Luna was the first to place her stuff on the ground and look around the room for Harry. She took a step towards the entrance when a deep growl stopped her. Charon's hackles were raised, her teeth were barred, and their body was primed to attack.
Fred patted her shoulder and pointed at the table across the room. Harry's star pendant was just sitting there on the table almost mocking them.
"Can we petrify this mangey thing? I want to sit down," Draco whispered as his eyes never left the large black dog.
"Do you want to be chewed up and spit out by both Harry and that terrifying dog? My money's on Harry tearing you to shreds," George angrily chastised him.
"Take a deep breath, my loves; the scrugmits are swarming you. Harry will be back soon" Luna's soothing tone made them take a step back.
It took about five minutes before Harry appeared, opening the tent door with nothing but a towel. Green eyes instantly shot around the room, taking in the 5 visitors. Harry's brain completely turned off, and his jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Merlins left ballsack, Harry call that mutt off of us!" Draco nearly shouted at Harry.
"Charon down. Friends, not Foe. " instructed Charon. She bolted over and knocked Luna over, smelling and kissing her face.
"Charon hates being called a mutt. She's my familiar bruv. Next time you say it, she will probably attack you," Harry warned
"Oh bullocks, fucking mutt," Draco snakily demanded Charon. The large dog paused, turned her head, and began growling at him.
"Charon free" As soon as free left Harry's mouth, she launched herself at Draco. The war veteran dodged and sprinted towards the entrance flap.
"Poor guy dug himself his own grave. She's vengeful. But anywho, Hello, my loves. I wasn't expecting you. I figured you were all at Hogwarts protecting the children," Harry cackled as he rushed to hug his family members he had not seen in a long while.
"That was never in the cards; the niffler took that particular one as soon as you were born," Luna mystically replied.
Kissing her forehead and leaving her a tight squeeze, he went onto Neville and jokingly shook his hand before pulling him in close.
"Professor, how was the school handing it all before you left"
"Shove off, brother, I'm supposed to be here anyways. Fuck them kids." Neville jokingly shot back.
"What are we? Dumbledore? Come here, little man" The twins switched off every other word following Neville's statement before they smushed him between the two.
"Harry Sandwich!"
Laughing, Harry let them squish him. "What did you two do with the shop?"
"We closed it and signed…"
"… off ownership to the Goblins"
"We have a lot to talk about, and it seems like you do too" Neville stated with his eyes glued onto the entrance of the tent. At the entrance, Daryl stood there holding Charon like a baby as she kissed his face. Merle, on the other hand, is holding Draco tied up.
"It did get very quiet out there… Daryl and Merle meet my family. The one you tied up name's Draco, the twins are George and Fred, Neville is the mountain behind me, and this little lady is Luna" As Harry named each member of his family, they nodded their heads. Well, besides Draco, who indigently huffed.
"I didn't know we were at the meeting, the family stage of our relationship," Merle huffed out while dropping Draco on the floor. Merle bent down to untie him when Charon growled.
"You heard the girl. Leave him," Daryl responded
"What did he do?" Merle asked in confusion. "He was being chased around the forest, scaring away all the prey"
"He called the baby Mutt," Harry replied with no emotion in his voice.
"Fucker deserved it and a swift kick to the ass too. " Daryl asked before cooing at Charon, who was thriving in his attention.
"That sad sack of shit doesn't deserve you, baby girl. Come give me some smooches. Ye, such a good girl. Yes, ye are" Daryl's heavy southern accent made it much more adorable.
Over the next hour, everyone settled in and fully unpacked what they had brought while Draco sat there pitifully until Charon kissed his forehead.
Harry snapped his fingers and the ropes disappeared off of the blonde man.
When he did that, every magical person in the room stopped and stared at him.
"Did you just..?"
"Are we?"
"Fuck the government"
Shocked statements flew around the room when Daryl spoke up, "Granny used to do even more of that voodoo shit. Ain't nothing we ain't seen before"
"Here, I have something to show you guys" Harry beckoned them over to the living room. He reached into his bag and pulled out the grimoire he had collected from the Peach. "This grimoire belongs to their Granny. Her real name was Ophelia Lela Prevell."
"That's Granny's name? Don't fit her." Daryl commented while cataloging the new items that the other six brought with them.
"Bugger Off. That branch of the Peverell Family died out centuries ago." Neville uttered in sheer disbelief.
"Don't look all gobsmacked. I read some of the grimoires; her portion of the family fled England to escape and start over. She's the real deal."
"You can feel the magic wafting off of it," Fred said as he closed his eyes, taking the waves slowly build up, hit a precipice, then crashed, tumbling towards him.
"We have something to tell you as well…." Draco stated as he stretched after being tied up for many hours.
"When I heard what was happening, I had to visit Gringotts. Take a look at what he gave us," he continued as he took a large stack of papers, including a blood quill and jars of their blood.
Harry skimmed over the front page.
"...We, the seven, bequeath all of our monetary gains and unneeded goods to the Goblin empire. We hope that the regime change of the Wizarding World fronted by the Goblin Empire will create a Utopia for those who were abused, taken from, or even discriminated against by our people. The Goblin People are fair and have never once taken advantage of a wizard or witch who did not deserve it. We are in full support of King Warwick and will do what we can to aid his goal. With the decrease of the population to such an extreme, any Gringrotts vaults or properties from those families who passed on are put into a large community vault. They value community and wish to retain all knowledge gathered over the millions of years on earth. The community vault is accessible by bag post. Anyone with even a drop of magical blood can access the bag. There will be a catalog that is updated monthly within the inner bag pocket. There is a log-out system so everyone has equal and fair access to everything the Wizarding community has accumulated. A bag will appear near a person with magical blood, regardless of how minuscule. If you wish to partake in the new Empire, send an inquiry to King Warwick so he can help ensure your goods, properties, and money are safe or well cared for. Any questions or comments can reach us via bag post. Port keys will be provided for those who need to visit Gringotts or the new empire…"
Harry's mind blanked, and he was overcome with happiness. He has been trying to convince Warwick to do this for years. There are more pages given to him, but he, unlike others, trusts the goblins with his life. There's no need for him to read the fine print.
"They finally grew the balls, huh?" Harry nearly yelled out in excitement.
"I can assure you I saw the King's balls. They were fully there and intact," Draco stutters out the midst of laughter at Harry's reaction. As Harry looked absolutely stunned- Warwick's balls were the last thing on his mind.
Harry shook his head and launched into his kitchen, searching for his ring to provide full authenticity in combination with the blood quill. He signed the bottom, included the blood quill, and then stamped it in his blood. He also wrote on a blank piece of paper how happy he was for them and that he would do anything and everything he could to help.
The dark-skinned man was giddy and was bouncing around the room as the six others chatted about what they hoped the Goblins achieve. The two Americans in the room were quite confused by what was spoken.
"Hold the fuck up. Goblins? Little tiny things with green skin and sharp teeth?" Merle interjected, confused.
"No, they aren't green, Merle; they are closer to beige and have bulging eyes. I read about them because Granny said to know their culture for the future" Daryl's southern deep voice left no argument from the other brother.
"If Granny says so, gimme that book then bitch. I don't want to offend those short fuckers" Merle grumbled, annoyed he missed this important information when he was in jail
Daryl grunted in confirmation as he stood up to walk to the library for the Goblin book.
"Inanna, don't bother. The goblins will send a better one for Utu," Luna said, reaching into the bag post.
Daryl and Merle stared at the little lady, confused.
"Ain't no way I'm Inanna; she's a maiden," and "That's a load of shit. I'm not a very morally correct being," the brothers stated at the same time
"Don't bother arguing with her. She gave us all names. Neville's Dryad, Draco's Helios, the twins are Aeolous and Boeotus," Neville comments but then turns to Harry. "Wait, what's your name?"
Harry looked around the room for an escape but found all 8 eyes on him. With a heavy sigh, "It's the heir"
"She's jumping around with no consistency! At least pick an ancient religion!" Daryl begrudgingly said
"I do like a spontaneous girl," Merle said with a wink toward Luna.
"Nuh uh, get that wink away from our little moon," George said as Fred scooped her up into his arms, glaring at the American.
"Pish posh. Bag post this to Warwick with this little package" Harry bounced to Draco with his papers for the Goblins
They slowly but surely began drawing the two brothers into their tight-knit group. At first, they were worried about scaring them off but it felt natural and a loving extension of the family.
"Oh, before I forget, I found this with my stuff in my room," Merle's loud voice radiated from the Hallway. Merle's large frame entered the living room and plopped a decent-sized box onto the table.
The twins fought over opening it. "Give it here, freckle toad" "Eat Shite," as they wrestle next to the table.
"How about George reads the letter and Fred looks through the box" Luna's lush voice caused the wrestling to stop instantly. "Okay, little moon" and "As you say, my queen" came out of the twin's mouths as they got to their assigned jobs.
"Seven plus two more equals nine. Nine is a reverend magical number. It is complete, divine, and perfect. The seven has your necklace, but I reckon my boys deserve something too. Within this box are nine matching rings with my family crest on them. They are spelled to act similarly to the necklaces seven of you wear. The only difference between them is that each ring has a small symbol assigned to the wearer on the side of the ring. Each represents a person within this family. These rings are spelled to heat up if one of the other ring wearers is in danger or scared. They cannot be taken off unless the owner would like it to. They vibrate if someone is lying to them and zap you if there are spells in the area that spy on you. You will be surprised by what my boys can do. I love you all, even if I have not met all of you. I know enough. My boys also have a stone necklace that helps ward off bad luck and any offensive spells; love Granny"
"Gods bless this Woman," Draco states as Luna is gummyly smiling, eager to get her ring. The Dixon brothers are tearing up, and Harry's eyes zeroed in on the box.
"I was reading her grimoire. These rings were created by Merlin to protect his 8 closest friends and himself. He begged the Peverell for years until Antioch Peverell in 560 gave in and created them with the clause that the rings must stay within his family only given to the chosen ones. This is probably the second time they were given out in History." Harry said in a very sullen way.
"I knew you were special, Daryl," Merle cackled across the room with a shit-eating grin on his face.
"Oh, for fucks sake, Merle," Daryl grumbled, putting Charon on the ground. "Get Merle. Go girl!"
"You SON OF A BITCH" Merle sprinted out of the room towards his bedroom Hallway
"I think I know who each one goes to," Fred says, picking up each ring and looking at all the symbols. "Get on with it then," Neville said snappily
"You can get yours last then, Neville." Fred sticks his tongue out at Neville. "The raven is Harry, of course; Luna is the moon, Draco is a peacock, George is Hyena, I'm a coyote, Merle is a wolf, and Daryl is angel wings"
"What about me?" Neville said, eager to know. Fred launches the ring at Neville and it smacks him dead on in the forehead. It bounced off and rolled towards the kitchen
"Bullocks! These are historical pieces. Be nicer to them," George lectures Fred.
"Of fucking course I'm a fucking frog with a plant," Neville says in good fun before placing it on his ring finger. When he placed it, the ring glowed and turned almost searing hot; with one last painful shock, it went back to a normal ring that radiated the magic of its counterparts.
"Blimey, what was that?" Draco comments confused
"Yeah... I forgot to mention that if you take off the ring, the family symbol is seared into your skin. The thing the Peverell Family cared about most was loyalty. Once they have your word, you can't go back on it without serious consequences," Harry said, placing on his ring just to experience the same thing
"That sounds like good ole Granny. I'll go get Merle" As he exited the tent, the British inhabitants began questioning Harry
"Why is he an angel?" "What about the wolf?" "I like him"
"I think he is an angel because he guides someone like a guardian angel. Those that are in his presence seem to calm down." Harry said before continuing, "Then there is no question Merle's the wolf because that is the symbol of undying loyalty. If Merle has one personality trait that would be loyal. He would do anything for his loved ones"
"I leave for 10 minutes, and y'all are talking shit about me. Wow. After I met your family too, Harry. You wound me," Merle laughs, wiping away fake tears as Daryl follows close behind, smothering Charon.
"My friends, come take your ring Granny gave us," Luna's smooth voice
"You fuckers open a gift from my Granny without me? Fucking ungrateful shits," Merle begrudgingly said as he picked up the wolf ring. "Granny always said I was a wolf. Before I went off to the military, she told me, "Don't be a lone wolf; your pack is here at the Peach"
"Granny always knew what to say," Daryl agreed while he picked up his own ring. "She always called me her guardian angel. I was quiet enough to be one, and she said I helped her fulfill her destiny. She even gave me a leather vest with angel wings sewn in the back of it"
"Granny clearly cares about you two. You were her pride and joy," Luna said
"Damn straight. Dixon brothers are everyone's pride and joy," Merle proudly states
"I don't know Merle. I'm pretty proud of the Pancakes I made you yesterday" Harry squeezed Merle's shoulder.
"Enough of this sappiness, It's time to figure out sleeping arrangements," Neville said to break up the tense silence.
"The Dixons chose out of the 4 extra rooms we had. Merle chose the one connected to the potion lab, and Daryl chose the one connected to the crystal storage room. I'm in the master room by the library. They haven't entered your hallway," Harry explained
"Why does he get Severus's old room?" Draco begins to complain
"Because.." Harry started before Merle interrupted him, "Freedom of choice. Not that you guys would know anyways- It's an American thing"
This caused Luna to giggle before she pranced off to her room. "You heard her, Dray" Neville squeezed his shoulder before following her giggles down the hallway.
"Before I let him pick Sev's old room, I went through it and found this for you" Harry pulled a locket and a small briefcase. Draco's eye immediately zeroed in on the locket. It was the same locket he got Severus when he was a child.
He tore the locket out of Harry's hands and immediately opened the locket. Within it are two photos; one was of the time Sev helped Draco make his first potion, and the other one was when Draco was receiving his Master in Potionieering.
Severus always wore the locket Draco gifted him for Yule when he was young. The two photos he chose for his beloved uncle were his first potion and a family picture from Saturnalia. Saturnalia was Sev's favorite; it is the celebration of the god Saturn during the autumn planting season. Yule and Saturnalia are very similar. Not all Pagans believe in Saturnalia as it is Roman, and not all Roman Pagans celebrate Yule. Yule is Norse or Germanic in origin and celebrates the winter solstice and the God Odin or the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht. The Snape family tree has strong ties to the Germanic Wizarding World, so they celebrate both holidays.
The blonde young man had to sit down because of the intense wave of bittersweet love. Severus was killed hours after Draco's first class as a healer. He rushed to Severus's home just to find him murdered in his bed. They never found out who killed him but the seven always believed it was Dumbledore. No one understood why he did not have his briefcase on him. Draco's mother was devastated for more than one reason
Sev must have replaced the family photo, and Draco had no idea. With tearing eyes, he turned his attention to the small briefcase. The small case was dark black leather with a silver lock that only Severus could use. Next to the lock is a silver cursive labeled "Beloved Severus," which was a gift Draco's mother gave him.
Severus and Narcissa were born in the same year; all throughout Hogwarts, they were like brother and sister. Many students during their years swore up and down they were dating, but little did they know Severus was not into women. The fact Sev left the brief case to Draco instead of any other person was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Draco began sobbing, holding both close to his chest. Hearing the slightest sound of the tent flap snapping closed, his head snapped up to survey the room. Everyone else gave him privacy to feel his emotions. He was so thankful for his friends that he began sobbing once more. Slowly but surely, he convinced himself to open it.
He places his forefinger and thumb up against the lock. Dracos was surprised when it launched open for him. On top of a few different divisions was a letter. Gently, he picked up the letter, and it magically expanded.
The curls and divots in ink on the page always mystified Draco. To this day, he still hasn't found someone whose writing always looks like artwork, as Uncle Sev's did.
"Beloved Draco,
I prepared this for you in preparation for my passing. It could be my veteran status, but recently my magic has been warning me. There are three people I have loved the most in my life; your mother, you, and Tom. I knew that the struggles and heartaches were all worth it when I saw your little smile for the first time. Tom, myself, and your parents were in hiding during the first Wizarding War. Late at night, your mother shook me awake, demanding I help deliver you. Over the next 16 hours we all put our heart and soul into ensuring your healthy birthing and your mother's comfort. When I was cleaning you up before handing you back to Cissy, you grabbed my hair and smiled at me. My whole life changed during that moment. It has been an absolute honor to assist you on your life journey. I hope even in death, I can be of help. This briefcase has all of my potions, potion notes, experiments, and anything I have worked towards in my lifetime. The top right corner holds a felt bag with my favorite memories with you. I hope these help you through all you struggle with in your life. I love you, my heir.
It was an honor to have you in my life,
Uncle Sev Sev
PS This briefcase shrinks down to the Prince Family symbol that can be worn as a ring or a charm on the locket"
Meanwhile…
Harry and the two pairs of brothers were chatting outside while playing with Charon. Fred and George were constantly apparating and shifting in or out of their animungus forms. Charon's tail was wiggling so much that she ran at an angle.
The Dixon brothers snagged two camping chairs out of the car and asked Harry to duplicate them for others to join them. The dark-skinned man did one better and created a fire for them to hang out around as well.
