Chapter 5
Hydrus played with his cousin Alphard on the floor, changing his hair colour to entertain him as their fathers talked. He was a very normal three year old, powerful accidental magic and fascination with dead things aside.
Rabastan looked down at the two boys fondly, "I don't know how Hogwarts will cope with so many members of the House of Black and the Old Crowd in one generation."
Regulus had to agree. Hydrus, Draco, Corvus and the Dark Lord's son, Tom, being in the same year would surely be chaos enough as it is, never mind Alphard being in the year below them and Andromeda's son Atlas in the year above. But the family has grown even more since then- Bellatrix and Rodolphus had another child last year, a daughter, Lyra. Narcissa was currently pregnant again, and Marvolo had used to the same surrogate to have another child last year, Mattheo Noctua Gaunt. All their Hogwarts years would overlap. Not to mention their friends' children- Evan and Barty had married at the end of 1980, already having a surrogate pregnant before they married, and Felix Rosier was born in April 1981. Pandora had been correct in her predictions, and Luna Lovegood had been born in May 1981. It would be absolute chaos, especially when you add in the other Dark sect Heirs around their ages- the Nott Heir, the Zabini Heir, the Greengrass Heiress and the Parkinson Heiress were all the same age as Hydrus. If Regulus were Dumbledore, he'd bloody retire.
"I don't believe there's ever been so many Blacks in Hogwarts at one time," Sirius mused, tilting his head in thought.
"When our parents attended Hogwarts, there was quite a few," Regulus added, "Mother and father's time overlapped with Aunt Lucretia, Uncle Alphard, and Uncle Cygnus. Not to mention, they went to Hogwarts with Marvolo and the original Death Eaters- the Knights of Walpurgis."
"Well, our kids are going to school with Tom- reckon they'll be part of their own mini Death Eaters?" Sirius said, grinning.
Regulus rolled his eyes, "Merlin, my heart won't be able to take it."
"Hopefully, neither will Dumbledore's," Rabastan said dryly, his nose wrinkling with distaste.
They were interrupted by the black raven that Regulus recognised as his grandfather's sweeping in through he open window. Hydrus and Alphard clapped and cooed at the bird, with Hydrus' hair taking on the same gold hue as the bird's eyes. Regulus eyed the official looking letter suspiciously, before looking at Rabastan with his eyebrows raised. Rabastan rolled his eyes, mouthing 'ask him.'
Regulus waited until Sirius had signed something on the parchment and fastened it back to the raven's leg before he spoke, "So, Siri, what was that for?"
Sirius groaned, "This is grandfather's last Wizengamot season as Lord Black. The Lordship goes to me before the Autumn season begins. He refuses to just invite me over and have me go through all the paperwork in one go, so I've been getting hounded by that bloody raven at all hours of the day with singular documents. Not to mention, all the Dark sect Lords are bloody ancient in comparison apart from Rodolphus, Lucius, and Evan."
"Better keep that thought to yourself, love. Marvolo is joining soon, he'd hate for you to think he's old," Rabastan said, smirking.
"Severus is joining too, and I will be there, Sirius," Regulus said, ignoring Rabastan, "Unless grandfather didn't inform you that I'll be holding Hydrus' Peverell seat until he takes up the Lordship."
"That bastard," Sirius cursed, "He doesn't tell me shit! Told me not to tell you about the Black Lordship unless you asked! Thank Merlin you'll be there. Though, I assumed there were requirements to holding the Peverell proxy."
"Grandfather and I paid a visit to Gringotts. The Peverell Accounts Manager, Bloodfang, informed us that only I can take over the proxy as acting-Lord since I'm the Heir's father. It cannot possibly be transferred to anyone else, or they would face backlash from Death. I figured that the sooner I take up the proxy, the better- especially if Marvolo is making his grand return from Poland as soon as he implied."
"He'll come back before the Winter season, if not the Autumn," Rabastan mused, "He wants Tom to complete his tutoring on British soil with Heirs his age, after all. Since that starts at five, he'll want to be here before Tom turns four, so he can have everything in place."
"I cannot wait to see Dumbledore's face in the Wizengamot," Sirius announced, clapping his hands.
Regulus sighed.
______
"And so, this begins the first meeting of the Wizengamot for the Autumn 1983 season. I welcome you all back, esteemed Lords and Ladies. Our first order of business today is to swear in four new members. The seats they are taking over have been kept secret, even to myself," Dumbledore announced. They shouldn't have been able to hear any of that, but Marvolo was very adept at wandless eavesdropping spells. It was no wonder he had so much dirt on people. The ornate marble doors of the Wizengamot chamber slowly swung open, and Regulus squared his shoulders where he stood in between Sirius and Marvolo, noticing how Severus stiffened on Sirius' other side. He kept his head held high, keen to commit the look on the Chief Warlock's face when he heard Marvolo's title to memory. The three of them walked quickly, yet not too quickly, into the Wizengamot chamber.
Regulus had only been here a few times in his life, but enough to commit the layout to memory. The seats were arranged in a U-shape, tiered according to the status of the house each member represented- ranging from Noble up to Most Ancient and Most Noble. A further division existed in the form of the three factions- the Dark, the Grey, and the Light. At the lowest level of the tiered system were the seats of Ministry Department Representatives- these positions were held by the department heads, some of whom may already hold Wizengamot titles. Case in point, Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Bones, who was currently also Head Auror. At ground level was the speaker's podium, just across from the positions held by the Chief Warlock and the Minister and their aide. Above the front podium, off to the side, was the public gallery- currently hosting a few reporters.
"Please, announce yourselves," Dumbledore said, sweeping his gaze over them.
"I am Lord Marvolo Gaunt, Lord to the Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt, and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin," Marvolo said, with the slight accent he had picked up to make his backstory more believable.
"I am Lord Sirius Black, Lord to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black."
"I am Lord Severus Prince, Lord to the Ancient and Noble House of Prince."
"I am acting-Lord Regulus Black, representing the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Peverell for the foreseeable future."
There were whispers of incredulity all around the chamber, and people began to shout out. Dumbledore only had eyes for Marvolo, his gaze sweeping over him rapidly, clearly hoping to recognise him as the former Tom Riddle and coming up short. Regulus did his best to continue to tune out the heckling and focus on the Headmaster's expression.
"The Peverells are dead and gone!"
"The Slytherin line died with the Dark Lord!"
"Line theft, I say!"
"Eileen Prince was disowned, was she not? Has her son been reinstated?"
Minister Bagnold cut them off, shooting bangs from her wand, "Enough! All of you. I'm sure the men before us will be willing to explain themselves in a civilised fashion."
"Of course, Minister," Marvolo nodded, charmingly, "I have recently moved to Britain from Poland, where I grew up. My birth certificate states that I was born here, though I have lived in Poland as long as I can remember. My parents are Gráinne Gaunt and Janusz Kępa, of House Kępa. I have no connection to your Dark Lord, I am simply a man who moved to Britain after the loss of my parents to claim my birthright and raise my son in the land our ancestors called home."
Dumbledore didn't look much less skeptical, but the other Lords and Ladies did. Keen to avoid Dumbledore prying, Regulus decided to speak, "I, like many of you, presumed the Peverell line to have died out up until the birth of my son. It appears, you see, that my several times great grandmother was a Peverell, and the family magics have selected my son as their Heir and future Lord. The Peverell's account manager in Gringotts advised me to take up the proxy for my son's seat, as it would help the family magic settle and make things easier for my son when he becomes Lord. My son is currently a toddler, and I shall be maintaining my role as acting-Lord until the day wherein my son finishes his schooling and decides to take up the mantle."
Regulus ignored looking in the general direction of James, who was staring intently at him from his seat amongst the Light Noble houses.
Severus looked like he would rather be facing a dragon armed with nothing but a bucket of water, but he spoke anyway, "My mother, the former Heiress Eileen Prince, was never disowned from the House- merely prevented from taking up the Lordship after she broke her marriage contract. I have been the Heir since birth, and have decided that it is finally time to take up my Lordship following my grandfather's death last year."
"For the sake of not being left out," Sirius announced, with a cheeky smile, trying to ease the tension, "I am merely taking up my Lordship following my grandfather's retirement from his duties, as I was his Heir. He sends his well wishes to all the Lords and Ladies present today, and looks fondly upon your years together."
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Minister Bagnold, "Perfectly plausible and understandable explanations, gentlemen. If you would please proceed to pledging yourselves, you may get settled in and we can properly begin the session."
"I, Lord Marvolo Ominis Gaunt, hereby declare that I shall act nobly in the interest of both my Houses and society at large as I carry out my duties as a member of the Wizengamot. I pledge the Houses of Gaunt and Slytherin to the Dark, as my ancestors pledged before me."
"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black III, hereby declare that I shall act nobly in the interest of both my House and society at large as I carry out my duties as a member of the Wizengamot. I pledge the House of Black to the Dark, as my forefathers pledged before me."
Regulus raised his wand in the air as he placed his right hand over his heart, as Marvolo and Sirius had done previously. There was truly no going back now, he was indeed a politician for the next fourteen years. Tilting his chin up, he began his oath, "I, acting-Lord Regulus Arcturus Black II, hereby declare that I shall act nobly in the interest of House Peverell, the house of my son, and society at large as I carry out my duties as a member of the Wizengamot. I pledge the House of Peverell to the Dark, as my distant ancestors pledged before me."
Regulus knew what Severus was about to do, not that it brought him any less satisfaction when his friend opened his mouth for his oath, "I, Lord Severus Tobias Prince, hereby declare that I shall act nobly in the interest of both my House and society at large as I carry out my duties as a member of the Wizengamot. I move the seat of my House from the Grey, and Pledge House Prince to the Dark."
Hook, line, sinker.
The commotion was instantaneous, and Regulus relished in it. The reawakening of the Gaunt, Slytherin and Peverell seats had granted the Dark an equal number of active seats to the Light for the first time in decades. Severus changing the allegiance of the Prince seat meant that the Dark now held the most active seats, meaning that Albus Dumbledore would no longer be Chief Warlock. One less position of power for the old man. The seniority system in the Wizengamot meant that the representative for the eldest house in each faction were the faction leaders- if there was more than one Most Ancient and Most Noble House in a faction, then the members would decide between each other who held the title of faction leader. House Dumbledore was merely a Noble House, meaning Dumbledore now answered to Lady Augusta Longbottom- who was not a fan of his.
Minister Bagnold shot more bangs from her wand to silence the room, "You're all adults, act like it! Now, with Lord Prince's decision to realign his seat, the Light faction no longer holds its majority- that honour is bestowed to the Dark. Lord Dumbledore, I must ask you to vacate your seat as Chief Warlock. The Dark shall have their Chief Warlock nominated before next month's session, so that they can be sworn in. We shall continue on today without a Chief Warlock, as is customary."
Dumbledore gazed forlornly at Severus as he walked back to his family seat. Taking that as their cue to also move, the four Lords walked to their seats. The Peverell and the now merged Slytherin-Gaunt seats were in the highest tier of the Dark faction, the Black seat in the tier below, and the Prince seat in the tier below that. Lucius was the current faction leader, but he would most likely become Chief Warlock- making Marvolo the faction leader by default as Regulus was only an acting Lord.
Regulus settled into the surprisingly comfortable seat. The meeting had at least another hour to go, anyway.
______
Marvolo invited Regulus, Sirius, Severus, Lucius, Evan, Rodolphus, and Thaddeus Nott back to Slytherin Castle for a post-Wizengamot debriefing. It made sense, seeing as they were his most trusted, and Marvolo was definitely out of the loop with many of the Lords and Ladies- especially the younger ones. Thaddeus would likely be the most knowledgeable of the older Lords, Lucius presumably being a close second as a result of his sheer need to know everything about everyone, whilst the rest of them would likely know some of the younger Lords and Ladies from overlapping Hogwarts years.
"I'm sure you have all guessed why we gather today," Marvolo began, after instructing his house elves to prepare some light refreshments, "I believe we should discuss strategy- who will be amenable to the cause, what path we plan to pursue, who to put forward for Chief Warlock, etcetera."
The rest of the men paused to think for a moment, and Marvolo stirred his tea with a lazy wave of a finger.
"Lady Pyrites, of the Grey section is as Dark as can be," Lucius eventually said, breaking the silence, "The only reason she didn't move her seat to the Dark was something to do with the will of her late father."
"Not the only bloody reason," Thaddeus scoffed, "The witch is obsessed with the attention she receives from members of the other two factions leading up to an important vote. She does vote with the Dark, I cannot think of a time where she hasn't, but she will refuse to confirm her vote unless highly flattered. Myself and Avery are well accustomed to dealing with her, and can save the rest of you the torture of it, though she will likely be incredibly interested in Marvolo."
"Oh, what a joy," Marvolo said, dryly.
"Grandfather told me to try my hardest to get into Lady Longbottom's good graces," Sirius noted, a thoughtful look on his face, "She's an outlier amongst the Light, even though she's their faction leader, as she's more traditionalist than progressive. In terms of cultural bills, she tends to vote in agreement with the Dark."
"She's also not opposed to the legalisation of ritual magic, the incorporation of Blood Magic into the Healing sector, and she hates Dumbledore," Thaddeus added, "If Dumbledore wholeheartedly agrees with a motion and tries to sway the Light faction, she'll come up with twenty criticisms on the spot and tell them all to use the brains Lady Magic gave them."
"Yes, Augusta was always quite the firecracker. We attended school together, you see. She's part of the reason I cast the Fidelius charm over the knowledge of my past appearance," Marvolo said, looking rather amused, "The woman manipulated the sorting hat to put her in Gryffindor through sheer cunning to prove her family wrong, allegedly, though I don't doubt the validity of that rumour for a moment."
"Madam Bones is certainly someone to keep an eye on," Lucius said, warily, "She is as truly Grey as they come. She cares for the laws that make sense and the pursuit of justice, not whether something is Light or Dark. I believe if we need her to hear out a Dark Bill, that I can speak to her. If something has a well-thought out justification, alongside evidence to back it up, she normally supports it, and many Grey faction members will follow."
"Excellent. Now, we can discuss more members at a later date. I wish to make you all aware that I plan to endorse Lucius as Chief Warlock," Marvolo said, with a respectful nod to the man in question.
"Marvolo, it is truly an honour that you think so highly of me."
"I was already planning to support Lucius myself," Regulus admitted. The rest of the men present echoed the sentiment.
"Wonderful," Marvolo smiled, "Do we have any thoughts on Bills for this season that we can put forward at the next Dark faction meeting?"
"I have been thinking of Creature legislation recently," Sirius admitted, "I believe that we, as members of the Dark faction, should attempt to re-establish the relations we had with Creature communities before the war ended and move to change legislation to be more favourable."
"This is why you're Lord Black and not me," Regulus said, grinning at his older brother. Sirius rolled his eyes, but smiled back.
"An excellent idea, Sirius. I believe I can reach out to Fenrir and his pack for a meeting soon, and we can work from there, yes?"
______
James being asked to attend a meeting with Dumbledore was the last thing he needed after a Wizengamot meeting, and yet here he was. He knew it would be about Regulus, he knew the man would be reeling from losing the title of Chief Warlock, and he knew he'd rather go the fuck home and crack open a bottle of Firewhiskey. But one simply did not ignore a summons from Dumbledore. The man would show up to Potter Manor later if he did, and then Lily would be annoyed at him for not listening to him. James scowled before stepping into the floo, requesting the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts.
"James, my boy!" Dumbledore said, with all his usual cheer, though his signature eye twinkle was very much dimmed, "Lemon Drop?"
Fuck those laced sweets, fuck Dumbledore for thinking of putting Veritaserum in the sweets he offered to children visiting his office, and fuck this entire day. Seeing Regulus manage to pull off those hideous plum Wizengamot robes had already fucked up his morning, and now Dumbledore was going to absolutely ruin the afternoon too.
"No thank you, Headmaster," he said pleasantly, "I'm not really in the mood for anything sweet."
"Ah, of course, my boy. Now, I'm sure you're awfully busy, so I'll keep this short. I've called you here to ask about the Peverell seat. What do you know of Mr Black's claims?"
Bugger, here we go. Dumbledore must be livid if he wasn't beating around the bush.
"Black contacted me a couple of years ago, politely requesting any books that may exist in the Potter vault belonging to the Peverells. He did indeed show me proof of his son's claim to the title, and I gave him the books he asked for. The Potters are only the keepers of the Peverell keys and such until a new Heir is born, as there hadn't been one in well over a century."
"So you believe Mr Black's claim is valid? There is no way that you could claim back the seat?"
"Yes, Sir, magic would have struck him down when he made the oath if he was not truly able to hold the proxy. The Potters have no ability to hold the seat, unless we have a Peverell Heir as a blood-related charge with primary care and Lady Magic's blessing. The moment the Heir is deemed old enough by magic to allow Black access to the vault in his steed, the Potters lose their care over the estate."
Dumbledore was frowning deeply, "Are you positive?"
"Yes, I believe Black is able to hold the proxy because the most recent Lady Peverell is indeed a reasonably close direct ancestor. Far closer than the Potter relation."
"How did you find that out?"
"The Potter family tree intertwines with the Blacks on many occasions. The small picture of their family tree that I am able to see from these marriages does name Lady Sadhbh Peverell, who married into the Blacks in 1803."
"Very well then, my boy. I'll ask more questions at the next Wizengamot meeting. Before you leave, I must ask your opinion on the proceedings this morning. What do you think of Lord Gaunt-Slytherin, specifically?"
"I don't believe that he's the Dark Lord, if that's what you're asking," James said, "I think he's well and truly gone."
"Well... thank you for your insight. I shan't keep you any longer."
"Good day then, Sir. I shall see you at the next meeting, if not before."
When James flooed back to his office in Potter Manor, he decided to write out a quick letter to Regulus. Dumbledore's questions into the Peverell seat did technically involve the son they shared, so a heads-up was probably necessary.
Dumbledore summoned me after the Wizengamot. Asked about the Peverell seat and your claim on it. Think he is looking for a way for me to claim it instead (which I won't be doing, I value my life). Expect questions at the next session.
He seems to believe Lord Gaunt-Slytherin is the Dark Lord, which must surely be the baseless ramblings of a senile old man. You may wish to make him aware regardless.
-J
James sighed, checking the time before deciding it was indeed not too early to crack open a bottle of Ogden's. Bloody Dumbledore.
It was an hour later, well after James had taken the opportunity of an empty house to mournfully pour over his hidden photos from himself and Regulus' relationship, that he received a surprising response to his owl.
The twinkly-eyed old twat's predictability is beginning to bore me, but it's always nice to be proven right. Perhaps I am a seer, after all.
Thank you.
-R.A.B.