining his Greater Good, a goal he knew most magicals were too dim witted to understand much less share. It had to be imposed upon them in such a way that they would never know what had happened, and such subtlety took time. Fortunately, unlike many of his rivals, Dumbledore had a nearly infinite reserve of patience as he did not see the absolute need for his goal to be achieved even within his lifetime so long as it was achieved in the end.
From the beginning, Dumbledore knew what he needed to control to guide his world onto his path. First and foremost was education. By guiding the education of future generations, by defining the limits of knowledge and study, man could be controlled. The ideal form of control was to keep the masses of humanity both illiterate and ignorant and therefore dependent upon, if not worshipful of, the educated class. But while ideal, such nonsense was impractical. Education in the magical world was not something one could simply destroy and be done with for it was an ingrained part of the culture and had been for centuries. But this did not mean it could not be tailored to achieve a desired result.
Dumbledore had begun his life with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. At Hogwarts he quickly outpaced his classmates in every field of study save Divination. He might well have done the same there, but he never thought much of that art and felt it was far to ephemeral to be considered "knowledge." When he finished school at eighteen, he was already well beyond N.E.W.T. levels in Transfiguration and Potions and a frequent contributor to the scholarly journals in those fields; an honor no one had ever attained at such a young age before or since, just as no one had attained his marks before or since. Only two had come close. Tom Riddle might well have equaled him but for his fascination with Dark magic and controlling people. Most recently, there was Hermione Granger. She might well have threatened his records had she been slightly more ambitious and slightly less interested in one Harry Potter. It was for both of those reasons he sought to sell her off as a mind like that in support of House Potter would undermine everything.
Dumbledore also left Hogwarts as Head of an Ancient House and therefore as a junior member of the Wizengamot. He had little interest in politics per se. The constantly shifting alignments, continual subjugation of ideals by compromise and continual maneuvering for political advantage seemed insipid and a waste of intellectual ability. Politics was the game for those who could do no better, he had long thought. But, as his idea of a Greater Good coalesced, he knew some form of politics were unavoidable. Hence, as his long range plan formed, he spent more time in the Wizengamot observing. He was never a vocal member, seldom ever introduced a bill and rarely even participated in the debates. He watched. He learned. In time, he saw how it could be used to his advantage.
He reflected briefly on something Potter had once told him. It was following the boy's first encounter with Voldemort at school. Voldemort tried to turn the lad with a promise of "Power." He told the lad there was no such thing as good or evil. Power was everything. And Riddle was an idiot. Power was the first step towards ruin. Few held it and avoided ruin and those few had avoided such fate through luck, not design. Power fuels animosity. Those who do not have it either want it or want to destroy it. No. CONTROL was the key. Power is visible. Control is not and therefore those who exercise control can do so without inspiring their demise whether figuratively or literally. Riddle never understood this. If you controlled men's knowledge, you controlled men's thoughts. If you controlled their thoughts, you controlled them. The imperious curse, murder, terror: these did no such things. Fear was temporary. If one lived with it long enough, it turned to rage and that leads to destruction. The fool Riddle would have ultimate power over nothing in the end for that would be all that was left.
Dumbledore had reached this conclusion very early on. To him, Voldemort was an annoyance, but that was because he had little use for the intellectually indolent and lazy. Voldemort saw his dark magics as the answer to all things. For Dumbledore, magic was but a tool. It was only as useful as the mind that wielded it, and Riddle had squandered that fortune just as his ancestors had squandered their financial fortunes.
The key to attaining the Greater Good (or even Voldemort's perverted society) was not through the power of one man, but through the power of countless thousands all striving for the same ends whether they knew it or not. Since most people were never so selfless as to strive without hope of some reward, be it monetary, emotional or spiritual or something else, getting all to move for a common purpose and keep moving without regard to their own self interests could not be done at wand point, so to speak. It could not be done in years. It would be the work of decades and possibly generations as it would, in the end, destroy the individual in favor of the collective "good", ambition in favor of service, and free will in favor of total subservience to the collective. Wizards had to be molded over a long period of time to become the leaders of mankind and take their rightful place in guiding mankind to a mutually beneficial future. Muggles needed to be controlled, for they were destructive by nature and when left to their own devices. Only wizards could control them, and it would take most all if not all of the wizarding world working as one with one will and one goal to achieve the ends. This, in turn, meant the wizards would have to be controlled themselves for a time and molded into this new class. And historically, the magicals of the world were not known to work well and play well with others. Their whole way of thinking had to change.
The key, Dumbledore knew, was with the Purebloods and Ancient lines. They flocked to "tradition" like moths to a flame. They controlled their society. They also kept the Muggle Borns repressed. Muggle Borns were important to the "health" of the society. But their damnable ideas had to be repressed. Democracy was an idea that would destroy this world as surely as the most virulent plague and Muggle Borns had other notions equally toxic. They strove for knowledge best left hidden. There were "secrets" in magical history that were best forgotten for those secrets if revealed would end the Greater Good and threaten magical society as well. Muggle Borns were essential breeding stock, but of little other utility, in Dumbledore's considered (and twisted) opinion.
Dumbledore knew the key to control was knowledge and at the age of twenty-three became one of the youngest members of the Hogwarts staff as Professor of Transfiguration. At that time, the Junior Professor also served as Chief Librarian, a post he never relinquished. He had an assistant who preserved the books, oversaw their use and storage; but he was the one tasked with determining the scope of the collections. And, as all magical schools in Britain followed Hogwarts lead, that meant if he decided a certain book was not appropriate or relevant for the education of students, then the book was to be removed from all school libraries.
It was not the knowledge of magic Dumbledore sought to control, or at least not entirely. Many books on spells and potions, whether benign or dark, remained on the shelves. But history was another matter. The histories made clear that wizards had never ruled over Muggles. The history he had learned made clear that wizards were not to rule over Muggles. Even though he saw his Greater Good as control rather than rule, to most it would mean the same thing. The old histories went so far as to suggest it was not proper for any magical to so much as desire such power, a point that he and his former friend Grindelwald had discounted years earlier as little more that a sophistry designed to convince magicals that secrecy was their only chance for survival. Any histories or books on magic that suggested Muggle equality or superiority were soon off the shelves.
He also removed all books that discussed magical bonds. While no one had questioned the histories as even the then Professor of History Hieronymus Binns conceded were suspect and thankfully a proper History of Magic had been commissioned from a gifted researcher (and Pureblood Supremacist) named Bathilda Bagshot, the books on bonds were considered important. After all, girls needed to know they might be fated to become concubines and that notion had long died out in Muggle Britain. Fortunately, Phineas Black was Headmaster at the time and agreed the less the Muggle Borns knew, the better in that regard. The truth was, Dumbledore's primary reason for removing the books on bonding (and later human reproduction) was because he believed it would promote a much larger concubine class derived primarily from the heretical Muggle Borns and thus would keep their dangerous ideas in check.
The History of Magic that soon replaced all other histories in the schools was more a work of fiction than anything else when taken as a whole. It was more accurately a history of magic Purebloods could stomach. Dumbledore knew they wanted to see themselves as destined to dominate the top of society. The truth was they had never truly done so. The pillars of magical society had been the Ancient Houses, regardless of their blood purity. Blood purity was nothing more than an excuse to claim a right that had never before existed. And, in Dumbledore's mind, weakening the will of the Ancient Houses that had controlled the Wizengamot (at least those who might oppose the Greater Good) was all part of his plan. Sooner or later, those who knew the true history of their world would be dead. Historians were few and far between, so it was not like there would be any real voices of dissent, particularly if the Muggle Borns were kept in their box.
Dumbledore had firmly believed the Greater Good was generations away. Grindelwald believed it could be achieved in their lifetime by force. In 1945, Grindelwald learned that was not to be when Dumbledore defeated him in single combat. Grindelwald's war had been confined to the Continent. Magical Britain was strictly and fiercely neutral. Any who openly supported the "Madman" faced Azkaban. Any who fought for him or tried to bring the war to Britain faced the Veil. Even Riddle, who probably privately supported Grindelwald's ideas, was not foolish enough to do so publically. While Riddle was in school, he cited History of Magic as his source for Pureblood Supremacy, not Grindelwald's rhetoric.
The defeat of Grindelwald arguably began to make the Greater Good more near term than Dumbledore had believed. He was elected Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot the next year, becoming the youngest ever to hold the post. Dumbledore knew what this meant. For all practical purposes he ruled Magical Britain.
The real control was not Hogwarts or the Ministry, as Riddle believed (because that's what the fictitious history he had been taught said), but in the person of the Chief Warlock, if that person knew how to use his position wisely. His decades in that body had taught Dumbledore precisely how to do that. He stayed out of the political discourse. But soon, there was no law passed he did not let pass and no senior Ministry Official could be appointed above his objections. More importantly, the Minister of Magic was, whether they knew it or not, Dumbledore's pawn. He removed them (or had them removed by not standing in the way of a no confidence vote) routinely. Few Ministers were ever popular enough that a year would go by without a call for their ouster by one member of the Wizengamot or another. It was the Chief Warlock who decided whether the motion would be set for debate or a vote. And if a Chief Warlock allowed the measure to move beyond a mere motion, it usually did not bode well for the Minister in question.
Dumbledore also knew the trap. If he was too active in such petty affairs, the membership would call for his ouster. Controlling the debate and who rose within the Ministry was something one did sparingly, which meant that when he did so, people took note and tended to follow his lead.
Voldemort, as pathetic as he and his mindless minions were, had also advanced the Greater Good. When Dumbledore rose to the position of Chief Warlock, and while he had been successful in suppressing certain historical knowledge within the younger generations, the Wizengamot was still dominated by members who knew the real history. Dumbledore had been prepared to wait them out, even if that meant waiting for a time long after he was gone. His Order of the Phoenix was not created because of Voldemort as many believed. It was already over fifty years old when Voldemort began his "war." It was really a collection of Dumbledore's trusted followers who were trained and taught so that the Greater Good would one day become a reality. Voldemort's predations had two effects. First of all, the Order of the Phoenix became known to the wizarding public and associated with "The Light." More importantly, Voldemort culled the heard, as it were. Those Wizengamot members and Ministry officials who might have known the truth were among the most vocal opponents to the Purebloods and were among the first casualties other than Muggle Borns. The corporate knowledge the Order had been designed to outlive was all but wiped out decades or more sooner than expected.
This past couple of weeks had highlighted serious flaw in Dumbledore's plan. First of all, he had grossly underestimated one Harry Potter. He had hoped that by sticking the boy with his vile Muggle relations and denying him all knowledge of his family, including his sister, the boy would be the end of the line for House Potter, at least as skilled political opponents. He doubted that political acumen was an inherited skill, but apparently either the boy was a natural or he had far better political advisors than any wizard Dumbledore had dealt with not named Potter, Longbottom or Bones. It now seemed his efforts to marginalize his most vocal opponents and isolate them from each other and blown up more spectacularly than a potion in Severus's class.
Houses Potter, Longbottom, Bones and now Black were all in the hands of minors. Regardless of emancipation rights, no one under age seventeen could sit and vote in the Wizengamot. Until a few weeks ago, Dumbledore had held the proxy for House Potter's votes. That right was eviscerated when Sirius Black emancipated the boy. While he still could not take the seat himself, the boy now had the absolute right to appoint his House Proxy, revoking any prior appointments.
This would not have meant much alone. A minor Head of House was not unprecedented and it was not uncommon for them not to appoint a proxy. Even the sequestration of all Potter votes, the largest single block of votes in the Wizengamot, would not have ordinarily raised any eyebrows, much less precipitate a political crisis of any magnitude. The Black votes had never had a proxy. No one bothered to try and arrange one after Arcturus Black died in 1991. No one thought his grandson; the new Lord Black would ever escape from Azkaban. Most who knew of his status were certain he would die and dies soon. But Black had escaped and despite constant nagging from Dumbledore always seemed to forget about designating a proxy for the House Black votes. Again, this would not have caused a stir. Even knowing know that Potter would gain control over that House as well would have been of no moment. Then Voldemort had to go on the offensive.
The deaths of Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom, both of who had been holding their House Proxies, meant that the rightful heirs now held the right to assign a proxy or sequester the votes. Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones, who were thought to have been taken by Death Eaters the day of the murders were, it seemed, alive and well and withholding their proxies. Those four Houses being absent together ensured there could never be a quorum and it was obvious to Dumbledore and others that those damnable kids must be working in concert.
It had seemed easy enough at the time. All the Ministry had to do was declare the missing votes void or something like that and the quorum problem would go away allowing Dumbledore to legislate his way out of the mess Potter had caused following the reading of the Black Will. The problem was Dumbledore's zeal to rewrite wizarding history. Although he had done well in History of Magic over a hundred years ago in school, he was no student of it and never questioned the materials used. He now knew he should have.
Long before Dumbledore was born, wizarding History in Britain was being rewritten time and again to glorify one family or group over another. The most recent major rewrite was about 600 years ago when some Muggle King was forced off the throne by a relative and Wizarding Britain was freed from some Muggle Yoke, a change in regime which was said to have freed the magicals from Muggle oppression and was said to have been engineered through the brilliance of noted Purebloods of the time. The History suggested that the new king was less interested in magic and that interest continued to wane. This was also around the time of the rise of the first Pureblood advocates.
Prior to this rise of Pureblood domination, the histories were all about the evils of the Muggle world: witch hunts, wars, slavery, oppression, plagues and deaths. The only high notes in this history were the founding of Hogwarts and the brief golden age of magic during the time of Merlin. Sometime between Merlin and Hogwarts, a Pureblood ruling body arose called the Wizengamot. Dumbledore now knew that even the history he had learned was woefully incomplete if not dead wrong. Controlling information without knowing what that information was in the first place was a huge embarrassment. And a couple of day earlier, Dumbledore learned just how much of an embarrassment it had become.
A group had gathered in a special antechamber adjacent to the Department of Mysteries. Ironic, Dumbledore thought to himself, as one could argue their current troubles began to manifest themselves just beyond these walls a little over a month ago. With him was the leadership of the Magical Government of Britain. He was joined by the five longest serving members of the Wizengamot, although between them they only held twenty-three votes outright. The Minster for Magic, as discredited as he was also was present along with his vile Senior Undersecretary who had only recently been released from hospital after a most unfortunate incident of Centaur Baiting. It had cost her more gold then she cared to have gotten off with only a stern warning. Rufus Scrimgeour, who many considered to be the next Minister, was also present along with Kingsley Shacklebolt who was acting head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As this meeting indirectly involved alleged minors, Mafalda Hopkirk was also present. Finally, Seldon Davies, Director of Wizengamot Services was also present.
And elderly wizard entered the room. Given how long all had been working within the walls of the Ministry of Magic, they were all surprised they had never seen this man before.
"Good Afternoon," the man said.
"And just who are you?" Dolores Umbridge demanded.
"My name is of such unimportance it need not be uttered."
"I wish to know who is addressing us!"
"And why would that be? Planning on inviting your friends the Dementors 'round to my place for tea? We are aware of your transgressions, Toad."
"I am Dolores…"
She never finished her sentence. A toad had replaced her.
"For now you are as I say, Toad. I am Senior Researcher, Historical Section and that is all you need ever know. You hear my voice and see my face, but neither is mine. I am an Unspeakable, which by definition means I do not exist and yet I most certainly do. And before any of you get any bright ideas, the only magic that can exist in this room is my own. Yes, Dumbledore, that means your fabled wand is little more than one half of a set of chopsticks, a term you insular people cannot possible fathom and I feel no need to explain."
"I find you attitude insulting!" Minister Fudge said.
"And I find your continued existence a disease on the body of humanity," the man replied. "As I do not exist, I have no need for your friends nor concern for your petty vanities. You have asked for my services and that is all you need to be concerned with. And I can make this quick. All you need to know is written upon these seven pieces of parchment," the man said placing seven pieces of parchment before the group.
"I can't read it," a voice complained. "What in Merlin's name kind of writing is that?"
Everyone looked to Dumbledore.
"It is runic," he said. "But I am not familiar with this particular kind of runic language."
"You can thank your ancestor for that, Dumbledore," the man said. "It is among the thousands of mistakes your family has saddled this country with over the centuries."
"I beg your pardon?"
"And you shan't have it," the man said. "The sequestration of a handful of votes…"
"A HANDFUL?" Fudge screamed. "Over one hundred and twenty! Over forty percent of all the votes! You know what that means?"
The man nodded. "The sequestration of a handful of votes is inconsiderable next to the sequestration of valuable knowledge. They say knowledge is power. Ignorance is therefore weakness. The Dumbledores have hidden away knowledge for centuries, too ignorant to learn it or use it and too fearful to allow their betters do so in their stead…"
"I have done no such thing!" Dumbledore protested.
"As compared to some of your more aggressive ancestors, Dumbledore, you are a rank amateur," the man said, "BUT YOU ARE ALSO A LIAR! Or has your campaign of book sequestration been for your Greater Good? Your crisis is of Dumbledore's making. Among his more heinous crimes is the removal of all book regarding magical bonds and contracts from the schools, a policy I dare say he has been most aggressive at since his first days as a teacher. Banning books and education are mutually exclusive concepts."
"The removal of books on dark and undesirable magics is in the interest of our youth, or do you suggest we corrupt our youth?"
"Ah, but that is exactly what you have done! Your removal of those books alone is a major reason why you find yourself on my side of the door this day. Do you think you would have your current crisis regarding the wholesale enslavement of our young women had they been educated about such bondings? We are now at least three generations removed from the day those books went missing, Dumbledore. Three generations have been born only to be sold…"
"What does it matter? They're Mudbloods! It is their lot in life!" a voice said.
"Enough of this!" Dumbledore said. "We are not here to talk about sound educational policy! We are here to learn if there is a way the Wizengamot can reconvene. Have you found a solution?"
"It is all there in those parchments," the man said.
"Parchments no one can read!" Fudge protested.
"Pity," the man replied. "And I was led to believe you were men of letters. The document is perfectly legible to one with a proper education."
"Look, you patronizing bastard…" Scrimgeour started.
"But as you are clearly illiterate, I shall tell you what it says. It is written in the runic style of the Ancient Britons. It is a copy of the Original Wizengamot Charter entered into by our ancestors in the late seventh century."
"Which defines our rights to rule," Fudge said. "The document proclaiming us Purebloods and those of Ancient and Noble lines as preordained to lead…"
"Rubbish," the man said. "It says no such thing. That is what Dumbledore's ancestor wanted you to believe. But the truth meant little to him as it went against his view of himself. When this document was written, there were no Ancient and Noble Houses and no one would take pride in being a Pureblood. Purebloods were farmers bound to the land forced to marry within their magical communities because they had no prospects…"
"What?"
"But that too is of no moment," the man went on. "This is a magical Charter binding all who signed it to its terms and all of their descendants to this day. As these were the leaders within their world at the time, it bound all magicals within their lands as well. Its terms created your problem and provide but one solution – assuming you cannot convince the sequestered votes to return."
"But there is a solution?" Fudge asked.
The man nodded. "It is incredibly simple when you think about it. It is also impossible."
"WHAT?"
"Tell me," the man said, "for as we all know, seating with full voting rights is hereditary. What happens when a line is disqualified?"
"Don't you mean died out?" Fudge asked.
"No, disqualified," the man replied. "Under the Charter a Patriarchal line passes from father to son. It cannot skip generations. If a Member dies without having a son, his line is disqualified. His rights can pass to a son of his Great-granduncle which is a new line, or he can pass it by will to another seated line. But it cannot pass through daughters to grandsons or great-grandsons. The Matriarchal lines work the same way, except the line passes from mother to daughter."
"Matriarchal lines?" Kingsley asked.
"Surely you don't think a borderline squib such as Fudge's pet toad is seated for any other reason? She is from a Matriarchal line, having inherited her seat following the murder of her mother by the Death Eaters. Fortunately, she's failed to curse us with any spawn so we can say goodbye to her line in time.
"Now, it is also true and has happened that a line dies out completely. Historically, it is then up to the Chief Warlock to pass that line's votes to a remaining seated line of the same class. However, it should be noted that when the Charter was signed in the late Seventh Century there were three hundred members with three hundred votes. In 1400, there were still three hundred members with three hundred votes. It is only since 1400 when the Wizengamot, under the deluded leadership of House Dumbledore, stopped bringing in new lines to fill the vacancies and the seats dwindles with remaining lines acquiring more and more votes leading to today with four lines controlling more than enough votes to prevent a quorum and seal the Wizengamot Chambers."
"And how do we fix this?" Dumbledore asked.
"Easy," the man said. "You return to the old ways. You fill all three hundred seats with each member from a different family and each member having but one vote. Four Houses would be rather irrelevant then."
"But that would destroy the balance," Dumbledore said.
"But you would be back in business. Under the circumstances, I seriously doubt you have any other option."
"Always could kill them" a man suggested.
"Under the Charter, killing for control of House Votes is punishable by death of the line involved in the killing and sequestration of the votes in question until the grandchild of the longest living line from that date passes on. You'd be out of business for at least two centuries."
"So we just need new members then?" Dumbledore asked. "Seems easy enough."
"And yet it is also impossible," the man replied.
"How so?" Fudge asked. "Surely we can find a couple of hundred or more pureblood lines and reliable and respectable half-bloods to fill the vacancies?"
"They must meet the diversity required between Matriarchal and Patriarchal line," the man said. "One in three lines must be headed by a witch to be passed to her daughter." After the grumbling died down, he continued. "Moreover, they must be new lines."
"Well obviously if they have no seat now, they're new right?"
"You said Purebloods or Half-bloods," the man replied.
"So?"
"So, the Charter is clear. A "New Line" means a line new to magic. No new line can be seated unless it is headed by what we now call a Muggle Born."
"IMPOSSIBLE!" several voices complained.
"As I said earlier. It's simple, but impossible."
A/N: RELATIONSHIP SCORECARD:
If you didn't read the Intro, you missed that. This is so you can keep up with who's with who and how.
Key:
Names in Italics = OC
Gr – Gryffindor, Hu – Hufflepuff, Ra – Ravenclaw, Sl – Slytherin.
SG – St. George's School, PE – Prince Edward School, SA – St. Andrew's, SP – St. Patrick's, SD – St. David's.
(Number indicates last year completed. No number means they finished all seven years.)
P = pregnant.
Harry James Potter, age 15.*
1. Hermione Jane (Granger) Potter, age 16 (Gr-5); CONSORT (POTTER).*P
2. Luna Celeste (Lovegood) Black, age 15 (Ra-4); CONSORT (BLACK).*
3. Dora (Tonks) Black-Potter, age 22 (Hu); CONCUBINE (BLACK).*P
4. Minerva Grace (McGonagall) Potter-Black, age 68 (Gr); CONCUBINE (POTTER).P - girl.
5. Mallory Michelle (Grant) Black-Potter, age 39 (Hu); CONCUBINE (BLACK).P - boy.
6. Daphne Renee (Greengrass) Black-Potter, age 16 (Sl-5); CONCUBINE (BLACK).*
7. Astoria Lynn (Greengrass) Potter-Black, age 14 (Sl-3); CONCUBINE (POTTER).*
8. Ginevra Molly (Weasley) Potter-Black, age 14 (Gr-4); CONCUBINE (POTTER).*
9. Stacey Marie (Campbell) Potter-Black, age 17 (SA-5); CONCUBINE (BLACK).*
10. Tabatha Simone (Collins) Black-Potter, age 16 (SA-5); CONCUBINE (BLACK).
11. Laura Teresa (Oliver) Potter-Black, age 21 (PE-5); CONCUBINE (POTTER).
12. Fiona Michelle (Simpson) Black-Potter, age 22 (SD); CONCUBINE (BLACK).
13. Rhonda Kaye (Lester) Potter-Black, age 17 (SD-5); CONCUBINE (POTTER).
14. Karen Maria (Green) Black-Potter, age 18 (PE-5); CONCUBINE (BLACK).
15. Katie Anna (Bell) Potter-Black, age 17 (Gr-6); CONCUBINE (POTTER).
16. Constance Maria (Plumber) Black-Potter, age 16 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (BLACK).
Bill Weasley, age 25.
1. Fleur Patrice (Delacour) Weasley, age 19; CONSORT (BILL WEASLEY).P
2. Mary Ellen (Howard) Weasley, age 18 (Hu-5); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).*P
3. Samantha Christine (Johnson) Weasley, age 17 (SG-5); CONCUBINE BILL WEASLEY).*
4. Peggy Louise (Nolan) Weasley, age 17 (9/6/78) (Hu-6); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
5. Elizabeth Olive Nolan, age 14 (Gr-3); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
6. Lana Catherine (Powell) Weasley, age 22 (SA); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
7. Carla (Masterson) Weasley, age 20 (PE-5); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
8. Donna Lynn (Roselle) Weasley, age 19 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
9. Christine Celine (Paulson) Weasley, age 17 (PE-5); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
10. Mandy (Brocklehurst) Weasley, age 16 (Ra-5); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
11. Wendy Seline Hendricks, age 15 (Gr-4); CONCUBINE (BILL WEASLEY).
Neville Algicyrus Longbottom, age 15.*
1. Susan Marie (Bones) Longbottom, age 16 (Hu-5); CONSORT (NEVILLE).*P
2. Amber Selma (Harker) Longbottom, age 33 (Sl-5); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).*P - boy, girl (twins).
3. Penelope Ann (Clearwater) Longbottom, age 20 (Ra); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
4. Annette Lucille (Harper) Longbottom, age 24 (SD); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
5. Deborah Leigh (McLean) Longbottom, age 20 (SA); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
6. Miriam Olivia (Riley) Longbottom, age 18 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
7. Amanda Kennedy, age 16 (SP-5); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
8. Hannah Suzanne (Abbott) Longbottom, age 16 (Hu-5); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
9. Patricia Faye Abbott, age 14 (Hu-3); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
10. Megan Allison Jones, age 16 (Hu-5); CONCUBINE (NEVILLE).
Fred Weasley, age 18.
1. Alicia May (Spinet) Weasley, age 18 (Gr); CONSORT (FRED).*
2. Verity Nicole (Smith) Weasley, age 21 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (FRED).*P
3. Danielle Louise (Carter) Weasley, age 20 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (FRED).*P
4. Victoria (Vicki) (Peters) Weasley, age 17 (Ra-6); CONCUBINE (FRED).
5. Rachel Francine Peters, age 15 (Ra-4); CONCUBINE (FRED).
6. Coleen (Harrington) Weasley, age 23 (SP); CONCUBINE (FRED).
7. Elisha Susan (Stout) Weasley, age 21 (SD); CONCUBINE (FRED).
8. Helen May (Ivey) Weasley, age 20 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (FRED).
9. Caroline (Folsom) Weasley, age 18 (SD-5); CONCUBINE (FRED).
10. Annette Maria Barnes, age 15 (Gr-4); CONCUBINE (FRED).
11. Simone Fanning, age 15, (Hu-4); CONCUBINE (FRED).
George Weasley, age 18.
1. Angelina Olivia (Johnson) Weasley, age 18 (Gr); CONSORT (GEORGE).*P
2. Shelly Ann (Parker) Weasley, age 22 (SG); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).*P
3. Ellen Suzanne (North) Weasley, age 20 (SG); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).*
4. Anna Melissa (Jenkins) Weasley, age 17 (Hu-6); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
5. Roberta Elaine (Larson) Weasley, age 25 (PE); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
6. Georgina Emma (Parker) Weasley, age 22 (SG); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
7. Eileen (O'Malley) Weasley, age 21 (SP-5); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
8. Isabel (Tate) Weasley, age 19 (SA); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
9. Tammy Grey, age 15 (Hu-4); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
10. Pamela Ray Adams, age 15 (Ra-4); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
11. Selene Adams, age 13 (Ra-2); CONCUBINE (GEORGE).
Lord Mayor Remus John Lupin, age 36.
1. Sarah Michelle (Hanson) Lupin, age 21 (SG); CONCUBINE (REMUS).
2. Amelia Renee (Carpenter) Lupin, age 21 (SG); CONCUBINE (REMUS).
3. Tara Frances (Marks) Lupin, age 20 (SG-5); CONCUBINE (REMUS).
4. Christy (Matthews) Lupin, age 19 (SG); CONCUBINE (REMUS).
5. Ellie Beth Mitchell, age 18 (PE-5); CONCUBINE (REMUS).
Frank Longbottom, age 41.1. Alice Maria (Pierson) Longbottom, age 40 (Ra); CONSORT (FRANK).
2. Sandra Ellen (Butler) Longbottom, age 24 (SP); CONCUBINE (FRANK).
3. Veronica Helen (Riordan) Longbottom, age 23 (SP); CONCUBINE (FRANK).
4. Gretchen Lee (St. James) Longbottom, age 21 (PE); CONCUBINE (FRANK).
5. Marie (White) Longbottom, age 19 (SD); CONCUBINE (FRANK).
6. Carol Matilda Timmerman, age 17 (SD-5); CONCUBINE (FRANK).