Chapter 1
August 1992
Flourish and Blotts
“Lord Malfoy, pleased to make your acquaintance,” a small child said, nodding her head, the displeasure was only obvious to his perceptive eyes. He assumed she was “the Granger girl” that his son had been complaining about multiple times this summer.
“What are you on about, ‘Mione?” the Weasley girl asked. He believed her name was Ginevra? Or perhaps Ginerva?
“Didn’t you grow up in the Wizarding World, Ginny? It’s how you’re supposed to greet Purebloods, everyone, other Purebloods and Muggleborns too. Well, there are some differences if you are the head of specific houses, but seeing as neither of us is, I won’t go into the nuances of it.” His son was struggling to maintain his composure as the girl told off the Weasley. He could admit that it was a bit amusing.
“I was hoping I would be able to speak to you,” she said, addressing him once again.
“Well, what is it?” he asked harshly, the girl was a muggleborn.
“I don’t believe this is the appropriate setting for what I wish to ask you. If you do not wish to meet with a muggleborn, I understand. Perhaps I could send a letter, er owl? At around lunchtime.” he was slightly impressed with her knowledge of wizarding customs. One could say he was intrigued by the young witch.
“I suppose.”
“Thank you, Lord Malfoy.”
“Draco, I believe it is time to leave the Weasleys to their purchases. However sparse they may be.”
The next day, he received a letter.
Lord Malfoy,
I would like to reiterate my appreciation for making your acquaintance and your willingness to correspond with me. I do not wish to waste your time, so I will try to make this short. I am aware that you do not like Headmaster Dumbledore. So I will start with the fact that he does not want what I am about to ask of you to happen, I asked him myself. As Head of the Board of Governors of Hogwarts, you and the others on the board are responsible for the well-being of the students of Hogwarts, even before the Headmaster. Using your capacity in this role, I ask that you allow my family to formally adopt Harry James Potter. We have already adopted him in the muggle world, but Dumbledore refuses wizarding adoption to be even considered. Wizarding adoptions can be forced through by the Board of Governors, with the consent of the child and both families (the one currently holding custody and the new, adoptive family).
I would also like to remind you that this would give you some ‘goodwill’ for when the war started by previous dark lords comes to fruition. If Harry wins, he could help the reputation of your House. If not, you could use it to trick Harry at some point. I would like to interject, saying that I will not let anyone hurt my brother, but at this moment, I don’t believe you will find that all that threatening. I would also greatly appreciate it if you allowed a wizarding adoption to take place. The only reason that it would not be in your best interest is if you were planning to kill Harry within the next couple of years, and I assume it will be slightly longer than that before the threats on his life become obvious.
Regards and hope that you will use this opportunity,
Hermione Granger
Having almost burst out laughing at her precociousness while reading the letter, he was met with a slight trepidation for the girl. As his wife had been giving him weird looks while he read the letter, he handed it to her.
“She is aware that you don’t like Dumbledore?” Cissy said in a tone that she was mocking something, though he could tell she found it cute coming from an eleven-year-old.
She finished reading the missive. “You are sure she is not in Slytherin?”
“Probably too cunning to join the house as a muggleborn.”
“Perhaps, but what she did was also quite brave. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t see many reasons not to. He is a Half-Blood, entering a family with at least one magical member, coming from a family of muggles, and it wouldn’t be a blood adoption. She was very careful with her wording, more precise than I would expect from an eleven-year-old.”
“Then I believe you should write her back.”
Miss Granger,
I will address the issue with the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Our next meeting is the week before school starts. I will write to you with our decision the next night. If we approve the wizarding adoption, it can take place the Tuesday before you get on the Express.
Lucius Malfoy, Head of the Noble House of Malfoy.
She had gotten a response! It wasn’t an absolute but she was pretty sure it was happening. So what if she had slightly overstated how far her parents were in adopting Harry into the muggle world. They had filed the papers! And that is what really counts, right?
Miss Granger,
The Granger family has been approved to adopt through wizarding means Harry James Potter.
I will meet with your family, Harry Potter, and his current guardians on Tuesday at the following address.
1451 ⅕ 9 ½ Ave, Wiltshire
Lucius Malfoy, Head of the Noble House of Malfoy.
Wizards and their addresses, she shook her head. She was supposed to bring her parents into the wizarding world? Well, perhaps not the world but it would be some exposure, which is more than she was planning on. But, if Lord Malfoy himself said to bring them. She knew their presence would be required, but at a wizarding property.
The Day of the Adoption
“Petunia, she’s back!!” Vernon Dursley yelled for his wife.
“For the last time, I promise. I assume Harry’s things have been packed?”
“The only reason I let you come near my home is because you’re taking the boy away for good. I don’t want anyone coming here looking for anything, we’re done with him.”
“I understand, Mr. Dursley.”
“Alright, Dudley is at a friend’s house, so we have until tomorrow morning,” Petunia explained, leading Harry outside of the house.
- - -
“Lord Malfoy, a pleasure as always,” she addressed him warmly.
“The pleasure is mine.”
“Lord Malfoy, I am pleased to finally be properly introduced,” Harry managed to say, his discomfort obvious.
“I am pleased to formally make your acquaintance as well, Mister Potter.”
Both sets of guardians approached a circular stone pillar that Malfoy had been waiting at.
“I hope we did not make you wait,” her mother told Malfoy.
“Not to worry, I have the official document here. For the Dursleys, I need your signatures and a drop of blood from Petunia. Then you may leave.”
“Blood? You need my wife’s blood! How dare you!”
“It is only a drop.”
With some resistance, Petunia gave a drop of blood to the end of her signature on the parchment.
“Now, Mister Potter, use your wand to give a hint of your magic. As you would have when first receiving your wand. Don’t worry about the trace, I had this approved by the Ministry.”
Harry followed the instruction. The pillar began to glow and leaves from the surrounding area circled around the group before returning to the ground.
“Now, Mister Potter, a drop of your blood right over the other.” Harry followed the instructions. The pillar glowed again and Harry’s blood separated from the other before going to the top of the parchment.
“Your magical essence,” Malfoy looked at her.
As soon as she did, the pillar glowed brighter than before and the leaves in the surrounding area went straight up, well maybe only a foot or so but they did go up.
“Now a drop of your blood on his.” When she did, the pillar flashed quickly.
“And I may now pronounce you wizarding siblings.”
Everyone dispersed, but no one had left.
“Thank you, Lord Malfoy. You have my gratitude. Though I would like to ask why you wanted my parents present for this.”
“Would you have rathered they were not present?”
“I try to keep them as separated from the wizarding world as I can.”
“And why would you do that?”
“On one hand, I think it seems cruel to show them magic when they are unable to use it themselves. On the other, well from what I’ve read there are two types of ‘Dark Lords,’ those that want to rule over muggles and the ones that want to eliminate any connections between the worlds.”
“And what do you think about these types?”
“Trying to isolate the wizarding world from the muggle one makes sense, but you need to know your enemies much better,” she directed the last part of that to him before walking away.
“Meaning?”
“Such wizards should research the advancements in the muggle world, especially into surveillance and weaponry. Eventually, the wizarding world will be caught on video, put on the internet, and no obliviation will be enough for that. I should be going, Lord Malfoy. A pleasure as always.”
- - -
1994
Malfoy Manor
“Father, you asked to see me?” he asked his father who was on his death bed from a non-contagious case of Dragon Pox. He felt weak, as he always did when speaking to his father. He hoped Draco would never feel that way about him.
“Use the diary.”
“I beg your pardon,” he exclaimed, indignantly he could admit.
“There is a spell, I found it the last time I went through the Malfoy vaults. You can use one of his horcruxes to bring him back. You need to know how many he has and there is a bit of a sacrifice component, but bring him back. Understand, boy?”
“Of course, father.”
“Good. Now let me rest.”
“Why did you call us here, Malfoy?” Nott asked him impatiently.
He had called the majority of the Death Eaters that were not in Azkaban including Nott, Crouch, Avery, Crabbe, and Severus. He did not invite the Carrow twins or Rowle.
“I spoke with my father a few days ago, he has found a way to bring back our Lord.”
“How?” Crouch asked, excitedly. He had recently escaped his father’s house and made his presence known to the other former Death Eaters, but far more enthusiastic than anyone else.
“I believe all of us were aware that the Dark Lord had horcruxes.”
“More than one?” Avery asked.
“I know where three of them are and the existence of two others,” he responded.
“What does the spell entail?” Nott asked.
“We use the horcrux that I have to perform a sacrificial ritual. Since the horcrux I have access to was his first, it will contain half of his soul. We will need the sacrifice of four non-magical people, the number of other components of his soul remain. The most difficult part will be gathering a vial of the blood of the person that killed him.”
“Leave that part to me. I’ll have it to you by Yule,” Crouch said.
“And who will be in charge of finding the sacrifice?” Avery asked.
“I suppose I can find it,” Nott offered.
“Are we sure that this is what we want to do?” Crabbe asked, hesitantly.
“What do you mean!?” Crouch exclaimed.
“Well, we have had relative peace for the past decade. None of us are in Azkaban and most of us have children now.”
“You should be so honored to give your children in service of the Dark Lord,” Crouch enthused.
“You are starting to sound like Bella,” Severus sneered.
“Maybe she had the right idea.”
“Settle down. Crouch will get the blood, Nott and Crabbe the sacrifices, and I will prepare the ritual.”
“What will Severus do?” Crabbe complained.
“He will make sure our children don’t get into too much trouble, I believe that is enough of a task for him,” he dismissed.