A/N: Thank you all for the great comments, suggestions and theories! Keep them coming - they sometimes inspire me to write something totally different than what I had planned ;)

Charm93: Yes he did in the chapter where they burned down the manor. I didn't want to go into that much detail since it's not that important. Course Ron will come round! Yeah Ginny will be...interesting shall we say :D Arthur?

mandancie: I actually had that planned but it turned out otherwise ;) I just loved the trapdoor :D

JasminSky: Yeah... I'm not one for pity so he won't get any from me ;)

Dixie.f.9: Tons of changes just waiting to happen :)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 35: Wizengamot pt.1: Seats

Words: 3448

He was back in the graveyard. Why was he here? Carefully he got up and looked around. Next to him was the Triwizard Cup and on the other side of it was Cedric. Cedric! He was alive! He had to do something to save him this time around. He had to get the true Hogwarts Champion out of here. He had to do something.

"We have to get out of here!"

"What if it is just another part of the task?" Cedric asked. "Let's have a look around."

"No! We have to get back! This is not right!"

He was getting frantic. In a moment Pettigrew would appear and kill him.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat! Just a quick look around."

Before he could reply a figure emerged from the fog, wand already raised.

"Cedric! Watch out!"

But Cedric didn't even react. He just stood there as the cloaked figure raised its wand and spoke the incantation to the killing curse. The teen didn't move as the green light shot towards him and struck him straight in his chest.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! CEDRIC!"

"Now, now. There is no need for tears, Harry." The killer said kindly to him. As he looked at the figure it dropped the hood and he was able to see the man beneath.

It was not as he had thought Peter Pettigrew. It was Marvolo Slytherin. His Papa.

"Noooooooo! Why?! Papa! Why did you do that?!" He screamed while sobs wracked his body.

"He was a spare. An unfortunate bystander. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Nooooooo!"

He dropped to the ground, too grief stricken to care about anything. He had failed again. Sobs wracked his whole body and it took him a long time to notice the murmured voices in the background. Once he noticed them he couldn't resist listening closer. The more he listened the louder they got.

"Harry, please. Wake up. Come on, my son. Wake up for me."

And he complied.

Severus and Marvolo were both very light sleepers. Due to years of being in the center of a war, they had honed their mind to wake up at the slightest disturbance.

Thus it was no wonder that they were both pulled from their peaceful slumber in the middle of the night. At first, neither knew what had awoken them so just to be sure they grabbed their wands.

That was when they heard an ear piercing scream tearing through the manor. One look at each other and a muttered "Harry" had them both scrambling out of their rooms and into their sons.

They found their heir trashing around on the bed while crying and screaming.

Severus hurried to Harry's bedside and carefully touched his son's shoulder. He still remembered the violent reaction during the last nightmares so he also started talking to him.

"Harry, my son. It's just a nightmare. Can you wake up for me, please?"

When he didn't get thrown across the room he slowly sat down next to the teen and gathered the flailing boy in his arms. He held him close and muttered endearments into his ear over and over again.

Marvolo had moved to the other side of the bed and only climbed into it when his husband had their son in his arms. He quickly hugged them both to comfort and calm them.

Severus was getting agitated himself when Harry was still not reacting to him after a few minutes of cuddling. The teen was still trapped in his nightmare and nothing seemed to get through to him.

"Harry, please. Wake up. Come on, my boy. Wake up for me." He tried again. In his head he was already thinking of other ways to get his son out of his nightmare.

Thankfully, just as he was starting to panic (not that he – THE bat of the dungeons – would ever panic) Harry's eyes fluttered open and emerald green eyes stared up at him with such sadness it broke his heart. Before anyone could say anything the teen burst into tears and clung to his parents.

Marvolo was faster in reacting and he started stroking the boy's back while muttering sweet nothingness to him.

"Shhhh… It's okay, Harry. We are here. Nothing is going to happen to you. You are safe here."

It took the adults a good ten minutes to calm Harry down enough so he was at least coherent. They got him to drink a glass of water before asking about the dream.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked carefully.

"I was back in the graveyard with Cedric." Harry quietly said. Marvolo felt instantly awful. He was at fault for his son and heir's vicious nightmare.

"It was different. Pettigrew didn't kill him." He continued. "It was you, Papa."

Marvolo was so shocked by the dream that he didn't even notice the endearment.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." The Dark Lord apologized. "I should have never put you through that."

There was a moment of silence while they all tried to reign their emotions in. It wouldn't do for Marvolo to kill Pettigrew now.

Severus had heard his son's endearment and was still getting over that surprise. He had of course known that Harry saw Marvolo as his Papa especially since the heir bond. What had surprised him was that Harry would use this moment, after a nightmare involving his Papa, to declare him as such.

Harry thought a bit about his Papa's apology before voicing his thoughts.

"It's alright now, Papa. Deep down I knew it wasn't you but it still scared me."

"I'm glad that you are okay now", Marvolo replied. "And I feel honored to be bestowed such an endearment by you."

Harry blushed a bit and hid his face in his father's shoulder. He couldn't believe he had said that out loud. Not that he didn't mean it but it was just bad timing. He also hadn't thought that Marvolo would have such a positive reaction. That was a pleasant surprise for once.

After a few minutes of quiet cuddling Severus made a move to get out of the bed. It was still the middle of the night and they all needed their sleep for tomorrow. But Harry had other ideas. He clung to his Dad like a monkey and just shook his head.

"Harry. We all need to go back to sleep. Let me get up and tuck you in." Severus murmured.

"No." Harry himself was surprised by his behavior. He was nearly fifteen for Merlin's sake! He could sleep alone! But a part of his mind just wanted his fathers with him. "Stay."

"You want us to sleep here with you?" Marvolo asked just to clarify. He had read some books on child psychology a while back and his memory was reminding him now that this was perfectly normal.

Abused or neglected kids often regressed mentally in special situations if they felt safe enough where they were. It was a normal reaction to want to spend the night with his parents after such a vicious nightmare.

"Please." Was all the teen said.

After sharing a long look with each other Marvolo quickly got out of bed to righten the covers for his husband. Once Severus and Harry were comfortable he climbed back in. The Potions Master put his son in the middle of their cuddle so he would feel safest.

It didn't take long for all of them to fall back asleep.

Bright and early the next morning they were woken by a big black dog jumping onto the bed and licking their faces.

"Padfoot!" Harry exclaimed once he opened his eyes. Although he couldn't quite discern his godfather the big black blob with the tiny pink blob had to be him.

Marvolo groaned while Severus simply hid beneath a pillow. He was too tired for this. The Potions Master also wondered where the dog got his energy, especially since he wouldn't get out of bed yesterday. Also the mutt had obviously not awoken during Harry's nightmare or he would have also been there.

After a bit more jumping around and licking people's faces the animagus finally got them all out of bed. They each went back to their rooms to get ready for the day. Sirius had specifically instructed the elves to wake him so he could wish them all good luck for the Wizengamot meeting. Sirius had not thought that they would still all be in bed.

Despite what the others thought he had woken up from Harry's screams. But his room was further away so by the time he made it to his godson's chambers the other men were already there and doing a fine job (not that he would tell them that). Sirius had waited until they had all fallen asleep again before changing into Snuffles and curling up at the end of the bed.

He also wanted to be there for Harry.

Half an hour later found them all dressed in their best robes at the breakfast table. It was a quiet meal with everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Shortly before nine Marvolo, Severus and Harry said goodbye to Sirius and made their way through the floo to the Ministry.

Marvolo went first, followed by Harry and Severus. He had to catch his son when he stumbled out of the fireplace otherwise he would have embarrassed himself right then and there. Together they quickly made their way to the elevators. None of them talked but they stayed close to each other while trying not to draw any attention to themselves.

Severus had explained quite detailed to his son how he was to behave and Harry was doing his best to follow all the rules.

He held his head high and his back was ramrod straight. He was Lord to two houses and heir to four. He didn't sidestep anyone. People made way for him. It was all about projecting confidence his father had told him. Harry did his best to look confident and walk with purpose. Of course he wasn't as good as his parents but he thought he did a pretty good job.

That was confirmed when they got on the elevator and his Dad quickly squeezed his hand. It was a silent sign that he was proud of Harry and the teen had a hard time not to grin.

They got off on the third floor and Severus led the way to the meeting room. If Madame Bones managed to build up her case enough they would surely have to move to the court chambers during the day but the regular monthly meetings usually happened in a comfortable meeting room.

When they entered most of the Lords and Ladies were there already, standing together in small groups and chattering. Nobody looked up as they came in.

Marvolo scanned the members already in the room and nodded his greetings to those he knew. He also observed those of the opposing factions.

Severus pointed out the few people he knew for Harry but otherwise also just observed them quietly.

Once the doors to the room shut automatically the members made their ways to their seats. Since they were all only claiming their seats today they could not yet sit in their designated seats. They were motioned to a bench and the side of the room.

Harry had noticed that while the seats didn't have name tags each one was unique. They all represented their house and thus many were decorated with their coat of arms.

The room reminded Harry a bit of his old school library. At the front was and elevated area with four seats that were clearly not House seats behind a huge table. From his books he knew those to be the place for the Minister, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (if they attended), the chairwizard or head and the scribe.

There were six long tables altogether. They were arranged in a hexagonal shape with an open area in the middle. People could bring forward their pleas in this area. Behind the other five tables sat the members of the Wizengamot. They were sorted by importance and age of the house. There were fifty houses represented in the Wizengamot but not all seats were claimed.

Usually the meeting should be opened by the head of the Wizengamot which should be Dumbledore since he currently held the position. After a few minutes of waiting Madame Bones stood from her place and addressed the members.

"Honored members of the Wizengamot. As you can see our head, Albus Dumbledore, is missing today. He will not be returning for quite some time." Amelia formed her words carefully, as to push the headmaster into the worst light possible.

"I have been contacted by the goblin nation yesterday afternoon. It seems as if Albus had gotten himself in a bit of a tight spot with them."

"What do you mean?! Elphias Dodge, one of Dumbledore's supporter called out.

"Albus has been detained by the goblins in Gringotts for attempted line theft."

There was an outcry of outrage from the members of the Wizengamot. Albus was their leader of the light! He would never do such a thing. The goblins must be wrong.

Marvolo, Severus and Harry were pleasantly surprised by this. They had all dreaded seeing the headmaster today.

"Quiet!" Amelia screamed through a sonorous and thankfully all members shut their mouths again.

"The goblins never lie! They told me he came to claim the Gryffindor Lordship. His blood test did not show any familiarity to Gryffindor and also the Lordship had already been claimed. That means it was attempted line theft."

A second murmur went through the crowd when they heard that one of the Hogwarts Lordships had been claimed. It had been a long time since anyone had sat in those seats.

"Now since the current head is not available and will be persecuted by the goblins I call for a vote of no confidence." Amelia let her bomb drop. If she got Dumbledore voted out he wouldn't be able to hold his other titles either. After a bit of digging last night she had found out that the House of Dumbledore actually didn't have a seat on the Wizengamot.

That meant the old coot shouldn't even be able to be the head of it. Also one had to be a part of the Wizengamot to be Supreme Mugwump of the IWC. Thus he would lose that title as well.

"I second that!" Theodore Nott Senior stood up.

"I third that!" Lord Greengrass called out.

That did not only surprise Marvolo and Severus. They knew that Lord Greengrass was the leader of the neutral faction but they would not have thought him to be against Dumbledore that much.

"Then we shall vote!" Amelia said. "All in favor of releasing Albus Dumbledore from his duties raise their wands."

Harry looked around and saw quite a few wands raised.

"Those against." The witch said after counting.

"Alright. From the 37 taken seats we have 20 in favor and 17 against." Madame Bones declared with a small smirk. "By the vote of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore is hereby released from his duties."

"When will we vote for a new head?"

"Who will be temporary head?"

The members flung their concerns and questions at the head of the DMLE:

"As the head of the DMLE it falls to me to fill in as the temporary head. We will vote on the new head at the next meeting. Until then think of a candidate."

There were murmurs all around when the witches and wizards began discussing their candidates. Amelia gave them a few minutes before calling them back to order.

"Quiet! Now let us begin this meeting officially. First I see we have new wizards in attendance. What can the Wizengamot do for you?" Amelia asked formally although she already knew why they were here.

Marvolo, Severus and Harry stood up together and stepped forward. Severus was the first to speak.

"We wish to claim our seats amongst you."
There was again a big outcry, especially because they all knew that Harry was still in school. Madame Bones had to resort to banging her wand on the table to get their attention.

"Which seats do you wish to claim and do you have evidence for the rightfulness of your claim?"

"I, Severus Prince-Slytherin, wish to claim the seat of Prince. My mother was the last Prince so it falls to me after my grandfather's death. The goblins confirmed this."

Again there were many murmurs and gasps at the mention of his surname.

The head of the DMLE calmly picked up a ledger and looked through it. It was a special ledger that contained detailed information on each seat on the Wizengamot. It was self-updating and would colour the name red when a Lordship was claimed.

"Severus Prince-Slytherin, Potions Master and Professor at Hogwarts. Welcome to the Wizengamot. Please take your seat." She formally announced and waved her wand to light up his seat, which Severus quickly took. He was seated on the second table to the right of the head next to Malfoy (thank Merlin) and an empty seat on the other side.

"Next?" Amelia asked and Marvolo spoke up.

"I, Marvolo Cadmus Slytherin, wish to claim the seats of Slytherin and Peverelle. My mother was a Gaunt and they were descendants of Slytherin who in turn was a descendant of Peverelle. It has also been confirmed by the goblins."

This time the noise level was a lot higher but Madame Bones let them since she had to check the entries in the ledger again.

"Marvolo Cadmus Slytherin, Defense Master. Welcome to the Wizengamot. Please take one of your seats. Your vote will always count as two." She explained as two chairs light up. They were both behind the table opposite the head.

It was obvious that the four empty seats in the center were the Hogwarts ones. Thankfully Slytherin was at the end of the four and right next to it was the Peverelle seat. Marvolo chose the Slytherin seat for now.

That left only Harry in the middle of the tables and he spoke before Amelia had to ask him.

"I, Henry Gryffindor Potter Prince-Slytherin, wish to claim the seats of Gryffindor and Potter. My father was the last Lord Potter and the Potters are descendants of Gryffindor. I was the first wizard in ages to pull the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat. The goblins confirmed my claim."

While Amelia checked her ledger again someone started accusing Harry.

"You are still a child! You can't claim your seat until you are of age!" Someone shouted.

"And who are you?" Harry asked with more confidence than he felt.

"Elphias Dodge." The man said arrogantly as if Harry should have known this.

"Well Mr. Dodge. Since I was forced to partake in the Triwizard Tournament, which was only for of age students, the Goblet of Fire declared me of age."

"That can't be true!"

"Oh but it is." Harry said smugly. "You should do a bit of research before using such old artifacts."

Madame Bones decided to intervene before a fight could break out.

"Henry Gryffindor Potter Prince-Slytherin. Welcome to the Wizengamot. Please take one of your seats. Your vote will always count as two." With a wave of her wand two seats light up. One next to Marvolo and the second one Elphias Dodge was sat in. That surprised more than one person.

"What are you doing in my seat, Mr. Dodge?" Harry asked neutrally.

"I was appointed the proxy for the Potter seat."

"By whom?" Amelia asked. She hadn't thought that the Potters had anything to do with someone like Dodge.

"Why, Albus Dumbledore of course! He is the boy's guardian after all!"

"Lord Potter is of age and thus doesn't need a guardian anymore." She explained tiredly. Stupid old coots. "Now get out of that seat and leave these chambers at once!"

At hearing the threatening tones in her voice the old wizard quickly got up and left. Harry still opted for the Gryffindor seat. He wanted the Potter seat to be cleaned thoroughly before he sat down there.

"Now with that taken care of I have to bring the Wizengamot's attention to a case of the DMLE." Amelia took the stage again. "We have received proof of an unlawful incarceration of a Lord Apparent."

There were gasps of shock and concern all around the room. Who dared to lock away a Lord Apparent illegally?

"This is the case of Lord Apparent Sirius Orion Black the third."

TBC

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a great day filled with laughter and joy!

How was your 2017? Tell me a bit about it! Mine started out not so great but it ends on a high note :)

Thank you all for your support and over 100 000 views! You are all incredible people!

I wish you all an amazing start into the new year and we'll see each other next year!

First posted on: 24. December2017

Next update planned: 07. January 2018