"Close the doors", boomed the voice of Chief Walock Macmillan and the doors closed at once.
"Welcome to the third day of the first session of the newly constituted Wizengamot. In the past two days, we have made a functional wizengamot and today, we will deal with matters which are mostly on the administrative side which has to be approved by this body by a majority vote", he said while looking across the chamber, "However before that can happen, we are going to make some changes in the sitting of the houses. In the past, we have sat scattered in factions in this body. Former Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore had the authority to order the sitting to change which he refused but I will use those powers to make a change to the sitting of the houses. From now, there will be no factions in this body but we will sit according to the English Alphabet. We have been long sequestered and now it is time that we changed it."
The chamber erupted into chaos as it was expected. This had come totally out of the blues and many of the members were caught in surprise however Harry could see that Daphne had a gleam in her eye as if she were trying to discern what the end game was.
The Lords of Houses of Rosier, Nott, Vaisey, Bole, Warrington, Bletchley and Montague were also looking in surprised. A lot of them wanted to object but they understood that nothing would come out of it. As they all knew, the Chief Warlock has the authority to do this and nothing could be done to it except making their objections known.
"Does anyone want to speak before I make the arrangements permanent?", asked the Chief Warlock.
To everyone's surprise Felix Rosier stood, "I would like to address the Wizengamot, Chief Warlock."
"The chair recognises Lord Rosier. We are eager to hear your views."
"Lords and Ladies, in the past we have been divided by factions in this body. However it is also true that not all of the houses in any faction were ever of same opinion on any issue. In that condition, placing them in factions and hating them led to nothing but bred resentment against all of them. The arrangement proposed by Chief Warlock seeks to do away with the distinction and we all could express our opinions independently irrespective of what other houses in our faction would think. In my humble opinion, this idea has a lot of merit and I endorse what the Chief Warlock has proposed."
When he sat, Hamish Macmillan rapped his gavel again, "Will anyone else like to speak to this motion?"
Harry wanted to speak to this motion but Daphne, with a subtle shake of her head, asked him to keep his seat and rose, "I would like to speak to this motion, Chief Warlock."
"The chair recognises Lady Greengrass."
"I echo the thoughts expressed by Lord Rosier. I am on the same humble opinion that we should do away with the old system. Since we are starting anew and trying to get over our losses, it is but reasonable that we start it by changing what kept our society divided. This body is a representation of the public of the Wizarding World and of its aspirations. We work to make things better for them and we cannot do it until we are fighting amongst ourselves."
When she sat, the Chief Warlock against asked if someone wanted to speak but when no one raised their hands, he rapped his gavel, "I will now make the arrangements."
About an hour later, the members were sitting in their new fashion. The Minister who had received a tongue lashing from Augusta Longbottom a day before watched things with apprehension. He knew whatever he was seeing was another power play. They were changing the order of things, changing how they used to function under and before Dumbledore. For now, he could do nothing but play along. Later, however he could try to make some moves of his own. As it was, people were now scattered throughout the arrangement and he knew that Macmillan would again shuffle them when the ministry nominated candidates took place on the Wizengamot which was going to be another headache for him because there were not many who could be offered a place on the body at the moment.
He however decided to wait until he found suitable candidates to place upon the body. Until then he could wait and even if the body was not working to its full capacity, Kingsley could always present the motions that he wanted to be passed.
"Now that we are done with the sitting of this body, we have several issues to deliberate upon, the first of which is the trial of death eaters. Minister, do you have a plan?" asked Hamish Macmillan.
Kingsley stood in his place, "Yes, Chief Warlock. The Ministry plans to start the trials from the next week and conducted them with full strength of this body save those who are working in the Auror forces. Many of these lords had a major role to play in the war and as such, they cannot be allowed to sit in those trials for conflict of interests. The same procedure was followed during the last war and will be followed during this war."
Lord Fawler raised his hand, "I wish to speak Chief Warlock."
"The chair recognises Lord Fawley."
"I understand the need to conduct death eater trials and also that such trials would consumer a lot of time and resources. In that case, would it not be better that we conduct these trials by a tribunal composed of the Minister, the Head of DMLE and the Chief Warlock?"
Kingsley stood, "Lord Fawley, your suggestions have merit in them however I don't recommend a trial for many reasons, the first being that I don't want another incident like an innocent being punished or someone being sent to prison without any form of trial. In the last war, the DMLE Head Lord Crouch conducted those trials and it was him who had sent Sirius Black to Azkaban without a trial. Would it not have been better that such trials were conducted with the full strength of this body. That way, it would have saved us a lot of trouble and would have spared Sirius Black, a stint of 12 years in Azkaban for something that he did not do. Also, I myself fought in the recently concluded war and if the final decision making power were to rest in my hands, people can accuse me of being biased. I don't want anything of the sort to happen when we are starting anew and trying to forge new peace in our society."
After Kingsley sat down, the Chief Warlock started speaking again, "Have you decided upon a Head of DMLE yet, minister? As it is the understanding of this body, you need a Head of DMLE to conduct these trials unless you want to deviate from the established practice?"
The minster bowed, "No, Chief Warlock. Since I was a temporary Minister, I was saving the announcement for this moment. The new Head of DMLE shall be Arthur Weasley who has been acting as the Head of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts and Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic till now. From this point onwards, there shall only be a undersecretary to the Minister of Magic unlike when Dolores Umbridge was made senior undersecretary just to plant her at Hogwarts."
The chief warlock nodded, "Very well. Please distribute the schedule of the trials when you have made it. We would like to be informed at least 2 days prior to when they will start."
When he sat, Hamish continued, "The next issue is of Knockturn alley. The minister has proposed to raze down the notorious hub of illegal activities and make it an extension of Diagon Alley as it was originally meant to be. I will now let the minister address this body on this issue."
"The Knockturn alley has been a nest of wasps for the law enforcement ever since Voldemort raised his head during the first war. The alley was meant for extension of Diagon Alley but was taken over by the dregs of our society and those who dabble in dark arts. No law abiding citizen wishes to rush down there and for good reason. During the recently concluded war, the alley was heavily populated by those who belong to the underworld of our world. It is time that it is cleared and restored. Those establishments which clean itself and pose no threat shall be allowed to continue while others will be razed to the ground. No objections in this regard shall be taken by the ministry."
When the minister sat, the Chief Warlock banged his gavel for the final time, "When the ministry had passed a plan for the same, the minister shall be required to place it before this body for further discussions before it will be voted upon."
He then banged his gavel, "This body stands in abeyance till the next session."
As the doors opened, the members started walking out one by one. Daphne who was with Neville, called out to Harry, "Lord Potter, a word please."
Harry reached to them, "What is it, Lady Greengrass?"
"Lord Potter, as we were discussing things yesterday, I want to visit to you with a business proposition which I feel that Lord Longbottom should also be a party to. Will you be kind to meet us in the evening at 6:00 at the Townhouse of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black?"
"I will wait for you, Lady Greengrass", he said tipping his head to her.
As Daphne left, Neville tagged with Harry, "So Harry what you think of her plan?"
"I am yet to her of her plan Neville", he said, "We talked a lot yesterday and she made me talk about the Basilisk."
Neville asked him in wonder, "She made you talk about the basilisk?"
"Yes", replied Harry, "I didn't want to talk about it but it slipped out of my mouth."
"So we are meeting today at your place?", Neville asked.
Before Harry could answer, Arthur Weasley called them, "Harry, Neville."
Harry turned to him smiling, "Lord Weasley."
Arthur smiled, "To you both I shall always be Mr. Weasley."
"You wanted to talk about something, Mr. Weasley?", asked Harry.
"Yes, Molly asked me to tell you both that you are supposed to come to dinner tomorrow evening. You have missed another Sunday dinner and she wanted to save herself the hassle of tracking down you two."
"We will be there, Mr. Weasley", promised Harry.
TRUST FUND
Leaving the ministry, Harry went to the Bank where he was met with Kord, his account manager.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?", asked the Goblin.
"I want to know the conditions for opening a trust vault", said Harry.
"You have to leave the details with me about whoever is going to inherit this trust vault and I will do the rest. Do you want the standard deal?"
"Standard deal?", asked Harry.
The goblin growled, "Haven't you yet opened your journal, Wizard?
"No", said Harry.
The goblin bared his teeth and frowned, "The standard deal means that the vault is filled with 20000 galleons and no withdrawal can be made from it until the person for whom it is meant turns 11. Until it is started, the amount so deposited keeps drawing interest at the rate of 10%. After it become active, the vault is filled 500 Galleons per year which is a small fortune for any wizard with little means of sustenance. That is the standard deal that we offer on all the trust vaults that we open for everyone. The rich families however can increase the sum if they want."
Harry nodded, "I want you to open a trust vault with 20,000 Galleons in the name of Theodore Remus Lupin and keep pouring 500 Galleons in it till he reaches 11. Once it happens, fill it with 600 Galleons an year. The amount for the same shall be deducted from the Black Vault."
The goblin nodded, "Anything else?"
"As a matter of fact there is but it does not require your immediate attention", said Harry.
LPG
When they met that evening, the meeting took place in the sitting room of the townhouse. Andromeda has arranged snacks for them and then retreated. She was Regent for House Black but she had made clear that she wanted to do nothing with the house business.
"So Lady Greengrass, what proposition do you have?", asked Neville.
"Lord Longbottom, yesterday Lord Potter asked me how most of us made our money. I explained to him about the way we do our business", she said, "If we are to become allies, we should share our secrets. However, Lord Potter showed good acumen when I suggested something to him."
"What did I suggest?", asked Harry.
"You and I were discussing Real Estate and considering what the Ministry want to do with Knockturn, I think we should enter into this field", she explained.
"How do we feature in this?", asked Neville.
"In our alliance, we three are the only ones who have the most gold. I know House Longbottom had to spend much on your parents' continuous treatment and you are still doing so yet I know that your family's holdings are vast and you can put in money to make more. Similarly, the Potters were very low key in our society but everyone know that they were always one of the wealthiest and the patent on Sleekeazy still brings in substantial amount. Add to that the vast Black fortune and it easily makes him the wealthiest. Also my family has owned this potions business for years now and we have a substantial fortune to us and I want to increase this wealth manifolds", she said, "So what I am proposing is a partnership between us three. We put in our money and we get Gringotts to buy as much real estate for us as it can procure. With the announcement of the minister today, others will rush to this. We first buy land in Knockturn and then in Hogsmead and later in Muggle London. Besides our main professions, this can prove to be real goldmine."
Neville kept pondering over this for long before he said, "You make a good proposition, Lady Greengrass. However I will need some time to ponder upon this."
She nodded, "Of course, you can discuss this idea with Dowager Longbottom."
He shook his head, "No. Gran want nothing to do with any of house business. She wants me to handle everything now. She has trained me for this since I was a child."
He then asked Daphne, "If I agree to this proposition, who do you recommend to handle these affairs?"
"If my account manager was alive, I would have given him this responsibility but he was killed in the war. Other than him, the only other goblin that I know to be so proficient is Kord who is handling two of the biggest accounts i.e. Black and Potter unless you want to suggest someone else."
"No, no. Kord is fine", he said, "Merlin knows I need someone to care of my gold for me."
Harry snorted, "That makes the two of us, mate."
Harry asked Daphne, "So Lady Greengrass, what other place do you have in mind? I mean I am sure you are not going to be content with just Diagon Alley or Hogsmead."
She raised an eye-brow, "You do presume much, Lord Potter. I am thinking about some place in Muggle London, you know. Some sort of alley with houses clustered around which we can buy and then sell or rent to only wizarding families and get the ministry to cast some charms around those houses so we can use magic without fearing discover from the muggles."
"That is fine idea, Lady Greengrass", said Neville "We will get on that once we are done with Diagon Alley. So how much do I need to put in?"
"From what I guess, Lord Potter can easily become the largest stakeholder. I propose 40% for him and 30% for us each", she said.
"Agreed", intoned Neville.
As apparently they were done with things, Daphne stood to take her leave when Andromeda entered the study, "Now if you three are done talking about business, dinner is ready downstairs and no one is allowed to leave until they are full."
"Hard to argue with that logic", said Neville, "And it will be nice to eat with more people than just my Gran for company."
Ministry of Magic
"The task for all of you today is to cast your most destructive spells at the mannequins in front of you", Proudfoot was saying, "And I don't want to see anyone squirming or staying back."
Harry knew the one spell that he was comfortable with and which had won him the duel with Voldemort and was not about to venture out of his territory. When it was his turn, he cast 'expelliarmus".
The dummy that he was practicing on lost its wand but Proudfoot was scowling, "Is that your toughest spell, Potter?"
"It is one of my best", said Harry.
"It may be efficient spell, Potter but it certainly won't help you against the more experienced death eaters", Proudfoot said.
"I defeated Voldemort with it", said Harry, "Anyone else after him would be easy."
"I have thought about that", said Proudfoot, "The Killing curse should have blasted you spell back into your wand and blow it to smithereens but it didn't happen. I don't think you can become lucky with someone else again. You will need to practice some other curse than that."
"Why do I need to learn another spell when this spell is all that I need?", Harry asked him.
Proudfoot smirked, "If that is what you believe that maybe we should try to duel."
With a signal from him, the floor emptied. Proudfoot had his wand out and trained at Harry, "Fire when you are ready, Potter."
Harry fired expelliarmus at a speed that was hard to follow. Inaudibly the spell left his wand and rushed at Proudfoot who lazily flicked his wand and produced a shield which rendered the spell ineffective.
Proudfoot taunted him, "Is that the best you can do, Potter?"
Harry started firing disarming spells at the Auror who never for a moment looked like he was in trouble. He was in fact laughing and swatting his spells aside and kept taunting him, "Are you sure Voldemort didn't kill himself, Potter? Your spell cannot even touch me."
Harry was getting mad. This Auror was making him feel like a child when it should have been easy to disarm him. It looked like Proudfoot could always sense what Harry was going to do next. No matter how Harry tried but he could not get the best of him.
When Proudfoot had enough of him, he swatted aside Harry's next spell and shot a chain of spells at him. The first Harry swatted aside but the other flipped him upside him and the third had his wand out of his grasp.
When Harry sat up, Proudfoot stood upon him, menacing, "Ths is the Auror Office, Potter. It is not a place for morally squeamish people. Not killing anyone is a moral sentiment but refusing to fire a spell which can disable someone, shows your ineptitude and your lack of will to do what is right. When you enter this office, remember that you are not a ordinary wizard but an Auror of the Ministry of Magic. We don't become Aurors simply because we know to fire some spells. It is much more than that."
After he had chewed Harry enough, he gave him a hand and pulled him to his feet, "Now run along. Gawain Robards want to see you in his office."
As Harry left, Proudfoot was talking to other recruits, "This is a lesson for all of you. Being an Auror, we have three objectives- Do your duty, protect your men and return home in the evening, and don't hesitate to do what is required. If you have any morals then leave them out the door when you come in. You don't win a war by morals. Most of us would not have survived or won the battle of Hogwarts if we cared about being morally right."
A letter
When Harry returned to the Black townhouse that evening, he noticed that Daphne was there in the townhouse and playing with Teddy. He wanted to rush to and pick his godson to play with him but Andromeda made him go change and that he could meet Teddy after he had seen to his daily business.
In the office of the Lord, he had a letter waiting for him. This letter was kept in the middle of the table in the study and hard to ignore. He picked up the letter and saw the crest which was unfamiliar to him. Before he opened it, he called for his elf, "Kreacher".
The ancient elf appeared before him, holding a bottle of milk, "Master calls?"
"What is that bottle for?", he asked the elf.
"Young master Teddy is hungry, Master", said the elf, "Kreacher was preparing milk for him."
"Alright, you can go. Send Andromeda in when you see her", he said and the elf vanished.
Andromeda came with Daphne and they sat on the other side before Harry showed the letter to them, "Andromeda, this letter does not have a name on it. Who is it from?"
Daphne replied in her place, "Lord Potter, we are supposed to know the sender of the letter by the crest on the wax."
"How would I know that?", Harry asked.
"You will need to read the history of wizarding Britain and the houses in particular. There is a book which contains all those details. I think I have an extra copy in the library. I will send it to you if I can find it."
He nodded, "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Show me the crest", she said.
He showed the crest to her and she took a deep breath, "It's the Malfoy family crest."
"Why would they write to me?", he asked.
"Open the letter, Harry", said Andromeda, "You won't know unless you open it."
He opened the letter and it was written in delicate feminine hand:
"Lord Black,
Firstly, I believe that congratulations are in order for you ascension as Lord of House Black. I am happy that it is you who has come to ascend to the position of the Head of House Black as opposed to anyone else including my son, who I found utterly undeserving of this honour anymore. Secondly I am the Lady of House Malfoy but I am also a daughter of House Black. Since I and my family have not been ousted from the Black family tree, I think it is not too presumptuous of me to ask a boon of you as my liege lord. Kindly grant me an audience to you at a location of your choosing, this I ask you.
Narcissa Malfoy nee Black
Lady of house Malfoy"
Having finished reading the letter, he turned to Andromeda, "What I am supposed to do about it?"
It was Daphne who answered, "It is upon you, Lord Potter. She has invoked her right as a daughter of the house to demand an audience with her lord. She may not have been of the model behaviour of a vassal but you cannot deny her request unless you want to banish her from family."
"What does this banishing means?", he asked.
"It means that they will cease to be a part of your family anymore. They will have no relation to the family anymore. Her position on the tapestary will be vacant where it used to sit."
"And how do we banish someone?", Harry asked, "because I don't know what she would ask of me and I don't want to be related to them in anyway."
Andomeda chuckled, "Don't be hasty, Harry. At least hear her before you rush to make a decision."
He nodded, "So what do I write to her?"
"That is for me to tell me, Lord Potter", said Daphne.
"Can you please stop calling me, Lord Potter?", Harry asked her, "you can call me Harry or even Potter."
She nodded, "Call me Daphne then."
Andromeda retreated from the room, "Harry, come to dinner after having sent the letter. Teddy is waiting for you."
Let's see these journals
Next day was a Saturday which was a day off for Harry and he had planned to spend the entire day with Teddy but Andromeda had other idea, "No! You cannot leave those journals unattended forever. You have to study them and you need to study some more for all the customs and formalities that you have to learn for your position. We are going to buy some books today after you have seen those journals."
So it was that Harry opened the journals which he had not even touched until now. It was painfully slow work for him but after an hour, he began to understand it. The Potters had gold, a lot of it but little in the way of Real Estate. Apart from the cottage in the village of Godric's Hollow, they owned a manor house, two more houses in Wizarding Britain and a couple of houses in Muggle London. There were also many investments which they had made into different businesses which brought in lot of gold every year.
The Blacks had a lot of gold but nothing like the Potters but they made up for it in real estate. They had properties in almost every part of Wizarding Britain particularly Hogsmead, Godric's Hollow and Knockturn Alley. There were also many investments and he noticed that in past a large amount of gold had been given to many whose name he knew as prominent death eaters. If all that money that he could see was unaccounted for i.e. there was nothing more in it about where it went then they would have been the wealthiest.
He had to think exactly how much they owned that they were considered one of the wealthiest at a time. The numbers which were before him were enormous but exactly how much.
Something had remained on his mind though and that was Potter Manor. His home. The only place in the world that he was entitled to. A place that he had never seen but that was full of the memories of his ancestors. A place where may be he could find some solace for himself. Where he could actually discover who he was behind all the pomp and grandeur? It was not like he didn't like where he was living currently. He just didn't have any inherent like for the place because Sirius hated it here when he was alive. If Sirius was free, he was sure they would have lived elsewhere and happily, may be even Potter Manor.
He decided that he at least will go and see the manor even if he does not want to live there.
When he came down to the dining table, Andromeda asked him, "Something going on in your mind, Harry?"
"Yes", he replied, "I want to see Potter Manor."
She smiled, "That is obvious. You should go and see it this afternoon."
He nodded, "I will go."
"When are you meeting Narcissa?", she asked.
"Today at 12:00 p.m. in Leaky Cauldron. I had talked to Kingsley and he told me that he would allow her to go out under guard to the Leaky Cauldron. She told him that this meeting was for preparing for the defense of her family at the death eater trials."
She thought over something for a few moments before she replied, "I cannot advise you what to do or what not to do, Harry. If you are going to meet her and if she has any plans as such then you would better go with someone rather than alone."
"Will you come with me?", he asked her.
She laughed, "If I came with you the meeting will be over before it starts. She hates the sight of me same as the insane witch did. I'd rather that you take someone who knows the ways of Slytherins but has a respectable reputation in the society."
"Who do you suggest?"
"Daphne Greengrass".