The seating plan for Harry's birthday dinner had been thankfully easy to create. Each of his guests were bringing their betrotheds, except for Luna and Neville who Harry could pair together, and Daphne who was now betrothed to him.
While Harry had never met the girls that Theo and Blaise's were betrothed to, primarily because Natasja had just turned eleven and Ines lived in Italy, he still managed to create a reasonably seating chart without Cousin Narcissa's assistance – though he'd still had her approve it.
Unfortunately, now that Sirius and Lord Greengrass had signed a betrothal contract for him and Daphne, the seating plan had to change. Instead of Draco being on his right, Daphne had to sit there, which threw the entire table off.
Thankfully though they managed to figure out a new one before any of the guests arrived. Draco and Astoria arrived first, with Daphne flooing in behind them, and Harry received his new sister-in-law's congratulations for the match.
Daphne greeted him with a polite curtsey that was deeper than usual, but otherwise allowed her younger, and more excitable sister, to do the talking. Harry watched her with concern. He had put Daphne's formality that morning down to the presence of Sirius and her parents, but none of them were present now.
Neville arrived next, his grandmother in tow, though thankfully he managed to give Harry enough warning of her arrival for Draco and the Greengrasses to vacate the room.
Madame Longbottom was as much of a battleaxe as usual but, after having quizzed Harry regarding the plans for the evening, and being mollified by the mention of Luna being in attendance, thankfully left them alone.
"Sorry about that, Harry." Neville grimaced. "Honestly, I don't know what her problem is. She asked you all those questions last night."
"Don't worry about it." Harry reassured him. "You can't control her."
"No, but she sure can control me." Neville replied miserably.
Harry shot him a sympathetic look. "Draco, Daphne and Astoria are in the Elladora lounge if you want to join them. Oh, and you remember how I told you that I was going to pair you up with Daphne tonight?"
"Yes." Neville nodded.
"We've had to change things around." Harry told him. "So you'll be paired with Luna instead."
Neville looked a little relieved. "That's fine. I find Daphne a bit terrifying. She reminds me of my gran."
Harry grimaced at the comparison. "Why?"
"They're both so proper." Neville explained. "Whenever I do something stupid or clumsy around Daphne she gets this expression on her face as though she wants to scold me."
Harry smirked. "Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. Sirius and Lord Greengrass signed a betrothal contract between me and Daphne this morning."
Neville swallowed heavily. "Merlin, Harry. Sorry, I didn't mean to insult her or anything…"
"I know." Harry reassured him. "I honestly don't mind. I really likehow proper she is."
Neville huffed in amusement. "Yeah, you would. Congrats, Harry. I hope you are both very happy together."
Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you. Did you bring the leaves I asked for?"
Neville gave him a quizzical look, before pulling a small sack out of his robes pocket and handing it to Harry. "Yes. Why in Merlin's name do you want so many mandrake leaves?"
Harry grinned. "I'll tell you later."
Luna's arrival was thankful uneventful, aside from her usual confusing comments that made absolutely no sense. Harry still took the time to ensure that he memorised each strange sentence though. While Luna's comments rarely made sense at first they often were understandable in hindsight, and remembering them helped future interpretations.
Theo arrived next with an eleven year old girl on his arm. Natasja Lestrange looked nothing like Harry had expected her to, which, given that Harry's only point of reference had been the prison photographs that the Daily Prophet had printed of her cousins – Lord Lestrange and his heir – wasn't particularly surprising.
Nastasja was quiet as she curtseyed gracefully beside Theo, her small hand tucked in his elbow.
"Merry meet, Harry." Theo bowed. "May I introduce my betrothed Miss Natasja Lestrange, Heiress to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange?"
Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lestrange."
Natasja flushed. "Thank you, Heir Black."
"Please call me Harry." Harry smiled gently.
Natasja returned his smile shyly, before quickly looking down. "You can call me Natasja."
"Are we the last to arrive?" Theo asked, as the floo the flared behind him.
"No." Harry answered needlessly as Blaise stepped through the fireplace with a girl on his arm and Theo and Natasja moved away to the side.
Harry observed the girl on Blaise's arm. She seemed to be around their age, or perhaps even a little older, and she had dark hair and skin – though her skin wasn't nearly as dark as Blaise's. She was beautiful and Harry couldn't help but think that, at the very least, the two of them looked very good together.
"Merry meet, Harry." Blaise bowed as the girl beside him curtsied. "Please allow me to introduce Ines Abbatini of la Famiglia di Abbatini."
Harry wished he had taken Draco's advice and learnt Italian, thankfully though Cousin Narcissa had taken the time to teach him the important basics. "Merry meet, Signorina Abbatini."
"Merry meet, Heir Black." Ines replied with a slight accent. "It is an honour to meet you."
Harry turned towards Natasja who technically was the next highest ranking person in the room. "Miss Lestrange, I believe you have met Blaise Zabini of la Famiglia di Zabini?"
Natasja smiled shyly. "Merry meet, Blaise."
Blaise stepped forward and bowed to her. "Merry meet, Natasja."
"And this is his betrothed," Harry continued, as though she hadn't just heard Blaise introduce her to Harry. "Ines Abbatini of la Famiglia di Abbatini. Signorina Abbatini, this is Natasja Lestrange Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange."
Ines curtsied. "Merry meet, Heiress Lestrange."
Harry led them to the Elladora Lounge and performed all the necessary introductions. It took over five minutes for all eleven of his guests to be introduced to, and properly greet one another.
Once the introductions were finished, Harry stood up and moved to stand beside where Daphne was sitting. "Before we begin, I have an announcement to make. As of this morning, Daphne and I are betrothed."
"Really?" Theo looked from Harry to Daphne, then back Harry again. "That's wonderful. Congratulations to you both."
Blaise was smiling widely, his teeth gleaming in the light. "No need to ask what your favourite birthday present was then, Harry."
5-5-5
As was proper, Harry sent each of his birthday guests home with a small bag of goodies. What wasn't entirely proper, was that the majority of the bags also contained a mandrake leaf, an invitation to join him in learning to become an animagus, instructions on what to do with the leaf, and an offer for Sirius to perform a sticking charm on the leaf if they would like. They would leave for Hogwarts in exactly a month and a day which, in Harry's opinion, made it the perfect time to start the first step – holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month.
He'd sent Takashi, Fred and George each a leaf via owl since they hadn't been at his party.
Harry didn't get much sleep that night, his mind was turning too much. If he wasn't thinking of his new betrothal, he was wondering what animagus forms he and his friends would have. After his morning run with Remus, Harry asked the older man to perform the sticking charm to stick the Mandrake leaf to the bottom of his mouth. Remus was happy to comply and soon Harry's animagus preparation was underway.
Having a leaf stuck to the bottom of his mouth felt weird! It was annoying, and almost sickening. And it made both eating and talking difficult. Sirius and Remus both laughed at his frustration, but promised that he would get used to it. Harry made sure to owl that encouragement to all his friends after breakfast. He didn't want them to just give up.
By the end of the day he had received owls from all of his friends, minus Takashi who was in Japan and so probably hadn't even received the Mandrake leaf yet, both thanking him for opportunity and asking Sirius' help in performing the sticking charm.
Sirius was, in Harry's opinion, the best godfather a person could ever have and he happily spent the next day meeting with Harry's friends and casting sticking charms on the leaves in their mouths. The next day, Harry was inundated with letters from his friends complaining about how uncomfortable the leaves were. Harry didn't disagree, he still hadn't gotten used to the sensation of a having a leaf in his mouth constantly, but it was completely worth it if it meant he got to become an animagus.
5-5-5
As he had the year before, Sirius gave Harry an overseas holiday for his birthday. The previous year he had taken Harry to France and Germany, because Harry was learning French and German, so it was of no surprise to Harry to find out that this year they were going to be staying in Bulgaria.
They left six days after Harry's birthday because, according to Sirius, that would ensure that they would be back in time for the next Wizengamot meeting and still be able attend a special event in Bulgaria. Harry had no idea what kind of special event Sirius was referring to, there were certainly no Quidditch games scheduled in Bulgaria during the week they would be there.
Remus refused to come with them, as he had the year before, so in revenge Harry ensured that Tonks knew Remus would be alone at Grimmauld Place for an entire week. Sirius thought it was hilarious.
The Dursleys had never taken Harry anywhere when he lived with them, but he did remember hearing them complain about the one overseas holiday they had gone on when he was eight. They had gone to Italy and had left him with Mrs. Figg. Being left behind had been horrible but, when they came home, they had complained for weeks about how uncomfortable their hotel beds had been and how rude they had found everyone they met.
Those memories left Harry feeling delightfully smug about the ridiculously expensive magical hotel that he and Sirius were staying in. His bed felt like he was sleeping on a cloud and every single person they met had been perfectly traditional and polite.
Bulgaria's culture was different from England's. They rarely wore robes, instead the wizards wore tunics over trousers and, occasionally, cloaks. Bulgarian witches wore skirts that, more often than not, actually stopped above the knees, and elaborately wrapped shawls that covered their entire torso. Harry could only imagine what scathing remarks Pansy would make about the indecency of witches not covering their legs, but he had to admit that he quite enjoyed the view.
Not only were the clothes different in Bulgaria, but so was the etiquette. Instead of bowing with their fists meeting over their stomach, they bowed with their arms at their sides, and they didn't bother rolling up their sleeves for people of higher rank – something that Harry put down to the fact that their winters were freezing.
Cousin Narcissa had explained all of this to Harry and Draco earlier in the summer, along with the different customs of Italy, France, Germany and Spain, but it was great to actually get to experience it.
Three days into their holiday Sirius had taken Harry to most of the famous monuments and museums in Bulgaria, but still hadn't told him what the surprise event they were attending was. After breakfast on the fourth day, he side-apparated Harry away from their hotel and to a large stadium with hundreds of people milling around.
Harry looked around in confusion, before finding a sign that announced it to be the '208th Annual Bulgarian Fencing Competition'.
"A fencing competition?" He asked in excitement. "I've never been to one of these before."
Sirius grinned. "I thought you might like it. I was originally going to hire us a box, but unfortunately they were all sold out. Fortunately, when Gospodar Tomov heard that I wished to attend he invited us to join him in his box."
Harry's eyes widened. "Gospodar Tomov is one of the King's advisors. He's the highest ranking person in Bulgaria who isn't part of the royal family."
Sirius laughed. "So I've been told. Luckily, I'm the highest ranking person in England."
5-5-5
The fencing competition was amazing and definitely put Harry's fencing to shame. The wizards and witches competing moved so quickly, both with their sword and their wand, and Harry couldn't help but be inspired. He wanted to be able to fence like that one day.
Gospodar Tomov was one of the most intimidating men Harry had ever met, but he and Sirius seemed to get along really well. Harry didn't mind a bit. He had the fencing competition to watch and an incredibly interesting book to read. The book, which had been a birthday present from the Malfoys, was over a thousand years old and discussed the theory behind Parselmagic. Because of the age of the book, all the pictures and diagrams moved like a photograph. He'd had to get Sirius to put a glamour on the book of course, he was still keeping his being a parselmouth a secret, but it was definitely worth it. It was fascinating!
After the second day of the fencing competition, Gospodar Tomov invited them both back to his manor for dinner and Harry enjoyed the opportunity to experience more Bulgarian culture. It was so similar and yet different to the culture in England.
5-5-5
They returned home from Bulgaria on the 14th of August to a grumpy Remus who promised payback for Tonks' daily visits to Grimmauld Place while they were away. Harry wasn't too worried originally, Sirius (having gotten over his original shock) was definitely on his and Tonks side and he was sure that the two of them could take Remus.
Unfortunately, with the vote for Chief Warlock less than a week away, Sirius spent most of his time out with Lord Malfoy trying to convince Wizengamot members to vote for Lord Prince and Harry ended up having to suffer from weird coloured hair and animated food all on his own.
So, in an attempt to hide from Remus' wrath, Harry did his best to ensure that he wasn't home much either and spent most of his time at either Malfoy Manor or Longbottom Estate. They were the only two houses of his friends that he was allowed, and willing to go to. Sirius wouldn't let him go to Theo's house (since his father was a Death Eater) or Blaise's house (since most of the time there was no adult supervision), and there was no way Harry wanted to go to the Weasleys' house and have to put up with Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.
Thankfully, on the morning of the Wizengamot session, Remus promised to put a stop to the pranks. Harry believed him, right up until a tiny sea monster popped its head out of his smoothie and bit him on the nose. He glared at Remus who promised that he'd meant it and that the sea monster was the last one.
Despite this Wizengamot session being Harry's fourth, he still found it intimidating to be surrounded by so many powerful adults. It was exciting to see Neville there though, sitting beside Lord Longbottom who looked more than a little sulky. Harry wasn't sure how Neville had grown up so well if Lord Longbottom had been his main point of reference.
Theo was in attendance as well and was sitting beside the Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Lestrange. It was strange to see so many of his schoolmates in the room. Draco was there, of course, sitting beside his father, as was Susan Bones and Cedric who were sitting in the Bones Heir seat and the Diggory Heir seat respectively.
Professor Snape was there as well, sitting beside Lord Prince, and now that Harry knew a bit more about their history he could definitely tell that they didn't seem to like each other very much. Still, at least Lord Prince brought Professor Snape with him voluntarily unlike Lord Longbottom.
Harry followed Sirius up the stairs to the Black seats just as the large clock on the wall chimed.
"Greetings," Dumbledore stood up from the Chief Warlock's chair. "And welcome to the six thousand and thirty fifth Wizengamot meeting."
Harry tried not to feel too smug about the fact that his headmaster was almost definitely going to lose his position, but failed. Maybe if Dumbledore hadn't been the Chief Warlock, Harry wouldn't have been sent to live with the Dursleys.
The Chief Warlock issue wasn't first on the program though, the interesting things never were, so Harry did his best to pay attention to the argument on diplomatic relations with Croatia of all places. Unfortunately, Cousin Narcissa hadn't actually taught him anything about Croatia yet and, when Harry looked over at Draco, his cousin looked just as lost as Harry felt.
Eventually, after the lunchbreak, Dumbledore allowed Lord Malfoy to introduce the topic of a new Chief Warlock.
"As you are all aware," Lord Malfoy started, standing in the middle of the room. "Headmaster Dumbledore, of the House of Dumbledore, has served as this body's Chief Warlock for seventeen years. We are, of course, grateful for his service, however, it is my concern that perhaps Headmaster Dumbledore's service to this body has been bought at a cost – primarily that of our children's education."
Harry loved listening to Lord Malfoy talk at the Wizengamot. He was so clever and articulate, and always managed to get everybody's complete attention. The fact that Dumbledore's expression was decidedly glum only helped to further his enjoyment.
"Leading a school as large and prestigious as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry takes a significant amount of work," Lord Malfoy continued. "And I believe it to be important to note that no headmaster, aside from Dumbledore, has held a simultaneous position during his time as Hogwarts' headmaster in the last three hundred years. Perhaps this is the cause for Hogwarts' no longer being regarded the most respected school in Europe."
Lord Malfoy paused as the Wizengamot erupted with murmuring.
"He's good." Sirius noted quietly to Harry. "Very good. It makes me glad we're on the same side."
Lord Diggory raised his wand in the air and Dumbledore called on him immediately. Harry frowned at the man's obvious favouritism, normally Dumbledore made people wait for ages before he called on them.
"Lord Malfoy," Lord Diggory frowned. "This is nonsense. We all know that you harbour no love for Chief Warlock Dumbledore. Do not insult us by attempting to hide your personal agenda beneath fictional statistics."
"I will admit," Lord Malfoy started, speaking over the loud murmuring. "That Headmaster Dumbledore and I have not always seen eye to eye, however I assure you that my concerns do not originate from a personal agenda, nor are my statistics fictional. Several years ago, the International Wizarding Council conducted a survey of the ten major schools within Europe and the results of the survey put Hogwarts as third. I am sure that, as Supreme Mugwump of the IWC, Dumbledore could explain the results of the study in much more depth than I can."
It was a risky move on Lord Malfoy's part. Returning the floor to Dumbledore gave the man an opportunity to defend himself and remind the Wizengamot that he was their darling. Alternatively, it forced Dumbledore to come clean about the report which, according to Sirius, the headmaster had buried, and it definitely paid off. People who had brushed off Lord Malfoy's statement as that of a prejudiced dark wizard, now were taking notice as Dumbledore himself admitted that Hogwarts was no longer as good as it had been in the past.
Harry thought that Lord Malfoy's plan was inspired. After all, removing Dumbledore from the position of Chief Warlock because they didn't agree with his politics made them look like the bad guys, but removing him because they cared about their children's education made them appear in a much better light.
Unfortunately, it meant that Dumbledore would still be Headmaster of Hogwarts – something Harry would much rather he wasn't. And, if everything went to plan, it would mean Dumbledore would have more time to focus on making Hogwarts completely non-traditional.
After Dumbledore had finished his speech, blaming Hogwarts' fall on the other school's successes rather than his failures, Lord Malfoy took the floor again.
"Perhaps the blame cannot fall solely on Headmaster Dumbledore." Lord Malfoy admitted to the Wizengamot. "However, I believe that it must be noted that the headmistresses of both schools who are now outshining Hogwarts do not hold more than one position. Both Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Madame Brusilov, the new Headmistress of Durmstrang Institute, focus their entire attention on running their schools. Perhaps this year, as we work towards better relations between these two schools and our own, we ought to look at what we can learn from them."
Harry looked up at Sirius whose attention was focussed on Lord Malfoy, and then towards Draco, who looked just as confused as he did. What exactly did better relations between the schools mean?
"It is for this reason that I, Lord Lucius Malfoy, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy, do so request that a new Chief Warlock be elected, in order that Headmaster Dumbledore be able to give his best efforts to the education of our children." Lord Malfoy announced.
Dumbledore slowly stood. "Your request is noted, Mr. Malfoy. Does anyone second this request?"
"I second it." Lord Burke stood immediately.
"Then a vote will be called." Dumbledore said, in a mournful tone. "First, however, nominees must be named. Mr. Malfoy, as the originator of this motion, do you have a nominee?"
"I do." Lord Malfoy answered. "I nominate Lord Septimius Prince, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Prince for the position of this Wizengamot's Chief Warlock."
Dumbledore turned his disapproving gaze to Lord Prince. "And do you accept, Mr. Prince."
Harry watched as basically every noble person in his sight clenched their jaws at Dumbledore's usual disrespect, as Lord Prince stood.
"I do."
"Very well," Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "Are there anymore nominees?"
There were three more nominations. Madame Umbridge tried to nominate Minister Fudge, before being reminded that, as Fudge was only part of the Wizengamot because of his position in the ministry, he was not eligible for the position. Then one of the elected members, a Mister Elphias Dodge, stood and nominated Lord Diggory. Finally, Lord Burke nominated Lord Nott for the position. It was exactly as Sirius had predicted it would be. One dark candidate, one light candidate, and Lord Prince who was, technically, middle ground.
Then Dumbledore opened the floor to debate which of the candidates would be the most capable to handle the task. The debate continued for hours and was, by far, the longest and most passionate debate Harry had witnessed. It wasn't necessarily that the emotions were higher than they had been before, Sirius and Umbridge had both been very passionate about the werewolf debate the previous year, but every single member of the Wizengamot seemed to have an opinion they wanted to share on the issue.
In the end, Dumbledore had to the call the debate to a close or risk there not being time to finish the process. Of course Dumbledore made sure that all of Lord Diggory's most passionate supporters got the opportunity to speak first.
The vote was called and Harry watched as Sirius first voted for the House of Black and then voted for the House of Potter. As intimidating as he found prospect of being eligible to cast the Potter votes next year, he was also looking forward to it.
"The votes have been cast," Dumbledore announced. "And the Wizengamot has come to a consensus. The nominee for Chief Warlock is Mr. Septimius Prince."
Then came the second debate, which horribly, was even longer than the first. Dumbledore's supporters did their best to mention every single one of his accomplishments, while repeatedly reminding everyone of every negative thing Lord Prince had ever done (including disowning his daughter). Then Lord Prince supporters or, more accurately, Dumbledore's opponents, would stand up and spend half their time trashing Dumbledore and the other half of their time praising Lord Prince. It was a circus.
Eventually though, Dumbledore drew the debate to a close.
"As Lucius Malfoy kindly reminded us earlier, I have faithfully served this body for seventeen years." Dumbledore stated, peering at them over his half-moon glasses. "It would be my honour to continue to do so. We live in dangerous and complicated times and, just as you appointed me to be your children's guide to adulthood, I believe that I can guide our great nation into our future."
Harry rolled his eyes in frustration as Dumbledore opened the vote. Not only were Dumbledore's words absolute rubbish, but he had used his position to get in the last word. If Dumbledore was really as unbiased as he claimed to be, he would have allowed Lord Prince to have a few minutes to make his own closing statement.
The hall was incredibly silent as the Wizengamot members placed their votes and then as Dumbledore stood again.
"The votes have been cast." Dumbledore said, his voice delightfully mournful. Well, delightful in Harry's opinion at least. "And the Wizengamot has come to a consensus. Your new Chief Warlock is Septimius Prince."