I think I've found a way to annoy the trolls, because it seems that if you block them they have to get their little friends to take over. Best to block them by URL though because the more clever ones seem to make the spelling of their pen names misleading…. and follow the story so they'll know when to 'review'. Of course, that may have just been laziness because his 'review' was little more than 'what he said', but he did manage to pick up on an error I made. I don't know what it was, but something made me go back and change 'Umbridge' to 'Umbrage' when I was writing the last chapter. I canna be bothered going back to change it again so it'll have to stay that way now.
Usual disclaimers, no rights to anything from JKR's stories.
They made sure that they got to Kings Cross Station and Platform 9 ¾ early so they could claim enough compartments together to avoid breaking up the group. With over thirty students they'd need at least five or six compartments to take everyone so they just claimed the last carriage on the Hogwarts Express and cast notice-me-nots over it to keep everyone else away. This meant that by the time most people arrived at Platform 9 ¾, the Express was apparently one carriage shorter.
Harry snorted when Dora asked what the point of following the tradition of going to Hogwarts on the Express was if they made sure that they were separated from the rest of the students on the train.
"So that we can honestly say that we did follow tradition when Dumbledore and his ilk try and tell everyone that we're throwing all their hallowed traditions back in their faces… Hallowed traditions, that's a laugh! The Hogwarts Express hasn't existed for much more than a hundred and fifty years but they act as though it's been a cornerstone of Magical Britain's culture from the very beginning! Students were being brought to Hogwarts on magical ships coming through the underwater passage into Black Lake for at least four times that long!"
"And as for keeping separate from the other students on the train, how much mingling with the other students did you do on your previous trips on the Express Dora? From what Mum and the others told me students generally settle into a compartment with maybe three or four others and don't have anything to do with anyone else other than to maybe say Hi if they see them on the way to the loo unless someone comes to their compartment to bother them. How is what we're doing that different, except for the fact that we've put up notice me nots to keep out the ones who want bother us? We'll be removing the notice me nots except for the ones on the front of the carriage as soon as we get under way and most of us will be under glamours to make us look like First Years when we get to Hogsmeade so the only thing of note will be how many new students there are."
Dora realised that she couldn't refute Harry's logic, he was right about what happened on the Express and while like most, she'd never heard of magical ships being used to bring students to Hogwarts before, when she stopped to think about it, railroads had only been in widespread use in Britain for a hundred and fifty years or so, so they had to have used something else before that. She didn't doubt what Harry was telling her the truth about the ships, but now she was wondering where she could find out more about them, and see what type of ships they'd been using.
They removed the final notice-me-nots and cast the glamours as they were pulling into Hogsmeade and as Harry had said, the only thing that caused a stir were the number of unsorted students. The ones from the non-magical world couldn't help sniggering when Harry waved a hand at the officious prefect who was demanding to know where they'd come from and said "These aren't the droids you're looking for" as he cast a wandless non-verbal compulsion on the boy to ignore them and go away. After the prefect wandered off, looking confused, they had to try and explain the significance of what Harry said and how it had came from the Star Wars movie to the ones who were raised in the magical world.
Hagrid started calling for the First Years at that point and most of them headed that way while Dora and the others who'd been to Hogwarts before headed for the carriages. Seeing so many First Years was a surprise for Hagrid, but looking down at the dock he saw that Hogwarts had been expecting them because there were plenty of boats.
Minerva had as much trouble keeping a straight face as the students in their group as the jumped up little brats from the Pure-Blood Houses pushed past the ones glamoured as First Years in cheap robes to arrogantly introduce themselves to the ones in expensive robes. Neville, Susan and Astoria Greengrass still looked young enough to pass as First Years, so they were the ones who faced the brats down.
Neville looked dismissively down at the hand that was stuck out at him and then raised his head to look the boy in front of him in the eye. "Towler, is it? I presume that means you are from the Junior Noble House of Towler then?"
The boy flushed at the insulting way he was being addressed. "I am Heir to the Noble House of Towler!"
"Is the House of Towler so impoverished that it cannot afford to have its Heir properly educated in the etiquette of the Noble Houses?"
He waited for Towler to start to respond then cut him off. "Have you at least learned the hierarchy of the Noble Houses of Magical Britain?"
"From your expression, you are either constipated, or indicating ignorance of what I am talking about, so I will explain…."
He raised his hand so that his fingers were horizontal, just above his head.
"The highest tier of the Noble Houses of Magical Britain are the four Most Noble and Most Ancient Druid Houses of Potter, Peverell, Black and Glynn..."
He lowered his hand to beside his ear.
"The next tier below them are the Senior Noble and Most Ancient Druid Houses… These include the Houses of Bones, Greengrass and Longbottom."
He indicated Susan, Astoria and himself as he named their Houses and then returned his hand to his chin level.
"Then there are the Junior Noble and Most Ancient Druid Houses, the Senior Noble and Ancient Druid Houses, Senior Noble and Ancient Houses, Junior Noble and Ancient Druid Houses, Junior Noble and Ancient Houses, Ancient Druid Houses, Most Ancient Druid Families, Ancient Druid Families…. then Junior Noble Houses, as there are no Senior Noble Houses… And finally Minor Houses... well Wizard Families are at the very bottom of our hierarchy but they aren't really counted in these things."
Neville had lowered his hand each time he identified the next successive tier, so it was beside his thigh when he referred to Junior Noble Houses and he bent down a little to move it closer to his knee when he mentioned Minor Houses.
Towler was looking confused and angry by this point, but Neville ignored that as he continued.
"If you had been given the expected education in Noble House etiquette Mister Towler, you would have known that any social interactions must always be initiated by the superior house, so as your house is…."
Astoria piped up. "Nine levels below the House of Longbottom."
He bowed his head to her. "Thank you Baroness Greengrass, I must admit that I'd forgotten how many it was."
She gave him an impish smile as she curtsied. "You are most welcome Baron Longbottom."
Neville turned back to Towler. "As the Junior Noble House of Towler is nine levels below that of the Senior Noble and Most Ancient Druid House of Longbottom, approaching me as a peer if not a superior as you did is an insult to the House of Longbottom that we would be well within our rights to require formally penalties of the House of Towler for. So I would suggest that you withdraw before your behaviour manages to raise my ire enough to contact the Head of my House and call for him to do so Mister Towler."
Towler started to draw himself up to give Neville a serve for that but one of his friends was either brighter or better educated than him because he grabbed his arm and dragged him away before he could do anything even more stupid.
Now that the floor show was finished, Minerva gave the required 'Your House is your family' spiel and then directed the students to proceed into the Great Hall. As soon as the other new students were out of sight, all of those who were under glamours cancelled them, then they entered the Great Hall by effective age, youngest first.
Dumbledore leapt to his feet, demanding to know what was going on here when he saw them entering the Great Hall, because this was the first indication he'd had that this sorting would be anything out of the ordinary.
Harry was having fun, because he hadn't been face to face with the old bastard since his Mum was returned and he wanted to hurt him. He waved dismissively at Dumbledore and said.
"We are here to begin our education at Hogwarts of course! If you're so addled that you cannot work that out old man, you have no place being here!"
"You will give me the respect I'm due as Hogwarts' Headmaster! Who are you and what are you doing in my school?"
Harry laughed mockingly. "Your school?"
He turned to where Minerva was. "I must apologise Lady McGonagall. I believed that your description of him was coloured by your aggravation at having to deal with his arrogance and unprofessionalism, but you are correct, he is indeed delusional."
She nodded to him, accepting the apology. "That is quite alright your Grace, I can understand that it was something you needed to see for yourself."
Harry nodded in recognition of her concession and muttered as if to himself, even though everyone in the Great Hall heard him. "As to the old fool's question, I believe that we'll be better served by providing incontrovertible proof of my and my betrotheds' identity so…." He raised his head. "Lady Hogwarts, please present to us the Stone of Truth!"
There was a shimmering in front of the High Table Dais as a crystal on a pedestal like the one in the Wizengamot chamber appeared out of thin air.
Dumbledore shouted. "What is this?" and Harry made a show of shaking his head sadly.
"How have the people of Magical Britain not seen how far he has fallen?"
He looked at Dumbledore and spoke as if explaining something to a child. "As you presided over the Wizengamot as its Chief Warlock for almost forty five years Mister Dumbledore, I am shocked that you cannot recognise a Stone of Truth. Surely you know that the Great Hall here at Hogwarts was the first official court of Magical Britain and the dais where you are now sitting was where the Wizards Council sat to preside over matters of import for Magical Britain? The Stone of Truth has never left its home here, it was just elsewhere until it was called for by one with the proper authority..."
He held up a hand. "And before you ask why I have called for the Stone of Truth, your attitude makes it quite clear that you will not accept my true identity without proof, and what better way to prove it than with a Stone of Truth?"
With that he removed the masking on his major house rings and made his way to the Stone of Truth with Hermione and Luna a couple of steps behind.
Harry went first, placing his hands on the crystal and a voice rang out. "Duke Henry James Potter Peverell, Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Druid Houses of Potter and Peverell and Senior Noble and Most Ancient Druid Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin and their Associated Houses."
He stepped back, holding out a hand to Hermione as the nominally elder of his two betrothed and Hermione stepped up to the Stone, placing her hands on it. The Stone spoke. "Countess Hermione Jane Granger Hufflepuff, Head of the Senior Noble and Most Ancient Druid House of Hufflepuff and Junior Noble and Ancient Druid House of Dagworth Granger and their Associated Houses, Betrothed of Duke Henry James Potter Peverell."
Hermione released the Stone and stepped back, waving Luna forward, and when she took her place at the Stone its voice rang out again. "Countess Luna Pandora Lovegood Ravenclaw, Head of the Senior Noble and Most Ancient Druid House of Ravenclaw and Heiress to the Junior Noble and Ancient Druid House of Lovegood and their Associated Houses, Betrothed of Duke Henry James Potter Peverell."
Luna released the stone and moved to stand demurely beside Hermione.
Harry thanked Hogwarts, asking her to send the Stone of Truth back to where it had come from before. Half of the people in the Great Hall were freaked out by the change from a male to a female voice as Hogwarts responded with "I am your Servant My Lord, My Ladies" before the Stone flickered and disappeared.
Then Harry turned to Dumbledore, who had been staring at him in shock ever since the Stone identified him, refusing to believe that this young Lord could be the Potter boy. He looked almost twice the Potter brat's nine years and he was tall, strong and haughty, every inch the epitome of a young Pure-Blood Lord, there was no way that the stunted physical wreck whose magic he'd last bound eighteen months ago could have turned into this!
"We have caused quite enough interruption to the sorting ceremony already old man. You have now heard proof of who my betrothed and I are from the Stone of Truth, so you will hold any further questions about our identity and claims of this being your school until after the sorting ceremony has been completed."
When Dumbledore went to respond Harry quickly dropped the Elder Wand into his hand and silenced and immobilised him before turning to Minerva and apologising for the interruption, asking her to proceed with the sorting. Openly using the Elder Wand like that was another shot at Dumbledore, because they knew he had spent over a month trying to find out what happened to it after Harry called it to him as one of the Peverell Heirlooms six months ago in the 'real' world.
The rest of the sorting went smoothly, though Pomona couldn't help giving Minerva and Filius a triumphant smile when Harry, Hermione and Luna were all sorted into Hufflepuff. She knew that they'd merely chosen to be placed together and Myrddin, the sorting hat, had bowed to the wishes of the Master and Mistresses of Hogwarts, but that wouldn't stop her having fun with her friends about it.
She didn't deign to include Slughorn, who'd returned to the roles of Potions Master and House Master of Slytherin because that Snape creature had been tried and sent through the Veil of Death for his crimes at the end of June, as the man was as slimy as he'd ever been but she did share a smile with Bathilda, whom Dumbledore had scrabbled to hire the week before after Binns suddenly decided to pass over and disappeared with hardly a word, and Augusta, who he'd hurriedly hired to teach Wizarding Culture when the Hogwarts Board of Governors told him that it would be replacing the cancelled Divination course in August.
She also smiled to herself about the fireworks that would come after the Sorting Feast when Dumbledore discovered that the Duke and his betrothed, plus the other Lords and Ladies and their vassals and retainers and the tutors they'd brought in for the courses they were covering privately, were all being housed in the Druids Tower that Hogwarts had made up for them. Oh yes, this was going to be so much fun!
Harry indicated that he had no intention of releasing Dumbledore once the sorting was finished, so Minerva made the staff and other announcements then called for the food to appear, and at the end of the Sorting Feast sent the rest of the students off to their house dorms. The House Masters and Mistresses were asked to stay, even Slughorn, and Harry also made a point of asking Bathilda and Augusta to remain, to assist with clarifying any historical matters that may arise, then the doors of the Great Hall were sealed and Harry released Dumbledore.
He let the old fool rant and rave for less than a minute before silencing him again, calling for Hogwarts to return the Stone of Truth so that she would be able to speak.
"Were you taught no manners at all old man? Even the lowliest bumpkin should know that that type of language is totally unacceptable to be using in front of ladies! As you have proven that you cannot keep a civil tongue in your mouth, you will remain silenced while we explain a number of things to you."
"Firstly, to get the matter of the Elder Wand out of the way. Yes, I have reclaimed the Elder Wand as it is a Peverell heirloom. It was never rightly your's because its true master has always been the rightful Head of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Druid House of Peverell, which is of course, me. This will not change and I would strongly advise you not to try my patience by ever bringing the matter up."
"Secondly. Yes, I was behind having your creature Snape tried and executed for his crimes. It was unconscionable for a foul creature like that to get off scott free without being punished for his crimes merely because you wished to keep him around for your own amusement and pleasure. Quite aside from his crimes against the House of Potter, we have proof of further crimes he committed right here under your nose and I believe with your collusion. If I ever discover that you have raised the matter of Severus Snape or attempted to solicit sympathy for him, you will be questioned under Veritaserum and if my suspicions are correct, tried and executed for your crimes."
"Thirdly. Yes, it was the Potter Family who instigated the review which had your ridiculous and useless Divination course cancelled and Sybil Trelawney dismissed. We are well aware that you created the course purely to give that fraud and therefore the so called prophecy she told to you a veneer of legitimacy. We regarded it an insult to the House of Potter that the fraud who was in part responsible for The Potter's murder would receive succour in the school whose Founders are included among our ancestors. That insult was not going to be allowed to continue."
"We also instigated the Department of Magical Education's revision of the equally useless and century out of date Muggle Studies course into the new Muggle Culture course and the reinstatement of the Wizarding Culture course that you removed from Hogwarts' curriculum to replace Divination…. And I requested that Hogwarts convince the Binns Ghost to move on, apparently that took some doing because he was adamant that he was staying on as a personal favour to you. The salary for the History of Magic position that has been going into your vaults ever since he died has now been recovered and returned to Hogwarts' vaults."
"And finally…. Hopefully, between them, Lady Hogwarts and Madams Bagshot and Longbottom will be able to supply any necessary historical information on this, but the long and the short of it is that the Hogwarts Charter guarantees the right of Heads and Heirs of Most Ancient and Ancient Noble Houses to require suitable and separate accommodation to be provided for themselves and their families, retinues and vassals. The relevant information to support our claim for this has been supplied to Hogwarts and accepted and Hogwarts has provided a tower to meet our needs. The Hogwarts Charter also guarantees the right for students to employ private tutors for any courses where they believe that the normal Hogwarts teachers or curriculum do not adequately meet their needs, we will be availing ourselves of this right as well."
"I am about to remove the spells silencing you Mister Dumbledore, I strongly suggest that you mind your tongue this time because if there is any further display of the type of inappropriate language you uttered before I may make a mistake and silence you permanently. Do you understand?"
Dumbledore nodded angrily and Harry removed the silencing spell, but made a point of openly holding the Elder Wand in his hand.
The first words that came out of Dumbledore's mouth were. "I will not allow you to do this in my school!"
Harry shook his head in exasperation and asked. "Lady Hogwarts, could you tell us who it is that you answer to please?"
"Certainly My Lord. As always, my first allegiance is to my Founders and their true Heirs, who are currently yourself, as Lord Gryffindor Slytherin, and the Ladies Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Where their orders do not countermand those of my Lord and Ladies, I obey the current Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress and other staff."
"Thank you Lady Hogwarts….. Are you now prepared to you desist with this fallacy that Hogwarts is your school Mister Dumbledore, or will it require Madams Bagshot and Longbottom to quote you chapter and verse from the Hogwarts Charter until you accept the truth of what Lady Hogwarts has informed us? I will warn you that continuing to question Lady Hogwarts' word may well anger her, as well as my Ladies and myself."
Dumbledore just stared at him, unable to speak, so Harry looked at the others. "Does anyone else have any questions they wish to raise while Mister Dumbledore works out what he wants to ask?"
For all the persona he projected, Slughorn wasn't really a fool, and he'd noted the point about private tutoring, even if it had gone over Dumbledore's head.
"May we ask which classes you will be taking separately from the rest of the school Harry?"
Harry went to respond but Minerva cut him off. "Horace, while Duke Potter has agreed to allow the staff and students a certain amount of latitude in public, allowing them to address and refer to him as Mister Potter, there are no ordinary students here at the moment and until such a time as he chooses to formally give you leave to use any other form of address, he is to be addressed as and referred to as Duke Potter in private settings such as this!"
Slughorn gave Harry a swarmy look, obviously expecting him to tell him that it was quite alright to call him Harry but he was met with a cold look from those killing curse green eyes.
"Thank you for that timely reminder Professor McGonagall. Professor Slughorn, and you especially Professor Dumbledore! Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Bagshot and Longbottom have all known me since I was a babe and are effectively part of my extended family as I only have my Great Uncle Arcturus and no actual aunts, uncles or grandparents left other than that bitch I was dumped on as an infant and she is dead to me! Our accepted familial connection gives them the right to address me informally but everyone else has to earn that right!"
"Presuming to address me by a familiar form of my given name due to Magical Britain believing that it in some way owns Harry Potter because of the fictions Albus Dumbledore spread about how I, rather than my mother, supposedly brought about the downfall of Tom Riddle has in fact reduced the likelihood that you will ever be granted permission to call me Harry Professor Slughorn. In circumstances such as this you will address me and refer to me as Your Grace, Duke Potter or Duke Potter Peverell only, in the midst of the general student body I will allow you to address and refer to me as Mister Potter, but do not presume to address me in that familiar form of my name again!"
He held their gaze until they both looked away, cowed, and then answered the actual question posed. "With regard to your question, at this time my betrothed and I will be using private tutors for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, we may expand this to include other subjects if the curriculum does not meet our needs."
"But… But you can't take potions with anyone else!"
The look in those green eyes almost made Slughorn wet himself. "Oh? What, pray tell, gives you the impression that you can stop me exercising my right to employ a private tutor like any other student if I do not believe that the regular classes will meet my needs?"
"Albus promised me that you'd be my student if I came back! I can make you into as good a potioner as your mother!"
"For a start, you'd have to be a complete and utter moron to believe that any of Albus Dumbledore's promises are worth a pinch of Crup shit, let alone Dragon shit, but I am rather surprised that you have not managed to work out who will be teaching us Potions yet. In case you weren't keeping up with the news in your field at the end of the war, my Mum had well and truly surpassed your reputation long before he…." hooking a thumb at Dumbledore "set all of us up to be attacked by Tom Riddle, so Mum's going to remain as our Potions teacher."
Slughorn was affronted by the slur to his reputation and the blunt statement that his student had surpassed him (even if he knew that she had), but there was something else bothering him more about what had been said.
"That's twice now you've referred to Tom Riddle, why are you talking about him?"
Harry laughed, but there was no mirth in it. "Don't you pay attention to anything unless you think there's something in it for you? I'm sure that even the Daily Prophet mentioned it before their Death Eater owners told them to shut up about it. Tom Marvolo Riddle was the birth name of the Common Muggle-Born Orphan Bastard that the Pure-Blood supremacists were following under a made up name that came from an anagram of his real name, Lord Voldemort."
Slughorn almost fainted. "What? You Know Who was Tom Riddle, the Head Boy here at Hogwarts in Nineteen Forty Five?"
"I didn't know he was the Head Boy, but yes, Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort's real name."
Slughorn squeaked at that and scurried out of the Great Hall, Harry distractedly released the doors with a wave of his hand to let the buffoon out but luckily Dumbledore was looking the other way so he didn't see it.
They hashed over a few more details then Harry released Dumbledore and Minerva, Pomona and Filius escorted the group to the Druids Tower, leaving the old bastard to scurry back to his office, trying to work out how to recover something out of the situation.
This was a disaster! Nothing had gone the way it was supposed to! For a start, while he was half expecting Potter to turn up early, he was supposed to be ten or eleven and still broken so he'd be easily malleable, not a young Lord in full control of his physical, magical and political power. Holding the four houses of the Founders between him and those two young witches was even more of a disaster, not to mention the fact that he had the Elder Wand…. And it wasn't just Potter who was a problem, the Longbottom and Zabini Heirs were there as well and Zabini looked like he'd be as much trouble as Potter, Longbottom at least was closer to what he had expected to arrive as a First Year, but he was physically imposing for his age and in control of his magical and political power as well.
Just having Longbottom here after what his father did after he took over the Department of International Magical Cooperation was an affront! Just days after he took over, he had the gall to summon Albus to his office and informed him that it had been discovered and confirmed that he had falsified his name on the contracts instating him as Magical Britain's representative to the International Confederation of Wizards. Given that this was a magical contract, falsifying his name had invalidated the contract so he had never been properly accepted as Magical Britain's representative to the ICW and was therefore dismissed. He rubbed salt in the wound by pointing out the falsifying details on a magical contract was a serious offence and therefore he was also banned from working for or with the Ministry of Magic or Wizengamot of Magical Britain in any official capacity for life.
Albus had failed to keep his temper in check at that and had raged at Longbottom that he had most definitely not falsified his name and would be requiring significant compensation from the House of Longbottom for this insult, but Longbottom cut him off. "What is your name?"
Dumbledore drew himself up. "I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Grand Sorcerer, Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot of Magical Britain, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and holder of the Order of Merlin, First Class!"
"Oh dear, you really are deluded, aren't you? Let's go through that bit by bit shall we? For a start, I have a copy of your official birth records right here in front of me and they clearly state that your true name is in fact Albus Percival Dumbledore, and that's the reason you're here in my office. When the name issue was discovered, your contract was re examined and it was confirmed that it had never been magically accepted. For the rest of it…. Grand Sorcerer? As far as I know that still applies ….. and yes, you are Headmaster at Hogwarts…. For now anyway…. But you were dismissed from your position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot months ago. The fact that we were forced to dismiss you as Magical Britain's representative to the ICW means that you can no longer hold any official positions in the ICW, and when we informed them of what we had discovered, they stated that you would be banned from having anything to do with the ICW for life too…. Apparently Magical Italy had also been pushing for that for some reason."
"And then there's your Order of Merlin….. You do realise that due to that fact that it was issued to the false name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, it is invalid and has therefore been revoked, don't you? The Minister has officially advised me that seeing as it was invalidated by an act of fraud on your part, your Order of Merlin will not be reissued in your real name. This of course means that the Minor House of Dumbledore has reverted to the Dumbledore Family…"
"What were you thinking Mister Dumbledore? To throw everything away for a silly act of meaningless vanity? You were a Professor at Hogwarts from Nineteen Twelve, Deputy Headmaster from Nineteen Thirty Five, and Headmaster from Nineteen Forty Five. You were also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the ICW from Nineteen Forty Five to early Nineteen Eighty Nine, so you were directing legal decisions for not only Magical Britain, but a significant proportion of the Magical world for nearly forty five years…. How could you hold such important positions for so long without knowing the most basic tenets of magical law? You have not only shamed yourself Mister Dumbledore, you have shamed Magical Britain and I for one cannot forgive you for that!"
The upstart had tossed him out of his office like a common miscreant after that, and Cornelius had refused to see him, they had even had to gall to have orders posted to ban him from entering the Ministry building! How could he get people to accept that he had been too busy to be bothered with minor details like that if he couldn't get in to see them? To accuse him of fraud was simply ridiculous! He had done nothing wrong, he had merely made a few additions to his name to ensure that it properly reflected his true importance. His father had been a simple man of no real vision, he couldn't see that a name like Albus Percival Dumbledore was far too pedestrian for the great wizard his son and heir was destined to become, so after he gained his first position at Hogwarts and had access to correct that, he did.
If that wasn't bad enough though, Longbottom had replaced him with that Veela Zabini! He should have found a way to get rid of Seren Ifan when she was at Hogwarts, because creatures like her were contaminating the magical bloodlines, but he hadn't believed that the rumours he heard were enough to act on at the time. He had forgotten all about her until he was introduced to Conte Zabini, the new Ambassador from Magical Italy in 1980 and his wife was strangely familiar, so he had people look into who she was. He was disgusted when word came back that Contessa Zabini had in fact been Seren Ifan from Wales and she had met and seduced the Conte while she was in Italy with her father on a business trip after she finished at Hogwarts. What's more she had just had twins, so she was contaminating another old magical bloodline, even if it was foreign.
He decided that he couldn't continue to turn a blind eye to this blight on the magical blood of Britain, so he had arranged for Snape to slip word to Voldemort that a Veela family had been discovered hiding in the Italian Ambassador's residence. The Ambassador wasn't supposed to be there when the Death Eaters attacked, he was supposed to be in meetings with the Ministry. Albus rationalised that he was young enough to get over the Veela and start a new family, perhaps even with a proper British witch, in fact he had lined up a few of them to console Conte Zabini and help him get over his grief.
But apparently one of the Veela's spawn had been ill so Zabini had postponed the meeting so he could help look after his child. That unfortunately meant that Conte Zabini was killed trying to hold off the Death Eaters, along with most of the staff, Ifan's parents and the daughter, but somehow the Veela and her son got away!
Pandora and her other friends had looked after Seren's son for the next few years because she lost control of her Veela in her grief, which led to her having four more husbands dying happy before she managed to rein in her Veela and get control of herself again. Seren had tried to control her Veela, making a point of seeking out older gentlemen of character and nobility who could hopefully get past being ruled by their sexual desires, but her uncontrollable allure overrode that and they had inevitably gone out in a blaze of glory. The ones who didn't pass straight away had actually thanked her for making their last days such a joy.
When she finally came back to herself, on top of the well established business empires, fortunes and titles of her family's Junior Noble and Ancient Druid House of Ifan and the Italian Noble House of Zabini, Seren had the substantial business empires and fortunes of her four other husbands. This meant that she and her son, now Conte Blaise Zabini, Head of the Italian Noble House of Zabini and Baron Ifan, Head of the British Junior Noble and Ancient Druid House of Ifan, were quite wealthy… Not Potter or Black wealthy, but probably richer than anyone else in Magical Britain.
Seren dedicated herself to being a good mother and managing her son's prospects, and she had the intelligence and political acumen to be running their sizable international business empire quite profitably. That was why, when they used Dumbledore's vanity to remove him as Magical Britain's representative to the ICW and lock him out of any official dealings with the government of Magical Britain, it was agreed that Contessa Seren Zabini would be perfect to represent Magical Britain in the ICW.
Like most from the Druid Houses, Seren had little regard and no respect for Albus Dumbledore, but when Snape was questioned under Veritaserum and his testimony was confirmed by the memories they took from him, this became hatred. She'd been shown proof that her friends, parents, daughter and beloved Alessandro had all been murdered by Death Eaters, simply because that old bastard disapproved of Veela like her and had decided that her family's blight on the magical bloodlines needed to be erased before it could contaminate them any further.
When Seren learned of this, she added destroying everything Albus Dumbledore believed in to her mission in life, to ensure that his legacy was as empty as the man himself. While she had her Veela under control again, the judicious use of allure here and there helped nudge many decisions in the direction they should have gone if Dumbledore and the other Pure-Blood bigots hadn't been blocking progress purely because they were determined to keep things the way they were with the old Pure-Blood Houses (whatever they were called in their own countries) firmly in charge and everyone else essentially working for them.
Through her influence, the ICW was rapidly becoming more open to the idea of working with other magical people and non-magical people to move their world forward. It was now accepting the evidence that more open and honest dealings with the ones they'd been taught to regard as being below them would actually help them uphold the Statute of Secrecy, as well as providing a great deal of benefit to the magical world.
When she thought Blaise was old enough to understand, Seren sat down and explained what had happened to their family, how her Veela had made her go crazy for a while after that and the retribution she'd planned when she heard who had been behind their family being almost wiped out and why to him. Blaise had acquired a taste for revenge from both his Welsh Veela mother and his Sicilian Wizard father, so he was quite on board with what his mother was planning and once Lily was returned and the plans to come back at Dumbledore and the Death Eaters were hashed out, Blaise was in boots and all. He spent enough time in the time chambers to get his age over fourteen so that he could claim his titles and assist his mother in what she was doing. Blaise's focus was a little different from Harry and the girls' though. He was driving himself to build up his physical and magical strength and skills to well beyond most teenagers' levels, but he was concentrating more on mastering politics and business and the talents he got from his mother, as this was how he could best help her with her plans, and Harry for that matter.
While the Magical world was enjoying what was being hailed as the dawn of the golden age though, Albus was only looking at what was happening to him, and what this meant for him was that he would have Harry Potter, Lily Potter, Neville and Augusta Longbottom and that vindictive Veela's son all in Hogwarts at the same time (not to mention the fact that Patricia Runepick, that irritating Muggle-Born that he'd been forced to hire as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor a couple of years previously, was on their list as one of their main tutors so she would be in Hogwarts much of the time as well). None of this was working out the way it was supposed to, Potter was supposed to arrive at Hogwarts as a broken and malleable tool, his mother was supposed to be dead, and so were the Veela and her son for that matter, but they had taken over his school and at the moment he couldn't see any way of wresting control of it back from them. How had everything fallen apart like this?
In the Druids Tower, Harry and the girls had a two bed chamber suite at the top of the tower (mainly because it was expected), while the rest of the students were generally two to a bedchamber. A few had bed chambers to themselves, some had three beds, one group of four sisters shared a single chamber, but generally it was two. The fact was, over half of them didn't really need bed chambers at all because they were sleeping inside their expanded trunks but they had to keep up appearances in case others saw their bed chambers.
Breakfast the next morning in the Great Hall was tense, because most of the students were on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what happened next. Dumbledore wasn't the only one glaring at them from the High Table, either. No-one was surprised about the Squib caretaker Filch being out of sorts because he was always a miserable old coot, but Professor Quirrell, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was also glaring at the Hufflepuff table where Harry was.
Quirrell had been Hogwarts' Muggle Studies teacher the previous year, but the Department of Magical Education had demanded that the revised Muggle Culture course be taught by someone who was at least Muggle-Raised so that they would understand what they were teaching. This meant that the Pure-Blood Quirrell lost his teaching position as at the end of the school year, but Dumbledore had offered him a deal, promising him the Defense Against the Dark Arts position on the proviso that he got some practical experience over the summer to give him a bit of credibility. The strange thing was that Pomona had heard Dumbledore specifically suggesting… almost ordering… that Quirrell go to Albania for the summer, because going up against some of the vampires they had there would be good for his reputation.
They didn't know whether Quirrell had gone to Albania to face vampires or not. The fact that he made everyone's eyes water with the overpowering reek of garlic that always surrounded him implied that he might have, but if so it hadn't done much for his confidence because he was scared of his own shadow, he was so nervous talking to students that his stuttering made him almost intelligible. There was also something wrong about the man, quite aside from the reek of garlic and his horrendous fashion sense which apparently made him think that wearing a hideous purple turban was actually a good idea. Harry couldn't quite put his finger on it but even though the reek of garlic was enough to ensure he didn't get too close to him, he was feeling something rather dark from Quirrell, perhaps it was residual damage from being hit with dark curses or something... He'd have to make a note to ask Auntie Poppy to check him for dark curses, he didn't seem to be much of a wizard so he may not know how to tell that he had residual damage from an attack.
Harry was distracted by Dumbledore and Quirrell glaring at him and trying to answer questions from some of the other Hufflepuffs, so he didn't notice the student who was approaching until he spoke from right behind him.
"Potter! Because of you, my father was dismissed from his Ministry position and sent to Azkaban, now he can't get any job suitable for his position in society and I demand satisfaction!"
Harry could see Dumbledore's glee and that he had no intention of stepping in to stop this, so he calmly turned around. "And you are?"
"Lord Davies, Head of the Noble House of Davies now that you have had my father's title stripped from him!"
"How exactly am I supposedly responsible for your father presumably being caught with his fingers in the till, because that's the only reason I can see for someone to be dismissed from the Ministry and sent to Azkaban?"
"I know your family had to be behind this, this type of thing never happened before your Mudblood mother used those dark rituals to return from the dead!"
Harry shot another glance at Dumbledore, but he was lapping this up and still refusing to do anything to stop it, so he stood up.
"Davies, you have insulted my mother and accused her of using dark rituals without a shred of proof, you will apologise now or face the consequences!"
Davies barked a laugh. "Apologise for calling the Mudblood what she is and saying what everyone knows? I don't think so! Are you going to stop hiding behind Mummy's skirts and face me in an honour duel or will you submit to paying compensation of my choice?"
So that's what he was after, trying to intimidate Harry into agreeing to pay compensation rather than fight so he could take most if not all of the Potter fortune, there was no chance of that happening, but Harry accepted he had to play the game so he looked a question at Blaise, who'd just walked up.
Blaise snorted. "The House of Davies are a Junior Noble House, they became Noble during Grindelwald's war when the Heir to the Minor House of Davies got a teenaged witch who was the last member of a Junior Noble House pregnant and married her. This one is Chester Davies, he claimed the family titles and became Baron Davies a few months ago when he turned seventeen but repaying the gold his father stole and the fines that were levied against them used up most of the Davies fortune, so he's obviously trying to find some semi legitimate way of getting at the Potter fortune. He either hasn't learned the rules of Noble House society, or is hoping that you haven't though, because he doesn't even have the right to challenge me legitimately, and I'm too far below you in the hierarchy of Magical Britain to meet the criteria to challenge you Duke Potter.… On the other hand you now have indisputable proof and hundreds of witnesses to his insults and false accusations against your good mother, the Duchess Potter, so you would have no trouble having him charged and penalised."
Harry inclined his head to Blaise. "I see, thank you Conte Zabini. I believe that the most prudent course would be to do as you advise and let the Wizengamot render judgement on him for his insults. If we're really lucky the penalties will be enough to finish removing the stain of the Davies family from Magical Britain."
With that he turned his back on Davies and pretended to go to sit down, but he knew what was about to happen. Davies just looked at him, unable to believe that Potter could ignore the insults against his mother, and he quickly became enraged at being dismissed as so unworthy of a response that Potter was just going to go back to his breakfast without a word.
On top of that, he belatedly realised that what they were saying was true, with so many witnesses to his insults to Duchess Potter, his family would almost certainly be wiped out, his father's plan to make them richer than ever before had failed spectacularly. In hindsight, going along with his drunk and bitter father on this was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but he wasn't going to let his family be forgotten as just another group of idiots that had been wiped out by the Wizengamot for petty offences, if they were going to be wiped out he would make sure that they were remembered!
He quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry's back, shouting the incantation for a blasting curse. This was what Harry had been waiting for and he spun around in a flash, knocking Davies' wand out and up with his left hand so that the curse hit the wall behind him up towards the ceiling while the table knife in his right hand buried itself in Davies' right eye socket.
There was a stunned silence in the Great Hall as Davies swayed until his brain registered that he was dead, then toppled over backwards.
Dumbledore took about a minute or so to register what had happened and then lit up as he suddenly realised that this could be the very thing he needed so he called out in his most authoritative voice.
"Surrender your wand to me immediately Mister Potter! You just murdered Lord Davies in cold blood, right here in front of us! You will face the Wizengamot and be punished for your crime!"
Harry ignored him as he called out. "Professor McGonagall, can someone get the DMLE here immediately please? Might I also suggest that no one be allowed to leave the Great Hall until after the DMLE have decided who they need to question?"
She nodded quickly to Filius as she said "Of course Duke Potter!" and Filius raced out of the Great Hall, the doors closing and sealing themselves behind him.
Dumbledore wasn't about to give up. "Mister Potter, I told you to surrender your wand to me, I demand that you do so immediately!"
This time Harry did acknowledge him. "What for Mister Dumbledore? I did not draw my wand at any point in this, and if I surrender my wand to anyone it will be to the proper authorities, not you."
"I will not allow a murderer to keep a deadly weapon that he can use against others in his possession, surrender your wand to me now!"
"The only murderer, or at least would be murderer, is that piece of shit on the floor…. who you made no attempt at all to stop casting a blasting curse at my back at point blank range! Forgive me for finding your motives and inaction extremely questionable and waiting for the proper authorities…. who should be arriving right about..." The doors of the Great Hall crashed open and Harry finished. "Now."
Amelia stormed into the Great Hall with Sirius, Alice, Alastor Moody and a dozen other Aurors on her heels, and there were thirty or forty DMLE Patrol Officers behind them. Amelia and Sirius raced up to Harry to check that he was okay and he gave them a brief summary of what happened, including Dumbledore's repeated demand that he surrender the wand he hadn't drawn to him, and repeatedly calling him a murderer.
Unfortunately, while the Wizengamot confirmed that Harry killing Davies was unquestionably self defence and Dumbledore had deliberately refrained from doing anything to stop Davies at any point up to and including his trying to murder Harry by casting a blasting curse at his back at point plank range, they couldn't get enough of them to agree that Dumbledore's inaction was criminal to have him charged with anything. Half of them even swallowed the obvious lie that Dumbledore had believed that Harry deliberately killed Davies and was a danger to others as justification for trying to take Harry's wand and went along with him questioning how Harry had become so skilled at killing with a knife that he could do so in the blink of an eye. If the memories displayed hadn't shown Harry obviously grabbing the knife from the table as he started to turn back, Dumbledore probably would have gotten some of them to agree that he'd set up Davies so he could kill him.
In the end, all they got out of it was a lukewarm sanctioning of how Dumbledore handled the matter and the forfeiture of the Davies' titles and everything they owned, plus the execution of Davies' father for his part in the attempt on the life of the Head of two Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses and the permanent eradication of the Davies Wizard Family in Magical Britain because of the shame the last Head of the House of Davies had brought on the Davies name by his actions.
Harry was so angry with Dumbledore being let off with nothing more than an ineffectual slap on the wrist that he made him terrified to go to sleep for a while by waiting until he dropped off before conjuring masses of snakes on his bed chamber floor and then vanishing them some time before morning on and off for the next month or so. Dumbledore wet and soiled his bed more than once because he wouldn't get out of bed to go to the toilet until the sun was up and there was enough light for him to be sure that there were no snakes on the floor. The adults in family were in on it, so they all gave Dumbledore knowing and evil smiles whenever he looked at them, trying to work out who was doing this to him, and hissed as they passed him. The fact that Dumbledore never looked at Harry or the other students because he presumed that the magic was far beyond anything a student could do just added to their amusement.
A/N: I know this is far from the first fanfic that has Blaise Zabini and his mother as Veela, but hopefully I've given the notion enough of a different slant to make it stand up on its own merits. I previously took the position that all Veela were female (like Phoenixes) because how it was handled in the books never worked for me, but that became rather limiting if you wanted to have Veela as core characters, so in the last story I amended that to Veela very rarely having twins, and even more rarely having fraternal twins, which was the only way they ever had male children. I also limited the boys' Veela abilities in that they only get a very limited subset and strength of the Veela abilities their sisters get. FWIW