Black Family Lunch
Lucius looked up when he realised that the book had stopped. He had been so focused on the rule book. The book he had in his hands was self updating.
"Going back to the Prince not having a choice but to compete," Lucius said, his voice coldly detached.
"What about it?" Minerva asked. She really didn't want to rehash this again. She'd had her mistakes rubbed under her nose more than enough for one morning.
"The rules of the tournament were changed in the months before the announcement," Lucius said.
Minerva nodded. She knew this. Many changes had been made to try and rein in the danger. Well, not many changes. Nowhere near enough in her opinion. But some changes had been necessary.
"Yes, the three ministries worked together to change some of the rules that governed the tournament," Minerva said.
"Such as not allowing under age students to participate," Lucius said.
Minerva looked at him sharply. "Yes. A new rule was added about the age of contestants."
"The tournament rules are a fundamental part of the contract between magic and the contestants," Lucius said. "Did anyone bother to request a copy of the contract from the goblet?"
"A copy of the contract?" Minerva asked. She didn't even know that was possible.
"Yes. When requested by one of the acknowledged judges of the tournament, the goblet will provide a copy of each participant's contract," Lucius said. "It's in the rule book."
"Oh. I didn't know about that," Minerva said and her fellow teachers were nodding in agreement.
Lucius sighed. Of course, they hadn't bothered to read the rule book. Fools. "The contract would have most likely proven the prince's innocence. But what's more it would have been informative."
"How so?" Sirius asked.
"The tournament rules clearly state that all participants must be of age," Lucius said. "Now had the rule been worded as 'all participants must be over seventeen' Harry's contract would have been invalid and he would not have been required to participate. However, as it is worded as 'of age' it is quite ambiguous."
"How? That means he has to be seventeen!" Ron said.
"While conventionally yes, seventeen is the age most British magicals come of age," Lucius said, "it is not always the case. There have been occasions where a child has been emancipated early."
"Like when?" Young Hermione asked.
"It happened quite often during the war with Grindlewauld," Albus said. "Heirs had to take up their lordships early so they were emancipated by the ministry. There was a few months were we did not have enough lords or ladies to govern."
Lucius nodded. "Exactly. Not only that but what counts as being 'of age' is different all around the world. There are some cultures were you are not deemed to be an adult until you are thirty."
"Like the veela nation," Fleur said. "Veela live so much longer than humans, that they think you're practically still an infant at seventeen."
"Which in itself is interesting," Lucius said, "given your involvement in the tournament. You might only be part veela but you are still a citizen of the veela nation so legally you should not have been allowed to enter either."
Fleur blinked. She hadn't even considered that.
"Of course, the headmaster's age line would not account for such anomalies," Lucius said with a sigh. "But since neither you or the Prince were technically of age and therefore ineligible to compete, neither one of you should have been granted a valid contract by the goblet."
"Then how were our names chosen?"
"That is a good question," Lucius said. "I can only speculate but I would imagine it is due to the way the rule was added. There was nothing said about consequences regarding anyone underage that entered. It doesn't state that the participant's entry with be voided or that they will lose their magic. There's no consequence for entering underage at all, and as such the goblet that while a very powerful magical object can only work within the rules that govern its enchantment. When faced with two underage champions, the goblet was left with no recourse and simply chose to accept the rule."
"But surely for Fleur it could have just picked another student?" Hermione asked.
"What do you mean chose to accept the rule?" Theo asked thoughtfully.
"The goblet is enchanted to pick the one most likely to bring honour to their school," Lucius said. "That is its first objective and therefore takes priority. Fleur was the best option even if she did not fit the of age criteria, so she was accepted. As for what I meant, they were chosen to compete and therefore by magic they were declared of age."
"Does a magical artifact really have that power though?" Theo asked.
"It would appear so," Lucius said softly. "That is the nature of magical contracts. The goblet didn't decide it, rather the magical enchantments upon it did."
"That's mental," Ron said.
Lucius nodded. "As such when you say that the Prince had no choice but to compete, Professor," Lucius said, turning back to Minerva, "you are very wrong. As an of age wizard, he had every right to refuse. Quite frankly, I don't know what lawyers were hired to update the rule book but they did a terrible job."
Harry frowned. He knew from his inheritance test that he'd been emancipated that night but it still surprised him. All that time he'd spent trapped at the Dursleys and he didn't have to be. Just the thought of it made him want to rage about how unfair it all was.
The younger ones all followed the two Mollys out of the chamber so they could have their lesson in household spells. All the while, Harry just stared at the fire, trying to focus on something other than the summer after fourth year. Lucius was deep in conversation with Charlie Weasley to discuss the reserve they were planning to build on Lucius's uninhabited island. But young Lucius was eyeing Harry speculatively. He could tell something was bothering the young man, but he was at a loss for how to help him. The worried expressions on Sirius, Severus and Remus's faces showed they felt the same way. Arcturus was the first to act though.
He stood abruptly and moved over to where his new great-grandson was sitting.
"Care to share?" he asked.
Harry blinked up at him in surprise. He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm just... I just wish I'd known I was emancipated sooner."
Arcturus nodded. He could understand that.
"Things might have been," Harry stopped. This was silly. There was no point going over everything. His life with the Dursleys had sucked but it was over now.
"Things might have been different," Arcturus said gently. "It's okay to be upset about that."
Harry didn't look convinced.
"Harry, one thing that these books have shown me," Arcturus said, "is that you have had next to no control over your own life. It's completely reasonable to resent that. To be quite honest, I'm amazed you're not insanely bitter about it. Things have not been easy for you."
Harry laughed. That was an understatement.
They talked for several moments and soon their conversation moved on to other things. Arcturus wanted to know more about Harry. The real Harry. Not the Harry from the books. Or the Boy-Who-Lived. Or even the Prince. But Harry, his great-grandson. The others joined their conversation and for once Harry wasn't thinking about saving the world or magic or any of the other momentous responsibilities he'd gained. They talked about Quidditch and his favourite school classes. They tried their best to keep the conversation light, avoiding the difficult topics.
Others in the chamber came and went and before long it was time for lunch. Harry didn't really feel up to taking the meal in the dining room with the others and when he said as much his family didn't argue. Lucius requested lunch from one of the house elves and they all carried on talking.
It was strange for Harry. To think of these people as his family. Sure, he'd thought of Sirius that way. And Remus was important to him, even if their relationship had been more distant. But he suddenly had a great-grandfather. Uncles and aunties - that were actually nice to him - and cousins. Three cousins. Draco was polite if a little quiet. It was like he didn't quite know how to act around Harry and that was mildly amusing.
"Do you support a quidditch team?" Draco asked.
Harry shrugged. "Not really. I guess I sort of support Puddlemere because of Ollie. But I've never seen them play or anything."
"We're going to have to fix that," Draco said with a sigh.
"Ron likes the cannons," Harry said.
"That's just moronic," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "They're awful."
"Yeah," Harry laughed, "yeah, they are."
"Personally I support the Falmouth Falcons," Draco said.
It wasn't long before the others returned to the chamber and young Harry came to sit beside his older self. "You weren't at lunch."
"Sorry, kid," Harry said. "I wasn't really feeling up to it."
Young Harry nodded. He understood that. It could get a little overwhelming being surrounded by all these people constantly. "I ate with Neville and Draco. I was paired with Draco during the lesson."
"How did that go?" Harry asked.
"He's alright," Harry said. "Better than he was in the book."
Harry nodded. He felt that a lot of people were better here than they were in the old timeline. He wasn't sure what it was about this place. Perhaps it just brought out the best in people. Something about the purity of it's magic or something. He knew it had to be something like that. Unless the deities were fucking with them and had fucked over his last life for fun. But no, he was almost certain that wasn't the case. He could practically feel the soothing magic in the air. He wondered if that was due to his magical sensitivity.
A distant part of him wondered if he should be concerned that the strange magic was influencing his choices but that didn't sit right. This wasn't like the imperius curse or even controlling potions. It felt too pure for that. He knew with a strange sort of certainty that he could trust this magic.
Their conversation was paused as they realised that the chamber was almost full once more. Mrs Weasley was remarking on them missing the meal. Sirius just laughed while his grandfather took the woman to task for daring to restrict his behaviour. "I am more than twice your age, child. Stop your incessant mothering."
Molly looked highly offended and turned on her heals to go and sit with her husband as Professor Flitwick set the spell on the book again. Harry sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to this.