Chapter 10
Harry's First Royal Act

Dumbledore's POV

Tom and I had waited all night last night for either Death eaters or Order members to bring us news, but it was only early morning when Severus finally reported to both of us that Harry had, apparently, returned to Hogwarts only half an hour after arriving at the Ministry, by help of the Death Eaters set out to trap them no less.
Tom had not been pleased with this, but it had been at that minute that Lucius had come to us and had told us news that even still makes me feel shocked to the core. The prophesy we have been guarding all year, the prophesy Voldemort wanted all year and the same prophesy that had made the man go after the Potters – was a fake.
Only the sentence he will mark him as his equal was true and the rest was just information gathered by an outside source and forced into some fake gibberish. Tom had been furious and Lucius had told him he had punished Harry in a way that makes me wonder if it can even be called Punishment – he had forced Harry to investigate his family heritage.

This was where Snape had come in as he had been the one Harry had been forced to go to – something that made me think the punishment still had some merit – and Snape had brought us news I had never expected. Lily had been the actual last Female Heir to Arthur Pendragon and Harry, as her son, was to be the new king of Magical England.
Severus had told us both that he had found this out together with finding out that Harry also had rights to the Potter, Gryffindor, Peverell and Ravenclaw fortune and even Lucius had been shocked by this. Then Tom had come with a proposal I still cannot believe he made – the very reason I have now come back to Hogwarts.

But the reason and the proposal are rushed from my mind as I see Harry lying in the red-haired man's arms with Mss. Greengrass sitting next to him and Snuffel sitting at his shoulder, licking his neck and cheek worriedly. Wondering what could have happened, I am pleasantly surprised by the welcome I receive from my students.
Tumultuous applause the likes of which I haven't heard since Gryffindor had won the House Cup for the first time in 7 years rings through the school and almost makes the ground under my feet tremble. I smile and laugh, but then raise my arms and instantly the students turn silent, sitting down and looking at me with deep respect.
Glad to know I have yet to have lost their respect after my abrupt departure, I walk further and ask: "Harry dear boy, what happened?" And the boy answers weakly: "Lea and Aerith healed me of the Darkness in my scar, Professor. They used their special magic to heal my scar together with all of my other wounds."

I look shocked as I had not expected for there to be anyway to heal Harry's scar – seeing what it actually contained – but am still very pleased and relieved and ask: "And why did they do that, Harry? How are they even here?" And the man holding Harry says: "We were called here by his Potter Curse, all of us, to be precise."
And I look at his fellow companions, the blonde with white jacket, the brown haired man with great muscles hidden by a brown vest, the blue haired woman with blue colored uniform, the brown-haired woman with her hair in a ponytail, the boy who's blue hair covers his right eye and the blonde with his long fringe hair framing his face.
All of them wear a golden and silver metal headband around their heads and all of the circlets have special gems embroidered onto the metal plates, which are attached to each other in horizontal beams. I recognize the bonds as Potter Mate Circlets and ask: "Harry, how on earth did the Potter curse chose so many mates for you?"
And the boy answers: "I discovered my heritage, sir. I have five lines to hold up, but that doesn't really explain to me why the Curse therefore saw it fit to chose 8 people as my mates." I shake my head, agreeing with his conclusion and say: "Yes, Severus indeed told me you had been punished by letting him help you find out about your heritage. Which Houses exactly do you represent, if I may ask dear boy?"

And – while Severus had already told me this – does the boy still shock me deeply as he, seemingly regaining his former strength, says: "I am the Heir and Lord of the Potter, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Peverell and Pendragon line, Professor Dumbledore, and through Excalibur the new King-to-be of Magical England."
Everyone seems shocked as they hear this and Zacharias Smith shouts: "You're nuts, you know that? No way are you our king!" But then suddenly Harry has his left side to me and his right to the hall as an amazing sword is in his hand and aimed at the boy, while Harry angrily whispers: "Dare to say that again, Smith?"

The Hufflepuff whitens and then Cho Chang giggles and says: "Oh Harry, I knew you'd be great." But while Harry's attention is drawn to her, do I not see the same growing love shining in his eyes as I had been able to see for the last three years and I wonder how strong the Potter curse has been able to affect the child.
The girl looks shocked as she realizes the same and asks: "Harry?" But Harry keeps a passive face and says: "Cho, you forced your friend into the DA. You knew she didn't like me and still forced her. You made your friend break as much as Umbridge did because you kept forcing her to come. In my eyes, you're as guilty as she is."
The girl looks shocked and shouts: "You can't still be angry over that!" But then Harry thins his lips and says: "I can, Cho. Because if there is one thing that ruined my life, it's betrayal. Also, you forcing your friend to come and causing her to break, allowed Umbridge all she has done to hurt us all. So yes, Cho, I can still be mad at you."

The girl looks shocked and then Harry sighs and says: "And now to prove I can be a good king." And with that he walks forward, pushing his sword back into a holster on his back that disappears once the sword is in and after glancing at me questioningly, to which I nod encouragingly, does the boy take a stand behind the Owl Stand.
He looks at us all and says: "I would like for Hermione Granger, Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy and Collin Creevey to stand up, Draco and Zabini with robes, Hermione and Collin without." The four mentioned people look at each other confused, but then all shrug and do as asked, standing up before Harry says:

"Hogwarts please listen to me and look at these four people. They are the most popular Purebloods and Muggleborns of Gryffindor and Slytherin, but that is not why I asked them to stand up. I asked them to stand up, because I want to use issues they have to bring forth my first plan as your new King of Magical England."
Everyone looks intrigued and Harry says: "When you look at Hermione, you see your classic, yet exceedingly intelligent Muggleborn. When you look at Collin, you see almost the same. When you look at Draco, you see the classic, yet slightly arrogant Pureblood. When you like at Zabini, his case is like Collin's.

The standard Muggleborn is intelligent and can adapt to the Magical world because she acquires a wand and wants to, but her upbringing, like with a Pureblood, will always come sticking its head around the corner. This is not an offense, I am Muggle raised myself, I know what I'm talking about. This is not an offence."
Hermione and Collin nod and Harry says: "The Standard Pureblood is magically more powerful than the Muggleborn because they are surrounded by magic their entire youth. This magic often comes together with ancient heritage lessons and those, like the Muggle upbringing, will play a role in the Pureblood's life forever."

The students now all look at the boy intriguingly and I personally wonder where he is going with this as he says: "This upbringing brings a stubbornness forth in both Purebloods as well as Muggleborns as their loyalty will remain with how they are raised for the rest of their lives. And that is where these two factors clash all the time."
I look shocked and students start to mutter, but Harry raises his voice and says: "Muggleborns live in a time where the biggest insults are thrown at Black-people. Hating someone for their blood is something they grew over and thought barbaric after the massacres of the Jews in the Second World war of the forties.
Purebloods live in a time where things change very quickly, mostly because of the magic around them changing it for them if needed. This makes them want to hold onto all they are taught and makes them get just that little bit more determination to keep the Ancient Traditions, Customs and Laws in place and to fight for them.

If you look at it from this point, you see a big problem. Let me explain it. Hermione, your House Elf thing. You saw two House Elves being treated badly. You did not see why the owners treated them badly, you did not see any other House Elves treat them badly, you just based what you knew on those two House Elves.
Now, when Muggleborns see such a thing, their mind instantly goes back to what they were taught as Muggles and slaves – as Hermione calls it – were banned in 1948, so when a Muggleborn sees a House Elf do something on orders of someone else without being paid for it, he or she instantly sees it as illegal slavery.

You follow me so far?" Harry asks and the students nod, while half the Ravenclaws have now grabbed their notebooks and are writing Harry's words down. Amazed at how well Harry does as a teacher, I know this skill will help him as a king. I smile at the young lad, finally turning into a fine young man and listen as he says:
"The Muggleborns see what they think is slavery and get stuck on that thought, because of how they were raised they believe it wrong and believe it up to them to change it. But in their need to change that, they forget one thing." Harry then turns to Hermione and says: "How a Pureblood would react to such a sudden change."

Hermione looks shocked and Harry says: "And that is exactly what has been going wrong for all these years. Muggleborns see something they think wrong, the Purebloods don't see it because they have been used to it for years and because of that, they don't explain to the Muggleborns why it is the way it is and the Muggleborns try to change it."
Harry then looks from Hermione to Draco and says: "You are both at wrong in this case. Draco, you hate Muggleborns because they bring changes without taking your opinions into regards, but in your need to protect what you think they try to change, you yourself have grown a disrespect in regard to their opinions and their lives.
Hermione, you tried reading about House Elves in the Hogwarts Library, but you're forgetting one thing. The one place most touched by Muggleborn influences is that exact library. It barely has any Pureblood books left and therefore cannot give you the information you need. What you should have done was ask a Pureblood about it."

He then turns to Malfoy and says: "And that is exactly what I am doing now. Malfoy, why does the Magical World use House Elves the way they do?" The blonde looks shocked and says: "Because they protect us." Shocking Harry quite a bit and making Hermione shake her head before she asks: "Because they what?"
And Draco says: "When a wizard casts magic at a Pureblood Mansion or at Hogwarts or at the Ministry, they use more magic than necessary because they have to force their magic out a bit, while the wards of Hogwarts try to keep the magic inside. This extra magic is called excessive magic and is very dangerous.
The wards around Hogwarts and other Ancient Magical Places are also made of this same magic and fueled by it, but they can't do that all the time, so some excessive magic always remains behind, floating around and causing fluxes to affect our magical cores. And this is where the House Elves come in."

Hermione looks shocked and Draco says: "The House Elves have a special magic of their own, magic that allows them to take in the excessive magic without dying from it. Instead they do their chores magically and that turns the excessive magic into active magic inside their bodies; magic they then give back to us."
"Wait, back to us?" Hermione asks and Draco nods, while I can tell that, instinctively, the boy has trouble holding back a sneer and he says: "The magic the House Elves receive is only theirs temporarily. It fuels them into the chores and once those are done, they return the magic to us for us to use once more.
That's why House Elves should never be freed. If they are, their mental capacities will be heavily damaged and they need those to realize that studious magic goes to those loving Charms and History of magic and that proactive magic goes to those loving Care of Magical Creatures and DADA and so on and so forth."

Everyone looks at this shocked, the Purebloods obviously having forgotten about this and the Muggleborns as they must have never known this and then Hermione stutters and says: "But what about Dobby? And – and Winky? She had to stay somewhere really high while being afraid of heights and he was hurt constantly."
Draco sighs and says: "What you have to understand, Granger, is that some Purebloods are right-out bastards, even I am willing to admit that. My aunt was one of those and – well – she bought 2 House Elves, gave them different disgusting orders, and then sold them further. And unfortunately you met both of them."
The girl looks shocked and he says: "My aunt ordered Winky to keep shut about Barty Crouch, while the Elf already knew of his evil schemes and to keep him in the best possible health and she ordered Dobby to constantly punish himself whether he did a good or a bad job. The better or worse he did, the harder the punishment."

"Your aunt is sick, dude." Ernie comments and Draco laughs and asks: "Why do you think the crazy bitch was in Azkaban?" And I can tell that Harry realizes who Draco means as he sends a quick, almost invisible glance at Neville, who doesn't seem as quick on the uptake as Harry, something that relieves us both.
Harry then scrapes his throat and says: "Anyway, back to the problem at hand. I do now agree that House Elves should stay bound to Hogwarts, never really believed different, but that's another story. But I also agree that they at least deserve a room of their own and some time for food and rest, like Hermione wants.
So instead of wanting them free or wanting things to stay the way they are – as that will tick off more Muggleborns like Hermione in the long run – how about we search the castle near the kitchens, find a large room and shrink everything there to House Elf size. That way the House Elves have something of themselves and still work for us."

Everyone looks at Harry shocked and then Draco says: "There did used to be House Elf quarters, but someone of the Mordred line locked those off ancient centuries ago. We haven't been able to find them ever since and we Malfoys always become part of the board of Governors in hopes of finding them after graduation."
Harry nods and then he says: "I think I know of a way we can find them." Making both sides still standing smile at the lad. Lea then starts to clap and I agree as Harry's speech and the way he handled the issue really proves how much of a leader figure and a king Harry can be and follow the redhead's example, starting to applaud myself.
My colleagues quickly follow, even Severus showing off a small smile as he claps politely and I smile as I know that if Harry can stop the problems between Muggleborns and Purebloods, he can fix the mend between Gryffindor and Slytherin, something which will be very profitable for the boy who was almost a Slytherin.