My Green Eyed Mystery (remake)

by HarpieKing07

AU. Now that Voldemort has been defeated again, the Ministry still under the rule of Fudge, has issued a Repopulation Act. So it happened that Ginny Weasley ends up engaged to the coldest snake in Slytherin named Harry Potter. However as most things these days, nothing is quite how it seems.

36. Grand Noble Opposition

Chapter 36: Grand Noble Opposition

Merlin Memorial Hall was something of a legend to everyone.

The ancient meeting place was for centuries open to the Noble society only - often being nicknamed as The Nobles' Birthright. Only very rarely over the centuries did a non-Noble witch or wizard have the prestigious opportunity to visit this place, even if he or she was a member of Wizengamot... or even holding the position of Minister for Magic.
That was partly the reason why a lot of the common-folk were still under the impression that the place itself didn't even exist. Others however knew that it did, and that it was a virtual treasure box of the country's Noble history - holding several secrets that the Nobles had hushed up over many years, decades and centuries...
Nevertheless, it was common knowledge to the entire Wizarding Community, that this secret meeting place (real or not) witnessed several meetings that had formed the country's Wizarding history...

From the early ones - times when Nobles practically ruled the magical part of the country...

The establishment of the Ministry of Magic itself - when the Nobles had put in their share of work and gold for the necessary steps...

The times of unrest during Goblin Rebellions...

Or the political house-cleaning at the end of 18th century...

Or the more recent ones... like the Grand Assembly in 1939 - the sacking of Minister Fawley and turn-over of the lenient views towards the threat of Gellert Grindelwald and his Reichritter...

Another... a much serious one in the beginning of the 70's, when Voldemort was on his rise to power - little did anyone, including the then-present Minister Jenkins know, that the Noble ranks already held Voldemort's Death Eaters...

Those were just a few notable occurrences in the prestigious building over the years...

One simple look on it however, told that there is so much more from where those came from.

Standing in front of the amazing large white-marble building, Ginny, Fred, Alice, Neville, Hannah and even Lily were watching open-mouthed.

"Saying wow would be an understatement..." gasped Hannah.

"No kidding." whispered Neville, who even as the Chosen One did not have a chance to enter until now.

Ginny nodded.

"NOW I'm beginning to understand, why Hermione was so amazed yesterday." she said, remembering the long conversation on the matter with her and Blaise - Hermione must've asked Blaise at least a hundred questions, while going over the facts she knew from history books.

"AND why Perce was so green with envy..." breathed Fred, knowing that his brother would kill just to be able to enter this place, and felt that for the first time ever he understood.

Just then a group was passing them.
The pleasant-looking family in plentiful numbers flashed them warm smiles, while bowing their heads slightly in greetings.
The Potters all did the same and watched them walk towards the grand door.

"That was very respectful..." breathed Alice, looking at her brother and feeling pretty sure that it had a lot to do with him.

"Thurkells were always very good people. I see that there are a few new faces among them as well." said James with a smile.

Indeed, among their plentiful numbers Ginny, Neville and Hannah recognised one or two faces from Hogwarts.

"By the way... I'm surprised, that you've brought me and Alice too." said Fred, turning to Harry, who had his arms folded and was watching the building.

He turned and flashed his brother-in-law a small grin.

"Of course - you're family." he said simply.

Fred shot him a grin of his own.

"But we're not Nobles..." he said in an equally simple tone.

Harry shook his head.

"Alice is considered to be a half-noble. Through your marriage you're now considered a half-noble as well. Don't worry though - you're not the only half-nobles who will be attending the Assembly today." he said, pointing to another, this time larger family group, who were coming to the door from another direction.

Ginny smiled as Colin Creevey caught sight of them and waved at them happily. The gesture was mimicked by Bertram Shafiq, while Aurora Creevey offered a small wave of her own.
The older Shafiqs also exchanged long-distance gestures of warm greetings with James and Lily - whom they of course knew from their time at Hogwarts.

"But Harry... I thought the Muggle-born status instantly annuls any right of becoming even a half-noble." said Lily, looking at her son in question.

"It did... until very recently. You see... after the Repopulation Act, some of us Top Seven Heads decided that it was time for the traditions to become a bit less strict."

Ginny giggled, moving closer to her husband.

"The little snag he, Eldrich and Blaise placed into Kellen's attempt to do a little Noble house-cleaning through the Act. She wanted to get rid of some of the families, like Shafiqs and Thurkells for instance." she explained, knowing the little details from the Noble parties.

The rest of the family laughed, now understanding.

"In that case, thank you sweetheart - I finally see this legendary place too." said Lily, sounding overjoyed by the prospect, placing a kiss on her son's cheek.

James laughed happily, placing an arm around his beloved wife.

"Not just you, Lils. Sirius and Amelia are bringing Angus here too – he's half-noble along with Susie. And Narcissa is bringing Andromeda, along with Ted - heh... I can't wait to see Lucius' face."

Alice giggled flashing a mischievous look at her father and brother.

"Dear me - two Marauders and the ENTIRE Slytherin Squad all under one Noble roof!"

"Why doesn't Kellen simply wave the white flag?" added Fred, making all of them laugh as they started to make their way to the grand door.

The entrance-hall surpassed that of the Hogwarts one, or the Ministry Atrium.

Lined with marvellous pillars, the large hall was also decorated in white marble, but the marble was lined with golden signs and markings. The floor was in contrast made of black marble, and was so shiny that they could actually see their reflections on it.
On the sides of the room, each in a different direction were situated four large doors, each made of different-coloured (and surely expensive) wood.

In the very middle of the hall, was a big statue, made of pure gold. A statue of the most famous wizard in history - Merlin.

Most could instantly tell that it was worth gaining the privilege JUST to see this single statue.

The sight was positively breathtaking and Ginny could at once remember Hermione's chat with her yesterday.

"Do you have any IDEA how lucky you are?! The Hall is said to hold the only statue of Merlin EVER MADE! The Nobles have a tradition of paying their respects to it... well I'm not surprised, since HE was the one who had united the Noble clans back in his day and they say that the Nobles have never forgotten that... But... bloody HELL... if I ever saw it..." she remembered Hermione's passionate explanation, as she watched every single member of the Fawley family bowing to the statue as they approached it, with Daniel Fawley in the lead.

"It's traditional for the Head of the family to pay his respects first." explained James to everyone, as the Fawleys moved past, towards one of the four doors.

Just as Harry started to walk towards the statue, Ginny rushed after him and took his hand.
Harry flashed her a surprised look, but instantly replaced it with a small smile.

James grinned, watching his son and daughter-in-law approach the statue hand-in-hand, giving it a respectful Noble bow.
For the smallest of moments, he had a tiny flashback of the first time he had been here as a five-year-old - the way Harry and Ginny bowed to Merlin's statue together reminded him of his late parents.

His grin widened as he felt Lily grasp his own hand and lead him towards the statue as well.

The older Potter couple bowed respectfully as well, followed by Alice and Fred and finally Neville and Hannah.

"Well son... I think I know which door we're taking." said James with a grin at the family Head.

Harry nodded and without a word, he headed towards the mahogany door, the others following.

As they all approached it, they saw words written in golden colour over the door, carved into the stone wall above it.

Ad imperare est ut servirent

A strange look appeared on Harry's face, as he read the words - a strange look of determination. Ginny saw him close his eyes and noticed that he balled his right fist for a moment before raising his left hand, opening the door with a small wave.

An even more impressive room came into their view.

The closest thing any of them could compare it to would be the Hogwarts Trophy Room, but it did not even come close to THIS.

The long spacious room was packed full of numerous (and surely valuable) items, lined with over forty or fifty full-size white-marble statues of witches and wizards, and decorated in highly luxurious manner.

They could see the Thurkells, Fawleys and the Shafiqs walking around there, but it was very clear that the room had the potential to hold TWENTY large families.

James cleared his throat, calling for attention.

With an impressive bow, he moved before them, a bright expression on his face.

"Family..." he started, spreading his arms wide, as though he hadn't seen them in years.

The lot of them laughed, and even Harry couldn't help but chuckle at his Dad's playfulness.

"...as the Noble Potter family's official second-in-command..."

"Third." said Ginny at once.

"... Er... right, Gin... third..."

"Fourth." piped Lily cheerfully.

"Fifth." added Alice, with a grin.

"Sixth." added Fred.

"Seventh." added Neville.

They all exploded in laughter again, at the sight of James' face when he pouted and folded his arms.

"Great – the only one in the family, who can give the full tour... and I'M the last one?!"

"Tour?" asked Hannah, once she stopped laughing.

"Tour of the Noble legends of course." said James, dropping the act and gesturing magnificently to the room.

"Harry - who already had the privilege to visit this place three times before becoming one of the Top Seven - was already familiar with the place and did not require one. But the rest of you lot might be very well intrigued at all the legends and stories of the Noble families..."

A moment later, the others realised exactly what he meant.

It was as though anything and everything one would want to know about Noble families was in this very room, and they couldn't help but be as curious as they were awed.

Each Noble family had their own place in the room, holding their private history, as well as various items belonging to some of their members in smaller (if one could actually apply the rules of large and small in this place) shrines dedicated to the family trees.
"The Potter shrine is in the middle of the room. This one belongs to the Malfoys." said James pointing to one of them, looking quite excited at the prospect of showing them all around and very much pleased with their curiosity.

As they were passing, Ginny noticed her husband stopping before one of the statues.
Joining him, she saw her Harry looking at the statue with a most strange look - it seemed that he was once again lost in his own little world.
Leaving him to it for a moment, she looked at the statue of a middle-aged wizard who had his arms opened wide, as though giving a speech. His robes looked very old fashioned and she could tell that this person had lived a long, long time ago.
"Patricius Parkinson. Nineteenth century." he said, startling her a bit.

"Bloody Legilimency." she grumbled, as Harry answered her unspoken question.
She pouted at him, but Harry did not tear his sight away from the statue. He was gazing on it intensely, almost as if he was hoping to read something from it.

"A very active member of the Ministry and advisor to no less than five Ministers."

Harry's explanation made her gaze at the statue properly, scanning it more.

"He must've been really popular then..." she breathed.

"He was quite the opposite during his time, actually. He drafted and enforced a number of laws that were highly unpopular in their days. Later on however - some time after his death - they proved to be very beneficial for everyone. They became known as the Parkinson Laws."

"Are they still in effect today?" she asked, genuinely interested.

Harry finally tore his sight from the statue and fixed her a small smile.

"The majority of them became impractical in the early 20th century and have been replaced. But some indeed survived and are still part of our Legal System."

"So even if he wasn't popular, he was able to achieve great things." she said, now understanding the curiosity Patricius Parkinson's legacy exercised over her husband.

After all, with the first six years of his Hogwarts life, as well as being the "lunatic masked vigilante", Harry must find Parkinson to be a quite kindred spirit indeed.

As if to answer her thoughts once again, Harry nodded and once more looked at the statue.

"A true Noble indeed. And thank heavens not the only one." he muttered, looking at other respective statues in the room.

"Do you mind showing me around?" she asked.

"As much as I like our Lion Daddy's tour, I would be delighted to see your Noble heroes and hear about the outstanding deeds they have done." she added warmly, kissing his cheek.

"THAT did the trick. You know, this careful flattery of yours is almost Slytherin-like." he chucked, grabbing her hand, looking very much pleased with the fact.

She fixed him a cheeky grin.

"Weeelll... I learn quickly... aaand... I have an excellent teacher." she said, ruffling his hair with loving affection.

"In that case - detention tonight, Mrs Potter."

"Looking forward to it, Professor." she answered happily, as he led her towards another statue.

This time it had been a witch, also in old-fashioned robes and with a bit of a strict face.

"Acantha Nott. Beginning of the 20th century. The first female Head of the Auror Office."

"And let me guess - unpopular as well." she added with a grin.

Harry fixed her a cheeky grin of his own.

"Who cares about popularity, when people are scared of you." he asked, making her giggle.

They stayed at Nott's statue for a bit before moving on to the other side, stopping by another one. Though this wizard looked young, he was quite the fat one.

"Horacius Slughorn. Mid-eighteenth century. A great potioneering pioneer, despite his young age."

"Oh... what a hero he must be in your eyes, then. Hoping to turn out like him, love?" she asked slyly.

Harry at once gave her a serious look, shaking his head.

"I should hope NOT. He died in an explosion, in his laboratory - invented nitro-glycerine by accident." he said, shuddering a bit.

"Nitro-... what?" she asked, completely bewildered.

"Never mind." he said hurriedly, leading her to another statue.

The next statue was of one, tall, bald wizard. However his face seemed to be slightly familiar to her.

"Now THIS is a real hero - Baltus Zabini, second half of the eighteenth century."

Ginny at once gasped, looking at the statue properly.

"Blaise's ancestor..."

Harry nodded happily.

"He was known as the Negotiator. His diplomatic acts helped end the Goblin rebellions, even though Minister Hephaestus Gore certainly wasn't a fan of them, and wished to take a more drastic approach. But in the end peace was made and the Goblins have never forgotten what Baltus had done. Since those times, the Zabini's are the main Noble negotiators with the Goblins. Their family is, as you know, still held in high regards by them."

Ginny remembered seeing Bill chat happily about Goblin-related matters with Blaise, each time they meet. She knew that her eldest brother held Blaise in very high regards as well...

"Phineas Nigellus Black - whom you know of course, since you were both in Al's office and at Grimmauld Place."

Ginny nodded, watching the statue, which unlike the portrait still portrayed the ex-headmaster Black as a middle-aged man.
A small sly smile was playing on Harry's lips.

"But did you know that he was Al's headmaster, when HE was still a student?"

THAT made her jaw drop all right... It was very odd to her, trying to imagine Albus Dumbledore as a teenager at Hogwarts. To her, he had always been the same tall, old, bearded wizard.

Harry was grinning at her, glancing at the statue from time to time.

"Al shared a few of his student-stories with me, during Christmas. Quite the strict one he was... Professor Black. Not that it stopped some of the students from causing mischief though. It would have been interesting to see, what the Marauders and your twin brothers would do under HIS reign."

That made her giggle.

"Probably would've been encouraged to cause even MORE mischief." she giggled, knowing the stunts Fred and George pulled under Dolores Umbridge's rule.

They laughed as they reached another statue.

"Reginald Abbott. Beginning of eighteenth century. A scholar, artist and a brilliant architect - he designed and built the Ministry of Magic as well as several other Wizarding buildings."

They moved to another, and once again, this wizard seemed to be vaguely familiar. Harry chuckled as she thought so, fixing her a smart little smile.

"Well of course you see similarities, love - he was Torie's grandfather." he said happily, quite enjoying her mixed look of awe and exasperation at his use of Legilimency.

"Adrastos Greengrass. He headed the Department of Magical Law enforcement for many years before passing the title to Neville's uncle - Barty Crouch senior." he said, pointing to another statue, a few rows further, where a statue of Bartemius Crouch was, with Neville and Hannah standing before it.

She fixed the statue another look and could easily make out the facial similarities between him and Torie.

"And speaking of Crouches, I'm sure you'll find this most interesting." he said, leading her towards another one.

This statue however wasn't of one, but TWO wizards.

"The one on the right is Cassius Crouch - end of the eighteenth century. There was a huge political battle on during those times. The situation went as far, that one group, had planned a secret coup and tried to take-over the country. A coup, that is not even widely known in our history books, especially because several Noble family members were directly involved. By that time, these two heroes led a successful counter-attack, which culminated in the sacking of Minister Unctuous Osbert - not exactly the finest hour of Dray's family history. The one on the left, who helped save the country, was your ancestor, Gin - Robert Weasley."

She gasped, and looked at the statue properly. She couldn't tell on the first glance, but once getting a better look she could see some facial similarities with her Granddad Septimus, and also she could spy a little of Uncle Billius there too.

"Your family's finest hour. But I'm afraid, that it was the start of its Noble downfall."

Ginny could at once tell what he was talking about. The Weasleys had been cast out from the Noble circle sometime in the early years of the twentieth century and left impoverished.

"The animosity started then and it only compounded over the generations. Until finally revenge found its mark thanks to the Nott-Lestrange-Kellen plot. In fact, Athena Kellen's grandfather had been instrumental in it." said Harry, growling a bit at the very mention of Athena Kellen.

"Figures." growled Ginny as well, her dislike for the woman only building.

"Hang on... didn't she marry into the Kellen family?!" she asked, seeing a disgusted look come over Harry's face.

"No. Though she and her husband Dionesus were from different branches, they belonged to the same family. There was some internal power struggles in their family over the centuries, but essentially, it wasn't uncommon for them to marry their own cousins."

The disgusted look now came over HER face too.

"The Kellen bloodline was basically divided into two trees during the nineteenth century. And ironically, the branch that held the more... kinder members was always the one that had less power and had to obey the other one."

Ginny sniffed in disgust, now feeling very sorry for Cassiopeia, and no longer surprised at how Athena, Deianira and Orphea turned out.

"What a screwed-up family."

Harry however shook his head.

"It's not like they didn't have decent members, though. From what I have heard, Dionesus Kellen was quite the modest person - I daresay, that Peia had turned out quite like him. And here... Dionesus' great grandfather - Aristotle Kellen." he said, showing her a statue of a pleasant-looking older wizard.

"He was one of Albus' school friends - his roommate in the Gryffindor dormitories actually. He was also forced to marry at the age of 16, due to a Kellen family deal. From what Al told me, he was a meek thinker and a philosopher. However he did go against his Head's wishes several times during his long time at Wizengamot, doing many great things. He reorganized the out-of-date Parkinson Laws and had done many acts for the legal system during his lifetime. He left quite a legacy for us all... even if he did basically live in a cage of idiotic family rules."

Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"And now Athena Kellen is trying to trample that legacy and force the same stupid rules on us all."

"Not while WE'RE around!" said Harry, looking at her, a hard determined look ablaze in his green eyes - a look she found more than inviting.

She felt a surge of wild, loving pride at having him and for a second felt an irresistible urge to snog him senseless.

"As much as I'd love to do so as well, Gin... I'm afraid we'll have to save it for tonight's... ah, detention."

This time she wasn't even exasperated at his use of Legilimency.

"Oh, what a schooling you'll get tonight, Professor Potter." she purred, coming closer to him which made HIS eyes darken with need and desire.

"Well... they say a good teacher can learn from his students... and I AM a decent learner..." he muttered, moving his face closer to hers, locking eyes with her and seriously fighting the urge to cast a Disillusionment Charm on them.

"OI, LOVEBIRDS! COME ON HERE, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!" yelled a completely overjoyed female voice from the side.

"ALICE! STOP YELLING IN HERE!" barked another voice, this one belonging to Lily Potter.

Harry breathed a small sigh of relief - he really wasn't sure if his self-control would hold on much longer.

"Thanks, sis... I needed that..." he muttered quietly with a note of humour, making his wife giggle.

They followed their family, reaching them by a statue of a well-known wizard indeed.

"Charlus Potter. A hero of the Global Wizarding War, known everywhere in the world as The Living Ghost." recited Ginny, reading the small sign at the base of the statue.

"And look here, Gin...Granddad Septimus - blimey he looks young." said Fred excitedly, pointing to a statue of three other wizards.

"Caspar Crouch, Septimus Weasley and Harfang Longbottom - that's all our grandfathers here. Heroes of the Global Wizarding War, forever remembered for their outstanding bravery." said Neville excitedly.

"And now it's our turn to surpass them." said Alice, in even more excitement.

"Don't count on it, sweetie. You still have to surpass ME first!" said James, pointing his thumb on himself and grinning at his daughter.

"I thought Harry already did that last year - Mister Seventh-in-command." said Lily slyly, quite enjoying the "wounded" look her husband shot her, as the others laughed.

Harry folded his arms and "tried" not to look so smug.

"Sorry, Dad... but rest assured - you're the first role-model I've ever surpassed."

James fixed him a half-amused, half-incredulous look.

"That doesn't exactly help, son..." he said, to another round of laughter.

Harry simply shrugged as they started to move on.

"Oh well... tired and failed." he said simply.

Alice looked as though she could barely contain her excitement.

"You'll see - it's merely a matter of time, before we have our own statues in here." she said with absolute conviction.

Ginny smiled.
She wasn't so sure about the others, but she could easily imagine a statue of her Harry, standing impressively in his Masked Wizard robes but without the mask on his face, along with a sign saying "Harry Potter. Known as the Masked Wizard - hero, genius, politician and everything in between...".

"Harry! Is something wrong?" asked Hannah in mild concern.

Ginny had to suppress a snicker, for Harry's face was suddenly brick-red and for a moment there, he looked like he had a run-in with a wild water-buffalo.

"WOW! LOOK AT THIS!" exclaimed Alice excitedly, sparing Harry from answering.

"Alice! I thought I TOLD you not to yell in here! There are also other families here, who do NOT need to hear you screaming!" scolded Lily.

Although judging by the looks on the numerous faces, scattered here and there across the room, Ginny had the impression that none of them minded. Indeed, she spotted Colin Creevey snickering with his wife.
Approaching Alice, the Potters saw a most familiar wizard indeed, one who was impossible to mistake even if this likeliness was more than fifty years younger than the person they knew so well.

"Albus Dumbledore. Hero of the Global Wizarding War, who ended it by defeating the darkest of wizards - Gellert Grindelwald, and ending his reign of terror. Though not a member of any of the Noble families, we Nobles placed this statue here, expressing our thanks and respect." read Neville smilingly.

"How cool is this?!" breathed Alice, barely able to contain her excitement.

Harry chuckled, pointing several statues away.

"In that case... you might want to look over there."

Several of them gasped. A few steps away was another statue of two... or rather three.

"Nev..." breathed Hannah, at once taking her husband's hand, as they reached it.

Neville gave her a small smile, before he fixed his sight on the statue of his parents.
Quite like the statue in front of the place where they were buried, this one also featured the three of them, his baby-self settled in his Mum's arms.
The Potters all knew of course, especially since they visit their grave traditionally, every year in the spring. For Ginny, Fred and Hannah, who never had, it was something entirely new.

"Frank, Alice and Neville Longbottom. A popular Auror couple, murdered by Lord Voldemort, along with the entire Longbottom family, during his attack on the night of 31st October, 1981. Their son, Neville remains the only person to have survived the Killing Curse, and is known all around the world as The Boy who Lived."

The entire family stayed there for a while in silence, until Harry gave Neville a small pat on his shoulder and moved on towards another statue. Ginny did the same and followed her husband to a statue of another wizard, she had seen before. Or rather... a statue of him.

"Blaise's Dad." she whispered, looking at his statue.

Harry merely nodded, once more looking at the statue, as though hoping to read something from it.

Ginny now had a very good idea, what all this statue-staring was for.

While being very interesting for her and those who were here for the first time, she understood, that it held a completely different significance for Harry.

In the same way, he conversed with Professor Slytherins portrait this morning, as well as the portrait of his grandparents, Harry was now looking at the statues of these legendary Nobles, in order to reaffirm his resolve.

She smiled and reached for his hand yet again.

"They say that every hero needs a hero."

Harry nodded, looking at her and returning her smile.

"And they're quite right. But every hero also needs... his friends." he answered, pointing to the front of the room, where the Zabinis have just arrived.

In the lead came Blaise and Luna, who was holding onto his cane-free arm with both of hers in a most loving gesture. Right after them were Callidora, holding onto her elder brother Kingsley Shacklebolt's arm in typical Noble fashion. The last to enter, looking around in bright, almost boyish curiosity, was Luna's grandfather - Albert Shard.

Upon noticing them, both Callidora and Luna at once waved at the pair of them spiritedly, while Blaise, Kingsley and Albert all gave offered milder, but equally friendly gestures of greeting.

Returning the greetings, Harry and Ginny watched Blaise point the lot of them to the statue of his ancestor, Baltus Zabini. Ginny at once recognised, that just like Harry, Blaise was now doing some reaffirming of his own.
However, upon looking at Albert Shard, Ginny could not help but remember the conversation she had overheard yesterday.

"Is something the matter, Gin?" asked Harry curiously.

Ginny bit her lip slightly, still unsure if she should tell him what she had overheard.

"Harry... What do you think about Luna's grandfather?" she asked, deciding to place her faith in her husband's opinion.

"Old Albert? I like him. Blaise does as well. He is an intelligent person and a brilliant conversationalist. He can also speak German, which is a plus for me, Blaise and Angus - we do like to have someone other than my Mum to speak German with. Also I have heard from Albus that he was a great friend of Granddad Charlus. From what he told me, Granddad saved his life during the Global Wizarding War."

That seemed to have explained some of what she had seen yesterday, though it still didn't explain it completely. For now however, Ginny felt that it was enough.

"Come. I still have one more Noble hero to show you." said Harry, gently pulling her towards the end of the room, where the last of the statues were, just before another grand door.

As they approached, they saw that the rest of the family were already standing there, looking at a statue of a pleasant-looking older witch with long hair. She saw that James had been looking at her with the most loving smile on his lips.

"Alicia "Licie" Potter. A member of Wizengamot, healer and a well-known philanthropist." read Ginny with a small gasp.

Ginny had heard so much about her yesterday, from both Fidus and Albus.

"My great-grandmum Licie." said James to the others, pride pulsing in his voice.

"She was the first owner of our Cottage, when she married into the family at 16." he explained, to the great surprise of the younger ones, but also his wife.

"So soon? Why?" asked Alice in shock.

"Problems in the Noble Top Six." answered Ginny, drawing all attention to herself.

Harry flashed her a proud smile, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Albus told me about her yesterday. She lived in Godric´s Hollow with her family before that, and when there was a problem among the Top Six, the Potter family was able to retain their position due to an arranged marriage of their younger son with the daughter of the Abbott family." she explained.

Hannah gasped and looked at the statue more intensely.

"So that means... "

"Yes, Hannah - she's our common relative. And through her daughter's marriage we're also related to Ernie Macmillan." said Harry, further surprising everyone.

"The family story says, that when the Abbott's agreed to the arranged marriage, their only condition - and they could've asked for much more - was, that the newlyweds would stay in Godric's Hollow. Which was why Potter Cottage had been constructed. Since then it was our traditional home." said James.

"And Fidus told me, that she was the one, who brought him into the Cottage when he was very young. Fidus was the offspring of the Abbotts' family elves. At the Cottage, he started to serve with Apricie - the Potter family elves' offspring." explained Harry, recalling the story Fidus had told him.

"Aaaaand like he always said - it was love at first sight." added James happily.

The entire family shared sunny smiles, happy to know this about their two lovable house-elves.

"Albus also told me, that she was one of his greatest friends from the times they attended Hogwarts. That she reached out to him in a time, when he was completely lost. Many times in his life - he said." said Ginny, recalling what the Headmaster had told her yesterday.

"That's our Great-grandmum Licie all right. I remember her so well... she lived with us when I was a little tyke. She passed away a year before I started Hogwarts... " said James, smiling fondly on the statue, while the young ones looked at him in surprise.

Lily's eyes however turned incredibly gentle and she moved herself closer to her husband.

"When I was little, she was always the one to play with me, showing me many things, teaching me... heh... even healing me when I got hurt."

James' comment was met with affectionate chuckles. Indeed Ginny could clearly picture a tiny little James, hurt by some of his back-fired mischief... tended to by his loving great-grandmother...

With a small blush, Ginny remembered another thing he had told her.

"I do have to say, Ginny – you and Licie are very much alike. You are both exceptionally kind and eager to lend a helping hand at any possible time. I can see that you possess her spirit - free, devoted and loving... It certainly goes along quite nicely with your fiery personality."

Suddenly her blush intensified, as a strange image (NOT of her own thinking!) filled her mind. An image of her OWN statue, along with a sign which read - Ginerva "Ginny" Potter, first Noble Quidditch player, outstanding witch and the sweetest little fire-...

She snapped her head at her husband, who was wearing a look of sheer, pure, almost childish innocence. One that didn't work, for Ginny had immediately slapped his arm and glared him, still red-faced.

"Stop using Legilimency, you prat, or you can forget about detention!" she scolded before she could stop herself.

Which was a tiny... mistake.

"What detention?" asked the remainder of the family, all at once and looking at the pair of them questioningly.

The small moment of silence endured for only a moment, before the Potters literally exploded in laughter, catching on easily thanks to the blood-red faces of both Ginny and Harry.

...

At Hogwarts the door to the Headmaster's Office opened.

The portraits of the past Headmasters all turned to it, eagerly awaiting the return of the current one.

Albus Dumbledore walked in, looking as old as he was.

In silence the portraits all watched him cross the room and positively collapse into his seat, heaving a long sigh.

"I take it, that the Meeting at the Ministry did not go so well, did it...?" noted the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black, receiving quite a few glares from his fellow portraits.

Albus was about to heave another sigh when Fawkes flew down from his porch and settled on his lap, wishing to be there for his master.

"Thank you, Fawkes." he said gratefully, stroking the top of the phoenix's head.

"How did it go? Did Fudge react to the morning news?" asked the portrait of Basil Fronsac delicately.

Albus nodded, looking up at the portraits.

"Yes, he did. He does not consider the Incompliable to be such a serious threat. He is convinced, that the Reinforcement Act Patrol will do away with them."

The portraits exchanged looks of shock, but Albus went on.

"He is currently using Gilderoy Lockhart and his fame to sway as many people to his side as possible. And indeed, in several cases... it seems to be working."

"Despicable! He is practically pitting people against each other!" exclaimed the portrait of Dilys Derwent.

Albus only nodded, still stocking Fawkes' head.

"I'm afraid, that the morning newspaper exploit had played right into his hands, providing him with an excuse to do the worst."

The portraits were silent for a moment, breathlessly waiting to hear what it was.

"Cornelius succeeded in passing The Reformation Act."

The portraits seemed to know exactly what that meant. Almost as one, they started to voice their exclamations of shock and disapproval.

"And... its first step had already been taken. He granted Full Birthright Powers to the Nobles."

The Headmaster's office literally exploded in roars of shock, outrage and disbelief.

All knew that at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Nobles surrendered their full powers to the newly established Ministry of Magic, they did so under two conditions. That they would retain a part of their political power... and... that in a time of crisis, if the Wizengamot voted on it, it would be possible for the Nobles to gain that power back.

But until now... such a thing had never occurred.

Not during Goblin riots, Squib-rights protests, not even during the time of sacking Minister Fawley in the early years of the Global Wizarding War. Not even when Lord Voldemort was at the height of his power.

But NOW?!

"Cornelius claimed that there were several serious problems at the moment and that the Incompliable are the final proof that the Ministry is incapable to cope with them effectively..."

"And WHO'S fault is THAT?!" exclaimed Dexter Fortesque, folding his arms as his fellow-portraits gave out similar exclamations.

"Albus... do you mean to tell me, that Fudge had actually gotten the votes necessary for such an absurdity?" asked the portrait of his predecessor, Armando Dippet.

Albus nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Armando. I'm afraid, that in the light of the recent events many people, including several members of the Ministry are deeply worried and scared. You see... the recent Death Eater attacks, particularly the one before Christmas, left everyone in fear. That, the hunt for the Masked Wizard and the displeasure from some with the Repopulation Act, makes it hard for anyone to be at ease. Furthermore many people are unsure what to think in the wake of Cornelius' propaganda."

"So, the most of the Wizengamot, willingly surrendered power to the Nobles?!" asked Evercare's portrait, shaking his head in disgust.

"Yes. But only under the condition, that the Nobles have a functional political body prepared. The Minister's office will remain, allowing Cornelius to stay in power, but the Noble party will have powers above Wizengamot, due to its leader acting as Cornelius' second-in-command."

Albus' explanation once more made a wave of protest roar across the room.

"Does Fudge realise, that this was EXACTLY how Gellert Grindelwald and Hermann Eisenfaust seized power in Germany?!" exclaimed Armando Dippet in exasperation.

"I wonder... does he really want to get murdered in his Office, just like the German Minister?" he added, knowing the story from before the war - the times when he had been Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Indeed the country's old Minister for Magic shared his power with Gellert's group in the early-thirties and when he was no longer of any use to them in 1935, Hermann Eisenfaust (Gellert's second-in-command) declared him a traitor and murdered him right in his office.

"Well... as I recall his time at Hogwarts, Armando - History of Magic was never Cornelius' forte." said Albus with a small smirk, remembering the young Hufflepuff student, Cornelius Fudge once was.

"And since the Noble Assembly is on today, we can be assured, that Athena Kellen will have the Noble party prepared. The Nobles wouldn't dare to pass such an opportunity." groaned Dilys Derwent in exasperation.

"Oh no... but that means... - why on Earth are you laughing, Dumbledore?!" exclaimed the portrait of Dexter Fortesque.

The other portraits also fixed him a confused look, as Albus chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid, that Athena and her side will not have it as easy, as they think... I must say, she had been most right, when she was trying to recruit those three for her cause."

The portraits looked confused for a moment, but suddenly Phineas Nigellus Black started, sporting a most devious grin.

"The Slytherin Squad..." he said gleefully, practically hissing the "s" letters.

His fellow-portraits shot him a look of surprise, before turning their faces back at Albus, who nodded happily.

"Harry, Blaise and Draco were working tirelessly in anticipation of this happening since the Christmas Holidays began. Strange enough, Harry seemed to be planning a political counter-attack even for this scenario."

The portraits, of course, were very familiar with the five Slytherins, hearing of their exploits in this very room after the Battle of Hogwarts and many times since.

"Those children... they've actually been planning so far ahead?!" whispered Dexter Fortesque in awe.

"But Albus... they are too young for such things." said Dilys Derwent in evident concern.

"HA! As IF! They are already heads and shoulders above many older ones, including Cornelius Fudge. I must say, Dumbledore... I'm really envious - I would have loved to have them under my charge." said Phineas Nigellus.

Albus chuckled and shook his head again.

"Don't say that, Phineas... believe me, its not easy being their Headmaster."

As the portraits started to discuss the matter among themselves, Albus thought back to a conversation he had shortly before Christmas, when he took a small detour on his way back from the International Conference of Magical Theoreticians.

It had not been easy to get permission to leave abroad for it under the Reinforcement Act, and indeed if Cornelius had any idea, where he stopped on his way back, he probably would have had him arrested.
But it was more than worth the risk - since then, he felt more at peace than he could ever remember feeling, and he no longer had any reservations in stepping aside and letting the young ones deal with the situation themselves.

With a bright smile, he recalled a certain point of the conversation, when he explained just that.

"You've changed... and for the better at last."

It was true, he could tell... and funny enough, it did not scare him as the prospect of it had for such a long time.
He wondered for a moment, if he should go down into one of the unused classrooms and take a small look at the Mirror of Erised - he was fairly sure, that he would see a vastly different image in it now.

"Sometimes the journey can also be the destination." he remembered Harry conclude, as he told him everything, once he came back to Godric's Hollow - the young man being the single person, he had told EXACTLY where his little detour had led him.

He allowed his thoughts to wander on the Noble Assembly, and wondered what was going on at the famous Merlin Memorial Hall right now. He was fairly sure, that he was missing a few most illuminating speeches.

He also wondered what action would the young ones take and what the outcome of it would be. He did not know, but this time he felt completely at ease with trusting them completely.

With a grin he remembered another little point of his pre-Christmas conversation with a certain someone, whom he hadn't seen for 52 long years.

"Unsere zeit ist für bei, Albus..."

His grin doubled as he remembered the age-old exasperated look he received in response to his blank one, when the sentence was said.

"I SAID - our time has past - you German language anti-talent!"

The old nickname made him laugh heartily once more - as hard as he laughed before Christmas, in the topmost cell of Nurmengard.

...

The main room of the Merlin Memorial Hall was even more grandiose than the Wizengamot had at its disposal.

It still had the original speaker platform from the first times the Nobles have started to meet here, positioned in the very centre of the circular room. Legend had it, that Merlin himself had charmed it, so that it would levitate with the Noble speaker standing on it, and ensures that he or she would be as viewed, as heard.

Lined along the room, like in a theatre were balconies of sorts, reserved for members of each Noble family.

The lower-ranking families had theirs closest to the old platform, while the Top Six - now Seven, had theirs positioned at the very end of the room, overlooking the other families.

The ceiling had a circular window on the top, right underneath the platform and the Solaris Charm cast on it ensured that pure sunlight would illuminate the speaker, no matter what the outside weather was.

Indeed, it only added to the effect of every single speaker, who spoke on it.

And since the official start of the Assembly, two hours ago, there have already been quite a few speeches.

"Oh... this will take FOREVER!" moaned Alice, almost banging her head on the chair in front of her, where her brother was sitting, next to his wife.

"Alice Lily Weasley - stop your whining!" scolded her Mum.

"But Muuuum... this is completely and utterly boring! I almost fell asleep a minute ago..."

Lily was about to say something to her again, but both were interrupted by Harry, who was passing a small bottle to his sister over his shoulder.

"Wideye Potion - I've had a feeling it might come in handy." he whispered, smirking a bit.

Alice screwed her face and fixed him a small glare.

"No, thanks! I'd rather fall asleep. There's nothing much to do in this room of boredom."

Harry rolled his eyes in response.

"Suit yourself." he said simply and returned to his task.

Ginny grinned at her, before returning her sights on her husband, once more seeing the look of boyish attention, as he listened attentively to Eldrich Macmillan's speech, making small notes into a tiny notebook he had brought along.

Looking at the other balconies, Alice, Lily and Ginny saw, that Harry was not the only one making notes. Every Head of each family seemed to be doing so - all except Athena Kellen.
However on closer inspection, there was someone in the Kellen balcony making notes - Orphea.

"That's weird." whispered Ginny to her mother-in-law, knowing that she had been looking in the same way.

Lily nodded and narrowed her eyes.

"They're up to something." she muttered and Ginny silently nodded.

A moment later, Eldrich ended his speech and polite applause rang in the large room. Harry, James, Lily and Ginny applauded politely as they watched the platform lower Eldrich to the ground.

"It was a nice speech." noted Ginny to her husband, watching his reaction.

"Yes. It emphasised several interesting points. I'm glad, that the Macmillan's are part of our group." said Harry, watching Eldrich walk up into the Macmillan balcony, where his wife Andrea, son Ernie and daughter-in-law Parvati were sitting.

"Just how many speeches are still ahead of us...?" asked Alice a bit impatiently.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at his sister.

"A fair few more, I'm afraid. Several other families have still to speak, including our family. The Malfoys, Slughorns, Greengrasses, Kellens, Zabinis, Blacks, and then, finally us." he said, smirking a bit as Alice moaned.

"MORE speeches?! Is that the only thing you Nobles DO?! Spew nonsense all day long?!"

While Harry retained a neutral expression, Alice at once received glares from her Mum AND sister-in-law.

"If you had listened, you would have noticed a few very crucial things in all that nonsense." grumbled Ginny.

"What crucial things?" asked Fred, looking at his little-sister curiously.

Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother - clearly, he paid as much attention to the speeches as Alice did.

"For instance, that Fudge passed the Reformation Act this morning and the Nobles are to be given their Full Birthright Powers back, if they unite and form a governing party."

Fred looked at her confusedly.

"The full-what powers?"

As with Alice, Ginny fixed her brother a stern glare.

"Try paying attention, git - you might be able to find out." she said, before turning her head around.

"Siblings! No wonder Harry loses his cool with Alice - I can hardly blame him!" she fumed in her mind.

She was surprised by a small, but very loving peck on the cheek that followed a second later, by none-other than her husband.

"Nice to know, you understand me so much, my lovely second-in-command." he whispered into her ear, making her blush and sending a pleasant shiver down along her spine.

She was about to reply, when several gasps could be heard in the room, directing their attention downwards.

Instead of Lucius, it was Draco who was approaching the centre platform.

The Potters - all except Harry - turned their heads to the Malfoy balcony, where Torie was sitting, looking lovingly at her Dray and occupying one of the Heads' chairs, the other being vacant. Sitting behind her were Narcissa (whose look matched that of Torie) with Lucius, and by their side were Andromeda with her Muggle-born husband Ted Tonks.
The Tonks couple also watched with bright smiles, as their nephew took the speaker's platform, which promptly started to levitate him upwards.

"But I thought, that only the family Heads have the right to speak the speeches..." breathed Lily.

"They do." answered James simply, looking at the Malfoy balcony with a smile.

Once more, everyone except Harry and James looked very surprised.

"But..." breathed Alice.

"That means..." breathed Ginny, looking from her husband to her father-in-law, now knowing the reasons for the gasps in the room.

"Lucius passed down his Head of the family position." nodded James with a grin.

"Dray told me and Blaise yesterday - apparently, Narcissa felt that it was time for Lucius to step aside and allow the young ones to rule the family." said Harry with a roguish wink.

Ginny giggled, now understanding fully.

"So, she sweet-talked old super-pure-blood Lucius into submission."

James snickered as he nodded, sneaking a glance at Lucius, who was now exchanging polite whispers with his Muggle-born brother-in-law.

"A new era of the Malfoy family has finally begun." noted Lily smilingly, just as Draco began his speech.

Alice and Fred became genuinely interested in what Draco had to say, and for the entire duration of Dray's speech they were giving him their fullest attention.
As the speech came to an end, both of them earnestly applauded the new Head of the Malfoy family, along with the rest of the family.

"Quite the speaker - that best friend of yours..." breathed Alice to her brother.

"Really cleared up some confusion too." nodded Fred.

Indeed, Ginny spied several other family Heads looking extremely surprised, as the platform lowered Dray to the ground. Several older witches and wizards (like Sirius Black for instance) continued to applaud Draco, even as he returned to the Malfoy balcony.

Once he did, he and Harry exchanged a nod.

"Heh... nice one, you two. The Slytherin Squad - hard at work." said Alice happily, reaching out and ruffling her younger brother's messy hair, making Harry chuckle.

"Oh, just you wait, Alice. I assure you, you haven't seen anything yet." Harry replied, as they all watched old Hector Slughorn assume his place on the platform.

Hector Slughorn's speech was considerably a shorter one, but no more uninteresting than Draco's. It emphasised several points that made it pretty clear, whose side were the Slughorns on.

"So, another family for our side." noted James happily, as Hector left the platform.

"It's rather obvious, whose side THIS family is on, I'm afraid." said Harry, his infamous glare in place - a glare shared by every single member of the Potter family as Hyperion Greengrass was levitated on the platform.

Ginny, Lily and Alice looked at the Greengrass balcony, where only one person was sitting - a rather superior-looking Silvaterra Greengrass. Then, they directed their sights on the Malfoy family, specifically on Torie.

Torie was sitting calmly with a most neutral expression on her face, but Draco was keeping himself as close to her as possible. Even Lucius and Narcissa were keeping themselves closer to her, in a gesture that one might have misinterpreted as possessiveness, if not aware of Torie's background.

Harry, for his part, observed quite coldly as Hyperion Greengrass spoke for a while, emphasising the right of the Nobles to rule the commoners.

"That was disgusting." noted Ginny in distaste as Greengrass finished - none of the Potter or Malfoy family bothered to clap.

"Git." grumbled Lily, her death-glare in place.

"And the worst is yet to come." growled Harry, knowing that it was time for the Kellen family's speech.

Looking at the Kellen balcony, the Potters looked at the Kellens. Athena, Deianira, Robert, Orphea and Corvin were sitting there, looking even more superior to the Greengrasses, while Cassiopeia and Broderick merely kept a neutral look on their faces.

Surprisingly however, it was not Athena who stood up.

The entire room started to mutter as Orphea descended from the Kellen balcony and took the place on the platform.

"The hell...?! Kellen stood down and left power to her daughter?!" breathed Alice in shock, asking the very same question that resonated among other family balconies as well.

"Looks like it." said James, seeing no other explanation.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Hannah uncertainly.

"I think it's more like - bad or worse." answered Ginny, directing a glare at Orphea.

"Well... just for sport - I bet five galleons on worse." said Fred jokingly, hoping to lighten the mood.

It took only a few moments into the speech for the Potters to realise, that Fred's bet was a sure gamble.

The speech was even sharper than Greengrass', but oddly enough... several Nobles seemed to be agreeing with some of the points of it.

"Harry!" hissed Alice, seeing that her brother was actually writing some of those points down.

Orphea's speech lasted for the next half-an-hour, during which time she had presented several points and opinions that certainly left many in the room speechless to say the least.

The expressions on every single face in the room were shifting from disapproval to approval and back again with almost each passing minute, as they heard the points of "failure of the system", "imposition of order", "enforcement of rules", "Noble right to govern" and "courage to do, what is necessary".

When she finished, several of the families - Greengrasses, McLaggens, Rowles and Burkes - clapped, as though the appalling speech was the best thing they have ever heard.

Other families apparently had much different feelings about it...

The Black balcony showed the thoroughly outraged faces of Amelia Black and Susan Lennox, while Sirius Black and Angus Lennox mimed vomiting onto the ground.

The Slughorns, Thurkells, Fawleys and Ollivander's all looked highly shaken - even Caractacus and Melania seemed very uncomfortable, while old Horace shook his head in vigorous disagreement.

On the Macmillan balcony, Andrea Macmillan was also shaking her head while Ernie and Parvati looked defiant. Eldrich however looked as though he was actually pondering on what had been said.

The same held true for the Shafiq balcony. Some were deep in thought, others looked downright scared. Bertram was looking thoughtfully, much too both his mother's and older sister's disapproval, while Aurora placed a comforting arm around Colin's shoulders.

The Malfoy balcony seemed for the most part indifferent. Only Lucius seemed to have thought about it for a moment, before he was elbowed by Narcissa. Ted and Andromeda rolled their eyes at the pair of them, before looking at the new Heads of the family and instantly exploded in laughter. In a similar gesture to the one used by her mother-in-law, Torie elbowed Draco in the ribs, making him jump in his seat - apparently, Draco had fallen asleep sometime during the speech.

At the Shacklebolt-Zabini balcony both Kingsley and Callidora looked disgusted. Luna was looking on neutrally, while Blaise looked nothing short of calm.

Ginny also caught the look on old Albert Shard's face and saw, that he went deathly pale... almost as if he could faint at any moment.

"Bloody HELL! Who wrote HER speech - Gellert Grindelwald?!"

There was a loud call of "JAMES!" and "DAD!" from almost everyone in the Potter balcony at James' remark, apart from Ginny and of course...

"Indeed... the only sentence missing from her speech was - Für den größeren Wohl."

"HARRY!" the balcony roared again.

Harry smirked and shook his head, fixing his family a calm look.

"Well... never mind that for now. After all, its time for our political counter-attack." he said, pointing to the centre platform.

With his trademark cane in hand, walking with a grace in his step, Blaise Zabini walked up to the platform.

Ginny grinned at her husband, seeing his green eyes sparkle with emotion, though his face gave nothing away.
She looked at Dray and Torie who were watching on with matching smiles, Angus who was grinning like mad, Callidora who was sporting tears of happiness at the sight, Albert Shard who wore a gentle and supportive smile and finally Luna who seemed to be positively shining with pride.

She, along with everyone who knew Blaise well knew, that thought he appeared calm, he must only barely be able to contain his excitement at giving a speech here in the legendary Merlin Memorial Hall - a dream come-true of sorts.

As the platform raised him in the light, Blaise took a small breath and started his speech - without a single sheet of paper for company, unlike many other speakers.

Once again, it only took the first few moments of the speech for the audience to feel its effect.

This time however, the effect was very different from Orphea's speech.

"W-wow..." gasped Alice in sheer wonder, as Blaise carried on, now talking about the current state of things.

It was not long before quite a few Nobles nodded their heads in bright agreement. Though he did not necessarily disagree with every single point that has been heard since the first speech began (even agreeing with some), no one could argue that his approach was much less violent and much more agreeable.

Like Orphea's, Blaise's speech had went on for over a half-an-hour, stressing the points of "responsibility", and "fair approach".

Several Nobles had already expressed their feelings by clapping and cheering in agreement to some of the points - Blaise was clearly winning some of them over.

"... it is my belief, that we can all - Nobles as well as commoners - usher a new and prosperous era, if we find the courage to settle our differences peacefully. I realise, that not everyone will or CAN be happy with the arrangements, should they come to pass... but we must do our best to make sure, that - as the Parkinson Laws in the past - they would work best for everyone."

Several Noble families clapped immediately. Even some of those who seemed to be on Kellen's side.

Blaise bowed his head and the platform slowly started to descend - signalling the end of his speech.

As Blaise descended, the clapping intensified, many Nobles standing up clapping even harder than some of the families had clapped Orphea.

"The bloke has my vote for Minister for Magic, alright." said Fred very approvingly.

"I'm afraid, that you'll have to work really hard to surpass that, dear." said Ginny very slyly, elbowing her husband.

"Looks like Blaise got you there, little bro." added Alice, in an equally sly tone.

Harry merely chuckled, shaking his head.

"Looks like the Full Birthright Powers won't get passed after all. There's no way the Nobles can unite now." said Neville happily as the clapping died down.

"Don't be so sure of that, Nev." said Harry, his predator-look once more on his face.

"What?!" exclaimed the Potter balcony, again looking at their Head of family.

"Harry James Potter! What are you plotting?!" hissed Alice dangerously, but Harry merely made a shushing gesture and turned his sights on the platform once more.

Lily, James, Neville, Hannah, Ginny and Fred all changed puzzled looks - it was very clear, that Harry was up to his old Slytherin tricks again.

Alice fumed angrily, but turned her sights on the platform, watching her Godfather take the speaker's place.

Sirius spoke very shortly, merely emphasising the serious situation, but expressed an interesting view.

"... I think, that its time to entrust the future to the young ones. Though we're anything but (he shuddered at the very thought) old... the times are changing fast and whoever can understand them better than they? Also... unlike the times of my grandfather Arcturus Black, I think that this time around we should actually lessen down the ever-conservative ways of the Noble circle."

Many Nobles like Daniel Fawley and Eldrich Macmillan seemed to be approving of the idea, clapping Sirius as he descended back. Even Lucius Malfoy clapped half-heartedly, rolling his eyes at Narcissa and Andromeda, who were cheering their favourite cousin.

The speech had certainly gained the favour of the said young ones - Bertram Shafiq and Colin Creevey shared a hi-five, Marvolo Flint cheered like crazy, Ernie Macmillan and Parvati nodded at each other and even Flora and Hestia Carrow looked highly approving.

There were those however, who were looking severely disapproving - Hyperion and Silvaterra Greengrass looked furious, McLaggen's looked on with clear distaste, Rowles were shaking their heads, and in the Kellen balcony Deianira looked rebellious. Athena, Orphea and Corvin however seemed to be completely ignoring it. They cast their cold looks on the Potter balcony, were the young ones were on their feet.

"Right on, Pads!" exclaimed Alice happily, cheering for her Godfather.

"Alice!" hissed Lily at her.

"Not a bad idea, actually." said Fred happily, clapping along.

"And not exactly necessary around our family." added Ginny, winking at James.

He grinned and fixed both her and Harry a mock-stern look.

"You can say that again, you little thieves of power." he said, making Ginny giggle and prompting Harry to stick out his tongue in a snake-like fashion.

As Sirius re-seated himself at the Black balcony, gaining a kiss on his cheek from his loving wife and fist-bumping with his "son-in-law", he directed a mischievous wink at the lot of them, gaining a thumbs-up from his best friend, and an affectionate eye-roll from Lily.

Harry stood up, and walked out of the Potter balcony, on his way to the speaker's platform. As he went, there was quite a lot of muttering present in the room - many like Macmillans, Shafiqs, Thurkells, and Slughorns were shooting him smiles.

Ginny grinned as she spied Marvolo Flint explaining something excitedly to the other Flints, the Carrow twins shooting small smiles at him, Bertram and Colin talking excitedly, while Ernie Macmillan nodded supportively.

"Quite the following he has, that brother of mine." whispered Alice in mild-awe.

"And quite the amount of enemies too." growled Lily, seeing that a number of pure-bloods - McLaggens, Greengrasses, Kellens and Rowles - were glaring him.

She felt a small pang, as for a moment she could see the tiny tyke Harry once was, and now... a powerful young man, who stepped into the light of the speaker's platform.

Ginny could feel herself blushing as she watched her Harry being levitated on the platform. In the light of the Solaris Charm, everyone in the room could see the expression on his face, one that spoke in volumes... one of sheer power and authority - it was an impressive sight to behold.

Harry looked around the room for the slightest of moments, before starting his speech.

"Much of what was needed to be said has been said already, so I will keep this speech short. Many of the problems, our community faces today are a direct consequence of foolishness, senseless pride and unwillingness to act of those, who should have acted a long time ago..."

Many of the Nobles in the balconies looked uncomfortable; others did not want to admit to it.

"... This had been the cause of the First Wizarding War, when the wizard known as Lord Voldemort had used this. The same held true for the Second Wizarding War - had the competent acted much sooner, the chaos and second battle could have been adverted. We would not have escaped Death Eaters, Junior Death Eaters... and this country would not see more murders."

"Hear, hear." breathed James, as many gasps (primarily shocked ones at the sound of Voldemort's name) and muttering rang across the room - Harry purposely letting them sound.

"Now... we are faced with another series of crisis - many of them are of our OWN making. The Repopulation Act - an Act a bit too extreme for the after the battle situation - did indeed offer one of the solutions. However, once again we are allowing the very same mistakes that caused the problem, to repeat. It is quite clear now, that this order is not functioning properly and is outdated. Therefore it calls for change. Now... today - with the passing of the Reformation Act - we have been given the chance to do JUST that. We cannot hope to believe, that the problems will be easily fixed by others... be it Albus Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, or some masked vigilante... the time has come for us to ALL lend a hand and fix what needs fixing..."

"Masked vigilante he says - and just WHO wears that mask?" said Alice, snickering along with Neville.

"He's right though - we ALL have to help." said Neville.

"Therefore... I say, let us Nobles take back the power that has been offered to us."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed most in the Potter balcony, and they certainly weren't the only ones.

Several other balconies looked at the speaker's podium in clear surprise. Athena Kellen's jaw actually fell down.

Harry once more allowed a moment to pass before carrying on.

"Only then will we be able to solve the situations that arose. However, should we take back our Birthright power we must never forget one, the most important thing - Ad imperare est ut servirent!"

Many Nobles (James included) gasped, now catching on to what Harry was saying. Some like Eldrich Macmillan, Daniel Fawley, Lucius Malfoy or Hector Slughorn looked liked they obviously approved others like Athena Kellen, Hyperion Greengrass, Octavius McLaggen and Rex Rowle seemed to be positively disgusted at the very idea.

"Like the great Nobles of the past, it is time for us to take control and usher a NEW era for our Magical Community."

"This is NOT happening!" exclaimed Alice in shock, as several of the Nobles began to clap.

"What is he trying to accomplish?!" asked Neville, looking at his Godparents.

"Since it is very clear, that we Nobles are unlikely to unite under a single banner... there is only one way for us to acquire the power offered to us by the Reformation Act. I therefore propose, that instead of creating the Grand Noble Party as Orphea Kellen had suggested, we create the Grand Noble Government - composed of two opposing sides, which will share power with the Minister."

The very suggestion prompted cheers and clapping, as well as gasps and exclamations.

"Each of the two will have their single representative, chosen by the families who belong there and who will embody their will and power."

Once more, the idea seemed to be gaining approval by even those who are on Kellen's side. Indeed, even Athena Kellen seemed to be pondering on it.

"We shall agree on a code of rules, which will ensure that neither party can overstep its boundaries and determine the penalties for doing so."

"This is going into EXTREMES!" breathed Hannah in exasperation.

"Oh please... like you actually expect Kellen and her lot to follow some rules?!" growled Alice, glaring her brother.

Ginny frowned - like her dear old Dad and his Muggle Protection Act, she was very sure Harry would make certain, that the rules will have loopholes that he and his friends could use.

Looking at the other snakies in their family balconies, she at once became aware that the rest of the Slytherin Squad was on to what Harry was trying to do.

"I need to emphasise one last thing - the escaped Death Eaters AND the Incompliable, all trapped in the country under the Reinforcement Act... all of it has the potential to transform into another war! Another... that is soon to be on our doorstep unless we intervene! It is a matter of greatest urgency for us to calm the situation down as fast as possible."

With that, Harry ended his speech and was levitated downwards, accompanied by cheers, claps, as well as exclamations of shock and disagreement.

...

"What the HELL have you DONE?!" exclaimed Alice, glaring her brother back in the Noble Room, as they stood in front of the Potter shrine.

"Yes, Harry! Have you any idea, what this is going to do?!" asked Neville, folding his arms.

The rest of the family also lined up, looking at each other in a mixture of concern and confusion.

Harry however had his eyes glued on the Potter family tree and the various trophies and other objects in its shrine.

"Naturally. Do you think I'm fool enough to propose something like that without any reason? Or that I take the current situation lightly?" he replied calmly.

"And just HOW is this Grand Noble Government supposed to calm the situation?!" demanded Alice.

Harry tore his sights away from the small portrait of the Potter family in the 1880's, fixing the present Potter family a serious look.

"To be clear... the Birthright powers would've got past down anyway. They are a chance to take effective command. Don't think for a second, that the Heads of the families - even Fawleys, Shafiqs or Macmillans - would ignore such an opportunity... especially in the light of everything that is going on. AND... don't think for a nano-second, that The Reformation Act has been passed in such a convenient time by chance or accident.

The family looked at each other, and all except James and Ginny (who have done so during Harry's speech) reached the same conclusion.

"By offering Birthright Powers at a last minute's notice, Kellen undoubtedly wanted to stir the older Nobles, like Eldrich or Daniel into rushing their decisions and allying for power's sake." explained James.

Harry smiled at his father and nodded.

"That would certainly be her plan for those, whom she had not closed a deal with. Those who have a deal with her however, would certainly be expected to follow her lead - undoubtedly, they have been planning since Christmas. In order to placate those, who would still be opposed, she was even prepared to stand down as the Head of the Kellen family, in order to unite us into forming the Grand Noble Party."

Everyone now understood the reason Orphea gave the family-speech, rather than her mother - it was a small signal for those, who still had doubts.

"So THAT'S why you..." said Alice, now understanding and very glad, that she didn't allow her temper to get the better of her, instead letting her brother explain his reasons.

"Actually, Alice... the speech was merely the final piece of the work." came a friendly voice behind them.

They turned to see Draco and Torie walking towards them, looking very pleased with themselves.

"Seriously... did you think all those Noble parties before and after Christmas were for fun?" asked Torie, a cheeky smile playing on her lips.

Ginny grinned, as they watched the "predator-smile" appear on Harry's face in all its glory.

"Kellen is not the only one mobilizing her forces." he said simply.

Alice snorted, folding her arms, looking from Harry to Draco.

"So you two snakies, along with Blaise have been keeping really busy, all Christmas long..."

James however frowned, realising something.

"Hang on, boys... by my calculations your side - even with the support of those families we have - is still in a minority. Even if the two parties would be created, yours would be the one with less power."

Dray, Torie and Harry all snickered in the same way, as the character in one of Harry's Muggle cartoons.

"That's what Kellen thought, when the speeches ended and she allowed her side to go along with Harry's suggestion." said Dray.

Torie giggled.

"Not like she had much of a choice. Blaise's and Harry's speeches really got a few Noble Heads thinking."

Draco at once shot her a look.

"Hey... what about MY speech?!"

Torie raised an eyebrow.

"Lacking in several points, charisma and altogether boring."

Draco pouted, folding his arms.

"Humph! A pipsqueak like you can't understand the greatness of such a speech."

"Lucky me - spares me the trouble of listening to it..." she countered at once.

The Potters laughed, quite enjoying the playful little mock-fight... or as the snakies call it sometimes "Word - war".

Harry cleared his throat and moved to his two friends.

"All right - enough, you two. I take it, that the families on our side have already gathered in the Conference Room."

Torie smiled radiantly at him.

"You bet, big brother. They're all waiting for you - including Mum and Dad Malfoy."

The other Potters looked very surprised to hear that.

"But Torie... didn't Lucius strike a deal with Kellen? The deal which made Dray the Head of the Task Force? As I remember Blaise only had your engagement repaired - the deal itself wasn't dissolved." asked Lily, as they all started to move.

The three snakies exploded in laughter.

"Ah, so he did." said Draco airily.

"She was kind of counting on that deal with the Malfoys actually. Especially on the part where Lucius would use his influence on the Carrows, Yaxleys and Burkes - drawing them to her side." said Harry, looking as smug as his best friend.

"There is however a small problem." giggled Torie, fixing a sly look at her very smug-looking husband.

"There is a wee, tiny little loop-hole in that deal - it had been made with Lucius Malfoy, the Head of the Malfoy family. NOT Draco Malfoy, the head of the Malfoy family." explained Draco, launching his wife and best friend into a fit of laughter again.

The Potters didn't know whether to laugh in humour or exasperation.

NOW they understood the real reason, why Lucius was made to step down - it made the deal with Kellen completely and utterly worthless... and just with one simple action.

Ginny couldn't help but giggle, also realizing that Dray had this planned all along, when he offered himself up to the Kellen deal. AND, that Blaise's repair of his engagement merely saved that trump-card for a more efficient use.

"You Snakies - you've double-crossed her so utterly?" asked Alice, shaking her head and chortling in amused exasperation.

Dray fixed them all a proud look, performing a mock-salute to go along.

"In traditional Malfoy-style."

As they all laughed, James clapped Draco on the shoulder.

"Your Mum was right - you really are worse than your dear old Dad."

Dray fixed him a thankful smile, while Torie sighed in theatrical sigh.

"And it's not easy living with..." she said, once more making everyone laugh.

...

The Conference Room had been packed full, though there were only about half of the families there.

Nevertheless it was very comfortable, and the various tables held mountains of food - most of it expensive, rare and exotic dishes.

Once talking a bit to some of the Noble Ladies, Ginny made it a point to sample some of it.

"Oh, do try this, Ginny." advised old Horace Slughorn cheerfully, obviously being the expert on exotic food.

She allowed him to guide her through the table's exotic fruits and was not surprised - everything tasted heavenly.

"Wow, the Nobles sure know how to live. Imagine our dear brother in here." said Fred, as she sat down next to him with her plate full.

She giggled.

"Which one? Our ever-serious one or our ever-hungry one?"

"Both." grinned Fred and they shared a laugh, imagining Percy and Ron running across the room - Percy engaging in eager discussions with the Nobles, and Ron even more eager to sample everything the tables offered.

They ate in silence, simply observing the scene around them.

Many families were chatting quite eagerly, even while eating. They could see Horace and Hector engaged in a discussion with Eldrich, James and Lily. A bit further, there were Neville and Hannah talking her aunt - Amanda Slughorn, soon enough joined by Ernie and Parvati Macmillan, as well as Susan Lennox and her auntie Amelia.

Not far from them were Angus, Harry, Draco and Blaise, all engaged in a joyful discussion with Albert Shard.
She watched them for a while, as Blaise summoned a tray with his favourite Peach Muhiya for everyone with a casual flick of his wand. She thought back to what Harry had said about him, and indeed as she watched the five of them talk eagerly (even old Albert suddenly seemed to look younger than he was), she felt her uncertainty about him vanish completely.

"Gin... I wanted to ask..." started Fred, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"... what do you think about the Incompliable? What should we do? I mean... they are our friends. We can't leave it like that and do nothing."

Ginny bit her lip. She also didn't feel like sitting around, when her friends from school - Fay, Lavender, Dean, Oliver and many others are hunted by the Ministry. The morning news was EXACTLY what she and Harry were afraid of - they have taken a stand and were prepared to fight back,

"Ron and Hermione told me about what happened in that Muggle club." added Fred, at once drawing her startled look.

"Said, that Runcorn's lot were merciless, and that if it hadn't been for the Masked Wizard, they would have caught them that night."

She suppressed the need to sigh in relief - Fred was not aware of Harry's secret identity and she was glad, that Ron and Hermione didn't give him away. She felt, that it was Harry's secret to tell and resolved to keep it as such. Though trusting her brother, she resolved to leave the decision to tell him on Harry.

"Yes. I'd heard as well. But I think that right now, we should try to leave the snakies to try and do their thing first."

Fred chuckled.

"Just as well - they seem to be doing just fine. I wonder how the party in the second Conference Room looks like right now."

She giggled as well.

As they arrived, they have heard that Kellen and the families supporting her are having a meeting of their own in the second Conference Room, which was situated on the opposite side of the building. One could only guess, what they were talking about, but knew that Double B was present and that he would later inform Harry of everything... and people wondered how he could predict the next moves of Athena Kellen...

Just then, Alice came along and took Fred towards the side-table, towards Colin and Aurora Creevey, Bertram Shafiq, Hestia and Flora Carrow and Marvolo Flint.

She grinned as she watched the lot of them interact.

"It's so much nicer - watching them all get along." came a dreamy voice behind her.

She smiled radiantly as one of her best friends sat down next to her, watching the entire room with a smile.

"If it only were so with the rest of the Nobles." she commented with a small sigh.

Luna smiled fondly, her eyes falling on her husband and grandfather.

"Some day, it will." she said dreamily, before looking around the entire room in general.

"Half of the Noble families are enough for now."

She grinned, nodding in understanding at Luna's musings. Hermione might have disagreed, but she had to admit, she found Luna's optimistic view on things much more inviting.

"But won't this be a bit of a gamble concerning the Masked Wizard? If Kellen, Fudge, Runcorn or anyone in the opposition EVER found out, all of it would be undone."

Luna nodded.

"My Black Prince said so as well. Whoever takes the lead of the Party would have to surrender the mask."

She bit her lip. She couldn't imagine Harry wanting to stop being the Masked Wizard - in which case, he would try to be BOTH, using every single trick in the book...

A small gong sounded, indicating that it was time to get down to business.

The families all found their designated places at the large table.

"Oh no... not MORE speeches!" moaned Alice, drawing her Mum's glare yet again.

Sitting beside her, Harry chuckled and patted her hand soothingly.

"Don't worry, sis. These will be much shorter, I assure you." he said in good humour.

And so they were.

In contrast to the grandiose speeches on the speaker's platform, here the talks were much more free, interactive and most of all (courteously of many) also funny and humorous. Alice, Fred, Hannah, Neville and even the young ones were greatly enjoying this and even added to the fun somewhat.

All in all, it seemed as though new life had been breathed into the old, conservative Noble circle, through their young generation.

"You know, I'm prepared to bet anything, that the talks in the second Conference Room are vastly different from this." she noted, elbowing her beloved Harry.

He at once fixed her with a charming, boyish grin.

"That's because unlike them, these Nobles know how to have fun." said Harry with a wink.

It indeed seemed that her husband was having fun. Knowing him as well as she does now, she could once again tell, that in the present company he has absolutely no need to put on the "mask", he had been hidden under for so long. She saw, that others were also very appreciative of it as well, and indeed there was an air of bright and cheerful humour even in the present serious situation - even the older ones seemed to be extremely happy to be here and choose his side so freely.

"Now that we have agreed on the basic rules we are to propose, we should also agree on the Leader of the Pack." proposed Eldrich Macmillan brightly, winking at the Black family (more specifically its Muggle-born member), carrying on the joke Angus had said moments ago.

The entire room chuckled happily and looked to the side of the table, where Marvolo Flint raised his hand brightly, as though wanting to answer a Professor's question in class.

In clear contrast to the old way of doing things, the older Nobles cheerfully nodded, allowing the fifteen-year-old Marvolo to stand up and say what he felt.

"To my way of thinking, there is only ONE candidate for this position - HARRY POTTER!" he said, gesturing to the opposite side of the table, towards her husband.

There was a murmur of general interest, and a second later several of the young ones started to clap and cheer...

"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY! HARRY..."

She giggled, seeing that it were not only the young ones like Marvolo, Bertram, Natalie Thurkells, Colin, Torie, who cheered as though this was a Quidditch game rather than a Noble meeting. Grinning like maniacs, James and Sirius at once joined in, followed by Angus, Draco, Blaise (who merely clapped), Susie, Luna, Fred, Alice, Ernie and Parvati, Aurora Creevey, Sullivan Fawley, and even the usually-quiet Flora and Hestia Carrow. In a moment even the older ones (grinning in humour) joined in as well - Lily, Amelia, Fawleys, Eldrich and Andrea Macmillan, Horace, Hector and Amanda Slughorn, Caractacus and Melania, Narcissa (giggling along with Lily, Andromeda and Amelia)... and even the most serious ones among them - Lucius Malfoy and Cadabrus Flint for instance, couldn't help but clap as well, rolling their eyes good-naturedly.

Harry stood up dramatically, spread his arms open as if to hug them all, and cleared his voice as the cheering died down.

"Good evening..." he said in a low, dramatic way, at once prompting laughter from the room.

"Very good evening... especially since its still early afternoon, silly." she thought in her mind and was rewarded by a casual wink from him - she knew the prat would use Legilimency again.

"I... I am honoured. Honoured that you see me as fit to lead all of you..." he said, once more stretching the moment and giving the others a chance to respond, should they wish to do so.

"Oh, stop rubbing it in and just take the Office already, you prat!" came an amused reply from none other than Alice.

Several older folks in the room laughed at the sibling-teasing, most having siblings of their own.

"Thank you, sis... BUT I do have one confession to make..."

The entire room looked at him confusedly, and even SHE was confused - did he not WANT this position of power?!

"I have to say, that I do not feel good enough to attain this position..." he started, immediately drawing several exclamations of protest.

"... I feel that the leader of our Noble Party should be one, who will not only embody the power, but also the moral beliefs of our Party... as well as a likable, human-face, which the common-folk would like and accept..."

The entire room looked at each other, save for a rare-few - a rare few, due to which she had finally understood the full-meaning of her husband's intentions.

Instantly, she felt sheer and utter pride radiate in her heart, looking at her beloved with never-ending affection.

"YOU...! YOU are the truest and MOST devoted friend in the world, Harry James Potter..." she thought, already knowing what he was going to propose and concentrating every single thought in her mind to show her heartfelt and staunch support.

Instantly, she could feel him project his feelings to her through Legilimency - a most touched feeling, along with one of sheer, loving thankfulness.

"I love you, Gin..." she heard him say in her mind, as he took a deep breath and smiled at the entire Room in general.

"I therefore nominate Blaise Zabini, to be the head of our Grand Noble Opposition."

...

A/N: Aaaand here it finally is. I DO hope that you guys enjoy the various insights into the Magical Noble World. The concept of the entire history and Merlin Memorial Hall. I imagined the old Nobles to really go by the "Ad imperare est ut servirent" despite the fact, that they may not have been popular. I hope that you liked the various famous Nobles of the old - I really tried to show, that not all of them were pure-blood obsessed high-class prats, but several of them felt actual need to serve the country and its people.
Over the course of writing this chapter, I have composed The Potter Family Tree - going back to the 1800's, and starting with the last Potter-Weasley marriage (with the last female Weasley to be born into the family for almost - James and Arthur were a bit wrong there - 200 years).
As it was said, the pure-blood families are all inter-related, and certainly the Potters (in my AU world) are related not only Abbots and Macmillans, but also Slughorns, Greengrasses (yes, Harry is a distant relative of Daphne, Torie AND Draco, plus I've played with a thought that through a Squib female family member, Harry is also related to Angus...), as well as Shafiqs (through Harry's great-grandmother)...
I will place the Family Tree on my DArt account, so that you should be able to view it...
I've also added the children of the respective couples too - though their years of birth were altered and customised to the AU world of the Repopulation Act.

Also, since I've made the family tree, I couldn't exactly help but work on back stories of its various family members - I will try to add those somewhere too - and speaking of some of them, you will be able to see that Potter family of the 1880´s in the next chapter my other story Confronting the Past, since it was around that time, when a 13-year-old Albus Dumbledore became better acquainted with both the Potter family, as well as the Slughorns... and of course... Alicia Potter, neé Abbot...

Oh, btw... if you remember the scenes from Harry's diary - Chamber of Secrets... the wizard, on whom the Portrait of Dorian Gray was based - the Noble, who created a painting Horcrux... was a Potter... !
Also the explanation behind Harry's ability of Parseltongue is also there... in the form of his great-great-great-great grandmother - Corvina GAUNT... :D - well... they say, that certain talents tend to skip a generation or two... :D
As for what's going on here, well... Harry and his friends are prepared for their counterattack, but don't worry... Kellen is far from finished and things are about to take a most brutal turn.

By the way... regarding old Super-pure-blood Lucius :D... well I've already shown how far he was prepared to go for his family... so I hope that the fact of him getting along with Ted Tonks was not such a surprise - plus... you can all just guess how Narcissa AND Torie sweet-talked him into surrendering his Head of Family position :D

And btw, don't worry - Ginny will soon come out of the background and stand alongside of her husband and family. ;)

I'm looking forward to your comments, on not just the story, but also the Family Tree - if you have trouble to getting to it, just PM me. :)

Till next time.

HK07