Chapter 4
"The Squib grew up with Muggles as one after being cast out by his Magical Family as he didn't have Magic," Dad added. "Since he was the last Heir of the Shafiq and Fawley lines, they didn't disown him. His Mother was Jennifer Shafiq, whose Father was the last of the Shafiq line and her Mother was the last of the Fawley line, and his Father was Cassius Prewett, whose Mother was the last of the Selwyn line and his Father was the last of the Prewett line. Cassius had a younger Brother, Damien. Damien had one child. A boy called Ignatius. Ignatius then had a boy too. His Son was called Damien after his Grandfather. Damien the Second then had two children. The eldest was Charlus Prewett and the youngest was Ignatius Prewett. Ignatius the Second died five years ago and was married to Lucretia Black."
"That's Sirius and Regulus' Father, Orion's, older Sister, right?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Mom said. "She died during March only a few months after my so-called Father died in January."
"And his Aunt died a few weeks ago, right?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, Cassie was named after Aunt Cassiopeia," Draco said.
"This has not been a good year for the Blacks," I said and Draco and Blaise smirked and rolled their eyes.
"Charlus Prewett then had three children," Mom continued with a fond smile. "The twins, Fabian and Gideon, and Molly. Molly then had seven children with the surname Weasley as shown on your Test results. Ronald is in Draco's year and Ginerva will be in your year, Cassie."
"Charlus, Fabian and Gideon died during the Wizarding War," Thema said.
"The reason why Molly is Regent Prewett is her children are next in the line of succession after you if they can pass their Etiquette Exams. If they fail, they're disowned from the Prewett line just as Molly has been," Mom said.
"But she wasn't listed as disowned on my Test," I said, confused.
"That's because if all of her children pass their Etiquette Exams, she'll be reinstated. It's only a temporary disowning. If they pass, it'll prove, that even if she married a Blood Traitor, she isn't one. However, I don't think Molly's teachings should determine the children's success," Mom said.
"If I make sure they all pass and Molly's reinstated, can I just disown her anyway as Head of House?" I asked.
"Yes," Dad said. "You don't have to have a reason for disowning someone, though it's better to have a reason."
"Anyway, the point was that The Dark Lord showed up. Only living relatives show up. He's still alive," Mom said and everyone but Mom, Dad and I looked shocked. We'd already figured it out.
"What do we do?" Sev asked. "How can we help him?"
"We do nothing," I said and everyone looked at me in shock. "He's intelligent so he must have a plan in place. Draco and I will work on ensuring Potter, his hot Mudblood friend and the Weasleys are educated, even if that takes some time, bringing them closer to our side. We'll ensure the Slytherins are kept in line, though at the beginning of the year, given their pasts, Draco'll be difficult to rein in--"
"Hey!" Draco said and I shot him a look. He immediately shut up.
"You need to act the way you usually do to not raise suspicion. I'll publicly get you to back off a few times and talk to you about it so when you start to treat them better, they'll think it's genuine, even if they believe it's because of me," I said and Draco nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. "We'll work on getting as many of them on our side as possible, and the members of the Order, once we know who are still in it or who has joined since, while the rest of you continue as you have. We can't raise any extra suspicion. If Dumbledore thinks, even for a moment, that he's not dead, he'll start to cause trouble for us. Spending time with Potter will make Dumbledore suspicious as it is so I'll have to work hard to get him to trust me around him. No doubt once he finds out about Draco changing his tune with Potter, Dumbledore will want to start using him and/or me to spy. If Draco's offered that, it'll be good for him to take it."
"And if he offers you?" Blaise asked.
"He probably won't. Draco is the Malfoy Head of House but, until he comes of age, Dad is Regent Malfoy. That's the only Head of House title that Draco has and with it being under Dad's control, Draco can always pretend that he acts the way he does and imitates our Father because he's scared of him, not that that's the case. Dumbledore will pounce on that. I, however, have several titles that several people will be in control of. If I make sure that Dad isn't Regent for any of my Seats, Dumbledore'll draw his own conclusion from that. Most likely, he'll try to keep me from those aligned with the Dark, other than, possibly, Draco, instead of having me spy. He'll probably want to make sure he doesn't lose me when he finds out about my titles and the rest of my Inheritance," I said and the others nodded.
"That leaves two things we need to do then, Cassie," Mom said. "First, we need to assign your Wizengamot Seats Regents. Second, we need to set up an interview with The Daily Prophet to announce your titles. This doesn't happen a lot but those with more than one title have the right to publically announce them and, being a Malfoy and a Black, it's kind of expected of you. We did the same for Draco last year, remember?"
"I remember," I said with a nod.
"So who are you going to assign as Regents?" Dad asked. "You do remember who is in the Wizengamot, right?"
"Yes, each Head of the Sacred 28 has a Seat, Merlin, Morgana, Pendragon and Peverell Heads have two each, one for each of the Hogwarts Houses' Heads, one for Dumbledore as Chief Warlock, one for the Minister, one for the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and one for the Head of each of the seven departments in the Ministry."
"Those departments are?" Mom asked.
"Department of Mysteries, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Magical Transportation, Department of Magical Games and Sport, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and the Department of International Magical Cooperation," I confidently said and Mom and Dad nodded with proud looks.
"That's exactly right. Now, you have several Seats under the same names, for example, you have two Merlin Seats. With these ones, you have to have the same person sitting in them. You have a Regent for each title, not each Seat," Dad said and I nodded. "Now, who do you trust in these Seats? Keep in mind, unless you have a valid reason, you can't remove someone from their title of Regent even if you want to after naming them."
"So if I keep Regent Prewett in the Prewett Seat, I can't remove her unless she does something like voting differently than I tell her to?" I asked and Dad nodded. "In that case, I don't want her as Regent Prewett. She may be family but it's distant and I've never even met her. I don't trust her with something this important. I want to put you as a Regent but we've already covered why it's best not to."
"Might others question why you haven't put Dad down as a Regent?" Draco asked.
"Possibly, but I plan on Mom being Regent for several so people could think I'm just closer to her or Dad's Regent for you and Mom's Regent for me..." I said. "I want Mom, Thema and Sev for at least two Seats each. If you don't mind, that is."
"If that's what you want," Sev said.
"Of course, I don't mind, Cassie," Thema said.
"Since you two aren't of age," I said to Blaise and Draco. "I can't put you down... Sev, I think for Peverell, Slytherin and Gaunt, and Thema for Ravenclaw, Fawley, Shafiq and Prewett... That leaves ten... Mom for the Morgana, Pendragon, Rosier and Black Seats since the Morgana ones and Pendragon ones are linked... You don't mind, do you, Mom?"
"Of course not, Star," Mom said with a smile and I walked over to her and sat on her lap. I hugged her and thanked her.
"I'd have you as Regent for all if was just the Seats but I don't want to put that much work on you, Mom," I said.
"I'm grateful for that, Star, but I'd do anything for you and Draco," Mom said and I sighed as I felt her hands run through my hair.
"I know, Mommy," I whispered and I yawned. I quickly realised how tired I was as Mom softly chuckled.
"I guess we need to finish up quickly and get you to bed but you can't rush this choice, Cassie," Mom said.
"I know. That's why I had Sev for Peverell, Gaunt and Slytherin. I'm sure Dumbledore knew about HIM being a Gaunt and everyone knows the Gaunts are related to the Slytherins and the Peverells. If he's Regent for those, he might conclude that it's by HIS will but the Regents for those Seats would have to be appointed a long enough time after the rest of my Seats and those will have to be kept out of the interview," I said.
"Very smart of you, Cassie," Sev said. "However, why would I be claiming them now and not at some point in the past?"
"Maybe you were told to claim them in a certain situation..." I said as I tried to think of something.
"Maybe if Potter claims any titles he has, I was told to claim Regent of any titles The Dark Lord still has if, for any reason, he couldn't claim them himself. He'll know for sure The Dark Lord isn't dead but he's believed that all this time and he won't know what condition he's in. I'll bring it up at some point within the first month of school so ensure if Potter claims his titles, he doesn't do it until the summer holidays at the earliest to ensure Dumbledore doesn't get suspicious," Sev says and I think about if for a moment, highly reluctant to allow Dumbledore the certainty of my Father's alive status, but I don't really have another choice if I want access to all of my Seats as soon as possible but without Dumbledore knowing I'm HIS Heir. I nod and he nods back.
"That leaves the Hufflepuff Seat, the Selwyn Seat and the Merlin Seats," Mom said.
"I would give those ones to Dad but... Maybe..." I said but I didn't want to upset anyone. I know they won't be too pleased by my choice.
"Star, they're your Seats, not anyone else's, okay?" Mom said in a soft voice as she noticed my reluctance. "It's your decision and no one else's. Even if we don't like it, we have no say in it. You can tell us..."
"I was thinking the Merlin Seats go to Andromeda and the Hufflepuff and Selwyn go to her Daughter," I said and I felt Mom tense up whilst I saw Thema do the same and Draco wince. "They're blood, even if they're disowned, and Nymphadora was the first with Black blood to go to Hufflepuff and Merlin was a Slytherin as well as Andromeda and I don't want any of you to have more work and--"
"Cassiopeia," Mom said and I winced. She hardly ever calls me that. "Baby, calm down, okay? Breathe. I'm not mad and I'm not upset or disappointed or whatever else you think, Baby. I... I'm..."