Sorry, I've made another amendment back in Keeping Up Appearances…. That Clan Slytherin also became part of the House of Peverell before they merged with the House of Potter. Tom Riddle claimed that he was the Heir of Salazar Slytherin (a false claim, according to most family trees posted, as they show him being descended from Salazar's sister). The only line of note that the Gaunt Family was descended from was that of Cadmus Peverell, so that's their only likely claim to the Slytherin title. The Peverell line became part of the Potters so IMHO the Slytherin title would come with it, if and when the Slytherin Family Magic accepted them. This means that Harry has claimed three Most Noble and Most Ancient Titles, as well as three notable Noble and Most Ancient titles through the House of Peverell.
And Hadrian's middle name has been changed from Fleamont to John to make a few developments in this and later chapters work (and both twins having the initials HJP is something the Wizarding World would probably think was clever IMHO).
I also added a clause into James and Lily's betrothal/marriage contract that automatically annulled the marriage and returned Lily to her maiden name when James breached it by trying to implement a plan to kill her off in Chapter one. The way I see it, it makes easier for everyone to believe Lily Potter died if she no longer exists. That also removed any potential conflicts over the title Lady Potter because Lily is Lily Evans, Lady McAfee or Lady Rhys.
Usual disclaimers, refer Chapter 1.
Their first morning at Hogwarts started with their normal morning routine, an hour of warriors' training in the indoor and 'outdoor' training areas of Bennu, the Ship Trunk Harry was using. After that, they got cleaned up and headed down to breakfast.
They put up with the loud comments from the Slytherin table for a while before Harry stood and walked over to stand opposite Marcus Flint and Draco Malfoy, who were among the most vocal.
"Mister Flint, Mister Malfoy."
Flint glared at him, angry about being tricked into betraying his House Master the night before.
"What do you want you little shit?"
"Oh good, I will not have to dance around the point of my visit…. While I doubt that you will grasp what I am saying, I hope that some of your brighter House mates will be able to explain it to you in language that you can understand. The point is that while I will not be retaliating for anything said in the witness statements yesterday, and I will make allowances for the verbally abusive comment you just made because of your ignorance, this will be your one and only warning!"
"As Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Its Associated Houses…. I, Henry James Potter Peverell Black, hereby swear that if Marcus Antonius Flint, Heir to the Minor House of Flint, Draconus Lucius Malfoy, Heir to the Minor House of Malfoy, or any of their proven associates ever attempt to verbally, magically or physically attack myself or anyone else declared to be part or friends or allies of the House of Black again, I will formally declare Feud on the Minor Houses of Flint and Malfoy and their sworn allies. If Feud is declared, I will do my utmost to ensure that the Houses of Flint and Malfoy and their sworn allies are eradicated!"
There was a flash to say that his oath was magically accepted and then he looked around the Slytherin table. "May I rely on the better informed of you to explain to Mister Flint and Mister Malfoy in small enough words for them to understand exactly what will happen to their families and their allies if they or their friends are foolish enough to attempt to attack me or mine again?"
Most of the Slytherins were looking worried at that, and the brighter ones were already trying to work out whether their families could be brought down if, or rather when, Flint or Malfoy did something else stupid. Someone stunned Flint and Malfoy when they worked out that they'd just been threatened and started to arc up and the smarter Slytherins assured Harry that they'd make sure that they understood his message. Harry thanked them and returned to the Ravenclaw table.
The majority of the students who had answered Amelia's questions about the rights of the Head of a Most Noble and Most Ancient House the night before had been sitting at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables and they were well aware that Harry could make good on his threat. Most of the brighter Slytherins and Ravenclaws were now trying to work out how their families could sever all ties with the Flints, Malfoys and anyone allied with them. They also put out word that anyone who did or said anything to Henry Potter and anyone associated with him would wish that they were dead, because the majority of the students in Slytherin and Ravenclaw would qualify as Flint and Malfoy's 'proven associates'.
Harry put the stop watch that he'd activated when he declared a potential feud on the Houses of Flint and Malfoy and their allies on the table in front of him when he sat down again, because he knew that Dumbledore would be there as soon as he could. He reached out and stopped the clock when an out of breath Dumbledore arrived and tried to pull off his trademark 'disappointed grandfather' act, opening with "Harry..."
Harry turned his head to give him the same raised eyebrow look as he had Snape the night before and cut him off.
"Excuse me Headmaster, but it is extremely inappropriate for an unrelated adult whom I do not know, such as yourself, to be addressing a minor like myself in such a familiar manner when I have not given you leave to address me familiarly, or even to use my given name for that matter. Given that my only relationship with you is as the Headmaster of the school I am currently attending, I must ask that you offer me the same courtesy as you would any other student and address me as Mister Potter…. However as I will concede that this could cause confusion when my brother is present, I am prepared to permit you to address me as Henry Potter and him as Hadrian Potter in those situations…. Speaking of my brother Hadrian, it is my understanding that you are far more familiar with him than you are with me and that you habitually address and refer to him as Harry or Harry Potter, so why are you now using that form of address for me as well? Your behaviour is quite confusing Headmaster."
Albus was taken aback and confused, he had had what was going to happen clear in his mind when he stormed down here, but now the only thing he could think was. 'Whaaaattt?' He shook his head.
"I don't have time for your childish games Mister Potter! You have no idea how dangerous what you just did was and I insist that you revoke that oath immediately!"
Harry signalled for the others to jump in any time they liked and they didn't disappoint. Daphne, Susan and Neville, as Heiresses and Heir to three of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses surged out of their seats, but Daphne got in before the others.
"How dare you attempt to dictate to the Head of a Most Noble and Most Ancient House what he must do on a matter of honour? The only reason the Dumbledores even rate as a Minor House is that you were given an Order of Merlin in an attempt to make the Minister for Magic look good Forty Five years ago and you proved last night that you have never bothered to learn the rules and laws of Magical Britain. And yet you have the unmitigated gall to attempt to dictate the actions of the Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black in a matter of honour that does not involve you and you clearly do not understand? It cannot be countenanced! It will not be countenanced!"
"I, Daphne Celeste Greengrass, Heiress to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of the House of Greengrass's sworn ally, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" There was a flash as her oath was accepted (the accepted Heir or Heiress of a House can also declare feuds and alliances for their House).
Luna went next. "I, Lune Pandora Lovegood, Heiress to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Marchbanks, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of the House of Marchbank's sworn ally, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" There was another flash as her oath was accepted and Neville spoke up.
"I, Neville Francis Longbottom, Heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of the House of Longbottom's sworn ally, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" As his oath was accepted, Hermione Jane spoke up.
"I, Hermione Jane Dagworth Granger, Heiress to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Le Fay, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of the House of Greengrass's sworn ally, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" There was a flash as her oath was accepted too and Susan spoke.
"I, Susan Amelia Bones, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of the House of Bones' sworn ally, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!" Her oath was accepted too and Harry stood.
"I, Henry James Potter Peverell Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, do hereby declare feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies for Albus Percival Dumbledore, Head of the Minor House of Dumbledore's attempted interference in a matter of honour of my House, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!"
He bowed to Neville and the girls once his oath was accepted. "I thank you, the House of Black is most honoured to have the support of its esteemed friends and allies, the Houses of Greengrass, Marchbanks, Longbottom, Le Fay and Bones, and swears to render aid to them if and when they require assistance."
His grateful and happy expression faded as he turned to Dumbledore.
"Given your recent track record Headmaster, I would suggest that you hold your tongue until you have received advice from someone who actually understands the rule of magic in Magical Britain, but to put this in a nutshell…. Due to your unwanted and unwarranted attempt to interfere in a matter of honour of my House, the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Longbottom, Le Fay, Bones and Black and Most Noble and Ancient Houses of Greengrass and Marchbanks have now declared feud on the Minor House of Dumbledore and its sworn allies…. I would suggest that you attempt to refrain from saying or doing anything else that may anger or otherwise induce a reaction from any of our houses as that may well result in the decimation of the House of Dumbledore and its allies…. I would also suggest that you inform your allies that they have been drawn into a feud with four of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses and two of the Most Noble and Ancient Houses as the result of your actions, because you will most probably have some very angry people coming after you if they have to find that out from us."
Dumbledore realised that he didn't understand what had just happened well enough to take the risk that the brat wasn't bluffing about the consequences, so he just turned around and returned to the Head Table without a saying a word.
The representatives of the Old Families and the brighter representatives of the other factions didn't have much trouble working out that those four had just started the process of stripping allies away from two of the key factions in the Wizengamot, the so-called ex-Death Eaters and Albus Dumbledore. The House of Black had proven that it was more powerful than the remaining Death Eaters, so Harry saying that he'd eradicate anyone allied with the Houses of Flint and Malfoy in the almost certain event of Marcus Flint, Draco Malfoy and their friends doing something else stupid was guaranteed to have many houses cutting ties with them. Harry hadn't expected the situation with Dumbledore to go that far, but once Daphne latched onto the fact that they had valid grounds to declare a feud on him and anyone allied with him as well, he, Neville, Hermione Jane and Susan had followed her lead, and only a fool would stand with Dumbledore against four of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses and two Most Noble and Ancient Houses when the feud was declared on a matter of honour….
And when Harry came out and revealed that he was also Head of the Houses of Potter and Peverell, Dumbledore would lose even more allies, because the more astute would realise that hiding his strength had been a calculated move to disarm his enemies, which obviously included Albus Dumbledore. Revealing that sort of strength and guile would make most think twice about going up against him and those aligned with him.
It was possible that some would be clever enough to sever ties with the named Houses and then turn around and regroup under another brand, but many alliances used magically binding contracts that locked in the agreed benefits for either side and were very difficult to work around once breached. Whatever happened, the Death Eater and Dumbledore factions would be damaged by this, and there was a good chance that some of the Houses that severed ties with them would decide to play it safe and move to the Neutral factions, and possibly even the Albion Alliance if they'd had real change of heart.
While the feuds declared against the House of Dumbledore helped, and they may well try and use them to bring forward their plan to get Dumbledore dismissed from the position of Chief Warlock, they were still going forward the plan they came up with the night before, to create tailored memory crystals from compilations of Snape's memories of what he did to members of most Houses who had seats on the Wizengamot, both as a teacher and Death Eater, along with what Dumbledore and others had done to assist in and cover up his actions, and deliver them to the ones who would be voting before Snape's trial came up. Some would say that it was illegal/immoral/unethical/Dark to do this but to Harry's and most of the others' minds, it was just sharing the truth about matters which effected the Wizengamot members' families.
Harry's ruminations were interrupted by Professor Flitwick (they were only allowed to call him Uncle Filius or Uncle Fili in private) distributing their class schedules. Filius let the cat out of the bag when he chuckled and said.
"I think it's time to drop the glamours and let your classmates and teachers see your true appearance, don't you Mister Potter? I believe I speak for all your teachers when I say that we don't wish to waste half of our class time explaining who you are and where those other students have gotten to."
Harry nodded. "Of course Professor Flitwick. I apologise, I should have thought of that myself but it slipped my mind with all the other drama going on… But I expect that I will have to get used to that with the Drama Queen holding court here, won't I?"
He saw Dumbledore bristling at that jab out of the corner of his eye, but he obviously accepted that causing a scene would just lock the title in for those who hadn't worked out who Harry was referring to so for once the old man held his tongue.
Filius nodded with a chuckle. "Indeed Mister Potter." Adding "If you will?" with a wave to the group.
Harry nodded again and cancelled the glamour, with the others following suit.
Pandemonium reigned in the Great Hall until Minerva set off a few blasts of sound to get people's attention and spoke. "As Professor Flitwick said, it would be better to get this out of the way here and now, so if you and your party could come up here, and someone could ask your tutors to join us Lord Black, it would be appreciated."
Harry nodded, making a show of calling for a House Elf to go get his Mum, Auntie Pan and Uncle Al and Xeno before they stood and proceeded to the Head Table dais.
They all knew that Harry was the key figure in what was playing out here, so once they were all on the dais, Minerva waved him forward.
Harry looked around the Great Hall and then started to speak.
"Please bear with me as I give you the necessary background information before I explain why we look so much different… As I revealed last night, I am Henry James Potter Peverell Black, First Born son of James Charlus Potter and Lily Jasmine Potter and older twin brother of Hadrian John Potter, better known to most of you by the questionable title of the Boy Who Lived…. I am also Lord Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and Its Associated Houses, because my Godfather, Sirius Black the Third, was Heir to the House of Black when I was born and with the approval of the last Lord Black, his Grandfather Arcturus Black the Third, he performed the ritual to formally make me his Heir. Uncle Arcturus agreed to my becoming next in line for the title of Lord Black because my Grandmother, Dorea Potter Peverell nee Black, was his favourite cousin and I was closer in blood to him than any other claimants to the Black titles. I was magically accepted as Head of the House of Black earlier this year when Uncle Arcturus passed away."
"On the night of Samhain, better known as Halloween around here nowadays, ten years ago, the Potters and the Longbottoms were betrayed by people they believed they could trust and set up to be killed by Tom Marvolo Riddle and his minions, commonly known as Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The only person of note who actually died that night was my Godfather Sirius Black, who gave his life trying to protect us and in the process made me the Black Heir. The next day my mother, Lily Evans and I were forced to flee Magical Britain to escape those who were plotting to kill us, and after that we remained in hiding until I came to Hogwarts…."
He saw a very nervous looking young Ravenclaw putting up his hand hesitantly and signalled him to speak.
"Could you explain why you're using different names for yourself, your father and brother, your Grandmother and your mother? Aren't you all Potters?"
Harry smiled at him. "Good question. I was accepted by the Family Magics of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter, Peverell and Black and Their Associated Houses, so I bear all three names. My father and brother were not accepted by the Family Magics, but they were born Potters so they retain the family name. Grandmother Dorea was accepted by the Family Magics of the Houses of Potter and Peverell and Their Associated Houses as a worthy consort for Grandfather Charlus, who in turn was accepted as Lord and Head of House by the Family Magics…. And while Mum was Lily Potter when I was born, her marriage contract was breached by a plot to kill her on the day after we were attacked so she was released from it and returned to her maiden name... While we're at it, Uncle Arcturus and Sirius were accepted as Head and Heir by the Family Magics of the House of Black and Its Associated Houses, but their other titles aren't Most Noble and Most Ancient so they aren't included in their names…. Sorry, did any of that make sense? Neville's much better at this type of thing than I am."
The boy nodded, looking thoughtful. "Yes, it did thank you."
Harry nodded with a smile and continued.
"Okay, thank you for bearing with me, now I will get to why most of us look so different to how we appeared last night. While we were in hiding with other members of the Albion Alliance for the last ten years, we have been keeping an eye on what was happening in the Wizarding World, and particularly Magical Britain and the activities of those we were hiding from… My fellow Heirs, Heiresses and I have spent the last ten years in 'real' time learning as much as we could to prepare us to be able to survive in Magical Britain today. There was no way to fit everything we needed to know into ten years' education however, so most of us have extended that by at least four or five years through the use of runic time chambers… We were using runic glamour charms to hide our true appearance until we were safely inside Hogwarts and had planned to reveal ourselves last night, but other events got in the way of that... Anyway, that's why we look years older, because we've lived those extra years."
"In the course of the fourteen or fifteen years of training we have done, we completed the first four years of our formal Magical education, passing all the necessary exams and tests with the Ministry of Magic's Wizarding Examination Authority, so as allowed by the Hogwarts Charter, we will be starting most of the Fifth Year classes with the other students here…. We have also claimed the right of the magically accepted Heads and Heirs of Most Noble Houses to reside in the Lords Tower while we are at Hogwarts, both for our own security and to make it easier for our year mates in Ravenclaw…."
"Oh, that's another thing… Most of us are betrothed under the Old Laws and as Heirs and Heiresses of at least Noble and Ancient Houses, we are have the legal right to act as we see fit to defend our honour against anyone making unwanted advances to us… So I would advise against making advances to any of us unless you are willing to risk losing your magic and are officially authorised by your Head of House to accept full responsibility for the repercussions of your actions on behalf of your House….."
Harry covered his smirk at the gobsmacked (and fearful) expressions on most of the faces he could see as he stepped back and nodded to Auntie Minnie to hand things back over to her. Minerva shook her head at him with a look of fond exasperation as she stepped forward.
"Thank you Lord Black, you have covered most of the points quite well. I believe that the only important point you have missed was identifying everyone now that they are displaying their true appearance, and also introducing your tutors… No, that is another point which should be explained..."
"As some here may know, but I expect most don't, the Hogwarts Charter guarantees the rights of families to hire private tutors to teach their children those subjects that they do not believe are properly covered by Hogwarts' normal classes. Most families do not choose to go to the expense of hiring tutors and creating the necessary facilities when the Hogwarts classes are generally regarded as being 'good enough' to teach their children the given subjects… However the Houses of Black, Longbottom, Greengrass, Bones and some of the other Houses represented in this group of students have chosen to engage tutors and create facilities for their children in a number of the core and elective subjects…."
With that she went through and introduced each of them, aside from Harry, who had introduced himself. The biggest reactions were to the erstwhile Lily Potter and Alastor Moody, and Alastor got far more attention than Lily due to his drastically changed appearance to how people remembered him. Lily mainly generated speculation, though her younger son looked away in shame as he remembered calling her a Stupid Mudblood who'd been screwing Uncle Sirius the night before.
Harry smirked as he surreptitiously watched Dumbledore because the old goat botherer was cycling between going white with fear and red with rage as he thought about all the secrets that had been revealed, and he got a better idea of just who he was up against. Only a fool would want to go up against Alastor Moody or (though he was loathe to admit to her being a threat to him) Lily Potter, and the looks those two were shooting him said that that was exactly what he was doing. He consoled himself with the thought that, the embarrassments of last night and this morning notwithstanding, they could not hope to challenge his might in the Wizengamot, and that was where wars were won or lost in Magical Britain.
The next week was fairly quiet, Marcus Flint and Draco Malfoy were sent home for their own protection, and so that their families could make sure they understood exactly what would happen to them if they screwed up that badly again. Flint spent a couple of days in bed recovering from the beating his father gave him for singlehandedly destroying most of what he'd spent the last twenty years putting together but Draco was protected from severe abuse by his mother.
On the day of Severus Snape's trial, Albus was confident that he had everything arranged to clear Severus and put Amelia Bones in her place. He had noted that few of his supporters had taken the time to stop and chat with him, but he put that down to their being in a hurry to get on with the tasks he'd given them. As he would be presiding as Chief Warlock, he had assigned Elphias Doge to be Severus' advocate, he couldn't do a good a job as he, himself, could of course, but it wouldn't be difficult to defend him. Elphias had been nattering on about something being a complication but he hadn't had time to listen to his drivel.
Albus was surprised when he entered the Wizengamot Chamber, because he had never seen it that full, it appeared that every sitting member was present, and the gallery was full as well. There was an angry undercurrent in the Chamber and he smiled to himself as he realised what it was about, obviously the Albion Alliance had pushed to have everyone present and people were angry about having to interrupt their normal routines to attend. That was sure to work in his favour.
He got the first inkling that this wasn't going to be the pleasant memory he expected after the agenda was read out and Severus' trial was announced. That Bones female stood and demanded that he recuse himself from sitting as Chief Warlock for this session as the accused was a known associate of his, and almost the entire Wizengamot agreed so he was forced to stand down, giving up his seat to Tiberius Ogden.
It only got worse after that, because the Potter brat stood and claimed the Black seat as the magically accepted Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and then proceeded to also claim, and be magically accepted by, the seats of Potter and Peverell, and reaffirmed his Houses' allegiance to the Albion Alliance. Susan Bones then did the same with the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Bones. This meant that Potter was the most powerful person in the Chamber and reminded the rest of the Wizengamot that six of the seven Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses were part of the Albion Alliance. That started an avalanche of changes as Wizengamot Members stood and revoked their alliances with the Death Eaters' and his faction and declared their new allegiances. The Death Eaters losing votes didn't bother him but his faction losing them certainly did, especially when over half of the ones changing allegiance had abandoned the Pure-Blood factions and aligned themselves to the Neutral factions. This was not good at all, because the Neutral factions would need to be courted to support Pure-Blood issues and it always cost more to buy votes from outside your own factions.
When Severus' trial started, he tried to take over from Elphias as his advocate, but he was denied as procedure stated that changes of advocate had to be announced prior to the session starting. Bones just ran roughshod over Elphias as she demanded that they question Severus under Veritaserum and shot down all his arguments because Severus was not a Pure-Blood, then she somehow managed to whip the members into enough of a frenzy to get them to repeal the law assuring Pure-Bloods' rights to refuse to be questioned under Veritaserum…. which they themselves had passed after the war! Of course refusing to be questioned under Veritaserum was tantamount to admitting you were guilty, what would be the point of fighting it if you were innocent? Really! Many of the questions she asked were not related to what Severus was being tried for, but when he tried to challenge that he was shouted down by most of the Wizengamot members. They seemed to be determined to hear the answers to her questions for some reason… And those answers damned Severus to being thrown through the Veil of Death.
It was Cyrus Greengrass who had struck the most telling blow of the session though, because after Severus was sentenced he stood and presented an obviously well prepared challenge to Albus' qualifications to hold the seat of the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, bringing up things like Bones' claim that Hogwarts students knew more than Albus about the laws of Magical Britain and those ridiculous feuds declared by the Greengrass Heiress among others against him. Someone had obviously spent a lot of gold on ensuring that this challenge would go through, because a clear majority of the Wizengamot voted to dismiss him from the position he'd held for over Forty Five years and there were almost as many votes to have Tiberius Ogden formally installed as Chief Warlock in his place.
No, this day had not gone at all as Albus was expecting it to. The only saving grace was that Minister Fudge still sought his advice on most issues and did as he was told. Millicent retiring apparently out of the blue on a day when the Pure-Blood factions had a majority in the Wizengamot had given them a willing, if exceedingly mediocre, tool.
When Albus returned to Hogwarts, he summoned Flitwick and demanded to know why two Ravenclaw students had been allowed to leave Hogwarts without his permission, but that thrice damned Half-Breed had had the gall to laugh at him.
"I see that you have not done what both Madam Bones and Lord Moody admonished you to do and availed yourself of an understanding of the Hogwarts Charter and the laws of Magical Britain Headmaster!"
"If you had done so, you would know that any Head of a Most Noble or Noble House who is a student at Hogwarts has the right to leave the school any time they deem it necessary to deal with the business of their Houses. You would also know that attempting to interfere with the Head of a Most Noble or Noble House conducting the business of their House is a crime in Magical Britain, and if that House is Most Noble and or Most Ancient, they have the absolute right to decide the punishment for that crime. If you had done your homework Headmaster, you would have discovered that the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Black, Bones, Greengrass and Longbottom let you off lightly when they only declared a feud on you and your allies. They would have been well within their rights to eradicate you and your allies and claim everything you own without giving you any warning. So do not attempt to assert your authority Headmaster, because you will find that in this matter you have none."
With that, he turned and went to leave the office but Dumbledore stopped him.
"I wish to speak to Mister Potter about this, bring him to me!"
Filius laughed at him again. "Are you mad Headmaster? Quite aside from the fact that you do not have the authority to summon the Head of three Most Noble and Most Ancient and three Noble and Most Ancient Houses. I know that you heard Lord Potter Peverell Black reminding Snape of Hogwarts' requirements if the Headmaster wishes to speak with a student last night and will remind you that he has declared a feud against you and your allies as Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. If I leave this office with your summons for Henry Potter to appear before you, the one who will be answering that summons will be his Sworn Champion Lord Alastor Moody, Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Moody!"
"So, will you be rescinding that summons or shall I be asking Lord Moody to give you half an hour to get your affairs in order before be comes?"
Dumbledore snarled at him. "Forget about Potter, but you will be answering for this insubordination Flitwick!"
Filius just smirked at him and left the office with a spring in his step.
Albus fumed that the Half-Breed would have the gall to defy and taunt him like that. It seemed that everything had fallen apart since the Mudblood and her Squib son suddenly reappeared in Magical Britain. He couldn't even make pawns like Arthur Bloody Weasley fall in line any more. Bones had actually rewarded the fool for breaking Sturgis' nose when he sent him to the DMLE to shame Weasley into going home and doing what he was told. Not only had he had to give Sturgis the Hundred Galleons to pay his fine for 'attacking a DMLE member'. Bones had annexed the Ministry's Muggle Motor Pool into the DMLE years ago, arguing that under the Statute of Secrecy, the DMLE had oversight of all Magical interactions with the Muggle World, but he'd heard from one of his people in the Ministry that it had recently been made part of Weasley's Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. That meant that he'd gotten a significant pay rise, as well as acquiring a lot more influence, space and people. The only thing in his old office now was an intern who handled requests for the main team, and he'd also heard that anyone who tried to get heavy handed with the intern was heavily penalised… This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all!
Unfortunately, being put in check isn't enough to take an experienced player out of the game and no matter how deluded he was, Albus Dumbledore had been playing Wizards chess with live Wizards for nigh on a Century.
Of course, having the experience to be able to play through challenges didn't stop him making stupid mistakes, like having James Potter demand that Harry relinquish the Potter and Peverell titles to him.
James Potter bailed Harry up on his way to class in Hogwarts, making what was initially a polite request for a private meeting with his son, the day after Snape's trial. It didn't take a genius to work out who had gotten him into Hogwarts and whose orders he was working under, so there was no way Harry was agreeing to that. James struggled to rein in his temper when Harry refused any meeting at Hogwarts outright, but told him that he and his Regent would be prepared to meet with him at Gringotts and asked what exactly he was requesting a meeting for.
"Very well, we will see you there. We can go over what we want to discuss then."
"We? Who else are you planning on bringing to what you insisted was to be a private meeting Mister Potter? And there won't be any meeting unless you tell me what it's about!"
"We can go over all that in the meeting!"
"You are being rather evasive Mister Potter, do not think that stamping your foot like a petulant schoolboy will be enouight to distract me. Answer my questions or forget about any meeting between us!"
"How dare you speak to me, your Father, like that? If you'd been raised properly by your family instead of by her you would know how to respect your elders!"
"This from the man who taught his son to refer to his mother as a Stupid Mudblood who thankfully died with her traitor lover, as you falsely labelled your best friend, my Godfather? For your information, I am well aware that you never planned to raise me James Potter, as you were getting rid of me! Obviously the answers to my questions are something I would not accept, and you think that being evasive will be enough to trick me into agreeing to a meeting with you. Your thinking that that would work is just insulting, so there will be no meeting. Goodbye Mister Potter, do not attempt to contact me again!"
"No! Wait! I'm sorry. I don't know who told Harry that about your mother but it wasn't me! Albus will be coming as my adviser, but I know there's been some friction between the two of you so I was just trying to avoid arguments, and was I thinking of bringing your brother as well so that you can get to know your family outside of the school environment. We need to discuss the Houses of Potter and Peverell, it is not fair to deny your brother his birthright."
"Are you a fool Mister Potter, or is it just that you think I am? For your information, my mother will not be attending as an adviser, but as my Magically Accepted Regent, and as such she has more right to attend a meeting regarding any of my Houses than you do, and she is the only living family I recognise nowadays. You gave up any claim to being family the day you agreed without question to get rid of me when your Master ordered it and then proposed to have my mother killed so that you could replace her with your Child Bride, and you poisoned Hadrian's mind to the extent that we cannot speak without conflict. Whatever blood ties I may have with the two of you do not make you family and my brother's birthright as your son is the Minor House of Fleamont, not the Houses of Potter and Peverell which have magically accepted me, your First Born, as their Head! The fact that they have rejected Hadrian every time you attempted to get him accepted as their Heir should have made that clear to you."
"I will not allow Albus Dumbledore to attend any meeting relating to the business of my Houses, as I have declared feud on him and his allies for attempted interference with the business of my Houses. Your attempt to secretly include him because you know that I would not agree if you shared that information proves that I cannot trust you so I retract my agreement to meet with you Mister Potter, do not attempt to contact me again…. And tell your Master that he will get no more warnings from me, if I even think he is trying to interfere with the business of my Houses again I will eradicate him, the House of Dumbledore and all of its allies, so I would sever any ties that exist between the House of Fleamont and Albus Dumbledore before that happens if I were you Mister Potter!"
Harry looked at his father with a conflicted expression, but that cleared as he obviously made a decision.
"I can see that you will not give this up as long as you still have hope that you and your son can regain control of your forebears' houses, so I will remove that hope. I, Henry James Potter Peverell Black, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Potter and Peverell and their Associated Houses, hereby banish James Charlus Potter and Hadrian John Potter from the Houses of Potter and Peverell and sever all ties between them and the Potter and Peverell Families. I also revoke their right to use the name Potter, so from this day forward they shall be the Fleamont family!"
There was a flash as the oath was accepted and James staggered as the Potter and Peverell Family Magic left him. As he realised what had happened, he leapt at Harry with a roar, only to be banished into the wall at the end of the corridor by Dora, who was standing beside Harry.
Minerva was standing there, shocked that James Potter… No, James Fleamont now…. would be foolish enough to try any of this, but she composed herself with an effort and came forward.
"Are you alright Mister Potter? Do wish me to contact the DMLE and have this man arrested for attacking you?"
"I am fine, thank you Professor McGonagall. No, I don't…. Actually, yes please. I will allow Mister Fleamont to be released with a warning this time, but I request that the event be formally recorded in case he makes any further attacks against me, so that it cannot be claimed that it was an isolated incident when he is charged and punished for it."
Minerva nodded and activated the amulet that summoned the MLE Patrol Officers that Amelia had assigned to Hogwarts to deal with any incidents arising from Snape's trial. As Deputy Headmistress, Minerva had made all the arrangements for that, but she had 'forgotten' to advise Albus of it, so he was shocked to find the Patrol Officers he'd rushed down to tell her not to summon already there.
The Officer in charge of the team happened to be a junior Member of the Wizengamot, and he had received a memory crystal with memories of what Snape and his Slytherins had done to his son, along with how Dumbledore had covered it up. Therefore Albus Dumbledore was not met with the deference he expected when he tried to insist that they release Head Auror Potter.
Senior Officer Mulligan smirked at the old bastard. "What grounds do you have for trying to interfere with the operations of the DMLE Mister Dumbledore? I must warn you that I may be required to arrest you, too, if you don't have any valid grounds for attempting to prevent us arresting James Fleamont here, given that I have three credible witnesses to the fact that he attempted to attack the Head of three Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses… And that title of Head Auror is likely to be in question now too, considering his actions. The Director of the DMLE takes a very dim view of criminal acts being committed by any Magical Law Enforcement people, let alone Head Aurors."
"And as Lord Potter Peverell Black's mother and Regent, I want to know why a madman like this is being allowed to enter Hogwarts at all, let alone given a free reign to wander around and attack students!"
Harry turned to her. "Mum, I'm okay! I realised that there was no way they were ever going to stop trying to claim the Houses of Potter and Peverell as long as they thought they had a chance so I banished him and Hadrian from my houses and revoked their right to use the name Potter. The idiot went crazy and attacked me at that point but D… Kammie stopped him."
He turned to look at Dumbledore. "Isn't that right Headmaster? I know you would have been monitoring our meeting, seeing as you were the one who put Mister Fleamont up to it!"
"I don't know what you mean H..." He hastily changed that to 'Mister Potter' when Harry tensed. "The portraits notified me that there was an altercation here and I rushed here to see what had happened."
"Would you be willing to swear on your magic that you did not give the erstwhile James Potter access to Hogwarts for the precise purpose of having the meeting that he was trying to make me agree to Headmaster?"
Harry smirked at the panic on Dumbledore's face as he desperately tried to think of a way out of that, but he didn't feel like dragging this out so he went on. "No, I didn't think so, not when your pawn already admitted that he was bringing you to that supposedly private meeting. As you're here I may as well give you the message I asked him to pass on myself. You will get no more warnings from me Albus Dumbledore, if I even think you are trying to interfere with the business of any of my Houses again I will eradicate you, the House of Dumbledore and all of its allies! The fact that James and Hadrian Fleamont are no longer members of any of my Houses has taken away your last excuse to have any interest in my Houses."
With that, he look his mother's hand and walked off, and Dumbledore scurried off before that Patrol Officer could arrest him.
What they didn't realise was that the infamous scandal merchant…. reporter Rita Skeeter was there in her unregistered animagus form of a beetle, and she'd heard everything. The Daily Prophet was firmly under the thumb of the Pure-Bloods who ran the Ministry and Skeeter would never let the truth get in the way of a good story, but this was just too juicy not to publish so the headline across the front page of the Prophet the next morning was.
'PRETENDER CASTS HEAD AUROR AND BOY-WHO-LIVED OUT OF HOUSE OF POTTER AND THREATENS ALBUS DUMBLEDORE WITH DESTRUCTION'
Most in the Great Hall couldn't work out why Harry was laughing his arse off as he read the story underneath that headline, because it was casting him in a rather bad light. But the point was, try as she might to make him out to be the bad guy, Skeeter had reported most of what was said in that corridor…. Which included the plan to throw him aside as a toddler and kill his Mum so James could marry his Child-Bride, Harry's 'claim' that he was the First Born and accepted as Head of the Houses, while Hadrian was rejected multiple times… And that the respected Head Auror Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived had been denied their very names and the Great Albus Dumbledore and his allies had been threatened with destruction by this 'spiteful boy', who was even trying to have Head Auror Potter removed from his hard earned position.
Harry's enjoyment of the article was interrupted by his twin brother screaming "Potter!" as he charged across the Great Hall at him, Daily Prophet in hand. He signalled to the others to let Hadrian approach and greeted him calmly with. "Yes, Mister Fleamont?"
"Don't call me that! I am Harry Potter and you can't take that away from me!"
"Oh dear, you appear to be plagued with the same memory problems as your father Mister Fleamont, as it was hardly a week ago that I explained to you that Harry has never been the familiar form of Hadrian, and you have the evidence in your hand that your name is now Fleamont. Though in fact, I did not take your name from you so much as I prevented you and your father from using my name, and that wouldn't have happened unless the Potter Family Magic agreed with me."
"Stop your lies! And I demand that you publicly retract the rest of the lies you told in this!" He shook the Prophet in his hand angrily as he shouted at Harry.
"What lies are you referring to Mister Fleamont? If you are referring to the fact that I am the first born and the magically accepted Head of the Houses of Potter and Peverell, these are proven fact and easily confirmed. If it is the fact that you and your father have both been rejected by the Family Magic every time you were presented to claim the roles of Heir or Head of our Houses, as the true Head of the Houses of Potter and Peverell I can request that my Account Managers release those records. If it is the fact that your father and his Master were discussing getting rid of me, the Squib Son, and killing my mother to leave the way free for your father to marry his Child Bride and claim the title, votes and fortune of the Noble House of Lestrange, along with their plan to spread the lie that Mum cuckolded your father with Uncle Sirius to make people more sympathetic to your father... I'm sure our mother will be prepared to share that memory with you as she did me, she may even be willing to have it officially authenticated as a true and unaltered memory and share it with everyone in the Great Hall to put an end to the claims that it is a lie… Ask your father and his Master whether they are willing to do the same with their memories of that discussion, if they are telling the truth they should have no problem with that."
"If these are the lies you wish me to retract Mister Fleamont, I cannot, but as I have said I am quite prepared to provide you with proof of everything I have said. On that note, I had nothing to do with the speculation that your father will lose his position as Head of the Auror Operations Office, that point was brought up by the leader of the MLE Patrol squad who were called to arrest him for attacking me. I specifically requested that he not be punished for attacking me on that occasion, I merely wanted it on record to prevent him claiming that further attacks were an isolated incident. This is also fact and can be confirmed by the DMLE."
Hadrian obviously wanted to hex Harry, but he had enough sense to know that he wouldn't get away with it so he just turned around and stormed off. Of course, even though all the official records now showed him as Hadrian Fleamont, the Sheeple still referred to him as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, just as they still called James Fleamont James Potter, the 'unfairly' dismissed Head Auror who was now in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
Over the next couple of months, Harry and the others were trying to settle into being something like 'normal' students, but the 'Traditional' Pure-Bloods still held seven seats on the Hogwarts Board so Dumbledore managed to hold onto his position as Headmaster and therefore controlled much of Hogwarts. He couldn't deny them the rights guaranteed by the Hogwarts Charter, but they couldn't take away his rights as Headmaster either, and the fact that he was steering clear of Harry to reduce the chance of Harry making good on his threat was curtailing their opportunities to trip him up.
That was why, even though they knew that there was something seriously wrong about Quirinus Quirrell (the way Harry's magic reacted whenever Quirrell was around said that it had something to do with Tom Riddle, and whatever it was caused a bigger reaction than Snape's Dark Mark), until he did something that they could call the DMLE in for there wasn't anything they could do about him…
And the same applied to the obstacle course (there was no way you could describe it as anything more than that) Dumbledore had created on the Third Floor. Yes Hagrid's Cerberus Fluffy in the first chamber looked like a man eater, and Dumbledore may have believed that he was a vicious beast, but Fluffy was basically just an overgrown (albeit three headed) puppy and the most dangerous thing he was likely to do was knock you over when he wanted to play…
Dumbledore probably believed that Nicolas Flamel had given him the real Philosopher's Stone too but Nicolas was no fool, he'd seen right through Albus Dumbledore when he used his and Gellert Grindelwald's political connections to pressure him into accepting Dumbledore as an apprentice. While Dumbledore never had the skill or dedication to obtain a Mastery in Alchemy, he got a lot of mileage out of being officially accepted as the legendary Nicolas Flamel's apprentice, and he was always careful to claim a mastery of Alchemy, rather than in Alchemy. Over time, the gullible sheep of the Wizarding world were convinced that Alchemy was one of the Great Albus Dumbledore's Masteries but he had never actually stated it as a fact, just as he'd never actually stated that he killed Gellert in their 'duel', he just implied it and let people think that. What it came down to though was that what Dumbledore had, and what he was using as bait for his obstacle course, was a stone that created a pretty good health tonic and nothing more.
They were getting close to calling in the DMLE when Quirrell released trolls in the castle during the Halloween Feast, then ran into the Great Hall shouting about a troll in the dungeon and fainting so obviously that he would have been kicked out of a Primary School play for it. But there was no real danger to the students. The ghosts told Harry (as Heir of Gryffindor and Slytherin) about them and he sent Golly and Tinny to deal with them. They morphed into Migoi (cousins of the Yeti who evolved in a hotter climate, Goliath from the Mundane Bible was Migoi) to have forms that were big enough to make quick work of the mountain trolls (there were two of them) without spells, but in the end they killed them from a safe distance by shooting them with magical projectile weapons before they got anywhere near any students. Then they used the swords and axes from the suits of armour in the corridors where they found them to chop them into little pieces, making it look like the suits of armour had been activated by Hogwarts to deal with the threat, so there was blood and bits of troll everywhere. Peeves was actually a loyal servant of Hogwarts who obeyed the orders the ghosts relayed, so he flew into the Great Hall just behind Quirrell cackling about how the armour had chopped the trolls into little bits so Dumbledore's stupid order sending the students off to their dormitories under the protection of the prefects was cancelled before they headed into danger and the feast continued. Quirrell spent the rest of the feast looking rather pissed off that his plan to distract everyone so he'd have a free run to the Stone had failed.