Sirius walked into the room first, as was proper. Harry, even though a Lord, was also an heir so he came second. Narcissa followed in last. The room was small and simple, just one of the private ones in the Three Broomsticks. A large table sat in the middle, with two seats on the one side and three on the other. Lord Greengrass and Daphne were already there.

Lord Greengrass looked exactly like he always had, strong, with a straight back and an impassive look on his face. The grass green colour of his robes matched one of their crests like it did so many times before. It was a simple but elegant cut, with golden thread on the seams and a light brown inner layer. Lord Greengrass rose from his seat when they entered, his dark green eyes watching their every move. Next to him, Daphne also stood from her seat. Her hair was once more in a complex braid and she wore an elegant dress in the same colour as her father's robe. The dress was slim around her waist and held by a bronze clasp, displaying the horse head that was the coat of arms of house Greengrass. Daphne curtsied elegantly, her face unreadable, but Harry noticed a slight frown of stress on her forehead. She was in fact quite nervous about this meeting since she wasn't sure what exactly would happen and her father was still set on her getting betrothed today.

Lord Greengrass stepped around the table, stretching out his wide strong hand. His eyes bore into them. "Lord Black, welcome." he said with a stern tone to his voice, as the two of them shook hands. Sirius only nodded, a solemn look on his own features. Then Lord Greengrass stepped to the right, stretching out his hand towards Harry. The black-haired boy shook it too, trying his best to have a firm handshake. "Lord Peverell, welcome." The older man said and Harry still felt weird being treated like an adult. It was nice in a way, being recognized and seemingly valued, but at the same time, it was really scary. This wasn't fun and games, this was politics and rather important too. Narcissa had explained the severity of a life debt and while technically the Greengrasses owed them, it was still a rather delicate matter.

The House of Black and the house of Peverell, which amusingly were almost interchangeable, since both houses almost were made up of the same people, with the exception of Sirius, could potentially insult House Greengrass by either demanding something too valuable or demanding something too low. Marriage was the normal thing to do, but Harry was certain this wouldn't happen. Sirius had stated so and Harry believed those words. Still, they had to be careful, Lord Greengrass was a Slytherin after all and it was obvious that his own family was the only thing important to the man. Luckily Sirius felt the same, when he stepped to the side, making room so Lord Greengrass could greet Narcissa as well. He walked up to the table and bowed before Daphne. The blond girl nodded with a curt smile. It wasn't required for a noble Lord to greet someone who wasn't a Lord during these meetings but just as Lord Greengrass did with Narcissa, Sirius did with the young Heiress.

"Good afternoon Miss Greengrass." Sirius said with a little smile. Daphne smiled back, in a way Harry wasn't sure whether it was fake or real.

"Welcome, Lord Black. I hope you are well?" she asked, gesturing to the chairs. Sirius took the one in the middle, just when Harry stepped up greeting Daphne as well. Sirius folded his hands over his knee and nodded.

"Oh yes, I'm well indeed. There is a minor problem I have to take care of after this meeting but other than that I'm good. And you Miss Greengrass? Are you enjoying your school year?"

Daphne nodded smiling. "Oh yes, very much, thank you for asking." Harry wondered what Sirius had meant with a minor problem but now wasn't the time nor the place to ask, more so because Lord Greengrass walked around the table, sitting next to his daughter. He folded his hands on the tabletop, looking at them with a calculating gaze.

For a moment Harry felt like Sirius and Lord Greengrass were battling out some unseen fight. They stared into each other's eyes, not moving nor blinking but he just knew both of them were thinking back and forth calculating the other man's steps. It got quiet in the room, while everyone watched the two heads of the house battle it out in silence. Finally, Lord Greengrass nodded, like he confirmed something and raised his voice.

"Once again, welcome and thank you all for coming here. It is a pleasure to have you here. How about we put the niceties to the side and talk about the reason we are all here right away." Lord Greengrass looked over to Sirius who nodded shortly. Harry also gave an agreeing nod, to which Lord Greengrass thanked and then continued.

"This meeting is between House Greengrass and House Black as well as House Greengrass and House Peverell regarding the honour debt House Greengrass has for the rescue of myself as well as my two daughters. We, as the house of Greengrass, firmly believe that this debt should be honoured." He simply stated. Sirius nodded and folded his hands on the table, his face bare of expression.

"What would the House of Greengrass offer in retribution for this debt?" Sirius asked in a neutral manner.

Lord Greengrass looked over at his daughter, nodding once at her.

"The hand of my daughter and Heiress Daphne in marriage either to yourself Lord Black or Lord Peverell." Harry watched Daphne, who looked rather tense. Her eyes were cast down at the table, for once unsure. While he had sworn to her that he would do his utmost to deter this, they hadn't a chance to talk ever since he had talked to Sirius, so she didn't know what Harry's godfather would do.

Sirius just looked back not missing a beat or waiting a moment.

"No." He simply said, not in a firm way but like he was just declining after someone asked him if he wanted another helping of dessert. Lord Greengrass blinked in surprise, needing a moment. Daphne was one, if not the, most important bachelorette in all of Wizarding Britain. Even more so because Lord Greengrass had up to this point been firm in his belief of letting her choose her own partner. For him, it had been an act of will to have reversed that decision, a decision he had made when his beloved Margeth had died eight years ago.

"W-Would you elaborate on that, please?" He asked, a little shaken. While he was relieved that the man said no he had no idea what would come now and Lord Greengrass hated the unknown. What could Black want instead? He had already offered what he considered most valuable.

Sirius turned over to his godson smiling for a moment. He raised his hand, placing it on Harry's shoulder and squeezed a little bit.

"When I took Harry in a few weeks back I made promises. Some were minor; some were major, but one of them was that he would be allowed to choose his own partner, that there would be no contract in his future. He would live his life on his own accord and would choose the woman he loved to marry or even the man if he decided to do so, as his parents did before him. Quite frankly I am a little worried when I die one day, hopefully, in the far future and step in front of Lily in the afterlife, she would find a way to kill me a second time, if I made Harry marry someone he didn't want to." Sirius smiled when Harry looked over at him in affection. Then he turned his head back.

"As for myself, I know who I am. I'm an ex-convict over thirty, with a childlike attitude and a disregard for proper conduct and etiquette." Narcissa stepped loudly on Sirius' foot, making the man flinch, before waving her off.

"My point is, I'm not what a young lady like your daughter would dream of for a husband. Frankly, I could be her father in terms of age and I will not have it. So no, I will not take your daughter's hand in marriage."

Greengrass watched Sirius for a moment, while Daphne almost deflated in relief. She knew what a prize she was and for Lord Black to decline was a huge relief. Yes, Lord Peverell had promised her that it would happen this way, but still, the nervousness was there, the idea of it was there. There was this sliver of thought that Lord Peverell, who had been with Lord Black only for a few weeks, could have misjudged the man, his intentions. So to hear that this wasn't the case, that Lord Black indeed didn't want this was a great relief. Her father nodded slowly, a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, Lord Black, for taking my daughter's happiness into account. I have to say, I am relieved since I normally wouldn't have offered such a thing because I feel about my daughters the same way as you feel about your own charge. It is really a shame that the one thing you do to disregard it is the one thing I would want most of all for my children in a husband. Placing their happiness first. But this brings me back to the main reason we are here. If not the hand of my daughter, what can House Greengrass offer to you really?"

Sirius smiled a little and was about to answer when a loud chirping sound came from Harry. Sirius turned his head and just saw Dawn hopping out of the pouch on Harry's chest and landing on the table. The coal black hatchling turned her head curiously, chirping once.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, she...Dawn get back here. Hey!" Harry called out and tried to scoop her up, but she hopped out of the way with surprising agility. The chirping bird hopped toward the blond girl in front of her stopping at the edge of the table right in front of Daphne cooing up at her. Lord Greengrass looked with interest at the small creature. Harry rose from his seat, bright red in the face, making a move to round the table.

"I'm deeply sorry Lord Greengrass, she should actually be asleep, after she had raised hell the entire night. Dawn!" Harry said forcefully but Lord Greengrass chuckled a little.

"My daughter had written to me you have a phoenix hatchling with you, it is all right, if I remember correctly, she is only a few weeks old?" The man looked rather relaxed, probably after his greatest worry about today was gone. Harry nodded slowly.

"Yes, almost a month old." He said with a smile. Lord Greengrass nodded, looking down at the phoenix.

"If that's the case I will overlook this. Who has ever been well educated in the noble etiquette at the tender age of one month?" Noticing the gaze, Dawn turned her head, staring back at the man and for a short while no one said anything before Dawn chirped once and turned back to Daphne, raising her beak and closed her eyes in her "Pet me now!" posture. Daphne looked over at her father for a moment, getting the faintest of nods and tickled smiling under her beak.

Sirius smiled, watching the familiar being cuddled by Daphne, before turning back to Lord Greengrass.

"As I wanted to say before she jumped out of my godson's secure hold, I would like to state what House Black and House Peverell would consider appropriate payment."

Greengrass nodded in a curt way. Sirius raised his hand waving.

"An Alliance. Of our three houses, combined in the effort of making the world a better place for our children." Sirius wasn't a fan of elaborate speeches, Lord Greengrass knew what an Alliance would entail, no need to lay it out to him. The older man nodded slowly, waving his hand slightly.

"What kind of Alliance would the House of Black and the House of Peverell propose?" He said watching Harry. The black haired boy was barely listening, his eyes were on Greengrass' daughter and the black and orange feather ball she was petting and nuzzling. Sirius nodded slowly.

"We would do with an alliance of mutual support of one lifetime." He said lightly. What that meant was that they would work to benefit the other, standing together against outer threats and that they would support each other, until both heads of house in the alliance were dead. So the alliance would die with the last Head of house in the alliance who would find his end, probably Harry due to his age.

Lord Greengrass gave Sirius a thoughtful look, then he nodded slowly. He didn't look over to his daughter for her opinion, even though she was a very intelligent witch. He was head of the house and he would decide and he expected his daughter to go along with his decision. He rose from his chair, Harry and all the others following. Dawn hopped over again and quickly Harry scooped her up again.

He whispered to her.

"We will talk about this later, young Lady." Before Sirius raised his wand levitating the table to the corner of the room. Sirius and Lord Greengrass both stepped closer to each other, raising their wands. They took the others hand into their own and stared each other in the eye. Together they raised their wand, their tips began glowing. Both men began speaking as one, saying the old words that had stood through the ages.

"Together we stand, as one in magic. Together we stand, as one in oath. Together we stand, against all that mean us harm. Together we stand until both of us have fallen. So mote it be." The glow swirled around both of them in a thick cover only to pull back and then cast down like a waterfall. Where it hit, forms emerged, representations of their family magic. A proud stallion, with strong legs and a head, held high and mighty stepped up next to Lord Greengrass, looking over his shoulder. Sirius' magic in return formed three Ravens, two landing on Sirius' shoulders while the third landed on his raised wand. All four animals were translucent and seemed to be made of a kind of light or cloud, a lot like the Patronus charm. The stallion and the Ravens eyed each other and eyed the two wizards. After a moment they bowed their head to each other and to the wizards. Then they were blown away as if by the wind.

Greengrass and Sirius let go of each other's hand, nodding. "The family magic has accepted our bond." Sirius said firmly. Lord Greengrass nodded, then he turned to Harry.

"Lord Peverell, if you would?" He gestured towards the middle of the room. Harry nodded, but Sirius stopped him.

"Better let me handle Dawn for the moment, we have no idea what the family magic would do otherwise." He said. Harry looked over to Narcissa for a moment, who nodded before he held out Dawn to his godfather. He took the chirping familiar and stepped back.

Harry walked over to Lord Greengrass, raising his wand. Lord Greengrass also raised his, stretching out his hand. Harry took it in a firm grasp and felt the broad strong hand almost swallowing his own. Lord Greengrass was tall and imposing, his face unreadable, his shoulder broad and his eyes hard. He was really intimidating and Harry felt his neck sweat and his hands suddenly felt clammy. Hopefully, the taller Lord wouldn't notice. Harry felt his hand raise almost on its own when his magic stirred through his body. His mouth opened and at the same time as the other lord he started talking and he knew even if he hadn't heard the words just now he would have known what and when to say it because this was his family magic speaking not his own.

"Together we stand, as one in magic. Together we stand, as one in oath. Together we stand, against all that mean us harm. Together we stand until both of us have fallen. So mote it be." Again the light swirled around the two, again it thickened and became animal forms. Again it was the proud and tall stallion but on Harry's side, it was a snake that formed, coiling around Harry's neck. There was no weight to it, it felt like a cold wind on his shoulders but nothing else. The snake curled closer, while Harry looked at her. The snake stared deep into Harry's eyes. Harry felt the weight of judgement in her eyes, like a large scale that his life had been placed on. The snake nodded shortly at him before she turned her head and looked over at Lord Greengrass in a judging way this similar to the way the stallion was looking at the boy now. Again he felt like he was being judged by a millennia-old entity, older than the man himself. It was a weird and strange experience and suddenly Mr Flamels eyes didn't look so old anymore in his memory. But finally, both animals turned to each other and nodded again, before exploding in sparks.

Lord Greengrass let go of Harry's hand and stepped back.

"The totems have agreed. Our alliance stands." He nodded to Harry, who in return gave the man a respectful nod. Lord Greengrass turned to Sirius and said in a less formal tone, while he placed his hand on Daphne's shoulder as Sirius did so often with Harry.

"Lord Black, Lord Peverell, Miss Black, it would be an honour to eat a little bit with all of you after this. Would that sit well with you?" He asked, smiling a little while he reset the large table in the middle of the room.

Harry was surprised when Sirius turned to him smiling at him.

"Would that be okay Prongslet? Or are you in a hurry?" He asked with a mischievous wink. Harry was surprised that he was even asked, normally adults made their plans without taking his opinion into account. Harry quickly cast a Tempus charm. There were still thirty-five minutes till he would meet up with Cho again. He nodded and turned to the others.

"I'm not expected for about half an hour." He just said and Sirius smiled. Every minute spent with his godson was a gift in his book. Lord Greengrass nodded and tipped his wand against a panel in the wall, that signalled the kitchen they would like to eat something before sitting down again. Narcissa stepped closer to Harry before he sat down, leaning over his shoulder and whispering.

"You did well, Harry."

His smile was bright and honest after this.

Albus Dumbledore sighed, putting his glasses on the large ornate desk in front of him. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, one he had placed this early to give the students a chance to enjoy it in peace before the students from Durmstrang and Hohenehr would come. Albus would love to relax a little but his hiccup with Sirius' adoption of Harry had shown him he needed to keep up. Once again the surface was cluttered with letters and papers. It was countless slips about major or minor things, a letter from the IWC about a major disagreement between the Parliament of Kongo and the House of Lords of Brazil about a simple missing cauldron. While not sharing the same continent, these two wizarding nations were at each other's throat for over forty years now and would probably stay that way for another forty. Another letter was a request of a member of Urbar, a small country in the east of Siberia with no muggle counterpart. Apparently, they had come up a dark artefact in their possession and they asked him to take care of it. By their description, it seemed one of minor danger and he had agreed, telling them to send it to him. A lot more letters from all around the world came every day some with big decisions while others were almost sadly little in scope.

Then there were the countless letters from inside of Britain. Lord Ashwood wrote him about a piece of the legislature he wanted to bring into the Wizengamot about the conduct towards house-elves. He pleaded for more rights for them, something Albus found rather intriguing. For years now he had little love for those who treated the elves with so little respect but as bigger things had always taken up his time, such a little subject always fell through. But maybe now was the time. While he was still worried about Riddle, the Wraith hadn't shown its face for over a year and maybe now was the time for some smaller things to adjust. Also for the first time in all his time as Chief Warlock, the Wizengamot was in a sympathetic state for such legislature. That Sirius stepped into place had truly shifted the power balance in the old institution. The house of Black had always been a major player in the council, more than any other to be true. With a shudder, Albus thought back to Arcturus Black, Sirius' grandfather. The man had been so strong-willed and bent the Wizengamot to his will. Nothing had happened without the man's say and it had been quite difficult to get much done. Arcturus hadn't been a friend of Albus, far from it, so he had opposed a lot of legislatures the Grand Warlock had tried to get in, especially the ones about muggleborn rights. Arcturus had been a stern pureblood elitist and any way of lessening the purebloods power had been snuffed out like a small candle.

The country had been in luck because the man had deeply disliked Riddle, as well. Tom had tried to place himself above all and while Lord Black respected power he would never agree to someone who deemed himself above the House of Black. So he had kept the Wizengamot at bay, stopping them from becoming Riddle's mouthpiece and even funded the order for the time being.

Now Sirius had stepped into his grandfather's boots and while he seemed a rebellious man in his youth, Albus had to admit the boy had a keen eye for politics. In his first outing, he had placed himself in a strong position, while also holding out his hand to the only person who could rival him, Lord Greengrass. Albus had been delighted because friends in the Wizengamot prior to the meeting had said Lucius Malfoy had approached Lord Greengrass. It was obvious why. Lord Malfoy had waved around the title of Lord Black, which to that point was thought to be going to his son Draco and with it all the power and fortune that was bound to that title. Malfoy had used it to gain an absurd amount of control over the Ministry and the Wizengamot like a spider in its web. With that lost, he had obviously searched for a new source of power in the form of Lord Greengrass. The older Lord had always been sternly neutral, mostly observing and only rarely ever putting his weight in.

Now Sirius' approach had rendered the try useless. House of Black had a lot more to offer to House Greengrass than House Malfoy, even if Albus could not see Sirius agreeing to the marriage, neither for him nor for his godson. Still, there was a lot to gain from being close with House Black, because besides its riches and power it would also mean closeness to the boy who lived and House Peverell, something that was a great thing in of itself. Yet if that hadn't been enough the Lord of House Malfoy made the mistake of trying to kidnap Greengrass' daughter, in the process ruining the idea of ever getting close to a most ancient and noble House. Why the man had done so was beyond his knowledge, but he suspected anger and entitlement as the reason. Lord Malfoy had always seen himself as the most important person in the world and now was paying for that belief in the form of a Greengrass/Black cooperation. And with that, a new wind came into the Wizengamot, a wind that smelled surprisingly of change. So maybe Ashwood's proposal would get through this time. Albus would see what little contribution he could bring to this. So the letter was put on the answer stack and Albus resumed reading, a new letter from Ali Bashir, once again advocating that the ban on flying carpets should be lifted. He was the largest carpet maker in Syria and of course, he wanted to export these into the UK, one of the largest magical communities in the world. Of course, he didn't say so, his words were far more poetic and danced around the topic, even though it was clear what the man really wanted, a new market. This was the last of a really long line of different letters, all saying the same thing.

'Let me sell my carpets in your country.'

Albus sighed again just putting the letter onto the answer maybe later stack, a nice name in his head but in reality, it was the will not get a reply due to the lack of time, interest or reason. He was about to pick up the next when a bird swept through the open window. It was a normal thing, happening every day a few dozen times, even when he tried to redirect them to the owlery, it never worked. Still, the bird didn't land on the perch that was placed for the exact reason but instead fluttered his wings and landed right on his table, scattering quite a few of the other letters. Albus looked up in a surprise of this rude behaviour when he realized he knew this bird. It was a white raven, very distinct and the familiar of an old friend, Takeda Nobunaga, a descendant of the famous Oda Nobunaga. In Japan, they didn't use owls but ravens and this one had come a long way. Albus conjured a small tray, using 'Aguamenti' to fill it with water for the bird to drink, before he reached out, taking the folded piece of parchment from the bird.

The Raven by the name of Shiro blinked at him once and then hopped over drinking from the created water. It was an old bird, far older than normal ravens would live, yet still strong and had a similar strange personality as his bound friend. Albus sighed when the bird clicked his beak almost like a chuckle and then flew off, again toppling over a tower of letters, probably on purpose. Takeda was the same way. Albus grumbled, waving his wand and sorting the letters back in their place with a simple swish. He then turned to the letter.

He and Takeda were old friends, from back in the day when Albus had been young and still travelled. He was the deputy headmaster of the Japanese Wizarding school of Mahoutokoro and a little bit wonky, even for Albus' view of the world. This was due to the fact that the man had strong seers blood in his veins, back then when they first met he had been the first seer Albus ever met. He had shown the young Dumbledore the power but also the trickery of a prophecy and he was still very grateful to the man. Also, he had said to him he should be careful with the "boy that spoke with snakes". The problem was over the years he had gotten stranger and stranger, his mind often set on future events and only half minding the present. That was the reason, even in his old age, he was still deputy headmaster because his insights were quite useful and seers blood was highly respected in Japan if it was real.

But and this was the important part, while they were friends the last time they had spoken or written each other had been over six years ago. Albus didn't have the time and Takeda, Albus knew just forgot the time and would be surprised that they hadn't spoken for years if asked. So this letter was highly irregular and took precedence over all other. Albus picked up his glasses again unfolding the letter. Different from the letters he received here in the west, Takeda's letters were just simply folded paper, not sealed, not in an envelope and Albus liked that. It lacked a certain pretentiousness that the ones from the noble Lords and such had.

Dumbledore frowned when he saw inside. Once again like every time Takeda had written him in Japanese, even though he knew Albus wasn't able to read it. He had always said to himself he would learn Japanese, like so many other languages before this but he never got around to it. Other matters had been more important and like so much, it had just been a victim of life with too many tasks and too limited time. So the headmaster got up and walked over to a shelf on the right side of his office. Picking up a different pair of glasses he stopped only for a moment to brush his long thin fingers through Fawkes feathers, making the Pheonix stir in his sleep. Having young Harry and his lovely Dawn in the castle was a reminder of his younger days when he and Fawkes had been the same. Fawkes had been always his most important companion and trusted friend. He had a sharp mind and really good a sense of humour if you could say that. Sadly his mind was rather alien and to this day Dumbledore didn't understand all the emotions that came through their bond to him. Most were rather easy to understand like joy or sadness, but then there were moments like his burning day, something Albus didn't understand to this day what the feeling was that came when the burning day arrived every few years. It was...just too different from human emotions.

Letting his familiar have his sleep he returned to the letter heavy desk and sighed, before placing the new glasses on his nose. It was a special magical artefact, he had created with the help of Jordan Freeling in the early years of the twentieth century. She had been an American witch and had a real eye for languages. While she has been dead for over twenty years now, her magic was still strong in this object, translating every text into plain English, when reading with these on.

We will come instead.

Your Friend.

That was all that was written in the letter, no address no nothing. Just a few words that like so often didn't make any sense. But Dumbledore frowned a little. Just because they didn't make any sense now, didn't mean they wouldn't make sense later. Takeda had a way of speaking in riddles that mostly felt like nonsense but turned out to fit quite often. Albus sighed thinking maybe sometimes people feel this way about me. He liked his own riddles, his own secrets and seeming smarter than everybody else. Only scarce were the times when he was on the receiving end of this kind of behaviour and he had to agree it was annoying. Maybe he should stop doing it, he thought for a short moment before shaking his head. He had this line of thought a few times, exactly every time he came in contact with Takeda for the last twenty years but every time he would just wouldn't do it. An old dog cannot learn a new trick was the reason behind this and it was pretty true in his case. So he just put the letter aside. There was no answer needed, he knew Takeda wasn't expecting one and also it would be futile to ask for what he meant. Albus would know at some point that this was what Takeda meant and he would know it. It would hit him like a truck. Sometimes it took only days, sometimes years.

This time it took only twenty minutes if that. He picked up a letter with the Durmstrang coat of arms on the front, turning it over. He broke the seal, pulling the parchment out of the envelope. It was written in a hasty manner, a different hand than the familiar elegant lines of Headmaster Karkaroff.

Dear Headmaster Dumbledore,

With great sadness, I have to inform you, that Headmaster Karkaroff was murdered two days ago. While I don't want to go into too much detail about this, for reasons of reverence, I must inform you that we found some strange items in the personal chambers of the headmaster. A drawing of a skull biting a snake with the word traitor written in English underneath. While it took us a little bit of time to figure out the meaning, I am certain you are aware of the meaning. Karkaroff was in his youth been part of the extremist faction in your country and obviously, the past has caught up with him.

My honour and the honour of our school demands that will not venture on to the homeland of our headmaster's murderer, so with this letter I announce that the Durmstrang Academy will not participate in the Triwizard Tournament this year. While I am deeply sorry for the short notice these are grim circumstances and I hope you will understand. The Durmstrang Academy holds you in high regards and I know our late headmaster had nothing but respect for you and your accomplishments.

With the utmost respect

Władysław II. Jagiełło

Dumbledore read the letter twice, frowning. Karkaroff murdered? Well to think of it, there had always been the chance. Igor hadn't made many friends at the end of the war when he had sold out a lot of his comrades to the DMLE in exchange for immunity. In fact, Albus had pulled quite a few strings, getting the man a job at Durmstrang, far away from Britain and potential retaliation. There he had quickly made a career for himself and while Albus doubted that the man had liked him, he couldn't argue that Karkaroff had been respectful towards him ever since.

For him to die would be a tragedy and also a problem really. For Durmstrang to pull out would mean they were short of a school and...oh.

Suddenly Takeda's words suddenly made a lot more sense.