The Knights of the Founders

Written by J.C. Vascardi

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Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relates to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. I'm not profiting from this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books.

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Chapter Thirty-Three:

A Christmas Wedding, Part Three

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Arriving back at Hogwarts, Harry was all smiles as he said, "You know I was a little leery about going to Privet Drive. I knew you had good reason to want to, but I don't look forward to going there as a general rule."

"Well then it's a good thing that you'll never have to again," Sebastian said, as they stepped onto the stairs up to the Emrys Suite.

The three Glamoured people hadn't dropped their glamours yet, even though they were in the Founder's Tower, as the Atlantean blood glamours were a bit more power intensive than standard glamours. While they could be removed and put back on multiple times a day, it wasn't advisable to do so more than twice in the same six-hour period, in order to give the caster's magical core a bit of time to rest. The amount of time necessary also depended on what other spells were being cast in that same period, as magic was not an unlimited resource and magical exhaustion was not something that any sane witch or wizard wanted to deal with.

From the look on Harry's face, Finlay and Noah could tell that he hadn't even stopped to think about the fact that he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursleys again after today, as he seemed surprised by that statement. Then again, he did have rather a lot on his mind recently, so it's only natural that he wouldn't think of everything.

"I don't?" Harry asked.

Shaking his head, Finlay said, "Nope, you don't," as he wrapped an arm around him and added, "We'll be married tomorrow, so you're more than welcome to come live with me when school lets out."

"Not that I imagine that we'll be living at Diggory House either," Noah said. "I mean, you've got several houses, Harry. Dragon's Nest, Seacliff Castle, Arlington Grange… not to mention once you're crowned, Castle Camelot."

"And Castle Camelot itself is just the tip of the iceberg," Merlin said from his portrait. "In Arthur's day, while it was the primary royal residence, it was far from the only one. There are an additional fifteen royal palaces scattered throughout Albion and Iwernia, not including the royal hunting lodges, one in each of its four countries. Beyond that, however, there are also palaces and retreats throughout the Empire."

"Why so many?" Harry asked, looking a bit shell-shocked.

"You do realize that Albion and Iwernia wasn't always a single united kingdom, right?" Merlin asked. "Arthur took the throne in the year 850, but at that time he was only the King of Camelot. Now, while Camelot was one of the larger and more powerful kingdoms at the time, it wasn't the only one. In fact, it was surrounded on almost every side by other kingdoms. Gwynedd, Dyfed, and Gawant to the west, Elmet to the north, Mercia and Essetir to the east, and Nemeth and Deorham to the south."

"And those weren't the only kingdoms either," Margaret added. "Those are just the ones that shared a land border with Camelot. The rest of Albion comprised of the Kingdoms of Cornwall, the Isle of Mora, Kent, Tir Mor, Anglia, Deira, Northumbria, Rheged, Strathclyde, Bernicia, Gododdin, the Isle of Mann, Alba, Dalriada, and Uerturio."

"Plus the Kingdoms of Ulaid, Northern Ul Niell, Southern Ul Niell, Airgialla, Connacht, Laigin, and Munster in Iwernia," Merlin added. "All of those kingdoms had their own royal castle or palace where their royal family lived. Some were grander than others, but once Arthur united the two islands under his rule during the Unification Wars of 862-886, he inherited all of them as the sole monarch. He didn't keep all of them, however, as some were awarded to the Great Houses, who retain them as their family seats to this day."

"One example being Dragon's Nest," Margaret added. "The current family seat for the House of Emrys is what used to be the royal palace of the Kingdom of Elmet. Other examples include Raven's Rest, Cromwell Hall, Delaney Hall, and Castle Windermere—the seats of Houses Ravenclaw, Cromwell, Delaney, and Ollivander—which are the former royal residences of the Kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, Rheged, and Dalriada respectively. The Great Houses renamed the estates when they assumed ownership, of course."

"I thought Castle Camelot was House Emrys's family seat?" Noah asked.

"Dragon's Nest is the traditional ancestral estate," Merlin answered. "The house's seat prior to Arthur's death, before it was elevated to royal status. Castle Camelot is the primary seat of the monarchy and was House Pendragon's family seat, until the house went extinct upon Arthur's death."

"Merlin decided to keep Castle Camelot as the location for the majority of the state occasions," Margaret added. "We only stayed there when we absolutely had to, however, and retreated to Dragon's Nest as often as possible. The only events we ever held there were strictly for the House of Emrys, rather than anything to do with the state."

The room fell silent at this point, as the group moved to sit down in front of the fire, Harry on one sofa, with Noah and Finlay on either side of him, and Sebastian and Vivian on the other, while Remus took a seat in a nearby chair. Remus was still not fully recovered from the full moon on Christmas Eve and he was still feeling pretty lethargic, but he decided that he wanted to have a nice cup of hot tea before taking Harry up on the offer of one of his guest bedrooms for a nap. To this end, Harry called a house-elf and asked for a tea service to be brought.

"So where did you learn that spell you used on the Dursleys?" Finlay asked.

Vivian smiled. "An old grimoire, as I said. I've always loved books and as a spell researcher I made a lot of connections in the academic world that allowed me to collect rare tomes and grimoires. The spell I used is technically my own creation, although it's based on two other spells, one of which is a spell from a grimoire that I got from a collector in Bretagne and is rumored to have belonged to Morgana Le Fey, although I have no idea if that's actually true."

"Bretagne?" Harry asked. "Where's that?"

"Northern France," Sebastian answered. "The Empire of Camelot controls the northern and western coasts of France, which are split into two Grand Duchies, Bretagne and Aquitania. Incidentally, the Kingdom of France is actually landlocked, as the Roman Empire still exists in the magical world and controls the entirety of France's Mediterranean coast."

"Ah," Harry said, before Noah grinned and said, "There's an easy way to find out if the grimoire in question actually did belong to Morgana."

"And what way is that?" Vivian asked.

"We'll need the Sorting Hat, but through him we can simply ask Lady Hogwarts," Noah said. "Otherwise known as Morgana Le Fey."

"Him?" Sebastian asked. "The Sorting Hat is a him?"

"What do you mean that Lady Hogwarts is Morgana?" Finlay asked at almost the same time.

Now it was Harry's turn to smile. "The Sorting Hat can talk and sing because it has the consciousness of a once living person bound to it. That person being Dakota Le Fey, who is Morgana's honorary brother, who adopted her surname after he moved to England from the Great Plains region of North America. Hogwarts Castle itself also has the consciousness of a once living person bound to it… Morgana Le Fey."

"So why do we need the Sorting Hat?" Remus asked.

"Because Morgana can only speak through the Sorting Hat," Noah explained. "If the hat touches an architectural element of the castle, then Morgana can speak through the hat, in her own voice, but she can't speak otherwise because the castle doesn't have a mouth. The hat, however, has the tear near the brim which acts as one."

Before anyone could say anything, there was a flash of flames as Fawkes appeared, the Sorting Hat clutched in his talons. Dropping it into Harry's lap, he then flew over to the empty wingback chair across from Remus and used the back of it as a perch. Harry stood and stroked the phoenix's plumage gently, as Fawkes trilled happily. As he did this, Harry used his foot to lift up the exposed corner of the Persian rug to reveal the stone floor beneath.

"Hey Dakota," Harry said. "I'm going to put you on the floor as we have a question for Morgana."

"Okay," Dakota said, before Harry knelt down and placed the hat on the floor.

"I was beginning to wonder if you and the others had forgotten about Dakota and me, Harry," commented Morgana's voice a moment later. "After we instructed you how to unlock the Founder's Tower, you haven't spoken to either of us."

"I apologize for that," Harry said and he did look genuinely sorry. "We've been a bit busy."

Morgana laughed. "Yes, I've noticed. I might not have been able to comment, but I can still see everything that goes on inside the walls of Hogwarts."

"Everything?" Finlay asked, flushing red as he did.

"Yes, everything," Morgana answered. "Rest assured, however, that at the first hint of any rendezvouses happening I block out my senses for the room that it's happening in. So, no I don't watch the many couples in the castle hooking up."

Dakota piped in here and said, "I know you might not believe that, but it's true. Morgana was never a voyeur in life. That's not to say she was a prude, but the time period we lived in was not one where the majority of people enjoyed watching other people have sex."

"I'd agree with that," Merlin said. "There was far too many other things going on for anybody to care what was going on in anyone's bedroom unless they were an active participant."

"Anyway, you all had a question," Morgana said, and you could practically hear the grin in her voice. "Could you explain what the grimoire looks like?"

Lily nodded. "Red dragonhide cover, silver-gilt vellum pages. There's a large oak tree emblazoned with a jeweled triskelion on the cover."

After a moment, Morgana said, "Yes, that's one of mine. I used dragonhide and vellum for all my grimoires. The color of the gilding and the hide itself varied, but the tree and jeweled triskelion were, in my time, my personal signatures. Nobody else was allowed to use them."

"I take it they have some significance?" Noah asked.

"Yes, they're ancient druidic symbols," Morgana answered. "The jeweled triskelion especially being the symbol of the House of Anderra… the old ruling family of the druids, who were at one time united under a single banner and controlled most of modern-day Albion and parts of Iwernia, then known as Eire by scholars and the nobility, or simply the Western Isle among the common folk. Of course, this was before the Roman invasion. The House of Anderra and the druids had already been losing significance by then, as invasions from present-day Norway had chipped away at their control of the islands. The Roman invasion was basically the final straw, however."

"So how did the symbol of an ancient druid royal house come to be your personal signature?" Harry asked.

"By birthright," Morgana answered. "The House of Anderra was mostly ruled by women. There were some male druid kings, but in a complete reverse to the muggle world which practiced male-preference or male-only primogeniture, the House of Anderra practiced female-preference primogeniture. Meaning a king could take the throne only if there were no eligible daughters of the previous monarch. By the time I was born, the House of Anderra and the old Celtic religion had long been forgotten, as the witches and wizards had adopted the Roman pantheon and culture under Rome's rule. I was, however, a direct descendant of the last druid queen through my mother's family line."

"So, why do we worship the Greek pantheon now?" James asked. "With the exception of Janus who didn't really have a Greek counterpart, I can't think of a single god that we've ever referred to by their Roman name."

"It was partly a minor act of rebellion, along with a means of setting us apart from the muggles," Dakota answered. "By the time Rome pulled out of the region, Christianity was already taking root in some places in the empire, especially among the muggles. The magical population of the time, however, actually having been able to feel the results of offering sacrifices to the gods, knew that there was more than just one deity in the universe."

Morgana continued, "As such they couldn't turn their backs on them, especially upon the Goddess of Magic, and refused to accept Christianity. However, many also felt anger that Rome had abandoned them, but rather than going back to the old Celtic religion, which as I said had long been forgotten by then, we adopted the older Greek names for the gods. So, still similar, but different enough to satisfy the masses who wanted to cut ties with Rome."

"You might be wondering how the old Celtic religion was so long forgotten," Merlin added. "Well, the simple truth of the matter is that long before Roman soldiers actually landed on the island in the year 43, we were trading quite extensively with the Roman Empire and as such the weight of Roman culture and religion had already been migrating to our shores for a few centuries."

"So if following Rome leaving Britain," Lily said, "the people wanted to cut ties with Rome why are many areas here in Albion still referred to by their Roman names? Such as the City of Londinium?"

"It was a means to differentiate the magical districts from the muggle districts," Morgana answered. "Also, while the people at that time were willing to adopt the Greek names for the gods, they weren't willing to take the necessary time to learn the Greek language and then rename all the places throughout the islands. So, we just continued using the Latin names."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Harry said, before both his and Finlay's stomachs chose that moment to growl. Grinning at Finlay, he said, "And on that note, I think it's time for lunch."

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After lunch, Harry found himself up on a magically conjured fitting platform as Master Tailor Johann Tatting waved his wand around Harry's body, as he made the final adjustments to Harry's new robes. Since he'd made Harry the dress robes for the Masquerade Ball in October, he already had Harry's measurements on file and with it only being December, they hadn't changed that much. So, Mr. Tatting had been able to start crafting a new set of robes for Harry without him actually coming into the store.

A final fitting, however, to make sure everything was just right, still had to be performed but for a client of Harry's caliber, Mr. Tatting was willing to come to Hogwarts instead of requiring Harry to come to Diagon Alley. It wasn't every day that Mr. Tatting got commissioned to craft the coronation robes for a soon-to-be King and Emperor, after all. And seeing as how Harry was only sixteen and Mr. Tatting was only a few months away from his hundredth birthday, he held no illusions that he'd live long enough to craft the coronation robes for Harry's successor, so he had every intention of doing his very best work and making this set of robes the undisputed magnum opus of his seventy-plus year career.

To that end, Mr. Tatting raided his stores and leaned on his contacts and suppliers to get him the very finest and most rare materials that he could get his hands on. Harry's Masquerade ensemble had included a tunic, belt and boots made of basilisk hide, but this time around, Mr. Tatting decided it was time to finally use the hide that had been in his storage room for his entire career… along with that of both his father and grandfather, before him. So rather than basilisk hide, Harry's tunic was now made of dragonhide. Except, it wasn't just any dragonhide, but the hide of a High English Gold dragon, which due to the breed being extinct for nearly as long as the throne of Albion and Iwernia had been vacant was worth more than ten times that of basilisk hide.

Mr. Tatting also found himself working with a few new materials that he'd never worked with before. He'd grown up hearing legends about them, but no tailor he'd ever known had ever seen hide nor hare of any of these most coveted of materials. Of course, that was entirely because the materials in question weren't available anywhere other than in Atlantis, so while a few stories of their favored materials had made it to the surface with the Atlanteans like Rhylian who had traveled to the surface while the continent was still underwater, the magical world's tailors were never able to make the necessary contacts to actually obtain these coveted materials.

However, Valen used his clout as a scion of the Atlantean Noble House of Lasinius to put Mr. Tatting in contact with the necessary suppliers in Atlantis. Through this, Mr. Tatting found he now had access to all of the materials he'd only ever heard tales about. The same materials that many in the tailoring profession considered to be nothing more than legend and myth… Mr. Tatting was so looking forward to proving them wrong.

Looking at his reflection in one of the mirrors that were setup around the fitting platform, Harry said, "I can see why the Atlanteans like this material. I thought the Acromantula Silk was comfortable, but this? I'm honestly not sure there's enough words in the English language to describe how incredible it feels."

"Oh I quite agree, Your Highness," Mr. Tatting replied. "The texture is so soft and smooth it's almost like water." Shaking his head, he added, "Oh, Wolfgang is going to be so jealous when he finds out that I got to work with this material."

"What is it exactly?" Finlay asked, from where he was sitting watching the fitting from a nearby sofa. He was up next for his own fitting, and as such had applied his glamours before Mr. Tatting arrived so as to keep his true identity a secret. "I get that it's some kind of silk, but what's the source?"

"According to Valen its Drider Silk," Harry answered.

Finlay cocked his head and asked, "Um, okay, and what precisely is a Drider?"

"Well, you know how Atlanteans are a crossbreed between the ancient High Elves and the Greek Siren merfolk?" Harry asked and Finlay nodded. "Well, Driders are a crossbreed between the ancient High Elves and a now extinct species of giant spider. They're pretty much like centaurs, having the torso and head of an elf, attached to the body of a giant spider." With a grin, Harry shook his head and said, "Oh, Ron would probably soil himself from fright if he ever saw one."

Finlay laughed at that comment and said, "Well, considering the asinine stance he's decided to take in regards to the fact that you're gay, I almost wish we could arrange for him to meet a Drider or ten." Shaking his head, he said, "He deserves it, after throwing away years of friendship between the two of you just because you started dating a man."

"Yeah I can't really understand why he has an issue with it," Harry said. "I mean same-sex marriage has been legal for literally centuries. Godric Gryffindor himself was gay and had two husbands over the course of his lifetime. So, I just don't understand where Ron's prejudiced view is coming from."

"Neither do I, honestly," Finlay said. "Of course, I suppose it could be as simple as him knowing about Ginny's crush on you and getting it into his head that you'd marry his sister, even though you've never shown any interest in her."

"Maybe," Harry said. "I don't know." Shaking his head, he added, "I have far more important things to worry about than Ron and Ginny, however."

"Very true," Finlay agreed, as he and Harry fell silent, as Mr. Tatting continued his work.

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The following day, after a morning spent practicing for his coronation the next day, Harry found himself standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts on the platform that normally held the high table. It wasn't present today, however, nor were any of the house tables. Considering the short time frame between the engagement and the wedding, and the fact that they'd be renewing their vows in a lavish, royal wedding at Castle Camelot in a year's time, Harry and Cedric had planned on having a relatively simple ceremony. Professors Sprout and McGonagall, however, had recruited a few of the house elves and decorated the Great Hall with magic.

A long red carpet stretched down the center of the room from the doors to the platform that Harry stood upon, while a large white arched trellis covered in white lilies and gardenias, along with red and yellow roses for a splash of color. On either side of the red carpet were rows of chairs for the audience, the first chair in each row, closest to the carpet having small floral arrangements made of the same four flowers as the trellis. With Christmas being only two days earlier, there were also several potted poinsettias in red, white, and pink scattered throughout the room.

One thing that had shocked Harry when he'd first entered the room were the large intricately carved wooden cases holding organ pipes now visible on either side of the window behind where the head table normally was. Several more pipes were visible throughout the room in archways near the ceiling that Harry had thought was solid stone. Above the doors into the Great Hall, there was also a visible organ loft, with a black wrought-iron circular staircase leading up to it.

Seeing Harry's shocked look, Albus smiled and said, "The organ has always been present in the school in some form. The records I've seen say that the original instrument was donated to the school by Salazar Slytherin's mother and that it's been expanded a few times over the years, but it hasn't been used since my parents' Hogwarts days. By the time I started school it wasn't visible and I thought that it had been removed. It wasn't until I became headmaster that I found out that it was still here and that the house-elves had continued maintaining it, despite the fact that it was magically hidden from view."

"So why is it visible now?" Harry asked.

Albus shrugged his shoulders. "I've been wanting to unhide it for years, but I simply never got around to it until now. But I figured if it was going to be done, then what better time than for the wedding of the soon to be King of Albion and Iwernia?"

"I hope you didn't go to too much trouble," Harry said.

"Don't worry about it, my boy," Albus said. "As I said, I've wanted to do it for years. Your wedding just gave me the perfect excuse to finally visit the school's central ward stone and drop the spells that were woven into the ward matrix to hide it from view."

"That couldn't have been a simple job," Sebastian said, from where he stood beside Harry, in his capacity as best man.

Albus nodded. "Well, it took about an hour to untangle the spells from the rest of the matrix and turn them off, but in the end it's actually a good thing. The end result is one less thing that the matrix has to power, which allows for more power to be directed to the far more important parts of the matrix, such as the structural integrity and defensive wards."

"Why was it hidden in the first place?" Sebastian asked. "Seems like a rather stupid way to consume ward resources."

"I would agree, personally," Albus said. "From what I've read in the school records, it seems that Headmaster Walter Aragon, who served in the mid-1870s to early 1880s, thought it was too loud and too much of a distraction to student's lessons. Of course, Deputy Head Mordicus Egg wrote in his journal about his belief that that reasoning made no sense, as the organ was never played while students were in class, only ever being played on the weekends."

"Wasn't Mordicus Egg also a Headmaster of Hogwarts?" Sebastian asked, as he thought back to a History of Magic report he'd written in his fifth year in which he'd written about the five people to hold the position before Albus.

Albus nodded, "He was indeed. Professor Egg became Headmaster when Professor Aragon died in the early 1880s. He wrote in his journal, however, that while he wanted to unhide the organ, he didn't because wards had never been his particular area of expertise. Aragon, however, had been one of the best warders of his generation and had woven the wards that hid the organ into the matrix so well that anyone beneath his skill level wouldn't be able to separate his wards from all the other wards."

Pausing, Albus added, "Professor Egg was worried that if he tried to remove them, he'd end up breaking the entire matrix, which would have been catastrophic since not only would the school's defensive wards drop, but so too would the structural integrity wards which have allowed the castle to remain standing for over a millennium with a minimum of structural repairs."

"Doesn't Filch make those?" Harry asked.

Shaking his head, Albus said, "No, Harry, Mr. Filch's role is strictly limited to janitorial duties not handled by the house-elves. He is not a stonemason or a roofer so he doesn't do any of the repairs on the walls or the roof. Instead, the castle relies on the previously mentioned wards to maintain them with magic. So to say that parts of this castle are literally held together with magic would not be an understatement."

"Hmm," Harry said, as he made a note in his head to look into hiring a team of stonemasons and roofers to perform a thorough check on the integrity of the building at some point. He didn't really care for the idea that large portions of the castle could collapse should the central ward matrix ever fail.

Looking out over the room, Harry smiled at his friends and family. Vivian was sitting in the front row on the right hand side of the room, next to Remus. Amos Diggory was seated on the opposite side of the room, with no sign of Noah or Amelia Diggory. Of course, that was because Noah was serving as Finlay's best man and Amelia was walking him down the aisle and giving him away. If he'd been able to get married as Cedric, Amos would probably be the one doing that, but since he was getting married as Finlay McRae, it made more sense for Amelia to do it, since she had been the real Finlay's godmother.

The rest of the seats were filled by Chandler, Schuyler, Arron, the heirs, staff members, and other students who'd stayed at Hogwarts over the Winter Break. Harry hadn't known about the organ, but it just added one more reason for the decision he and Finlay had made to invite all of the students who'd stayed over the break to the wedding, even the ones they weren't particularly close to. They'd agreed it would be in bad form not to invite them and if the organ was played—which Harry correctly assumed would be audible throughout the building—they'd no doubt have been wondering what was going on if they hadn't been.

Harry took a deep breath as the Hogwarts Clock Tower began to toll the hour. The moment the bell finished ringing for the twelfth time signaling the noon hour, the organ began playing, as the sounds of Jeremiah Clarke's Prince of Denmark's March, also known as Trumpet Voluntary, filled the air. At the same time, the doors opened and Luna appeared, as she started down the aisle, dropping flower petals as she walked. At fifteen years old, Luna was a few years above the normal age of a flower girl, but given the short notice of the wedding, she was the youngest girl they could get to fill the role.

Well, strictly speaking, that wasn't true as there were one or two younger girls who'd stayed at school over the break who were closer to the normal upper age of eight, but neither Harry nor Finlay socialized with them and they both felt that their wedding party should be limited to people they actually knew well. Following Luna into the room was Dennis Creevey, who was carrying a pillow on which the Emrys family heirloom wedding rings rested.

Colin Creevey, meanwhile, was serving as the wedding photographer and was snapping pictures as the procession continued. Thankfully, Filius had charmed the boy's camera so that the flash would still do its job without actually producing the bright flashes of light.

Following Dennis down the aisle was Noah, who was wearing the formal wizarding robes that he'd worn to the Masquerade Ball. Mr. Tatting fitted Dennis and Sebastian with matching robes so that the male members of the wedding party would all be dressed the same. Luna, meanwhile, was wearing a flowing gown in complimentary colors, her hair done up in an intricate French braid, with a crown of lilies and gardenias in her hair, as she dropped white rose petals from the basket in her hands.

Harry, meanwhile, was decked out in his newest set of formal robes, the same ones that he'd be wearing tomorrow for his coronation. He would have worn his own Masquerade ensemble, but since the rest of the wedding party was wearing robes which matched Noah's, which had matched Harry's, it was decided that Harry and Finlay should stand out a bit by wearing the robes that Mr. Tatting had finished crafting for them the previous day.

Speaking of Finlay, it was at this point that he entered the room on Amelia's arm. Harry smiled when he saw him. It would take a little getting used to seeing Cedric wearing his glamours, but Finlay still fell into the normal parameters of Harry's type, so it wasn't too much of an issue. In fact, he was supremely grateful for the Wizarding Space on his breeches which created extra room in the crotch that did not show on the outside, as looking at Finlay coming down the aisle, he could feel himself getting hard. Thankfully, nobody in the audience could see that.

Finlay reached the front of the room to stand next to Harry just as the last chords of Trumpet Voluntary played. With a smile on his face, Albus stood up a little bit straighter as he said, "On behalf of the grooms, I'd like to welcome all of you, honored guests, and thank you for being with us today. We are gathered here this afternoon, in the presence of the Gods, to join Finlay and Harrison in the bonds of marriage, and to bear witness to the miraculous power of their love for one another."

Pausing for a moment, Albus then asked, "Who gives this man to be wed?"

Amelia smiled. "I do. As Finlay's godmother, I happily give my blessing to this union."

"Very good," Albus said, as Amelia sat down in the empty seat next to Amos, and the headmaster smiled at the couple, as he continued, "I know you'd probably prefer I didn't ask this, but if there is anyone who can show just cause why these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

Harry and Finlay shared a nervous glance with each other before they schooled their features and looked out over the audience, the looks on their faces clearly promising painful retribution to anyone who dared to speak. Thankfully, nobody did, and Albus moved on.

"Well then with that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, marriage is a contract which should not be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully and seriously, and with a deep realization of its obligations and responsibilities. So, with that in mind, Finlay Douglas, do you take, Harrison James, to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him forevermore?"

Since Albus had been warned ahead of time that Harry would be taking further spouses in the future, he refrained from using any wording about them staying true to only each other and forsaking all others.

With a smile, Finlay said, "I do."

Harry and Finlay had been slightly worried about exchanging vows with Finlay using an alias, but Valen assured them there wouldn't be an issue. Before Finlay entered the room, he cast a spell on him which would encode Finlay Douglas McRae as Cedric's officially and magically recognized identity. Thus he was actually no longer capable of entering into any legally or magically binding agreement or oath as Cedric Diggory, as his magical core and signature were changed to that of Finlay McRae, which was actually a good thing, as no spell would ever be able to detect Cedric's magical signature and blow the secret.

"And Harrison James, do you take, Finlay Douglas, to be your husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him forevermore?"

"I do," Harry said with a smile that was almost blinding.

"Harrison and Finlay will now exchange rings," Albus said. "Rings are a precious metal in the form of a circle, meant to signify love and commitment neverending."

As Dennis moved closer so that the couple could reach the pillow in his hands, Albus said, "Finlay, please place the ring on Harrison's wand hand and repeat after me: As a sign of my love and affection for you, with this ring, I thee wed."

Picking up one of the rings from the pillow, Finlay smiled as he slid it onto the ring finger of Harry's right hand along with the engagement band already present and said, "As a sign of my love and affection for you, with this ring, I thee wed."

"Harrison, please place the ring on Finlay's wand hand and repeat after me: As a sign of my love and affection for you, with this ring, I thee wed."

Harry smiled as he picked up the second ring from the pillow and slid it onto Finlay's hand to join the engagement ring he'd placed there only days earlier, as he said, "As a sign of my love and affection for you, with this ring, I thee wed."

Now it was Albus's turn to smile, as he said, "And now by the power vested in me as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia, it is my great honor and delight to declare that you are married. Go forth and live each day of your lives from this day on to their fullest. You may seal the vows you've made today with a kiss."

Harry and Finlay didn't need to be told twice, as their lips met in a kiss and Harry resisted the urge to dip Finlay in front of so many people, as Albus said, "I am pleased to present the newlyweds, Harrison James and Finlay Douglas, Lord and Lord-Consort of the House Emrys. Those who are joined together in the sight of the Gods, may no man put asunder."

-o-0-o-

The next day, Harry took a deep breath as he stepped out of the Floo at Castle Camelot and pulled out his wand to banish the soot from his clothes. Although there wasn't much of it to be honest, considering that when the flames lit with the incoming Floo connection from Hogwarts, it was the first time in over a thousand years that the fireplace in the Throne Room had even been lit.

Since Merlin and his immediate ancestors had never been crowned, even though they'd used Castle Camelot for several state occasions over the years, they'd refrained from using the Throne Room.

As the torches around the room lit of their own accord as the castle's magic detected Harry's presence, Finlay stepped out of the flames, followed by the Lord High Priest of Zeus, who'd come to Hogwarts after Harry summoned him.

Once both men had cleaned their own robes, Harry looked around the room, although his eyes were quickly drawn to the hilt of the sword, the blade of which was stuck into a block of granite in front of the throne.

Finlay could almost feel the tension radiating off of his husband. He smiled at that thought. Husband. He liked being able to call Harry that. Shaking his head, he reached out and placing his hands on Harry's shoulders, he massaged them and said, "It'll be okay, Harry."

"That's easy for you to say," Harry said. "It's not you that has to try and pull an ancient sword out of a block of solid granite."

"You've got nothing to worry about," Finlay said. "You're the legitimate heir."

Before anyone else could say anything, the Floo activated again, as a dozen armored goblins with halberds stepped out of the fireplace, followed by Graggott, who was carrying a large black case.

Pulling out a pair of dragonhide gloves and putting them on his hands, the priest looked at Graggott and said, "Lord Emrys and his Consort need a few moments alone, so why don't we get the crown jewels arranged where they need to go?"

The goblin nodded, as he, the priest, and the honor guard moved over to the throne, giving Finlay some privacy to calm Harry's nerves.

While the others were still in sight, they were far enough way that they didn't hear Finlay as he turned Harry around so that they were standing face to face. Leaning his forehead against Harry's, Finlay smiled and whispered, "Everything will be fine, husband, so stop worrying."

Despite his nerves, Harry smiled and said, "Say that again."

Finlay grinned and said, "Husband."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Oh I do so love hearing you say that."

"I love saying it," Finlay said as he kissed the tip of Harry's nose, making him giggle. "Now let's get your sexy arse crowned, shall we? I'm sure Noah will help me in rewarding you later tonight if you just put all of these pesky nerves aside and do what needs to be done."

Kissing Finlay lightly on the lips, Harry said, "You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better."

"It's a gift," Finlay said with a grin, before he followed Harry over to the throne, just as the priest finished placing the crown jewels on the stool next to the throne. As Finlay and the priest took up their positions, Harry stood in front of the stone, as Graggott and the goblin guards moved off the dais holding the throne. They'd remain in the Throne Room to escort the crown jewels back to their vault after the coronation, but would not be going upstairs to the Council Chamber with the others.

Taking a deep breath, Harry wrapped his hands around the hilt of the ancient sword and pulled…

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

And there you have Part 3 of Ch33 of 'Knights of the Founders'. I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will be Harry's coronation and Noah paying a certain debt to a certain god, with help from Harry and Cedric.

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