"Talking"

Interlude with the Dark Hierarchy:

The Elite. They were the Dark Lord's most loyal. His best trained. They were the masterminds. They were the ones who pulled off the impossible. Had they been known they would have been greatly feared.

The Inner Circle: They were the generals. They thought they were the best. They thought they were the most trusted. They were wrong. They heard only whispers of the Elite. They thought them to be only rumors. Their Master would have told them, his Inner Circle, if they existed, right?

The Death Eaters: They were the minions; the cannon fodder; tools to be used and discarded. They knew nothing of the Elite. They feared the Inner Circle. They were the foot soldiers. Their goals were to gain entrance to the Inner Circle.

Together, the Death Eaters, the Inner Circle, and the Elite were the entirety of the Dark Lord's forces. When their lord fell, the Death Eaters fled. The Inner Circle was divided; many went to Azkaban and others kept themselves out through lies, manipulations, and bribes. The Elite never left. They stayed at the manor and waited. Their lord would return, they knew this as surely as they knew they were alive. . They did not try to find him; they didn't know where to start. At first, they didn't know if they should. Then their prince returned from the "dead" and they had other things to worry about. Other things to take care of, the heir was more important than their master now. Their master could take care of himself, he would return when he pleased. The heir was vulnerable, untrained; they had to stay.

The Elite were from all backgrounds. Squib, muggle, muggle-born, pureblood. It didn't matter. All that mattered was intelligence, experience, the rightful claim that you were a master of something or that you know something better than anyone else. The muggles came easily, as did the squibs and muggle-borns. Where else would they go? Where else would they be listened to and protected? What else could they do with their life? Why not join the persuasive, young revolutionary with grand ideas and the offer to be a part of it. To be a part of its birth and to help create this knew world. It was the purebloods who might have proved difficult.

But this was not the case. The purebloods came from proud, old families. Families who already served the Dark Lord and were proud that their sons, their daughters, their eldest were chosen. They were all disinherited. Their father's served the Dark Lord, but they wanted the money to stay in the family. The Dark Lord didn't care. He had enough on his own, and they would still give him funds should he ask. The disinheritance didn't bother him, it allowed them to disappear from society, but should they have been disowned, that would have been another matter. In the case of the Elite, not only were they just disinherited, but they were still promised the rights of the firstborn.

Disinherited vs. Disowned

Disinherited – When the intended party receives nothing from the late father, but a blessing and the promise that should it become necessary, the inheriting party shall take care of them. In the extreme case that it is used on an offending family member (i.e. Sirius Black). They receive nothing at all, but are allowed to keep their family name. Should the favored son's line die out, the disinherited son's line would be next to receive the fortune, keeping the money within the family.

Disowned – The process by which the person being disowned is cut off from their family, and considered dead to said family. The disowned person loses their family name and must take another or remain a no-name, the largest shame to be given to any pureblood. Many who are disowned commit suicide or try, often unsuccessfully to live in the muggle world.

Firstborn Rights – The firstborn has the authority over his younger siblings. Should the father die, he may disinherit, disown, or otherwise punish as he sees fit, with the sole exception of killing, any member of his family. This meant that should they so desire, in the eyes of the law, the eldest could control their siblings, and their siblings' families' loyalties and political votes. If the family disobeyed the oldest sibling and placed their loyalties elsewhere, the eldest could disown or disinherit them.

Basically, this meant that the male purebloods of the Elite, though out of contact with their families, were technically still the heads of said families. It also meant that should they marry and produce a male heir for themselves, their son, not the son of a younger sibling would gain the inheritance.

For example: Should Damien Malfoy have a son, his son, and not Lucius's son Draco, would be Malfoy heir.