Chapter 8
In which Lucius Malfoy found himself the dubious task of informing the Dark Lord of his (no longer) impending marriage.
While the inhabitants of Hogwarts celebrated Halloween, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy observed the ritual of Samhain, and was just finished burning a (may or may not be legal) sacrifices when Severus barged into their living room, and stiffened before nonchalantly picked another sacrifice and tossed it to the fire. He offered prayers and chanted together with the Malfoys, partaking in the wine and quite seriously observed the ritual to its end.
Then Narcissa vanished the brassier they used for sacrificial fire and vent the smoke out, leaving a slight smoky scent in the room. This wasn't the first time Severus joined a ritual in their home, he was Draco's godfather after all, and not the first time that he joined in the middle of a ritual. Lucius used to say that since he was a halfblood, he's allowed to do a half ritual to excuse his muggle and ignorant upbringing.
The two men then settled in Lucius' Study.
"I believe I have found a lead in our Lord's whereabouts." Severus reported.
Lucius raised an eyebrow and poured them a glass of Ogden's finest.
"Quirrell smuggled a troll to the school today." He said.
"At Samhain? What in the name of the Dark Lord is he thinking? Didn't he know the tradition? He could well be upsetting Mother Magic and endangering the whole school! " Lucius said in exasperation. "How's Draco? "
"The students were sent to continue the feast in the safety of our common rooms. The older year will then continue as planned to guide them in observing the Samhain Ritual. Quirrell is a halfblood unfortunate enough to be sorted to Ravenclaw. Those dunderheads have an overly inflated egos and tend to close their minds on people they view not on par with them." Severus drawled.
He would have been one of those people had The Malfoys not taken him under their wings.
"Anyways, I suspected foul play and waited in the third floor's corridor. Then, Quirrell came, disheveled and all twitchy. He was such an idiot. I mean, sure, there's a Cerberus, but it's asleep. Couldn't he close the door quietly instead of slamming it on its face? He's lucky they didn't break through the enchantments." Severus complained "and here's the lead. He was talking to himself, and the Dark Lord answered. I looked around and there's no other living thing but the two of us. Do you think he was possessed? "
Lucius shook his head thoughtfully. "Possessions didn't tend to allow for conversation between the possessor and the possessed. Even if it does, the Dark Lord's voice would come out as Quirrell's as he's the one who spoke it. Maybe a ghost? But if he became a ghost, how would we revive him? The contract would prevent him from being dead in any case."
"Should we try to talk to him? " Severus asked. "There's a Quidditch game on the 9th of November. You could go under the pretense of scouting for your club. It's Gryffindor vs. Slytherin."
"Oh? Sure, I'll talk to someone from the Department of Magical Games and Sports to come with me. I even have a good cover for this excursion. The other day, that Ludo Bagman proposed a Minor Quidditch League to the DMGS, and considering that he'd gotten recruited straight out of Hogwarts, won three national championships and played in the national team, his suggestion was widely accepted." Lucius commented. "I could use my position at the Board to, say, ask them to observe every game for a year to see if there's enough suitable candidates."
"Great. I'll leave it to you then." Severus stood up and brushed his robes, leaving his friend to his plotting and scheming.
The month of November started with the grumblings of some older Ravenclaws, especially those in the Quidditch team. While the other Houses held trials for their Quidditch teams, Ravenclaw House held conscription. Meaning that second year and upper all went through Flying, Catching, Keeping, Beating and Seeking tests where the highest marks were chosen to fill the spots on the team. As such, while there's no lack of skills in the team, teamwork is usually barely there or none at all. Quidditch is usually a sensitive subject to talk about in the common room, unless the chosen captain decided to take the whole team to analyze the other teams playing in another match, that is, and drove anyone not from the quidditch team from the common room.
"Are you going to watch the game today?" Draco asked her, bouncing in his seat. "Father is coming to observe the player for the Ministry."
"Oh? Something I should know about? " She raised an eyebrow. She had wanted to finish that arithmancy puzzle she'd found in a book, but this is more interesting. "Who's playing today? "
Draco smiled in fond exasperation at his cousin. She's rarely interested in anything that is not a book or earned her some revenue. "Gryffindor vs Slytherin. Come on, I'll even concede sitting in any stand as long as it's not Gryffindor."
Neville casually sat in front of them. "And I'll sit with you two to balance the equation, so you can't be accused of supporting one team over another. Shall we find someone from Hufflepuff to join us? " He joked as Draco rolled his eyes.
Harriet's extreme neutrality for anything Gryffindor and Slytherin had become somewhat of a legend. Meaning that if she was caught between two feuding students of both houses, she's liable to curse them both than stay out of the matter. Said students learned to walk in eggshells around her or risk inciting her ire, as Weasley and Parkinson learned the day before the Halloween Feast.
Granted that the subject of the feud was Weasley's tendencies to bully Granger for her need to prove herself, that had accidentally angered the female Slytherin since it was against any of the sensibilities ingrained to her House, and as such engaged in a shouting match that quickly devolved into an offense to her feminist sensibility (Weasley seemed to think that a Witch's place was at home, in the kitchen, feeding her family) that escalates into a hex war that caught Harriet in the middle as she walked to her Transfiguration class.
The irate witch blasted both parties to the opposing walls and cursed the both of them with the Irremovable Sticking Charms and conjured gags to their mouths. The two of them suffered for half the day until Professor Dumbledore took pity on them and asked Harriet to remove the spells. Harriet had glared at both children and demanded them to apologize to each other and to her before releasing them from their bindings. Since then, both Houses steered clear of her.
On an unrelated note, Parkinson and the Slytherin girls banded together and announced that Granger is their muggleborn. The group of unlikely friends can be seen spending their time in an abandoned classroom to either educate Granger on Wizarding Customs or rallying other girls to join their Feminist Activism.
Harriet rolled her eyes at the thought. "Alright, I want to see what Lucius is doing, and we sit at the Hufflepuff stand, unless you want to listen to Jones analyzing the team's SWOT. Since you're both eligible to be spies, I'd rather keep the peace by sitting elsewhere."
"What's SWOT? " Draco asked as they followed her to the Quidditch Field.
"Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. They were key points for a business's visibility study. They are used to create strategies to improve the business. Strengths are the base of your innovations. Weaknesses are something to either fix or improve. Threats are your anticipatory reactors and opportunities are something to innovate for. It's a muggle concept." She explained.
It was a muggle concept since the Goblins had given her a blank look when she asked. Apparently, wizards didn't care much for competitions. They're more of the customer base building and were content with not competing against each other to the top of the chain. In the Wizarding World, name and reputation came from breeding and patronage. So, a store owned by a pure blood will always go further than one owned by a halfblood, for example. But if the halfblood's store were frequented by purebloods, it elevated the store's standing and reputation.
They stopped when Harriet spotted Lucius and walked to talk to him while Draco and Neville kept a respectable distance, and then walked back to the Hufflepuff stand to watch the game. She ignored the occasional twinge in her scars to focus on the DMGS representatives excitedly whispering to each other and looked at the games thoughtfully.
At the end of the game, she turned to Draco and said, "Draco, tell your father that I'm in."
Then she turned to Neville. "Walk with me, Neville. " She waved to Draco who told her that he wanted to talk to the Quidditch Team and walked with Neville back to the castle.
"Neville, I don't want to tread on sensitive subjects, but can I convince you to do an Inheritance Test during the Christmas Holiday? No pressure of course, and you can think about it. You can even discuss it with your Gran." She said gently.
"An Inheritance Test? Why is that? " He asked curiously.
"Well, Nev, I can't tell you if you're not aware. This was supposed to be between your mother and you. But I read that she was indisposed. I also don't think that she's aware, in any cases." She answered. "It will help a lot of people tremendously if you do. "
Neville looked thoughtful. "Will it help you? "
Harriet just smiled and patted his arm, returning to her Arithmetic puzzle in her room.
Lucius and Severus flanked Quirrell as they went down the teachers and guests' stand. Lucius spared an eye at the DMGS representatives interviewing the players while the other professors listened to them in interest and nodded to Severus, each of them caught an arm and pulled the DADA professor to the Forbidden Forest.
"Wh… what... What… are y… Y... You d… d… doing? " Quirrell looked terrified.
"Drop the act, Quirinus. You have been in contact with our master." Severus drawled as he blocked the professor's escape.
"We need to talk to him. An urgent matter, you see." Lucius said calmly.
Quirrell frowned at them. "What are you talking about? " He was confused.
"You're in contact with the Dark Lord. We need to talk to him immediately. Is he here in Britain? Because if he does, I need to recall Augustus and Alberto from Albania. We're short of resources as it is." Lucius answered as he looked at the nervous man intently.
"Let me… let me talk to them, face to face… " The wheezing voice Severus described suddenly said.
"What? You're not strong enough, My Lord" Quirrell squeaked.
Lucius and Severus looked at each other. "My Lord, is that you? We could not see you, but we hear your voice."
"He's here, with me… he's always with me… " Quirrell sniffled. "I am weak, so My Lord has to watch over me… "
"Your office? " Lucius asked.
Severus nodded and together, they dragged him to his private office. Severus locked them up and raised privacy wards. It wouldn't do if one of his students accidentally found them talking to the Dark Lord.
Quirrell unwound his turban and turned away from them.
"Lucius… Severus… my loyal friends… I never thought that you searched for me… I have heard of you renouncing me, claiming imperious, and you Severus, spying on me on the old fool's behalf… forgive me my friends, it appears that I was wrong… " The face of their Lord was etched in the back of Quirrell's head.
Lucius and Severus immediately kneeled and kissed the hem of Quirrell's robe, scrunching their noses at the smell of garlic.
"My Lord, we have missed you very much. As soon as we are able, we send people to look for you. I have no choice, My Lord. I always trust that you will return, and as such, need to retain control in the ministry." Lucius bowed his head.
"The Headmaster had chosen to protect me that way, My Lord, I have never uttered anything to renounce you. " Severus looked down at his shoes. "Though, there is a development that we need to apprise you of, My Lord"
Lord Voldemort took a seat in Severus' chair and waved him to continue. To see Quirrell sitting astride the chair, his back facing them was a hilarious thing, but both Lucius and Severus kept a straight face.
"My apologies, My Lord, on the 2nd of September this year, Sybil Trelawney admitted that she was not a prophet. The prophecy was a rip off of one of her great grandmother's prophecies, only she changed the wordings a bit to suit the situation back then. She confessed that when she heard that the prophecy came true on the 31st of October 1981, she was so racked with guilt over her hand in the demise of the Potters and the Longbottoms that she couldn't live with herself and had to drink all guilt away to keep her sanity. Professor Dumbledore decided to send her to a mind healer to be treated, but for her crime in faking a prophecy, he was afraid that announcing them to the public would cause a riot. " Severus hung his head low.
Voldemort stared at him in contemplation. "I see. So, I went on a wild goose case and being reduced to this state for nothing. I am sorry too, Severus, I know I promised you to spare the girl. She didn't want to, though, so I did what I had to do" He said softly.
He'd admired Lily Potter's fierce love for her child. Had his mother had even an ounce of her love, he might have turned differently.
"What about the Longbottoms? They were fine purebloods, I have high hopes in converting them to our cause." He asked Lucius.
Lucius winced and reported. "When we heard of your demise, My Lord, the Lestranges and Barry Crouch, Jr. went to the Longbottoms to find information. They tortured the Longbottoms to insanity. The heir was then sent to live with Dowager Lady Longbottom who took reign of their Family and Wizengamot affairs."
Voldemort winced in sympathy. "It must be hard for you, Lucius. I presume that Augusta hasn't lost any of her fierceness since she married Harfang Longbottom. She was one of the more formidable ladies after all."
He should know, as he served as Prefect, and then Head Boy with her. He also often found himself at the other end of her ire.
Lucius nodded to Severus who bowed and moved back to sit on a chair in front of his desk.
"There's another thing, My Lord." He cleared his throat and said, "I've been appointed as Steward to the House of Gaunt and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin."
Voldemort stared at him, anger bubbling low in his body. If only this body is strong enough for an unforgivable. "Explain. Who has the audacity to claim my legacy?!"
"Errm… that is to say… err…" Lucius stuttered in the face of the Dark Lord's anger.
"Out with it." Voldemort raised Quirrell's hand, and almost sighed in disappointment. The man was too cowardly to raise a wand to Lucius. At this rate, he'd be lucky to be able to curse him with a jelly leg jinx.
" Your wife My Lord. " Lucius screwed his eyes close while Severus focused his eyes in a particularly interesting painting far away from the irate Dark Lord.
"I beg your pardon? " Even Quirrell was stunned if the way his body unnaturally froze was a sign.
"Your… wife, my Lord… apparently, my father was remiss in informing you to do an inheritance test at Gringotts, so you were not aware that your grandfather, Lord Marvolo Gaunt, contracted you to a female descendant of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter." Lucius said shakily.
"The Most… what? I'm betrothed to Harriet Potter?!" If ever anyone seen Lord Voldemort, or even Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. flustered, it was this time, and the three witnesses decided to keep it to themselves until their death. Never to be spoken to anymore.
"Errm… my Lord? According to the contract, because you tried to kill her, the bond evolved to a Marriage Bond. " Severus said timidly.
"Marriage… she's a child! She's a tiny little firstie! I had her in my class! What is my grandfather thinking?! " Voldemort paced to calm his agitation.
"Errm… well… she wasn't born yet when the contract was drawn. My Lord. " Lucius added hastily when Voldemort turned his crimson eyes at him.
"Of course, she wasn't. My grandfather died way before her father was even born! Don't be an idiot, Lucius." He snarled.
"Yes, My Lord. I'm sorry My Lord. " He groveled.
"Is there no way out of this? " Voldemort resumed his pacing.
Lucius looked at Severus and winced together. "Well, if you had married or had a child before you tried to kill her, it was still a betrothal contract after all. The contract would then be passed to your offspring or the next eligible candidate. But you didn't, and now the bond had solidified, so you have no other choice but consummate the bond at her seventeenth birthday at the latest and conceive an heir. Four actually, because both lines required an heir and a spare."
Voldemort ignored Quirrell's muffled cry of pain as he threw himself to the chair and hit the back of his head to the headrest.
"I'm old enough to be her grandfather. In fact, Charlus Potter was my year mate. And Dorea was two years below us. Oh Merlin, how would I ever see their eyes again?" Suffice to say, he was mortified. "Is that why my curses didn't work on her? "
The other two death eaters paled "My Lord, don't do that. We don't know if with each assault you did something to provoke the bond. For all we know, it would pressure you to procreate when she turned 12 or something."
Voldemort looked horrified, then sighed forlornly. "Okay, I won't. What am I to do with a wife? I don't wish to live the rest of my life trying to kill each other. It took time and attention from my plans"
Lucius coughed. "My Lady is not interested in your affairs, my Lord. She's more of a businesswoman. She is currently in the process of obtaining permits for a Magical Creatures Conservation and Educational Center. "
"Oh? How fascinating. I may be able to donate the Basilisk under the school to the facility. Would that be considered a good courting gift? " He asked nonchalantly
"There's a Basilisk under the school?! "