Hey A/all. This is chapter twenty-three of the new and improved The Black Heir: The Saga Begins. It was originally just a rewrite of my The Black Heir: First Year, but it has deviated so much from how that one used to be that it's now a new story all on its own, though the basic premise is the same. This story is unfortunately no longer complete and is currently 45 chapters long (I added lots of extra chapters!) and should end up 47-48 chapters long and it should be complete soon. Despite it now being a WIP I'm not going to stop updating, new chapters will still come weekly unless something drastic happens.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Evelyn Celeste Black is my own original character, but all other recognisable characters belong to J K Rowling, I just like to use them to do my bidding.
Summary: What happens when the mistreated daughter of Sirius Black is eligible for her first year at Hogwarts at the same time as her father's escape from Azkaban and she is reunited with Harry Potter. The summer before Harry's third year might just turn out to be just as much of an adventure as his years at Hogwarts. (Eventual HarryXGinny, NevilleXOC, and RonXLuna)
Warning: This story does contain spanking, but it is not the focus, still if you don't like it don't read it.
A huge, huge thank you to my amazing Beta who has been an amazing support in writing this. Yes, I am trying my hardest to turn her into a Harry Potter Fan. Without her support and guidance, you probably wouldn't be getting this story for a good few years.
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Ginny recalled Harry's lack of a magical guardian then, "um I have a question, but less about what you said… Harry says he doesn't know who his previous magical guardian was," she stated.
Sirius and Remus shared a look, "well, that's probably because I'm his magical guardian, I was illegally imprisoned, never charged with a crime, so legally I was still Harry's magical guardian," Sirius explained.
Ginny's frown deepened, "but wouldn't the Wizengamot have appointed a new magical guardian to Harry, he needed preparing to become the future Lord Potter."
Remus shook his head, "no, because Dumbledore, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, would have had to had Sirius declared unable to perform his duties as a magical guardian. To do that, he'd need to give a clear reason why, so that the guardianship could be changed by Gringotts and the Wizengamot. By bringing up Sirius' imprisonment it would have been enough for the Wizengamot, but Gringotts wouldn't have accepted it without a guilty verdict. Sirius was never tried and so considered legally innocent, just awaiting trial. To get Gringotts to agree to the change in guardianship, he would have had to force a trial for Sirius. However, to do that would have revealed to the Wizengamot that he'd never had a trial in the first place."
Harry looked confused, "why did all this matter so much? Why did he place me with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in the first place?"
Remus smiled as he saw all three kids thinking about that. "Honestly, we can't say for sure," he answered hoping one of them would pick up the hints.
"But you have an idea," Evie murmured hesitantly.
Remus beamed and nodded, "correct. Now, remember this is just a theory, so what we're going to do is give you the information we have, then explain the theory, and you can decide for yourselves whether or not you think the theory fits."
Sirius smiled and leaned back in the sofa slightly, coaxing Harry gently to lean against him, rubbing a hand up and down his forearm to help him relax. He glanced at Remus and then and nodded for him to enlighten the kids.
Remus leaned back slightly in his seat and looked at the three kids. "So, this is more of your mother Lily's theory, but it works rather well here as you will see. Ginny, as a pureblood from a light family you probably understand best how the wizarding world sees one Albus Dumbledore?"
Ginny nodded, "he can do no wrong in Mum's eyes, Dad isn't quite at the same level, but Dumbledore's word is law in the Burrow. Last year when Harry arrived at the Burrow, Mum contacted Dumbledore about how Fred, George, and Ron had to rescue Harry and the state he was in. I'm not sure what was said, but when Dad came home and asked about it, she told him Dumbledore had it all in hand and that was that."
"Thank you, Ginny," Remus acknowledged. "Do you also know that Minister Fudge regularly asks Albus Dumbledore for advice on what he should do, though Lucius Malfoy does have Fudge's other ear, even our Minister for Magic takes a lot of cues from your Headmaster."
Harry wasn't sure what exactly this had to do with anything but was willing to let Remus explain.
Evie snuggled in closer to Harry, soaking in the feeling of the magic around her and the feelings of safety that came with it.
Ginny though knew there was something slightly off about that.
"Albus Dumbledore is also Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, as well as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, as well as Britain's representative," Remus explained. "Add that to him being the Headmaster of Britain's prestigious magical boarding school, and you have arguably the most influential man in all of magical Britain."
Ginny frowned deeper, "but surely the Lords are far more influential?"
Sirius, being one of those Lords, smiled a little at Ginny. "How many Lords are even left now? I was in prison, Harry underage and unaware of his position, Neville is also underage, though he's presumably at least getting the lessons needed to prepare him to take on the mantle when he is able to; same for Susan and though Amelia could potentially serve as a Lady, she is head of the DMLE and wouldn't want to give that up. The Prewett line is missing an heir and the last Lord died, other Light and Dark sided families are in that position; others found guilty of horrendous crimes and so lost their position as a Lord. Finally, a good number of families are simply gone, the bloodlines extinct. This isn't the case for just the Lord's, there are many family lines that are gone, but there aren't many Lords left serving by my estimate," he pointed out.
Ginny considered that and tried to work out what it all meant.
Remus could see Ginny was closer to understanding than Harry was and far closer than Evie. "Harry, how many secondary schools are there in Muggle United Kingdom?" He asked.
Harry looked at Remus confused. "No idea, a lot though, I mean there's got to be at least five in Surrey alone," he admitted.
"How many Magical schools are there in Magical Britain?" Remus asked Harry.
"Um, well Hagrid said Hogwarts was the best so at least five?" Harry half said and half asked.
Remus shook his head. "One, just Hogwarts. Now some parents might choose to send their children to schools overseas, some children attend correspondent classes, other families home-school their children, but most send their children to Hogwarts, which is a boarding school that only closes for the summer. This leaves children under the influence of one Albus Dumbledore for a minimum of eight months of a year if they go home at every holiday which some will, but from my experience most people choose not to go home for Easter. Then you have the fact Witches and Wizards are much more long lived than Muggles, so Albus Dumbledore was either their teacher or their Headmaster whilst at school and everyone retains a slight reverence for those who taught them as children, just as you never see yourself on the same level as your parents."
"He controls everything then?" Ginny put in questioningly.
Remus beamed and nodded. "Exactly, he effectively runs the magical British Isles without appearing to do anything simply because he's not the Minister for Magic, so if anything does go wrong, he doesn't get the blame."
Harry blinked having never looked at it like that but seeing where Remus was coming from.
Evie looked curiously at Remus, "that doesn't explain why he didn't give Harry a magical guardian," she pointed out.
"No, it doesn't, but it is necessary background information. Now we've established Albus Dumbledore is the most influential man in magical Britain and pretty much runs the country, as well as the fact he has the reverence of most of the Light sided families due to his defeat of Grindelwald. There is an old saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely, so it isn't too far of a stretch to think Dumbledore might have gotten used to the reverence he gets and the influence he holds. How do you think he might feel if that powerbase was taken away from him? How would anyone feel going from the most important person to being under someone else?" Remus questioned.
"Not well," Harry pointed out, he already noticed with Ron and Hermione, they didn't like certain things that went against how they felt it would go.
"Indeed not, now being a Lord, the Boy Who Lived and the Heir of the Potter, Gryffindor, and Peverell, all Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses, how much influence do you think Harry would hold if he was to receive the correct preparations and training?" Remus probed.
"That's three of the Lord seats, if Harry made the right connections during school, with Neville, Susan, and the other future Lords; once they took their seats, they could run the Ministry if they chose to. Even if he was just Lord Potter, as Neville, Susan, and a lot of the future Lords and Ladies are around the same age, making the right connections, they'd still pretty effectively run the Ministry," Ginny murmured in awe.
Sirius nodded, "but if Harry didn't make the right connection, remained ignorant of proper pureblood customs and how to navigate the ins and outs of that society?"
Ginny felt things clicking into place, "then even being the Boy Who lived wouldn't grant him acceptance into that world. He would hold some influence with his name, but politically he'd be no more powerful than any other member of the Wizengamot." She looked at Remus and Sirius, "you think that's why Dumbledore didn't push for Harry to get a magical guardian? To prevent him becoming more influential than him?"
"It's a theory," Remus reminded, "we don't know how true it is, but it matches with other information we have. Do you know how many seats Albus Dumbledore actually has on the Wizengamot?"
Ginny shook her head, "no, but I think he might have the Prewett proxy… I'm sure I overheard Mum and Dad talking about it once."
Sirius nodded, "the Dumbledore house has no seats, but Albus Dumbledore holds many proxies, Prewett, Potter – and through Potter, possibly Peverell, definitely the Bones seat. Augusta wouldn't let Frank make him the proxy for the Longbottom seat. By virtue of being the Headmaster, he is proxy for the founders' houses. By making sure Harry had a magical guardian, unless they were firmly on his side, he would lose at least the Potter, Peverell, and Gryffindor seats. Though, I don't know if he knows about the Peverell seat or that he'd lose the Gryffindor seats, he still would have lost the Potter seat."
"Merlin… that makes sense," Ginny admitted horrified.
Harry was also looking faintly green, "so he left you in jail, even when he knew you were innocent all so I wouldn't get a legal magical guardian because it kept him in power?"
"Remember this is just a theory, we don't know everything, but essentially that is the belief we are leaning towards," Sirius admitted.
"He probably would have at least told you of your Potter Lordship eventually Harry but put it in such a way that you likely would have just let him handle it all, so you didn't have to be burdened with it," Remus added. "Then there's also the prophecy to consider. Harry, you are prophesised to be the one to bring down Voldemort, that alone could potentially earn you a lot of power and influence… Dumbledore would need you looking up to him, being guided by him, if you had a magical guardian, you wouldn't need Dumbledore's guidance."
Evie looked up at her Dad and Godfather, "but now you're here," she stated.
Sirius held Harry a little tighter, reaching his arm out to gently lay on his daughter's shoulder, trying to push away the guilt he felt at the flinch. "Now we're here and we will protect you, all three of you," he soothed gently.
"Remember, anything even slightly off you come to me and tell me," Remus reminded. "And if you get summoned to the Headmaster, you are allowed your guardian or Head of House to accompany you. Ginny as Harry's Betrothed you fall under the care of Sirius and I so all three of you can ask that I accompany you."
Ginny looked at Remus and nodded, she had no desire to be alone in the Headmaster's office knowing what she did now. "Isn't there any way you can bring charges against the Headmaster? He ignored the Last Will and Testament of the Lord and Lady of a Most Ancient and Most Noble House, surely the Wizengamot won't stand for that?" She asked.
Sirius and Remus shared a look then looked at Ginny, "this is Albus Dumbledore, he could easily spin a yarn and come out smelling of roses. He's probably already prepared a fully believable and acceptable defence. Unfortunately, he is very politically powerful, too politically powerful, and has too many supporters. There's still a slim chance that enough seats would vote against him, but at worst he'd likely get a slap on the wrist and then we'd have made a very powerful and yes, dangerous enemy. Plus, he is a very strong figurehead for the light, he might be a master manipulator and not someone looking out for your best interests, but he gives people hope."
Silence fell upon the group, and no one felt the need to break it, just taking comfort from being together as a bonding family.
A few floors up in one of the bedrooms, Arthur was facing the wrath of his wife.
"You sold my daughter! How dare you!" Molly shrieked.
"Molly, please calm down! I did not sell Ginny! This contract has been in place for generations, you knew this was likely to happen! You saw the Betrothal yourself," Arthur defended.
"You took money in exchange for our daughter's hand in marriage," Molly hissed.
"Yes, I did! But if I had not the Weasley Family Magyck would have been taken! That was the price of refusing to sign! Now you will hold your tongue and listen to me!" Arthur ordered firmly.
Molly was shocked at Arthur taking such a commanding tone with her. "Don't you talk to me…" she started.
"Molly hush now! I am head of this family, and my decisions and words are final," Arthur interrupted using his Head of House tone. "Ginny is Betrothed, yes, but think for a second about who she is Betrothed to! She is Betrothed to Harry Potter, a young boy we both know, and I dare say care about. Yes, the contract is rather stringent and could be seen as unfair to them both, but they can decide not to go through with it if they so wish. I personally believe she could do a lot worse than that young man, he will take good care of her and never hurt her. For Godric's sake he almost died saving her life back in June. Now, Lord Black has assured me they have no intention of insisting that Ginny live with them, he would like a meeting sometime before the end of summer to decide things. I did not sign without checking with both of them that they wanted it. It is high time you stop treating Ginny like a little girl. That blasted diary has made our little girl grow up before her time, I'd say she'd give Percy a run for his money with her maturity now."
Molly sat down on the bed devastated, "she's only a baby Arthur," she insisted.
"No Molly, she's a young woman. I know you detest Betrothals, but this is an entirely different situation, and you will not interfere. Ginny will be allowed to make her own decisions, free from our influence. If I catch a single hint of you trying to pressure our daughter to terminate this Betrothal, I'll personally deliver her to Lord Black. If she comes to you for advice, you give it freely and honestly, but you will not push her in a certain direction. Is this understood?" Arthur insisted feeling like a bastard for doing it but needing to make sure Molly understood how serious this was. He loved his wife, and she was a very loving mother, but the loss of her brothers had left its mark and made it hard for her to let go of her children and let them grow. She was getting better, but if she tried to push Ginny into thinking her way, he could see Ginny requesting to live with her Betrothed and cutting them out of her life.
Molly looked up at Arthur pained but she nodded her agreement. "I understand," she agreed defeated.
Arthur sat down next to his wife and put his arm around her. "No one can deny how much you love our children, they could not ask for a more loving mother, and Ginny will certainly need her mother's guidance still. I hate to be so firm with you Mollywobbles, but I won't allow you to push away our little girl."
Downstairs in the private meeting room the ragtag family finally stood and decided to head out into the alley to get the bits they needed.
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There you go, there's chapter twenty-three. Please drop me a review and tell me what you thought, cookies for those who do!