Chapter 8: The Ancient and Noble House of MacDougal, etc.
"Originally there were twenty-four Ancient and Noble Houses, but throughout history as population grew, or as favors were owed, new Houses were elevated. Tradition held that there was always an even number of Houses. The count after the Blood Wars ended up was thirty-eight, but with the resurgence of the Ancient and Noble House of Peverell, at least one other House needed to be promoted. But naturally, as is the case in politics, people couldn't agree which Houses.
"Eventually a compromise of sorts was reached. Peverell would get its status back, and three more Houses would be elevated. The darker aligned and lighter aligned would each get one, with some say by the other side, and the last one would be a free for all. Those aligned with the dark nominated ten houses, the light aligned narrowed the number down to three, and the dark aligned chose to elevate the House of Walsh. The light nominated their ten, the dark narrowed it down to three, and the light chose to elevate the House of Diggory.
"For the final spot, the darker houses pushed hard for the House of Vaisey and the light rallied around the House of MacDougal. Harry wouldn't go as far as to openly endorse the MacDougal family, but he did happen to be seen in public quite often with Morag MacDougal on his arm. A meal at the Leaky Cauldron, a Wimbourne Wasps vs Pride of Portree quidditch match, some business at Gringott's, you know, things that made the headlines of the gossip rags.
"In spite of it all, we were still behind. There were forty-one sitting families, seventeen of which were light aligned. Narcissa was moving the Malfoys toward us and Pansy was doing the same with the Parkinsons which gave us nineteen. Professor Slughorn arranged a nice dinner with his nephew Lord Coleman Slughorn, where it was very pointedly brought up that we had kept it a secret that Coleman's brother was the brewer of the potion that killed my father and we were owed a favor. This left us still one vote down.
"Scotland is pretty underwhelmingly represented in the Wizengamot in general and the Ancient and Noble Houses in particular. In fact, it was just the Macmillans and the McLaggens, one of which was conveniently against us. The MacFusty, McMaster, Scrimgeour, and Wood families, who held Wizengamot seats, were loudly in support of the elevation of the MacDougals and they organized a mass protest of the McLaggen owned Montrose Magpies for the 2001-2002 season in the name of Scottish unity. Eventually the McLaggens caved and by a vote of 21-20, the Ancient and Nobles welcomed the House of MacDougal.
"Harry had already chosen four of his seven wives at a pace that most people would agree was exceptionally fast. There were two factors that were driving this. On Harry's side, most witches are married by the time they turn twenty-five, so he needed to move fast or he was going to get stuck with some witches that he wasn't interested in and who, quite frankly, couldn't handle the pressure and responsibility that come with being his wife. On the side of the prospective females, each time he takes a wife the chances of her being chosen drop a little bit more. He had taken four of seven wives already, and it was known in some circles that he was already betrothed to a fifth, so they were starting to move on their backup options.
"English purebloods were furious that Harry was seen in public with a Scottish woman on his arm. If they wed it would be three wives in a row, obviously not counting Pansy, who didn't meet their standards. Padma is Indian and Katie is the daughter of a squib and a muggleborn. When people started putting pressure on Morag, she responded and in the end I think that's what won Harry over once and for all.
"Morag stands at exactly 5'0, but she is a tiny ball of fury. After a particularly harsh Daily Prophet article by Rita Skeeter, Morag made an appointment for the next day and when that time came she walked calmly into Rita's office at the Prophet and closed the door. She then proceeded to very loudly and very colorfully tear Rita Skeeter to pieces. It remains one of the greatest memories I've ever had the pleasure of viewing in a pensieve. Rita resigned the very next day and now lives somewhere in the Benelux leaving people alone.
"Morag does nothing halfway. She has a determination and problem solving ability like nobody I've ever met. English pureblood women expect to be wives and homemakers. Scottish women, pureblood or not, don't care what's expected of them. So while most of Britain thought she would take some position with a title but no responsibilities in the MacDougal Timber Company, they were very surprised when she earned a double mastery in magical beasts and healing magic. She turned those double masteries and several years of hard work into the Healer-in-Charge position of the Creature-Induced Injuries Wing on the first floor of St. Mungo's Hospital
"Morag's father Erskine was also the last male of his line. He had two sisters, both married, and two daughters. This meant that his oldest, Morag, was responsible for carrying on her family name. Originally, Erskine thought it might be difficult to find a man willing to marry her and let her keep her name, of course I don't think many people imagined the scenario that Harry had found himself in.
"Lady Morag Aileen Potter McKinnon MacDougal, of course we gave her the Scottish title, gave me quite the glare when I told her that I thought her newborn daughter, Fiona Maisie MacDougal, was taller than she was. Fiona did go into the family business. She uses her Herbology mastery to lead the effort to replant the areas that have been logged by the company.
"Somehow Morag's tiny little body managed to push out a pair of twins later on, we flipped a coin on which name each boy carry on. The oldest became Callum Ramsay McKinnon, he's been a godsend since he graduated Hogwarts. He has a knack for politics and has taken over most of our legislative affairs. His twin brother Domhnall Evander MacDougal, went in the most opposite direction possible. When the MacFusty's let us know that their Hebridian Black reservation in Scotland was getting overpopulated, our family purchased Inistrahull Island in northern Ireland. You guys know it as a tiny island with no population, we know it as the magically hidden and quite large home of the Inistrahull Island Dragon Reserve. Charlie Weasley was hired to run the place and Domhnall works as a dragon tamer there."