Disclaimer: I'm too young to be Rowling so there is sadly no way Harry Potter is mine…
Important:
Thank you for all your reviews!
Since I normally don't have time to answer all your fantastic reviews with a thank-you PM, I finally decided to write it down here. I absolutely adore the support I'm shown for my story and wanted to thank all my reviewers for every kind word they wrote to me. So: Thank you. Thank you so much!
To all those who read this and share this day of joy and presents (I forgot the English word, something with born today or some such… xp xD):Happy birthday to you!
Placing: After the war - could be canon…
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Rituals
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"Well," Pollux said, looking at the two children in front of him. "This won't be easy."
Harry and Percy looked at each other.
Susanna on the other hand was ringing her hands.
"What exactly will happen now?" She asked nervously.
Pollux sighed and looked at his brother Marius.
"We're doing a ritual," he explained. "A mostly forbidden ritual, that is."
Susanna frowned at that.
"Will we come into conflict with your law, if we do this?" She asked concerned.
For a moment, Pollux hesitated, then he shook his head.
"Not truly," he said. "This is more of a grey area in this case."
When Susanna frowned at that, he elaborated.
"Normally it's only allowed to be used to gain an heir," he said. "So adopting one boy is allowed by law. Since those two are brothers, it's not explicitly prohibited to adopt both, since it's in our law that orphaned siblings shouldn't be split, but it's also not truly allowed to do, since the law only speaks about getting an heir as exception. Nevertheless we would win if we would ever have to go to trial for this, since the rule about not splitting up families is more important than the other law. It's still a grey area, so I wouldn't advice it in any way or form if I were you."
"I thought we wouldn't advice it anyway," Marius said. "Didn't you want to make sure that it looks like they're my and my wife's children by birth?"
"I did," Pollux replied. "I also changed Susanna's status. She's now a squib-born of the Grey family. Like that nobody will ask about the children having any Grey blood. It also will make sure that both of them are still seen as children of the Grey family without endangering them unnecessarily."
At that, Harry looked at Percy concerned. He wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to advice that they were related to the Greys in any way or form considering that the Death Eaters went out of their way to kill off the whole family.
"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," Marius said in that moment.
Pollux nodded.
"I'm quite sure that it isn't if you go around and tell it someone," he said. "So don't. I simply did it so that the older boy can go and claim the lordship the moment he turns twenty-one or when he's able to prove himself to his family magicks. I did it so that nobody will wonder when it comes out that he's Lord Grey."
Marius nodded at that.
"Alright," he said sighing. "Sounds logical. Now tell us: What do we have to do?"
Pollux sighed.
"Well," he said. "Since we want to keep their Grey-blood and just add the Black blood and Susanna's blood it won't be as easy as normally. Normally we just take some blood from both of you and then mix it into a potion and give it to the children to drink. Since we can't do that without destroying the Grey family, we will have to do a ritual."
Percy frowned at that.
"But rituals are prohibited by the Ministry," he said.
Pollux nodded.
"That they are, child," he said. "Nevertheless, we will do one. You will soon learn that a Black doesn't bow down to the Ministry and its laws and regulations."
Percy's frown deepened and Harry had to hide a snicker. He somehow had the feeling that Percy wouldn't be a happy camper in his new family…
"But the laws and regulations are there for a reason. They're here to keep us safe and –"
"I know, child," Pollux said amused. "But we are Blacks. We play the rules, we don't follow them."
Percy's eyes widened at that.
"Bu –"
"Don't worry, child, you will learn," Pollux said. "And I'm quite sure that the minute you'll have some true Black-blood running through your veins, you will understand."
Harry snickered at that.
"You bet he won't," he thought amused, thinking about Percy's past when he was even more a stickler to the rules than he was today. If prankster-blood in his veins didn't disabuse him from sticking to the rules, Harry was quite sure, Black blood wouldn't work as well.
On the other hand alcohol seemed to work quite well…
"Something to think about later," Harry concluded. At the moment there were other pressing matters to attend.
"The ritual I'm planning will be a little bit more complicated than just simply downing a potion," Pollux said. "I researched it and it should make sure that some of the Black looks and some features of your new mother will mix with your current looks all the while making sure that you retrain enough Grey-blood to not loose your status as heir and heir secundus."
Marius nodded.
"So what do we have to do exactly?" He asked.
At that, Pollux pulled out an old looking scroll and opened it slowly and cautiously. The scroll was brittle and looked to be centuries old.
"I found this one in the Black library," Pollux said. "It's from one of our earliest ancestors we have retrained knowledge from."
"What's in it?" Harry asked interested.
"It speaks about the ritual we will do today," Pollux said. "The ritual isn't known anymore, so it's definitely not regulated by the Ministry. So we will be safe from their interference."
Pollux slowly unfurled the scroll.
"Well," he said; his eyes slowly reading the scroll. "First we need a place in this house where I can draw on the floor."
Susanna frowned at that but in the end led Pollux to the third and last spare-room they had – the other two having been changed into Harry's and Percy's future rooms.
Pollux looked around the room and nodded.
"This should do," he said before pulling out a piece of chalk. "I will have to draw a lot of runes on the floor."
Then he looked up at Susanna.
"Would you mind looking for some things for me?" he asked. "The most things I brought with me, but there are still some I need like some fresh earth and an apple, some salt and some lavender and bay leaves."
Susanna nodded at that and left to fetch those things for him.
Meanwhile Pollux drew out a complex circle of runes and other symbols. To Harry's and Percy's surprise, Marius had started helping his brother. It seemed that Marius Black even as a squib knew runes.
Harry frowned and stepped next to Percy and whispered.
"Did you take runes?" He asked nearly soundlessly. Percy shook his head nearly unseen.
"Care and Arithmancy," he said. "You?"
"Divination and Care," Harry replied.
Percy frowned.
"Would you teach me Arithmancy if I asked?" Harry murmured.
Percy hesitated, but in the end nodded once.
"But only if you truly try to learn," he whispered back.
Harry nodded at that.
"What are you whispering, you two?" Susanna asked in that moment, coming up behind them.
Harry looked at Percy.
Percy looked at Harry.
"We never learned runes," Harry finally said.
That stopped Pollux mid-draw.
He looked up to the adults-turned-teenagers.
"The Greys didn't teach you runes?" He asked frowning, before he shook his head after a moment contemplation. "No, they wouldn't," he said. "I don't think that Erich Grey knew anything but the basics and his family magicks. I guess we will have to teach you Arithmancy, Runes, the Dark Arts, Healing and maybe even some potions…"
Harry wanted to groan at the prospect of having to learn not only one subject but who knows how many.
"Well, don't worry," Pollux said. "If I come every day we should get down at least the basics before the end of the school year. You'll both take your OWL's at the Ministry and then we'll talk about either sending you to Hogwarts next year or continuing to home-school you."
Harry and Percy exchanged a dismayed look at that.
Neither of them wanted to be home-schooled by a family known for their knowledge of the Dark Arts – but neither wanted to return to Hogwarts for the next two years as well. They would utterly destroy the time-line if they entered Hogwarts as two new students!
Pollux and Marius meanwhile had finished their runic circles and now stood up and dusted themselves off.
Then Pollux pulled out different kind of things from his pockets.
There were things Harry didn't even recognize, there were things Harry had seen used in different kind of potions in the past and there were some potions as well.
Pollux studied his scroll before placing those different ingredients on different runes in the runic circles on the floor.
"Alright, Susanna," he said in the end. "Cut the apple in seven pieces and give them to me together with the lavender and the bay leaves. Then take the salt and put it on the outer circle so that its all around the smaller circles."
Susanna did as she was told.
Then Pollux pulled out two vials of potions.
"Marius, Susanna," he said. "Each of you add about three drops of blood in each vial." After Marius and Susanna had done it, Pollux gestured to Harry and Percy.
"Alright, children," he said. "Take those potions with you and add three drops of your own blood into the one you're holding. Both of you stand in one of the circles with the Eihwaz runes in their middle." When he saw their confused faces, he pointed at the rune and Harry and Percy searched the runic circles for them. They each found one and took their place, before using their wands to cut their finger and adding the blood to the vials.
Pollux meanwhile had instructed Marius and Susanna where they had to stand and had then taken his place as well.
"Alright," he said. "From now on there will be a lot of chanting and speaking. The moment I'm done chanting the first part, you won't be able to leave the runic circle you're in right now. When I'm done, children, take the potion you're holding. After that, in the other two empty circles two of our ancestors will appear – one of each magical family that will continue to exist in your veins at the end of the ritual. They will each question us all about our intentions, all the while ensuring that we're telling the truth by reading our minds. After that I'll chant again and if they accept you they will give you your new name."
Harry frowned at that.
"What about our current names?" He asked. Not that they had told their current names to the three Blacks, but he needed to know anyway.
"Usually your new first name is based one your old one while at the same time fitting with the naming tradition of your new family," Pollux explained. "Your second name is based on your character or new status in our family. Like your first name it most likely should be a star-based name since they are traditional in the Black family."
"So our old names will be gone?" Percy asked frowning.
"I fear they will. There's nothing we can do to change that without sending out flags that something's different with you. Like your father's name, your old names will be gone. You won't be 'sons of Erich Grey' anymore, you will be 'sons of Marius Black'. The ritual will name you such and it will ensure that nobody else will ever connect you with your old identity ever again," Pollux replied. "Now, don't interrupt me. This will take some time."
And with that, he began.
The chant he spoke was in old Latin. Harry didn't understand the words, but he noticed the repeat.
One time.
Two times.
Three.
The moment Pollux ended his chant for the third time, the circles lit up in golden light and suddenly two silvery ghosts appeared on the empty runic circles.
One of them looked like an ancient man with long grey beard and dark eyes. If he hadn't have a grave look on his features, he might have looked a little bit like Dumbledore.
It was this ghost who spoke first.
"Why do you call us, descendants of mine?" He asked.
"We called for you to accept these two children as part of our family," Pollux replied, gesturing to Harry and Percy.
Harry looked at Percy anxiously.
Percy stared at the ghost fearfully.
And then Harry could feel someone riffling through his mind – again.
"If we accept them, what will you do?" The old ghost asked.
"We will cherish them and name them our sons," Marius replied steadily.
"Not caring what they've been through?" The old man asked.
"They may have their past," Susanna replied. "But if you make it happen, their future will be with us."
The old man frowned.
"And if we accept you, what will you do?" And this time he clearly was addressing Harry and Percy.
Harry gulped but returned the gaze of the ghost while trying to ignore the feeling as if someone was looking into his mind. He was sure that it was nobody of the living and he hoped that the dead would keep their secret.
"I don't betray family, if that's what you fear," he said. "I have my morals, I can't and won't break them; but I also will stand by those people whom I call family until the bitter end if I have to."
"I went against my family once, against my better judgment. I won't do so again if they're not what I perceive as evil. I can't follow evil, but I won't go against family just because they look at things in a different way than I do," Percy said strongly.
The ghost inclined his head and vanished.
"What will you do to cherish my children?" Another ghost asked and Harry was surprised to recognize Erich Grey.
"We will look after them as if they were born to us," Susanna promised. "I won't try to make them forget, but I will try to be a second mother to them if they have me."
"We will sit by them if they have nightmares, we will clothe them, feed them, teach them. We will look after them as our own if they will have us as their second parents," Marius said.
"We will recognize them as family and shield them from the world and those that want to harm them if they will have us as their second family," Pollux replied.
"Are you willing to not only bear your burden as my heirs and children but as theirs as well?" Erich Grey asked Harry and Percy.
"We are," Harry and Percy answered after a second of contemplation. "We will do everything in our power to be you worthy heirs while being worthy heirs to them as well."
At that, Erich Grey inclined his head and vanished as well.
Pollux opened the mouth to continue with the ritual, when another ghost suddenly appeared.
The ghost, unlike the other two, wasn't silvery. He was still see-through, but his hair was black as the night, his eyes were oddly shaped, blood-red, gold and bronze coloured.
Like Erich Grey he appeared in the runic circle, but instead of staying there like the other ghost, he stepped out of it and towards Harry.
Harry's eyes widened when he saw the ghost.
It was the ghost he had met on the ghostly King's Cross last night.
The ghost reached Harry's circle and before Harry could step backwards, the ghost's hand reached out and grabbed his chin.
The ghost's hand felt oddly solid.
The other, as solid hand of the ghost found Harry's hair.
"Is this truly what you chose, youngest son of Erich Grey?" the ghost asked and Harry could see not only Percy but also the three adults shiver at those words. "Is this your choice, child of Erich Grey?"
Harry gulped, while actively remembering the pain the man had caused him last night. Something had changed since then and Harry still had had no time to look into the change.
Harry closed his eyes, taking a deep breath while trying to reign in his fear.
"It is my choice," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.
The blood-red eyes pierced his soul.
"So you won't stop it whatever the consequences will be?" The man asked, his blood-red eyes freezing Harry on the spot.
"I won't," Harry answered strongly, his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
The man smiled, revealing sharp fangs – the teeth of a predator, not of a vampire.
The hand in Harry's hair patted his cheek.
"Oh, child," the man said. "You beautiful child."
His hand caressed Harry's temple and hair.
"So sweet, so strong, so utterly perfect," the man whispered. "And yet you're shadowed by the child you now call your brother. You should shine on your own, youngest son of Erich Grey."
The moment the man said the words, flames erupted from the rune beneath Harry's feet. Harry screamed when a burning mouth touched his forehead in a gentle kiss.
Then the man with the blood-red eyes vanished like the other two ghosts.
Harry fell to his knees.
He saw the fear in his future parents' and uncle's eyes. He saw the fear in Percy's eyes and the flames burned around him, burned him alive.
And yet, nobody could help him as long as the ritual was still in process.
He could hear Pollux muttering the last words hastily, trying to end the ritual before Harry burned to death.
Then the circle lit up in golden light again.
The next Harry knew was the golden light hitting the flames and combining with them. Golden flames burned him, cursed through his veins and burned his eyes.
Like in a dream, he heard the voice of the first ghost – the old man – speak to him and everyone else in the room.
"Welcome to the family, heir of Marius and Susanna Black, Perseus Marius Black," the ghost's voice said. "We will look forward to your deeds for the family."
For a moment, Harry's vision blackened, then he heard the voice of the old ghost again.
"Welcome to the family, heir secundus of Marius and Susanna Black, Eridanus Iudex Azccabanis Black," the old man's voice said. "Youngest son of Erich Grey."
The flames surrounding Harry turned blood-red, golden and bronze.
Percy screamed Harry's name.
Marius and Susanna ran forwards towards Harry the moment the magic of the ritual vanished.
Pollux pulled out his wand to put out the flames.
A woman in Harry's head pleaded with a monster for the life of her son.
And blood-red eyes traced the delicate features of an adult-turned child, a smile on the thin lips.
"Youngest son of Erich Grey," the voice of the Black ancestor whispered, his voice laced with the voice of a man with blood-red eyes.
Harry lost consciousness.
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I hope you liked it.
Ebenbild