Half-way through the train ride Neville and Daphne found them. Harry saw that Daphne had her Ice-Queen mask up and frowned she normally only used that when she was feeling insecure. "Is everything alright Daphne?"
She turned to him and nodded curtly. "Of course why wouldn't it be?" she was nervous about something, something must have happened.
Before he could respond the compartment door opened and Malfoy entered. "Greengrass I thought you were going to stop hanging out with such rabble." he said sneering at Hermione Neville and Harry.
"This was an available compartment heir Malfoy and I couldn't find another one." she said with complete respect in her tone.
"Well you should know your father won't be too happy about such things." Malfoy smirked and Daphne tensed. Harry's sharingan spun and he held in a snarl.
"Know your place Draco of the lesser house of Malfoy." Harry said emphasizing the word lesser. "One might think you were unaware of the fact that both myself and Mr. Longbottom are from far more ancient houses than your own. It is shame about how the lesser houses educate their heirs if they can not even show proper manners." Malfoy ears turned red.
"Potter! You shouldn't be so smug, especially given how tainted your blood is!" Malfoy blinked and then he on the ground with a broken nose. Except it wasn't Harry who hit him but rather Neville.
"My father will hear about this Greengrass and so will yours!" he shouted running off his bookends following in suit behind him.
The rest of train ride was quiet none of them really saying a word. The only interesting thing about the sorting was the fact that he realized the Hat was also a Concept. Which he supposed made sense it was a thousand years old it was bound to happen to such a powerful artifact.
The next day right as the group met up Harry cast an illusion and pulled them into one of the rooms just outside the great hall. "What happened?" Harry asked his sharingan spinning as he looked at Daphne.
She shifted around uncomfortably. She never had him use his sharingan on her before and it felt very intimidating to have the blood reds eyes staring you down. "Nothing." she said standing up straight. "My father just reminded me of my duty to my family."
"The Greengrass family has always been a matriarchal family, what happened to your mother?" Harry asked.
"She passed and until I reach majority my father shall run the affairs of the family." she said with the same blank expressions.
"And does that include beating you?" he asked with snarl.
"Harry what are you talking about?" Hermione asked looking at Daphne there wasn't a mark on her.
Harry ignored her and continued. "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to see through an illusion?" he asked as his sharingan spun and he shattered the illusion. Under the illusion Daphne had several marks across her face arms and most likely more under her clothing.
He sighed and looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked softly.
Daphne looked down she knew he would be able to see through the illusion but her father took her wand and she was unable to heal herself. he had placed the illusion and told her that she would heal like the filthy animals she insisted on hanging around. She couldn't bring herself to betray Harry and tell her father about his sharingan.
"My parents marriage was arranged before they were born." she said softly. "At the time my family was in far greater standing than my father's house thus the contract was greatly in our favor. When my family lost their seat and most of their influence, my father's family found itself stuck with their heir marrying someone of a lesser house. But the contract like I said was greatly in my family's favor while they could break it with minimal consequences my father's family could not. And with our standing gone we refused and there was nothing they could do about it. My father has been trying for a long time to set up a marriage contract between my sister and Draco." she said spitting his name.
"Why not you?" Hermione asked confused.
"Unlike in the muggle world Hermione sexism is rarer in the wizarding world the Greengrass family is one that is ruled by the women not men. As heir to the family her father couldn't set a marriage contract for her without the permission of the head of house, who is dead, and there won't be another one until Daphne comes of age." Neville explained to the muggleborn and it was unlikely that she would allow such a contract.
"Let me guess your father is willing to spare your sister such a thing if you cosy up to Malfoy by any means necessary including doing whatever he says." Harry finished his sharingan spinning.
She nodded sadly. "If I was heir than I could stop it but while I may be officially the heir my father still holds the ring and he won't give it to me." Harry frowned that was a common tactic among some families hold onto the heir ring till they give into your demands. Without the ring she was powerless.
Harry placed a comforting hand on Daphne's shoulder. "I don't know what it feels like to care about family, but I imagine it feels like what I have with you three. I will do whatever I can help you." he told her looking her in the eyes.
Daphne looked down guiltily. "You don't- I didn't become friends with because-"
"I know Daphne you came to me for my status, but you stayed because you cared." Harry told her, she was a good actor but the sharingan was far better. He decided to take a wait and see and approach with her, he could tell by the way someone's magic moved how they were feeling and never once did he see any signs of betrayal. Of course there were flaws in his sight Snape was almost completely unreadable to him. Of course what he didn't was that he was performing a very basic Legilimency. It worked by reading the basic flow of one's magic as magic was connected to their mind that mind you could through there find out their thoughts. It was also why most Legilimens hated the term mind reading as they found it to be an insult to their skills. As if it was as simple as reading, you had to insert you magic into someone's system and try to understand the complicated mess that was the mind. Harry's sharingan gave him a massive advantage allowing to literally see the magic.
It was actually harder to block the lower level legilimency attacks than a higher one; a lower one read the most basic of emotions, reading the magic without going too deep. It was like a dam it stopped most of the flow of water but a little always slipped through, to stop someone from being able to read you at all spoke of complete mastery of occlumency. A rarity most lords knew enough to stop an outright attack, but there less than a hundred masters of occlumency in the world.
Daphne surprised him by pulling him into a hug. "Thank you." she whispered, Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable. It made Neville realize he was just like them an outcast, hell at least they could lay claim to the fact they could actually remember the last time someone hugged them. Harry looked like a deer in the headlights as the muggle saying went. Like he had never been hugged he patted Daphne on the back, unsure of how to react to a hug.
When Daphne pulled back with a slightly embarrassed look on her face Harry looked relieved. "Sorry about that." she said recomposing herself.
Harry turned Neville. "How was your summer?" He asked clearly wanting to change the subject.
Neville scowled shocking them, they didn't even know his face could make that expression. "My Gran wasn't to happy me getting a new wand. Saying I was dishonoring my father." last year that would have made him cower, and have massively damaged his pride. But after a year of training with Harry and facing down Voldemort his gran wasn't nearly as intimidating as she might have once been.
Harry snorted. "That woman needs to learn to let go of the past. She is trying to force to be someone you are not. Trying remake her son by forcing you into his image."
One part of Hermione wanted scold Harry for being so rude, another part knew how cruel family could be and silenced the first part.
"You're right." Neville sighed, before he showed his right hand revealing to the other two the ring on it, Harry had seen it earlier. "Luckily my father had already claimed headship and the ring was returned to the Trials."
"Trials?" Harry asked.
"Oh right you don't know." Daphne realized, before explaining. "Most older families have some kind of trial for their presumptive heir to go through. A right of passage a way of proving they could handle the burden."
"My family's is being able to make it through a long hallway whilst being attacked. Admittedly it has fallen out of use as now we normally just hand the ring off to the heir. However my Gran never thought I would be able to make it past so easily at my age and couldn't touch the ring."
"Why couldn't she touch the ring?" Hermione asked confused, the politics of the wizarding world were so confusing.
"The ring she could touch, it is the where it is placed she couldn't." Neville clarified. "It is blood magic made to only let those with Longbottom blood and a strong amount of it touch the pedestal. Otherwise…" Neville trailed off and they got the picture.
"I don't understand what you gain from claiming an heir ring this early though you don't become an adult until you are seventeen." Hermione pointed out.
"But there is no limit on claiming the heirship ring and using the power that comes with it." Daphne said. "So long as the head of house doesn't stop them they can do a lot and given Neville's father is currently… incapacitated." she finished awkwardly glancing at Neville who do his credit didn't flinch at the mention of his parents condition. Quickly she continued. "And there is no head of the Potter family no one can go against them within their own family. And with the heirs being underage yet their being no active heads for either house, they can claim proxy for the family and cast one vote and as I told you before appoint vassals."
"So when are you going to do this?" Hermione asked turning to Harry.
"The yule Wizengamot meeting, it is normally when heirs lay their claim." he looked at Neville. "You?" he asked the Gryffindor.
Neville nodded. "Same. My gran won't be too happy about it, but it's my choice not hers." he frowned. "Not that it has stopped from not so subtly implying who I should choose to become a vassal house."
"No doubt she made a several promises to a few lords in exchange for support and now that you aren't doing whatever she tells you it's a bit harder for her to make promises." Daphne said, it had happened more than once in history, a regent for the family making promises only for the heir to not follow through. "This often reflected poorly on whoever made those promises, as it implies either they made promises without the heir knowledge or couldn't properly train the heir to follow through with their promises."
With that said slowly the conversation shifted lighter topics, as they all slowly got used to being back at Hogwarts. As they drifted off back to their common rooms, Harry couldn't help but remember the house elf's warning of danger coming to Hogwarts. Only old family would both own a house elf and treat it so cruelly. But now that he thought about it this was a prime time to attack Hogwarts for political gain. Over half of the ancient families had their heirs at Hogwarts this year, killing one of them could give another faction a major increase in power.