The Shadow of the Wizarding World
By: Jamnaz79
Beta: NedryOS
-x-x-x-x-x-
Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. Nor do I claim to.
-SotWW-
He smiled back at her then shook his head slowly, "I will try to change things slowly step by step with the Foundation. But, I was hoping you would consider instead another option so you can join me in making changes to our new world."
The boy paused as his lips curled into his best smile while mischief danced into his eyes. Harry slowly shifted to one knee as he looked up into the deep dark brown eyes of his best friend and speaking softly, "Hermione Jane Granger will you consent to become Hermione Jane Potter?"
The girl sat there stunned as she looked at her best friend. Her eyes were so wide that even Dobby would be impressed. Her cheeks had turned so bright crimson that it would put a Weasley's hair to shame. Hermione opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out except for a squeak.
"It you keep your mouth open like that you will catch flies." Harry smiled with mischief dancing in his gaze. The boy was still on one knee with a teasing bright smile over his lips.
The teasing seemed to snap the brain of the bushy haired girl into working order. Her hands settled onto her hips as she narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Harry James Potter, what nonsense are you talking about? We are too young to get married and I …."
She seemed to catch herself and calm down as Hermione looked sadly towards Harry for a moment, "Harry you are my best friend… To be honest you are everything I might want in a boy. Smart, kind, honest, loyal, and you would do anything for someone in trouble. But, I love you like a brother."
Harry looked at her his mouth falling open a look of mock sadness filling his face at the sudden rejection. He fake sniffed a few times as if trying to stop the a crest of tears. Then he reached out and pulled the girl into a surprise hug.
To say Hermione was stunned by the hug would be an understatement. Despite her best friend becoming more open and friendly since the end of last year, he still rarely showed physical intimacy. Her right hand reached out to tentatively pat against his shoulder, "It will be fine Harry. I promise you will find a girl. You will…"
She stopped as she heard a giggle coming from the boy. She realized the shaking of the boy's body was not from tears but from laughter. Quickly she pushed him back from the hug to look at a smiling face of her best friend. Slowly Hermione's left eyebrow rose upwards arching in question, something that seemed to be genetic to all angry females.
Harry let out a sigh to catch his breath knowing that he would need to respond quickly for he was now playing with fire with his prank. He offered his most charming smile, "I love you too as a sister Hermione. I wasn't asking you to marry me. I was asking you to allow me to adopt you into the Potter family. You are…"
He paused a moment as his eyes glowed with warmth, "You are what I would want in a sister. You are friendly, kind, the smartest witch in the school, a little bossy but only when you feel you need to get a point across to me, and most importantly you care about me. You are my best friend and I would like you to officially become my family."
The smile that Hermione gave him could have outshined the sun. A bit of crimson touched his cheeks her compliments to Harry and his own words relayed. Still he could see questions in the yes of his friend so he continued before they poured forth like a raging river, "If you wish to accept my offer I have two ways I could help you. I could accept you as a ward of House Potter and I would become your magical guardian. Your current magical guardian is the Headmaster by default and of course your muggle guardians would remain your parents. You would still be considered a muggleborn but would at least have some protection legally and financially because of my family name. It might help in the future for employment and future education possibilities. I would prefer the other option though."
Harry paused to let Hermione consider his words. He watched her biting her bottom lip as she considered what he said, then after a few minutes of silence he continued, "I would rather do a blood adoption ritual that would make you officially a member of House Potter. You would be considered a Potter and my Heir apparent till I have children. Every possible avenue and door would most likely be open to you and I think then we could together be successful in our plans. In the eyes of the Ministry you would be considered a half-blood since your parents would be muggles. I would even be able to share some of my family magic with you, which can only be used by those of our blood. Most important though Hermione, you would be my sister and we could change our world together."
The girl stared at her best friend in silence considering her words carefully. She felt Harry's hand reach out and encompass her own giving it a squeeze, "Harry I need to look into this first. I have too many questions. Will I still be my parent's daughter? Will I change physically or mentally? Are there risks with this ritual for you or I? Magic always has a cost, what would be this cost? I need to look into it and learn about it a lot first."
Harry smiled at the girl and gaze her hand a squeeze before releasing it. He reached into a pouch and pulled out a book slowly to place into her hand. The title of the book state So you want to adopt an Heir.
A few weeks later
It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining yet there was a bit of cloud cover so it was not too bright. There was a breeze blowing gently from the northeast, even though it was not the frigid cold of autumn that was soon to come. Some would call it the last breath of summer. The Black Lake seemed to capture and reflect the light spinning it out into a bright shining rainbow for all to see.
The boy-who-lived leaned his back against an old oak tree as he sat in the grasses of his favorite hiding spot to enjoy the day. It was Sunday and there was no class. It was also the one day a week that he allowed himself to relax and forget about his intense study plans. Normally he kept active from six am till eleven pm each day with extra study session and personal training. But, Sunday's were promised to Sirius to keep them always for recovery and rest physically and mentally. It was the day that he would get a chance to do something non-academic and just relax as he saw fit.
Today Harry had decided to get into some swimming trunks, an activity that he had never done, and go down to the lake to sun, relax and perhaps try to wade into the water. He went to his own personal spot, a place of a hidden peninsula not seen from the path around the lake. He had promptly setup a few towels, a basket taken for lunch and un-shrunk his record player. The music of the day was the new popular American band Pearl Jam.
While he laid out on the towel, he flipped through the large black tome that he had found in the Golge Vault in Gringotts. Last night he had finally figured out how to remove the tome from the family ring. He was able to determine a small inscription rune which required a blood price of the family to unseal the tome. So his plans for relaxation came together quickly with the determination to read the history of his family from overseas.
The book was fascinating. It seemed to cover over six hundred years of history for his family. The Golge family was one of the five families that were on the matriarchal council. They made up the ruling families under the Ottoman Empire and controlled the magical society in the form of a council. They were officially part of the advisors of the Sultanate till near to the end of the Empire. The Five families were all created from the Devsirme system run by the Ottoman Empire to create their army known as the Yeni Ceri or Janissary Corps.
The Devsirme system was a program implemented in 1361 by Sultan Murad I of the Ottoman Empire where children around the age of five to seven were taken from conquered lands to be raised by the muggle government. These children were indoctrinated into the culture, history, traditions and policies of the Ottoman Empire. The further the Ottoman Empire expanded the larger the size of the system grew to support the Empire. These individuals would either enter into the bureaucracy or the Janissary Corps. This allowed for a stable loyal force to back the Sultan. Eventually there would arise problems from the Janissary as they became too powerful. Eventually they would even overthrow Sultans that would not live up their standards, or during times of disharmony in the Empire. But for over five hundred years the Ottoman Empire would be supported by the Janissary corps and the Devsirme system.
The Council of Five used the Devsirme system for a recruitment policy, it was a change to acquire all muggleborn children. Through artifacts and a system of runes and rituals done once a year they were able to pinpoint all muggleborn children who had committed accidental magic anywhere in the Empire. This was extremely impressive since the Empire spanned over a thousand miles at one point from Egypt through Romania. The children would be rounded up unless they were registered to approved families and entered into a teaching program for magical children.
This schooling was a live in facility, much like Hogwarts, but it would train the child for their magical muggle future lives in service to the government. Most of the children when of proper age were turned over to apprenticeships in different areas of the Empire. It gave the Five Families of the magical council and eventually later families that arose to power the ability to control and support the muggle government of the Ottoman Empire.
The ICW ended this arrangement through its bid for power around the world forcing the separation of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire in 1867. The organization was originally developed by the European Powers during the age of Colonialism. With the witch hunts of the middle ages fresh in their minds the elite of the wizarding world decided that the rise of muggle technologies in conjunction with their global expansion would signify trouble for wizards and witches. The idea was proposed that the European Wizards would lead the world onto the proper path and control dangerous magic. Furthermore it was imperative that as the "intellectual muggles" of Europe would explore the world that they would not encounter magic in other lands.
During the conquests by the Spanish of the New World this led to the direct destruction of the Inca and Aztec cultures. They were both societies controlled by the magical families in their domain as such it was deemed that they could not be allowed to continue to exist. After the wholesale slaughter it was determined by the Elite Wizarding Families that although muggles were lesser creatures they should not cause wholesale slaughter of their cultures. Instead there had to be a way to keep separate magical from muggle.
Hence the major wizarding councils of Europe including the Holy Roman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, British, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Kingdom of Norway and Italy and Russians gathered together in 1659 to form the International Conference of Wizards (ICW). The express purpose per the charter was the subjugation and domination of foreign magical societies to the proper way to deal with muggles in their domain. The council would eventually start to expand and accept other strong wizard cultures around the world.
In 1789 it was decided by the ICW that the magical and muggle world could no longer survive together. A new charter was created with the major rule the Statue of Secrecy. It was drawn up by the American Wizard Benjamin Franklin with the purpose to protect the secrets of magical society. All countries a part of the ICW would be required to separate their societies with a policy of non-interference with the muggle world. There were strong penalties to countries that would resist this new rule that none would defy except the Magical Ottoman Empire.
While the policy of the Devsirme had fallen away from the muggle Ottoman Empire, the magical side kept with the removal of muggleborn children and their indoctrination. The ICW warned against these actions and the control of most major muggle institutions in the Ottoman Empire, a warning carried multiple times but ignored. Finally, an invasion force of forty different countries and hundreds of force in wizards attacked the council of Five and their Assembly. The ICW and the Ottoman Wizards fought a fierce twenty year war before finally the Ottoman's strength was torn asunder.
The ICW took control of the Ottoman Magical Government and society for a period of eighty years as punishment. This resulted in failures of the financial and political system throughout the muggle Empire. The land controlled by the Ottoman's started to be carved piece by piece away from them by European powers. Eventually it would become known as the Old man of Europe, a weak and crippled thing of its once past glory. Finally, World War One put the Empire out of its misery.
Harry's family, The Golge, was one of the Council of Five. Traditionally it would be a family member that would sit on the council as the leader. According to the family grimoire after ICW war his great grandmother was taken captive. She was taken to England as a permanent hostage for the good will of the Golge family. The information was sketchy for what took place after her removal from England, it seems that somehow she had setup the Gringotts account. There was little knowledge available till his mother was by the Evans family. There was nothing for what had taken place in Turkey since the ICW withdraw at the time of Grindelwald. This brought up questions that he would need to answer before he took a trip to Turkey. Would he be allowed to go there? Was there anyone there left of his family? How were the families of the Council of Five looked at and treated now? Too many questions to consider for this day.
The tome further went into individual family members of important and some of their contributions over the centuries. But, he skipped that for now. Instead his eyes were drawn to the ritual section. Most of the rituals held components of Runes, Arithmancy, potions, positions of the stars and ley lines of power. After looking a few over Harry was honest with himself that he had no clue what he was looking at. A genius he may be for his studies but these were far beyond him to contemplate and enact for the time being. It was a disappointment but at least it was also something to look forward and work to accomplish.
Harry was interrupted just as he sealed away the magical tome into his ring. A shadow cast itself over the ground from the forest's edge stretching to before him in the shape of a person. His fingertips itched to draw his wand instead he slowly turned his emerald gaze towards the individual casting the shadow.
When he looked he found a petite blonde standing there next to an old oak tree with an airy demeanor about her. Today she a towel in her arms and wore a one piece bathing suit without any shoes. Harry made a mental note to ask about the shoes even as he smiled towards her. The suit Luna was wearing was bright fiery orange in color that seemed to sparkle from the sunlight. It took Harry a second to notice that she was a growing girl and starting to fill out the bathing suit. "Good Afternoon Luna. I hope the wrackspurts are not bothering you today?"
A bit of amusement danced in her eyes at the question, "No Harry. But, I did hear that the water near here had a tentacleoppous. I wanted to come see it."
"A tentacleoppous? I am not familiar with that creature." He spoke as he scooted over and pat the ground next to him in offer.
Luna ran over and flopped down next to him with a bright smile, "It is a creature that looks a lot like a smaller version of Rocky but instead of suction cups at the end of its tentacles it had little mouths on all twelve of them. I am told that they like to nibble on the most sensitive parts of swimmers unless they wear bright orange."
A slight cringe came over the boy as he squeezed his legs together at the mention of sensitive parts. "Rocky?"
She gave him a duhh look then pointed at the Giant squid on the far side of the lake.
"Oh, I didn't know that was his name. These creatures sound very interesting. Why do you want to swim with them?"
"In summer Daddy says we will be looking in Japan for the Legendary Tentclamonstorous. It is said to be the father of all tentacleoppous and hard to find. It only comes out to find virgins. Daddy told me we need to go before it is too late." She spoke with a smile as he doe-like innocent eyes met his emerald greens.
Part of Harry wanted to scream that she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. But, a part of him wondered if she wasn't and she was actually serious. The last part of him worried what type of strange things her father was into! "Maybe there might be a safer place to go then see a tentacle monster that likes virgins over summer?"
Luna stuck out her tongue trying to touch the tip of her nose for a few seconds. "Well, we can always try Daddy's other plan. He said he wanted to summon some monster named Cthulhu."
Somewhere in the back of Harry's mind he pictured the end of the world all because of Luna and her father. Perhaps Voldemort wasn't the worst enemy the world had ever seen? He was drawn from the thoughts as she asked him a question.
"Are you going to swim Harry or just read all day?" She smiled dreamily towards him again.
A slight blush came over his cheeks as he admitted, "I don't know how to swim Luna. I have never been before."
She stood up pulling out her wand. With a flick of the wrist she turned his swim trunks bright orange before offering him a small impish grin, "Need to protect you from tentacleoppous. Come on lets teach you."
The girl grabbed his hand and physically dragged the boy off to the water. A stray question went through his head as she did, 'Why could Luna always pull down my walls and defenses?'
Omake – Stubby Boardman – Ads campaign
A crack rumbled through the room as Kreacher appeared next Sirius' desk as the man worked on reports for the family. The man looked over to see the elf holding a letter addressed to him. With a sigh he took hold of the letter and broke the seal.
A quick read of the letter made it seem to be from Mr. Greengrass. A publicity stunt was arranged for him to appear as Stubby Boardman at an event for talk about a new set of muggle pills for recovery from injuries. The letter hinted at numerous females that wanted a chance to see Stubby might be there waiting for him. Not to mention that the muggle firm would make a donation in his name to the James Potter Foundation. All he needed to do was make an endorsement of their pills and it would be captured on some posters and advertisements.
The idea seemed simple enough to Sirius as a smile crept over his face. He remembered when the marauders snuck out of Hogwarts one day and played a gig as the infamous band the Hobgoblins. It was a blast and surprisingly they somehow managed to become famous as a band. There was even a piece done in the Quibbler that talked about Stubby Boardman appearing from retirement.
The memories and smile made the Lord of House Black laugh brightly, "Indeed, this will be a good event to do. It will remind me of the good old days. Plus perhaps I can help convince some wizards take this muggle pill to help their pains."
So it was decided that Sirius would arrive to the event in three days.
The event seemed pretty straightforward when Sirius arrived. He was met by a beautiful red haired woman with a slender body and large rack that was barely covered. She smiled brightly towards him, "Mr. Boardman, I can't say how much of an honor it is to meet you. I am Anna. I will be helping to oversee the advertisement. Thank you for doing this, you will help change the lives of thousands of men."
Sirius gave the woman a once over with his eyes then smiled brightly, "I hope to change the lives of more than a few women as well."
She let out a bright laugh as she smiled, "Indeed, I am sure you will. I just want to say though how brave it is that you are doing this."
He was a bit confused at her words but offered a smile as she guided him over to the set. The setting was a study room that one would find in a nobles house. Actually just like the one back at the Black Household. There was a large fireplace that was lit with numerous books on the mantle. A huge leader chair was parallel to the fireplace which he was directed to sit down in.
"Now Mr. Boardman, we need you to sit there and when it is time read the line off of the cards. We will take a few pictures and using a new technology the pictures will be placed on large screens at a few quidditch stadiums. We have found a way to have the words you speak play whenever your picture cycles through." She spoke with obvious excitement as she bounced on the toes of her feet. This action drew the eyes to her large chest bouncing with her movements.
She smiled at the rock star and motioned to the chair, "Take a seat and get comfortable. The photographer will start in a moment. Oh here is the new product."
Sirius took hold of the box and looked it over. It seemed to a large number of strange chemicals mixed together. He gave a sigh then shrugged. Muggles who knew what type of madness they created with their scientific experiments?
The photographer and recorder called for everyone to get ready. Then a few pictures were taken of him holding up the product and smiling or giving a wave.
"Perfect, now Mr. Boardman please say your line." The recorder called out as they hit a few buttons to record his voice
"I am Stubby Boardman. I use Viagra because it gets me up just like I used to as a teenager!" Sirius spoke proudly with his best winning smile as the photographer took a few photographs.
"Perfect, that is a wrap!" The Photographer called brightly as they started to pack up their things.
Anna met him quickly and guided him away with a smile. She tried to get her number but instead she merely took his and said she would call someday. He left there quickly after being told that it was a success and the donation would be done shortly for the James Potter Foundation. As a bonus he was given tickets for two for a box at the next Puddlemere vs Chudley quidditch game which would have the banner up before the start of the game.
A few weeks later Sirius and Narcissa arrived at the box that they were to share for the quidditch match. Originally Sirius was going to try to take Harry but the boy was still at school so he couldn't make it. So he took Cissy with him as it never hurt to have a beautiful woman on the arm. He escorted her over to the front row of their box where they could see the large banner floating in the middle of the stadium.
The banner was cycling through different advertisements as it floated there in the middle of the stadium. After five minutes it flashed to a picture of Sirius. As soon as it did he felt something in the pit of his stomach.
The top of the banner read the line, "if Stubby can get it up so can you!" The bottom of Banner read, "Viagra, better than a Pepper-up Potion!" While he was noticing this he head his voice call out filling the stadium, "I am Stubby Boardman. I use Viagra because it gets me up just like I used to as a teenager!"
He turned his gaze from the banner to his date for the night Cissy. She looked at the banner then back at him then broke out in laughter.
Sirius turned red as he whispered softly, "Harry James Potter, I will get my revenge!"
Author note: I am sorry for the large information dump in this chapter. I know it was a bit much but I felt it was good for the future chapters if my plans come to fruition. I know the chapter was slow but I promise the story will pick up. I hope the little bit of Luna wasn't too far off and the Omake was amusing. Sorry for not getting this chapter Beta'd but I haven't heard from Nedry still. I figure I will give him another chapter before looking for a new beta. I am sorry for being a little mean making folks think Harry wanted Hermione for a wife but unfortunately for HR/H folks it won't happen in this story. Please give me your opinions on the chapter and story. I look forward to your feedback always!
6/22/14 – reposted for quick edits suggested by Shade314