This Harry Potter story is based in the same universe as my Pluto's Son story, there are some changes that will appear as the story goes on, but one change appears from the start: the story is set one year earlier, meaning Harry is born in 1979, the Halloween defeat of lord V is October 1980 and he starts Hogwarts in 1990.
Wizengamot Chambers, London, United Kingdom, March 1981
The Wizengamot meet in a large circular hall decorated in blue and gold, the members of the Wizengamot sat on a large wooden platform with four levels, with seats that displayed the coat of arms of the person the seat belonged to, the platform covered three quarters of the circle, along the walls behind the seats there was multiple doors for the members in exit from. In the wall not covered by the platform there was a very large and very ornate door where guests of the Wizengamot would enter from, opposite this door was a special box that contained the seats for the Chief Warlock, the vice-chief, the representatives of the Ministry of Magic and the scribe who kept the Wizengamots records. The floor of the chamber was white marble with a gold circle of Celtic knot work marking where guests should stand to be heard, the circle was imbued with an enchantment so that the speaker could be heard everywhere without needing to shout, all the lecterns in front of the chairs had the same enchantment.
It had been almost five months since the defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort and the Wizengamot was finally getting back to normal, after all the trials and then selecting people for the open seats. The Wizengamot is made up of five groups: the ministry representatives (made up of the Minister, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Head of the International Magical Cooperation, and two people from within the Ministry chosen by the Minister), the Representatives (people elected into the Wizengamot by the Wizengamot to represent the needs of the "ordinary" people), the Life Electives (also called Life Peers, elected for life to honour their accomplishments), the Low Lords (the lower Peers, Barons and Viscounts, although they outnumber the High Lords they have less power individually), the High Lords (the higher Peers, Dukes, Marquises and Earls).
The March session was turning out to be a highly unusual meeting, it looked like it would finish early, and they had finished everything on the agenda. "Does anybody have any last business before I close this session" Called Albus Dumbledore, Life Peer and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."
"I do" called a voice from the chamber.
"The Chair recognises Fergus MacDowall of Garthland, Duke of Galloway."
"Thank you, I have two issues I would like to bring up first: my sister-in-law works in St Mungo's in the postnatal division, she was telling me about a baby girl in her care for the last six months or more, the baby cannot leave the hospital without a guardian's permission, since her father is dead and her mother died in child birth. I looked into it; she has no guardian because her parent's wills have not been read, the goblins say they have asked multiple times for permission to have the will read but have received no reply. I convinced them that the request must have been lost; I should hope this is the case and not some people deliberately losing them. Outside this chamber is the goblin Sharptooth, he has the necessary certified copies of the wills, I propose we give permission for them to be read and hear the sections relating to guardianship."
There were murmurs of approval throughout the hall, it was agreed to do just that. The goblin Sharptooth was quickly called for and he came in carrying four scrolls sealed with wax seals bearing the Gringotts official seal, he quickly moved to the centre of the hall where he snapped his long fingers and a small table appeared, he put the four scrolls on the table and cleared his throat. "I have the documents" he spoke gruffly in a gravelly voice.
"Very well, please read the wills."
"I will skip the reading of the mothers will as it is simple, everything goes to her daughter, and it contains no direction on the guardianship of the child other than her husband. The fathers' was written before the child was born so contains no reference to the child's gender it reads as follows:"
"I, Regulus Arcturus Black, Heir of Black, being of sound mind and body, do leave all of my holdings, privileges, money and assets as follows:
If my wife and the mother of my child is still alive, I leave everything in the trust of my wife until such time as my child and heir is old enough to manage them on their own.
Should my wife precede or accompany me into death, I leave everything to my child and heir, to be managed by Gringotts till my heir is considered of age.
In the event of my death the guardianship of my child shall pass to the following people in order of preference:
My wife, Anastasia Black nee Golovanov.
My mother, Walburga Black.
Family allies, the Clan MacDowall.
Family allies, the House of Bones.
Family allies and cousins, the House of Malfoy."
"That is what the will say on the guardianship of the child, it had passed to the grandmother Walburga until this morning: when the magical will of Walburga Black became active, meaning she must have died during the night, therefore the guardianship of the child named Cassiopeia Anastasia Black, by the mother, passes to Clan MacDowall. The Will of Walburga Black is simple and she has not updated it in the last year:"
I, Walburga Black being of sound mind and body, do leave all of my and my families holdings, privileges, money and assets as follows:
To my son Regulus, who honours me greatly, I leave all mine and my familial assets.
To my son Sirius, who dishonours me greatly, I leave nothing at all."
"Do you, Fergus MacDowall Chief of Name and Arms of MacDowall [AN1] on behalf of the clan accept guardianship of Cassiopeia Anastasia Black until her majority?"
"I accept guardianship of Cassiopeia Anastasia Black until her majority, so I swear on my magic, so mote it be," as he began to glow to signify his oath becoming binding.
The entire hall echoed back "So mote it be."
"Well, that's one of thing I wanted to bring up, the other is another will. I have been waiting for the Chief Warlock to overturn his decision to seal this will now that the wizarding world is at peace, meaning there is no reason for it being sealed, but since he has not, I call upon my right as a witness to the will of a noble, to have the will opened."
"What will are you referring to my boy" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling innocently.
"The Potters."
This caused a general uproar in the chamber. "I'm afraid I can't unseal the Potter will, it's for the Greater Good" he said firmly.
"I don't care about your greater good, I care about the law. I call for this body to override the Chief Warlock and unseal the will", most of the hall immediate agreed to this vote, they must do something to thank the boy-who-lived, or be seen to be thankful towards the boy-who-lived in the case of the "imperius" victims.
Due to a conflict of interests the vice-chief called for the vote, and the members agreed almost unanimously. "Sharptooth" he addressed the goblin in the middle of the hall, "do you have a copy of the Potter will?"
"Yes, it reads as:"
"We, James Charlus Potter and Lily Rose Evans-Potter, Duke and Duchess of Cymru and of Monmouth and Earl and Countess of Anglesey, being of sound mind and body, do leave all of my and my families holdings, privileges, money and assets as follows:
We leave all our assets, bearing the bequeaths as stated below, to our son, Harold James Potter, to be managed by Gringotts till our son and heir is old enough to manage his assets on his own.
To Remus John Lupin, we leave ten thousand (10,000G) and the cottage in the Highlands, Remus get some decent clothes and stop worrying about your "furry little problem", live your life as you should and no you can't give it back.
To Peter Pettigrew, we leave ten thousand (10,000G) and the Marauders Flat in London.
To Sirius Orion Black, we leave ten thousand (10,000G) and the deed to the bachelor pad over Diagon Alley.
In the event of our deaths the guardianship of our son, Harold James Potter, shall pass to the following people in order of preference:
Our son's Godfather, Sirius Orion Black.
Our son's Godmother and her husband, Alice Rachael Longbottom nee Wood and Franklin Augustus Longbottom.
Family allies, the Clan MacDowall.
Family allies, the House of Bones.
Under NO circumstances is our son, Harold James Potter, to be placed into the guardianship of Lily's sister Petunia Marie Dursley nee Evans, she is manophobic and extremely critical of anything she deems to be abnormal."
"Since Mr Black has been incarcerated, and the Longbottom's are unavailable, the guardianship of Harold James Potter falls to the Clan MacDowall. Do you, Fergus MacDowall Chief of Name and Arms of MacDowall on behalf of the clan accept guardianship of Harold James Potter until his majority?"
"I accept guardianship of Harold James Potter until his majority, so I swear on my magic, so mote it be," as he began to glow to signify his oath becoming binding.
The entire hall echoed back "So mote it be."
"Now Dumbledore, where is my ward Harold James Potter?" Fergus growled at the rather pale Chief Warlock.
"It is for the Greater Good that he stays where he is, he will be protected where he is by the shared blood between him and his family."
"You put him with the Dursley's! They hate anything outside of their normal! Quick call this session to a close so I can leave and get him, I hate to think about what they have been doing to the poor boy in the last five months."
"No! You must leave him where is, the bond of love and blood between family members will power the blood wards to protect him from any remaining Death Eaters"
"Dumbledore! You trusting fool! Family does not necessitate love, and it's not Death Eater's I'm worried about it's the animals that are Lily's remaining Family!"
Once the Wizengamot session had been closed, Fergus became a blur as he left the chamber, the door he used later had to be repaired from the large crack he made in the wood whilst opening it, nearly everyone in the Wizengamot tried very hard to stay on his good side after that.
Barr Castle, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Hours later after Harry had been removed from the dubious care of the Dursley's (they had been arrested for child abuse, Vernon was also suspected of fraud and stealing Grunnings money) Fergus MacDowall was sitting in a wide-backed chair next to a fire, he was nursing a glass of fifty year old whiskey.
"Harry is now with the clan medical staff, it will take a while for him to recover but he will. I should have checked he was in a safe place sooner, but I thought Dumbledore had the sense not to put Harry with the Dursley's. I thought he was caring for Harry himself and was only keeping Harry until things had calmed down."
The person he was addressing could be seen in the light of the fire, she looked to be a tall woman with long dark green hair; she appeared to have red garnet coloured eyes. She was wearing a short black seifuku with maroon bows and black knee high boots, leaning up against her chair was a tall silver staff in the shape of a key, with garnet crystal in the heart shaped bow at the top. "I trust this will mean you no longer take any situation for granted" she replied in perfect English.
"Du Dearbh, bana-mhaighstair" [Scottish Gaelic: Of course, mistress]
"I trust you will do the ritual when the children are old enough?" She said as she stood and retrieved her staff.
"Yes, Lady Pluto"
As she raised the crystal above her head, there was a maroon flash and she was gone.
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Authors Notes:
Before anyone asks or makes complaints, the name MacDowall is the clan name and the branch Families, Sects and other spellings connected to MacDowall: Coyle, Dole, Dougal, Dougall, Doyle, Dow, Dowdle, Dowall, Dowell, Dowler, Dowling, Dugle, Duvall, Duwall, Kyle, MacDewell, MacDill, MacDole, MacDool, MacDougall, McDougal, MacDouyl, M'Douwille, Macduoel, Mcdoual, Mcdoll, MacDowall, MacDowal, McDowall, McDowal, MacDowell, McDowell, MacDowile, MacDowile, MacDowile, MacDowilt, MacDuael, MacDuel, McDuhile, MacDull, Macduuyl, Macduyl, Makdougall, Makdull, Mcduwell, M'Gowall, Mactheuel