A new era

Chapter one
A discovery and oath taken

Harry's POV

We just got Umbridge in trouble with Centaurs, got ourselves out of her clutches and found Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna at the wooden Suspension bridge connecting the Grounds and the Stone Circle to the Clocktower Courtyard. Yet, while my friends talk about our trip to London and the Ministry is something bugging me.
When I had been held by Umbridge, tied to a chair, the ropes cutting into my flesh, and wandless had I been confused by the emotions swirling through the eyes of the woman in pink. It had been a hatred I had not even seen in Voldemort's face and that was rich, seeing how Voldemort has been wanting me dead since I was born.
But when we had Umbridge at the mercy of the Centaurs, the woman had strangely enough turned to me and her eyes almost gave me the belief that she would swear fealty to my line if I were to get her out of her sticky situation. Yet my need for truth and revenge had made me use her own weapon against her and she had been carried off.

I look off in the distance as I contemplate this and I wonder: "Why is she so against me." The others look at me shocked and Ron asks: "Umbridge? Who cares? We have to save Sirius, right?" I nod, but only absentmindedly and Hermione asks: "Harry, what's the matter?" And I turn back to her, seeing all their worried looks of confusion.
I shake my head and say: "I – I don't know. It's – it's the way Umbridge has been behaving towards me all year. Those two Dementors she ordered to take my soul, the way she insisted on the blood quills, the Cruciatus curse she was willing to put me under. It's – it's almost as if she wants me dead – but – but why?"

Everyone looks shocked and Luna says: "Because of your mother." We all look at her and she crouches down, shockingly enough ripping loose a wooden plank. "Luna!" Hermione shouts shocked, but Luna ignores her and grabs her wand, changing the plank into a simple sword before standing up and handing it to me.
I look at her confused and she says: "Just hold it up and fill it with your magic. Trust me, Harry, son of Lily." And somehow, perhaps because she uses my mother's name instead of my father's, do I indeed trust her. I grab the sword and she smiles as she says: "That's it. Just hold it up and fill it with your magic, with your very instinct."
Wondering what she could be on about, I look at her and see a loyalty in her eyes I have never seen before not even when Ron, Hermione and I were about to enter the Third floor Corridor and I told them they could still go back, upon which they refused and swore they'd be with me. Shocked by the loyalty, I decide to do as she says.

I close my eyes and hold the sword with my right hand, holding it up high and with the tip slightly tilting to the left back. I then focus on my magic, like I often do when I hold back during classes, but instead of holding back to make sure my magic isn't observable, do I let it out and do I slowly let it seep into the sword.
Upon feeling my magic touching the hilt of the sword, do I feel it uniting with the metal like it never did with my wand and I gasp, raising the sword just a little higher and feeling the blade, the hilt and the very shape change as the magic seeps further into the weapon, all the while keeping my eyes closed in focus.

I hear my friends gasp once the magic reaches and has changed the end of the hilt, but keep my eyes closed until it reaches the very tip, which was as square as the plank, but changes to be sharp and pointy and then finally do I open my eyes, only to be mesmerized and amazed by what my magic has been able to do to the blade.
A round plate, made of two golden circular plates, is at the start of the hilt and goes down the hilt to the handle, which has black leather wrapped around it, while a small, almost indiscernible sign is engraved in the middle golden plate at the start. The end of the hilt is also made of gold and has a single square with the same sign on both sides.
At the start of the blade a sun is shown, the rays reaching out to a black circle surrounding it all and in the circle letters are engraved, but I pay it no attention yet, examining the rest of the sword. The blade is double sided, meaning I can cut with both sides, but there is a small line indented in the middle of it all, ending just before the blade slinks in width.
There are two other engravings on only one side of the blade and one of them is a clover with six petals, which is in between the other two signs which look like two eights next to each other with a small sword in the four corners of the engravings. All in the all the blade is amazing, but then my attention is drawn to the sun and the circle.

Squinting my eyes, I try to read what is engraved on the top of the circle, but then Luna bows down again, this time down on her knees and with her hands in a circle above her head as she says: "The Noble Line of Lovegood, descendant of Sir Bedivere, swears their fealty to the Crown and King of Magical England. So I swear, so mote it be."
I look at her shocked and Hermione asks: "Luna, what is all this? Why are you swearing fealty to the crown?" And the girl happily answers: "Because England finally has a king again, of course." And I see her gazing at the sword, her entire stance still in a bow and I look myself, finally discerning the words on the circle.

Excalibur
King Arthur

The first is written at the top side of the circle and the rest on the bottom side, yet both shock me greatly and I ask: "Ki-king Arthur? This is the Legendary sword Excalibur? The sword of King Arthur himself? Is this for real, Luna?" And while my friends look at me in pure shock, does the girl answer: "Yes, my liege."
And this alone is proof enough that I am indeed holding Excalibur. But then Neville asks the question I wanted and asks: "But what does Excalibur have to do with Umbridge? Or Harry's mum for that instance?" And the girl answers: "The wind told me that Harry was born because the Potter curse broke Morgana's curse upon Arthur's line."

This makes me shake my head and I ask: "The Potter curse? What is that? And what do you mean Morgana's curse upon Arthur's line?" And Ginny says: "Legend has it that, to give Mordred, the bastard son of King Arthur, more chance to the throne, Morgana Le Fay cursed Arthur's line to only bare females."
Ron nods and says: "Yeah, dad told us that. And the Potter curse, a curse that bonds a Potter male to a partner perfect for him by magic, character and destiny, is 1500 generations old, so that should be strong enough to break a curse almost just as old, don't you think?" Ginny nods at her brother and I ask them both in shock:
"You – you don't believe this is possible, do you? That I – that I'm – that I'm the heir to the throne?" But the two share a glance and Ginny asks: "Hold the sword up again, would you?" I wonder why, but do as asked and she looks at me, tilting her head first to the left and then to the right, before she smiles and says:

"Yep, definitely a royal look." Shocking me. Then Luna pulls my attention as she says: "My liege, if we leave now, we will find more on the Umbridge woman and your reign will be able to start with a blast. Worry not, your knight is safe. The wind has just told me so." It takes me a while to figure out what she means and I ask:
"So you're saying we should still go to the Ministry because it will help me find out why Umbridge wants me dead, but that Sirius will not be there?" And Luna nods, before her kneeling starts to freak me out and I say: "Luna, you can get up, you know." The girl smiles and then Hermione asks: "But how do we get there?" And Luna answers: "We fly, of course."

30 minutes later

I have the prophesy in my hand, Neville on my left, Hermione behind me on my left, Luna and Ginny right behind me and Ron behind me on my right and have at least two death Eaters coming from all four sides, the six of us standing the middle in a plus-shaped hallway leading four different ways and allowing us to be surrounded.
I already know what the Death Eaters are telling us, that Sirius is not here, but I don't understand why Luna would first swear fealty to my supposed line as King and then lure me here only for us all to fall for a trap. But then, as if reading my mind, the girl says: "Cast a spell on the ball in your hand, Harry. A History spell."
This seems to infuriate the Death Eaters in front of me – Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange – but I trust the heir of Bedivere and whisper the spell with my mind, keeping my wand aimed for the pale blonde and starved looking black-haired woman. Before my mind's eye the history of the ball appears and I read:
Created by Sybill Trelawney on the 24th of December 1979. Heard by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Forced out by Dolorus Jane Umbridge. Goal: To Make Tom Riddle kill Harry Potter. Truth: 20%. Already completed parts: 20%. This shocks me senseless and I whisper barely audible: "It's a dud."

Everyone looks at me and I say: "The Prophesy, it's a dud. It's not real. It was forced out by a spell. It was never supposed to be made." Everyone looks at me shocked and Malfoy aims his wand at the ball, casting the same spell and I can almost see the same information appearing before his own mind's eye, the information shocking him.
He looks from the ball to me and then says: "He's telling the truth. The prophesy has only 20% truth in it and that is already completed, the rest is just air and folly." He then looks at me and asks: "Tell me Potter, what do you have that would make Umbridge cause all of this? What do you have that she wanted even then?"

I shrug and Luna says: "Harry, the line. The sword. It belongs to you and with it –." This shocks me and I mutter: "Does the crown." The Death Eaters look shocked and confused and Hermione asks: "But why would Umbridge think she has right to the crown?" And Luna answers: "She is Mordred's Heir of course."
This shocks us all and Ron asks: "Mordred's heir? The Mordred? The illegitimate son of King Arthur that ruled Magical England with nothing but tyranny and selfish vanity?" Luna nods and says: "Umbridge would have had the crown, had the Evans line – descended from King Arthur himself – birthed one more daughter."
To this Malfoy says: "But Evans was pregnant of Potter, of which the line was known to produce males because of the Potter curse and so, to prevent the boy to take the throne –." And Lestrange ends: "That cold-hearted bitch lures our Lord to kill an Ancient Line and a Royal line, only out of her own inherited evil greediness."

We all look at each other shocked and then one Death Eater, one who's posture I recognize as Walden Macnair, the man that almost killed Buckbeak the Hippogriff back in my Third asks: "But how do we know that this is really our new king? What proof is there? What proof does Potter have to show us this is all real?"
And, acting purely on instinct – while I have no idea how it got there – do I pull Excalibur from the holder on my back and swing it as easily as if it were a wand, before holding it high above my head in the same stance as when I changed the transfigured sword into this wonderful weapon, the light catching the tip of the blade.
Light shines from the tip and enlightens the small sun with circle and the name engraved on the blade. The Death Eaters all gasp and then – from the corner of my eye – I see Ginny and Ron share a glance before they both bow down, Ron down on one knee and Ginny in the same stance as Luna before they both start to chant:

"We, Ronald Billius Weasley and Ginerva Molly Weasley, swear our fealty to Harry James Potter Pendragon, the Heir of King Arthur Pendragon and Rightful Prince to the Throne of Magical England. May our family follow us in our loyalty and may our loyalty to the crown and our new king never waver. So we swear, so mote it be."
In perfect sync the two speak and I feel a magical bond binding their loyalty to my magic, causing me to gasp and forcing me to hold back tears of gratitude. They then both stand up and to my shock, Neville does the same, actually showing his back to one of the three people responsible for his parents being tortured into insanity.

The Death Eaters seem to watch over this with careful eyes and I hold my sword in my hand steadily, ready to strike any of them down if they make a wrong move, but then Malfoy puts his wand back in his cane and with both hands on the snake head, he bows down, his knees down like Luna, and before my shocked eyes, he says:
"I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy, swear the fealty of my Family to Harry James Potter Pendragon, Heir to King Arthur Pendragon of the Pendragon Line and the Rightful First Heir to the Throne. May my loyalty never waver and may it hold my family safe from harm. So I swear, so mote it be."
Then, as the man stands up, do I realize what he did and I have to shake my head at his clever cunning way of ensuring that his family – probably mostly his son – cannot be used by Voldemort as he cannot – through the Fealty oath – be used against me, which in turn protects him from becoming a Death Eater and taking the Mark.

I can barely believe what has happened here, but then the other Death Eaters go down as well, some of them swearing the same oath as Neville and others – Crabbe and Goyle Senior – swearing the same oath as Lucius and I have to silently give it to the three men for their clever way of protecting their son against serving Voldemort.
I nod at them all and then Lucius says: "My Liege, if you will accept it, we will return you and yours to Hogwarts and we will explain these transpiring events to the Lord of Slytherin. Do know that, if the Lord of Slytherin still wants to kill you after hearing our reports, I will personally cut off my left arm and betray him."
And the Death Eaters nod in agreement. Not wanting them to hurt themselves just to prove their loyalty to me, I look around and spot a prophesy with the v-mark, processing it as already fulfilled. I grab it and throw it on the floor, casting a levitation and Portkey spell on some shards and sending those to the Death Eaters.
They all look shocked and I say: "If Voldemort wants to kill me after hearing where my mother's line comes from, I don't want you cutting off your arm, I simply want you to use these Portkeys and get the hell away from him. I can handle his anger, I've felt it all year. Your safety and your lives are more important to me."

The Death Eaters smile and I motion Neville over to Macnair, while taking Luna with me to Lestrange and Malfoy. I then hand the blonde the prophesy and he bows before putting it in his inner robe pocket. He then softly, tenderly grabs my arm and I feel as if I am being squeezed through a tube of tooth paste at incredible speed.
Feeling myself as if I just got pushed out of the opening when I land I shudder and the Lord of Malfoy bows as he says: "My apologies, my liege. I believed you were well-used to side-Apparation." And I shake my head and say: "Portkey, Knightbus and Floo. Never apparation." The man nods and looks at me as he says:

"If I may, My liege, I would like to suggest that you use a Heritage Potion. If your mother's family comes from the Pendragon line then I would consider that a proper reason to see what other Ancient Lines you have left in your blood. Legend has it one of your Ancestors once needed 11 heirs for all his Ancestral lines."
This shocks me and makes me agree with a nod, before the twelve Death Eaters bow to me yet again and Disapparate, but not before I hear footsteps running my way. Fearing the heavy sounds coming from behind me, I draw Excalibur up and change footing to turn around with lightning speed – only to see Snape running at us.
The man seems shocked to see us standing here and I say: "Just the man I needed. Professor Snape, I need Heritage Potion and I need a lot of it." The man glares at me and Ron snaps: "Hey, don't glare at your King. Want to get executed for treason?" The man raises an eyebrow at him and I snap: "Ron, a little overdone, you know?"
The man then turns back to me and I show him Excalibur, the man's black eyes widening as he sees the name written on the blade. He then looks at me and I say: "My mother." Shocking him, before he bows low and says: "Please follow me to my chambers, my liege." And I nod, while working purely on instinct right now.