Chapter 6: The Ancient and Noble House of Peverell
"When the House of Peverell was resurrected, it was a spectacle. First of all, Peverell was the only Ancient and Noble line to ever become extinct. Second, the family was filled with absolutely legendary enchanters. It was a huge deal. All the single women from fourteen to forty already wanted to be Lady Potter and Harry managed to throw a particularly tasty second place option on the table as well.
"It shocked nobody who knew Harry well that he asked Luna Lovegood to sit in the Peverell seat. Which is to say, it shocked all but about ten people in all of Britain. Now, Luna didn't go on to marry Harry, though that fact saddens me to this day. Don't get me wrong, I love all of my sister wives, but it would fill me with joy just to follow Luna around during high brow social functions and watch people react to the things she says. I don't know whether she does it on purpose or not, but she manages to fluster the most serious, no-nonsense people in ways that make me giggle like a schoolgirl. She and her husband Rolf make an excellent pair, however, and they've managed to turn the once ridiculed Quibbler into a reliable academic journal on magical beasts.
"People who were paying attention knew who the real front runner for the seat was. At the Potter Family Yule Ball in December 1999, Harry's engagement to Katie had already been announced along with a February 1st wedding date. But who was it on Harry's arm that evening? The lovely, dare I say enchanting, Padma Patil.
"The Patils are one of the few families with a seat in Britain and another wizarding legislative body. The Flamels hold seats in Britain, France, and the Benelux, the Zabini family in Britain and Italy, the Shafiqs in Britain and Egypt, and the Patils in Britain and India. I wouldn't be surprised, however, to see the Vane family add a British seat to their Spanish seat or the Delacour family to add one in Britain in the not so distant future to accompany their French seat.
"The Head of the family is whoever holds the Indian seat, but the Patils don't follow strict succession lines like most families. They often take cousins and nephews to hold the English seat and manage the family business on the British isles. For the longest time, the business was based on importing magic carpets, but they would expand to herbs, spices, and enchanted objects, which became especially important after magic carpets became illegal in Britain.
"Now my family ran its own importing business, items from Turkey, Greece, and Italy in particular, in addition to our mining operation. But with the loss of the entirety of the male population of the Greengrass family, not to mention all the chaos around my husband, it just became too much to try to manage it all. We approached the Patil's about merging the businesses, keeping the Greengrass family as a silent partner, and turning over operations to the Patil family. They accepted and Patil Family Herbs, Spices, and Magical Goods merged with the Greengrass Importing Company to become Patil Imports.
"It is customary in India for a business deal of this magnitude to be sealed with a betrothal. I don't think the Patils would have pushed it either way, but Harry and Padma were definitely clicking. She's positively brilliant. She understands people, Harry in particular, in a way that nobody else does.
"Padma was also a member of Harry's extended group at Hogwarts. They called themselves Dumbledore's Army at the time, but the name was changed after the old man's manipulations were uncovered and processed. Now they go by The Weathermen, it's a play on Harry's lightning bolt shaped scar. Regardless, Padma was a member of the resistance at Hogwarts and fought in the final battle.
"Although historically her family entered the young women into betrothals with Indian families after they completed their magical education, Padma's father convinced Taluqdar Patil, the actual head of the family, to hold off in case Harry Potter chose one of his daughters as a wife. It became clear fairly soon that Parvati wasn't going to marry Harry. She had her eyes set on a neighbor in India who she would go on to marry and who agreed to move to England. He would never be the English Head of House, but it was agreed that Naresh and his line would continue to hold valuable positions on the English side of the family business.
"Naresh also let Parvati have a job, something Harry convinced him to do, to keep her happy. She opened Vati's Styles and Smiles, a boutique in Hogsmeade. It makes quite a bit of money and the family eventually came around after discovering that it wasn't really a job for Parvati, it was a passion.
"Padma joined the Ministry right out of school. It was rumored that she joined the Unspeakables, and honestly I don't know if that's the case or not, but she ended up in the newly created Department of Muggle Affairs. Any position in the Ministry that interacted regularly with muggles was moved into this department.
"I told you earlier that Padma just understands people, and I think that is largely what drove her down the path towards becoming an obliviator. She respects and understands the mind. Any unbiased observer would call her the foremost expert of mind magic in Britain, maybe Europe. She was head of the Obliviators for a dozen years, and still does some training for them and some consulting for St. Mungo's on brain related injuries, but she's mostly living a quiet life now.
"Lady Padma Divya Potter Peverell née Patil has two children of her own. Kiran Ignotus is working for Patil Imports. He's an impressive negotiator and will likely end up in charge of the European side of their business. He's managed to expand it to include Ukraine where they've basically cornered the market on Ukrainian Ironbelly hides and heartstrings. Her daughter Jasmine Basanti is a freelance investigative journalist and author. She does write some smaller stories for The Ink & The Quill but is most famous for writing the definitive biography on Albus Dumbledore, much to Rita Skeeter's chagrin, and Lord Voldemort himself. She's currently working on a book called Divided We Fall: The Story of the House of Black During the Blood Wars. You might even see it on bookshelves in time for Christmas."