11 School Master

"Master and Mistresses must wake!"

Dobby's insistent voice, along with some delicate shaking, made Harry wake up. He was naked, sweaty and sticky, and he felt wonderful. Feeling three female bodies stirring awake at his side made him feel even better.

"Master and Mistresses must get dressed and go for lunch. You are expected at the great hall," Dobby explained.

Padma checked her watch. "Yes, it's about time we move," she said, yet she only moved one arm to hug Harry even tighter.

It took some more nudging from Dobby to make them finally rise from the sofa, clean themselves and get dressed. Hermione made sure to make the room return to its previous condition before leaving.

"I think I should sit with you now," Susan said.

"We've not advertised our bond until now, but as we're going to get our own apartment, I believe we can all sit together from now on. Would you like us to join you at your table, Lady Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.

"I'm just Susan or Suzy to my family and friends," she said, blushing at her title.

"Of course, dear, but we should let these titles be known if we are to do something about Hogwarts," Harry said.

When they reached the great hall, they were surprised to see another table, a smaller one, between the staff table and the house tables. A house elf popped in front of them. "Lord Hogwarts, Ladies, please follow me to your own table."

Harry looked at his wives but none seemed to know any better. The table they ended up at was quite a bit larger than what they needed. It could seat more than ten people, although it was currently used by only four. "Is that a hint we may have some more family members?" Harry asked worriedly.

"There are more family members, dear," Padma told him. "I have a sister and my parents; Susan has an aunt, and we also have some friends and allies we may like to be with at meals. The table may even be a bit too small by the time we finish Hogwarts."

As if to prove her words, Parvati came. "What's this table doing here and why are you sitting at it?" She also looked at Susan suspiciously, but said nothing.

"I'm not yet sure," Padma told her twin, "but I suppose we shall all know better after lunch. It looks like the Headmaster will have some announcements to make." She just invited her twin to sit with them.

Dumbledore arrived soon, looking even more tired than they'd seen him that morning. He didn't look surprised at the sight of the additional table, only somewhat apprehensive. He sat down, not paying attention to the food, evidently in deep thought.

The great hall was already full and some were almost finishing their meal when Dumbledore stood up and knocked on a goblet, attracting everyone's attention.

"As you can all see, we've now gained another table in this hall. I was informed that this is the table reserved for the heirs of the founders, but only when all four are represented."

He paused for a moment, to let everybody absorb the information.

"It is well known that the Bones family is the sole descendant of Hufflepuff. It is also well known that the Potter family descended from Gryffindor. It's much less known, but the Potter, having wed one of Slytherin's descendants, had also become the Slytherin heirs. The Gaunt claimed that title by victory over another branch of Slytherin, but were never even remotely related."

He made a longer pause now. The Slytherin table seemed to be in turmoil, as some wouldn't accept 'a filthy halfblood' as the descendant of the founder. Dumbledore thought he should nail it in.

"Some pureblood families managed to keep that information hidden, but if you check a bit, you'd find that Salazar Slytherin himself was muggle-born. He had never made it a secret, yet this fact had been removed from most new books about that era some twenty years ago, when a self-proclaimed dark lord, a halfblood born to Merope Gaunt and Thomas Riddle – a muggle – declared himself Slytherin's heir and the ultimate pureblood. He was neither."

Dumbledore waited much longer for the roar to subside. He idly wondered what the visiting schools might think about the matter, but it wasn't that important anyhow.

Eventually, it became quiet enough for him to continue. "Most of you know 'the white lady' – the Ravenclaw ghost who used to be Rowena's daughter. Many thought she was Rowena's only child. It turns out she wasn't. Like it happens in so many magical families, Rowena also had a squib daughter, who's never mentioned. She went into the muggle world and was forgotten until lately, when one of her descendants turned magical. Her name was Lily Evans. Her son inherited that position, becoming Lord Ravenclaw, as well as Lord Potter, Lord Gryffindor and Lord Slytherin. As he also married Lady Hufflepuff, it now makes him Lord Hogwarts."

The noise level rose sharply. Dumbledore waited somewhat longer before raising his hand, silencing the Great Hall. "As some of you may know, the Board of Governors, which has been the supreme authority for the school, had been assigned by the founders to make sure that the school could continue functioning even when not all the heirs were known. Once the heirs of all four founders are known and ready to take control, the board is dismissed. The heirs are the ones who have supreme authority at school now. I'll inform you all of any additional changes as soon as they occur."

Dumbledore sat down and the noise level rose again. Students were talking, commenting on the news and speculating about their meaning. Harry noticed that most seemed neutral about it, and some even glad, except for the Slytherin table. All those close to Malfoy seemed either angry or stressed, yet a few seemed to hide their glee at the news. He wasn't sure about it, but he thought he noticed all the sixth year girls there looking not angry at all. He expected Daphne Greengrass to seem neutral, although he thought he saw a quick smile, before she turned her face back to the "Ice Queen" mask. He didn't expect Pansy to seem almost relieved, not even trying too hard to hide it. This certainly needed some additional thought.

Two owls came in, despite it not being mail time. They flew directly to the Hogwarts table, landing in front of Susan and Harry. Once released of their letters, they took off immediately.

"These are probably the confirmations of your marriage," Padma urged them. She was right, as both found out a moment later.

They were already finishing their meal when the great hall's doors burst open, as a furious middle-aged woman strode in, hurriedly followed by two Aurors. She glanced at the Hufflepuff table first and then looked around, noticing the new table and its occupants. She quickly marched in that direction, stopping in front of the table, opposite Susan. She grabbed the official parchment from the table. "Care to tell me what that is?" she asked angrily.

"Why, auntie, that's the ministry's confirmation of my marriage with the man I love. Haven't I told you about him already?" Susan didn't look even a bit intimidated.

"You said you loved him, but as he needed an heir, you couldn't even consider him. Have you changed your mind?"

"No, auntie. I still love him and he still needs an heir, but since I'm his third wife, I can keep my line, unless both his other wives fail to bring him heirs."

"His third wife?" Madam Bones glanced at Harry for the first time. She wasn't too impressed by the slim boy. He seemed barely able to cope with one wife. Still, as she had found before rushing to Hogwarts, the boy held several influential lordships. She couldn't dismiss him.

Susan seemed unfazed. "Well, he has already bonded with Lady Hermione Potter née Granger and with Lady Padma Gryffindor, née Patil, and they both seem to like it. I know I enjoyed consummating our marriage much more than I thought I would, despite having no previous experience."

"You've already… consummated? When?"

Susan shrugged. "As soon as we finished the wedding ceremony. You taught me that a marriage was not finalized until consummated, didn't you?"

Madam Bones seemed to deflate. She moved to sit down near her niece. "My little Suzy – already married! It's too much for this old lady. Are you really content? All I really care for is for you to be happy, you know."

Susan hugged her. "Yes, auntie, I'm really happy and content with my decision to marry Harry. I'm sure it will work perfectly for the four of us, even though it may seem weird to others."

Her aunt returned the hug and then turned to Harry. "Do you really love her?"

Harry would have said "no" just a few hours earlier. Now he felt differently. "When I met Suzy earlier today, I thought only of cooperating in making Hogwarts better, ridding it of the influence of Malfoy and others like him. I still want to make that change, but Suzy has stirred something in me, so that I can now say that I really love her. It's not as strongly as I love Hermione and not even as I love Padma, but give it some time and I believe I'll love the three of them just about the same."

Although the whole school could watch, their table seemed to be protected by a privacy shield, blocking their conversation from being heard and even making it impossible to read their lips. Harry didn't know who cast that shield but was becoming aware of it as he saw others losing interest while Parvati, sitting at the table, looked extremely interested.

"You know that it's all house secrets, except for the fact that I now have three wives," he told her. Parvati nodded understandingly. He was sure she won't utter a word.

As the crisis seemed to be over, the privacy shield seemed to drop of its own. Harry noticed that most of the students had already left the hall. Dumbledore approached them, looking even older than he looked before. "Lord Hogwarts, Ladies, you are invited to come to my office at your earliest convenience. I'll be waiting there, if you don't mind."

Madam Bones stayed a bit longer, talking with the teens just to make sure that everything would be alright. Before leaving, she had one advice to give them. "Soon enough, when your new positions are made publicly known, you'll get many free pieces of advice from as many people. I suggest you handle them all with caution. Make your own mind about things, find the facts if you lack any and then decide on your own. Even people who have your best interests in mind, as I do, can't always give you the best advice. It's your task, your responsibility and your life. Make sure you lead your life and are not led by anybody else."

Harry smiled his thanks. Madam Bones stood up with a sigh. "It's days like this that make me feel old," she said thoughtfully. She hugged Susan once more and then hugged Harry as well before parting, followed by the Aurors.

"I think we should visit the headmaster now. Although he can no longer command us, we should still be respectful to him," Hermione noted, "at least due to his experience and knowledge."

Dumbledore was waiting, as promised. There were four chairs in front of his desk now. He stood up as they came in and only sat down after all four took their seats. "You asked to talk to us, Headmaster?" Harry prompted.

"Indeed I did, Lord Hogwarts. As your position cannot be kept secret, I'd like to know how you want to proceed."

Harry wasn't ready for the question. Since that morning, everything was moving at a breakneck speed, not giving him any time to contemplate, to think how to proceed. Yet he needed to give an answer. "We've not had the time to think about most of the implications of this new situation," he said. "I don't think we need to rush anything, although I'm sure that some changes are necessary and should be done very soon. We still need to think about what we want to do and set our priorities before acting."

Dumbledore smiled tiredly. "Considering the speed these changes have occurred, it's quite refreshing to hear this. Would you like me to make an official announcement for the press?"

Harry considered it. "That may be nice, but I think that my wives should approve it beforehand. I think it would be safe to add that we're not going to make any changes before considering all the aspects as fully as we can. We're not going to do any major changes until we understand their implications, yet we're going to do quite a few changes, intending to make this school much better than it already is."

The headmaster smiled understandingly. "I believe that includes the remaining tasks in the tournament," he noted.

Harry shrugged. "Probably. I'd like to revise all the security measures, first, and then consider alternatives, if possible. Still, that may wait for a few more days."

Hermione was considering something more practical. "Headmaster, is the apartment you've allotted us good enough now, when Harry has three wives?"

The question seemed to cheer the old man up. "That depends. If you want a separate bedroom for each, it may prove inadequate, but if you'd rather stay together during the night, as I believe you do, then that apartment is more than good enough."

A house elf popped near them as soon as they left the headmaster's office. "Your apartment is ready. Do you like me to show you the way?" Despite it being still early in the afternoon, all three girls seemed quite eager to check their new lodging. Harry suspected it would entail some naked bodies uniting in bed as well. Although quite sated, he couldn't really say that he disliked the idea.