6/9/2015: Edit by dianemalfoy
An: I own nothing but my ideas and mistakes.
So much of how the magical world works will be changed. Please don't fuss if you don't like how I make things.
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Harry was content to stay curled up and read his book on the noble houses. The first chapter was on how a house became noble, and what that meant.
A Noble house is not always truly noble. In fact, the term Noble Houses covers a wide range from the Aged to the Sovereign. Most Noble Houses have a two name format. The first indicates how old the house is and the second tells their merit. Age and status combine to tell where they fall in society. But there are some houses who have only one name and that is their age. The second portion is left off. This indicates that the family has either committed crimes against the Monarchy in days of old and been stripped of their standing or they are not at all ambitious. The Crabbe family is an example of the former and the Goyle of the latter.
A family becomes Aged by being able to trace their magic back 50 generations. They will remain Aged till the 150th generation when they will become Ancient. Archaic families can trace their line to back 300 generations. All of those over the age of 20 generations are called Noblemen. Each tier of age comes with a vote on the Wizengamont. Each Noblemen gets 1/3 of a vote, Aged 1 vote, Ancient 2 votes, and Archaic 3 votes.
The other part of the House's title is based on merit. Loyal is the lowest ranking. The people of these houses served a Liege Lord or one of the Kings but never moved very far into the ranking. Honorable house have at least one ancestor whom achieved a high standing or was given a reward for a great task. The true Nobles, those houses who have Noble as their merit name, were once Liege Lords or the king's closest advisers. Lordly is the highest status. It was what the families of the lesser Kings were called after the British Monarchy fell as the ruling government. The highest kings were given the title Sovereign, and that was all they were called being considered above the Noble House rankings. There are only 2 High, or Sovereign, Kings of Britain. Those are Pendragon, and Ravenclaw.
Loyal houses gain no extra votes. Honorable houses gain 1 extra vote, Noble 3 and Lordly 5. Those of the 2 Sovereign families have 13 votes and can veto any vote.
Harry thought that was fascinating. He knew from his test he was part Ravenclaw, so he was related to the Kings of old. Harry planned to check out books about them. He also thought it was cool that the wizards recognized King Arthur as their king too. Harry had read about Camelot as part of his primary school work. He turned back to the book and looked at the list of the Noble Houses.
Abbott- Aged and Honorable
Binns- Ancient
Black- Ancient and Noble
Bones- Aged and Honorable
Boot- Aged
Brown- Aged and Loyal
Bulstrode- Ancient and Honorable
Chang- Aged and Honorable
Crabbe- Ancient
Crouch- Ancient and Honorable
Davis- Ancient and Loyal
Diggory- Aged and Honorable
Dumbledore- Ancient and Noble
Flint- Ancient and Honorable
Flume- Aged and Honorable
Goyle- Ancient
Greengrass- Ancient and Noble
Gryffindor- Archaic and Lordly
Hufflepuff- Archaic and Noble
Lestrange- Ancient and Honorable
Longbottom- Ancient and Noble
Lovegood- Ancient and Honorable
Lupin- Aged and Loyal
Malfoy- Ancient and Honorable
Marchbanks- Aged and Honorable
McGonagall- Ancient and Honorable
Nott- Aged and Honorable
Ogden- Ancient and Noble
Ollivander- Archaic and Noble
Parkinson- Aged and Honorable
Patil- Ancient and Noble
Perciville- Archaic and Noble
Prewett- Ancient and Honorable
Prince- Ancient and Noble
Potter- Ancient and Noble
Slytherin- Archaic and Lordly
Weasley- Ancient and Loyal
Zabini- Archaic and Honorable
(AN: There are others I'm sure but this is all I have made up.)
Harry looked at all those people and Houses. He liked the thought that Malfoy was lower class than all his families. He didn't know the Weasley's were part of the Nobles. He did some addition and realized he had 11 votes and his Godfather had 5. Harry felt very uncomfortable with having so much power over others. Harry looked back to the book and found the edict section.
He read over it. There were all kinds of manners and gestures that he was expected to know as an Heir. Being an Heir of 2 houses would have made it more complicated. But to be Lord was nearly overwhelming. There were so many things, so many gestures that had so many meanings. Even the tone of his voice mattered.
He learned that his actions to Draco in their first year were very rude and as far as the boy knew Harry did it on purpose. "That would explain his behavior. I was really rude to him." Harry sighed. "I have to apologize to Malfoy."
Harry came to another conclusion. Neville needed to start acting his status too. Patil and Greengrass were the only two in their year that were the same level as Neville and only he and Zabini out ranked him. Harry only out ranked everyone in their year due to the Perciville Lordship.
He found another passage that bothered him.
In 1412, muggle witch hunts nearly drove magic to extinction. Due to the death of nearly half of all magical families a decree was made. The law now states that all Noble houses from Aged to Sovereign must have a bearer. This law was modified in 1753 to say that the Ladyship, or consort-ship, could be taken by a mistress of Noble blood if they bear a child of the Lord before the bearer of the family. With the farther shrinking of magical blood in 1804 it was also added that muggleborns could take the place of the chosen bearer if they produced a child. From then till 1930 and the rise of Grindelwald, children of a Lord and a muggleborn were considered pureblood due to the belief that the father's noble blood would erase impurities of the muggle blood. That all changed when radical blood purists rose to power in the government. It was not long after when the Muggle Department of the ministry come into being.
Harry didn't like the sound of that. He really didn't want to marry 3 people, 2 was bad enough. And the discrimination was terrible. He knew it existed but never realized it had only been that way for a few decades. He frowned but continued reading.
By the time Harry had read through the book and understood most of it, it was dinner time. Harry spent the evening in the study to read some of the other books in there.
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Longbottom Manor
Neville was washing his hands from gardening and getting ready to go inside when Hedwig flew down. "Hey girl, did Harry send another letter?" He asked stroking the bird. She leaned into his hand cooing before nodding and sticking out her leg with the letter attached. He looked at it curious. There were four letters there. "Looks like a busy day girl. I'll let you get back to it." He told the bird taking the one with his name.
She fluffed her feathers and trilled at the boy who was nearly as smart as her Harry. Unlike the red one that was rough and sticky and the fluffy one who talked to her like she was an ignorant hatchling. Worse yet, her Harry said she couldn't eat the red one's rat. It was fat and slow, she wouldn't even have to work at catching that morsel. Hedwig gave a sigh at thoughts of rats. She had to go see the fluffy one and find the Black. The Black had better not try and harm her Harry, or he would have to deal with her. She would have to wait for both to give her letters and the fluffy one would write her poor legs off. Didn't the female know Harry was not her mate? The red one claimed to be. Maybe that is why they fight so much? Hedwig pondered that while heading to the Granger house. She decided to keep a closer eye on her Harry. He was far too good for the fluffy one or the red one. And the Neville wouldn't do either.
Said boy watched the magnificent bird fly away. He turned back to the letter and took a seat to read it. When he was finished he raced back into the house.
"Gran!" Neville all but shouted, entering the sitting room with a big smile on his face.
"What has gotten into you Neville?" Augusta asked a bit shocked at the usually reserved boy's excitement.
"Harry said he'd be here Tuesday and he is staying a whole week." He said ecstatically handing her the letter. "He wasn't even mad about the vault." He was happy but still concerned about Harry's opinion.
"Well of course not. There is absolutely nothing to be upset about. He can have the guest suite next to yours for as long as he likes. Go have Lopsy prepare it." As he left still excited, she sighed. "So much like my sweet Nicodemus." She murmured to herself. "I wonder what has changed. Harry didn't seem very well informed and he has never written before." She hoped everything was alright with the caretakers. Augusta had always wondered which of the Order raised him. He was too thin for it to be the Weasley's and Amelia would have told her if it was the Bones'. Hum. Surely not the Black's even if Andromeda and her muggle husband are very nice. Just another thing to discuss.
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Germany
Harry woke the next morning happy. He was in a house he owned, was a legal adult, and no one could ever tell him what to do again. Well, except for his teachers. He might be a Lord but he wasn't properly educated yet. But they could only make him do so much. Harry paused. He wondered if he would have any special privileges at school now. Surely there would be something if he needed to take care of his family businesses. Harry sighed. "Looks like Hermione is going to get her wish. I'm going to have to read Hogwarts a History, and try and find an official rule book if they aren't listed in the history." He liked reading but having 2 whole years of her talking about that book had turned him off it.
After breakfast Harry got out his book on Drakes.
Drakes are one of the 7 races of dragon kin. The others being; Wyrens (not to be confused with Wyverns which are a type of dragon), Drakens, Gorgons, Titans (which are often miss labeled as one of the Naga races), Nyx, Vovin. Gorgons and Titans are the most well-known and are featured in many Greek myths. Medusa the gorgon and the mother and daughter titans Lamia and Scylla being the most well-known worldwide. In northern countries an ancient feud which lasted nearly a century between a clan of Vovin's and a Drake clan was twisted into Norse Mythology. The Vovin were called Joutin, or frost giants due to their inhuman height, blue skin, red eyes and love of cold weather, by the local muggles. Their most powerful dominant being Loki, whose dragon form was called the world serpent, and thought to be his own son with a basilisk. The Drake clan became known as Asgardians and their leader, Thor being the largest, fiercest dominant with unbelievable strength and stamina. Farther information on the two clans can be found in "Norse Mythology, The Real Legends"
6 of the 7 Dragon kin share several characteristics. The Drakens, which some argue are not true Dragon Kin, are the only ones that don't have these traits. Most Dragon kin have 3 different forms. These are a human, halfling and dragon form. The Drakens lack the dragon form. Most Dragon kin dominants choose the mates. For the Drakens, the submissive chooses and holds contests to see which they prefer.
All of them are fire resistant. They are also spell resistant, but how resistant varies. Drakens and Wyrens have the lowest resistant, just shy of true dragon hide. Gorgons and titans have the same or slightly better than dragon magical resistance. Vovin and Drakes are nearer to Basilisks in spell resistance. The Nyx are not very well studied but no spell ever cast have been able to effect or penetrate them. It is believed they are completely spell resistant and that no magic will affect them. Along with similarities there are vast differences in these races. For more information see; "Medusa: Chronicles of Sisterhood" a biography which features first-hand accounts of Medusa's real life, "Titans: What We Are and Are Not", "Rise of the Drakens" By: Starlight Massacre. And "The True Nosferatu" for more on the Nyx. This book was written by researchers and does not have actual input from a Nyx. There are few good text just on the Wyrens and Vovin. They, like most Dragon Kin, are very secretive groups.
Drakes and Wyrens are difficult to tell apart in their halfling form. In this form both have wings, tails, horns, claws and face scales. The main differences are Wyrens have a spiny ridge from the bridge of their nose up and fanning above the eyebrows. Drakes have sharp spines protruding from their spine running from the base of their skull to the tip of their semi-prehensile tail. Humans should be very careful to note which is which. While drakes are amazing hunters, Wyrens claws are highly poisonous.
This half state is also called the resting state and if a Drake is badly injured or loses consciousness, (usually not in sleep) they will revert to this stage. Dragon features can be retracted. When in human form the only telling feature is that the pupils will go silted like a cats if exposed to extremely bright lights.
The final form, the dragon form cannot be access till after a drake is fully mature, around age 28-30. The size of the drake has little baring on the size of this form. It is determined by the drake's magical power. They range from the size of a non-magical horse to a Hungarian Horntail.
Drakes are uncommon creatures, found in all environments that can sustain human life. Drakes are one of a scarce few creatures who rarely mate with their own kind. It is believed this is to increase the population. But mating habits are another factor. Dominant drakes require 2-5 mates while submissives take only one mate and are very territorial. They have been known to kill others for touching or being too friendly with their mate. Both dominants and submissives usually produce several children but few have the gene (about 1 in 4). The gene can be carried for several generations and pop up unexpectedly. There are even cases of previously assumed muggleborns having the gene. This lends credence to the theory that all muggleborns are the descendants of squibs. Many 'muggle born' drakes are frightened by the ability to understand reptiles. But that is a common trait among Dragon kin. Only the Drakens and Gorgons lack Parsletongue.
Drakes are nearly undetectable in their human form. There are few magical tests that will tell that a person is truly a drake. Drakes can smell one another but if asked a drake will claim all children are also drakes, even if they are not. This is likely because even as an infant drakes are highly magically resistant. But it is a permeable resistance. Healing and diagnostic spells, and any non-harmful or threatening magic can get through and work on the child. This is only true till their inheritance. Afterward they have to will a spell to work on them. Many drakes have trouble with this and are unable to be treated by normal magical means. Though that is usually unnecessary since they are physically resistant to most things as well. A drake's main weakness is poison. Once a poison or potion is in their system the drake body will react to it as a normal human one.
Benefits of mating a Drake are numerous. Firstly is a fiercely protective and unflinchingly loyal companion for the rest of your life. There are some magical benefits as well. All mates gain a power boost after they are bonded. The Drake can sense where their mates and children are at all times. These connections are what keep the drakes from going feral. But Dominants only have so much magic to make the connections to their mates. And a secondary magical reserve to make connections with their children. If a Drake mates with a creature who's life span is longer than their own the drake will live as long as the mate. But if the mate has a shorter life span, the drake's magic will help extend their life. Drakes cannot live without a mate. They will waste away after their final mate has died and few survive more than a year after. A normal drake life span is 350 -400 years. Double that of witches and wizards.
Dominant drakes are tall, with broad shoulders and heavily muscled backs. These dense muscles are used to support their large wings. An average dominant can carry 5 full grown humans while flying, it is thought they have the large wings to be able to carry off their less resilient family members in times of danger. A dominant will protect any submissive even if they are not their own.
Dominants don't always choose their mates all at once. There have been cases where a dominant will mate with 2-4 others then years, or even decades later, find another they wish to add to their family. They need at least 2 submissives to balance their natural magic. They also have what Drakes call a 'carrying capacity.' This is maximum number of submissives a dominant can magically support. If they try to take too many, the dominant will be driven mad, and the submissives will all lose the benefits that come with being a Drake mate.
Until a dominant has at least one mate, any full grown dominant of any species could be a target. Their instincts will run high till the mate is bonded and they take some of the drake's energy. Drakes, being a top predator, means these battles can quickly get out of hand. Drakes are classed as a level 6 dangerous creatures. But due to their human mind and usually great control, they are not considered dark creatures and are one of the few whom have equal rights in nearly every country. Exceptions include; North and South Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, Columbia, and South Africa. North Korea and South Africa will arrest and execute any drakes they find.
Submissive drakes are very different. They are tall, but slight of build. They always have wide, flared hips and high compact rib cages. This assists with child carrying and birth. Submissive drakes can carry 1-6 fetuses at a time, though the record is 9. Drake submissives are, or were, highly sought after as wives in many magical communities, due to their ability to have large clutches of children and birth them safely. Drakes are also not like some other dragon kin and do not nest or become feral when nearing the time for the birth.
Drake pregnancies are different from human ones though. A drake will be able to walk and function normally right up to the birth. Morning sickness is a rarity and usually only occurs if the mother has mated a water or ice creature. Within 6 weeks, the submissive's body will reabsorb the added weight and they will show no signs of ever having carried a child. Drakes gestate for about 11 months and lactate about 29.
Drake children are, even if fed near constantly, trim and petite. They will be slender and androgynous till they come into their inheritance. They will not, however, get sick easy. It takes a very nasty illness to affect them. The children also heal quickly and have more frequent bursts of accidental magic. Drakes will block their children early to prevent them from harming themselves or others with these outbursts. All the magic and extra energy from food is used by the body to build the non-human structures they will use in their adult life.
A young drake will come into their inheritance between 12 and 14, usually right around the 13th birthday. This is only a physical transformation. The teen will overnight go from small and androgynous to tall. Drakes, dominant and submissive, are usually between 6-8 feet tall. Record height was 9 feet 4 inches. After their physical changes, the young drake will slowly over the next 24-30 months gain the instincts. Once the process is complete they will be sexually mature and within a month they will began hunting for a mate.
Harry just looked at the book. He blushed and skimmed the submissive and pregnancy parts, since he wouldn't have a drake mate. He was interested to know more about the other species, his 'cousins'. Having a big family and being over 6 feet tall sound amazing to him. He was barely 5 feet 4 now. Even Hermione was taller, hell GINNY was as tall as him and she's a year younger.
He was glad to know that about the time he would start getting aggressive was when he and Nott would have to marry...mate. 'I wonder what the difference is?' he thought. Yet another thing to ask or look up.
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AN: AN: I kinda liked writing Hedwig's thoughts. The fluffy one is Hermione and the red one is Ron. She's an owl and doesn't understand that when Ron says mate he means friend, not lover.
Sorry for the essay/ novel I wrote about drakes. I wanted to get it all put down in one go.
I'll again leave you with information overload. I am coming to the end of the long descriptions. I do have info on the other 5 species listed. But the Drakens are not mine. I just name dropped them. They really are from "Rise of the Drakens" By: StarlightMassacre. It's a great fic, you should check out. Look it up on AO3 because it's too mature for But be warned there are some heart wrenching scenes and VERY adult sexual content. And Spoiler : Theo is a bit of a bad guy in this one.
Removed another mini rant. :)