Children of the Revolution
Monday, 21, September 1998
Wizengamot meetings started at 1:00 on the day of the New Moon so Harry and the other sitting Lords and Ladies, along with any primary heirs, would be missing their afternoon classes.
Harry had conceded all control to Susan.
This was her revolution; he was just along for the ride.
After Arithmancy ended, Harry headed up to his quarters with Ron and Hermione to have lunch and get them set up with Teddy.
“Oh,” Harry said as they reached the third floor, “I forgot to ask, would you two like to come to Grimmauld Place for family dinner tonight?”
“I’d love that,” Ron said.
“Me too,” Hermione agreed with a smile.
“Great,” Harry said before calling Kreacher and letting him know that they’d have two more for dinner that night.
Once they reached Harry’s room, he started rambling on about taking care of Teddy, “he’ll be alright with Mimi while you’re in class, but he gets restless in the afternoons and really likes going outside and I don’t want to put too much on Mimi’s shoulders. She does a great job but I don’t want to overburden her so if you could call for her when you’re done with class and spend time with Teddy, that’d be great and then I’ll send a Patronus when we’re done at the Wizengamot and you can come to Grimmauld. Teddy should be fine with the floo, we did it with Ginny yesterday and he was alright, but if you want you can ask Mimi–”
He was then cut off by Hermione, who was trying (and failing) to temper her laughter, “Harry we’ve got it. It’ll only be a couple of hours and then we’ll bring him to Grimmauld.”
“If you’re so worried you could just say fuck you to everyone and bring him to the Wizengamot,” Ron suggested.
“That’s an awful idea, Ronald” Hermione chided at the same time Harry said “you know, maybe…”
“No, Harry, you are not taking an infant to the Wizengamot. For one, he’d hate it and for two, Susan would likely hex you into oblivion if you got distracted tonight.”
“You have a point,” Harry said with a sigh. He then called for lunch and the trio talked about what Susan was planning for the meeting.
After they finished eating, Harry went into his room to pick out clothing. He knew he had to wear the stupid plum Wizengamot robes when he was in the chamber, but he didn’t have to wear them in the hallways and press was always crowded around the Ministry so he should probably look presentable.
He was standing there in just his slacks staring at his wardrobe when he heard his front door open and Theo’s voice ask, “where’s Hadrian?”
“Bedroom,” Ron said.
“Thanks, mate,” Harry didn’t bother to move, knowing Theo would let himself in.
When his door opened, he turned to smile at Theo who had a look of confusion on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.
Theo pointed to Harry’s right arm and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Ah,” Harry said, looking down at his bandaged bicep, “that.”
“Were you injured?” Theo asked, concern edging into his voice.
“I wasn’t injured,” Harry said with a shrug, “I was lightly stabbed.”
“I’m sorry,” Theo said, “you were stabbed?”
“Lightly stabbed,” Harry responded.
“There’s something fundamentally wrong with you.”
“What’re you gonna do about it,” Harry said laughing.
Shaking his head, Theo finally stepped fully into the room and pulled Harry into a hug, pressing his nose into the crook of Harry’s neck and visibly relaxing, “what am I going to do with you?”
Harry just hugged him back and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
“Having trouble picking out robes?” Theo asked after a minute.
“Yeah,” Harry said with a sigh, “the girls picked out too many official robes and now I can’t choose and, call me conceited, I don’t want my picture splashed across every publication in wizarding Britain wearing those dumbass purple robes.”
“None of us do, love.”
“Which robes should I wear?” Harry asked, “you look wonderful, by the way.”
And he really did. Theo was wearing dark grey slacks with a light blue button down and a navy robe with the House Nott crest stitched into it in silver thread. His dark brown hair was perfectly styled, his deep blue eyes shining against his pale, lightly freckled skin and his blue robes.
Theo hummed in thanks before turning, pressing his back to Harry’s chest and asking, “what are your House colors again?”
“Black is black and silver, Slytherin is emerald and silver, Peverell is maroon and gold, and Potter is navy and gold.”
“You look good in black,” Theo said, thinking out loud, “it makes you look powerful, severe.”
“Is that the look I’m supposed to be going for?”
“You’re Susan’s enforcer … so maybe?”
“I guess you’re right.”
“You could wear black slacks and a black robe but soften it with a different colored shirt?”
“I like that idea, what color shirt though?”
“I don’t know,” Theo said, giving it 30 more seconds before he called in reinforcement, “Granger! Get in here, please!”
A moment later, Hermione stepped through the door, “you rang?”
“What in Merlin’s name does that mean?”
“Muggle thing,” Hermione said, waving him off, “what do you need?”
“Trying to pick out Harry’s clothes, we decided on black slacks and a black robe, but he wants to soften it a little by wearing a different colored shirt, but all of his house colors are rather dark either way.”
“Wear the same color shirt Theo’s wearing,” Hermione suggested, “you look good in blue and isn’t one of the Potter colors blue?”
“It’s navy, but yeah,” Harry agreed.
“So light blue would work,” Hermione said with a shrug, “you’ve been wearing a lot of green, it looks good on you but I don’t know how much you want to lean into the Slytherin thing,” she then paused for a moment, thinking, “do you want me to go see what Neville is wearing?”
“No, it’s alright, I like the light blue idea, thanks ‘Mione.”
“Of course, Harry,” Hermione said with a smile, “would you like me to bring a change of clothes for either of you when we bring Teddy to Grimmauld?”
“I should be fine, thank you though,” Theo answered.
“I’m good as well, thanks!” Harry added.
“Alright,” Hermione said with a nod, “we’re going to head down to the library before class, I’ll see you both tonight.”
They bid their goodbyes, Harry finished getting dressed and said a rather lengthy goodbye to Teddy given the fact he’d see him in a few hours, and then Harry and Theo headed down to Susan’s war room so they could all leave as a group.
The only person in the room when they got there was Luna who was dressed in a simple grey dress with a navy cloak, her long blonde hair was pulled half back in a braid.
“Afternoon, Luna,” Harry said, smiling, “you look lovely as always.”
“You’re such a flirt, Harry,” Luna said laughing.
“Only with you my love,” he said, sitting down next to her with a dramatic sigh.
“I’m right here.” Theo said, failing to hide his amusement, “so which one of you stabbed him?”
“That’d be Susan,” Luna said, smirking.
“He probably deserved it, then.” Theo determined.
“Oi!” Susan said, stepping into the room, “it was actually an accident this time, if I ever mean to stab him I’ll do a little more damage than just a light poke to the arm. He didn’t even have to go get it healed.”
“It’s still wrapped up,” Theo said, “something tells me it wasn’t a light stabbing like you both insist.”
“The daggers we use are goblin made,” Luna explained, “the injuries they leave aren’t easily healed.”
“What the hell is it that you lot get up to in the mornings?” Parvati asked, coming into the room just then, “are the founders actually training you or are you just running around with knives?”
“There’s a lot of running around with knives to be perfectly honest,” Harry said, laughing lightly, “but I promise they are actually training us.”
The group chatted idly as the room filled up. Once everyone was there, Susan made sure everyone was ready to go and then they made their way across the hall to use the floo in the 8th Year Common Room. Harry laughed to himself when he noticed not a single person was wearing the plum robes, either holding them draped over an arm or carrying a bag.
They flooed into Mr. Weasley’s office as they’d arranged the prior week and met Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fred, and George. Bill and the other heirs split off to head up to their viewing area and Harry and Neville led the procession of Lords and Ladies down to the atrium level so they could walk through the gaggle of press.
Harry was putting up with the publicity for today so Susan could pull off her plan. He had to admit, showing up to the Wizengamot with a dozen 18-year-old Lords and Ladies along with a few adults they’d picked up on the way down from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, led by two war orphans turned war heroes was a rather poignant image.
Reporters yelled and cameras flashed but they kept their heads up, looked ahead, and walked straight to the elevator. Once the door closed, Neville turned to Harry with a grin on his face, “is this what it’s like to be you?”
“Oh, shut it you numpty.”
“You two are actual children,” Susan sighed from behind Harry.
“You love us,” they said in unison.
“Merlin I forgot they could do that,” Fred said from the back of the elevator.
“We’re not special anymore, Freddie.” George said with an exaggerated sigh.
“You’re special, alright,” Harry chirped back.
“Why are you people allowed to run a government,” Pansy asked.
“Nepotism, probably,” Harry said with a shrug.
Before Pansy could respond, the elevator arrived at Level 2.
Harry was rather thankful the real Wizengamot chamber was located on the same floor as the DMLE and that all meetings weren’t held in that giant dungeon courtroom where his farce of a trial had been a few years prior.
When they reached the chamber, the twins, Luna and another 7th year, Callum Selwyn, who hadn’t been 17 at the July session waited on the floor while everyone else climbed to their seats.
There were twelve sitting Lords and Ladies coming from Hogwarts representing 21 votes. Well, 24 if you counted Luna, Daphne, and Harry’s proxies.
Maxwell Avery, Luna Lovegood, Aidan Rowle, Callum Selwyn, and Simon Yaxley from 7th year and Susan Bones, Millicent Bulstrode, Gregory Goyle, Neville Longbottom, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, and Harry Potter from 8th year.
They also had 7 primary heirs; Hannah Abbott, Draco Black, Jacob Burke, Daphne Greengrass, Ernie MacMillan, Parvati Patil, and Oliver Rivers, though Daphne was sitting in the Greengrass chair as her father, Cyrus Greengrass, had been elected Chief Warlock in June.
With their 24 votes plus Fred and George in the Prewett seat and Apollo Carrow, Charles Travers, and Marcus Flint (all also recent Hogwarts grads who’d taken their family seats at a young age due to wartime casualties) happy to work with Susan’s coalition, they held a majority vote in the chamber.
It was a little absurd.
Once everyone had taken their seats, the Scribe stood and announced Chief Warlock Greengrass and Minister Shacklebolt’s entries. After they were seated, the first order of business was announcing new members.
Luna stepped forward first, “I Luna Evanna Lovegood announce my intent to claim the Rosier and Ravenclaw seats of my birthright and the Ollivander seat by blood and proxy.”
The three chairs lit up indicating she’d been accepted, she bowed her head toward the ministry officials and gracefully climbed the stairs to sit in in the Rosier seat.
Callum stepped up next and announced his intent to claim the Selwyn seat. Like it had for Luna, the seat lit up.
Finally, Fred and George stepped forward as one, “I Fredrick Gideon Weasley,” Fred began, “and I George Fabian Weasley,” George added before they continued together, “announce our intent to claim the Prewett seat of our birthright.”
Up in the Prewett seat, Aunt Muriel stood, “I, Muriel Calladora Prewett do renounce my proxy and open the seat for its rightful Lords.”
The seat lit up and Fred and George climbed the stairs, each bowing to kiss Muriel’s knuckles before Fred took the seat on the right and George took Muriel’s arm, guiding her to the side door that opened to the family viewing area before taking his seat next to Fred.
“That concluded,” Chief Warlock Greengrass began, “let us read the prior meetings minutes.”
It was a rather boring 45 minutes while the scribe dictated what had been done at the last meeting (a whole lot of nothing) before they were able to move on to new business.
The August session represented the beginning of a new year for the chamber, as such, this was the time faction movements were made, right now, the seats were in alphabetical order. Every August, the scribe called the families in that order and asked what faction they’d like to reside in.
It was incredibly rare for a family to move so it was often seen as a formality.
Not today.
“House Abbott,” the Scribe, Harry just now recognized her as Penelope Clearwater (which made him wonder where Percy was, turning his head slightly answered that question, he was seated at the right hand of the minister … wow, Harry was going to have to congratulate Percy on that promotion, and also hope that he had fewer blood quills on hand than the last Senior Undersecretary), began, “please announce your faction for the following year.”
“House Abbot will remain in the light,” Lord Thomas Abbot announced.
“House Avery,” Penelope continued, “please announce your faction.”
Funny how the meeting only stayed normal for one name.
“House Avery will move from Dark to Grey,” Lord Maxwell Avery, Hogwarts 7th year Slytherin announced.
There were quiet noises of shock throughout the Chamber. House Avery had been Dark since the very beginning. It wasn’t about to get any more normal.
“House Black,” Harry stood and announced, “House Black moves from Dark to Grey.”
The noises of shock were less quiet that time.
“House Bones remains Grey,” Susan stated.
“House Bulstrode moves from Dark to Grey,” Millicent said.
Lord Benjamin Burke stood and announced that House Burke would remain Dark, Lord Apollo Carrow stated the same, Lord Robert Davies said House Davis would remain Light, Lord Amos Diggory said his house would remain Grey, Lord Patrick Fawley did the same.
Then, Marcus Flint, the newly anointed Lord Flint, stood, “House Flint follows House Black in this and all things, we will be Grey.”
That set of a veritable cacophony of noise from the viewing platforms. It took Chief Warlock Greengrass firing a bang from his wand to get everyone to quiet down, “continue, please, Miss Clearwater.”
Clearing her throat, Penelope continued, “House Fortescue, please announce your faction.”
“House Fortescue moves from Light to Grey.” Neville stated, clear and confident.
“House Goyle follows House Black in this and all things, we will be Grey,” Gregory echoed Marcus, the shock was slightly lower that time. It had gotten out that Harry had befriended the Slytherins in his year, publicly announcing Draco as the Black Heir sort of had that effect.
“House Greengrass remains Grey,” Daphne announced, smiling up at her father who smiled and nodded in return.
“House Gryffindor remains Grey,” Neville stated.
“House Hufflepuff remains Grey,” Susan echoed.
“House Longbottom stands with its brother, House Potter,” Neville announced, reminding everyone in attendance that Lords Longbottom and Potter had stood together for generations and letting them know that this would be no different, “we move from Light to Grey.”
Now, while the brotherhood between Houses Longbottom and Potter was no shock, both of these houses moving to Grey was a bit of a shock, especially when the Lords were considered Beacons of the Light.
After the noise died down, Ernest MacMillan Sr. stood and announced, “House MacMillan remains Light.”
Then Theo stood and made possibly the most mindboggling statement in the history of the Wizengamot, “House Nott follows House Black,” now that wasn’t entirely odd, but his addendum certainly was, “House Potter, and House Peverell in this and all things,” it was getting rather loud in the chamber, “we move from Dark to Grey.”
This time Kingsley had to cast a Sonorous to call everyone back to attention. Theo was standing with an impassive look and Harry was positively beaming. Kingsley just hoped no one noticed him rolling his eyes, it was rather unbecoming of the Minister of Magic, his nephews certainly had a penchant for mischief (and that is what Kingsley had found himself seeing Harry and Neville as, James and Frank’s boys would forever be family).
Continuing as if nothing had just happened, Luna stood and announced that House Ollivander would remain, as always, in the Grey.
“House Parkinson follows House Black in this and all things, we move from Dark to Grey,” Pansy announced. Alright, this was becoming a pattern.
“House Patil follows House Potter in this and all things, we move from Light to Grey,” Lord Aarav Patil, Parvati and Padma’s father and a nephew of Euphemia Potter announced.
Harry then stood again, “House Peverell moves from Dark to Grey, House Potter stands with its brother House Longbottom and moves from Light to Grey.”
“House Prewett remains Grey,” Fred and George announced.
“House Ravenclaw remains Grey,” Luna stated.
“House Rivers remains Grey,” Lord Alexander Rivers said.
“House Rosier follows House Black in this and all things,” Luna said, “we move from Dark to Grey.”
“House Rowle follows House Black in this and all things, we move from Dark to Grey,” Aidan Rowle, Hogwarts 7th Year Ravenclaw said.
“House Selwyn follows House Black in this and all things, we move from Dark to Grey,” Callum Selwyn, Hogwarts 7th Year Slytherin, announced.
Harry then stood and announced that House Shacklebolt would remain Light, Lord Alphard Sinistra announced that they would remain Dark, and Lord Laurence Slughorn announced they would remain Grey.
Then Harry stood a final time, “House Slytherin follows its kin in Houses Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw and remains Grey.”
Lord Sebastian Smith announced they would remain Light, Lord Charles Travers announced they would remain Dark, Lord Arthur Weasley said they would remain Light, and Lord Edmund Wood stated the same.
Then, Lord Simon Yaxley, a 7th Year Slytherin, finished out the proclamations and completed the Black Coalition, “House Yaxley follows House Black in this and all things, we move from Dark to Grey.”
The Black Coalition had been corrupted by Orion Black and Abraxas Malfoy then further by Lucius Malfoy over the last three decades; it had become the backing for the Dark Lord. Now it was headed by Harry Potter which, to put it simply, was a bit of a change in leadership.
Once the noise had died down, Penelope continued on to the 10 elected members. These individuals were nominated and then voted on at the same time the Minister was elected. They were often Order of Merlin recipients, but didn’t have to be. They also didn’t have to run with a continued faction, they were able to announce there faction once they were elected.
This time, Lucile Brown, Andrew Costello, Henry Dean, Dorothy O’Brien, and Robert O’Keefe joined the Light; Erin Delaney, Patrick Fehrenbach, and Wallace Nell joined the Grey; and Mairéad McQuillen and Abigail Wilson joined the Dark.
That taken care of, it was time to move on to new business. Susan had decided that the re-establishment of the Black Coalition under non-insane leadership and the movement of the rest of their Houses into the Grey would be enough so they simply sat back and listened to their peers talk about nothing for another couple of hours. The only thing they brought up now was a request for the Education Department to look into other available OWLs and NEWTs for students to take over the summer at the Ministry and that was because there was a bit of a time limit if they were going to announce the possibility before the end of Winter term.
The meeting finally ended at 4:30 and Kingsley shot Harry a loaded look once the Chief Warlock had gaveled them out.
After telling everyone else they could head over to Grimmauld, he grabbed Neville, and the pair started toward the Minister’s office.
Harry honestly wasn’t sure whether they were in trouble, but he couldn’t think of a reason they would be.
Once they arrived outside Kingsley’s office suite, his secretary waved them inside.
“Boys,” Kingsley greeted.
“Minister,” they chirped in return.
Rolling his eyes and cracking a grin, he summoned three glasses and a bottle of Ogden’s and gestured to the pair of chairs in front of his desk, “since when do you two gits call me by a proper title?”
“Look at us, Minister, we’re wearing official robes,” Harry said with a straight face.
Neville nodded with the same expression, “we’re very, very serious Lords, Mr. Minister, Sir.”
“Brats,” Kingsley said, smiling at them.
Finally cracking a smile and taking a seat, Harry asked, “what did you need us for, Kings?”
“Just wanted to see you,” he said with a slight shrug, “Mary MacDonald wrote me outright bragging that she got to see you two every day and I got a bit jealous, I haven’t seen you since early August.”
“You’re too busy for us,” Neville said with an exaggerated frown and a put-upon sigh.
“Look at this guy,” Harry said, turning toward Neville, “all he has to do is run a whole country and he can’t even make time for us?”
“Absurd,” Neville said, shaking his head.
“Now I don’t remember why I ever wanted to see you two,” Kingsley said, laughing. Unlike most, Kingsley never compared these two to their fathers. They were their own people; they’d grown into incredible men and he was just stupidly proud.
“How are you doing, though, Kings?” Neville asked, “I can’t imagine this has been an easy time to transition into being Minister.”
Before he got a chance to answer, Harry asked “have you decided yet whether you’ll run for proper election?”
“To answer your question first, Harry, I think I will,” Kingsley said, after a moment of thought, “especially if the Coalition is under your guidance and the majority of the Wizengamot is Grey. Historically, it’s been easier to make lasting reforms in times of chaos when the government is run by moderates. And to answer you, Neville, no it hasn’t been easy but it seems like everyone in the Ministry is in the same spot and is also in agreement that we need to make this place better so it’s been good overall.”
“That makes sense,” Harry mused, “we’ll be in a bit of a similar boat at Hogwarts over the next couple of years. With the dwindling population they’ve cut so many classes and extracurriculars that the school is basically unrecognizable to the Founders, so we’ve been working with them and starting to communicate with the governors of other schools to make a plan.”
“That’s great to hear,” Kingsley said, smiling at them, “you lot will be great for the school. Now, how’s Teddy?”
Neville groaned while Harry grinned and pulled a pile of photos out of, seemingly, thin air and shoved them at Kingsley, “these are copies so you can keep them. He’s great, he’s adjusted really well to Hogwarts and everybody loves him.”
Kingsley took the photos excitedly, oohing and ahhing at every picture, much to Neville’s amusement and Harry’s delight, then he held up one photo Harry hadn’t realized he’d included, “is this Lord Nott?” Kingsley asked, holding up a picture Harry had taken the other day of Theo asleep on the couch with Teddy napping on his chest.
“Yeah,” Harry said, blushing and smiling softly, “that’s Theo.”
Kingsley looked at Neville, one eyebrow raised, “might this explain House Nott openly allying itself with Houses Potter and Peverell?”
“It’s likely,” Neville said.
“Anything to add, Potter?” Kingsley asked, smirking at a slightly flustered Harry.
“He moved into Grimmauld with everyone over the summer and we clicked almost immediately, he’s incredibly smart and he loves Teddy,” Harry said.
“That’s not a whole answer.”
Rolling his eyes, but starting to grin, Harry gave Kingsley the answer he was looking for, “he’s my boyfriend. We’ve been dating for a month.”
“He’s all but moved into Harry’s quarters,” Neville added, helpfully, “they’re disgustingly cute.”
“Thanks, Nev,” Harry said, smacking him on the back of the head. He then looked down at his watch and winced, “we should probably head out before Narcissa murders me for being late to dinner.”
Kingsley’s smile turned a little sad, Harry cocked his head in question, “I’d forgotten Molly gave you Fabian’s watch.”
Harry smiled down at his wrist, “yeah, I have James, Regulus, and Sirius’ as well and I have Remus’ set aside for Teddy, but this is still the one I wear every day.”
“Do you know who has Gid’s?” Kingsley asked.
“I’m fairly certain it was destroyed or lost,” Harry answered, frowning slightly, “though I never explicitly asked. Molly just made it sound like they only had Fabian’s.”
“That makes sense,” Kingsley said with a nod, “I’m glad you have Fab’s though. They loved you two, thought you were the cutest little things. They died before you two started talking, though. I’m sure they’d find the fact that you two somehow ended up being magical twins despite not actually being related a sodding riot.”
“If they were anything like Fred and George I’m sure you’re right,” Harry said smiling.
“It was great to catch up, Kings,” Neville said, standing up. He then turned to Harry to ask, “do you want to use Kingsley’s floo or brave the atrium?”
“We should probably be seen leaving,” Harry said with a sigh, “Susan might stab me again if a story about me getting special treatment takes a headline.”
“I’m sorry,” Kingsley said, raising a hand, “did you just say again?”
“Harry was lightly stabbed this morning,” Neville said, grinning, “it was quite entertaining.”
“It wasn’t that entertaining.” Harry muttered.
“Godric almost pissed himself. If he wasn’t literally a painting I’m sure he would’ve.”
“Do you two ever have a normal day?” Kingsley asked.
“Rarely,” they said in unison, grinning like mad.
“Get out of my sight,” Kingsley said, laughing.
The boys took one look at each other, mischief shining in their eyes, before they darked around the desk and sandwiched the Minister of Magic in a hug.
Shoving them both away by the forehead, but still laughing, Kingsley was about to tell them to leave when he turned a bit mischievous himself, “what would young Lady Bones say about the two of you appearing on the front page with the Minister?”
“She might stop threatening to kill me in my sleep,” Harry said.
“That’s maybe a little optimistic, though she’d probably give it a rest for a week,” Neville corrected.
“Good enough for me,” Kingsley said, standing up and shoving the boys out his door.
When the trio exited the elevator, the crowd in the atrium had thinned out. The remaining reporters and photographers were milling about not quite paying attention though they all snapped to when someone called out for the Minister.
“What are your thoughts on the Black Coalition?”
“How did you choose Harry as your proxy?”
“What were you meeting about?”
And so on, and so on.
They simply smiled and made their way to the floo bank, Kingsley muttering under his breath like he was telling them something incredibly important, but he was really just begging them to send him dinner because he was sick and tired of the Ministry cafeteria.
When they made it to the fireplaces, Kingsley placed a hand on each of their shoulders and smiled, “being serious for a moment, I am incredibly proud of both of you and of each of your friends. You are going to do wonderful things.”
Smiling back, they both thanked him, Harry promised to send Kreacher over once they sat down to dinner, and they stepped into the flames calling out for Grimmauld Place.