Akira's true parentage (Rewrite)

Greengrass Manor, June 1st, 2002

Severus was waiting for Lord and Lady Greengrass in the informal meeting room in Greengrass Manor. He had left the school since it is the weekends and through his contract, Severus was able to leave the school every weekend. But he had to return on Sunday afternoon, in order to prepare for the next day. He had received a letter from the couple, in which they are in need of his expertise as potion master and medi-wizard since there is a family emergency. Severus had a bad feeling regarding this meeting and dread was filling his stomach since something is telling him that this meeting is not going to be a good one. There are going to be bad news.

Cyrus and Danielle entered the informal meeting room with a bad feeling. They have called Severus here, in order to discuss the condition of their youngest daughter with him. Astoria has the worst affliction of the blood maledictus in generations and her life span was cut short due to the condition. Cyrus knew that he needed all the help, he could get, in order to help his daughter and maybe he should start with Severus since he has a potion mastery and soon his DADA mastery.

Entering the meeting room and sitting down, the elves served them tea. When the greetings were done, Severus asked: “Cyrus, you wanted to see me. Is it something urgent that the others can’t know?”

Cyrus sighed deeply and started to explain: “Severus, do you know the curse that is plaguing the Greengrass family for generations?”

Severus felt dread in his stomach, when Cyrus asked him this. It is well known around the UK that the Greengrasses especially the females and the male bearers in the family are suffering an old bloodline curse, when they were born. “The Blood Maledictus.”

Cyrus nodded gravely and explained: “Astoria has the worst symptoms of the curse and according to the healers in St. Mungos, her life-span has been cut short. She will not survive her fortieth birthday.” Danielle had tears streaming down her face, when Cyrus was finished, and the man himself was trying everything to remain calm. Severus looked down saddened. He wished, he could help them, but sadly, even his expertise in potions has limits, but he will work on the issue in his free-time. There must be a way to help the girl. Maybe Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn could help them in that endeavour. Narcissa is a healer and Augustus and Thorfinn are experts in rituals. Maybe if they work together, they would be able to help Astoria.

Severus said after some time: “I will try my best to help her, but I need assistance in this situation. I would need Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn for this problem.”

Cyrus had a thoughtful look at that. Lady Malfoy is a licensed healer. Lords Rookwood and Rowle are Unspeakables and knew many rituals that could help them, but both men needed permission from the head of the DoM, so that they are allowed to work on the bloodline curse. He decided: “This is a good idea, but how about if we add a curse breaker in our team since the Blood Maledictus is a curse.” Severus and Danielle nodded in agreement and Danielle added: “Maybe we should go to Gringotts to see, if there is any other way that we can help our daughter.” Both men had to admit that this would be a good idea. Cyrus already planned to make an appointment with his account manager. Maybe the goblins knew a way, how to help them.

Severus questioned: “When are you going to reveal your daughter’s condition to the others? I mean nearly everyone noticed the pensive looks on your faces during the celebration of Aurelius’ conviction.”

Cyrus and Danielle looked at each other and had to admit that Severus was right. Maybe they should tell the others about Astoria’s condition. Furthermore, they would tell Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn about Astoria’s condition and would request their help in this endeavour.

Danielle answered: “We will tell the others about Astoria’s condition at the next pre-meeting in Lestrange Manor.” Severus nodded in understanding and took a long drink of his tea wishing that there was some scotch in it.

Gringotts, June 5th, 2002

Cyrus and Danielle, who had Daphne and Astoria in their arms, made their way to their account manager’s office, in order to consult the goblins about Astoria’s condition. Maybe the goblin nation could give them some answers. The teller knew that it was a private meeting, but whatever it was, he felt dread. The goblin knew that the Greengrasses would not risk a goblin war, but there was going to be something tragic that would happen, where even the goblin nation wouldn’t be able to help them.

Entering the account manager’s office, Cyrus and Danielle thanked the goblin and the Greengrass account manager, Ulk, took over. He sent the teller back and sat down behind his desk. After the couple took their seat, Ulk asked: “Lord and Lady Greengrass, you had made an appointment with me since you want to discuss something private, but also very urgent.” Both nodded and Lady Greengrass was the one, who explained the situation. “Ulk, our youngest daughter has the strongest case of the Blood Maledictus and we had hoped that maybe the goblin nation could help us in this situation that would help our family to break the bloodline curse.”

Ulk sighed sadly. The Blood Maledictus in his client’s family is the worst curse that even the goblin nation wouldn’t be able to break. It was annoying and frustrating to the goblins to not know, how to break a curse, but the goblins were researching all the ways to help the families like the Greengrass Family, who were affected by the bloodline curse. Ulk can only suggest to give the girl a regime full of potions that would help the girl with the symptoms and that would extend her life to sixty or seventy years. Unlike the wixens, the goblins managed to create the potions that would help the girl to extend her life span by twenty to thirty years.

The account manager answered: “Unfortunately, Lady Greengrass, we don’t know, how to break that particular curse since the goblin nation is still researching many ways to break the curse, but unlike the wixens, we have developed a potion regime that would extend your youngest daughter’s life to sixty or seventy years.” Both parents didn’t like the answer, but they were glad that the goblins have potions that would extend Astoria’s life span a bit longer.

Cyrus asked: “How much does the potions cost?” The man would give half of his fortune, in order to extend Astoria’s life. The goblin knew the expression and assured them: “It will cost you 7,000 Galleons. So, there is no need to give us half of your fortune for the regime.” Both parents were surprised at the costs. 7,000 Galleons is only a very small fraction of their fortune. Cyrus and Danielle discussed it quietly and agreed that it should be worth it since their daughter would live a longer life, but there was another question regarding the side-effects with other potions and spells. “Ulk, would the potion regime react negatively with other potions or spells like a pain reliever or a healing spell and would it also react badly, if Astoria partook in a ritual?”

Ulk quickly reassured: “No, the potions in the regime are created in a magically neutral area, which is also the reason, why we would be able to extend your daughter’s life longer than with the help of the potions in the wixen world. So, there is no need to worry about any negative reactions with the other potions and spells. You should be worried about the potions created by wixens since they had not been brewed in a magically neutral area and those potions could have some nasty side-effects.” Cyrus and Danielle let out a breath of relief and were going to arrange the potions from the goblins from here on since they were safer than the potions from their world.

Cyrus answered: “Good, can you make the arrangements for the potion regime? We are willing to pay for the potion regime and we also want to extend our daughter’s life.” Ulk nodded and prepared the paperwork for the purchase.

Cyrus and Danielle filled the paperwork and Cyrus stamped the vault key on the parchment, in order to authorise the payments. With that, the meeting was finalised. Ulk hoped that one day someone would find a way to break the bloodline curse on the Greengrass Family. For generation, he had watched the females and male bearers of his client’s family suffer from this curse. The account manager would not even subject his worst enemy to this.

Malfoy Manor

In the afternoon, the Malfoys started to celebrate their son’s birthday. Narcissa had everything prepared. The cake, the decoration and the dinner. When the guests started to arrive, the Malfoys expected their allies, but there were going to be some blood purists like the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Parkinsons and the Bulstrodes with their children. There were some hostile looks from the blood purists towards Arthur Weasley and his four boys, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George, and the Clearwaters. They kept their glares away from Pandora Lovegood, Muriel Prewett, Callidora and Augusta Longbottom due to their power in the Wizengamot or in Muriel’s, Augusta’s and Callidora’s case, the social circles. Narcissa knew that they are keeping their heads down, in order to avoid anything to their reputation.

Little Draco had a lot of fun. Especially with his cousin, Penelope, who he called Penny. Raphael Parkinson didn’t understand the muggle family in the manor and questioned Lucius about the girl. Lucius just smirked and answered: “Lord Parkinson, little Penelope is a squibborn.” This caused the man to stare at the Malfoy lord. Another potential line thief. Augustinus Lestrange joined their conversation. He had overheard the man asking about his little cousin and he is going to drop a bomb that would anger those fools that believed in blood supremacy. “Lord Malfoy, Lord Parkinson, why are you two discussing my heiress?”

“Heiress?!”, Raphael questioned disdainfully. “But what about your great-nephews and niece, Lord Lestrange?”

Augustinus hid a scowl and huffed: “Don’t even mention those three abominations. They are nothing to me, when I have disowned them. Little Penelope is my new heiress since she is descending from my aunt, Esmeralda Lestrange.” Raphael was furious that Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan were kicked out of the family in favour of that brat. But before he could say something, Lucius continued: “Furthermore, she is also a welcome relative of the Malfoy Family through her mother, who is descending from Licinius Malfoy.” Raphael swallowed hard, when Lucius told him that the girl was a descendant from the Malfoy line. It was better to leave the Malfoy Family be. There was nothing he could do without causing a feud.

The birthday party continued on without any fuss.

When the party came to an end, Lucius and Narcissa checked up the presents, if there were no harmful curses or spells. Fortunately, the presents were clean, but there were more presents than they had thought. They asked one of their elves, why there seem to be more presents than there were guests. The elf answered that some presents were sent through owls. Looking at the presents, Narcissa noticed that some came from Dumbledore and his older followers. Both parents quickly examined the present and were happy that there were no spells or curses in them. But both knew that this was a way to sway them to the light side. This is good that Dumbledore and his older followers were less biased than the younger generation.

Japan, June 9th, 2002

In an estate, a meeting was taking place. There were many witches and wizards dressed in formal wizarding robes sitting debating about the political climate in Magical Japan and how to gain more influence within the Japanese Ministry of Magic, but they needed pawns for that. A grey-haired man was sitting in the middle and he was the leader of the group. He had received a message with a power-level chart of a magical child from his second-in-command that he had found a new pawn that could help them. The man was shocked at how powerful the child is and could only agree that the brat would be really useful. The man was interrupted from his musings by a man with dark hair, brown eyes and square glasses. He had enough of waiting. “Owada-san, I hope that Shido-san has a good reason to waste our time. You know that I have a business to run and time is money.”

Jyun Owada knew that he had to calm his followers down. “Okumura-san, do not worry. Masayoshi is not going to waste our time like this, but with his message, he sent me this.” He showed the man the chart.

Another man with light brown hair questioned: “A power-level chart for magical children? Why would we waste our time with the power-level of a child?”

The grey-haired man answered annoyed: “Because Shido had found a powerful child, if you had paid attention to the results of the chart. I am surprised, that the brat could be so powerful, and maybe he could be useful for our cause.”

Before anyone can say anything, a house elf appeared in front of Owada, who informed him that Shido is here, and as the elf popped away, a thin, bald man with brown eyes and a short beard entered the room. He was wearing formal robes for the meeting and the man was wearing yellowish glasses. Furthermore, the man was carrying some files. “Owada-san, I am here. I apologise for the lateness, but I had some research to do.”

Owada noticed the files and nodded in understanding. “Take a seat, Shido-san and let start the meeting that you have called.”

After everyone was seated, Owada’s attention was on Shido and he asked: “Masayoshi, you called this meeting regarding a magical child with very high power-level, correct?”

The bald man answered shortly: “Yes.” Owada continued: “Then, elaborate, what you have found? You know the punishment of wasting our time.” Shido nodded and started to explain: “I was this year in Inaba, in order to recruit more followers for our cause, and coincidently, I found a mother with a magical toddler in a muggle park. The boy was doing a lot of accidental magic and I measured his power-levels. I was surprised, how powerful the brat was and thought that he would be useful. So, I started to research the boy and his parents and the results were surprising. With some memory charms and compulsions, I was able to get information from the muggle government about the family. The parents are simple muggles, who have some connections in our world. The father, Kurusu Toisho, is currently working in the muggle prosecution office and through some high-ranking cases, he was in contact with the magical world. His wife, Kurusu Aika, who works as a scientist, has a cousin, who married a wizard and that is the reason, why she is aware of our existence. Then, there is their son, Kurusu Akira, or better to say their adopted son. According to the file, I managed to get about the boy, I know that he is not from Japan, but he was actually born in Britain of all countries. There are adoption papers in the file from the muggle child services in Britain regarding the family. But I wasn’t able to investigate the boy’s birth name since his name was changed and only his changed name was on the adoption papers. The only way to find out the boy’s birth name is to travel to Britain, which I have no intention to do since I am not in the mood to go on a wild goose chase.”

Okumura questioned, when Shido took a break and drank some fire whiskey: “Is there something else?”

Shido smirked and answered: “In the file, there is also a letter from the British Embassy in the muggle world about the adoption and furthermore, there were some documents from Britain sent to the child services here in Japan, but unfortunately, the boy’s birth name was not mentioned in any of the documents.” Okumura nodded and became worried, when he looked at the copy of his own file and the power-level of the boy. He hoped that those monsters, who killed his wife, will not get their hands on the child. That would be terrible. Kunikaze never wanted to join them, but he had been forced to by his father and when he started to resist after his father had died, those monsters killed his wife after his daughter was born. At first, Kunikaze wanted to send Haru to his and his wife’s close friend and Haru’s godmother, Mariko Hyodo, so that she can live safely, but it would endanger the woman needlessly and he can’t risk her. At least, Kunikaze made sure that his daughter spent the majority of her time with Mariko, in order to give her some protections against the Anti-Social Force. Unfortunately, Sugimura Hiashi had wanted to betroth his son and heir to his daughter. At first, he wanted to refuse, but Owada agreed with the betrothal and like always, in order to protect his daughter, Okumura agreed. Kunikaze had to keep his head down since he doesn’t want his daughter to meet an early grave like his wife. Laying the paperwork aside, the man was restraining a sigh.

Sugimura asked: “Does he have a magical guardian?”

Shido grumbled: “Yes, I requested, if it was possible to gain magical guardianship over the boy since he has non-magical parents, but the child service department explained to me that they received a notification from the goblins that the brat already has a magical guardian and that he or she is residing in Britain. But that was everything, what I have managed to get legally from the department.”

Many were displeased since the magical guardian is out of their reach. Kunikaze was relieved that the boy is protected and that the magical guardian is living far away, but who could it be? Kunikaze had a lot of questions regarding this adoption case since the adoption was done very fast to his liking. Normally, there would be a lot of bureaucracy especially, in the muggle world, and it would have taken months or even a few years until the Kurusus managed to become parents to the boy. But both parents got custody of the boy in 24 hours and everything was finalised and sealed. How and why did the muggle child services in Britain do this adoption so fast? Looking closer, he noticed that this adoption was not a normal adoption since the former guardians of the Kurusu boy signed away their rights to the Kurusus, but even that, would take weeks or months to be finalised by the child services in Japan and Britain.

Okumura managed to get the attention and explained surprised: “My dear Lords, Ladies, what I have noticed, is that the adoption is not a normal adoption since the former guardians of the Kurusu boy signed away their rights to the Kurusus. From what I know, the transfer of guardianship rights does also take weeks or even months due to the bureaucracy in the muggle world here in Japan and Britain. And I am asking myself, how the child services in the muggle world managed to do that in only 24 hours and why?”

Many took a closer look at the paperwork and questioned, how this was possible? Even Shido was confused, how and why the muggle child services in Britain did this so fast? Maybe he should pay a visit in the UK, in order to see, what was going on.

The meeting came to an end and Owada ordered Shido to send some of their subordinates to keep an eye on the boy. He also told him that they will wait before they will act. There was going to be a lot of work.

Hogwarts, June 15th, 2002

The students of Hogwarts were revising for their second week of exams. Bill was revising for his exams with the help of the books, he had received from Lady Apolline Delacour. Bill knew that the normal exams were made by the professors, whereas the OWL and NEWT exams were coming from the ministry, which were following the educational rules, standards and mandates of the ICW. The normal exams are written by the professors, where the class material is tested. That is the reason why many Gryffindors were struggling during their OWLs and NEWTs since the standards are higher and the material is more challenging. He had noticed that his other year mates from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin had books from either France or the States since the material and the books here in the UK are lacking. Only the Gryffindors do not have that. Bill could only theorise that the other heads of house are sending their own messages to tell their students that the current course books were outdated. That is the reason why the other houses are doing better than Gryffindor since McGonagall is following the headmaster blindly.

When it was time for dinner, Bill went down to the great hall, in order to eat. He will ask his friends in the other houses about the books.

After dinner, Bill met up with his friends from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and asked them about the course books that they were reading since he noticed that they are not from the UK. One of the Ravenclaws said that their head of house encourages them to buy their course books from the States or France, in order to be better prepared for their OWLs and NEWTs in their fifth and seventh year. Furthermore, the OWL and NEWT exams cover more than the class material in Hogwarts and additionally, the course books are up to par with the ICW curriculum.

Bill was grateful that he had the books from Lady Delacour since his education would have been subpar in comparison to his year mates. He had plans to attend summer school for the muggle subjects and he would be doing English, Math, Latin, French, Science, Muggle history and Geography. His father already signed him up for these classes and arranged the tutors for him.

For the practical portion in his magical subjects, Bill went to his professors apart from McGonagall and their current DADA professor. For transfiguration and DADA, he would be taught by a magical tutor. He also chose to self-study magical theory during the summer. He would be busy during that time.

Minerva was surveying the students and frowned, when she looked at Anton Abbott, who was talking with his fellow house mates. She was furious that Anton has chosen Greengrass over Sarah. She turned her attention to Sarah, who had a look of longing at Anton hoping that he would come to her and be with her, but that isn’t the case since the boy was avoiding her like the plague since the attack on him and his house mates.

What Minerva also noticed, is the fact that Sarah seemed to be withdrawing more and more. A majority of her lions were furious that she had lost 100 points. She tried to help her lions to get the points back, but it was barely possible since the other members of staff didn’t want to let her get away with this. There must be something that she could do for her lion.

But Minerva’s planful expression didn’t go unnoticed since Pomona noticed it and made plans to protect her badger from Albus and Minerva. She knew that those two are planning something and she will not allow Anton to be harmed. Thankfully, Albus was currently in the Wizengamot dealing with the Wizengamot trials for this month and her badger would be finished with school this year. So, she had to worry about Minerva and she is going to keep an eye on her.

When Albus arrived back from the Wizengamot trials, he was exhausted. He informed his followers that on Monday, there was going to be an order meeting, in order to discuss the Summer Solstice Wizengamot meeting. He had plans to ban Bardic Magic from their world. The magic had been used in the mind-healing arts to treat trauma and psychological issues by playing magical instrument, but in the darker aspects, the magic was also used to control people and to create mindless drones. The Pied-Piper-flute for example is a very dangerous, dark-magical instrument since it is able to entrance every living being with its magic. The victims would become mindless drones and would follow the flutist around or even dance. It was once used by a German wizard in Hamelin, who had wanted to help the city’s inhabitants against a rat plague. The man was successful, but the muggles refused to pay him and even scorned him, because he was a wizard. And to make matters worse, they tried to kill him since in their view, witches and wizards were devil worshippers. Out of revenge, the Pied Piper used his flute to entrance the children of Hamelin and made them follow him to the nearest lake, where they were all drowned to death.

The magical government acted fast and arrested the man. He was sentenced to death for mass murder of innocents. The instrument was locked away by the magical government especially the Department of Mysteries since they wanted to study the flute closer, but the muggles were also charged and found guilty for the attempted murder on a wizard. Furthermore, they were also blamed for the death of the children due to their ungratefulness and their actions. The muggles were killed on sight since in their case killing or attempting to kill a witch or wizard was an automatic death penalty, which angered the muggle rulers back then. This led to a rift between the magical and the non-magical world and it was also one of the catalysts to the Statute of Secrecy.

Albus will try to get the Pied-Piper-flute from the German Ministry of Magic, in order to make sure that he has complete control over the muggle world and to make them pay, for what they had done to his family. His first attempt was thwarted, when the German Department of Mysteries sent the flute in Switzerland. It was an annoyance, but he will get the flute and from there, he would be ruling the muggles. But first, he needed to gain control over the wizarding world globally.

Headmaster’s office, June 17th, 2002

Albus was sitting behind his desk and was surveying his followers. He hoped that this time, they would be successful with banning Bardic Magic by using the Pied-Piper-flute as a way to convince the other members of the Wizengamot for the ban. Furthermore, Albus made sure that his followers were behaving. He noticed the sombre expression on Benjy and knew that the month must have been hard on him. Since the Abbotts broke the alliance with the Fenwicks, things have gone the wrong way. Whereas his followers chattered, Albus had a private conversation with the head of the Fenwick Family. “Benjy, my boy, I am a little worried about Sarah. She had retreated herself from her friends and is a bit left out. I am concerned that she is isolating herself more and more.”

Benjy sighed. He didn’t think that his daughter would have it bad at school, but he can tell that Abbott is responsible for Sarah’s problems. If the brat had accepted his daughter as his fiancée and not Greengrass, then, nothing like this would have happened in the long run. The man sighed. “If I had been aware, I would have helped her. I blame Abbott for this mess, Albus. Why did he choose Greengrass? My daughter is a better match.”

Albus was smoothing down his beard with his hand. He was thinking about his next approach. He knew that if they act now against the Greengrass Family, they would face a backlash that would destroy his and his followers’ reputation, but if he waits for Tom’s return, then, he could use this opportunity to discredit the Greengrass Family and make sure that Anton would divorce Jaques and marry Sarah, but he has to wait for that to happen. Albus said: “I know, my boy, but we will have to wait and see the results. Maybe Anton would realise his mistake on a later date and then, we could assist him in getting a divorce. Then, maybe there Sarah would have a chance.” Benjy nodded and was more optimistic.

Albus knew that he had to use this tactic since he didn’t want his more biased followers to take matters into their own hands and get in trouble. James is a prime example for this.

Whereas the others were discussing the ban against Bardic Magic in the headmaster’s office, Lily was making her way to Severus’ office, in order to find a way to convince the man to lower the standards and the expectations since her boys’ education is in jeopardy. Maybe she would be able to sway him to the light even though Lily knew that it was impossible and Severus was responsible for taking her base of friends and as an insult to injury, she was called a liar, a mudblood and a bitch by her former friends. Lily wanted to make him pay for this, but sadly, he was untouchable and most of her friends turned their backs on her even Marlene and Dorcas wanted nothing to do with her and Mary and sided with Severus even though she tried everything to warn them that Severus was dark and evil. It was painful to watch her former friends abandon her in favour of Snape.

Reaching Severus’ office, Lily prepared herself for an argument. She went in without knocking.

Severus and Aurora were discussing their plans for the summer holidays. Aurora was planning to visit her relatives in the States, whereas Severus was going to spent his vacation in Spain. “I can’t wait to leave everything behind me and enjoy the sun in Spain. The only thing that I will dread is to return back to school.” Aurora chuckled. Both were interrupted, when someone went into their office without knocking. Severus was surprised to see Lily. Aurora was the same.

Lily had a fake smile on her face and greeted both professors. “Hello, Severus, Professor Sinistra, I would like to have a private word with you, Sev.” Severus turned his attention to Aurora, who retreated back to her new office.

Severus was less than pleased to be with Lily alone in the room. Thankfully, he had protections against potions and spells. So, Lily wouldn’t be able to do anything harmful against him. He knew, how vindictive she could be. It had taken everything in him to withhold his disdain for her actions against Akira and her past actions and inactions against him. “Lily, what can I do for you?”

Lily knew that this meeting was going to be difficult, but she hoped that she would be able to gain some grounds with her first friend. “I came here to talk to you about the potion class and the new standards and curriculum that you have implemented in December.”

Severus sighed knowing that Lily is here to convince him to lower the potion class standards and curriculum for the Potter twins. That was not going to happen. He asked: “What is there to talk about?”

Lily was slightly annoyed by Sev. “It is that those standards and the curriculum that you have managed to pass at the December meeting are going to make things harder for the students especially for John and Harry. I want both of my boys to become aurors like James and Sirius, but with these changes in the potion class, it would be harder. Surely, you could make an exception.”

Severus was startled by this approach. The woman is slightly delusional. He answered: “No.”

Lily’s eye twitches. What did he mean with no? “But Sev-“

Severus interrupted the woman before she could continue: “No, Lily, I will not change the standards and the curriculum of the potion class, because you are demanding it for your children. For every student, this rule will apply equally. I will not change the rules, because your youngest is the boy-who-lived.”

“But you have to.” Lily started to become angry that John would be equalised with the other children like this. It is an insult. Her baby is the boy-who-lived.

Before she could go any further, Severus interrupted: “No and that is final. The potion class will remain like this, so that the students are better prepared in their careers.”

Lily was angry. Why does nothing work? Severus was supposed to be so smitten with her that he would agree with her argument. “But-“

“Lily, listen. I know, you want, what is best for your children, but I can’t prioritise your children over the other children that are going to attend Hogwarts in the future. The best suggestion, I can give you is to make sure that both of your boys work hard, in order to earn their grades.” When Severus thought that the conversation was over, his office door opened again and James, Sirius and Remus came in. Aurora entered the office, in order to avoid a fight. James wanted to know, where his wife had gone since she left the headmaster’s office so sudden. Seeing her here with Snivellus made his blood boil. “Lily, what are you doing here with that scum? You were supposed to wait until the meeting ended.”

Lily said angrily: “I am here to change Sev’s mind about the curriculum and the standards in the potion class, in order to ensure that both of our boys can pass their NEWTs. You want them to be aurors and without a NEWT in potion it is impossible, James. I am trying to ensure our boys’ future.”

Severus was getting annoyed and cleared his throat. “Lily, like I said it before and I am saying it again. The answer is no. I will not change the parameters of the potion class.”

“But-“

“But nothing and can you kindly leave my office? I now want peace and quiet dome, because I am planning my vacation.”

Lily growled at the back of her throat. “This is not over, Severus.” The redhead left the office.

James curled his lips in anger. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know, what. He wished that there was a way to fix the potion class.

All three remaining marauders left Snape’s office. There had to be a way to help Harry and John to pass the potion class easily, so that his boys could become aurors. But with Snape stonewalling them, it was going to be hard. James left the office with Sirius and Remus.

After the fools were gone, Aurora returned back and continued with their holiday plans. “I am glad, Severus, that this meeting didn’t end up in violence.”

“Me either, but I believe that attacking me, so that I have to change the standards and the curriculum back under force, would have made a bad impression on the board and it would have had the opposite reaction in the school board.” Aurora nodded in agreement. The rest of the day was talked about the different locations that Severus was going to visit in Spain.

Abbott Manor, June 18th, 2002

Arthur was visiting Zachary and Amélie Abbott, in order to sway them away from Dumbledore and his followers. His children are currently supervised by Muriel. He had his and his sons’ inheritance tests to show them, what kind of person his wife, Dumbledore and McGonagall are.

Zachary and Amélie were sitting and waiting for Arthur. They both were enjoying a cup of tea and some biscuits. Zachary has been friends with Arthur since they were in school and he had no problems with the man. The only problem, he had, was his wife. Molly Weasley was someone, who he didn’t like due to her overbearing behaviour. He never understood, how Arthur could love that woman, but he didn’t want to argue about this point since Arthur was stubborn.

When Arthur was led to the informal meeting room by one of the house elves, he saw Zachary and Amélie sitting drinking tea. He quickly greeted them: “Hello Zachary, Amélie. Thanks for your time.”

“Hello, Arthur. How are you doing? How are your children? Your wife?”, Zachary asked.

Arthur tightened his face, when his wife was mentioned, but remained relaxed. He answered: “They are all alright, Zachary. Thank you for your concern. But I am here, because of my wife.” Arthur took a sip of his tea that was served by the elf. He wasn’t sure, how strong their allegiances are towards the old fool and his lap cat, but he doesn’t believe that they are really strong: “This also concerns Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.”

Zachary and Amélie shared a glance and were confused. Both turned to Arthur and Amélie asked: “Okay. What do you want to tell us about your wife, Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall?”

Arthur answered by taking out the inheritance tests he had made in November and had spread them on the table: “I want to give both of you a warning, because of this.”

Zachary and Amélie read the inheritance tests and were furious, what Dumbledore, McGonagall and Molly had done. Amélie said in outrage: “How dare they. How dare they do this to you and your children. I should have known that something was fishy in your family, but I couldn’t put my finger that something was wrong.”

Arthur smiled sadly and assured them: “I know, Amélie, but thankfully, I managed to get a purge and escape their clutches. Molly is currently under house arrest and Dumbledore and McGonagall are clueless that I am free.”

Zachary questioned: “Why don’t you divorce her?”

Arthur answered quickly: “Because I don’t want Dumbledore to know that I am free from his influence.” Zachary and Amélie agreed on that, because Dumbledore would focus on Arthur and his children again and he would try everything to get Arthur back under control, which can’t be allowed. They also came to the conclusion that they can’t align themselves with Dumbledore any longer with these revelations, but they also can’t leave the light section since there would be too many questions regarding their reassignment.

Zachary asked: “How did you manage to free yourself from their influence?”

Arthur answered: “Lady Narcissa Malfoy was indirectly responsible for helping me since she wrote an anonymous letter to Lord Crouch that I was under potions and spells.” Both were surprised by this revelation. They thought that the Weasley-Malfoy Feud would not allow this. Zachary asked: “Arthur, how is that possible? I mean the Malfoy-Weasley Blood Feud would not have made it possible.”

Arthur explained: “Zachary, there is no blood feud between the Weasleys and the Malfoys. It was made up by the former Lord Malfoy, Abraxas Malfoy, and Dumbledore, but in reality, the Weasleys are owning a life debt in the form of a marriage contract to the Malfoy Family since the Malfoys were one of the families that saved the main branch from being massacred.”

Amélie questioned: “Are you talking about the Weasley Massacre from 1841?” She remembered reading about this event and never understood, how this had happened since most books didn’t explain the Weasley Massacre. Arthur explained the incident and they were shocked that the side branch and Archibald Dumbledore planned to kill off the main branch, but thankfully it failed due to the help of the combined forces from the Malfoy, Black, Potter and Longbottom families, which led to the eradication of the side branch and the death of the former Light Lord Archibald Dumbledore.

With that, Amélie and Zachary were discussing, what to do, but they don’t know, how to leave Dumbledore’s fraction without causing a scandal. Arthur had seen their discomfort and he had an idea. “Zachary, Amélie, I know, how I can help you both with all these nasty revelations about our ‘benevolent’ headmaster.”

Both turned to Arthur for answers and the redhead provided them. “In these times, the magics in our world have become imbalanced and it seems like that Lady Magic has sent a Grey Lord, in order to bring back the balance in our world.”

Zachary and Amélie were shocked and Zachary said in an incredulous tone: “A Grey Lord. But a Grey Lord is only sent in times of great imbalances between the light and the dark.” Arthur raised an eyebrow answering their question that these times are really imbalanced especially, if they have considered, what had happened in the 90s. The Abbotts realised that this was the case, but they needed to know, who the Grey Lord is. Maybe he could help them.

Zachary asked: “Where is this Grey Lord? Can he help us?”

Arthur knew that he managed to get them interested. “The Grey Lord is currently not here in Britain, but you can speak with his magical guardian tomorrow in Lestrange Manor. You are both invited to a small gathering.”

Amélie questioned: “Magical guardian? Are you telling us that the Grey Lord is still underage?”

Arthur nodded and answered: “Yes, he is the same age like Ronald.”

“WHAT?!”, both exclaimed in shock and anger. Amélie was the first to recover. “But he is only a toddler. How could Lady Magic thrust this responsibility to an innocent child?” In the other world, Lady Magic sighed deeply knowing that Amélie Abbott was right that thrusting this responsibility to a toddler was cruel. There were many other candidates, but Akira was the best, viable option.

Arthur quickly calmed them down and answered: “Amélie, Zachary, I know that you are angry, but the lad is not going to deal with adult stuff until he is at least 17. His magical guardian would be responsible for this until he is an adult.” Both were relieved with that revelation. At least, there is a responsible adult, who would deal with this until the Grey Lord was off age. But there was another question that the couple wanted to know. Who is the Grey Lord? And who is his magical guardian? They asked Arthur, who they are, but the man answered: “Amélie, Zachary, I can’t tell you that since the magical guardian forbade everyone to talk about the Grey Lord’s identity. The boy’s life would be at risk.” Both nodded in understanding and Zachary said: “We will come tomorrow. I hope that the Grey Lord’s magical guardian could help us.”

The rest of the afternoon, Arthur spent talking with the Abbotts about the Grey Alliance that has been formed to oppose Dumbledore, Voldemort and their followers.

Lestrange Manor, June 19th, 2002

There was another pre-meeting in Lestrange Manor regarding the Wizengamot meeting tomorrow and today, they could gain another noble family to their alliance. After the children were sent to play, the Abbotts arrived at the meeting, so that they can see, if the Grey Alliance is more promising than Dumbledore’s light fraction. The revelations yesterday had shaken their world and both wanted to take their distance from Dumbledore and his followers. They knew that Arthur and the old Lord Lestrange are members of the Grey Alliance, but they wanted to know the rest. When they were led to the formal meeting room, they were startled, who was there. Both recognised Lord Lucius and Lady Narcissa Malfoy, who is also the Regent of the House Black, Cyrus, Danielle, Amelia, Dame Muriel Prewett, Lady Callidora Longbottom, Lord Michael and Lady Amanda Davis, Lord Rowle, the current potion master of Hogwarts, Severus Snape, Lord Augustus and Lady Claudia Rookwood, Lord Tarquinius and Lady Rachel Nott and Lord Corban and Lady Clara Yaxley. There was also a muggle couple with their daughter, which also confused them even more.

Augustinus greeted them politely. “Lord and Lady Abbott, welcome in Lestrange Manor. I hope, you had a nice trip.”

Lord Abbott returned the greeting. “Thank you, Lord Lestrange. Our trip was safe.”

Augustinus let out a gruff laugh and quickly summoned two seats for them: “Please take a seat.” Both went to the two summoned chairs and sat down. Augustinus continued: “Narcissa will explain you, what is happening.”

Zachary and Amélie nodded and turned their attention to Narcissa. The woman in question prepared Akira’s inheritance test and started to explain: “Lord and Lady Abbott, I hope that Arthur had explained to you, what we are doing.” Both nodded and explained, what Arthur had told them. Narcissa was glad that the Weasley patriarch avoided to say names. When they were finished, Zachary asked: “But the question that I am asking myself is, who is the Grey Lord?”

Narcissa had a slight smile and requested: “Lord Abbott and Lady Abbott, can you both swear a secrecy oath? I am requesting this due to safety reasons regarding a minor.”

Amélie questioned: “Is this about the Grey Lord, because we also know that he is still underage?”

Narcissa answered: “Yes.”

Zachary and Amélie discussed this for a few moments and agreed with the terms. Zachary was the first to make the vow. “I, Zachary Daniel Abbott, swear on my life and my magic that I will keep all the information regarding the Grey Lord a secret. So, mote it be.” There was whirl of magic until a click finished the oath making sure that Zachary would not reveal anything about Akira. Amélie did the same and both returned their attention to Narcissa and the others in the room.

Narcissa started to explain about Akira and what had been done to him by the Potters and Remus Lupin. She showed them the inheritance test, which infuriated the Abbotts. When the couple was ready to demand that Amelia arrest them, the female head auror quickly reassured them: “I am on the works on it, Zachary, Amélie, but currently, James, Lily, Sirius and Remus are too influential and famous due to John’s status as the ‘boy-who-lived’ and his fame. We need to wait until the fame has cooled down and I thought that after four years it would be the perfect opportunity.” Zachary and Amélie sighed. They knew that she is right.

Zachary had a sheepish smile and said: “Before we start the meeting, can you tell us more about Dumbledore and You-Know-Who?”

Narcissa nodded and said: “Let’s begin with the dark lord first. Voldemort is only a moniker and that is not his real name. His birth name is Thomas Marvolo Riddle. If you are fearing his name, then, call him by that name.” Both nodded and allowed Narcissa to continue: “Voldemort attended Hogwarts during the Second World War, when Dippet was headmaster. He was sorted in Slytherin and due to the exposure of the bigotry against muggles and muggleborns in the house, Voldemort started to hate them. But things went from bad to worse in the coming years since he was responsible for the attacks in the school year 1942/43 and framed Hagrid for the attacks, when he had killed a muggleborn named Myrtle Warren and created his first horcrux.”

Amélie questioned Narcissa: “What is a horcrux?”

Narcissa sighed and answered: “A horcrux is a soul piece that has been split with the help of a ritual, but in order to create a horcrux, you need to kill someone in cold blood and use the victim as ritual material, so that you can split your soul.” The Abbotts were sickened, what Riddle had done to his soul. Narcissa furthermore explained: “And it is one of the worst crimes against Lady Magic since splitting your soul is against the laws of nature.” Both nodded in understanding still horrified about these revelations.

Narcissa continued: “During his sixth year, Voldemort created another horcrux by killing his father and his paternal grandparents. For that, he framed his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, who died in prison.” Zachary and Amélie were asking themselves, how no one did become suspicious of Voldemort’s actions back then. “After his graduation, he created three other horcruxes and with the soul-splitting, he had split his mind, which had led to his insanity. And if you look at Akira’s inheritance test, you would notice that he had been carrying a soul piece of Riddle.” Zachary and Amélie took a look at Akira’s inheritance test and noticed that in the section of blocks/leeches, it was mentioned about a horcrux that is working as a leech in the boy. Amélie was furious. “Those bastards left their son and godson with a soul piece in his body. If I had my way, I would have tossed them all four into Azkaban.” Zachary put a calming hand. He was furious, but his wife was more volatile. Amelia quickly calmed her friend down. Even she was angry since it is about her godson. “I know, Amélie, but Azkaban is not enough. I want them to bleed for their actions against Akira and the best way is to leave them be. When the time is right, they would not only spend some time in Azkaban, but they are going to spend also some time in the goblin mines.”

Amélie was confused by this. “The goblin mines? What do you mean with that? How are they going to spend some time in the goblin mines?”

Amelia just turned her attention to Narcissa, who explained, how: “James Potter is not Lord Potter, but currently, he is only the regent with limited power since his father skipped him as lord. As Regent Potter, he will get from the Potter Family Vaults for each child a monthly allowance. A regent will receive 3000 Galleons from the Family Vaults for the care of the heir. For the other children, the regent will only receive 1500 Galleons. Since the Potter twins should also have been magical twins, both would have shared the titles they were in line for and both would have been twin lords. In that case, James would have received 6000 Galleons since he had to care for twin heirs, but that isn’t going to be the case anymore since those fools have destroyed the twin bond by making it a leech that would give John limitless access to his brother’s magic. With that, there is a slow process of separation that would be finished, when both children have reached the age of six. John and Akira are going to have two separate souls unlike other magical twins, who are sharing a soul. Thankfully, the leech will not work and the twin bond has been closed down for the next four years until the separation.” Everyone was furious. This is the worst shame and disgrace, if magical twins are developing two separate souls since the twin bond has been found unworthy by Lady Magic herself. John and Akira are going to be separate individuals like identical twins and this process can only be reversed, if the Potter twins become close again. But Narcissa doubted that this was going to happen since both boys would be raised differently and would have different views about the magical world. John would be a headache with his light views and blind devotion to the headmaster. She continued with her explanation: “Since November 2001, James is receiving 4500 Galleons instead of the 6000 for magical twins and unfortunately, I can’t stop it without risking Akira’s whereabouts. But before Akira is going to start his first year in the primary school, I am sure that the Potters are planning a family reunion, which I am going to destroy with their arrests.” Everyone smirked evilly. So, this is Narcissa’s plan.

Amélie requested: “And how is Dumbledore connected to this?”

Narcissa answered: “Albus Dumbledore is aware of the existence of the horcruxes and where they are or in some cases, where they were. He could have stopped Voldemort by destroying them and killing that monster, but the fool had been doing nothing. Furthermore, he was the one, who had ordered the Potters, Sirius and Lupin to block, spell and potion the boy and for that, Dumbledore and his followers need to suffer.” The Abbotts were furious that Dumbledore knew, how to stop Voldemort and as a result to avoid the war. It was infuriating that he did nothing. Narcissa saw the furious faces and wanted to tell them something that would calm them down. But before she could continue, Amélie questioned her: “Where are the horcruxes? I mean, Lady Malfoy, you must be aware of them since you seem to have the knowledge about them.”

Narcissa smirked at Lady Abbott. The woman is very observant. “Well, Lady Abbott, four of the six horcruxes had been destroyed.” There was a relieved look on their faces, but there was also concern since two horcruxes are still out there. “The first horcrux that he created during his fifth year was his diary. It was in our manor and I ordered my personal elf to bring it in Gringotts, where the goblins had dealt with it. The second horcrux is currently unreachable, because it is in the Gaunt Shack and we need Akira to claim the Gaunt Heirship, in order to get access to that property. The third horcrux was in Gringotts and the goblins were only able to destroy it after Bellatrix was disowned from the Black Family and my great uncle was able to reclaim her vault. The fourth soul piece was Salazar Slytherin’s locket and it was in Grimmauld Place. As a daughter of the House Black, I was able to get the horcrux through Kreacher and it was also destroyed. The fifth horcrux is in Hogwarts.”

“WHAT!?”, the Abbotts thundered in rage.

Narcissa nodded and understood their fury. “Yes, the fifth horcrux is currently in Hogwarts and from there I know that Dumbledore must be aware of the soul pieces. Severus is working hard, in order to get the horcrux in Hogwarts, but it seems like that it is difficult.” Severus nodded and explained: “It is difficult since Albus and Minerva are like prison wardens. I can’t talk to the Grey Lady without drawing suspicions from those two.” Narcissa now understood why Severus was having a hard time to get the horcrux from the school.

Amélie questioned confused: “The Grey Lady? What does she have to do with the horcrux in Hogwarts?” Severus quickly explained: “The Grey Lady is Rowena Ravenclaw’s only daughter, Helena Ravenclaw.” The Abbotts were shocked that the house ghost of Ravenclaw is the house’s founder’s child.

Severus said: “The only way for me to get the horcrux is to make a big distraction, where Albus and Minerva would not pay me any mind. The best way would be the loss of the Head Governor position. Phineas told me that there is a difference between the Chief Warlock and the Head Governor positions. In the Wizengamot, the Chief Warlock is the leader of the fraction that has the most votes and that also includes the inactive seats like the Peverell, Gryffindor, Shafiq and Hufflepuff seats. The head governor position depends only on the active seats in the Wizengamot. The inactive seats are excluded from the vote in the school board.”

Augustinus chuckled. “Well, removing Dumbledore from his head governor position is going to be easier than I have thought. We only need the Hufflepuff heir and we also have to move some seats from the dark section to the neutral fraction and we would have the majority in the school board.” Many agreed on the idea, but they had to wait patiently.

Amélie and Zachary were discussing, what to do, and came to the conclusion that the Grey Alliance sounded good. Zachary was the one to answer: “We are in. We want to bring Dumbledore and his followers to justice. They need to pay for their crimes and sins. Let’s start with the meeting.”

Narcissa knew that now they had the Abbotts on their side and with them, they have another family against Voldemort and Dumbledore.

The meeting started with Arthur explaining, what Dumbledore was planning at the Wizengamot meeting and there Amélie was displeased and made her displeasure known. “Is that old man an idiot?”, Amélie asked. Many thinned their lips and had sheepish smiles on their faces. Narcissa answered: “Maybe.”

Amélie took a deep breath and started to explain: “I am a mind healer in St. Mungos and I know about Bardic Magic since it is used to treat patients with mental disabilities, illnesses and trauma. If Albus is banning this kind of magic from our country, then, he is going to deny three quarter of my patients their treatment.” Many were shifting uncomfortably in their seats since the woman made a good point, why the ban of Bardic Magic is a bad idea.

Narcissa understood the issue and said: “We need to make sure that this nomination will fail and for that reason, we need to put forward a distraction.”

Arthur said: “I have an idea.” Everyone’s attention was on the redhead and they gave the go-ahead. “How about if we allow books from the muggle world to be sold here in the wizarding world, so that we can understand their culture and knowledge. I mean, the muggles have many books that are either fictional or scientifical-educational.” Many thought the idea to be ingenious and no one would vote against that nomination since it would help the magical world to stay attune with the muggle world and their advancement. Corban thought that Crouch’s nomination regarding the changes in the court could be useful as distraction, but the man told him that he would nominate his motion at the July meeting, because he needed to work on the nomination a bit longer. Regardless, Arthur’s nomination is also a good distraction.

Many agreed on that and they have planned to put the current ban against Bardic Magic into question with the help of Lord Abbott. Zachary and Amélie had to admit that Lady Malfoy has very good plans to help their world to prosper, but it is going very slow. Unfortunately, they understood the slowness since they can’t risk going against Dumbledore and his blind fools without being disgraced and labelled as dark.

Before the meeting could come to an end, the Yaxleys wanted to announce some big news. Corban was the one, who made the announcement. “My dear friends, there are two announcements that Clara and I want to make. The one announcement is that Clara will attend the Wizengamot sessions and school board meetings until December this year. After a lot of convincing-“ Corban was interrupted by Clara, who made a fake cough, and said: “*Cough* *Cough* Begging *Cough*.” Corban just huffed and glared slightly at his wife. Okay, maybe he had dropped on his knees and begged Clara to attend the Wizengamot until December since the Evandrus seat is in the neutral fraction and the Yaxley seats are in the dark section and the problem was that he couldn’t sit on two seats that are in different sections. Everyone chuckled at Clara’s comment. The Yaxley lord continued regardless: “After some time of convincing, my wife is attending the Wizengamot sessions until I can move the Yaxley seats in December from the dark to the neutral fraction.” Everyone still chuckled about Clara’s comment, but congratulated the couple. Adriana asked impatiently: “And what is the second announcement?”

Clara was now the one to make the announcement. “Well, after this beggar managed to convince me to attend the Wizengamot sessions, we both decided to renew our marriage vows, so that I can be properly inaugurated as the new Lady Yaxley. For that reason, you are all invited to come for the vow renewal.” Many ladies in the room let out screams of joy and happiness, whereas the men had to cover their ears. They were happy for the couple, but they wished the volume to be lower. “The vow renewal will take place during Yule. There would be enough time for the preparations.”

When that was finished, Cyrus went to Augustus, Danielle went to Lucius and Narcissa and Severus went to Thorfinn. There were some things that they want to explain regarding their youngest Greengrass’ condition. Narcissa, Lucius, Augustus and Thorfinn were confused, when Severus, Cyrus and Danielle told them that they wanted to speak with them privately in Greengrass Manor, but they agreed regardless.

Greengrass Manor

When the meeting had ended, Cyrus, Danielle, Severus, Narcissa, Lucius, Thorfinn and Augustus were seated in a formal meeting room in Greengrass Manor.

Narcissa asked: “Cyrus, Danielle, Severus, what is going on? Is something wrong?”

The couple didn’t know, how to break the news regarding Astoria’s condition, but Severus hadn’t had a problem to tell them some sad news. “Narcissa, Thorfinn, Augustus, we need your help. Astoria, Cyrus’ and Danielle’s youngest daughter, has the worst affliction of the bloodline curse and according to the goblins, she would not live past her sixtieth or seventieth birthday.”

Narcissa gasped and the other men were shocked. So, that was the reason for the sombre tone with the Greengrasses. Their daughter is incurably ill. Narcissa knew about the bloodline curse and she was aware that the females and the male bearers in that family have that particular curse in their bloodline. Thankfully, Daphne and Jaques were less affected by the curse, but she can theorise that in Astoria’s case, the curse is worse. As a healer, she can only order a potion regime.

Thorfinn and Augustus felt bad for the Greengrasses, but they don’t know any ritual that would help them to break this curse. The only thing that they can do is recommend the potion regime.

Severus saw the faces of the newcomers, but he has more determination. “I know that all of you believe that this is hopeless, but if we combine our expertise, then, we could find a solution to this curse.” Now the four looked a bit more encouraged. Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn had to agree, if they combine their efforts to break this curse, then, they would manage to find a way to do it.

Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn agreed to work with Severus on a way to break the bloodline curse on the Greengrass Family. Cyrus and Danielle were happy that their friends and allies will try to help their girl.

Narcissa asked: “Cyrus, Danielle, when are you going to tell the others about the bloodline curse and does anyone else know?”

Cyrus answered: “We are going to announce it at the next pre-meeting. We wanted to tell everyone today, but since many were in a good mood regarding Clara’s and Corban’s vow renewal, we didn’t want to destroy it. So, we postponed it onto the next meeting. And to your second question, the Abbotts knew about the bloodline curse since Anton was with Jaques during Danielle’s labour.” Narcissa nodded sadly. It now makes sense, why the Abbotts looked dejected.

Severus, Lucius, Narcissa, Augustus and Thorfinn promised to do their best to help the Greengrass girls and left the manor.

Wizengamot, June 20th, 2002

The Summer Solstice Wizengamot meeting had been opened and when Dumbledore arrived a few minutes late, they started with the introductions. Albus was surprised, when the Yaxleys and Lucius Malfoy stood up from their seats and Corban was the one, who introduced his wife as the Lady of the Ancient and Noble House of Evandrus, and then, Lucius introduced Corban to the Wizengamot as the new Lord Yaxley. There were some hostile looks from the dark and the light fractions, when Corban was introduced. Many knew that it made sense that Clara had to attend the Wizengamot session as long as her husband is sitting in the dark section since no one can sit onto two seats that are in different fractions. With that, the session started and the first thing that was done was the nomination from Dumbledore’s fools regarding the ban of Bardic Magic. Zachary was ready to object, but the others told him to wait until the distraction was nominated by Arthur again.

When Dumbledore was finished, the nomination was discussed and the rest of the Wizengamot moved to the next nomination. Arthur was the one to nominate it. Dumbledore became worried, but hoped that this time, he would have it easier to shoot down the idea. “Dear members of the Wizengamot, I am nominating to include in our libraries and book shops fictional and educational books from the muggle world, so that we can learn, how advanced the muggles had become and how did they manage to advance like this in a century. The fictional books would also show us a fraction of their culture and most of these books are also recommendable to read for entertainment.” This nomination had caused a great discussion. Many agreed with Arthur’s nomination, but there were those that didn’t like the nomination like the blood purists. Albus has some trouble with his older and younger followers, who have again a different opinion on the matter.

Albus was stuck. He can’t claim that this nomination is dark and dangerous since it is about books from the muggle world. There was no other point then to withdraw and talk with his followers. Why do Arthur’s nominations have to be so hard and controversial within his followers. Narcissa smirked, when she watched the old fool put up privacy and silencing wards, so that he can discuss Arthur’s nomination. She was growing to like this pattern since it gives them some form of control over the Wizengamot.

Narcissa glanced over to Zachary Abbott and the man understood that it was his turn to stop Dumbledore’s nomination. It was discussed that he was going to make the protest against the nomination and that Cyrus would make a counter-nomination against Dumbledore’s nomination regarding Bardic Magic. Zachary rose his wand and he managed to get the attention from the Chief Witch, Aurelia Acton. “Lord Abbott, do you have a nomination?” Everyone apart from Dumbledore and his followers had their attention on the current Lord Abbott.

Zachary answered: “No, but I have a protest note against Lord Dumbledore’s nomination regarding the ban of Bardic Magic.” The man took a deep breath and started: “My dear members of the Wizengamot, Lord Dumbledore had been warning us against the dangers of Bardic Magic, but he only mentioned the Pied-Piper-Flute, which is a dangerous dark magical object that was used in Hamelin by a wizard. My wife is working as a mind healer in St. Mungos and she and the other mind healers are using Bardic Magic, in order to treat their patients, who have suffered mental trauma or are mentally unstable. With this ban, we are denying three-quarter of these patients their treatment and that can’t be allowed.” When Zachary was finished, everyone apart from Dumbledore and his light fools received mind healer reports about the importance of Bardic Magic in mind-healing and many were displeased with Dumbledore.

Cyrus rose his wand and when he was chosen to speak by Aurelia Acton, he nominated: “Dear members of the Wizengamot, I agree with Lord Abbott that Bardic Magic is very important for the field of mind-healing and going over these reports, it shows us that most patients in St. Mungos need this branch of magic for their mental health. We cannot ban a whole branch of magic due to the flute that had been mentioned in this meeting. Apart from that, the Pied-Piper-Flute is with the German Unspeakables, who had been examining the instrument and making sure that it was out of the public eye. For that reason, I am nominating to put the current ban on Bardic Magic into question. We need to reevaluate this law, so that it can be adapted to the needs of our nation.”

Many agreed with Cyrus and are planning to vote against Dumbledore’s nomination.

When Dumbledore and his sheep were finished, the man returned back to the podium and asked: “Aurelia, were there any new nominations?”

Aurelia answered stiffly: “Yes, Lord Greengrass nominated to put the current ban on Bardic Magic into question, so that it can be reevaluated. There were some revelations that you haven’t mentioned, Chief Warlock.”

“What revelations?”, Albus questioned suspiciously.

Aurelia restrained a huff and answered: “That Bardic Magic is used by mind healers to treat mental trauma or the mentally unstable.” Albus swallowed hard. He hoped that this would not lead to another setback. Returning to the podium, he noticed the mind healer reports in front of him, but ignored it. He was sure that his nomination would pass.

The vote came and the first nomination failed. Albus was taken aback. How? And why? Arthur’s nomination passed with only some of the blood purists and those, who hated muggles voting against the motion. The last nomination from Cyrus Greengrass passed with a clear majority. Albus was furious. Bardic Magic was the last branch of magic that he wanted to ban in this country, but it had failed. All the Wizengamot sessions in the past six months were failures. He needed to focus on the other matter and it was to put some anti-creature laws against veelas. He remembered that Molly had some issues regarding them since her eldest son had a creature mate in the form of a veela. He had blocked it of course since he needed the Weasley Family to represent his Greater Good and Albus didn’t need a veela polluting the Weasley line.

The Wizengamot came to an end, after the votes, and everyone prepared to go home.

Headmaster’s office

Albus was blankly staring out of the window to the Black Lake in his office thinking, how could things go wrong like this and why they were not going his way anymore. In six sessions, he suffered one loss after another. Albus thought that after the defeat of Tom, he would have the power to control the wizarding world and change the world to his image. But the six months were over and he had failed horribly. All the laws, he had passed against blood, archaic, arcane, ancient, elemental and now bardic magic were going to be reevaluated and his nominations didn’t pass. It was like a curse.

Albus needed a change in topic and he was planning to put some restrictions against the veela nation. Molly had been loudly complaining that her baby boy is not going to marry a dark creature. His followers were disgusted that the eldest Weasley has a creature mate in the form of a veela. His more vocal supporters started to spread rumours that veelas are lecherous and dangerous since they are luring good and light wizards into their clutches and are slowly killing them, in order to get their partner’s inheritance.

Albus regained his focus and everyone in the office went silent, when the headmaster shifted his attention back to them. “My dears, I know that the last six session in this year were disappointing, but we can’t give up. We need to make sure that our world is saved from the dark and for that reason, we need to work hard. In the coming six months, we are going to change our focus. We will focus on putting restrictions against the veela nation. If you all remember about a few years ago, how Molly was complaining that her eldest had a creature mate in the form of a veela, then, I can tell you that we need to save many good witches and wizards like William from the evil clutches of the veelas. We can’t allow this corruption to continue. So, for that reason, we will focus to put many restrictions against veelas.” Many agreed with him and started to give Arthur their platitudes that his eldest son is mated to one of those wretched creatures.

Arthur just smiled and said that everything would be alright, but inside he was furious. He was ready to curse them for their disgusting comments regarding his future daughter-in-law.

Phineas saw a storm brewing in Arthur Weasley. He hoped that the man doesn’t explode, because of these fools. Thankfully, the man manages to calm himself down. He knew that the man had a better self-restraint than anyone else. But he finds it disgusting, what they were planning to do with the veela nation, because this is a suicide mission. No veela would allow to be monitored or even tracked. Even that Voldemort guy wasn’t stupid enough to do something like that knowing that the wrath of the veelas meant to be turned into ashes.

Dedalus asked: “Albus, we have a school board meeting in four days. What are we going to do there?”

Albus sighed. He forgot about the board meeting on Monday. “Well, Dedalus, there are going to be two major nominations. The one nomination would be to lower the expectation of the potion class from an O to an EE.” Nearly everyone agreed on that apart from Arthur and Dedalus, but they went along with it, in order to not arouse suspicion. Albus continued: “And the second nomination is the hiring of Andromeda. With Cuthbert gone, I have arranged for Andromeda to apply for the open spot as history professor.” Many liked the idea since most knew Andromeda as an order member. Even though, she was a Slytherin, Andromeda held disdain against dark wizards and witches and is a light witch among the dark. They trusted her to handle the students appropriately unlike Snape. Elphias asked: “Can we replace Snape as co-head of Slytherin with Andromeda? Maybe she can make sure that the neutrally inclined Slytherins are turning to the light. I don’t trust Snape around the children since I believe that he would abuse his position as co-head, so that he can silently recruit for children for You-Know-Who.”

Albus had to admit that the idea sounded good, but there were some problems. The first is that he needed a rivalry between the light and good Gryffindors and the dark and evil Slytherins. Another aspect is that many members of the neutral fraction are not going to like the idea of making Andromeda co-head of Slytherin. But it would have been useful to sway the more neutrally inclined Slytherins to his side. “I know, Elphias, my friend, but Severus would have a better approach with the children of death eaters than Andromeda. So, it would be prudent for Severus to remain co-head of Slytherin.”

Griselda questioned: “How about, if we replace Aurora with Andromeda after three years since Severus would be the full head of house.”

Albus said softly: “It would be a marvellous idea, Griselda, but the board had to approve it and I doubt it that Andromeda would be accepted due to the difficulties that we are facing with the school board.” Many agreed with that motion. The meeting was quickly wrapped up and many started to leave giving Arthur still some platitudes regarding Bill’s creature mate. Arthur was furious, when many said that the veela would never get her claws on a good and light wizard like Bill. He wanted to tell them that it was already too late, but it would not be a good idea to tell them that he is already in contact with the Delacours.

When the meeting ended, Arthur left the office trying everything in his power to stop his magic from leaking. There was a dueling room and furthermore, there were some dueling dummies in the manor, on whom he can let his fury out. Then, he was going to make some preparation for the Summer Solstice.

Evandrus Manor, June 22nd, 2002

The meeting of the Grey Alliance was taking place this time in Evandrus Manor. Corban and Clara decided to live there since Yaxley Manor had a lot of bad memories for Corban. The man allowed his sister to live there since he had no plans of returning. The woman was glad that Corban was not planning to live in Yaxley Manor and she would not have to tolerate the mudblood bitch and her brood, but that was only a small condolence in the fact that Corban was the new Lord Yaxley and that his oldest son, Tomas Yaxley, is the heir and the next Lord Yaxley.

The meeting started, when the children were sent to play under the supervision of Lady Zabini. Arthur told them, what Albus was planning to do at the school board meeting and who he is going to hire as the new history professor. Arthur also added that Dumbledore and his followers are going to focus on the veela nation for the next six months. Many were disgusted, when Arthur explained them their comments against Fleur and how they were planning to put more restrictions against the veelas, in order to protect wizards from their clutches.

“We need a distraction”, Amelia sighed.

Narcissa grinned and had an idea. Lucius noticed the look on his wife’s face and asked his love: “Cissy, I can see that you have a plan. What do you have in mind?”

The woman in question answered: “My plan is that we nominate to split up the students in homeroom classes like it is done in the muggle world. For each homeroom class, all four houses should be represented and the students would be split by year, so that we can improve the inter-house relations.” Danielle questioned: “Cissy, every homeroom class has a homeroom teacher. What are we going to do on that topic?”

Narcissa had a smile and answered: “They are going to be included in that nomination too since the school only houses in-between 100 to 150 students. There would only be seven homeroom classes in Hogwarts and I believe that Septima Vector, Bathsheba Babbling, Aurora Sinistra, Rolanda Hooch, Filius Flitwick, Promona Sprout and you, Severus, would be the perfect candidates for the position as homeroom teachers. Minerva McGonagall is already filled with her positions as head of house, deputy-headmistress and transfiguration teacher. She has already too much on the plate and the only homeroom class, we can entrust her, are the seventh years since the students are already off-age and there are less responsibilities.” Many agreed on that proposal. It would distract Dumbledore and his sheep.

“And I guess that we are going to nominate the ICW primary school curriculum for potions, where only the theory part and the basics like the cutting techniques are taught”, Danielle commented. Everyone apart from Narcissa agreed, who said: “The potion curriculum is not the only thing that is going to be nominated in this meeting. I think that it is time to continue to improve the content of the current core classes and electives in Hogwarts and the best way would be to introduce the ICW curriculum in history. Since we removed Binns from the staff, the curriculum of the history class is also undetermined and I know that Dumbledore and Andy are planning to introduce their version of a curriculum, which is going to be lacking.” Many nodded in agreement. “We also need to distract Dumbledore and his followers from destroying the library. If we don’t put up this distraction, then, his next focus would be certain books in the library that he doesn’t seem to approve of.” There were some chatters, but many agreed with Narcissa’s plan.

It's time that Dumbledore loses some control.

Before everyone went home, the Greengrasses announced Astoria’s condition and many were saddened about the girl’s state wanting to help the girl. Adrianna said: “I will look, if there is something from Italy that could help her since we have access to more magic than here in Britain and the laws are less restrictive.” Both Greengrasses nodded in gratitude. Narcissa quickly added: “And I will look in Japan for a way to break the bloodline curse since the magical world there is the most advanced in the wizarding world.” Many had to admit that maybe on the international scale, there is something that could help Narcissa, Augustus, Thorfinn and Severus with the bloodline curse.

School board, June 24th, 2002

Clara was cursing her husband for convincing her to attend the meetings in the Wizengamot and the school board, but it was also her own fault that she agreed. If she had her way, Clara would have made Cyrus or Michael proxy over her seat, but she had lost a bet and now she had to pay it up. Listening to one of Dumbledore’s fools was like torture. They were droning on about the ‘too high’ expectations in the potion OWL and how it had to be lowered, so that the students can have a chance at an education. In her opinion, this is the result of whiny, spoilt-rotten brats, who were denied a toy, and are demanding from Dumbledore to fix this, but these times are over now. When the fool was finished, Clara let out a silent breath of relief. But she wasn’t the only one, who had the same feelings regarding this nomination.

Dumbledore asked, if there was another nomination before he could introduce Andromeda as the new history professor and prove her qualifications in front of the board. Furthermore, he was going to nominate her curriculum that he had approved. He didn’t want the students to learn information that would sway them away from his side. But this time, Narcissa rose her wand. Albus frowned hoping that the woman is not going to make things needlessly hard. Narcissa stood up and nominated: “Headmaster, members of this board, I am nominating to split up the students in homeroom classes like it is done in the muggle world. In each homeroom class, there should be students from each house and each year, so that we can improve the inter-house relations.” Many agreed and had nothing against the idea apart from Dumbledore and his followers, who are already arguing. Albus wanted to groan. A simple nomination that is leading to a large debate. Why is everything so hard in these past months? He had to discuss this with his followers. When the question rose regarding the homeroom teacher, Narcissa explained that the current staff could take up the responsibility. There were some concerns regarding the workload until Narcissa explained that the first and second years could be supervised by Professor Vector, Madam Hooch or Professor Babbling since they have the least workload compared to Severus, Aurora, Filius, Promona and Minerva. The third and fourth years could have Professor Sinistra or Professor Snape as their homeroom teacher since they are co-heads and are sharing their duty. The fifth and sixth years could have either Professor Flitwick or Professor Sprout since they have their head of house position and Professor McGonagall could take care of the seventh years due to her workload as head of Gryffindor house and deputy-headmistress.

Albus couldn’t argue at this point and found the division good, but his followers were loudly complaining about Severus and he needed to keep them quiet before those fools ruin another nomination. He quickly regrouped with his followers and put-up privacy and silencing wards, so that he can discuss the nomination quietly.

Narcissa smirked and turned her attention to Michael, who was the one to nominate the two nominations.

When Aurelia Acton took over, she questioned, if there any other nominations. Michael rose his wand and he was chosen to speak. “Lord Davis? You have a nomination.”

Michael was a bit flustered, but answered: “Actually, I have two nominations. The first nomination is to introduce the ICW primary school curriculum in potions for our primary school.” The Davis lord waved with his wand and everyone received a copy of the potion curriculum for the primary school. Many looked at the summary of the curriculum for each year and agreed on it. “The students should learn the theory part and the basics in potions like the preparation of a cauldron and the different cutting techniques.”

Aurelia questioned: “And the second nomination?”

Michael took a deep breath and started: “At our last meeting, it had been revealed that Headmaster Dumbledore had hired Andromeda Tonks as the new history professor to replace Professor Binns.” Many nodded since they remembered the last meeting and they also knew, where this was going. “For that reason, I am nominating to hire Andromeda Tonks and to introduce for our students in Hogwarts the ICW curriculum in history.” The man waved with his wand again and handed everyone a copy of the curriculum. “This curriculum will teach the students the entire history of Magical Britain from Merlin and Arthur Pendragon in the 6th century to the new update about the last war in the 1990s and how it ended in 2001.” Many liked the idea and were ready to approve the curriculum. Most of them know that Tonks is a blind follower of Dumbledore and that she was going to introduce a curriculum that is lacking.

There was also a protest from Lady Meadow regarding the lowering of the expectations of the potion class since the potion NEWTs are a lot harder and the ingredients are more volatile. The woman explained that during the first through fifth year, the students get recipes that they had to follow, in order to brew the basic household potions, whereas the sixth and seventh years would get recipes that they had to adjust, in order to brew the potions appropriately, which is a lot harder. For example, veritesarem. The recipe in the potion book is for a wizard or witch that is 25 and has a normal weight there is the question, what needs to be changed, in order to brew a potion that is for a witch or wizard that is 48 and has a different weight than in the book. Furthermore, the potion ingredients for veritesarem are volatile and one little mistake can lead to an explosion that would cause a lost limb or even life. Many had to admit that it is a lot harder to adjust a potion and they agreed that the expectations had to remain due to the students’ safety.

When they were finished, Albus managed to calm his followers down and they agreed to vote for Narcissa’s nomination. Retaking his seat after Aurelia stepped down, he asked: “Were there any new nominations, Aurelia?”

The woman answered neutrally: “Yes, there were two nominations from Lord Michael Davis. One nomination is to introduce the ICW primary school curriculum in potions.” Albus sighed knowing that there was no way to win this. “And the second?” Aurelia answered in the same tone: “The second nomination is regarding your replacement in History of Magic.”

Albus didn’t know, what was discussed, but he was dreading it. He quickly pressed the button to call in Andromeda, so that she can introduce her curriculum in front of the board. “Andromeda has a mastery in history. Currently, she is working in a law firm with her husband. Furthermore, Master Tonks had also prepared a curriculum, what the students are going to learn in each year. Andromeda, would you like to explain the curriculum.” The woman answered curtly: “Yes, headmaster.” And she started to introduce her curriculum and the content of it. Many didn’t deny, what was written about her, since they were going through the copies of Andromeda’s CV and her mastery. Then, most of the board was going through the curriculum that Andromeda had created and compared it with the ICW curriculum. There were many things missing and some things were described differently than in the ICW curriculum. Another issue is that Andromeda’s curriculum was biased and prejudiced against the dark, Slytherins and magical beings. The students should learn the history of their nation in a neutral aspect and not biased.

When Andromeda was finished with her nomination, Albus said in a grand voice: “And for that reason, I am nominating to hire Master Andromeda Tonks and I am also proposing Andromeda’s curriculum to be used.” Albus smiled until he saw Davis raise his wand wanting to speak. “Lord Davis?”

Michael proposed: “I had the same nomination regarding the hiring of Master Tonks, but I am nominating that Madam Tonks uses the ICW curriculum in history since the content is covering the entire history of Magical Britain.” Albus stared at the man. This can’t be happening. He quickly said: “Lord Davis, I believe that this is a bad idea since we need to protect the students from being corrupted. There is some information that can be dangerous to learn for the children.” But the man argued: “Headmaster, you are the Supreme Mugwump in the ICW, aren’t you?” Albus nodded not understanding, what this had to do with the ICW curriculum. Michael continued: “Then, surely, you know that as the Surpeme Mugwump, you have approved of the curriculum in the ICW. If you look closely, then you all will notice the certification mark of the Supreme Mugwump and this mark is carrying your magical signature, headmaster. Why did you approve the curriculum in the ICW, if you are disapproving it to be used in Hogwarts?” Albus wanted to scream. He completely forgot that he approved the ICW curriculums for each class, which is a self-inflicting blow. He tried to find an argument, but sadly, he didn’t find anything that he can use.

When the votes came, the nomination regarding the history class was split in two. The first nomination to lower the expectations of the potion class failed epically. Albus was ready to kill. That was their last chance to lower the standards of the potion class. The second motion passed unanimously and the third nomination regarding the ICW primary school curriculum passed with a majority vote. The fourth motion to hire Andromeda Tonks passed with a majority vote, which pleased Albus. But the fifth nomination regarding Andromeda’s curriculum and the ICW curriculum infuriated Albus since the majority voted for the ICW curriculum instead of Andromeda’s, which had only the support of his followers and sympathisers. Albus couldn’t believe it. That was the second class that had received an update. He needs to speak with his followers right now and he had to rework his plans for the next six months. At first, Albus wanted to focus on removing some books from the library, but with the update of the history class, he had to push it back on a later date.

The meeting came to a close and everyone started to leave the Wizengamot chambers.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office

Albus was practically stomping, when he was making his way up to his office. He was absolutely furious. This school board meeting went to hell.

When everyone had taken their seats, Albus was thinking overtime. At this meeting, it was his last chance to lower the standards of the potion class, but it had failed. Then, there was the hiring of Andromeda. It may have worked, but she had to use the ICW curriculum instead of the curriculum that she had worked on and he had approved of. There was also the marking scheme that would be tied to the wards. Albus sighed, why is everything going the wrong way.

Andromeda questioned: “Albus, what am I supposed to do? I can’t believe that these fools would do this.”

Minerva asked: “What has happened, Albus?”

James explained with a growl: “The board meeting went to hell, Minnie. We didn’t manage to lower the expectations of the potion class.” Minerva sighed in defeat. That was their last chance, but now it is gone. “Furthermore, the board implemented that next year, the students are going to be split in homeroom classes. Professor Vector, Professor Babbling and Madam Hooch would be responsible for the first and second years. Snape and Sinistra are going to take care of the third and fourth years. Flitwick and Sprout are going to be homeroom teachers for the fifth and sixth years and you, Minnie, are going to be the homeroom teacher for the seventh years due to your workload.” Minerva had to admit that this change could be beneficial and the seventh years are easier to deal with than the younger years. James continued sourly: “But the problem began with the hiring of Andy. The board agreed that she would teach history, but they were against her curriculum and voted for the ICW curriculum. Additionally, Davis nominated the ICW primary school curriculum for potion, which also had passed.” James sighed and questioned his old headmaster: “Albus, why did you approve the ICW curriculum?”

Albus was rubbing his eyes. He didn’t want to answer this question, but he had to, so that his followers were not questioning him like the board: “Well, my boy, I approved the curriculum since the ICW had voted for it and I hadn’t had a choice, but I made sure that the curriculum was not taught here in Hogwarts during your school years since there were some aspects that were too dangerous to know. I hadn’t expected that this would bite me back hard.” Albus really didn’t expect that anyone would use his approval back then against him, but here it is and he doesn’t have a choice. He curses Davis for presenting this in front of the board.

Albus turned his attention to Andromeda: “Andromeda, my dear, you have to follow the board’s ruling. I know that none of us want the ICW curriculum to be used, but you have no choice in the matter since the school board would keep a watch on you. For now, we had to accept this setback, but we are going to work on that problem in these coming months.”

“I understand, headmaster”, Andromeda said sourly.

Albus explained to his followers that in these coming six months, they are going to work hard to restrict the curriculum in History of Magic. Many nodded in understanding since the history class now has the precedence, but there were some, who were annoyed by this sudden change. Lily whined: “But Albus, what about the books in the library? You promised us that you are going to remove these books due to their darkness.”

Albus sighed, but answered: “I am sorry, Lily, my dear, but unfortunately, the history class has its precedence and I am sure that you don’t want John and Harry to learn some things that are dangerous to learn.”

Lily took a deep breath and said: “Of course, headmaster. But after that you are going to deal with the books in the library?”

Albus’ eyes twinkled. “Yes, my dear.”

“Good.” Lily didn’t want her sons to be swayed to the dark since it would destroy her family. It once happened with her former friends because of Snape, when he was taken by his grandfather and was turned dark. That bastard went out of his way and destroyed her base of friends. Only Mary was left and she suffered too since she took her side.

When there were no other questions, Albus was left in his office on his own and was thinking, how he should proceed for the next Wizengamot sessions. Phineas left his portrait, in order to inform Narcissa about the changed plans, so that she is prepared for the upcoming school board meetings.

Hogsmeade/Platform 9 ¾, June 28th, 2002

Bill Weasley was boarding the train. His first year came to an end, but there were many things, he had to do during the summer. The summer holidays are going to be spent with relearning the sixth-grade material of the muggle subjects. Bill was planning to study English and English literature, Math, Latin and French as foreign languages, Science, Geography and Muggle History. His father had already arranged for him the instructors in this summer and in Yule, he was going to do the exams in those muggle subjects. Additionally, he is going to learn the practical portion of Transfiguration and DADA, so that he can learn everything, what the Hogwarts subjects were lacking. In the other classes, Bill had participated in the tutoring sessions and managed to learn everything, what the school was lacking. And he started to self-study Magical Theory, in order to do the exam at the end of summer. So, he was well-prepared.

Arthur was waiting for the train to arrive. He had many things planned for this summer. Bill was going to be busy with studying the muggle subjects, Magical Theory, DADA and Transfiguration.

When the train pulled into the station, Arthur waited with his children until he was able to see his eldest son. His mood was good, when Bill came running to them, until he was disturbed by an annoying voice that he had known, when he had been attending the order meetings in the Fenwick estate. “Anton, please, this is not you. Give us a chance. You can’t throw me away for that dark wizard. He is a death eater wannabe and his family are followers of You-Know-Who. They are going to betray you.” Arthur was stunned. The girl was delusional. The Greengrasses were neutral during the war. Accusing them to be death eaters is political suicide.

Anton was irritated by Sarah. “Fenwick, listen to me very carefully. I don’t love you. I love Jaques, which means that I am gay, and I am betrothed to him. Jaques is not going to be a death eater like his father, who tried to sell him like fresh meat in the market to a man, whose first wife died under suspicious circumstances. Furthermore, the Greengrass Family were neutral during the war and there is a long-standing alliance between the House Abbott and House Greengrass.”

The girl scowled. “But-“

Anton interrupted the girl before she goes into another rant. “Enough, Fenwick. It is final and accept it. I am tired of repeating myself like a parrot. Please, leave me alone.” Not giving the girl a chance to respond, Anton left in a huff. The girl was crying. Tamara and Benjy quickly were on each side of their daughter and were comforting her. Both parents threw a writhing glare towards the Abbott Heir and Jaques Greengrass, but much to their fury, the young couple ignored them and quickly left the platform.

Arthur had seen this and was eavesdropping on the Fenwick family. He saw Sarah’s older brother Adam Fenwick, who was glaring at the direction of Anton and Jaques. “Don’t panic, sis, Abbott and Greengrass are going to pay for this insult.” Arthur knew that the man was going to do something stupid, which would cost him everything.

The Weasley patriarch quickly left the platform with his children knowing that he had to warn the Grey Alliance especially Zachary, Amélie, Cyrus and Danielle about Adam Fenwick.