Even though Harry and Neville had joined me, there wasn't much we could do in terms of practical magic without the rest of the Corps. Instead of devoting time to the Corps-iculum, Neville and I turned our attention to Harry. Now that we were betrothed, Harry and I were politically linked. He could afford ignorance in wizarding culture for the past two years but, now, he'd have to learn about the world we lived in.
"So there are only twenty-eight pureblood families?" Harry asked with a frown. I shook my head.
"The twenty-eight aren't the only recognized purebloods. My family isn't on the list, neither is Luna's. The twenty-eight are supposedly the houses with the least relationships to Muggles. The list itself is some political nonsense. The Weasleys are on the list and I'm sure you know about them."
"What do I know about them?" Harry asked heatedly. I backtracked ever so slightly.
"Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, has a very keen interest in Muggles and their technology. Weasleys have historically hated their placement on the list and have been declared blood traitors in some circles. Blood traitors in that they deny their pureblooded heritage and associate with Muggles and Muggleborns."
"That's rubbish!" Harry growled. I rolled my eyes.
"Of course it is. But it's still very important to some people and those are the people you can't afford to see you looking a fool."
"No, you have to keep your back totally straight like this." Watching Neville teaching Harry how to bow was entertaining but I didn't dare laugh. It would be my turn to teach Harry to dance soon and I couldn't give Neville the pleasure of laughing then.
"Just be glad you don't have to curtsy. It took me years to be able to do it properly without hurting myself. Since you're emancipated, most people will recognize you as the Lord Potter so you shouldn't need to bow very deeply to most people. I'll make a list of names and faces that you'll have to remember to respect, though."
"Don't forget the board of governors," Neville chimed.
"I won't. With the Corps operating primarily out of Hogwarts, I can't afford miscommunications with the governors. I won't be getting a vote for anything out of Lucius Malfoy but I'll have a decent chance with the others. I'm still too young for them to put much thought into anything a group of schoolchildren does, but they do know my name."
"Daphne's dad is on the board, right?" Harry asked. I nodded.
"Lord Robert Greengrass. An intelligent man but not a leader. He and his daughter have much in common and he holds her in high regard. The Greengrass house has fallen out of favor due to some bad sidings in the past two wars but they are good allies to have. They are as steadfast as any Slytherins can be."
"How did they fall out of favor?"
"I've told you about the war with Gellert Grindelwald. The war didn't really strike here, but it was very volatile on the continent. It was fashionable to send aid in the form of supplies but the Greengrasses took it further. They sent a number of their family members as soldiers to fight in the war and, when many of them did not return home, the other old families saw their death as a meaningless waste of pureblood. Later, in the war against Voldemort, they were obstinately neutral. Even with other houses neutral, many were secretly one way or another. By not supporting either side directly or indirectly, they were discredited by both sides. The Light houses believed the Greengrasses had something to hide. The Dark houses were angry they hadn't been supported. If the current degradation of the name continues, Daphne's husband or son could be the last formal Lord Greengrass."
"Is that a high probability?" Harry asked, his eyes wide. I smiled, shaking my head.
"The Greengrass name will be bound to the Wyncrest, Potter, and Longbottom names. They'll likely be declared as a Light family, but they will continue to be honored as a house."
"Is being a Light family bad?"
"Light and Dark are misnomers," I said with a frown. Neville took over for me, pitying me.
"At their core, Dark houses merely to seek to preserve wizarding culture in all its forms. Wyncrest is a neutral house but, if I had to decide right now, I would call them Dark. They still celebrate the old holidays, they maintain their tradition of matriarchy, they believe in the early education of their children, and they haven't directly dealt with Muggles since the statute of secrecy came into effect."
"Not that you know of, anyway," I said cheekily. Neville rolled his eyes.
"The terminology isn't as effective since the last war. Dark houses were demonized because Voldemort twisted Dark theory into something much worse. Instead of simply preserving culture, he moved to destroy anything that threatened to change our ways. Now Dark tends to mean evil with Death Eater ties while Light means the house can do no wrong. It's blind and it's foolish to think anything is so cleanly cut but house politics are sensitive and difficult to interpret."
"And House Potter..."
"Was neutral. It was actually a sort of bridge between Light and Dark families for a long time, very popular for betrothal contracts since your ancestors were noted to be easy to get along with. It shifted to Light during the last war because of your parents' actions against Lord Voldemort but it's up to you to reaffirm or denounce their choices. I would recommend remaining as a Light house. We can change the definitions of Light and Dark with time but we all need be seen in a positive light by the majority. Right now, it just isn't fashionable to be Dark," I concluded.
Daddy spent most of his time working while we were at this house but, whenever he had the time and the inclination, he poked his head in to see what we were doing. He wasn't worried that Harry and I were getting up to trouble- he knew as well as the rest of us that this betrothal was strictly political- but he had found a great joy in teasing Harry about it. I was guessing this was the only justice he would get after being put through the same torment and education after he and Mama got engaged.
Time passed and soon it was time for us to part again. Augusta had asked for Neville and Harry be returned to her before term and I wasn't going to disobey her. Harry and Neville were taken back to the Longbottom estate by Naia after our Hogwarts letters had come through and I was able to return my attention to my other projects.
The Corps-iculum was going as well as I could have hoped. We needed to backtrack on DADA since the school was forced to acquire a new professor but, from what I'd read of the syllabus mailed to us from Daphne, Professor Lupin was going to be a much more competent professor than Quirrel or Lockhart.
My ley link had been progressing as normal. It seemed that my core allowed for an additional eighth of capacity annually at the Yule. My core would be larger than it should for most of my Hogwarts years but, as I reached adulthood, it should taper off into a normal range. I simply had more expansive growth at a younger age.
Vittat was proving to be a very good companion. After a few letters between Professors McGonagall and Snape, I was allowed to bring him to Hogwarts as my familiar despite the restrictions on which animals were allowed. That may not have been the case if Vittat had been a venomous snake but, as it was, I was content. It was be good to keep up on my parseltongue while at Hogwarts even if Pieridae, the massive basilisk of the Chamber of Secrets, was long dead.
For now, I needed to make immediate plans. The Corps now contained three Slytherins, four Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff. I would need to increase expansion into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to ensure fair inter-house relations within the Corps. While everyone in the Corps was loyal to me over their house, they were still sorted for a reason. Arguments would naturally arise and I needed a fair mix to be able to benefit and grow from those arguments. If Professor Snape allowed me to interfere with the first years as I did last year, that would be one avenue to gain recruits but first years wouldn't give me the reach or connections I needed.
What I really needed was a dueling club. Thanks to Lockhart's incompetence, the dueling club from last year had failed miserably. This year, we would have to try making it a student-based organization. Harry, as we discussed in the last year, would be the public face and leader of this club but I was more likely than not going to entrust Hermione to run it from behind the scenes. This would be a good test of Harry's administrative capabilities but I knew Hermione would be able to cover where Harry's talents were lacking.
The Slytherin team would likely go through a short overhaul. Flint had graduated and Sebastian was the new captain. Even if we kept all of the other players from the previous years, we were still down a chaser that would need filling. I needed to make sure I was on that team, no matter what. If Draco persisted in being seeker, I was sure I could train myself into chasing. It would be hard but I needed Slytherin's full support, a feat that was significantly easier if I was beating Gryffindor into the ground on the pitch.
That Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban was mildly concerning but I wasn't truly worried about it. Harry knew better than to go looking for him and, as the majority of the wizarding world believed Black had escaped in order to find and kill Harry, he was playing along. I was interested to know how he had escaped, though. It was something on my to-fix list that I had mentally drafted- things that were in dire need of my attention as soon as I became the Minister of Magic- but it also might have been on my to-learn list. Given last year's suspicions towards me and my luck, I just might need a way to break out of Azkaban.
Plans, I reminded myself chidingly.
Inter-house dueling club. All clubs and activities need to be approved of by a teacher-sponsor and the board of governors. Professor Snape would likely be willing to sign off on the club but the board of governors would be a little trickier. Most of the board was either being paid by or afraid of Lucius Malfoy so if he didn't approve of my idea no one would. The only way to get Lucius to agree with me is if he's feeling pressure from his son. Lord Malfoy might be a git, but he was a reasonably attentive parent from what I knew. That or he just hated hearing Draco whine. Either way, if I offer Draco a place in the club, the club would get passed.
That created an issue of its own- how Draco would react once he was in the club- but I'd have to cross that bridge when I reach it. I'd also have to figure out how to make Draco interested in any of my ideas. He believed in solidarity outside of the common room but, the second we were in the common room, I was a potential threat to him. My plans couldn't afford for me to defer to him in anything. He would have to change to suit me. With my betrothal contract, he was the weaker political party. He would feel pressure from his parents- at least his mother- to agree to my terms lest he force the Malfoy name out of society.
Slytherin Quidditch team. I wasn't worried about this. Bass is the captain. He'll get me on the team unless he has no other options. Draco's father couldn't pull the Nimbus 2001s after a year of use so Draco wasn't necessary on the team. I had a feeling Bass would try to beat the kid into being a chaser. That would appease the Lord Malfoy and get Draco off of my back for the seeking position.
Loose plans dancing in my mind, I returned my attention to the task immediately ahead of me- gathering our Hogwarts supplies.