CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR: FAMILIES (PART I)
MONDAY, AUGUST 12th, 1996 - Black House, Charenwell.
If one were to stand at the right place on the pitch and turn and look at Potter Manor, Black House and Longbottom House, they appeared to be very similar in size and design. Neither looked truly larger or smaller than the other and each looked as if it was built to the same design. This had been on purpose. Even though Potter Manor was almost three hundred years older than the two new buildings, Harry had wanted them to look as if they had always been there. Potter Manor stood at the west end of the pitch where the goals would be if this truly was a Quidditch Pitch. Longbottom House and Black House stood on what one might call the sidelines facing each other. The front of Longbtoom House faced north and Black House faced south.
As it turned out, however, while Potter Manor had been an immense place and was still the most historic of the structures, it was now the smaller of the three. Longbottom House was the largest. Originally designed as an "L" shaped structure with the long side facing the pitch and the short side extending from its western side (the side closest to Potter Manor) to the south, when Neville decided to make it the home of his entire clan, he added another wing on the eastern side. An open courtyard and small garden was in the center of the three sides and beyond that a swimming pool. There were to be no formal gardens to the south. The woods remained and paths led to Longbottom Lake, the large car garage which was now House Longbottom's (a new and larger garage had been built to the north for the Potter vehicles), and his collection of new greenhouses.
Black House was a "T" shaped structure. The top of the "T" faced out over the Pitch while its base ran to the north. Not surprisingly, the base was known as the "North Wing" while the front of the House was known as the "Main Wing." Each of the houses was designed to have a certain number of "Ladies Apartments." These were the suite of rooms the various wives could call their own and where they would live with their children one day. Each suite was designed so that it would alone occupy one sixth of the floor in Potter Manor. Each suite had its Lady's Suite which consisted of her large bedchamber, her large walk-in closet, a Dressing Room and a large and elegant bathroom designed to be comfortable for more than one person in the shower or bath, and attached to it as well were two additional rooms. One was to be her study and the other a nursery or spare room. Next to the suite were two additional, large bedrooms with their own closet and baths for the older children. Three children could easily occupy these rooms with their own beds, dressers, writing tables or vanities without difficulty. Beyond those rooms were the Lady's private kitchen, immediate family dining room and large family sitting room. The Lady's Suite, her future children's rooms and their family space all opened onto a central corridor most often shared with the Lady across the hall if it did not actually open into a common area for all the residents of the floor.
In Longbottom House there were ten such apartments on the First, Second and Third Floors as well as a separate "Master's Suite on the First and Third Floors. Even with so many apartments, there was still a large about of common spaces available to all the residents on those floors as well as the Ground Floor itself. The modifications to Longbottom House adding the additional wing had been made practically the day Frank and Alice agreed to take on additional Concubines - their first additional ones. There were, at that time only five who were anticipated, but both Frank and Alice believed there might well be additional ones as they were by then aware that Harry was attempting to repatriate the missing Charenwell girls so they had four more apartments than they had ladies to occupy them. The problem was that this left them five apartments short of their new needs. These five would be built on the Fourth Floor beginning the coming week.
In Black House, there were six such apartments on the Second and Third Floors. The Second Floor included a small suite for Harry; small as compared to his suite of rooms in Potter House at least. Again, each floor also had its common areas for the residents. The First Flood only had four such apartments. The North Wing was now the Ducal Offices containing offices for Harry, his personal assistant, his Consorts and their Attendants and, for now Dora (as Head of Security) and Minerva for her work with the Educational Development Board. There were two conference rooms and several unused offices. The Ground Floor of the Main Wing included public rooms. This included the "Briefing Room" which was already in use, a large dinning room on the eastern end of the House, various sitting rooms for entertaining, a large recreation room similar to the one in Potter Manor, a children's library and three additional rooms for the children's use later. The Ground Floor of the North Wing was the "infirmary," which was actually more like a health clinic with a ten bed ward.
While the two new Houses were finished (mostly) and ready for their new occupants, the problem was furniture, or rather a lack of it. This affected both Houses, although House Longbottom far less so as the full contents of House Longbottom and Susan's family estates had already been transferred to Charenwell. For Harry, however, if it was not already in Potter Manor, he had to buy it or acquire it somehow and, while there were furniture stores in Charenwell and a few furniture makers as well, the needs far outstripped the local supply. Most would have to be imported from overseas. The "quick fix," and one which proved acceptable to his ladies, had been to "raid" his unused guest homes which were well appointed. This would allow sixteen of his ladies to furnish at least their bedrooms and provide for common furnishings, but that was about it especially as some of his surplus furnishings would also be heading to House Longbottom as he was ten bedrooms short - not including the five new ones that were still to be built. There was already a lot on order, but it could take up to a month for delivery. Still, given that and the furnishings on the Second and Third Floor of Potter Manor, it was enough to allow those floors to be vacated so that they could be renovated.
When pondering this issue about a month earlier, Harry had made the "mistake" of asking why couldn't they just transfigure stuff into furniture. It was a mistake because one of his wives was Minerva who held a Transfiguration Mastery and had taught the subject for forty years and two - Hermione and Daphne - had been at the top of their class in the subject. For O.W.L.s, Harry learned, they were taught the basic theory of magic. At N.E.W.T. Levels and beyond, you learned the details of the theory and naturally Hermione and Daphne had read ahead. Despite appearances, transfiguration does not really change something into something else, at least not permanently. It can never truly change the nature of an object which was why you could not transfigure a table into a real pig, for example. Sure, you could turn it into something that looked like a pig, but it would be an inanimate object and not a living pig. This was why you could not simply transfigure stuff into food. If you turned a rock into an apple, it might look, feel and smell like one, but it was still in essence a rock and would be just as nutritional and tasty and, if the spell faded before you could pass it, you would wind up with a belly full of rock chunks. If transfiguration really could change the nature of an object permanently, wizards would have no need for real food or gold or jobs. In most cases, transfiguration was temporary, detectable by those who knew how - and even Muggles, at least those who dealt with gold had been able to detect fake gold for over two thousand years without magic - and could always be undone by magic. If you transfigured something into a baby's crib, the spell could be undone by accidental magic.
One of the fundamental laws of Transfiguration was conservation of mass and nature. If you conserve the mass and nature of the original object - say a one ounce piece of gold - and transfigure it into something of the same mass and nature - say a one ounce gold ring - that change is undetectable, cannot be dispelled and relatively permanent assuming no one came along to transfigure it into something else. The greater the change in nature and mass; the more detectable the transfiguration, the less permanent, and the easier it becomes to dispel. Of course, conservation of mass and nature were only important if you were concerned about permanence. If you were not, Transfiguration was very useful. Minerva's example was a combat one. You could easily pick up a few blades of grass, transfigure them into steel needles, enlarge them into spikes or spears and banish them at an opponent and if banished with enough force, they would be quite lethal even if they reverted back to blades of grass in a matter of minutes. It was all sufficiently mind numbing yet convincing to Harry that he agreed they would need to purchase new furniture rather than try and cheat around the problem. The rooms would be furnished from his vacant guest houses or even guest rooms until such time as his ladies decided to redecorate with new stuff.
Poppy Pomfrey's real introduction to Charenwell began early on Monday morning as she agreed to assist Mallory in the infirmary with the various examinations that would take place that day.
"Why so early?" Poppy asked.
"Many of our young ladies are in flight training and need to be at the Base at eight," Mallory replied.
"Flight training?"
"For our Air Force," Mallory said. "Those in training spend three hours a day in school for flying learning about airplanes and such and another three hours for actual flying, although their actual time in the air is generally not more than two hours. They return here at two for lunch."
"Rather a late lunch," Poppy said.
"They are allowed to eat sandwiches and fruit and such so long as they're not actually in the planes. It's encouraged as they are more active than they otherwise would be and need the nourishment."
"What about regular school?"
"Hasn't started yet and won't until the week after next. The Basic Levels - the girls in what we knew as First through Third Year are not going to be in Flight Training, so their days might seem normal. Since many of the girls in Intermediate Levels - Fourth and Fifth Year - and NEWT Levels are or will be in the Air Force, their classes will be from three until seven in the evening."
"Only four hours a day? How can they hope to finish on time?"
"Actually, Minerva is confident that those factors alone will be of little or no moment. What may delay their finishing is the War which is coming and children. But all agree that it may delay, not prevent them from finishing school. They are in the Air Force and will be expected to fly and fight and some already have," Mallory added thinking of Luna and two others from the other families who were co-pilots on the recent mission.
Mallory explained that the clinic would serve the entire community of The Manors which would probably number around a thousand within the next year or so. For now, however, the only open patient files were for the "Seven Families:" Harry's, Neville's, the three Weasley brothers', Frank Longbottom's and Remus Lupin's. All told as of that morning that was seven males and one hundred and three females and that did not include Poppy, Arthur, George or Tatiana who would, in all likelihood become residents of the town as well, nor did it include the ladies who would be joining them over the next two weeks.
"With some exceptions," Mallory began, "our process begins when the young ladies arrive here for their bondings. They get a lecture on what they can expect and hope to achieve from Minerva and some of our other ladies with prior experience as concubines. The goal is to let them know why they are here and to convince them to accept their new lives and allow their bonds to mature as soon as practicable. We have found this process to be very effective and, as of last week, most all of the ladies had taken the Love Bond moving beyond their first stages as Concubines. The few who have not are all thirteen or fourteen years of age and have only just completed their second or third year of school year at school. We expect their reticence is due to their relative immaturity, one which will by nature of the Coven Bond resolve itself fairly soon."
"So it works?"
Mallory nodded. "The young ladies who had been concubines before tend to jump at the chance for any improvement over their former condition. Three of Harry's first seven witches were prior concubines as were eight of his first fourteen. For Neville, his Coven may have formed before he brought in his first –er – beginner concubine as aside from his Consort the rest of his first seven had prior experience as such. For the Weasley brothers, they all have six experienced concubines join them as one of their first eight or nine witches. It may well have sped up the formation of the Covens which, in turn, speeds up the process of joining others to them. Without the Covens, it might have taken months or even years for the new girls to look past what has happened to their lives and see the opportunity this new life presents and make that leap of faith. Now it is at most a matter of days. But the Covens aside, the new girls are eased into this as compared to every other first bonding I've heard about. They enter their bonding understanding what has happened to them, why it happened, why they are here and not in the living hell most girls wind up in and what this life can mean if they take the step of trying to accept it."
"And why is it the younger ones who are not yet there?"
"Younger and most recent," Mallory said. "The only ones who had not taken the next step as of Saturday all arrived last week. We believe it is due to the natural maturation effect of the Coven magic. The magic begins to affect the new witch the moment she is bonded to her wizard and results in a degree of rapid, emotional maturation. I can't say to what degree or how quickly they go through the process nor can I accurately quantify the degree of maturation. It is safe to say that few thirteen or fourteen year old girls have the emotional maturity to form a true love bond, but many sixteen year olds do. Their degree of maturity can be approximated by adding up the physical ages of all the bonded witches and dividing that number by the number of bonded witches. In this example – assuming it is what has happened and our observations suggests it is - within days of bonding, the younger witches mature to the average emotional age of the Coven. This ranges from about nineteen and a half years for Harry's family, which is why his youngest took the bond that night if not the next day, to sixteen and a quarter years for George's witches which may be why his most recent three and youngest had not taken that step, although I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they have by now."
"And our involvement in this?"
"Minerva gives them their initial talk as it were. It takes about two hours and then they are paired with a witch from their new House, usually a love bonded concubine with previous experience. Then they're brought to me for an initial examination. The first thing I do is take a very basic patient history. I ask them their names, when and where they were born, where they grew up, lived, went to school and so on. This is very basic as I only use it to open their file and identify possible sources for healer and medical records back home. If they're Muggle Borns, I ask to see their NHS card, although many arrive here without them as many seem to be caught still in their night clothes or in some other state of undress, either that or their parents have the cards. Still, with that information, I can send out the requests for their records or at least copies of them. Requests to St. Mungos, magical schools and such are sent to Britain via Gringotts and Muggle records via the British Embassy in Pottersport. Takes a few weeks in many cases…"
Poppy nodded. "I received many such requests about a month ago, come to think of it."
Mallory nodded. "And I thank you for the copies which are now in the girls' files. I also ask them for any information about their families: who they are, where they live, that sort of thing…"
"Why?"
"We will then seek them out and invite them to move here. Harry and Hermione decided very early on that even if these bondings were necessary in a way, they were not about to break up families which is usually the practice. As far as the wizards are concerned, all their ladies are their wives and that means their families are important as well. I haven't seen or heard from my family since the day I was first bonded over twenty-three years ago. Harry had them tracked down: my parents, my brothers and sister and many nieces and nephews I never knew about much less met." Mallory sniffed. "When I last saw them, my older brother was still in school and my younger sister had not even started magic school yet. Now they all have families and my sister named her oldest after me apparently. They're supposed to be arriving today and…
"In many ways, becoming a concubine cost me my life and family. Harry's trying to give that back to us not just by allowing us to complete our bond and have his children but also to allow my children to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and so on."
"And what about your siblings spouses' families?"
"The Evacuation, as we are calling it, is voluntary. I'm pretty certain that those families have been contacted but can't say for certain. If they haven't been, they will be and if they choose to accept the invitation to relocate, they will be relocated. The immediate families of the wives will be offered the chance to live nearby in The Manors. The rest will most likely live in Jamestown on the coast, although it all depends upon where they are placed for employment. Once we have taken that information…"
"Hold on," Poppy said, "that's all the history you take? You don't ask about past treatments and problems?"
"Not in my initial evaluation. The focus of this evaluation is to check them over for conditions that cannot wait a couple of weeks or so for a full blown examination. They will all be scheduled for a full work up, but with five ladies and only one Healer, that would take hours. I schedule them as soon as possible after they are bonded, but right now I'm about two weeks behind the bondings.
"What we'll do today is check them over for injuries, illness and other conditions in need of immediate treatment, especially any conditions that could otherwise affect or delay their bondings. A handful arrived here with some injuries in need of treatment or nutritional issues. Some of the youngest ones who have not yet had the talk about the connection between their sexuality and magical maturation have shown signs of adolescent magical instability which we treat immediately as it's likely they might have an unfortunate bout of accidental magic without such treatment. With the prior service concubines there is the added risk of venereal disease. Haven't had that with any of the first time concubines yet, but I've had to treat sixteen of the priors for it and one other witch."
Poppy nodded. "The topical potion takes at least two hours to have an effect, and the oral one requires a meal before it's effective."
"I get the new ladies around eleven and usually complete my work up by noon when they are sent to lunch. The bondings happen sometime after two at the earliest."
"Have you had any recurrences?"
"No, and yes I do check each of the ladies and their new families to be certain. The infected ladies I see the next day for that purpose and, of course, when they get their full examination. I also check the others in their families at random beginning a few days later. So far, I've managed to stop that problem in its tracks."
"You said there was one who was not a concubine…?" Poppy began.
"Cissy Black," Mallory nodded. While generally such information was never disclosed by a Healer, this was an exception. The Healer's oath did not apply when discussing a patient's history with another Healer who would also have the person as a patient and that was what was happening here as Poppy was joining The Manors clinic. "She arrived here under the protection of her new Head of House Black. She was in bad shape and had to spend a few days undergoing treatment at Mistress Agnes Hospital in Pottersport for severe injuries resulting from … her former son and his friends gang raped her. According to Cissy, she had not been sexually active since she learned she was pregnant with that animal."
Poppy nodded. "I am well aware of that boy and Slytherin House. I've had to treat him at least eight times a year for those infections. Then again, he's hardly atypical. I might have one or two cases during the year from the other three houses combined, but in that house it seems to be endemic. The boys are debauched by older girls their first year! Each year of boys has two older girls assigned to them for that purpose! The older girls almost line up for the chance since, once they are assigned to the younger boys that way, no other boy in Slytherin is allowed to be with them. But they are that years' playthings for the rest of their time at school it seems. The other girls? Well, unless they are under some kind of protection, they will wind up servicing all the boys in the house at some point whether they want to or not. This means that those infections cannot truly be stopped as I was not allowed to quarantine and treat the entire House each time I treated one of their members and once one had it, most all would in due course. The only ones who are 'safe' are the few who manage to avoid anyform of sexual activity. I keep telling Severus that, but he merely shrugs, takes his weekly treatment and lets things go on as always!"
"Severus?"
"Their Head of House," Poppy growled. "Any time one of the girls in his house gives in, he can be the next in line for her especially if she's attractive it seems. Keeps at least three as his personal pets each year, but will violate others as well. Honestly? In my opinion being a witch in Slytherin without the Protection of a Head of a Noble House or a Betrothal – assuming their betrothed doesn't share – isn't much better than being a concubine in one of the public or private brothels!"
Mallory nodded. She had heard all about the joys of being a witch in Slytherin from Amber, Daphne and Astoria even if those three managed to avoid the fate. During Amber's day, it was not nearly as bad as it was now, but it was still bad. Amber had probably avoided that fate when she had been caught with a Muggle Born boy and sold off the following summer. Astoria was still just young enough to avoid out right predation. Daphne had avoided it through skill and cunning, but would confess that she knew it was only a matter of time for her before she was caught, gang raped, and broken in as a House Whore.
"We're getting three more from that House this week," Mallory sighed.
"Oh? Who?"
"Tracy Davis," Mallory began.
"She was one of Severus's pets this past year, not by choice mind you. She was gang raped her first week back."
"Teresa Murdoch…"
"She was a Third Year," Poppy said. "They usually don't force Third Years."
"And Natasha Adair."
"Second Year. What little decency they have is First and Second Year girls are generally off limits."
"Generally?"
"If she's of bonding age and decides to join in of her own accord…" Poppy shrugged. "As far as I know, those two have not fallen victim in that House yet." After a long and somewhat awkward pause she continued. "And after their initial exams?"
Mallory nodded silently agreeing it was time to get back on track. "I have them scheduled for a full exam as soon as possible after they're bonded. Most will bond the day they arrive, although Frank Longbottom holds his bondings the next morning."
"Any reason for that?"
Mallory nodded. "By accident, custom or tradition or something, for the last several generations the men of House Longbottom bond to their women under an oak tree by a lake – the same oak tree and lake. Although they can't use the place of their ancestors as they are not about to risk returning to Britain for that, they are using a similar spot not far from here and I don't think Frank or his son or their respective families have any inclination of being present for the other family's bondings.
"Anyway, once they finish here I take it as a given they will soon be bonded to their wizard, as they all have been within a day or less. I place their new files on one of these two lower shelves. I use this set of shelves for the witches in the Covens and the other multiple witch families. There are many reasons for this. They are being scheduled differently and they are my primary charges here. But it's also because I and several others are studying these various bonds so keeping their records separate I can track how their bonds affect their health and such more easily. So, once they arrive and have their initial exams, their files begin on one of these two lower shelves. The lowest shelf is for the young ladies under the age of fifteen and the next shelf for those newly bonded fifteen or older."
"Why the separation?" Poppy asked.
"The upper shelf with thirteen files currently are the older women," Mallory said. "They are there because they are all old enough to seek permission to have children but have not asked yet. The lower shelf with twenty-one files are the younger girls. Twenty of them are physically old enough to bear children having attained bonding age – the other one is not and will not be for some years but is betrothed – but even though physically old enough, the families have decided they should wait until they're at least fifteen. Once they turn fifteen, the decision as to when to seek permission is entirely theirs to make."
"Why fifteen?"
"Originally, it was sixteen or upon completing their O.W.L.s, whichever was first. Then Harry bonded with Luna as Consort. She's only just finished Fourth Year and is fifteen, so it dropped to the summer before Fifth Year, which also explains why Ginny has permission even though she only turned fifteen yesterday. The final reduction to fifteen was more recent once we began to realize that the formation of a Coven results in a previously unexpected emotional maturation for the younger ladies and the realization that with their schedules and what not, they may or may not take their O.W.L.s on time. Depending upon the Coven, you can add about three years to the emotional ages of the younger ladies. While a normal fifteen year old girl is arguably too young to become a mother, the same cannot be said with the same degree of certainty for a girl who's emotional eighteen or nineteen. Of these twenty-one files, only one – that of Astoria Greengrass – will move up a shelf between now and the end of the year.
"The ladies on the two lower shelves are scheduled for an examination once every three months until their status changes. I know that at school you examined all of us about once a month, but since a concubine without permission cannot become pregnant, there's no reason to see them to make sure they take their birth control and one with permission is allowed to become pregnant so again, no reason to see them for that reason.
"Once a lady has permission – and this includes all Consorts and the one lady bound to a Coven by what we know as a Coven bond – their files move up to the next shelf. This means they are actively trying to become pregnant but have not tested positive for pregnancy yet. Currently, we have forty files on that shelf. We test these ladies every week using a Muggle Home Pregnancy Test kit."
"Why," Poppy asked. "And how does it work?"
"The Muggle test can give you a positive result within days of embryo implantation. The lady urinates on the device and it will detect the presence of certain hormones in the urine that are only present if she's pregnant. I prefer to know about their pregnancies as soon as possible as I want them to begin taking precautions immediately and, as you know, the potions to curb morning sickness and other hormonal anomalies are more effective if you begin taking them before you develop the symptoms."
"How accurate are the tests?"
"I've had no false positive tests to date," Mallory said. "I won't rule out a false negative test, but as I test them once a week, if there was one I pick it up the next week."
"Running all those tests…" Poppy began.
"Oh, I don't run them. The girls simply come in first thing in the morning, get their test stick and take it into the loo and pee on it. All I have to do is see the result. If it turns blue, they move up to the next shelf. That's for girls who've tested positive for pregnancy but are not on the next week's schedule for their magical pregnancy exam. This week we have six files on that shelf, all of who passed their pee test last week. The shelf above that are the girls we will be magically testing this morning. There are eight of them and we run the standard set of tests for expectant mothers. As you know, it will tell us what their baby or babies will be – and yes we do have at least three who are already expecting twins – whether they are magical – although that has yet to be an issue – and allows us an approximate due date from which we schedule back their monthly exams. The top shelf with twelve files are those who've already been through the whole process. We have a couple of monthly exams scheduled later this week. I had my first monthly last week…"
"You're…?"
Mallory smiled and nodded. "I'm due to have a boy sometime in late March or early April. As you know, due dates are approximations…"
"Congratulations."
"Thanks. Although the Spring's going to be a busy time for us as it is. There are already twenty-six expectant mothers on these shelves and the twelve of us are expecting fifteen children between us. Harry has four pregnant wives with one expecting twins, three others whose children are known, and two others expecting one of whom we test today and the other families are similar."
"Mistress Mallory?" a voice called. An Elf maiden named Elia stood in the door. Mallory explained that the elf was her assistant and also maintained the records. "The ladies are arriving."
"Thank you, Elia," Mallory said. She then turned to Poppy. "Shall we?"
"When do we tell them the results?" Poppy asked.
"It's become the custom to do so at breakfast as all the families eat breakfast together on Monday mornings."
The breakfast began just before seven in the morning. As most ate, Dora began by announcing the names of the twenty young women who would begin their flight training that morning. This new group included Katie, Karen, Rhonda and Connie from "Harry's Harem" and Miriam, Amanda and Hannah from Neville's family. Then Mallory stood up and the room quieted down.
"House Lupin," she began. "Congratulations to Tara, Ellie and Stephanie!" All three were clearly thrilled but Remus's Consort Stephanie seemed ready to try again right then and there. "The House of Frank Longbottom: congratulations to Sandra, Gretchen and Marie. Our winners from the House of George Weasley are Anna, Isabel and Eileen. For his co-conspirator Fred Weasley they are Vicki, Helen and Coleen. For the more mature Bill Weasley it's Samantha, Donna and Christine. For Neville, our winners are Annette, Deborah and Hannah."
Hannah first through herself at Neville and then at her best friend Susan.
"And finally, for Harry our winners are: Stacey, Karen and…" Mallory paused as those to made sure to kiss Harry and soon everyone could hear Ginny saying: "Please, please, please…"
"…Ginny!"
"Yes!" Ginny squealed. "This was my best birthday ever!" she added as she made sure Harry knew how much she appreciated this surprise present.
"And," Mallory continued, "now I'll leave the best news for the new healer on our clinic staff, Madam Poppy Pomfrey."
Poppy stood up. Those who knew her knew she had a fairly stern external presence but was really a very caring and kind person. Then again, being Healer for a school full of adolescents, particularly one with the likes of Slytherin House might make anyone stern.
"I was told there is an order to this chaos," she said. "Um…" she looked at a parchment. "Lord Mayor Lupin and Amelia? You are going to have a son." After things quieted down, she continued. "Mr. Frank Longbottom and Amelia, a daughter. Okay, this next bit is not how I would have said it. It would seem we have proof that identical twins are not truly identical in all respects. As you all know, Fred and George Weasley are such twins as are George's wives Shelley and Georgina. As you all may recall, Shelley is expecting a daughter. Well, I can now announce that Georgina is expecting a son." She continued a little later. "Likewise, George and Ellen are expecting a daughter. Fred and Alicia are expecting a little boy. Bill and Lana a girl. Lord Longbottom and Penelope will have a son and last but not least, Lord Harry Black and Daphne are also expecting a son."
When things finally calmed down and Harry had a chance to catch his breath, he said to Poppy with a laugh: "Welcome to the madness, Madam Pomfrey!"
MONDAY, AUGUST 12th, 1996 - City of London Airport, London.
Four days ago, Robert and Rose Granger were site seeing in San Francisco California and planning a trip to visit Yosemite Park and the famous wine country in the Napa Valley. They returned to their hotel that evening to find a letter on their bed with what looked like two plane tickets. The two Grangers recognized the writing immediately. It was from their daughter, Hermione.
5 August, 1996
Dear Mum and Dad:
Our friends have found a way for us to be together again and be safe despite what's happening in the Wizarding World right now. I cannot give any specifics, but trust me, this will work!
Enclosed are plane tickets. You are booked on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to New York that leaves 7 August at 10:35 your time. You'll have a two to three hour layover in New York and then you're booked on a British Airways flight to London. I apologize because that flight gets into London quite late in the evening.
You have a room reserved at the Hilton for two nights to allow you to adjust to the time change. On 12 August, there will be a limo waiting for you at 8:00 A.M. sharp! It will take you to the flight that will bring you back to me. All expenses are paid, of course.
You don't have to come back. I'm not hurt or in any trouble. But I want you to! I miss both of you SO MUCH! We have loads to talk about and I want you to know it's really nice where I am and I know you two will love it! We even need a dentist or two! (Well, I'm pretty sure I don't, but there are others…) Please come home. I want my family back!
I love you two so much and here we can see each other every day. We can be like we once were, and I miss that so much! Please come back? I love you!
Your daughter,
Hermione
"Cryptic," Robert Granger said as he read it.
"But how can we say no?" Rose asked.
"And Yosemite and Napa?"
"They're not going anywhere. I want to see my daughter again!"
"As do I, Rosie."
"So we're going?"
Robert Granger nodded and was duly rewarded for his efforts.
The Grangers were now seated in a large lounge. The lounge was large and quite comfortable as compared to the normal terminals that most passengers used. There were several people in the lounge with them - whole families.
Robert and Rose were seated at a table as they watched the families around them. Although they had all dressed normal, several were most likely magical. That had been somewhat obvious since when they arrived in the lounge they had been asked to turn over any wands or magical items that were not in their checked baggage. He could also tell by their bewilderment at this place. From the conversations they heard bits of, many of these families had missing daughters and they were all going somewhere where they would be told about them.
"May we join you?" a balding man asked who was with a blonde haired woman who appeared to be about the same age as the Grangers.
"Be our guests," Robert said.
"David Greengrass," the man said introducing himself. "This is my wife Vivian."
"Robert Granger," Robert replied, "and my wife Rose."
"Granger? Not Hermione's parents, are you?" Vivian asked.
"Erm - yes," Robert said. "She is our daughter…"
"Thank Merlin!" Vivian exclaimed. "Thank Merlin you're safe! I cannot say how…" She began to weep.
"You're daughter and her husband saved our lives," David said. "Not just Vivian and me, but all our daughters as well."
"H-husband?" Robert said. "What husband?"
"You don't know?"
"Er …"
"She's Lady Potter,"
"Lady?" Rose asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"Lord Harry Potter is the fifty-first of his line dating back to the first Lord - Lord Sir Galahad Potter."
"Galahad," Robert Granger asked in confusion, "as in the Knights of of the Round Table? King Arthur's Galahad?"
"The very one," David said.
"That was real?"
"Quite real. The records in your world were destroyed ages ago, but ours were not. Of course, they're all in Latin, but…"
"Still," Robert Granger shot back, "I want to know how it is MY DAUGHTER is married and why your daughters are somehow involved."
Mr. Greengrass then proceeded to tell the Grangers all he knew about their Daughter and surprise son-in-law and about what had happened to his family and his two oldest daughters. In the course of his explanation, he told the Grangers all about just what role women had in the wizarding world, about magical guardians, wives, consorts and concubines, about the various bonding rites and what the bonds meant and about how only by becoming a consort could a young witch avoid becoming a concubine, if that was indeed what her magical guardian intended for her.
"If I had known this five years ago," Robert began, "we would never have allowed her to enter your world."
"You could have kept her out of Hogwarts," David said. "We can't force you to send your child there. But if her magical guardian intended to sell her off as a concubine, there is no way to prevent that - unless she became a Consort first."
"Who was Hermione's guardian if not me?"
"As a Muggle Born assigned to Hogwarts, it would be the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot - Albus Dumbledore."
"Well, at least there's that," Rose Granger said. "Hermione respects him."
"I wouldn't," David said. "I had to sell my daughters. I told you why, but there's more. In your world had someone tried to extort me like that, I could run to the police. In my world, I could do the same, but in all likelihood there would be little they could do about it and certainly nothing once I made the Vow. Dumbledore is part of the problem in our world. And, if you must know, the majority of Muggle Born witches wind up as concubines. In most cases, the only ones who don't are those fortunate enough to become a consort. And it's Dumbledore who sells them. I'm sure if he could find away, he'd sell them all."
"I still cannot believe Hermione is somehow wrapped up in all of this," Rose said. She had read the book on Bonds Hermione sent her and knew Hermione was one of the contributing authors, but had not understand what it truly meant until now. "I mean, I guess the Consort thing makes a little sense, Robert. You did give the boy your blessing after all and if she found out about what might happen to her, that makes sense. But concubines? You remember her rants about House Elves, Bob. This is even worse than that morally speaking."
"I guess we are going to have to have a long talk with those two," Bob agreed. "None of this really makes sense."
"Katie!" a woman's voice practically screamed with joy, attracting the Grangers' and Greengrass's attention. A woman about their age seemed to be running across the lounge rate at a sandy haired young woman who appeared to be dressed not unlike an airline ticket agent. The young woman was soon smothered in a hug and it was clear the two were having a conversation. After several minutes, the older woman let her go and the younger one went to what looked like a podium and picked up a microphone.
"Ladies and gentleman," she said in an amplified voice, "may I have your attention, please?" She didn't really need to say that as the previous scene had succeeded in getting everyone's attention. "My name is Katie Bell and we will begin boarding the flight shortly. First, I need to find out if everyone is here. When I call your party, just let me know."
"I know the Bells are here," Katie continued. "Bromstone? Party of four?"
"Here," another male voice replied.
"Campbell? Party of four?"
"Here!"
"Grant? Oh my! Party of seventeen?"
"All present and accounted for Miss."
"Granger? Party of two?"
"Here," Robert answered.
"Greengrass? Party of five?"
"We're here," David answered.
"Patil? Party of two?"
"Here," a voice answered.
"Perks? Party of three?"
"Here."
"Plumber? Party of eight?"
"Here," another voice answered.
"Excellent. Okay, this will be a full flight. It's open seating. Flying time to our final destination will be about two and a half hours or so. You will all be taken to your hotel for lunch and to meet your daughters at the Manor. Now, if everyone will follow me out to the plane."
The Grangers and the others followed the young lady out onto the tarmac. A large, white propeller plane was waiting for them. The main wing was on top of the body and the elevators were on top of the tail. The plane and a very clean look about it and looked very knew. It was painted a glossy white, except for the tail which was bright red. "PB Enterprises, Ltd." was painted in red on the fuselage and a large gold PB was on the tail. Katie led them to a door at the rear of the airplane and remained by the fold down steps as each passenger entered.
Bob Granger took a window seat near the front and his wife sat behind them - right behind the Greengrass's and their two younger daughters. Their oldest sat across the aisle from the Grangers with a younger girl named Cheryl Abbot. He could hear the rear door close and latch and then saw the young woman enter the cockpit. He soon heard the whine of an engine starting and could see the propeller on his side and behind him starting to spin.
The young woman was now at the front of the cabin facing them with a microphone in her hand.
"Good morning and welcome aboard. I will now explain the safety features of this De Havilland Bombardier, DHC 8 Model 315 aircraft…"
MONDAY, AUGUST 12th, 1996 – Lake Weasley Resort Hotel, The Manors, Charenwell.
The flight had been rather pleasant, although Robert was a little surprised about the direction. Having been in the service in his youth, he could tell both the from landmarks on the ground and the position of the sun out the window the rough direction the plane was flying as it left the south coast of England west of the Isle of Wight and flew out to sea. He knew there was no land in that direction for thousands of miles if they held the course. Assuming the plane did so, the nearest land he could think of was might be the Bahamas or some Caribbean island and he also knew this type of plane could never fly that far. Apparently, the flight attendant knew this as well. During the flight, she told them about their destination – this Charenwell place - and that it was an island only about three hundred miles or so southwest of Britain, and an island that had been hidden by magic from the rest of the world for over a thousand years. Robert knew as much from one of the books Hermione had sent them, although the book left out exactly where this island nation was in relation to the rest of the world. Then again, it made some sense that it was so close, relatively speaking. After all, it had been discovered by a group of "second sons" of Mercia in long boats in the Seventh Century. Even the Vikings had crossed to the Americas a few centuries later in stages, he recalled.
The plane had landed at Charenwell International Airport in Jamestown and the passengers had been loaded onto two motor coaches once they collected their checked baggage. In all respects, the place reminded him of a normal airport except there were no customs and it was almost empty. That and the fact that instead of the usual posters advertising hotels and tourist sites, there seemed to be recruiting posters all over the place.
The bus ride took them along the main road through Jamestown which looked both brand new and yet abandoned. The young woman at the front who said her name was Dora told them that this city was brand new and that its population had not yet arrived. As they drove through the town, they learned of the plan to "evacuate" thousands if not tens of thousands of magicals and their families from Britain and relocate them here. They would not be refugees in any sense of the word. In a few months, there would be more than enough jobs to go around and the new arrivals would not be expected to return home when all was said and done.
The bus passed through Pottersport and its importance was discussed, as well as the locations of the best shops and restaurants. During the ride, Dora told them that this country was probably the most magical on earth – which Robert had read – with well over eighty percent of the population being magical and the rest had married magical. There was no Statute of Secrecy here since magic was not hidden. Robert figured this was more for the magical people, especially when Dora talked about most of the magical residents used magic far less often than their British cousins. While this was a magical country, a non-magical could live here and never really feel out of place. Very few jobs absolutely required magical ability and everyone was comfortable with technology. People used telephones, drove cars, preferred electrical lighting to the gas lamps and candles used in magical Britain, watched the telly and all of that.
They were driven through the Manors, the town where they would be invited to live when all was said and done. It too looked new, but it was designed to look like it had been around for over a century at least. The hotel was the largest and tallest building in this rather spread out town. It was eight stories tall with its restaurant on the top floor. The Grangers and the others were brought to the hotel, allowed to check into their rooms and then enjoy a very nice lunch in the Restaurant. Finally, when lunch was over, a tall and older looking woman stood before them.
"Good afternoon," she said, "and welcome to Charenwell."
"Where's my daughter?" a voice asked.
"I can assure you, Mr. Grant, your daughter Doctor Grant is nearby and you shall see her later this afternoon. At this moment, she is busy seeing patients either at the clinic or the hospital."
"Our Mallory's a doctor?" a woman asked. "But she is or was a witch!"
"She is indeed a witch, and a Healer as well. She was afforded an opportunity to pursue her non-magical education after she attained her Healing Certification some years ago and studied medicine in the States. But, as a practicing physician and Healer specializing in women's health, reproduction and pediatric care, she can be quite busy. I don't think any of her patients are due today, but you never know with those things. Now, that being said, my name is Minerva McGonagall…"
"But you can't be," Rose said. "Her younger sister or daughter maybe…"
"I can assure you, Mrs. Granger, I am who I say I am. While I am sixty-eight years old, I am a witch and we do age differently than non-magical women. I may be old enough to retire in your world, but for a witch I am barely middle aged. My mother and grandmother might still be alive had they not been killed over fifty years ago during the Muggle Second World War. As for looking older, well we do have spells that would do that. That being said, for the two families who might not know of me at all, I taught Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for forty years and was Deputy Headmistress for twelve of those years."
"Was?" David Greengrass.
"Due to many factors, some of which I will be telling you this afternoon, I elected to retire from those positions to accept an offer here in Charenwell as the National Director of the Educational Development Board. But I am not here before you now in that capacity.
"There are nine families here in this room. All of you are here on common purpose: to be reunited with your daughters. Two families – at least the parents – know why their daughters are here, two probably suspect the reason, while the rest may have no idea at all. For seven of the families, your daughters have been away for mere days or weeks at the most. For the other two, it's been between three and twenty-three years…"
Minerva then launched into a version of the lecture she had been giving to the "new" concubines practically five days a week for almost the past month. There was a difference, naturally. This version, one she would use for all the families of all of the bonded young women now residing in Charenwell was not designed to convince anyone to accept becoming a concubine, rather to convince their families to accept that this had happen and to approach this new country and their daughter/sister/aunt's new life. She explained first about Consorts and the Consort bond and how it formed, leaving out the details of the ritual as there were younger children present. She referred to a ritual based upon acts of physical intimacy one would normally expect between a husband and wife. She spoke about the power of that bond, how it drew a couple together far more completely than any other form of wedding or marriage vow and that it was permanent. She then spoke about Concubines. This talk focused on what the bond was meant to be and how it could be and often was abused, particularly in magical Britain. She also made clear that only the magical father or magical guardian of a young witch could enter her into such a bond.
"How could this have happened?" Mr. Perks asked.
This question prompted a discussion about the laws in Magical Britain and in particular the laws regarding Magical Guardians. Even those raised in the magical world were stunned to learn that the fates of Muggle Borns, and in particular Muggle Born witches, were often at the whim of a wizard who neither knew nor owed any loyalty to them or their families. That a stranger had such authority over anyone's life was stunning, but that the law extended such authority to magically raised as well, such as in Minerva's case where her father died without designating a successor and without a surviving wizard on that side of her family or, in the case of the Patils, merely because the father was a foreigner.
"Why did you include yourself?" Rose asked.
"I became a concubine when I was fifteen," Minerva replied. "That was fifty-three years ago and I've been one ever since."
"So, you're a slave?" Mr. Bell asked.
Minerva had anticipated this kind of question. "I won't lie to you and say that the concubine bond cannot be a form of slavery. For the vast majority ensnared by it in Britain, that is virtually if not precisely what they become. So long as the woman is not allowed the opportunity to allow the bond to mature, so long as her free will remains suppressed to the full extent the initial bond allows, she is, no matter how benign her treatment, just that. But recall what I said. If she is allowed to and chooses to take the next step and reinforce the bond of her own free will, then she becomes her wizard's wife in all the ways that matter. True, I am aware there are some women in the non-magical world who might not see a real distinction, but I'm talking about magical bonds and not philosophical musings.
"That being said, we're not in magical Britain anymore. This is Charenwell and our laws and customs are vastly different as are the social conditions. Our society is not the aristocratic, class structured oligarchy that is magical Britain. We do not have the disparity between the sexes that still exists there where there is but one wizard of any status for every two witches. Moreover, our history and that of magical Britain diverged fourteen hundred years ago and travelled a very different path and that path has affected how we related to each other and to the rest of the world both magical and non-magical. Many of you may have been told or concluded that sociologically speaking Magical Britain is at least a few centuries behind its non-magical counterpart. This is a fair assessment and when one considers that slavery in many forms was not unlawful back then, one can see that while concubines might seem extreme, they are not exactly a novel concept, just one that the societal progress passed over long ago."
"And what are these differences?" Mr. Bell asked.
"Basically, the culture, customs and laws in magical Britain have encouraged wizards to abuse the nature of that bond," Minerva replied. "From its first introduction here, our culture, customs and laws have prevented such abuse. Early on, Magical Britons used concubines to keep magic in the magical world and to subjugate witches in general creating and sustaining a wizard dominated society in fact if not truly in law. It might have been easier since in such a bond state, the witch would have no offspring who might one day question such treatment of their ancestor. From the very beginning, concubines were brought here not for the – er – entertainment of wizards, but for the purpose of raising families, to be wives and mothers. Our genealogical records dating back to the seventh century are surprisingly thorough, far more so than in Britain. Every magical child who has been born here can honestly state that he or she is descended from a concubine if you look back far enough. In the case of our Duke, his Great-great grandmother was one. It is much harder to promote an abusive and oppressive culture when you are descended from those one might seek to abuse or oppress.
"This land was discovered in 677 by a band of wizard warriors from Britain led by Dargoth, the younger son of the eighth Lord Potter the first such Lord being Sir Gallahad…"
"As in King Arthur?" Mr. Perks asked. "Are you saying he was real?"
"Quite real," Minerva replied. "Our records of him were not destroyed in the subsequent upheavals. Between the days of Arthur and Gallahad and what we now know as England, the Anglo-Saxons, Jutes and Danes all invaded and plundered and were followed eventually by the Normans who also tried to eliminate what had been there before. Arthur survived as an oral tradition, a legend, but the records of his time were lost to the non-magical world.
"Anyway, Dargoth and his companions set sail – we believe from the River Avon – in search of new lands as they were not about to inherit any lands otherwise. They found this land which was, at the time, quite uninhabited. It was also quite remote meaning they had a couple hundred miles of open ocean between them and any potential adversaries. They explored this island for some time before returning to their former homes in 678. In 680, they returned with their families, stores, livestock and everything they believed would be necessary to settle this land. Dargoth was sixty years old at the time and with him were his five children and their families including his twelve year old eldest grandson Dirgard. The records indicate the initial population of the new land in 681 was around 627 people.
"But setting up a new land far removed from anyone else is not conducive to long life. It was hard work and despite births and marriages among the youngest, by 690 the population had dropped below 400. The leaders did not want to encourage mass emigration from England fearing they would just bring to their new home the problems of their old. Still, unless more people came, the land would die. Dargoth's grandson Dirgard, who was in line to become a future Lord of the Isle, was tasked by his grandfather to import women to the island. Gold had been discovered in our mountains. Gold and coins were rare in England at the time. Most trade was by barter. But a little gold went a long way. Dirgard returned from England with sixty-five women, some Muggle and the majority young witches he either bought from their parents or at auction. As Lord of the Isle, while his grandson had made the actual purchases, the purchases and their importation had been under Dargoth's authority. The new arrivals were bound to the younger adult males of the land as wives. As such, it was forbidden that the new women would serve in any other capacity. They could neither be sold, nor shared and if their 'husband' died, that family was obligated to support them for life. This began the custom that became law.
"In 699, Dargoth's father and older brother were killed back in England and Dargoth, now Lord of the Isle also become Lord Potter and took control of his family's English estates. This factor led to the beginning of our current governmental structure. Dargoth could neither spend all his time here governing his new lands nor all his time in England managing his ancestral lands. A council was formed here to govern. The Lord of the Isle, while still influential and while the sole land owner, generally stayed out of local affairs but retained control over external affairs. As such, he retained the sole authority to allow or restrict immigration. Since that time, all who have moved here from abroad have only done so by leave of the Lord of the Isle, later the Duke. Moreover, since importation of concubines and such fell within that retention of authority, only the Lord could purchase and import, although he was never obligated to bind them to him alone. For centuries, purchasers in England bought concubines that were then brought here and bonded and married to the men for the purpose of at least sustaining the population. In old times, when the community desired to expand its farming, trades and such, more concubines were brought in to ensure a corresponding expansion of the population. Such imports would also increase in number and frequency in response to famine or epidemic – or rather the recovery thereafter. The one constant was that the Lord himself always had a few concubines in addition to his wife at law or consort. This ensured an heir.
"In all cases, the records, journals and such from those times – at least the ones we have translated thus far – show that the women imported to this place have had more opportunities and probably better lives than the ones they could expect under similar circumstances had they remained in Britain. In the cases of the Muggle Borns and those witched from the lower strata in that society, arguably their lives were better across the board. They have been contributing members of our society regardless of the social station to which they were born back in Britain. They all have been encouraged to finish school, even when the notion of education of witches beyond what is now known as O.W.L.s was frowned upon. For some centuries, if you saw a witch studying for her N.E.W.T.s in Britain, chances were very good she was either born here or was brought here as a concubine. While the Lord and Duke is barred under our constitution from positions in our Ministry, our Legislature or Courts and by custom so have been his Wives at Law and Consorts, this ban never extended to his concubines. Concubines, whether bound to the Lord, his brothers, sons or others, have served at one point in just about every position within our government save our armed forces, to the extent we had one. And now, even that has changed."
"How so?" Robert Granger asked.
"You will learn fairly soon that Charenwell is and always has been allied to the legitimate royal family with dominion over our Duke's lands in England. As I said earlier, the Lord of the Isle owns the lands here and always has. All told, he has title over about 3,500 square miles here in Charenwell. This is but one third of his entire land holdings. He owns over six thousand square miles in the British Isles, mostly in England. House Potter has never sold a single acre of land and has holdings going back at least as far as the First Century."
"Bloody hell," a few voices said.
"Our alliance to the Crown is defensive by custom. We will fight to defend England for in doing so we preserve the Estate of the Duke and, as he is the largest single tax payer in this Country, the bulk of our tax base. A few weeks ago, owning to the growing crisis in Magical Britain, Her Majesty and the Prime Minister asked us to honor our obligations and intervene on their behalf. We have no standing army, but we are raising one or will be soon. We are manning an Air Force.
"Of the eleven young ladies whose families are here today, all but two are training in our Air Force and may well be flying about as we speak. Those two are Mallory Grant, whose position as a Healer/Doctor is considered too important; and Eleanor Bromstone, who is currently considered too young. Ms. Hermione Granger is currently in advanced flight training preparing to fly Lancasters for CRAF Bomber Command and may well be appointed as a Squadron Commander I'm told. Ms. Daphne Greengrass is also in Bomber Command flying Bostons. Ms. Astoria Greengrass is in Transport Command learning to fly Dakotas. Ms. Stacey Campbell is in CRAF Fighter Command learning to fly Typhoons. Ms. Bell and Ms. Plumber are in Primary Flight Training and Ms. Padma Patil, Parvati Patil and Ms. Perks are scheduled to start training within the next few weeks."
"So our daughters are expected to fight?" Mr. Bell asked.
"I'm not in a position to discuss Air Force personnel policy," Minerva replied. "Your daughters are in a better position to discuss that. But as I understand it, given that the British Magicals have no means to combat conventional aircraft … well, this is why our Air Force will be manned mainly by our young women. They will fight from the air, supporting the young men we send to fight on the ground. The risk to them is significantly less than ground operations. But I suggest you ask them about this."
"What about their educations?" Rose asked.
"It will continue," Minerva said. "Those who are serving will be in an intensive course that we hope will allow them to keep pace with where they should be, but they will continue towards their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s regardless. They are all also encouraged to consider continuing their educations beyond those levels, but that decision will be theirs to make when the time comes."
"And just how did our daughters become ensnared in all this?" Mr. Grant asked. "I understand, even if it disgusts me, the vile notion of that damnable auction and magical guardians who see our girls as little more than a commodity. But how did they wind up here rather than somewhere else?"
Minerva nodded. "In my case, I was purchased at Auction by the then Duke. He had been forced into an arranged marriage years before and had acquired a concubine so that he might form a proper, love based relationship with a woman. His wife bore his children, but his love raised them. They were together over twenty years when she was killed. She was visiting her family in London and was killed during the Blitz. I came along a couple years later. I was his love for thirty-six years. When he was murdered in our last magical war in '79, I passed to his son and when he died, to his heir in time.
"Mallory and Stacey were not so fortunate at first. Their first experiences as concubines were as horrible as you can imagine. In both cases, their wizard lost them to pay off debts. Mallory went to a young man who came to love her as a wife and encouraged her in her education and ambitions to become a Healer. When he was murdered earlier this year and by agreement between the two of them, she went to his designated heir. Stacey was brought here because her wizard defaulted on a debt owed to the Duke and was brought here as soon as the Duke knew of her.
"The Greengrasses know exactly why and how their daughters came to be here. The Bromstones can guess, although their daughter was sold at auction as were all the others save Hermione Granger. Hermione is a Consort and, more importantly, Consort to the current Duke. As such, it was she who convinced the Duke to bring the others in. Many of the young ladies who have been brought here were their friends and neither of them were about to let their friends become slaves. I know and agree this is not the ideal situation. But the Duke and Duchess were not about to sit idly by and let their friends suffer, nor would they allow that to happen to anyone else this year. The Duke purchased every young woman up for auction this year – fifty one in total. Through purchases, debts and other means, a total of 134 concubines have been brought from Britain to Charenwell this summer. Those women are not all bound to the Duke. They are split amongst ten separate families." Minerva decided not to mention that two of those families, Potter and Black, were under the same wizard. "Four of these families are incredibly wealthy and two others will be given their talents. The other four may be in time but if not they will be supported by the Duke as an extension of his own. I think you will see that when you see where your daughters are living."
"We have now covered the basics," Minerva said after a pause. "I am sure you have many more questions, but most of the answers are probably unique to the young lady in questions. I know you are all eager to see them again so we'll leave it here for now. The buses are waiting out front to take you to them."
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 16.* HOUSE POTTER
1. Hermione Jane (Granger) Potter, age 16 (Gr-5); CONSORT.*P - boy/girl (twins).
2. Minerva Grace (McGonagall) Potter-Black, age 68 (Gr).P - girl.
3. Astoria Lynn (Greengrass) Potter-Black, age 14 (Sl-3).*
4. Ginevra Molly (Weasley) Potter-Black, age 14 (Gr-4).*P
5. Stacey Marie (Campbell) Potter-Black, age 17 (SA-5).*P
6. Laura Teresa (Oliver) Potter-Black, age 21 (PE-5).*
7. Rhonda Kaye (Lester) Potter-Black, age 17 (SD-5).*
8. Katie Alice (Bell) Potter-Black, age 17 (Gr-6).*
9. Padma (Patil) Potter-Black, age 16 (Ra-5).
10. Sally-Anne (Perks) Potter-Black, age 16 (SG-5).
11. Erin Faye (Sullivan) Potter-Black, age 16 (SP-6).
12. Eleanor May (Bromstone) Potter-Black, age 13 (Hu-2).
HOUSE BLACK
1. Luna Celeste (Lovegood) Black, age 15 (Ra-4); CONSORT.*P
2. Dora (Tonks) Black-Potter, age 22 (Hu).*P – girl.
3. Mallory Michelle (Grant) Black-Potter, age 39 (Hu).P - boy.
4. Daphne Renee (Greengrass) Black-Potter, age 16 (Sl-5).*P – boy.
5. Tabatha Simone (Collins) Black-Potter, age 16 (SA-5).*
6. Fiona Michelle (Simpson) Black-Potter, age 22 (SD).*
7. Karen Maria (Green) Black-Potter, age 18 (PE-5).*P
8. Constance Maria (Plumber) Black-Potter, age 16 (SG-5).*
9. Parvati (Patil) Black-Potter, age 16 (Gr-5).
10. Kathryn Marie (O'Fallon) Black-Potter, age 16 (SP-5).
11. Laura Elaine (Madley) Black-Potter, age 13 (Ra-2).
12. Cathy Alicia (Abrams) Black-Potter, age 12 (Hu-1).
1. Narcissa (Cissy) Black, age 33 (Sl-5); Coven Bonded.
2. Gabrielle Collette Delacour, age 9; Veela Bond.
Bill Weasley, age 25.
1. Fleur Patrice (Delacour) Weasley, age 19; CONSORT.P – girl.
2. Mary Ellen (Howard) Weasley, age 18 (Hu-5).*P - boy.
3. Samantha Christine (Johnson) Weasley, age 17 (SG-5).*P
4. Peggy Louise (Nolan) Weasley, age 17 (9/6/78) (Hu-6).*
5. Elizabeth Olive (Nolan) Weasley, age 14 (Gr-3).
6. Lana Catherine (Powell) Weasley, age 22 (SA).*P – girl.
7. Carla (Masterson) Weasley, age 20 (PE-5).*P
8. Donna Lynn (Roselle) Weasley, age 19 (SG-5)*.P
9. Christine Celine (Paulson) Weasley, age 17 (PE-5).*P
10. Mandy (Brocklehurst) Weasley, age 16 (Ra-5).*
11. Wendy Seline (Hendricks) Weasley, age 15 (Gr-4).
12. Agnes Gabrielle (Martin) Weasley, age 15 (Hu-4).
13. Morgan Laura (Carlson) Weasley, age 14 (Hu-3).
14. Francine Sally (Broadmoor) Weasley, age 14 (Ra-3).
15. Wanda Helen Parker, age 13 (Gr-2).
16. Bonnie Faith Carter, age 13 (Hu-2).
Neville Algicyrus Longbottom, age 16.
1. Susan Marie (Bones) Longbottom, age 16 (Hu-5); CONSORT.*P – boy, girl (twins).
2. Amber Selma (Harker) Longbottom, age 33 (Sl-5).*P - boy, girl (twins).
3. Penelope Ann (Clearwater) Longbottom, age 20 (Ra).*P – boy.
4. Annette Lucille (Harper) Longbottom, age 24 (SD).*P
5. Deborah Leigh (McLean) Longbottom, age 20 (SA).*P
6. Miriam Olivia (Riley) Longbottom, age 18 (SG-5)*.P
7. Amanda (Kennedy) Longbottom, age 16 (SP-5).*
8. Hannah Suzanne (Abbott) Longbottom, age 16 (Hu-5).*P
9. Patricia Faye (Abbott) Longbottom, age 14 (Hu-3).
10. Megan Allison (Jones) Longbottom, age 16 (Hu-5).
12. Leanne Lucille (Tinker) Longbottom, age 17 (Gr-6).
13. Lavender Sue (Brown) Longbottom, age 16 (Gr-5).
14. Natalie Mae (McDonald) Longbottom, age 14 (Gr-3).
15. Cho (Chang) Longbottom, age 17 (Ra-6).
16. Su (Li) Longbottom, age 16 (Ra-5).
17. Morag Coleen (McDougal) Longbottom, age 16 (Ra-5).
18. Tracy Davis, age 16 (1/14/80) (Sl-5), Concubine Neville 8/12/96.
Fred Weasley, age 18.
1. Alicia May (Spinet) Weasley, age 18 (Gr); CONSORT.*P – boy.
2. Verity Nicole (Smith) Weasley, age 21 (SG-5).*P – boy.
3. Danielle Louise (Carter) Weasley, age 20 (SG-5).*P - girl.
4. Victoria (Vicki) (Peters) Weasley, age 17 (Ra-6).*P
5. Rachel Francine (Peters) Weasley, age 15 (Ra-4).*
6. Coleen (Harrington) Weasley, age 23 (SP).*P
7. Elisha Susan (Stout) Weasley, age 21 (SD)*.P
8. Helen May (Ivey) Weasley, age 20 (SG-5).*P
9. Caroline (Folsom) Weasley, age 18 (SD-5).*
10. Annette Maria (Barnes) Weasley, age 15 (Gr-4).
11. Simone (Fanning) Weasley, age 15, (Hu-4).
12. Jessica (Jessie) (Bates) Weasley, age 14 (Gr-3).
13. Jennifer Lynn (Faulken) Weasley, age 14 (Hu-3).
14. Patsy (Tennyson) Weasley, age 14 (Ra-3).
15. Mary Simone (Tennyson) Weasley, age 14 (Ra-3).
16. Megan Anne Albright, age 13 (Hu-2).
George Weasley, age 18.
1. Angelina Olivia (Johnson) Weasley, age 18 (Gr); CONSORT.*P – boy.
2. Shelly Ann (Parker) Weasley, age 22 (SG).*P - girl.
3. Ellen Suzanne (North) Weasley, age 20 (SG).*P – girl.
4. Anna Melissa (Jenkins) Weasley, age 17 (Hu-6).*P
5. Roberta Elaine (Larson) Weasley, age 25 (PE).*P
6. Georgina Emma (Parker) Weasley, age 22 (SG).*P – boy.
7. Eileen (O'Malley) Weasley, age 21 (SP-5)*.P
8. Isabel (Tate) Weasley, age 19 (SA).*P
9. Tammy (Grey) Weasley, age 15 (Hu-4).
10. Pamela Ray (Adams) Weasley, age 15 (Ra-4).
11. Selene Adams, age 13 (Ra-2).
12. Betsy (Watson) Weasley, age 14 (Gr-3).
13. Elaine Lucinda (Manning) Weasley, age 14 (Hu-3).
14. Michelle Eliza Graham, age 13 (Gr-2).
15. Alice Paulette McGregor, age 13 (Hu-2).
16. Morgan Laura Carpenter, age 13 (Ra-2).
Lord Mayor Remus John Lupin, age 36.
1. Stephanie Mia (Rogers) Lupin, age 24 (SG); CONSORT.*P
2. Sarah Michelle (Hanson) Lupin, age 21 (SG).*P
3. Amelia Renee (Carpenter) Lupin, age 21 (SG).*P – boy.
4. Tara Frances (Marks) Lupin, age 20 (SG-5).*P
5. Christy (Matthews) Lupin, age 19 (SG).*
6. Ellie Beth (Mitchell) Lupin, age 18 (PE-5).*
7. Olivia Patricia Kennedy, age 22 (7/3/74) (SP); Original Bond: 8/22/90. CONCUBINE REMUS: 8/12/96.
Frank Longbottom, age 41.
1. Alice Maria (Pierson) Longbottom, age 40 (Ra); CONSORT.P
2. Sandra Ellen (Butler) Longbottom, age 24 (SP).*P
3. Veronica Helen (Riordan) Longbottom, age 23 (SP).*P – girl.
4. Gretchen Lee (St. James) Longbottom, age 21 (PE).*P
5. Marie (White) Longbottom, age 19 (SD).*P
6. Carol Matilda (Timmerman) Longbottom, age 17 (SD-5)*.
7. Simone Marie Buchanan, age 27 (12/5/68) (SA-5); Original Bond: 7/16/85. CONCUBINE FRANK: 8/12/96.
Charlie Weasley, age 23.
1. Tatiana Maria (Ivanova) Weasley, age 19.
2. Christina Maria Canterbury, age 23 (6/6/73) (SD-6); Original Bond: (7/17/89). CONCUBINE CHARLIE: 8/12/96.
Arthur Percival Weasley, age 46 (4/12/50).
1. Jennifer Susan Albans, age 27 (9/20/68) (PE); Original Bond: 7/15/84. CONCUBINE ARTHUR, 8/12/96.