The rise of the Black Rod
Chapter Ten: In which our Hero meets a very Important Personage
Harry, in the really expensive suit sat nervously in the back of the car.
The Finch-Fletchleys sat opposite him and Daphne.
Daphne was sitting calmly in the really nice dress that had somehow taken four weeks to make.
Muggle things it seemed, took a long time. She did look almost perfect. She wasn't smiling however.
Harry suspected she was actually nervous.
"Now" said Justin's Father "Don't worry. ER thinks the sun shines from Justin here, and you're just meeting her. After all, you are rather famous."
"I don't know what to say" Harry blurted out. "I've never talked to a queen"
Justin's fathers' eyes went right and lingered in Daphne "Quite" he said "She's quite good at putting people at her ease."
"She has some proper security" said Justin "A few disillusioned Aurors. And quite… subtle heavy muggle protections too."
As the car was stopped by a couple of Busby wearing soldiers with machine-guns strapped to their chests Harry couldn't help saying "quite subtle?"
"They" said Justin, in a pained tone, "Are the house cavalry. The rest of them are elsewhere, and Cavalry, Daphne, in chase you missed it, these days means tanks. Muggle war machines. They ride horses for ceremonial bits…. But they have tanks in case. You will not" Justin said to Harry "see the tanks."
"Are there horses around?" asked Daphne, looking less polite, more the girl Harry remembered.
"Somewhere nearby. Some of the cav may be on horseback outside…" said Justin.
"We're meeting indoors. The weather's bad and Herself has a slight cold" said Justin's father.
"One Pepper up…." said Daphne "Oh… would it even work on her?"
"I think" said Justin "that that experiment might be better conducted on someone else."
….
"Now a quick bow" whispered Justin.
Harry bowed a tiny bit and a stabbing pain in his ring finger had him wincing. "Bother" he said quietly "Uncle Sal doesn't mess around."
Daphne had also bowed, stiffly, at the waist.
"What?" hissed Justin.
"Family motto. We bow to no one. Head of house's ring is enforcing it." said Harry quietly.
The Queen had evidently noticed Harry's gasp of pain and white face.
"Oh dear is Mr Potter entirely well?" she asked.
"Sorry Maam," said Justin quickly "Family curse. His ancestor's enforcing the family motto."
"I am not aware the Potters Had a family motto" said the Queen.
Harry stood up straightened, shuddering as his Slytherin ring stung over and over.
"Shap peshsh sh spaessaaa" said Harry "Slytherin family Motto: We bow to no one."
Daphne abandoned her poised position and ran to Harry's side, holding his hand.
"Is it constant?" she asked.
Harry nodded, lips pressed into a tight line.
Daphne reached into her tiny handbag and rummaged, retrieving a small silvery vial.
"Pain potion," she said, "Quickly?"
Harry's shaking hands took the top off the potion, and he swallowed it, and it tasted… like most potions of something sour. He grimaced.
"Good gracious, was that a magic potion?" asked the queen, "I imagined they'd be more glowy lights."
Harry noticed the pain absolutely not diminishing, and smiled at Daphne, and gave her the empty vial "Sorry Love. Didn't work."
"Can someone please explain what is going on" said the Queen "It seems fascinating?"
Daphne stood up straight "Your majesty, my husband's ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, was a very prominent wizard, about a thousand years ago. He spoke the language of snakes, which is a magical language, and… he was – "
Harry gasped out "An unbending man."
"The last time this was this bad, I had to knock Harry out" admitted Daphne. "The family ring has a geas on it, Harry must ensure various things happen, mostly related to the school his ancestor founded. And, apparently… not bow to anyone."
Harry shook his head and said "Sorry", and then hissed out a short spell, and Harry's Saville row suit flowed like water, changing into a greyish silvery set of robes, and his brogues turned into silver-reinforced boots.
Far from being upset, the queen applauded "Bravo!" she said "How positively marvellous."
Harry stood a little better, "It's helping" said Harry, and eyed Daphne.
Daphne sighed "'I'm not doing it., Not to the queen" she said.
"Fine" said Harry, and drew his wand and hissed out an incantation, which had silvery puddles oozing out of the stone floor, that flowed upwards like reverse drips into silvery snakes that entwined themselves, forming a silvery throne, that Harry slumped into crookedly, and immediately relaxed.
"Sorry," said Harry again, panting this time and sounding merely embarrassed, "Cursed inheritance."
The queen looked amused, "No wizard I've ever met apologises for doing such amazing magic. Can I touch it?"
"Ah no," said Daphne "It's lethal to anyone who isn't us." she held up her left hand, where a lot of silvery rings glinted.
"And Mrs … Potter, you have one of those thrones? And a magical transformation?" the Queen asked Daphne.
Daphne smiled in a brittle way "Maam… I do have a throne, but I generally use it to wait for the students as they arrive at school." she said "I can't cast parseltounge spells. It's an inherited skill, and I'm not from that family line."
"So, Mr Potter?" asked the queen "Or Lord Slytherin, which frankly seems more appropriate, given your current state…"
"I'm not… a lord. It's just a courtesy title," protested Harry.
"Well," said the queen, "We will see about that. The reason you're here, is to ask if you'd accept a token of our gratitude." She'd put particular emphasis on the word 'our'.
Justin leaned as close as he could and said quietly "This is where you stand up… well don't bow, I guess, and say yes."
Harry stood up and said "Gratitude for what?" he asked.
"I believe, unless my minster for magic is somehow as much of a buffoon as the old one… Toffee?, that there was a war, and you personally defeated the terrorist Tom Marvolo Riddle?" asked the Queen.
Harry shied, "Sort of had to... he was obsessed with killing me." he said, and looked at the floor.
"A man who'd killed thousands of my subjects, who was going to usurp our kingdom. I think you will get a reward." said the queen, then added "Don't wizards have pointy hats? Surely there's a hat to go with that splendid robe?"
Harry looked up and winced, making eye contact with the Queen "It's a terrible hat and… it scares people."
"I have one just like that," said the Queen cheerily, "My signet ring comes with a rather similar curse to yours… I'm always the Queen of England, wherever I go, and I was reminded as young woman, on the occasion of my coronation, that I must never bow to anyone, ever again. Of course, I don't get a stabbing pain in the hand… I have chamberlains having apoplexy's instead."
"The hat," said Daphne. "Hopefully it'll be polite."
"It doesn't speak English," said Harry optimistically.
"A talking hat!" exclaimed the queen, her wrinkled face cracking into a grin, and she clapped enthusiastically "Oh! I must see that!"
Harry hissed and Salazars' Hat appeared on his head, the chin straps dangling.
"$Boss$" hissed the hat "$There's muggles everywhere, and behind you, at seven o'clock a disillusionedwizard, and another at eleven o'clock$"
"What ever did it say?" asked the Queen, a little pale.
"It uh… tells me what's behind and around me" said Harry. "$eyes shut$" Harry hissed.
"What… did you say?" asked the Queen.
"I asked Grandpa Sal's Hat to close it's eyes." said Harry "It terrifies wizards."
Justin nodded "Eyes on the back… like snakes eyes."
The queen chuckled "Oh… eyes on the back of your head. How terribly useful. Is that hat… useful in a fracas then?"
Harry nodded, and hissed, and the chin straps tied themselves.
"I wondered how you lot did that" said the Queen.
"Mostly sticking charms" said Daphne. "Like… costume tape. But magic."
"What I was going to ask, Mr Potter," said the queen, with a look of distinct amusement "Is if you'd consent to being knighted. In retrospect, I think… where are the Slytherins from in England?"
"Cheshire," said Harry.
"Oh where?" asked the Queen.
"Ginclough's the nearest place" admitted Harry.
"Close the to Peak District then?" asked the Queen "Your Peverell castle's not really Peveril castle is it?"
"That's in Wales," admitted Harry. "I don't know about Peveril Castle. Is it nice?"
"Just a square stone tower," said the Queen.
Harry nodded, "Slytherin Castle was like that. I'm adding a few classrooms for the new primary school."
"You're starting another school?" the Queen asked. Harry nodded.
"Quince," said the Queen firmly, "Get the paperwork. I feel like doing something irresponsible. I think, Mr Potter need to be invested Lord Slytherin, Baron of Ginclough, under my Son, as Earl of Chester of course."
Quince, who'd stood like well-dressed furniture whispered something to the Queen and she smiled "Yes, Quince, So it's either that or a VC and Bar."
"And Bar Maam?" asked Quince.
"Well, he did defeat that Riddle chap more than once," said the Queen, and Harry had the distinct suspicion she might be making some sort of larger point.
"Harry fought him four times" said Daphne.
"Well, VC with three bars, and a knighthood, it seems messy, or a simple Barony." said the Queen. "Charles is inside the knowledge of magic as my heir, so he can have a Baron. And what better Baron than Harry Potter, Lord Slytherin, Lord Potter, and Lord Black."
"Lord Peverell too but we tend not to use that one," said Harry.
"That's the thing about titles," said the Queen with a wry smile, "Once you've got one, they tend to accumulate. Like properties requiring maintenance."
Harry sighed "Two castles, two manors. Several acres of lead roofs" he said. "Black Manor has one hundred and seventeen rooms, and is absorbing all the money I can spend on repairs."
"Where is your second castle?" asked the Queen brightly.
"I can't say…. Magic protections, but Peverell castle's near Rhyander in Wales. It's never been anything but a magical family fortress… lots of towers in a pentagram."
"How terribly occult," said the Queen, twinkling enthusiastically, "So that's in the Welsh marches, and your family have owned it a long time?"
"I've no idea when they started. My Potter family married one of their daughters in twelve eighty." said Harry.
The Queen blinked "Your family tree has deep roots, Mr Potter."
"We live a long time, and until the sixteenth century, didn't have to hide," said Daphne, "I believe it is at a minimum Harry's great to the twenty-first ancestor who founded the Peverell family. We don't know if they're originally from Wales. We've been busy translating Salazar Slytherin's books from the tenth century. We've only started on Peverell books this year."
"You're a linguist?" the Queen asked Daphne.
"Harry has some speciality skills. Some books are unreadable to non-family. Written parseltounge" lied Daphne. "I only read English, German, French, Latin, Greek and Cetlic. Well, and a few sets of runes for magical purposes. My great aunt translates old germanic languages for us."
Quince's eyes were boggling.
"My my, Sir Justin, are you equally linguistically talented?" asked the Queen.
"Oh no, I only read English, French, Latin, and some runic languages." said Justin.
"I really think I'd love to have you young people meet my grandchildren. If only to ram home that some people learn more than two languages." said the Queen with twinkle in her eye.
"Oh I can only speak English and parseltounge," said Harry "Raised in the suburbs, went to a very basic primary school. My wife, with the upbringing, can speak German and French."
"And Italian," said Daphne, "Enough to get by."
"Tell me," said the Queen coldly, "Given what I read in your file, Mr Potter, why I shouldn't lock your aunt and uncle up and throw away the keys? I can do that. It's been a century or so since my family have directly imprisoned someone, but I feel I could make an exception."
"Well… that is up to you," said Harry, "I don't know where they are, so my wife doesn't know. She would like to discuss things with them too."
"Her file indicates she came second in the European under twenty-one duelling contest?" said the Queen "Which, my Aurors tell me makes her a class four threat."
Daphne inhaled sharply.
"Well, that's intolerable," said Harry, "Gentlemen. My wife can actually out-duel me if she's sneaky, so you should up that to a class five. And owns a suit of goblin battle-armour, so just don't." said Harry to the corner of the room that had nobody visible in it.
"The goblins make armour for wizards?" asked the Queen" I understood that didn't like wizards and witches much?"
"My ancestor did the goblin king a big favour. Daphne's wearing the wedding ring we got as a gift." said Harry "Then after she fought two dozen werewolves, they made her an honorary goblin warrior. That entitled her to wear the ring, and the armour's a lifetime loan."
Daphne extended her hand, where the articulated finger armour glittered.
"That's not silver is it?" asked the Queen "One of your magical metals?"
"Goblin wrought silver," said Daphne "It's… not what it sounds like. We could say… but it makes… trouble."
"I'm the Queen of England, I can cope with rare metals," said the Queen "I do own quite a large diamond."
"It's… Darmstadtium," said Harry, "Which should be radioactive and decay nearly instantly but doesn't. The goblins call it hard silver."
The Queen looked confused "Just," she said "When I think I understand how… magical magic can be, something like this happens. It's safe?"
"No known issues, apart from the goblins being a bit picky about buying it." said Harry.
"So… do the Goblins understand radioactivity?" asked the Queen.
Harry shrugged "They know how to work hard silver, nobody else, well, except my family can mine it."
"The Throne, it's Darmstatium?" asked the Queen causally "How terribly fascinating. Does it go away? Back into the ground."
"I can er, turn it into ingots" said Harry.
"Well I simply insist on keeping the ingots," said the Queen, "It's made from my floor, and I rather think my best boffins would be fascinated." And she rubbed her hands together.
"Er," said Harry awkwardly, "It's covered by that statute. Without magic, it shouldn't exist."
"Oh," sighed the Queen, deflating, "Bother! I would have enjoyed giving them something impossible to ponder over. I take it you'll give it to the goblins?"
"It they'll take it," said Daphne, "They're being picky about paying for hard silver these days."
"Well, once Quince and company have done their paperwork, it will be official, and you'll come back to be invested."
"Maaam" said Quince, leaving the room.
"So, in addition to starting schools, and being a linguist, married to a linguist, Mister Potter, do you have any other hobbies?"
"Well, orphans." said Harry, "I er, decided to adopt all the magical orphans available."
"Forty two orphans" said the Queen, who clearly had already been briefed. "Rather a huge commitment."
"Tom Riddle was an orphan" said Harry "Seems best to prevent that happening again."
"How… medieval" mused the Queen. "Holding the children in ransom for themselves."
"Well, trying to give them a decent upbringing" said Harry.
