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-Five:

The Duties of Royalty

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Once the New Year's holiday was over, Harry found himself back at Castle Camelot, ensconced in a sitting room in the private quarters of the ancient castle. He had a plethora of state business that needed attending to now that he was the King, starting with several appointments to the Royal Household.

The first of these appointments was that of the Lord High Steward. It was the highest and most senior position in the kingdom with its holder entrusted to run the kingdom and empire in Harry's stead, essentially acting as his proxy when he was unable to be present himself. This would, of course, be a fairly frequent occurrence while Harry was still in school, as he focused on completing his education.

Thus it went without saying that the holder of this position had to be somebody that Harry trusted implicitly. He was confident in his choice to name Sebastian, now His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Sebastian the Duke of Penderleath, to the role. Because if he couldn't trust his own father to have his best interests in mind, then he didn't know who he could trust.

For the position of Lord High Chancellor, who was tasked with ensuring that the orders of the King and the government were followed, in addition to being the kingdom's chief diplomat, Harry named Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Vivian the Duchess of Penderleath.

The other six positions that were dubbed the Great Officers of State were currently vacant, pending appointments by Harry, but at least the two most important ones were in place. He knew he'd have to appoint the others, but he'd only been King for less than a week, so he figured he was doing okay.

In addition to two Great Officers, he'd also appointed a few of the junior positions that were considered to be part of the Royal Household, but not Great Officers of State, including Chief Equerry and a Private Secretary for himself. For the former, he'd appointed twenty-one-year-old Cordovan Burke, the youngest son of Lord Caractacus Burke, and for the latter, he'd appointed nineteen-year-old Connor Podmore, the son of Order member Sturgis Podmore.

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Chief Equerry Lieutenant Commander Cordovan Burke of the Albion Royal Navy, stood patiently outside the door to the sitting room that Harry was currently in. As he waited for the King's next appointment to arrive, he couldn't help but reflect on the last few days.

He'd been surprised when his father returned home from the Lordsmeet late last year and told him that Harry Potter, as the new Lord Emrys, was the one who'd summoned the special session. He was even more surprised to learn that the Dragon Throne was no longer empty. Since it had sat empty since the days of King Arthur, pretty much everybody in Albion, Iwernia, and the greater Empire of Camelot had pretty much accepted the fact that it was never going to have another occupant. Obviously, they were wrong.

The surprises didn't end there, however, as the very next day, Cordovan himself was summoned to Hogwarts. Being on furlough for the holiday season, Cordovan didn't have anything else to do, although even if he did, he would have still gone because one simply doesn't say no to a summons by one's King and Emperor.

Upon meeting the King and King-Consort, Cordovan was shocked when Harry offered him the job as his Chief Equerry. Of course, Harry made it clear that Cordovan had the right to refuse and that it wouldn't be held against him if he did. Obviously, he didn't refuse. There was simply no way that he would ever do that, not only because of his own sense of duty but also because he'd never hear the end of it from his father and stepmothers if he did something so foolish as to refuse an appointment to the Royal Household.

As one of the new royal guards appeared at the top of the stairs, accompanied by Lady Amelia Bones, Cordovan straightened up and got ready to do his job. The guard nodded at him and left as he'd done his task by showing the head of House Bones where to go.

"Welcome to Castle Camelot, Lady Bones," Cordovan said.

"Thank you," Amelia said.

With the welcome out of the way, Cordovan than launched into a speech that he knew he'd have to give often in the course of his duties. "Ma'am, the protocol is as follows: when you're announced you bow from the neck. First time you see the King, you say Your Majesty, after that it's Sir until you leave then its Your Majesty again. Don't sit until His Majesty does, don't talk until he does. Absolutely no physical contact other than taking his hand, if, and only if, he offers it. No small talk unless he invites it. At the end, he'll ring and I'll come to get you. Bow from the neck and walk back towards me."

Amelia nodded her understanding, at which point Cordovan turned and knocked once on the doors to the sitting room. A moment later, a bell could be heard ringing from inside the room, which prompted the two guards stationed outside the doors to open them as Cordovan motioned for Amelia to follow him, as he entered the room.

Bowing at the neck, Cordovan said, "The Head of the Albion and Iwernia Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Your Majesty."

His job done for the moment, Cordovan stepped back and left the room, as Harry smiled at Amelia and said, "Thank you for coming, Lady Bones," before holding out his hand to the elder woman.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Amelia said as she took the young king's hand, grasping it lightly for about half a second before letting go.

Harry stepped back at this point and took a seat in the chair behind him, which prompted Amelia to do the same.

"As you are no doubt aware," Harry began, "it has been several centuries since the Dragon Throne has been occupied and as a result, many of the Great Officer of State positions have remained empty without a monarch to appoint anyone to hold them. With his power granted to him by the Lordsmeet, the Minister does have some limited ability to exercise certain royal prerogatives, but the ability to appoint Great Officers is one that the Minister has never possessed."

"Yes, Sir," Amelia said when it seemed clear that Harry had paused for her to give a verbal indication that she understood what he'd just said.

"To that end, one of Our first priorities as King is to fill those long-dormant positions, which is why We've asked you here today, Lady Bones. It is Our wish to appoint you to fill the role of Lord High Justiciar of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and the Empire of Camelot."

Harry paused for only a second, before he said, "The job is not that much different from the one that you currently hold within the Albion and Iwernia Ministry of Magic, except that as Lord High Justiciar, you will be responsible for the oversight of justice and law enforcement throughout the entirety of the Empire."

"I'm honored, Sir," Amelia said, as she never expected to be tapped for such a role.

"With the restoration of the Dragon Throne," Harry said, "there will also be a bit of a shakeup in terms of the judiciary. The Wizengamot currently functions as a legislative body, in addition to functioning as the court of last resort for all but the Heads and Heirs of the Great Houses, for whom it is the court of first instance."

As the Weasleys were not one of the Great Houses, they hadn't realized and thus couldn't tell Harry at the time that the reason he'd been called before the entire Wizengamot over the summer before his fifth year was because he was known to be the Heir of the Great House of Potter. Thus for him, none of the lower courts that would normally handle such things as disciplinary hearings had jurisdiction.

Amelia nodded, but remained silent, as Harry continued, "The Wizengamot will continue to hold its judicial authority as a court of appeal, although it will be stripped of its status as the court of first instance for any cases involving the Heads or Heirs of the Great Houses. That will move back to the purview of the High Court of Justice, which will serve as the second-highest court in the land, with the Wizengamot being the third-highest court."

Pausing to take a sip of his tea, he added, "The highest court of first instance and court of last resort will henceforth be the Curia Imperatoris or the Emperor's Court, in which either Our duly-appointed Lord High Steward or Our self will serve as judge. In most cases, however, the Curia Imperatoris is likely to allow the judgments of the High Court of Justice to stand, and thus it will functionally be the highest court. Anyone wishing to appeal one of its rulings would need to present a very compelling reason for the Curia to take up the case."

Amelia nodded, although to be honest, she was unsure why Harry was telling her this. While she had read some of the old laws pertaining to the Dragon Throne and had seen mention of both the High Court of Justice and the Curia Imperatoris, she had never really bothered to read too in-depth about either of them, considering how long the Dragon Throne had been vacant. Her job kept her too busy to spend time researching defunct sections of the government that she'd assumed would never see the light of day again, as they required somebody actually sitting on the Dragon Throne to cease being defunct.

Perhaps picking up on Amelia's confusion, Harry smiled and said, "As Lord High Justiciar, you would also become the Chief Justice of the High Court of Justice."

Amelia was a trained solicitor and barrister—a distinction which wasn't possible in the muggle world but very much was in the magical—so she was certainly qualified to serve as a judge. Although when she chose her career in the Ministry, she'd pretty much figured she'd never be acting as a judge outside of the occasional Wizengamot trial. She certainly never had any intention of ever putting herself forward as a candidate for Chief Warlock, or Chief Witch as the title became if held by a woman.

When Amelia remained quiet, Harry said, "We understand if you need a day or two to consider Our offer. We're afraid We cannot give you more than two days, however, as We really must fill the Great Officer positions as quickly as possible."

"I don't need time to consider it, Sir," Amelia said. "It would be an honor to accept."

Harry smiled as he stood up, prompting Amelia to do the same. Holding out his hand once again, he said, "Well then, Lady Amelia Bones, as King of Albion and Iwernia and Emperor of the Empire of Camelot, We hereby appoint you Lord High Justiciar of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and the Empire of Camelot, and grant you all of the duties, responsibilities, and privileges which accompany that title. Congratulations."

Briefly shaking the monarch's hand again, she said, "Your Majesty," as he reached down to the small end table next to his chair and hit the button on top of an antique desk bell. A moment later, the doors opened again and Amelia bowed at the neck, before walking back to Cordovan and leaving the room with him.

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Following his meeting with Amelia, Harry continued meeting with the various people that he'd decided to name as Great Officers of State, none of whom when given the option to do so turned down their appointments. Each meeting was slated to begin fifteen minutes after the end of the previous meeting, giving Harry a little time to rest between each.

In the days since his coronation, he had been practicing how to act kingly, something for which he had never been trained for. Merlin's specially charmed classroom proved very useful and Harry spent quite a lot of time in it, as he learned about the laws governing both the kingdom and the empire.

He was still very much getting used to the fact that as the crowned monarch and occupant of the Dragon Throne, that he was the single most important and powerful person in both the kingdom and the wider empire. There literally wasn't anybody, with the exception of the gods themselves, who had the power to overrule him.

Such power could very easily go to some people's heads, but thankfully for everyone, Harry was not the type who wanted power for power's sake or just for himself and his own glory. The only reason he'd even agreed to be crowned in the first place was that it gave him the best hope of defending his friends, family, and the world at large from the threat of Voldemort.

His next meeting was to appoint the Lord High Treasurer, whose job it was to oversee the finances of the kingdom and the empire, which included not only taxes but also trade deals and anything else within the economic sphere. For this very important role, Harry opted to appoint Lord Nicolas Flamel.

This was followed up with meetings appointing Lord Fergus Urquhart as the Lord High Unspeakable, who was in charge of not only Albion's and Iwernia's Department of Mysteries and its Unspeakables, but also their counterparts throughout the Empire, Lord Callum McKinnon as Lord High Constable, who was in charge of both the royal and imperial army, Lord Alistair Clearwater as Lord High Admiral, in charge of the navy, and finally Lady Dorothea Rosier as Lord High Chamberlain, who was responsible for the running of the royal household, both at home and abroad, along with the planning and execution of all state occasions.

For both the Justiciar and Chamberlain positions, Harry had been a little confused on the appropriate terminology, since he was appointing women to those positions. He'd initially wondered if, like how the Wizengamot's Chief Warlock becomes the Chief Witch if a woman held the position if the Great Officer positions would have Lord replaced with Lady if the holder was female.

He had since learned that no, the Great Officer positions were always Lord High, regardless of the gender of the holder. The reason being that all of the Great Officers of State, despite a clear hierarchy, were all held at the same level of dignity and thus it was viewed as inappropriate for any of them to hold a title which was widely considered to be lesser.

With the major and a few of the minor appointments finished, Harry left Castle Camelot for the day, leaving the rest of the appointments to the Royal Household, such as the positions of the Royal Healer, Barrister, and Solicitor to Sebastian to handle on his behalf.

Stepping out of the fireplace in the Emrys Suite at Hogwarts, Harry kissed Cedric and Noah, who had obviously been forewarned of his arrival as they were standing at the fireplace waiting for him. He suspected that Connor had tipped them off, which he certainly wasn't going to complain about. Harry couldn't even imagine any situation where he'd complain about kissing Cedric and Noah.

It was then that he spotted Tom and Regulus sitting on a nearby sofa, each reading a book. Harry knew he'd mentioned to Connor that morning that he wanted to talk to Regulus about something at some point in the near future. He didn't actually tell his secretary to invite them up to his suite that very same day, however.

'Now is as good a time as any though,' Harry thought. 'No reason to put it off, and honestly, this is a conversation probably best had sooner rather than later. Tipping off Cedric and Noah so they can greet me at the Floo, getting Regulus up to my suite… if Connor keeps doing his job this well I'm gonna have to give him a raise, even though he's only just started a matter of days ago.'

Cedric and Noah made their way over to the sofa across from where Tom and Regulus were sitting, leaving enough room between them for Harry to sit down. Harry, however, had other ideas at that moment and with a smile to his boyfriends, made his way over to the sofa opposite them and sat down next to Regulus.

The movement caught Regulus's eye, who looked up as Harry said, "Hi Reg."

"Your Majesty," Regulus said.

Shaking his head, Harry said, "Ah, ah, ah, here in this suite, in every room that isn't the War Room, it's just Harry."

Nodding, Regulus said, "Okay, Harry."

"I've actually been meaning to talk to you, Reg."

"About what?"

"You hide it well, but I know that you're upset about having to give up being a Black in public."

Regulus was quiet for a moment before he nodded and said, "You're right, it sucks. I've always been a Black and it feels weird not to be able to introduce myself as such in public, but if it means staying alive and out of that fiend's clutches, it's a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make."

Harry nodded and said, "And what if I said there was a way that you can continue to hide from him and still be a Black?"

Regulus looked confused. By this point, Tom had stopped reading his book and was also paying attention to this conversation, as were Cedric and Noah. All of them looked equal parts confused and curious.

"What do you mean?" Regulus finally asked.

"Despite being the King now," Harry answered, "it doesn't change the fact that I am Lord Emrys-Potter-Black. Cedric's alter-ego Finlay is now Lord-Consort Emrys and Noah will be Lord-Consort Potter, but I do also need a Lord-Consort Black."

Regulus's eyes widened at this, blushing a bit, as he asked, "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"If you think that I'm suggesting that I start courting you, then yes."

"Uh… um…" Regulus was struggling to speak because the thought had not crossed his mind.

That didn't mean he didn't find Harry attractive. Thanks to the prison variant of the Time Suspension Charm he was still a nineteen-year-old boy with needs and desires. He was also very much a member of the pink team, so one of his heads definitely had no issue with the idea of dating Harry. It was this that caused him to shift somewhat uncomfortably as the crotch of his trousers got uncomfortably tight.

"What about me?" Tom asked, before Regulus could speak. "If you marry Reg then that's gonna be kind of weird won't it? I mean considering," as he said this, he gestured at the juncture where his own body connected to Regulus's.

"Yes I suppose it could be," Harry said. "Or it would be if I didn't court and wed both of you."

"Both of us?" Regulus said. "But you only need one more…"

"I only need to take three husbands total," Harry said. "That doesn't mean that I can only take three total. There's no limit, so I can take as many as I want."

Harry fell silent here for a moment, before he said, "Honestly, I've been thinking about it and I think it would be best if I actually take two husbands for each of my family lines, instead of one. Two of the lines are down to only two living members and the third, the Blacks, are an aging line of mostly females, many of whom are thirty or more years beyond their child-bearing years and even if they weren't, they can't carry on the name. So all three need infusions of new blood."

"Considering what's happening in the world," Noah spoke up, "is now really a good time to be bringing children into it?"

"You're right, of course," Harry said. "And I have no intention of having children until after that fiend is dealt with and the world is no longer in danger of becoming the deepest Hell."

Harry sighed at this point and added, "I am, however, the King so I do have a duty to provide an heir for the Dragon Throne and for my other two lordships."

Turning back to Regulus, Harry said, "By all rights, with Sirius and your grandfather gone, you should be Lord Black, Reg. Honestly, since you were still alive, I'm not even sure why the ring accepted me as Lord Black."

"I assume it's the nature of the spell," Cedric said. "The spell is meant to hold people prisoner and the laws dating all the way back to King Arthur do hold that no imprisoned person can inherit a lordship. I guess the ring saw Reg as a prisoner, even though he'd committed no crime or was ever convicted of anything."

"I guess," Harry agreed. "At any rate, Reg, if you can't be Lord Black and you can't be yourself, then at least if we wed, you can still be a Black, even if it's in the guise of Lord-Consort Schuyler Black."

"And how do you two feel about this?" Tom asked as he looked over at Cedric and Noah.

"We'll cool with it," Noah said, as Cedric nodded. "As we've already discussed with Harry, we're both open to entering into a polyfidelitous relationship."

Tom and Regulus looked confused, so Cedric smiled and said, "It means a relationship of more than two people that doesn't allow the people in it to seek any romantic or sexual partner outside of the group, at least without the approval of all existing members of the group."

With a smile, Noah added, "All members of the group are, however, allowed to have whatever kind of relationship they want within the confines of the group, be that just good friends that share a husband, friends with benefits, or a deeper more romantic connection, up to and including marriage."

"So you two approve of Reg and me?" Tom asked.

"Yes, we do," Cedric confirmed. "Harry's reasoning for taking Regulus as the Black consort is sound and because you guys are a package deal these days, it just wouldn't make sense for Reg to be involved with us and you not to be, Tom."

"Yeah, that would be rather awkward," Harry said with a grin. "It just wouldn't be fair to you to have to lie there and either watch or pretend that you're not there while Cedric, Noah, or myself are having sex with Reg."

Noah was grinning as he nodded and said, "Far better for you to just be an active member of the relationship. That way we just avoid any awkwardness."

Tom and Reg were silent for a moment before they leaned closer to one another and began whispering in each other's ears so softly that nobody else in the room could hear them. It's a habit they'd picked up since they were first joined together.

Oddly enough, seeing them do it, Ethan revealed that it was actually something that the real Chandler and Schuyler Delrossi did as children, before their accident. Tom and Reg had no way of knowing this when they first started doing it but could admit that it was a happy coincidence that they'd unintentionally picked up a habit that made them appear even more like the twins whose identities they'd appropriated.

After a few minutes, Tom and Reg finished their whispered conference and Tom said, "Reg and I are willing to try it. At least the courting part."

"Not really ready for anything sexual right now, but we're open to it in the future," Reg added.

While he personally didn't mind a sexual component to this new relationship, he'd developed a close bond and friendship with Tom. It was impossible given their current circumstance, spending every waking and non-waking moment at each other's sides for them not to.

In their whispered conversation, Tom said that he wasn't really comfortable with a sexual relationship quite yet, mainly due to his scars. He was very self-conscious about them and wanted to get more comfortable with Harry, Cedric, and Noah before going down that road.

Reg was perfectly fine with that arrangement because he wanted Tom to be comfortable in his skin, which due to the magically created band of flesh which bound them together was technically part of his own skin as well. And he wasn't going to make Tom do anything that he wasn't comfortable with.

"That's fine," Harry said, as he moved over to the other sofa to sit between Cedric and Noah. "Is cuddling and maybe a bit of light snogging okay?"

Tom and Reg smiled and said, in unison, "Yeah, I think we can handle that," as they moved over to the other couch to join the other three.

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To be continued…

And there you have Ch35 of 'Knights of the Founders.'

I'm now accepting submissions on my group for background characters from the other magical schools around the world for the Triwizard Tournament in my story The Seventh Olympian. If you're interested, you can find more info on my group, the address is below.

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