CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE: THE FORGOTTEN ONES
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18th, 1996, North Umbria England, about ten miles north of Hadrian's Wall.
Rubeus Hagrid had been wrongfully expelled from Hogwarts during his third year at Hogwarts back in 1943. By all rights and by custom, in addition to forever losing the legal right to carry and use a wand, he should never have remained in Hogsmeade Valley much less at Hogwarts. But one Albus Dumbledore had seemed to pity the large half-giant orphan and, by fortuitous circumstances, the school was in needs of a game keeper and this was before there even was a dangerous colony of acromantulas residing in the forest. The Care of Magical Creatures professor had recommended Hagrid for such a position even before he had been framed for the murder of a Muggle Born girl as the large boy seemed to have a knack for magical creatures.
Thus it was that Hagrid took up residence in a ruined farmer's hut on the edge of the forest and spent the next fifty years or so as games keeper keeping an eye on the creatures in the forest and keeping the more dangerous ones away from the school grounds proper. When Dumbeldore succeeded Professor Dippet as Headmaster, Hagrid became his trusted errand boy. It had been easy for Dumbledore to control Hagrid as he was far more trusting and far more grateful than many would have been under similar circumstances. A brighter, more suspicious and less trusting person would have questioned the expulsion and maybe questioned why he was being allowed to stay when anyone who knew anything about the school's history knew that no one had been allowed to do so before. But Hagrid never questioned the "great man" who had 'trusted" and "believed" him when no one else had.
But Hagrid also had a huge heart and hundreds of students who passed through the doors of Hogwarts over the previous fifty-three years knew this. Even Harry and Hermione could understand Hagrid's need to take care of his full Giant brother Grawp, even if they were reluctant to be anywhere near the giant. Perhaps Hagrid was not all trusting, for he never had told Dumbledore about Grawp prior to the previous Monday, over nine months after the giant came to live in the forest. When it came to his half-kin, even Hagrid could be capable of distrust. He knew that wizards at best looked down on giant kind and, for the most part, giants of this age were entirely what wizards and made of them. Hagrid's father knew far more about giants than most any wizard in a thousand years or more. He knew their lore and was disgusted by the wretched state they had been reduced to after centuries of persecution by wizards.
Wizards saw giants as dumb, vicious brutes who were nothing but a danger to mankind. Then again, the family dog can turn on its owner if sufficiently provoked and wizards had been slaughtering giants for centuries. They actually celebrated the death of the last known giant in Britain. There had been a bounty on each giant killed and wizards did not distinguish between the few giants who really were dangerous and the vast majority who merely wished to be left in peace. During the height of the Giant purges, wizards deliberately targeted giant children and especially infants. A fully grown, healthy giant was hard to kill. But their children were another matter and if they could not breed, they could not survive. It is little wonder they became increasingly vicious over time and little wonder why at least a few of them would jump at the opportunity to attack humans especially if they were given a free pass by supposedly supportive wizards. Few of the giant mercenaries over the centuries ever survived their tenure. Once the giants had done their new ally's bidding, invariably the new ally turned on them and killed them.
In ancient times, long before Hogwarts was founded, Giants were truly a race unto themselves. They were farmers and herders, content to mind their livestock and tend their fields and stay out of the affairs of the little people and, for the most part, they could. Humans, even magical ones, were little threat to them and they had little desire for contact. But human populations expand far more rapidly than that of the giants and sooner or later, even the marginal lands giants preferred for their communities became coveted by humans for farms, pastures and other human pursuits and humans were not inclined to share. The giants were pushed off their lands, driven like game before the hounds into more and more desolate areas where there was less and less to support them and their families. With the scarcity of food they had little choice than result to a form of brigandage and plunder upon the humans and each other. Their predations provoked response which reduced their numbers, drove disparate clans to fight each other for control of what little remained to them and inspired them to react to humans with violence, thus repeating the cycle.
But as a race Giants were not dumb. Given an opportunity, they could be quiet intelligent and were always quick learners. The reason humans in general and wizards in particular thought otherwise had to do with language and magic. Giants never took to writing. Then again, for the human race writing was a very recent invention and literacy beyond a select few even more recent. Yet the lack of a written language suggested inferiority even to those humans who themselves were illiterate. To humans, giants were incomprehensible speaking a language that sounded like occasional grunts and growls; assuming it was a language at all, which many wizards doubted. Sure, a Giant could understand a little of a human tongue. Then again so could a dog. The truth was that the giants had very well developed languages, but given their immense size, the sounds were so deep that they fell below the threshold of human hearing. In warmer climes, giants were very successful elephant herders because elephants could understand them and giants could hear the full range of elephant calls. In ancient times, giant bards told their sagas, passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. Few of the sagas had survived the human persecutions which drove clans apart and disparate survivors together in groups where few spoke a common language.
Hagrid knew this. His father had invented a spell that allowed him to hear the full range of giant speak which, in turn had allowed him to learn at least two of the surviving giant languages. To humans, giants appeared to be lazy, chewing their cud and grunting for hours on end. To giants, they were a very talkative race. What humans saw as sloth and signs of gluttony – a brute of a being chewing without pause but for an occasional grunt – was actually a lengthy discourse or perhaps an epic poem. The giants, who watched humans stare dumbly as they tried to speak with the little people, believed humans to be more dimwitted than their herds of cattle. But for their magic and their weapons, humans were of little real concern considering how unintelligent they were as a group.
It was through this spell that Hagrid's father had learned the Kazchkakil dialect, which he believed was the more expressive and certainly the more poetic of the giant tongues he encountered and certainly the best language for wooing a giant maiden, which he did and Hagrid was the result. Hagrid's mother Fridwulfa had been the daughter of Malek, a lessor chieftain of the Kazchkakils of the Western Islands (Britain). The clan had been driven out of their homelands in the desolate places of the British Isles in the early part of the century and scattered into the vastness of the Eurasian landmass but they remained the largest surviving giant culture on earth with a common language and legends. Hagrid told his human friends that his mother left because he was small for a giant. He knew this was not true. She left to find her people and this was why she had left Grawp as well. Grawp had tried to accept the ways of the collection of disparate giants in the eastern mountains and had become too wild to trust, in his mother's opinion. At the time, Grawp thought his mother was a fool. Just before he left Hogwarts, Grawp told Hagird their mother had been right all along. The Kazchkakils were gathering once again. The horn had sounded. They were gathering to search for a new homeland and Grawp intended to rejoin his people.
As a young lad, Hagrid had begun learning Kazchkakil from his mother Fridwulfa. According to his dad, his first word was KasKas, which was similar to "Mama." It was only after Fridwulfa left them that the boy began to learn English and the fact that his dad had written works on the Kazchkakil language and what legends he had learned from that people and his wife, that Hagrid was able to remember his people's tongue. It was this knowledge of giant speech that almost won the giants over to Dumbledore. Half giants such as Hagrid and Madam Maxine could hear the low frequency tones that constituted the bulk of giant speech even though their deep voices sounded like a baby's cooing to a giant. But while Madam Maxine was part Uzkara giant, she never learned the language of that side of her family. There were eight Kazchkakils in that encampment of seventy some giants in the remote mountains and Hagrid had tried to convince all eight to come back to Scotland with him. While all eight left with him, only his brother traveled the full distance.
Unfortunately for Grawp, Scotland was not the paradise Hagird described. Hagrid was almost as biased as the rest of magical Britain, in no small part to having lived in that world and taught its beliefs and felt that Grawp had to be "trained." Grawp, apparently, put up with the petty humiliations, perhaps because it was Hagrid who was being trained. But the call of the horn had ended the charade and Grawp left to rejoin his people. For Hagrid, he feared for his brother. A giant on his own in Britain was in grave danger, or so Hagrid thought. Now, as Hagrid made camp just after sunrise some two hundred or so miles south of Hogsmeade Valley, he was beginning to question all he had ever been taught.
When Grawp had scampered, Hagrid had assumed the giant would head east to the coast and swim for the Continent. Hagrid already knew giants could swim great distances if they had the need as he had quite literally rode Grawp across the North Sea to Britain. He also assumed a large, eighteen foot tall giant would stick to the valleys and passes. Hogsmeade was situated in a long valley bounded by tall, steep sided mountains that rose some five hundred and more meters above valley floor. Few who lived there ever bothered to try and cross the mountains on foot without a trail to follow. Grawp headed almost due south on a course that seldom deviated due to the mountains and ridges in his path. His course would alter for a lower pass or saddle in the ridge rather than go right over the top, but he made no effort to find an easier way and to Hagrid, it did not seem to matter.
As a games keeper, Hagrid was an adept tracker and his boarhound Fang could follow scent trails many of the best hounds would have lost. Hagrid had figured it would be easy to track a giant. Giant slaying guides spoke of a swath of torn up ground, trees, buildings and such as typical of a giant's trail. There was no such thing. Hagrid had to search for the faintest signs of disturbance to follow the path. There was an occasional partial print on soft ground, maybe a disturbed patch of grass where the soil was all but non-existent or an occasional patch of rock where the moss had clearly been wiped off recently. It took all his skill, even across the open moors, to follow the faint trail of his brother. Moreover, his brother was moving south far more swiftly than Hagrid had anticipated and he had to move at least fifteen miles as the hippogriff flew each day over the mountains and valleys just to keep pace, it seemed. There was no path of destruction and barely any sign that the giant had passed through at all, but two things were clear. Grawp was moving south, for some reason, and at high speed and he seemed to be a master of concealment. His path varied only to skirt farms, villages and towns. Hagrid was certain Grawp was moving by night for it would be hard to hide an eighteen foot giant crossing an open moor or field in daylight. For now, the days were longer than the nights and Hagrid moved south as fast as he could while keeping to the hint of a trail from sun up to sun down and still it did not seem as if he was any closer to catching his brother.
"Why south?" Hagrid asked. It made no sense. Hagrid and Fang had crossed into England proper that morning in pursuit. Once they had cleared the high, steep mountains, the pace had picked up and was now over forty miles a day. For England, the path they seemed to be following through North Umbria towards western Yorkshire was not densely populated, but Hagrid knew this would soon change as they approached the Midlands and the lands further to the south. It would have made sense for Grawp and his people to move north into the far less densely populated lands of Scandinavia, not the heart of one of the most densely populated lands in Europe. What was there to the South? Hagrid did not think that Grawp was bent on destruction. He had avoided more than a few ripe opportunities on his trek south thus far. But this path made no sense whatsoever.
MONDAY, AUGUST 19th, 1996 – Office of the Duke, Black House, Charenwell.
This Monday had begun as a good day for Harry. He had no bondings in his schedule which, while he enjoyed them, had always been stressful as he never knew how the new girls would handle it. The fact that most of them handled it quite well did not make a new bonding any easier for him. He was thankful it would be a few years before there would be another one, his last. Gabrielle had returned from France with trunks and trunks of things and had been far more talkative than she was before even if she still was rattling along in French. From Harry's perspective, even though new families would be arriving at the Manors, at least he did not have to go through with meeting new in-laws today although he was scheduled to take the Grangers, Bells and Plumbers out as part of the evenings' three double dates. He was dining with Hermione and Katie, Luna and Connie, Cathy and Cissy that night or nights.
Monday was, as usual, the morning when Mallory and now Madam Pomfrey announced the pregnancy results. Luna had been right as she was expecting twins, a boy and a girl as she had suspected. She could be uncanny that way although she admitted she was a long way from proposing any names. Among the other five who learned what they were going to have, the loudest applause was for Alice Longbottom as Neville was to have a little brother sometime in April. This Monday was not as prolific as the previous one as there were only fifteen new members of the Baby Boom Club among them was Harry's classmate Mandy Brocklehurst. Harry had to wait three minutes longer than he had hoped to learn who if any of his ladies were expecting while Lavender Brown did her happy dance around the Dining Room. For Harry, he could now add Katie, Padma and Parvati to the list of springtime mothers.
It was his first time through Monday, which meant this day was his "Duke Day." Following Breakfast, he walked to his new office in Black House, sat at his desk and turned on his computer. He still was trying to learn how to use it. Dudley had a computer back in Little Whinging, but Harry had never been allowed to use it and of course there were no such devices at Hogwarts. He knew that for the moment, aside from watching the thing come on, he would not delve any further into this mystery as in a moment Cissy would enter to discuss his schedule and what he needed to do as Duke today. Sure enough, there was a knock at his door. Cissy entered with a few files in her arms which she placed on his desk.
"An office day?" Harry asked.
"Today and tomorrow," Cissy said. "Wednesday you have a meeting at Gringotts with Bill Weasley. The Goblins have requested a meeting about their new bank branches and … and other matters of mutual interest, Bill said. It's scheduled for Thursday and Bill wants a day to go over protocol and background the day before."
"I guess I need to learn that stuff sometime," Harry resigned.
"As I recall, you did quite well at the reading of Sirius's Will," Cissy said, "but it helps to be prepared with them."
"So there's Goblin stuff in these files?"
"No. This is other stuff. There are reports on the evacuation and from Economic Affairs regarding job placement and job placement services for our new residents, a few other reports on what all is happening in Britain, an initial analysis from the Foreign Office regarding the Irish developments and something from Hermione." Cissy seemed to blush at the last statement.
Harry nodded. "You do realize I've been Duke for almost two months and the furthest from West Farm I've traveled is to Jamestown and the Air Base. One of these days I'll need to go to North Farm, East Farm and Port of Darby."
"You were in London less than two weeks ago."
"That was different," Harry said. "That was a mission. I can't be much of a Duke if I haven't seen the country, can I? Port of Darby is our largest city right now and I'd like to say I was there before Jamestown surpasses it."
"We could try to work a trip or two for next week," Cissy said. "The Lord Mayor suggested that your first trip there should include a tour of The Landing."
"The Landing?"
"It's on the North Coast. It's where the first settlers landed and established the first community here. I'm told it's now an archeological site as it was abandoned over a thousand years ago in favor of Port of Darby and Pottersport but all school children here get a trip to it."
"Sounds interesting although Hermione will probably be more excited about that."
"This is your heritage, Harry."
"I know, Cissy. And as I've said before, I should be learning about it from now until I'm about twice your age and not adding to it for ages; aside from heirs and such I guess."
"We all understand this is a little overwhelming…"
"A little?"
Cissy shrugged. "I think I can speak for all of us who're sharing this adventure with you, Harry. You're doing a wonderful job. I hope to learn I'm adding to your legacy – at least as Lord Black – next Monday but I can say this: If our child is anything like you, I would be the proudest mother in Charenwell." There was a sadness in her tone.
"He was not your fault," Harry said. Neither of them spoke the name of her former son.
"I know. Still…"
"You have a second chance, Cissy."
"And I thank you. Now, we also have a file here from the British Army Mission. Oh, they'd like you to stop by tomorrow – the real tomorrow – after your flight training to attend the commissioning of Colonel Granger. I'm sure Hermione will make sure it's on your Training Day schedule. The file is their training schedule for our Army. They say that they can begin training as early as next week with some four hundred recruits divided into two groups. They would like to include any recruits from the evacuation who are willing to start that early."
"I don't see a problem with that," Harry said.
"We also have an interesting report from intelligence regarding something we may have missed in identifying the at-risk population."
"Given how fast we're moving, I would have been surprised if we thought of everything. What's Hermione want?" he added picking up a file. He opened the file and saw on the top sheet a number "8/24" followed by ten names beginning with Hermione's.
8/24 Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, Fleur Delacour, Alicia Spinet, Angeline Johnson, Stephanie Riley, Tatiana Ivanova, Dora Tonks, Amber Harker
8/25 Mallory Grant, Minerva McGonagall, Penelope Clearwater, Mary Ellen Howard, Verity Smith, Danielle Carter, Shelly Parker, Georgina Parker, Amelia Carpenter, Veronica Riordan
8/31 Daphne Greengrass, Astoria Greengrass, Miriam Riley, Lana Powell, Carla Masterson, Vicki Peters, Rachel Peters, Ellen North, Sarah Hanson, Sandra Butler
9/1 Ginny Weasley, Katie Bell, Annette Harper, Deborah McLean,
Samantha Johnson, Donna Roselle, Coleen Harrington, Anna Jenkins, Roberta Larson, Gretchen St. James
9/7 Hannah Abbott, Pattie Abbott, Peggy Nolan, Elizabeth Nolan, Elisha Stout, Eileen O'Malley, Tara Marks, Marie White, Christi Matthews, Carol Timmerman
9/8 Stacey Campbell, Karen Green, Amanda Kennedy, Leanne Tinker, Christine Paulson, Mandy Brocklehurst, Caroline Folsom, Isabelle Tate, Helen Ivey, Tammy Grey
9/14 Padma Patil, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, plus 7 unknown
9/15 Annette Barnes, Pamela Adams, Selene Adams, plus 7 unknown
"What's this?" Harry asked.
"Um … well it's a list of dates with names after them," Cissy said obviously avoiding the question.
"Okay, why is next Saturday so important to Hermione, Luna, Dora, Neville's Amber and the other Consorts and why isn't Neville's Mum on this list given all the other Consorts are there? Why another list for Sunday and every weekend for the next month or so and why are the last two dates with six or seven unknowns?"
"Um…"
"Cissy…" Harry growled.
"They're proposed wedding dates," Cissy began.
"Weddings? What the bloody hell for? We're already married and stuff and how am I supposed to do two or three a day and am I supposed to be at the other ones?"
"Yes, aside from the girls who have not yet bonded, we're all already married by virtue of our bonds, at least in the eyes of magic. But you did promise us weddings as I recall."
"I did, didn't I?" Harry replied with a sigh.
"And weddings are not about the groom for certain. It's special for the bride or brides but it's mostly about family and friends."
"But this list is hardly everyone. You're not on it, for example."
"I'm not pregnant yet," Cissy said. "Hermione and the rest of us are in agreement that those who are pregnant go first. We all want to be married before it is obvious that we are expecting."
"Astoria's on the list! She's not pregnant!"
"Sisters will marry together in a double ceremony. In fact the plan is that in addition to sisters, those ladies without family will marry in a double ceremony with a friend which is what will happen for Luna and Minerva, for example. Hermione insisted on having Luna with her as the other bride and while Minerva claims it's not important to her, Mallory insisted on having their wedding together."
"And you?"
Cissy shrugged. "I do have family here, Harry. You forget Andy, Ted and Dora...you and your sister."
"Sorry. But what about some of these others? They're not all double weddings! And how can we have five or more weddings a day?"
"Hermione's planned for five separate venues," Cissy said. "There will be a tent down by Longbottom Lake, the Courtyard of Longbottom House, the Veranda of Potter Manor, the Ballroom in Longbottom House and a tent on the West Lawn. The weddings will begin as early as noon, depending upon how many there really are on any given day. The ceremony will be a half hour in length and there will be fifteen minutes between ceremonies to allow people to move from one venue to the next. Keep in mind, not everyone will attend all the weddings. There will be a joint banquette, reception and ball beginning at seven, fifteen minutes following the last wedding it will last until at least midnight. Now, as for you, you do have your time turner as do all the Heads of Houses now so you can be in more than one place at a time. Wedding dresses can be transfigured into something else so a bride can be a guest or bridesmaid or whatnot without having to change and then it can be restored to a wedding dress for the reception. It's a little tight, but we believe it's manageable."
Harry nodded. "Will there be a problem with two or three of me out and about?"
"The guests will know what to expect about that. Consider the benefits! There'll be one of you for each of your brides – at least at the reception – and a spare to dance with the rest of us and be sociable."
"Actually, if there're three of me, five or more weddings a day won't be that difficult," Harry thought.
"That's the idea!"
"But only five venues?"
"There will be time for the elves to redecorate after a venue is used for a later wedding."
"The first weddings are in less than a week!" Harry observed.
"Most of the plans for those are done or mostly done. The brides' mothers, at least those who are here, are tinkering with them. And before you ask, this schedule is such that the families involved who are relocating to Charenwell will be here in plenty of time for their family member's wedding."
"Guests?"
"Each of the girls are working their lists and the Consorts are working the lists for the grooms. You can bet the other Houses will be there. For your specific guests … well we're definitely inviting your cousin Samantha and her family, your sister Clarice and her family and … well it's only proper to invite your Aunt, Uncle, Cousin Dudley and his fiancé and her family. There will be others as well from government and the British Mission, but they will be spread out over the several weeks."
"How long will we be at this?"
"Assuming no delays, it'll be ten weddings a day – or at least ten marriages through Saturday, October 5th and six on October 6th and 12th. Specifically, there'll be nine weddings this Saturday, seven on Sunday, eight on the 31st, ten on the 1st, eight on the 7th, nine on the 8th and after that we'll see."
"I think I'll be sick of weddings before it's over," Harry moped.
"If you try to enjoy yourself it should be fun, but I can see your point. The good news is it'll all be over in less than two months. We're going to try and make sure you're not scheduled to be married on September 7th or the 21st…"
"Why?"
"Cathy and Luna's birthday."
"Oh right. And I have Hermione's on the 19th. Bloody hell, that's two cars!"
"Cars?"
"Every one of my girls gets a car on their sixteenth birthday, or their next birthday if they're over sixteen. You missed Dora's as you were still in the hospital."
Cissy chuckled. "Might have missed her birthday, but no one can miss that pink car! My birthday's March 22nd, if you must know."
"I have a list somewhere," Harry replied. "So, is there anything I have to do to get ready for these weddings?"
"Your attire for each of you will be laid out. All you have to do is get dressed and show up at the right place at the right time. Dobby will be in charge of seeing to that. Aside from that, you'll need to pick two men to stand with you per bride. They don't have to be the same ones all the time. The only ones you should pick today are for your four brides this weekend so we can let them know."
"You need to know now?"
"No. So long as we have your list first for this weekend by the real Tuesday morning we should be fine. That gives you the better part of three days."
Harry nodded. "Oh, could you let Luna know I probably need to schedule a time to meet with my Aunt for certain and maybe my Uncle. Is he still in Hospital?"
"No. He's been discharged. Although I think he's still convalescing."
"Okay. I'd like a meet with them both probably at their place and … come to think of it there's something here I should probably show my Aunt so two meets before Saturday."
"I'll let Luna know," Cissy said getting up to leave and return to her office to work on schedules and such.
Harry looked at the stack of files before him. He knew he should at least look over all of them at some point and preferably before the next meeting with the group which wrote each one. But to be honest, unless Economic Affairs was having an unanticipated problem with job placement that file could wait. Harry already knew that last week's evacuees, for example, might have to wait two or three months or so for a job. Certain jobs were in immediate demand and not just in the military. Teachers and Healers were needed now as the Primary Schools in Jamestown and Magoran Bay and each was to have its own hospital. While magical could easily travel by floo to Mistress Agnes Hospital in Pottersport, Harry agreed that to require the Muggles to do so was probably not a good idea. One day they might be comfortable with that form of travel, but Harry knew that unlikely. He had been travelling by floo since he was twelve and still was not comfortable with it.
The Army report seemed more interesting in concept. Harry was naturally curious as to how long it would take to ready a combat force of any size and more critically whether and how long it would take to train a force capable of taking Magical Britain, the Death Eaters, Voldemort and all of that down for good. The sooner he had a combat force the better and, if nothing else, he might be able to deploy a force to Ireland while his Army was still preparing for the main event. But the truth was he had little control over how fast a force could be put together. He knew next to nothing about what it takes to build an Air Force where his planes could only be assembled so quickly. He knew less than nothing about raising an army. He would get to this file later.
Cissy had said that in the evacuation planning they overlooked something, at least that's what the intelligence folks were supposedly reporting. That was one thing he might be able to do something about so he opened that folder and began to read.
"You've got to be kidding me," he said as he read. It took him some minutes to read through the initial report about the problem. "No. No. No. No. No! No! NO!" he all but shouted as he slammed the report onto his desk. He forced himself to calm down a little before pushing the button on his intercom. "Cissy? Could you come in here please?"
He stood and paced as he waited the few seconds for Cissy to come through the door.
"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked as she could tell something had upset him.
"Have you read the report from Intelligence?" he asked.
"I … I haven't had a chance yet," she began wondering where this was going.
"Here," he said handing her the file. She opened the file and began to read as he continued to pace back and forth.
After a few minutes Cissy looked up. "This is unexpected although it makes sense when you think about it."
"You knew nothing of this?"
"I may have been a part of Pureblood society," Cissy protested, "but this sort of thing is not something that would be discussed in polite circles and it never came up in any political discussions."
"I'm sorry," Harry sighed. "It's just that what are we going to do about this?"
"Well, off hand I'd say the logistics are a bit more of a challenge as this is clearly on the magical side so they might get wind of what we're up to, but with a little planning we could pull it off and none would be the wiser."
"I agree, but that's not what I meant. My immediate concern is Hermione for certain and maybe the others. It'll be the bloody cats all over again!"
"I thought you were okay with the cats."
"Aside from Crookshanks, I don't think the others like me too much and Crooks doesn't really count as he's not all cat to begin with. He's part kneazle."
"They don't dislike you, Harry," Cissy said. "Have any of them hissed at you or scratched you?"
"No."
"They're cats. They are more friendly at first to the person who feeds them. You don't which means for now to them you're not important. I hope your self-worth is not dependent upon whether or not a cat hops in your lap for a pat."
"Okay, bad example," Harry conceded. "I don't want to use the lot of you as an example, but I know what Hermione's gonna say. She's going to either rationalize this or bat her eyes and pout…"
"I doubt she'll do that."
"She hasn't had to with me yet. But she's going to insist we get one and one will become five and five ten and so on! She will argue we have the resources here to deal with this and that's true but… Cissy, we're still working out this whole new life thing! This time next year in addition to the twenty-seven of us there'll be at least twenty-three babies to consider…"
"Twenty-three?"
"Every one of you fifteen and older is either pregnant, trying to become pregnant or will try before this year's out. There are already two known sets of twins. That's twenty-three assuming that there are no other sets of twins and that Astoria waits a bit beyond her fifteenth birthday. She originally promised to wait until after she sat her O.W.L.s, but with the Coven maturation – it was her physical and emotional maturation she had an issue with – she might be inclined to seek permission sooner, especially as we've lowered the age for permissions. That could add at least one more child within the next year or so, again assuming no more twins.
"But I don't see that deterring Hermione! She'll be persistent! And she knows I have an issue with this, one which would make me inclined to agree with her, but I don't think we're ready to take that step."
"You're talking about taking them in?" Cissy asked.
"She'll argue we should take at least some of them. She'll argue we should set an example for others and all of that, but just because you can set an example does not mean you always should. And with this Coven, if the majority side with her I might not have a choice."
"This might fall outside of the Bond, Harry."
"Oh? How?"
"One way or another, this would affect the long term future of Houses Potter and Black, would it not? While the Coven magic is powerful in matters that affect the Coven, this could be something whose effects on Houses Potter and Black would continue long after we're all gone. Those kinds of things, from what I've read, are outside of the Coven and as Head of House are still your prerogative."
"I'd prefer general agreement," Harry said.
"I know, Harry, and from the life I came from that makes you very special. But there are times when you may need to make decisions about the future of your family beyond this Coven where the best decision for the Houses may not be what the majority of us might wish. As Head of the Houses, you should consider the options and we can provide you with them, but the final decision remains yours. If after due consideration you don't think it's right, then it's not right."
"But we have to do something," Harry began.
"We as in Charenwell, Harry; not necessarily we as a family."
Harry sighed. "Two hundred and twenty-four magical orphans and that's just at this place in Manchester."
"Actually, it's more like a hundred ninety-six," Cissy said. "While the sixteen year olds are not of age, they are old enough to enter the work force if they've taken their OWLs. As they have no parents, they can leave school on their own if they so choose."
Harry nodded. "The lot of them would be eligible for military service here. Still, that's almost two hundred and that assumes Manchester is the only magical orphanage. Is it?"
"I don't know and the report doesn't say," Cissy said. "I think it's rather obvious my prior families would have little or nothing to do with such a place. These children either have no family left and no estate of note otherwise they would have been taken in by someone. They seem to have been abandoned by their families or – it looks like – were Muggle Borns. To the Pureblood Elites, the lot of them would be viewed as no better than Muggle Borns since they have no real connection to a 'proper' family."
"It doesn't say that in the report," Harry said.
"The report was written by Charenwell Intelligence," Cissy replied. "What I've seen from them seems to be factually accurate, but you have to admit that the Pureblood biases in Britain are very foreign concepts here. The numbers support my opinions."
Harry looked at the numbers.
NEWT Yr-Birth Dates-age-
1998…..9/1/79 – 8/31/80…..16…..28
1999…..9/1/80 – 8/31/81…..15…..36
2000…..9/1/81 – 8/31/82…..14…..26
2001…..9/1/82 – 8/31/83…..13…..18
2002…..9/1/83 – 8/31/84…..12…..17
2003 …..9/1/84 – 8/31/85…..11…..18
2004 …..9/1/85 – 8/31/86…..10….7
2006 …..9/1/86 – 8/31/87.….9….9
2005 …..9/1/87 – 8/31/88….. 8….7
2006 …..9/1/88 – 8/31/89….. 7….6
2007 …..9/1/89 – 8/31/90….. 6….8
2008 …..9/1/90 – 8/31/91….. 5….7
2009 …..9/1/91 – 8/31/92….. 4….6
2010 …..9/1/92 – 8/31/93….. 3….9
2011 …..9/1/93 – 8/31/94….. 2….7
2012 …..9/1/94 – 8/31/95….. 1….6
2013 …..9/1/95 – 8/31/86…..1….7
"It looks like as time goes on there're more orphans," Harry said.
"I don't think that's what's happening," Cissy commented. "It looks like three different kinds of groups here."
"Oh?"
"The ten year olds and younger seems to be one constant group. They range from six to nine per year but without any other pattern. Essential, this group seems stable over that time averaging eight per year…"
"Eight? How do you figure?"
"I was good at maths when I was younger," Cissy shrugged. "We have a second group ranging in age from eleven to thirteen with twice the average of orphans."
"The war?" Harry asked.
"They're too young. The numbers for the fourteen to sixteen year olds are probably due to the war. They would have been alive during the worst of it."
"But the fourteen year olds had to have been born in the first two months of that year! The war ended at the end of October of '81."
"No, not really," Cissy said. "V-Voldemort was destroyed at that time but the violence continued for several more months. It was disorganized, not according to any plan, but it continued as the Death Eaters truly knew no better. It stopped when most of them were caught. You may have heard that my former… that he avoided prison by claiming he was under the Imperious Curse?"
Harry nodded.
"Well, even though many knew he probably was one of them, he never was truly caught in the act during what most consider the war. He and three others were caught torturing a family – probably for the sport of it – in March of '82. That's when he claimed he was under the Curse. Until he was caught, there was no reason to justify his actions."
"So the killings went on?"
"'Til around June of '82 or so. It wasn't as bad as it had been before V-Voldemort was destroyed, unless you were a victim of course. But the violence did continue. The Ministry and Daily Prophet kept that quiet for some reason."
Harry nodded. After a pause he asked: "Why the jump in numbers from the ten year olds to the eleven year olds? Is that normal and if so why? Why are there any orphans at all since the war or are these all very recent orphans?"
"I can only guess, Harry. We should ask Minnie to look this over. If anyone here knows, she would. She's been dealing with magical education, and by extension magical children since before I was born."
Harry agreed and called over to Minerva's office down the hall. Fortunately, she was in and a few minutes later she was sitting in Harry's office looking over the file. In the time between the call and her arrival, Cissy magically copied the file so that each of them would have a copy. Harry scribbled some notes for questions.
After several minutes, Minerva sighed. "I regret I had not thought of this," she said somewhat sadly.
Harry looked at her. It seemed to Harry she was apologizing and that was not why she was asked to join them. "I'm an orphan," he said. "I should have thought of it and asked about it and did not. You've been asked to reform this country's educational system so that we don't have so send our children abroad to learn what we should be able to teach them ourselves, not look under every rock in Britain for at risk people we should consider relocating. We've all done a lot in the last couple of months so it's no wonder we may have missed some things. Cissy thinks you may be able to educate me about magical orphans in Britain."
"You seem upset," Minerva observed.
"Of course I am," Harry said. "I'm upset I had not thought of this before, although I'm pleased there are people working the problem who did. But what's really gotten to me is what I think Hermione's reaction to this will be." He then explained what he thought Hermione would say and why and his objections to that.
Minerva actually chuckled. "Yes, it does sound like her aside from the eyelash batting and pouting, but she has friends here who would not think twice about doing that. And your view on this is also sound. I won't say we can't take some of these children in – or ones like them – but I agree with all that we have going on for the foreseeable future it would be unwise to do so. We will have enough difficulty giving our own children the attention they deserve and these children would be in more need of attention than our own. They have been deprived of affection and attention, not because the staff at the orphanage cannot or will not try and provide it, but because there're far too many children and far too few adults. I'm having a daughter. She will be my primary responsibility so she will always have one adult she can count on. I also have an elf to assist. That's far more attention and supervision than these children are accustom to but perhaps not enough, given my professional schedule, to allow them to adapt smoothly. And many of our sisters are and will be in the Air Force and one day will be off fighting in a war. While all children deserve more stability than that, these children need it even more as stability is what they have been lacking practically from the moment they arrived there."
"So you're saying giving you permission was a mistake?" Harry asked.
"It was not ideal, given what's in front of us. But I'd never say it was a mistake. If we placed life on hold because of what is happening in Britain, we are in effect conceding a form of defeat. As consuming as our lives are and will be for the foreseeable future and accepting the fact that we cannot be there for our children twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, one thing is certain: our children will always know they are loved and are wanted. These children have grown without any reason to know that."
"I can't see that," Harry said. "Granted, my Aunt and Uncle treated me like something you'd rather not step in, but deep down I always knew my parents had loved me wanted me even when my mind tried to tell me otherwise – and it did when I was younger. My parents were dead. I had no reason to believe I was unwanted by them at least."
"And therein lies the difference, Harry," Minerva said. "While some of these children may be orphans like you – and most of them who would be are fourteen or older – the rest are foundlings. They were abandoned by their parents and families. They were unwanted, otherwise they would not be there."
"I don't understand."
"This orphanage has about eighty children between newborns and ten years of age," Minerva said. "And as the Manchester Magical Orphanage is one of three in Britain…"
"THERE'RE MORE?" Harry yelled. "What kind of numbers are we talking about and how do you know this?"
"As Deputy Headmistress, one of my duties was to ensure that the Muggle Borns and their parents learned of our world and, more important, that the children assigned to Hogwarts attended. Every year, at least a few of the Muggle families could not deal with the idea of magic. The one's who could not, the ones who would try and harm their children for something they were born with, were told they had two choices: accept their children for who they were or turn their children over to the magical world permanently. Some chose neither and were inclined to do something to get rid of magic. In those cases, the child was removed from their homes and placed in the orphanage and the parents would be obliviated regarding all knowledge of our world and their missing child. I had little to do with that process. I merely informed MLE that a magical child was at risk and they handled the rest and they are very good at what they do. I don't know all about how they do it, but when a child disappears like that, the Muggle world as a whole forgets about them."
"Fidelius Charm?" Cissy suggested.
"Good point. It certainly would be easier than trying to chase down anyone and everyone who might know something."
"So they get sent to the orphanage?" Harry asked. "What about their younger siblings if there are any? Why aren't they sent to live with another family?"
"If the parents of a magical child do not want that child, the only option in that society is the orphanages," Minerva said. "Adult Muggle Borns are about the only ones who would generally consider bringing a child without any heritage into their families. Some Half-bloods might. Most Purebloods would not. Muggle Borns by definition have no magical heritage. The abandoned children of a magical parent also have no magical heritage. The only orphans likely to be adopted are orphans whose parents died and who have no relations who will take them in. Absent war, there are maybe a handful every generation, if any."
"Then why not let them be adopted by Muggle Borns?"
"There is no good reason. Suffices to say, Magical Britain is not about to grant any kind of boon to Muggle Borns or those who might be inclined to promote magicals who have no heritage. There are those who believe to allow these children a chance at any inheritance – even from Muggle Born parents – would undermine Purebloods and their position in society."
"That doesn't seem right."
"I won't say that it is."
"And what if the eleven year old sent to the orphanage has younger siblings?"
"First of all, the child is also obliviated to prevent any attempt at communication with their family. Remember, the parents were also obliviated. The younger children are left with them and obliviated as well. If they are magical, then the process repeats itself when the child is invited to attend magical school. Sometimes, the parents are more accepting the second time around even if they are unaware that there was a first time."
"That explains the jump in the numbers at age eleven," Harry observed. "But where did the younger ones come from?"
"In most if not every case, they were probably born out of wedlock," Minerva said.
"That explains it," Cissy added.
"I don't understand," Harry complained.
"The younger children had a magical parent," Minerva said. "Most had two. That means they are part of the magical heritage and even the Pureblood bigots are reluctant to mess with that. We are too few in numbers to throw away any part of the next generation of magic users…"
"But the Muggle Borns?"
"Are an inexplicable exception to that thinking," Cissy said. "Since they did not come from magic, they don't count as being magical. Pureblood Elitists have all sorts of pet theories to explain how someone with no magical heritage came to be magical, some of which would essentially conceded that all humans are really undeveloped magicals, except the Elites would never admit that. Muggle Borns are viewed by the elites as diseased, thieves, liars, or the product of dark magic or unnatural copulations or anything else short of the possibility that magic is not confined to those with a magical heritage, hence the reason the Death Eaters expended so much effort trying to kill them and their families."
"And yet, you will find not a single scholarly work that supports their prejudice," Minerva said. "Quite the opposite, really. Muggle Borns are, on average, more magical than most Purebloods and there's never been a case of a Muggle Born having a Squib for a child. With rare exceptions – all of which can be traced to a particular illness the mother suffered from while pregnant, an illness that does not affect Muggle Borns – Squibs are uniquely a Pureblood problem. The problem is these works are banned in Britain. They are deemed heretical and subversive."
"Okay, but why does being born out of wedlock matter?" Harry asked.
"It's not simply being born out of wedlock," Cissy said. "There is a stigma for a witch to have a child when she's not married. But if the father then marries her, it's not a problem. However, it is not uncommon for one reason or another that the father will not marry the mother. If she has no inheritance of her own, it is unlikely she'll ever find a magical husband."
"Far more likely if she's under twenty-five her magical guardian will sell her off as a concubine," Minerva said. "Every so often a girl at Hogwarts gets into that kind of trouble and far too often they're never seen again. Since their names are not recorded as deceased in the Ministry Archives, it's a fair assumption that when the father disavowed the child, the child was placed in an orphanage and the mother became a concubine."
"But I thought magical birth control's been around for a couple hundred years at least," Harry said. "How's it possible that a witch can become pregnant that way?"
"There'll always be the occasional young woman who may try to trap her man into marriage with a child," Minerva said. "It seldom works. Almost always the result is another orphan and another concubine. But you are correct. Magical contraception has been around for a long while, but it's not perfect. Every witch learns of it their first year. There are two methods. The first is a potion which, if brewed properly and taken once a month is fool proof. But if you take a poorly brewed potion ... this is usually the case if the witch makes it herself as there are stringent controls on the potions makers to ensure there are no bad batches. Also, there are witches who are allergic and cannot use the potion. There's then the charm, but it's not taught before NEWTs because it's very difficult to get right and you don't want to get it wrong. Even then, it only works for a few hours and how long depends upon the ability and magical power of the caster which can only be the witch herself. Given the degree of promiscuity at school, it's really a wonder the problem isn't much worse than it is. After all, there are very few Seventh Year virgins at Hogwarts and those who are, probably are not."
"That doesn't make sense."
"If you define virgin as never having sex with another person, it makes sense," Minerva said. "A girl who has had girl sex has had sex with another person, just not with a boy. And there are a handful of boys who … well, you get the picture."
Harry grimaced. "Actually, I'm trying not to. Okay, so these 'orphans' are mostly children whose parents abandoned them for one reason or another."
"That's correct," Minerva said.
"Much as I hated living with them, not even the Dursleys stooped that low," Harry grumbled. "And because they were not good enough for their own families, no one considers them good enough."
"That might be overbroad, but it is the prevailing attitude and situation."
"And they're three of these orphanages…"
"Manchester, London and Edinburgh," Minerva said.
"That's what? Six hundred or so?"
"Less. Manchester is the largest by a significant degree. It's probably not much more than five hundred."
"Okay. Still, why have I never met someone from one of these orphanages? I never met one at Hogwarts."
"They don't attend Hogwarts," Minerva said. "They are sent to the other schools. And before you ask why, it's because the Headmaster amended the Charter when he took over to prohibit the admission of orphanage children. He says he's had bad experiences with them and as Head of the Wizengamot he was able to ban them from Hogwarts by law. I don't agree with that policy. It flies in the face of everything the school stands for. Fortunately, no one can touch the Muggle Borns that way without destroying the magic in the school. Don't ask me how that works 'cause I'm not sure myself. But were the Muggle Borns to be banned, the Founders' Magic would fail as they founded the school specifically to teach Muggle Borns…"
"But Slytherin hated…"
"That is the common belief and it's wrong," Cissy said. "No Pureblood Elite will admit that it's wrong for that's heresy. Slytherin was probably a Muggle Born himself as there's no history of his name before him. The dispute between Slytherin and the others that caused him to leave was about what to teach, not who to teach."
Minerva nodded in agreement. "The source material is in your library. Edwin Potter, who lived from 929 to 1014 was the second son of Harold Potter, Second Earl of Darby, Eight Lord of the Isle and Sixteenth Lord Potter. As Edwin was the second son, he became a Professor at Hogwarts about thirty years after it was founded and knew the Founders and what happened. His older brother was killed in battle fighting the Vikings in 982 and he became the Earl of Darby and so forth upon the death of his father in 988. In all probability, his chronicles are the only written, first-hand account of the early years of Hogwarts. And it's entirely probably that the only reason his account survives is because he became the Earl and such."
"Still," Harry said, "we've brought sixty-seven girls here from those other schools and not one of them is from an orphanage, unless I misread the reports. Surely one or two should have been given the nature of things. The report says here that the orphanage is believed to be a major supplier of Concubines."
"It also says they do not sell them at Auction," Minerva added. "Intelligence has reason to believe they sell to private brokers overseas. If that's the case, it's unlikely any of the orphans would have been caught up in our nets, for lack of a better word."
"Okay, how does that make sense?" Harry asked. "The magical children, even the true Muggle Born ones, are in the orphanage 'cause even Elites have an issue with messing with magical heritage, yet they then turn around and sell off the girls?"
"Since when has Magical Britain made sense?" Cissy replied. "Particularly when it comes to witches? We're every bit as magical, yet you'd never know it by how we're treated by our society." Cissy laughed. "I've been here too long! You've corrupted me! My parents must be spinning in their graves! I hope their heads fall off. But the point it, there more of us than there are wizards yet we are treated as property more often than not. The only way I'd have a position as Executive Assistant to the Head of State back there is if I had something on you or I was sleeping with you…"
"But you are sleeping with me," Harry snarked.
"I had the job before I spread my legs for you and I spread my legs for you because I wanted to and so I could bond with you and your Coven, not to get the job," Cissy chided knowing he was teasing her a little. "And I sleep with you because I'm bonded with you and like to, not to keep my job. And your almost daily work breaks with me and whoever else chooses to join us are fun and the more I have mind blowing sex with you, the sooner I'll be pregnant."
"So I'm to be cut off when you're pregnant?"
"Don't count on it, Mister!"
"Levity aside," Minerva said, "not that I'm opposed to work breaks myself, far from it, I think we can agree that Magical Britain is an asylum run by its inmates. The issue at hand are the orphans…"
"What would happen if we did nothing?" Harry asked.
"You're not thinking about…" Cissy began.
"No, just asking. What is the level of risk to them?"
"Magical Britain as a whole strives to protect magical heritage and those from it. One would think that the Orphanages are safer than the schools as Muggle Borns are not deemed to be a part of the magical heritage. As I recall, the opposite was true during the war."
Minerva nodded. "There were several Death Eater attacks on the Orphanages. They stopped well short of putting the places out of business, but killing orphans was one of their sports. In my opinion, they stopped short of extermination so that there would be a supply of targets. The orphans were gathered into three locations. It was a lot easier to find them than to hunt down Muggle Borns and such scattered all over Britain."
"In other words, if we do nothing sooner or later the Death Eaters will come calling and children will die," Harry observed. "Obviously, Her Majesty would not be amused and I for one cannot allow that to happen if it's possible to prevent it. They'll have to be brought out."
"You should know that the Orphanages are a government entity. It's part of the Ministry of Magic," Minerva said.
"I didn't think it would be as easy as killing Umbridge," Harry said. "Cissy, contact Intelligence and let them know there two more of these places out there at least. Let's see what they can come up with in terms of information. Also, I want Dora working this. She came up with the last plan with help from Shack and Mad-eye and maybe they can come up with another brilliant plan to poke the Magical Brits in the eye.
"The next question is what to do with them when we bring them here. Since you're familiar with this, Minerva, I'd like you to take lead on it from this office. I don't want to have to build orphanages here if at all possible. I'd prefer that these orphans be placed with families or some such – excluding this one if at all possible. But whatever else happens, I think we need to bring them out sooner rather than later."
MONDAY, AUGUST 19th, 1996 – Potter Manor, Charenwell.
Minerva and Cissy had been right. Hermione had not batted her eyes or pouted. But Harry had been correct as well. He dined with her, her parents and Luna in the Private Dining Room in his Private Apartments. He deviated from his usual practice. Ordinarily, he would have dined with Hermione and Katie as Katie was to be spending the night with them but because of the orphan issue he switched the dinner arrangements around and Katie and her parents would be dining with him, Connie and the Plumbers his second time through the day. He avoided the topic during dinner. He preferred not to have such discussions during dinner if possible as it was bad enough that the topic of conversation at lunches and often breakfast were "business" related. He preferred at least one meal to be relaxed where he could momentarily ignore the pressures that were upon him and his family. But after dinner, he and the others gathered in the Great Room and he brought up the orphans.
Hermione had immediately latched on to the plight of the magical orphans in Britain and, as Harry expected, all but insisted that they should take at least some of the children in. Harry raised the same concerns he expressed earlier that day as well as the concerns expressed by Minerva and Cissy, although for now he did not mention that he had already consulted with them. Hermione seemingly dismissed his concerned as "minor problems" which she was confident they could "work through." Her passion and concern were admirable qualities, to be sure, but the longer they discussed the situation, the more Harry felt he was being the rational one while she was the one trying to charge in and save the world.
He told her something that Cissy had explained later. If they were to take in a child and in particular a boy, they had to adopt that child. Hermione had no issue with that. He then said that under Charenwell law and custom, just as in Britain, the heir to an estate was the first son, not the first born son. While in a multiple marriage he could favor the son of his Consort over an older born son of a Concubine, law and custom would see the adopted son as favored over any later born children. Magical adoption was frequently used to produce and heir. But both House Potter and House Black preferred blood heirs, not adopted ones. The only reason Harry was Lord Black was because he was a blood relation, a cousin of the last Lord and descended from another Lord Black. Every Lord Potter had been a son or grandson of the previous one. House Black had occasionally passed to a cousin of the previous Lord, but always a cousin descended from a common Lord Black ancestor. Harry had a duty to pass his titles to his children and not to an adopted child. Hermione countered that he could just cut the adopted child off from becoming the next Head of House. That was Harry's opening.
"Almost all of these children were abandoned by their families and the older ones know it. If we were to adopt and then cut him out of the line of succession, it would send a similar message wouldn't it? It would tell them they are not as important to us as our other children wouldn't it?"
"So we just adopt girls," Hermione countered.
"Which tells all the boys that are not chosen by us that they are unimportant to us – they are unwanted. In fact if we adopt any child, but not all of them, it sends a similar message. As important as an example may be, I will not send that message to those children. They need to know they are all wanted and that none of them are favored over the others. And, as Head of Houses Potter and Black, I must preserve the line of succession if at all possible and as there are children, including sons on the way for both lines, that means even if I was inclined to set an example, which I am not, I cannot in good conscious do so until my children are born."
"That sounds like a bunch of Pureblood tosh!" Hermione shot back.
Before Harry could even form a reply, rescue came from unexpected sources.
"Hermione," Robert Granger said. "While your mother and I are still getting used to this – um – rather unique lifestyle, there are some things we can understand. First of all, you can't save the world no matter how much you might want to. Second of all, Harry seems to be correct that adopting any orphan into his family, while it may set an example for the others in this country, sends the wrong message to the orphans who are not adopted into this family. Finally, and no matter what you think, believe or how you choose to rationalize it, you have married into what is for all intents and purposes a Royal Family. You have also married into an exceptionally wealthy family. You've read more of this country's history than your mother and I have. How many Lord Potters embarrassed their family or squandered their familial estates? How many Lords of the Isles embarrassed their people? How many Earls of Darby proved a disgrace to their office? How many Dukes of Charenwell were fodder for the press and public ridicule?
"From what your mother and I have read, the answer is none. Harry is the seventieth generation of House Potter of which there is written record. He is the forty-ninth Lord Potter, the forty-first Lord of the Isle, the thirty-fifth Earl or Count of Darby and the twenty-seventh Duke of Charenwell in an unbroken, patriarchal line. Each of his predecessors left the family and estate no worse off than it was when they assumed control over it and most left it better than they found it. As head of what may well be the longest dynastic line in the world today, he as a duty to preserve the legacy of his family. Everything else should be of secondary consideration. As the hereditary sovereign, preservation of the line historically and presently is in the best interest of Charenwell.
"To adopt a child now could lead to a succession crisis decades in the future, something which has never happened here, but has been a cause for wars abroad. The Norman Invasion of England was the result of such a crisis as was the Hundred Years War with France when the French King died without an heir and the English Kings claimed the thrown as distant cousins. The War of the Roses was a similar crisis. The ouster of James II caused another one as did the death without surviving issue of Queen Anne, although the latter did not result in bloodshed.
"Do you think it's best for all concerned to risk a succession crisis? Do you think Queen Elizabeth would sit idly by if Prince Andrew challenged Prince Charles for the throne? Do you think she would care which side of such a dispute Prince Phillip would take? And before you say that Harry should just step aside or perhaps Charenwell would be better off without a Duke, I want you to answer this question: Name one monarchy, constitutional like this one or not, that was pushed aside without bloodshed or civil war either forcing the issue or following it."
"I'm sure there must be one…" Hermione began. "The Tsar and Keiser abdicated."
"After millions were already dead in a pointless war," Rose said. "And Germany was a ruin, one which led to Hitler and a far bloodier war. Never mind Russia, which bled on the battlefields for another four years and more under the communists."
"I'm not aware of a single instance of one," Robert said. "There might be, but the fact I can't think of it suggests it's been so rare as to be almost miraculous. A change from one style of government to another has always been messy. Long ago, long before anywhere in Europe, Charenwell changed from what was probably a feudal state of a lord and vassals to a state run by its citizens for their benefit, but this was the desire of the Lord of the Isle and, more important, the Lord remained as Head of State.
"Harry is the Duke. His family is 2,000 years old. Where should his priorities be? If he has to make a choice between what you think is best for him or you and what is best for a venerable House that could well outlive the both of you; if his must choose between what is best for his wife today and what is best for Charenwell going forward; which side should prevail? All other factors aside, you are married to Harry, but you are also married to the Duke of Charenwell and they are different. You can win an argument with Harry. All you can do with the Duke is express your opinion and counsel. You cannot tell the Duke what he must do."
"As the Countess," Luna said, "I agree that House Black should not consider adoption at this time. Maybe in a year or so after the new line of succession is born, but not before. As Luna, I can say that I see adoption by either House at this time will lead to dark times for both Houses and for Charenwell as well and the Duke must do what is in the best interest of Charenwell even if he'd rather not and his wife or wives wish it otherwise. I side with my Duke on this issue."
"FINE!" Hermione shot back after seeing that her mother also was not about to take her side. She remained silent for the rest of the evening and, to change the topic, Luna talked about the magical nature preserve.
A/N:
The Tsar abdicated in March 1917. Russia was still bleeding at the front fighting the Germans. The communists took over in October 1917 and sued for peace, but while they stopped fighting the Germans, they were fighting themselves and intermittently the U.S., France, Britain, Poland, the Ukraine and Japan until 1920. For Russia the fighting resulting from WWI lasted continuously from August 1914 until the final end of the fighting in their Civil War in 1923. Arguably more Russians died in the fighting and the resulting economic disruptions that followed the end of their war with Germany than had died during that war.
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).*P
9. Padma (Patil) Potter-Black, age 16 (Ra-5).P
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 – boy/girl (twins).
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).P
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).*P
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 – boy.
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).*P
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) Weasley, age 13 (Gr-2).
16. Bonnie Faith (Carter) Weasley, 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 – girl.
7. Amanda (Kennedy) Longbottom, age 16 (SP-5).*P
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).
11. Leanne Lucille (Tinker) Longbottom, age 17 (Gr-6).P
12. Lavender Sue (Brown) Longbottom, age 16 (Gr-5).P
13. Natalie Mae (McDonald) Longbottom, age 14 (Gr-3).
14. Cho (Chang) Longbottom, age 17 (Ra-6).
15. Su (Li) Longbottom, age 16 (Ra-5).
16. Morag Coleen (McDougal) Longbottom, age 16 (Ra-5).
17. Tracy (Davis) Longbottom, age 16 (Sl-5).
18. Teresa Chastain (Murdoch) Longbottom, age 14 (Sl-3).
19. Natasha Brianna (Adair) Longbottom, age 13 (Sl-2).
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).*P
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).*P
10. Annette Maria (Barnes) Weasley, age 15 (Gr-4).P
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) Weasley, 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).P
10. Pamela Ray (Adams) Weasley, age 15 (Ra-4).P
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) Weasley, age 13 (Gr-2).
15. Alice Paulette (McGregor) Weasley, age 13 (Hu-2).
16. Morgan Laura (Carpenter) Weasley, 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).*P
6. Ellie Beth (Mitchell) Lupin, age 18 (PE-5).*
7. Olivia Patricia (Kennedy) Lupin, age 22 (SP).
8. Susan Anne (Parsons) Lupin, age 22 (Hu-5).
9. Donna Bethany (Simpson) Lupin, age 21 (SD-5).
10. Coleen Michelle (Greer) Lupin, age 20 (SP-5).
11. Alice Lynn (Ives) Lupin, age 20 (SA-5).
12. Greta Mae (Ives) Lupin, age 17 (SA-5).
13. Marie Catherine Anderson, age 19 (3/30/77) (Hu-5); Original Bond (8/18/93); Concubine Remus (8/19/96).
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)*.P
7. Simone Marie (Buchanan) Longbottom, age 27(SA-5).
8. Agnes Lucile (Thompson) Longbottom, age 26 (Hu-5).
9. Martha Helen (Graham) Longbottom, age 25 (SG-5).
10. Francine Katherine (Moore) Longbottom, age 24 (PE-6).
11. Tamara Yvonne (Faust) Longbottom, age 22 (SD-5).
12. Kristen Leanne Hall, age 21 (8/19/75) (SG-5); Original Bond (8/19/91); Concubine Frank (8/19/96).
13. Charlene Megan Hall, age 18 (11/5/77) (SG-5); Original Bond (7/28/94); Concubine Frank (8/19/96).
Charlie Weasley, age 23
1. Tatiana Maria (Ivanova) Weasley, age 19.
2. Christina Maria (Canterbury) Weasley, age 23 (SD-6).
3. Lisa Faith (Stuart) Weasley, age 23 (SA).
4. Janice Amelia (Brooks) Weasley, age 22 (SG-5).
5. Pamela Hope (Brooks) Weasley, age 18 (SG-5).
6. Tonya Louise (Childs) Weasley, age 21 (SD-5).
7. Lauren Noel (Ellis) Weasley, age 20 (PE-5).
8. Mary Louisa (Ellis) Weasley, age 17, (PE-5).
9. Renee Christine Richardson, age 18 (2/28/78) (Ra-5); Original Bond (7/30/94); Concubine Charlie (8/19/96).
Arthur Percival Weasley, age 46.
1. Jennifer Susan (Albans) Weasley, age 27 (PE).
2. Deborah Ophelia (Rawlings) Weasley; age 26 (Gr-5).
3. Alice Margaret (Halverson) Weasley, age 24 (PE-5).
4. Emma Lucile (Dawson) Weasley, age 23 (SD).
5. Anna Justine Marsh, age 21 (SG-5).
6. Constance Maria Marsh, age 18 (SG-5).
7. Amanda Suzanne Tanner, age 19 (8/21/76) (SA-5); Original Bond (8/20/92); Concubine Arthur (8/19/96).