Title: Diverging Reality
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Various
Chapter: 31
Word Count: 2210
Warnings: a whole lot of politics?

Beta: TigerKat

AN: I am a tired human. I swear. And we're close to the end of the story! I swear it's a surprise to even me.

Enjoy!

Harry sat and stared across from the table at Dumbledore, his green eyes narrowed as his fingers tapped on the table, waiting for the meeting to start so that he could bring up the issue of the invading house elf. Dumbledore looked up and nearly blanched at the dark look that was aimed at him before looking to Lord Slytherin. Dark red eyes stared back at him with a blank boredom that made him look to Lucius and find silver eyes staring at him with a calculating gleam. The rest of the Wizengamont settled into their own chairs as the three stared the old man down.

"Right, let us start this Meeting of the Minds," Amelia called, smacking her gavel down onto a rune on the table that activated the contracts that they had all signed. "I call this Meeting of the Minds to order. We are here to talk and be open with one another. Everyone that sits at this table is reminded to keep their personal opinions off the table and out of their minds. We are here to listen to the facts with an open mind," she stated. Harry looked to the two males on either side of him when Amelia nodded at him, standing.

"Today we have come to start a discussion of concerns that myself and others have, not only about the laws for the Wizarding Kind but also for concerns about Hogwarts such as the wards, the Headmaster position, and the Curriculum," Harry stated. "Lord Malfoy, Lord Slytherin, and I have come to find some concerning things and have had some of the Ministry researchers dig into these things that we bring to this table."

Dumbldore looked to the DictoQuill that Amelia was checking to make sure that it was doing what it was supposed to do, seeing the words glow silver. They were fact.

"Very well, present your findings," Amelia finally said. Dumbledore could feel a curl of dread start in his lower gut.

Ever since he had pushed Harry into the marriage with Ginny, not truly thinking about Harry and his various demands during their courtship, thinking that it was just something the Blacks did, he had found that a lot of his staunch backers had started to drop like flies.

More so when he had lost the rights to control the Potter, Black, Peverell, Prewitt, and Weasley seats, all of them taken from his control and regents placed. Granted, the Peverell family seats had been separated out into the Black, Potter, and Weasley clans for the most part, but there had still been enough of them left to give him a considerable amount of power with the other seats.

He had voted like the families would have for themselves, but had done so in such a way that it worked for the Greater Good. But when Harry had taken up his Lordships the day after his wedding, Dumbledore had found himself without the stolen seats from Potter, Black, and part of the Pervell seats. Then Arthur had taken over the Weasley seats, with Heir Weasley sitting until he took the Lordship himself, and Dumbledore had found himself with just the three seats that came with being a part of a Noble house.

And now it looked as if the plans that he had feared of updating everything at Hogwarts weregoing to happen, and he neither hadthe position of Headmaster to stop it, nor had enough votes.

"First thing on the list to talk about, the current curriculum. Who here knows the difference that stands between Light, Dark, and Grey magic?" Harry asked, as he took his seat. He tapped a small stack of index cards that were held together with a small metal ring.

"Dark magics are the unsavory, Grey can be borderline, while Light is the magic of those who live a good, proper life," came from Lord Doge, sitting back in his seat.

Ogden snorted as he rolled his eyes, quite obviously knowing where Harry was going. Outside of being a maker of the perfect fire whiskey, he was a magical historian. "You're wrong, as usual. Dark magics are just those magics that require things like the sacrifice of blood, sexual virginity or purity, or something physical. Those who have an affinity for Dark Magic need to learn carefully how to handle them and where that line between Dark and Evil is. Light, if you didn't know, can be just as dark as Dark magic in the way that it can be used. After all, a floating spell, a Light-based spell, can float someone off the edge of a cliff. Or drop a boulder onto someone's head," he said. "Grey is just that balance between the two, meaning they can find most spells and rituals easy to use."

Marvolo nodded with a smirk. "Indeed. I, myself, am Dark. I learned to use my magical affinity for healing and spell removal. The sacrifice comes from the blood loss or from the loss of a limb that can't be saved, and the magical power of the spell. I also work with Potion Masters by growing plants that are notoriously weak if they are grown by someone who isn't either Dark or a Dark-leaning Grey. The fact that we must import some of our most used potions because the British government had stopped us from growing and using the plants here means that they can run expensive. And what we do grow and use in the potions makes the potions weaker because the ingredients areweak by not being grown correctly. I know for a fact that Master Snape, as a Potions Master, is allowed to grow his potions ingredients himself. Though he does admit that he doesn't have the best hand at growing and wishes that he had proper access to the ingredients so that he can focus on his potions properly," he continued.

"Along with that, it is well known around the world that Grey magic users are some of the best healers when it comes to just healing, while Dark magicals are best for healing rituals. And the best healers are those who are perfectly balanced in their magical abilities," Lucius said. "The fact that you did not know this, Lord Doge, shows just what we are talking about. This information, and so much more, should be taught to the students of Hogwarts so that they know the world around us. So that we can help what is happening to Magic stop."

Amelia stared at the parchment before leaning forward, as her niece watched with wide eyes, seeing the silver on the parchment. "What do you mean by 'what is happening to magic', Lord Malfoy?" she asked.

Harry looked over to her and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, how many 'Low Magicals' have been born in the last ninety years?" he asked her. "How many Old Bloods are finding themselves magically weaker than the New Bloods? How many children per family have been born? Magic is starting to die out in the Old Lines because of how much they have interbred. We need the new Magical blood that from those Low Magicals. But if we do not teach them the world that they are coming into, they will try to change us to a point where we are losing our magic because we are not thanking Mother and Lady Magic for their gifts on the proper days and nights," he said.

Amelia sucked in a breath as she heard those. "What?" she breathed, Ogden looking up from the information book that they had been given.

"What most don't remember because of the laws that were pushed forward, each time we celebrate the coming spring, we share magic and create new life with Magic's blessing. When the Harvest has been done, and we burn it or bury it to return it back to the Earth, we thank Mother Magic for Her Blessing us for another year. When we do the rites and speak with the dead, we remember those ancestors who came before us and thank them for their lives. When we keepour traditions, we are not doing it to be old-fashioned, we do it to celebrate and thank all that Mother and Lady Magic have given us," he stated.

"And with every New Blood that comes to our world, who isn't taught about why we need to do these traditions and how we do them, we lose a piece of our culture and what makes Magic what it is," Harry continued. He waved a handand smiled softly. "I remember the first time that I thanked Mother Magic for my harvest during my sixth year. I had to wait, but it felt like Magic patted me on the head and blessed me with love. We need to give the New Bloods this information. Not just that but the actual Wizarding Laws, and we need to update the non-magical class. It needs to be updated since the Queen has learned just how far behindwe are in regards to information on them and how we think of them. Most of those who live in the Wizarding World full time since the twenties can't blend into the modern world because that class and information is so dated."

"Which is a risk that we can't accept," Marvolo continued. He nodded his head to the books. "We have all of the information about the classes that used to be, what we need to start up, and the information that everyone in our world needs to learn. And it's just the start. Because we also need to have the Hogwarts Wards checked. I have a feeling that they will need to be taken down and restarted before the new year of school is to start," he continued.

Marchbanks grunted while Amelia rubbed at one eye, Susan staring at her aunt in worry. Neville looked up from where he had been going over the ward information with a frown.

"Are you saying that they haven't been checked since the Troll in our first year, and even then, it was just a quick check by someone not of the Gringotts contract that the Hogwarts charter demands?" Neville asked, his voice full of cold fury.

"I can tell you that from what we have learned, the wards at full power would have caught every Dark Mark that crossed the warding lines. They would have noted the magical affinity of every student and made sure that they were placed into the proper classes to learn of their affinity. They would have stopped rapes, magic in the halls, and everything that is against the rules and Charter of the school," Marvolo stated. "I have heard things that make my hair want to turn white. I feel that they will need to be taken down, the ward stones cleansed and updated by a Gringotts-based Rune Master, Gringotts-based Arithmetic Master, and a Gringotts-based Ward Master. Preferably with a Gringotts-based Master Curse Breaker."

Bill closed the book with a look of controlled anger on his face. "I will have to bring this information to Gringotts myself. I can warn you now that they are going to be most displeased if someone who wasn't under their contracts messed with the wards, since the Founders had set that part of the school Charter for good reason. Quite a few of those runes on the ward stones are Goblin Born Runes. Only the Goblins and those trained under them can mess with them, much less use them."

"I see," Dumbledore said, blanching at the sight of Harry staring straight at him.

"I take it that we can all agree that there needs to be an overhaul of the Hogwarts Curriculum and wards?" Harry asked. Everyone voted on that by placing their wand tips on the top of the list of paper that listed off the subjects to be discussed. The three men looked pleased at the approved move, even Doge voting to approve of it. Lucius curled the new bill and sealed it with a Wizengamont ribbon, wax, and seal, placing it into a Wizengamont box.

Harry noted that Doge looked uncomfortable about having to agree about the vote, but they weren't too concerned.

"The next thing that we must discuss," Marvolo started, smiling slightly at them, "is that while we were researching all of this, we learned that there is a part of the Hogwarts Charter that was suppressed about the Headmaster, and what he can and cannot do inside and outside of the school." His smile took on a decidedly sharp edge hidden by a kind of sadness. "As the only living ex-headmaster, Lord Dumbledore, I hate to put this to you, but it seems as if you must either release your political position and set a regent for your seats to keep your title of Ex-Headmaster, along with the retirement plan, or you let go of the Ex-Headmaster title and the retirement plan."

Dumbledore cursed loudly and fluently in his own mind at being cornered the way that he had been by the three. He was starting to truly regret even trying to control Harry if it meant that the young man had spent the last few years researching and turning his focus onto him.