Chapter 15
PUREBLOOD FAMILIES had three ways to increase their vast inheritances and fortune. The first was to steal or trick it out of others. The second was to work in the Ministry at a high post and earn it through fair or unfair means. The third and preferred way was to own, start or invest in a business.
The Greengrass family dealt with growing and supplying potion ingredients, while the Malfoy family invested in numerous businesses, most extremely successful, and were also involved in a bit of trading.
The Black family business, however, was in a word, complicated.
If one asked Lyra Cassiopeia Black to explain what exactly her family did to earn such a huge fortune and hold the title of the richest family in Europe and the fourth richest family in the entire magical community, she would ask you to sit down because this explanation was going to be a long one.
The Black family business, very creatively named, 'Stella' (Latin, meaning stars), was composed of many, many, many subdivisions. Each of these subdivisions was headed by a person who was either born a Black or had married a Black. To give an example, this meant that while Aunt Dorea could be the head of a subdivision even after marriage, James could not qualify for it as he was born a Potter and not a Black. This also allowed those like Druella, who had married into the family, to head a subdivision.
These conditions were put forward to keep the business strictly within the family.
The Black family business did a variety of things, and each member of the family contributed to the business empire in a way that played to their strengths.
Irma Black nee Crabbe grew herbs, plants and trees; both magical and not, with great care and pride. Irma happened to have such a green thumb, that most of the customers usually preferred Herbology produced by Stella, rather than other businesses like those of Greengrass, much to the latter's dismay.
Unfortunately, however, much of Irma's plants were not sold separately but rather given to Dorea Potter nee Black, who ran the potion making division of Stella. The Lady of the House of Potter owned a Mastery in Potions and had published many papers for the subject. Her talent in potions also made her get on like a house on fire with her brother-in-law: fellow potion master and inventor, Fleamont Potter. Lady Potter made many potions (especially now that James went to the Planetarium for tutoring all morning and afternoon, meaning that she was free) and sold them through Stella, where she would receive 30% of the profit that the business made for each potion sold.
Speaking of potion ingredients, Lady Potter needed to buy neither the herbology aspect of ingredients nor the animal aspect, for while Irma supplied the latter, Lord Arcturus Black personally ran multiple animal sanctuaries, which made their business empire quite independent and non-reliant on others.
Then, there was also Pollux Black who ran a law firm as part of the legal division of Stella. He employed those who were fanciful in the art of law such as Genevieve Bulstrode, Gerald Avery and many more.
Despite his busy schedule and practically running Stella as a whole, Orion Black miraculously still found the time to run a very famous and reputed monthly historical journal, that contained information on the recent historical discoveries, up-and-coming historians, random facts about the history of magical Britain and such. Also, every month, a country would be chosen at random and a detailed list and explanation of its historical locations, people and events would be written. The last fact making it very popular especially for those who wished to travel and explore the world.
Walburga Black, although temperamental was a gifted arithmetician. She handled all the financial aspects of Stella with grace and by exerting fear and control on everybody else.
Lucretia Prewett nee Black was in charge of a fashion designing division of Stella, a job that she wouldn't trade for anything in the world considering she could design new clothes and attend fashion shows. She was living the dream.
Druella Black nee Rosier also assisted Lucretia Prewett in her job but also ran a fashion and gossip magazine of her own. It was a popular one, called 'Witch Weekly'. (Her darling Narcissa had chosen the name when she had been only four years old.)
The fearsome Cassiopeia Black was into Warding and while the rates for her to ward their houses or shops were off the roof, not one of her customers had ever complained before and would sincerely and honestly tell you that it was worth every galleon.
Cygnus Black practised Enchanting. In his division, he used his talents for a multitude of things, from enchanting children's toys to enchanting professional Quidditch brooms.
And of course, the amazingly scary Lady Malania Black nee Macmillan, who had been a twelve-time professional duelling champion before retiring shortly after her first granddaughter, Molly, was born, now ran a division of Stella that sponsored new and up-coming duellers. Malania also occasionally referred matches, gave consultancy advice and very rarely, played the role of instructor and teacher to the duellers.
Alphard Black, on the other hand, headed the extremely successful curse-breaking division of Stella. He got to travel around the world, meet new and exciting places and people and was also in an environment filled with dangerous, life-threatening curses, which made him feel right at home.
The objects and things that he found were given to either his brother-in-law or father-in-law, who would decide whether to keep it or auction it for at least three times its price by hyping it up.
And it was because Alphard Black was not only one of the best curse breakers in the world, but also running a prosperous curse-breaking business, that he was absolutely detested by the Goblins; a fact that made him puff up his chest with pride.
After all, the number of people who hated you could only mean two things- either you were an awful person or you were very good at what you were doing.
Considering Alphard was possibly the most cheerfully, annoyingly good person ever, it had to be the latter.
On the few days of the month when he wasn't busy due to his job, he would pay surprise visits to all his amazing family members.
Orion and Walburga Black would freely tell you that they hated those visits.
Specifically because, perfect Alphard would flash them a blinding, innocent smile and insist that they should spend more time as a couple ("It's very important to take out some time to love yourselves and each other, and with three kids, I doubt it would be so easy...") and so, they would somehow find themselves agreeing to what would at that time seem like very valid points. Then, Alphard would volunteer to babysit the children when the couple went on their date, and for some reason, it would seem like a perfectly pleasant idea at that moment. The couple would agree, kiss the children goodbye and leave.
It was only when they finished their date and came back home would they realise what an utterly enormous and stupid mistake it really was and remember that kind, charming Alphard had not only been a Slytherin at Hogwarts but had also served as King of the Royal Slytherin Court for two years.
Then, it would make the couple want to commit murder but sadly, because Alphard's visits were always a surprise, they wouldn't be able to give Lord Arcturus his stupid three-day warning and hence, no hitting Alphard with a knife.
No matter how tempting the image was.
If there was one thing the members of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black would unanimously agree on, was that Arcturus Black's policies sucked; because during the course of their life, they would meet these pathetic excuse of human beings who completely deserved death, but they couldn't be granted it because of that stupid three-day policy.
It was like dangling the forbidden fruit right in front of them but knowing they couldn't touch it, only glare at it in ever consuming yet totally justified hatred.
The worst part of it all was, Alphard had an innocent explanation for his visit.
In the magical world, being chosen as a godparent was the highest honour one could receive.
It meant that the parents of the child trusted you with its life. If anything were to happen to them, their flesh and blood/heir/legacy would be completely in your care.
It was a very difficult and serious decision to make and many factors were taken into consideration before choosing a guardian for their child.
The number three was one of the most powerful numbers in terms of arithmancy, astronomy and divination; and so, it is said that the child has three parents- the mother, father and the guardian. Hence, the reason why magical parents only choose one person to be the guardian of their child- either a godmother or a godfather.
For their eldest daughter Lyra, the couple unanimously and without much thought, choose Lady Dorea Potter nee Black, who they had known for a long time, was financial very well off, politically powerful, kind, caring, educated, intelligent and so on.
For their youngest son Regulus, they elected Lord Henrik Yaxley, who had been a childhood friend of Orion's and whose only son was the same age as Lyra. Lord Yaxley was also politically powerful, financially well-off, intelligent and basically, filled out every one of their requirements. Not to mention, he also adored Regulus, much more than his son and heir (which Dennis really didn't mind and was honestly a bit grateful for, considering it meant that he got more independence) and took to spoiling and pampering him as much as he could. Perhaps it was the fact that Regulus was a spitting image of his father, both in terms of looks and behaviour, but whatever it was, Lord Yaxley doted on Regulus as much as any other godfather would.
For their middle child who was expected to one day become the Head of the family, Orion and Walburga choose to entrust Walburga's very own brother, Alphard.
And what a big mistake that was!
Don't get them wrong, Alphard was an amazing godfather to Sirius and took his duties very seriously (pardon the pun). However, the amount of chaos that he brought with him whenever he visited was enough to make Walburga's blood pressure spike and Orion's hair to grey.
Thus, as you can probably tell, the five of them had rather mixed feelings regarding Alphard Black. Lyra adored him, Regulus was in awe at him, Sirius worshipped him, Walburga threw vases at him while Orion, when he wasn't lecturing the curse breaker on why he would be a bad influence if he once again destroyed their house, felt amusement at his antics.
So a day after returning from the Philippines, when Alphard Black cheerfully dropped by for a visit, Orion and Walburga had shared a glance.
They had agreed to not be pushed into going on a date and leaving the children alone with that menace and yet, when Alphard flashed them his easy-going, sincere smile and opened his mouth, they once again found themselves agreeing to what he said (because why shouldn't they? Alphard was correct, they needed time to themselves), and the next thing they knew, they were on their way to the Golden Chimera restaurant.
Three hours later, they came home to a green-haired Regulus who was running around crazily in a sugar high, a red-haired Sirius swinging on the chandelier and onto a trampoline with a mad glint in his eyes and a silver-haired Lyra with a paper crown on top of her head, passed out on the couch and cuddling a blanket adorably while tightly hugging a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey, which was nearly three-quarters empty.
Orion was wide-eyed with loss of words as his eyes spotted Alphard, sitting comfortably near Lyra's legs and calmly reading The Tales of the Beedle and the Bard.
Alphard's gave them a quick sweep with his eyes before going back to his book. He flipped a page as his eyes moved sidewards, reading the book.
"Oh, hello. You two are back early. And here I was hoping that I would become an uncle once more. What a pity," He flipped another page, before fixing his eyes on them with a coy grin. "How was your date?"
No sooner had he finished his sentence, than had his dear sister let out a strangled war cry, picked up the nearest vase and threw it at him.
Unfortunate for Walburga but fortunate for Alphard, his sister's aim wasn't as good as her arithmancy.
This did, however, increase her anger, prompting her into pulling out her wand and sending a flurry of curses after him, leading him to drop his book and run for his life and caused Walburga to furiously chase after him in circles around the house, like a dog chasing a cat.
No matter how old or elegant you were, the presence of a sibling always reverted you to the mentality, stubbornness and immaturity of a five-year-old.
Orion, meanwhile, wordlessly walked over to the sofa where his daughter had passed out on, placed the blanket on her properly, applied a mild warming charm because it was cold and he didn't want her to get sick, lightly kissed her forehead, gently took the bottle of fire whiskey, removed the lid, and in one swift motion, gulped it all down in his throat.
There was a specific reason why Alphard had taken a short break from his adventures to visit his sister, brother-in-law, godson, niece and nephew; and it wasn't just to annoy his darling sister as she seemed to believe (okay, it was about irritating her just a little bit. After all, what kind of a brother would he be if he didn't?).
There were many events scheduled to take place this year and the next. His cousin Lucretia's daughter, Molly, was deemed to have a winter wedding to her fiancé Arthur Weasley around the time of Yule and his younger brother Cygnus' daughter, Bellatrix's wedding was also set for Easter of next year. Both the weddings were being excitedly planned by his mother-in-law Malania, Lucretia, his sister-in-law Druella and the brides themselves with so much vigour and concentration, one could have mistaken them for attempting to strategise a plan to win a war.
However, there was another special event that was to take place in two days and that was the real reason he had arrived.
On the 16th of July 1955, Alphard Black became an uncle for the very first time through his sister Walburga and the third time as a whole. He could still remember the rush of euphoria he felt when the baby girl was gently placed into his arms.
She was so tiny back then. She had had these big blue eyes and had little to no hair on her head when she had been born. It was hard to believe that that small, vulnerable girl had now grown up to be a beautiful, strong and confident woman, and Alphard was thankful to Lady Hecate that he had watched the whole transition.
Lyra was going to be sixteen now.
She was all grown up and Alphard offhandedly wondered if he was feeling such a plethora of emotions such as shock, surprise, confusion and nostalgia at that thought, he could only dream of what Orion was going through because everybody -no matter how much he tried to hide it- knew he adored Lyra more than anybody else.
For their daughter's birthday, Orion and Walburga paid no mind to expenses spent. They would make it the grandest event of the decade.
It was luck that caused the special day to fall on a Saturday, so a destination birthday was planned with roughly two hundred of their closest friends and family was invited to spend the weekend in one of the Black's private islands, Adstrum, for a day of relaxation, joy and celebration under the hot Caribbean sun.
"Happy birthday, life," Lucius whispered into her ear, making her laugh.
"Don't do that," Lyra told him, wearing a smile. "Your breath is quite tickle-y."
Lucius smirked. "You mean this," he whispered in her ear again, making her laugh. "But honestly, happy birthday Lyra. How does it feel to be sixteen?"
"Not that different really." Lyra shrugged before frowning her brows. "Is it supposed to feel different?"
"I'll let you know in two days." He grinned.
Lucius' birthday was two days after hers, the 18th of July.
When they had been younger, Lucius used to take pleasure in teasing her about her age and calling her titles like 'senior citizen' and 'grandmother' no matter how much she protested otherwise. The name-calling came to an abrupt halt when Lyra learnt the incantation and the wand movement for the beheading curse and made sure to practise it many, many times in front of a wide-eyed Lucius on transfigured albino peacocks.
"So," Lyra began, dimpling. "What did you get me? Just a warning, if I don't like it, I will set it on fire in front of you."
Lucius' lips curved into a smirk. "I'm confident you'll like it."
"-And Grandmother Malania told me that you can know a lot about a boy by what he gives to the person he loves." Lyra continued. "So, there is definitely loads of pressure. Never think otherwise."
"I would not dare," Lucius replied dryly. "But you will love what I bought you."
"And how much are you willing to bet on that?"
"My life," Lucius answered without hesitation.
Lyra tilted her head. "I would usually be okay with that, but considering that you've recently taken to calling me your life, I'm having mixed feelings about your reply."
Lucius laughed. "Trust me, you'll love it."
"I better," Lyra said, eyes sparkling. "A gift says how much you know about that person, and I do not want to re-evaluate my feelings about you."
Lucius smiled. "Lucky for you then, because I'll make sure you never get the opportunity to do so."
That day was celebrated by fun moments on the beach, loads of dancing and marshmallows around a fire. At night, when the moon was up high, Lyra cut her sixteen-layered, double chocolate chip cake and Sirius, James and Regulus, of course, managed to throw some of the cake's icing on their sister's face.
Lyra got her revenge on them, however, by hugging all three of them tightly and making sure to wipe some of the cake on her face onto theirs. The three boys didn't seem to mind, as they tried to get their tongues to reach the bits of icing stuck on their face.
Sirius succeeded first and hummed approvingly. "Chocolate-y," he commented, nodding at his father. "You've outdone yourself."
"Thank you for that high praise, Sirius," Orion said dryly.
"He's not kidding," James said, shamelessly picking up a piece of cake from his cheek with his finger and putting it in his mouth. "It's really brilliant." He sighed dreamily before proceeding to cast a longing look at the cake.
"Is this what heaven tastes like?" Regulus mused out loud then, setting off a domino effect of laughter.
Walburga clapped her hands together with a smile. "Well, you've heard the critics. Let us eat cake!"
"Smartest thing you've ever said in your life, sister!" Alphard called out over the cheers let out by the boys.
Walburga, manners and maturity forgotten, calmly cut a piece of the cake and threw it in the direction where her brother was standing. She didn't miss this time, and the cake landed straight on his face, splattering bits of icing on the nearby people.
"Best you've ever looked, dear brother!" She and everybody else laughed as he glared.
"You win this time," Alphard begrudgingly conceded, conjuring a tissue to wipe some of the cake from his eyes.
Walburga smirked. "Just like every other time, then."
"Na-ah!" Alphard protested. "This is the first time you've won. Ever."
Walburga scoffed. "Oh please! Let Merlin bless your poor, delusional heart."
"Who are you calling delusional you psychotic banshee!"
"Banshee! How dare you, you filthy troll!"
"I don't know why you found my statement to be offensive 'Burga since a banshee would be a compliment compared to what you usually look like."
"Back at you, Alphie! You're so ugly, not even the trolls would want you!" She yelled.
He huffed. "Yeah? Well, you smell like dung." Alphard stated.
"You smell like a troll who ate dung and vomited it back up!"
"Hmm... Trolls again, sister? Perhaps you're using them so much because you can relate to their looks."
"Why you-"
Pollux sighed in the distance before looking to his youngest son, Cygnus. "This is why you are my favourite child."
"I know," Cygnus replied, patting his father on the back. "Good luck. There aren't any vases here, but I have a feeling that Walburga will conjure them up soon. Actually scratch that. We are on an island. You better go and stop that fight before she decides to drown him."
"I finally understand why Archie insisted on that three-day heads-up," Pollux said and before he could continue, a crash sound was heard in the opposite direction, making the father and son turn to see a murderous looking Narcissa and an angry-looking Bellatrix in a full-on duel with each other. A large crowd had gathered around them, cheering them on.
It was Cygnus' turn to sigh now.
Pollux gave his son a sympathetic look. "Good luck."
"Thank you father, Morgana knows I'll need it," Cygnus replied.
"I WILL DROWN YOU, TROLL-BOY!"
"DO IT! AT LEAST THEN, I WOULD BE SPARED THE SIGHT OF SEEING YOUR HIDEOUS FACE YOU DEFORMED HIPPOGRIFF!"
Pollux winced as Walburga and Alphard yelled louder before he looked at Cygnus with a serious expression on his face. "We both need luck, son. We really do."
His cousin and Head of House Arcturus had it so easy in comparison to him. Lucretia and Orion got along so well except the rare bickering; Molly, Fabian and Gideon were so nice to each other and Lyra, Sirius, Regulus and even James (he was practically their brother anyway) were ideal examples of how siblings should behave.
And while he did have four perfect angels, he was sadly also stuck with constantly solving arguments between Miss Banshee and Mr Troll along with Miss Overkill and Miss Matchmaker.
"Are you ready?" Lucius whispered into her ears once more.
"Must you close my eyes?" Lyra asked, tiredly.
"Well yes, Lyra. It goes with the whole effect of a surprise. So stop questioning it, and instead, enjoy." Lucius rolled his eyes, covering his girlfriend's eyes with his hands.
"It's a little hard to do that when your hands are restricting the inhalation of air through my nostrils," Lyra said sharply, making Lucius adopt a sheepish look on his face, even if she couldn't see it.
"Sorry." He said, moving his hands an inch upwards.
"You better be."
Lucius rolled his eyes. "Okay, ready to open your eyes?"
"That is literally in your hands."
"Expression, life."
"Honesty, love." Lyra retorted.
Lucius ignored her. "Okay... Now!"
As soon as she opened her eyes, Lyra gasped from the sight in front of her.
It was a baby snake. But this baby snake had three heads.
It turned out, Lucius did know her extremely well.
Lyra's dimples deepened as a smile threatened to fall out of her face. "You got me a runespoor." She stated.
"Baby runespoor," Lucius emphasised.
"I love them." Lyra turned to face him. "And I love you."
"The way you said it makes me think that your love is subjective," Lucius said dryly.
"Oh, it is. Definitely. Never think otherwise." Lyra smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck before connecting their lips into a kiss.
A loud crash from another part of the island made them pull apart a few seconds later.
Lucius' eyebrows furrowed. "What was that?"
"Either my mother and uncle or Bella and Cissa," Lyra replied. "Who cares?"
Lucius shrugged. "You make a very valid point."
"Thank you." She dimpled, and the two of them just watched the baby, sleeping runespoor for a while.
"And," Lucius began with a smirk. "You can bring it to Hogwarts with you. Freely this time. You have permission from the Board of Directors for the runespoor."
A surprised expression crossed Lyra's face. "Even the sheep of the light agreed? How did you convince them?"
Lucius shrugged. "We argued that it wasn't fair to a parselmouth to not have a snake with her. What would be the point of having such an ability otherwise?"
Lyra dimpled. "Thank you."
"Your grandfather helped," Lucius mumbled, the tips of his ears pink at the sight of her dimples. "I'm pretty sure he bribed at least two of the Governors."
Lyra laughed. "Yes, he tends to resort to that when manipulating them does not work."
"And what does he do if bribery does not work either?" Lucius asked. He liked hearing her talk.
"Blackmailing, of course!" Lyra smiled. "That is followed by threatening and then it's making them 'mysteriously disappear'."
"Lovely."
"I know." Lyra laughed, leaning into him.
Lucius wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. With his mouth near her ears, he whispered, "So, what are you getting me for my birthday?"
She laughed, the feeling still tickling to her. "Isn't my love a gift enough?"
"Yes, but what material gift are you giving me?" Lucius asked. "After all, this girl I know said that, 'A gift says how much you know about that person' and I would hate to have to re-evaluate my feelings for you, life."
"She sounds very wise," Lyra commented with twinkling eyes.
"She is," Lucius grinned. "She's also quite beautiful, has psychopathic tendencies, intelligent, manipulative, stubborn, easily irritable, temperamental-"
"-I will drown you if you continue speaking-"
"-Did I mention that she has psychopathic tendencies?" Lucius continued as if she hadn't interrupted. "But I love her immensely, no matter how many times she threatens to kill or bodily harm me."
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks." She said dryly before pecking Lucius on his lips. "I love you immensely as well, no matter how many times you whine about your hair-gel running out."
Lucius laughed before whispering once more, "So, what are you getting me for my birthday?" He repeated.
"I don't love you enough to spoil the surprise for you," Lyra smirked. "I guess you'll have to find out in two days."
"But Lyra," Lucius said impatiently. "That's two thousand, eight hundred and eighty minutes! You can't possibly be so cruel to draw my curiosity for so long."
"I am, actually," Lyra replied, giving him a sympathetic look before turning to leave.
"Lyra! You can't just do that to me! You can't just tempt me and walk away! Lyra? Are you even listening to me?! Lyra! Come back here! I demand that you tell me what you got for me! Don't ignore me! Lyra-"
Two days later, Lucius Malfoy would find out that Lyra Black bought him a life-time supply of his favourite hair-gel.
She really did know him.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end; and for Lyra, her stress levels kindly reached their maximum limit four days after her birthday, in the form of the mid-weekly session of the Wizengamot that was held every Wednesday.
Like always, after returning home from the Wizengamot, Lord Arcturus of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black made it a point to inform and discuss all the proceedings conducted (no matter how important or insignificant) with anybody interested.
However, the people-who-were-interest list was smaller than Lyra's new runespoor (named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos after the three fates since she learnt that the snake was female after having a rather awkward conversation with them) and consisted of Orion (because it was obligatory to his role as Heir Apparent), Lyra (which was also mandatory due to her role of Queen), Pollux (who had to know the new laws and policies of the Wizengamot due to his legal business) and Melania (who felt bad for her husband and did it out of pity).
When Arcturus entered his office where the above four people had been waiting for him patiently, he wore an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face and his eyes were murderous.
The other occupants of the room shared a glance, immediately sensing something wrong. They calmly waited until their Head of House had removed his plum-coloured Wizengamot coat, drank a cup of tea, seated himself and was prepared to share the news.
"This is the new law that is currently being pushed," He told them simply, duplicating his copy and passing it so that each of the four people had their very own document to read.
Pollux put on his reading glasses. "Which faction?"
"The light," Arcturus spat.
"I already know that this isn't going to be good then," Orion muttered under his breath as he began reading.
Lyra was the first out of them to finish reading, after which she looked at her grandfather with wide eyes. "Are they being serious?"
"No, they're being idiots." Arcturus corrected and despite his scowl, looked at his granddaughter with a proud, approving smile. "I see you noticed the loophole."
"How can I not grandfather, considering it's glaring at my face and is as subtle as a bombarda maxima," Lyra replied, still in shock.
"If only people like you replace some of the lesser mentally inclined people at the Wizengamot." Arcturus mused sadly. "Oh, how lovely the world would have been."
Melania was the next to finish reading, and her eyes too widened considerably. "WHAT THE SHIT-" She realised that her granddaughter was in the room. "-AKI MUSHROOMS!" She finished, before turning to her husband. "Archie, they can't be serious!"
"Like I told Lyra, dear, Sirius happens to be very intelligent. The people who proposed this law, however, are not. So it would be wrong to compare the two." Arcturus replied dryly.
Malania glared at him. "Not the time, darling."
"Sorry, dear," Arcturus said quickly.
Orion, who had finished reading it by then, also went wide-eyed. "Father, they can't be-"
"-No, they are not kidding. I can assure you that, son." Arcturus finished his sentence, knowing that if Orion said the word 'serious' like he assumed he would, he wouldn't be able to control himself from making the pun and thus, make Malania mad.
Merlin knew he would rather jump into an active volcano while simultaneously being under the skin decaying curse than make his lovely, perfect and scary wife angry.
Pollux had also finished reading the bill but was now re-reading it from a technical, analytical and legal point of views.
The bill in question seemed harmless at first glance. In fact, if somebody who wasn't familiar with this term called 'deception' had read the bill, they would have gushed over the positive ways it would change the country for the better.
However, if those belonging to the other category had read it (such as the Blacks) then they would be furious over the life-altering words written on the parchment.
The bill was written by Albus Dumbledore and the reason for the bill was to, "Award the rights of being the Magical Guardian of the present school-going students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who were either orphaned or whose parents and Magical Guardian are improper to the school's Headmaster/Headmistress."
On the surface, the bill seemed revolutionary in a good way.
The purpose of a Magical Guardian was to basically guide a person through the early stages of life, in the time one couldn't exactly think for themselves. When a person turned seventeen, they would be an adult for all intents and purposes, and hence, no Magical Guardian would be required.
The rights of the Magical Guardian belonged to first and foremost, the parents of the child and then the godparent who had been chosen. Now, if the child was a mudblood or essentially, did not have somebody with magic who could guide them through the world, then the child would be emancipated in the eyes of the law and fit to take care of themselves.
So yes, at first glance, assigning a Magical Guardian to those who didn't have one seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea so that the child would have a guiding hand as they navigate through life until they are old enough to think for themselves and learn to differentiate between right and wrong.
And Lyra herself would have completely supported the bill had it not been for one tiny yet a major thing.
The sentence parents and Magical Guardian are improper was not properly explained or defined anywhere in the bill.
To the simpleminded, the phrase would be perfectly normal and would refer to those children who were either being abused or ill-treated by their parents and/or Magical Guardians. But Lyra was sure that to Albus Dumbledore, the word 'improper' meant those like her family.
The ones who were 'dark' and 'evil' because, for some odd reason, Albus Dumbledore assumed that all the traditional families tended to roast their children over the fire while practising sacrificial blood magic in order to please Lady Hecate.
Okay, they did do the whole sacrificial blood magic thing, but only on days like Samaiah or Beltane; and there was a genuine, proven reason for why they did that, but now was not the time to get into that.
The point was, what if Albus Dumbledore used this little loophole to appoint himself as the magical guardian of their children even if they did nothing wrong? What if he took away the right of the parents to play the guiding hand because he thought that they were improper guardians?
There were too many 'what ifs' situations that Lyra could think off just from the top of her head, most of which were not good.
"Grandfather," Lyra started. "When is the Wizengamot voting on this bill?"
"14 days notice, darling. So you have two weeks." Arcturus replied. "I assume the Court will be doing something about this?"
"The Court will be doing many things about this, that I can assure you," Lyra answered. "We'll be calling Clause 149 of the Rules and Regulations of the Wizengamot which allows the Royal Slytherin Court to present an argument and their opinions before the vote of a bill is called to order."
"Excellent," Arcturus said. "The sheep of the light are more likely to be convinced by 'untainted youth' then 'slimy, sociopathic snakes'." He said, quoting some of the wonderful terms his faction had been called.
Lyra cracked a smile before standing up and lightly curtsying to her grandparents and father. "May I be excused?"
"Of course," Arcturus replied, allowing Lyra to leave.
The first thing she did was go to the parlour where, as expected, Narcissa was happily reading the latest arrival of her mother's famous magazine, Witch Weekly, and reviewing it.
"Narcissa!" Lyra called out, making the said person look at her cousin's unsmiling and slightly murderous expression with a mixture of confusion and concern.
"Yes, Lyra?"
"Inform everybody who wished to continue to remain members of the Slytherin Court to come to the study by the greenhouse in the Planetarium in an hour maximum," Lyra told her and Narcissa understood that at that moment, she wasn't talking to her cousin. She was talking to the Silver Queen. "No exceptions," Lyra continued. "Unless they are at a funeral or a wedding."
Narcissa nodded, but couldn't help ask. "The sessions of the Court are going to start early this year?"
"Yes," Lyra said monotonously. "Now go on, and call the current members of the Royal Slytherin Court for the first session of this academic year, called by the Silver Queen and asking for convincing reasons to refrain from beheading Albus Dumbledore for his out-of-the-world stupidity."
And just like that, her once fun-filled summer flipped around to be one filled with legal research.
On their first day, every member had been assigned a topic to research and prepare a summarised report on, using their connections, newspapers, other books or whatever other material they desired to use.
Lyra and Lucius would routinely check their progress, adding more information to their connections from the Ministry and other little details that they felt would do rather nicely.
They had only two weeks to put everything together.
The Wizengamot worked in a curiously odd way. They would meet every Wednesdays for a general briefing, where bills would be written, laws would be voted on, sentences of criminals would be judged and discussions regarding matters of all fields would be held.
After a bill had been introduced by one of the factions of the Wizengamot, the other two factions were given a 14-day notice to ponder over it, after which it would be voted on.
The Royal Slytherin Court shadowed all these proceedings and played the role of a 'wild card' in such matters since although they could not vote themselves, under Clause 149 of the Rules and Regulations of the Wizengamot, the Court was allowed to give a presentation and express their views on a bill that was to be voted.
This was done in order to promote the Youth of England movement, all the way back when her grandfather had been her age and was initially put into order because the lawmakers realised that the youth tended to provide a fresher perspective on things and considering the fact that they were the future of the country, they felt that the youth had to have some say in how they would live.
The Court did not play this clause much. The last time it had been used was in the '30s when there was a rumour that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to be shut down, and it hadn't been used ever since.
But considering that this new bill would essentially have the power to destroy the relationship of an innocent parent and child, the Court would definitely interfere. It would be cruel if they had just let this bill pass without doing their best to either stop it or make some changes to it.
Because, as Lyra had mentioned before, it was that one word.
Improper.
It was just a simple eight-letter word that had the capability of destroying bonds formed by families since the conditions to deem a family 'improper' hadn't been elaborated.
And while she knew that both her grandfathers were more than capable of seeing to it that this mistake was brought to light, she couldn't help but think that this wasn't their mistake to correct.
After all, perhaps she was looking too much into this but was it a coincidence that this bill had been pushed by the light faction only a day after Lord Rodrick of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange had given a statement to the Daily Prophet that, "A revolution is coming, and we must do all we can to support the cause. We are above all others, why must we contemplate otherwise? Parents are the guiding hand to children. They look up to us. So we should push them in the right direction and make sure that they know their worth."
While he hadn't said it directly, it was rather obvious that Lord Lestrange was referring to pureblood supremacy whenever he spoke the word 'worth' and anybody who had caught wind of the whisperings of this Voldemort that had been going around recently would know precisely what 'revolution' and 'cause' he was speaking about.
Lyra was not stupid enough to think that Albus Dumbledore, the man who had played such a major role in ending the last war and was perhaps the only person she knew had more connections than her grandfather Arcturus, was blind to all the signs that had been showing up recently.
Albus Dumbledore was one of those people who believed themselves to be completely in the right, no matter how much had been proven otherwise. Those sort of people were the ones that Lyra hated with an immense passion and they mostly also tended to be mudbloods who dared to call Samaiha, the festival during which they wished and prayed for the blessings and guidance of their ancestors and wished for peace to be on their souls, to be 'satanic'. Albus Dumbledore was one of the foolish ones with magical blood who believed that his words were those spoken by Julius Caesar himself and that he was firmly, unexceptionally correct and anybody who dared to think otherwise were 'evil' or 'misguided' or whatever other negative words he could come up with.
He was also clearly pushing this bill so that it would allow him to 'guide' the newer generation and shape them with his ideologies if one of their parents bore the brand of the newest Dark Lord.
And since there was a possibility in the future that many of her family members (especially Bellatrix) and even Lucius would have no choice but to bear the brand so that herself and any of their future children could lead a happy life, she was strongly against that little eight-letter word.
So yes, Lyra was going to activate Clause 149 of the Rules and Regulations of the Wizengamot because this was their fight. This was their battle.
And Lyra was confident that she was going to win simply because she didn't know how to lose.
This two week period wasn't all filled with research and stress, and there had been many moments of laughter and merriment as well.
A particular incident that came to mind was when Sirius had decided that he had a talent for swinging on the long curtains of the Planetarium, despite them having perfectly nice swings outside. All was well and good until the time he had manifested the ambition to practise his newfound talent on the curtains in the small (according to Black standards, at least) cottage outside and the curtains had decided that it could bear Sirius' weight no longer, ripped off from its hangings, and managed to throw Sirius up in the air, only for him to land inside the gigantic, open, glass pen that they had put for Lyra's collection of snakes.
Every ounce of Sirius' Gryffindor bravery had fleeted at the sight of the three anacondas, six black mambas, one runespoor, seven common European vipers and twenty-seven grass snakes, especially when his parselmouth sister wasn't nearby, and he had let out a loud, ear-splitting scream that had caused every occupant of the Planetarium to come rushing, armed with wands in their hands and curses at the tip of their tongues, at his cry.
And while the incident seemed extremely scary, it was quite funny when narrated afterwards and even Sirius had laughed at it, especially when Lyra had sat him down and slowly explained to him that all her snakes were already fed, happy and had been given strict instructions not to harm any of them in any way from day one and the hiss' from the snakes could roughly be translated to, 'Why is the human reverting back to their monkey forms?'
Another memorable time had been when Regulus had decided that he could not wait for his books and wands any longer and had demanded to go shopping immediately.
The Blacks had a sort-of tradition to go shopping for school-related things on the 31st of July, simply because it was always an auspicious day, but not one of them could resist against the puppy dog eyes of the baby of the family and they caved immediately.
Sirius and James had also been bouncing with excitement at the thought of going back to Hogwarts, after grandfather Arcturus -with the coaxing and pestering of grandmother Melania- had agreed to send them back, but only after the two boys plus Regulus promised to learn a variety of curses, hexes, jinxes and healing spells.
So when Lyra, Regulus, Sirius, James, Narcissa, Andromeda went shopping for their school supplies with Orion, Walburga, Melania, Charlus and Dorea; they were joined by Lucius Malfoy who happen to be coincidentally shopping on the same day as well.
They also managed to run into Remus Lupin and his father Lyall, much to the pleasure of the boys.
Seeing Regulus get his wand for the first time was extremely special and a wonderful moment for her to pay witness to- the way his eyes had lightened up and his cheeks had flushed with excitement.
And as Lyra glanced at her family later that day, all of them laughing and teasing as they came together for their compulsory Sunday dinners at the Planetarium, a smile slowly pained itself on her face and a determined twinkle burnt as bright as the sun in her eyes.
These people were her family and she loved them dearly. And if anybody -anybody- even dared to hurt them in any way, she would not hesitate to kill them by way of either making them mysteriously disappear or hitting them with a knife.
The Wizengamot was the legislative and judicial body in the Ministry of Magic of Britain that consisted of forty-nine members. Out of these, forty of the seats belonged to those of pure and noble blood and were inheridatory in nature. However, if a family line became extinct -like the Emrys line- or fused into another family -like the Peverells into the Potter line- then, that family's seat would be replaced by another family's.
Four of the seats of the Wizengamot were personally chosen by the Minister of Magic from various spheres of life (such as singing, sports, writing, dancing, etc.,) and they held the seat for a term of five years.
The remaining five seats were electable and were nominated by the people during the time the Minister was elected and together, they all made the Wizengamot.
Albus Dumbledore presided over the meeting, as was his duty as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He called the meeting to order and began with the normal business of the body, starting by informing all of them of the current events of the world and such.
Lyra sat calmly at the guest chairs and waited patiently for the voting of the bill to come whereupon which time, two people would confess their views on the bill. Sadly, only those who were either members or a representative of a group who had been personally, directly invited by the assent of the Chief Warlock was allowed inside, meaning that it was only Lyra who was able to speak on this matter despite the whole Court contributing information.
Finally, almost towards the end of that week's session of the Wizengamot, her turn came.
"....And now, debating their views on the bill that had been introduced in the court 14 days ago, we have Heiress Lyra Black who has activated Clause 149 of the Rules and Regulations of the Wizengamot and Mr Gladen Douglas, one of the lawyers who helped in writing this bill." Albus Dumbledore announced. "Please, both of you, come to the podium and good luck."
Lyra stood up and walked to one of the two podiums located in the center of the Wizengamot, confidence and coolness radiating with every step. Mr Douglas also followed her lead and stood behind the other podium.
Mr Gladen Douglas, a halfblood lawyer and one of the elected members of the Wizengamot, had been selected by the people who had written this bill to speak for it.
"Mr Douglas, Heiress Black, the two of you may begin." Albus Dumbledore said with his characteristic, grandfatherly smile present on his face.
"Thank you, Chief Warlock," Mr Douglas began, turning to face the members of the Wizengamot. "Ladies and gentlemen, I honestly cannot believe that we have come to a stage where even a good deed can be interpreted as a bad one." He said. "This bill was written with the purest intentions by the greatest legal minds, myself contributing and checking it for loopholes. This bill was written so that the children -the future of our country- can have proper guiding hands to help them in the dark. Denying youths a loving guardian they deserve is cruel, and all I hope is that we can finally respond to their pleas and see this bill to become a law. Thank you." He finished, and flashed Lyra a smug look upon noticing that the majority of the members were nodding at his statements.
Lyra flashed him a honeyed smile before turning to the members of the Wizengamot and beginning to speak. "Well, as a child, youth and the future of this country, I hope you don't mind if I share my opinions on this?" She asked rhetorically before continuing. "There is a quote by a French squib named Cardinal Richelieu who says, 'If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.'" She turned to Mr Douglas. "So, do forgive me for my statements considering -as you've self-proclaimed- this bill was written with only good intentions, but I feel the need to nitpick on one thing because if I don't do it now, then somebody with not so pure intentions will do so in the future for all the wrong reasons." She paused. "I've noticed that the word 'improper' in this bill has not been defined further and there has been no listing done as to what exactly falls into this category. You see, this -on the surface- very simple eight letter word happens to be subjective and tends to differ from person to person. The things that I believe are improper, you may not agree on and vice versa. So, what I want to understand is exactly whose interpretation does the word 'improper' depend on?" She asked.
Mr Douglas scoffed. "The society's interpretation, Miss Black."
"The society consists of many different people, Mr Douglas." Lyra gave him a close-lipped smile. "Everybody has their own opinions and their very unique individuality and as far as I know, you cannot control the way a person thinks. Diversity exists. It exists inside a household and it definitely exists in a society. For example, I'm indifferent towards the subject of history. My brother Regulus and my father adore it to bits while my other brother Sirius detests it with every being in his body and my mother simply doesn't care." She paused. "So, I ask again, Mr Douglas, whose interpretation does the word 'improper' depend on?"
"The law's."
"And here I was under the impression that it was that very law that is about to be passed just now." She stated dryly. "I'm not asking for much change in the current proposition. All I'm saying is that one little word should be given a little bit more thought."
"The word is quite understandable, Miss Black." Mr Douglas told her. "The word 'improper' varies from contexts, but the meaning of it does not change. It stays the same throughout time and age, and I can assure you that it will only affect those who it has to."
Lyra raised an eyebrow at his remark, a gesture which could roughly be translated as 'I'm about to end this entire man's career.' She turned back to the members of the Wizengamot. "Lady Marchbanks," Lyra suddenly said. "You hold a mastery in Ancient Runes, do you not?"
Lady Marchbanks looked quite startled at the attention she had suddenly gained but nevertheless nodded, although somewhat confused at the point Lyra was trying to make. "...Yes," she replied slowly.
"Hardly fifty years ago, it was considered improper for a woman to hold a mastery in a so-called 'man's craft'," Lyra said. "That means, if this bill had been made into a law fifty years ago, I could play this clause and make somebody else the guardian of your children." She told her cooly, making the formidable woman gasp lightly in shock.
"Mr Banks," Lyra began. "You are a muggleborn holding one of the five electable seats in the Wizengamot. Not even thirty years ago, that would have been considered improper. Do I get your children, then?" She didn't wait for Mr Banks to reply, immediately turning to her next target.
"Lord Davis," Lyra said. "You married a half-blood, and I'm sure that your grandmother even to this date considers it improper, does she not? And Lord Abbot, your brother likes those of his own gender. Most people in this esteemed body consider that improper. Lord Bones, your wife is an Auror. Ten years ago, that would have been completely improper."
Lyra did not spare anybody in any faction. She made sure to call every single person present in the Wizengamot out on something improper. Nobody was spared.
"Lord Black," Lyra said at the end, a smile dancing on her enchanting lips. "Your wife had been a twelve-time duelling champion. It was considered highly improper when you were growing up, as you already know and if this bill that all of you are voting on today had already been passed, then." She scoffed, shaking her head sadly. "None of you would have been able to guide your children- the very people you brought into this world and loved dearly."
"Now that is where you are wrong, Miss Black," Mr Douglas objected immediately. "While this show you put on was entertaining, the past is in the past. None of those things matters anymore. Not only that, but you are basing your entire theory on the assumption that all parents are kind to children. However, many children have been abused at the hands of their parents and others who are orphans. Why are you trying to prevent them from gaining a guardian?"
"I am not doing any of these things," Lyra said sharply. "Never once have I objected to this bill as a whole. In fact, I support all but one thing fully."
"And what is that, Miss Black?" Mr Douglas asked mockingly.
Lyra scoffed. "Have you been listening to anything I've been saying, Mr Douglas? And this statement comes from somebody who claims to be a great listener and has a great knowledge of the law. If the educated act this way, then I can only pity the rest." She said coldly. "The only single thing that I would like to ask you all of you is to please, define the word 'improper' in this bill."
"It means those who aren't fit to be parents, Miss Black."
"How do you tell who is fit to be parents and who isn't?" Lyra retorted, and Mr Douglas laughed.
"That's pretty self-explanatory, Miss Black."
"Then please explain it to me then, for I seem to be quite ignorant and oblivious on such simple phrases." Lyra prompted.
Mr Douglas rolled his eyes. "Anybody who uses the dark arts is not fit to be proper parents," he told her.
Lyra hummed. "That wasn't mentioned in the bill."
"That would be because we assumed it would be common sense." Mr Douglas told her. "Clearly, we were mistaken."
Lyra smiled at him. "Have you ever used the tickling charm, Mr Douglas?"
"What?" He asked, bewildered.
"The tickling charm. Have you ever used it? It's a pretty straightforward question."
"Uh- yes, yes I have." Mr Douglas answered confusedly, having been thrown off his game.
"That's nice." Lyra hummed again. "On who?"
"My children, when we are playing."
Lyra gasped loudly and dramatically before mournfully shaking your head. "That's very hypocritical of you, isn't it? To say that those who use dark magic aren't unfit to be proper parents considering that you not only actively use dark magic but also on your own children." She tsk'd loudly.
Mr Douglas flattered, narrowing his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"
"If you paid attention when Professor Binns used to teach History of Magic instead of falling asleep, you would know that the tickling charm was actually used as a medieval torture curse. Where do you think the phrase 'Death by laughter' came from?" Lyra asked coldly. "And according to the Dark Arts Acts, the tickling charm is considered 'dark magic'. Which means, Mr Doughlas, that you are actively using dark magic on your own children! So, when this bill gets passed," Lyra paused for effect. "I could deem you 'improper' and take away your rights to guide your child."
Mr Douglas' eyes widened as he spluttered. Arcturus Black was smiling so wide and proud that it looked a bit comical.
Lyra turned to face the body of Lords, Ladies and Electives. "The decision is in your hands, but considering that the word 'improper' affects every single one of us as I showed a few minutes ago, I urge you all to think long and hard about this because you may not think that this will affect you, but- it's your children. And it's crazy to think that a mere technicality can ruin lives and so-" She paused again, holding eye contact with every member. "I implore you to please elaborate and properly define this eight-letter word," Lyra said. "and if you are going to specify that it is anybody who has practised the dark arts like Mr Douglas put it, then all of us, including me have had to be in Azkaban right now. So please go about this properly. Thank you." She curtsied and was given a standing ovation.
It had seemed that most of the members of the Wizengamot had assumed that this bill would only be affecting those who were abusive, neglectful and negative along with orphans. They hadn't even considered the possibility that they too could be held accountable. That their right to guide their children could be taken away from them because of a small, eight-lettered technicality; and now that they did, Lyra was sure that there would be heavy criticism and nitpicking done by the Wizengamot regarding the bill. People tended to get a lot more serious when a decision affected them as well.
Lyra was ecstatic since she had won yet another event, but just before she left the podium, she made sure to turn to the -still sputtering- lawyer of the light and flashed him a pretty smile. "And it's Heiress Black you uneducated urchin."