A/N: Good lawd this is so late! I've been so caught up in college work that I just haven't had a chance to write so much! But it's okay, I know for a fact I have more free time, so I'll be back to my regular schedule :)
This chapter features a lot of political talk whew. Also, I based the Sacred 28 and the Noble houses on the House of Lords (part of the UK government), where basically unelected nobles have the power to influence decisions. We will be seeing Sirius at work as Lord Black in future chapters.
Their first full day of summer break was upon them. Harry had indeed missed his bed at Black Manor - so much so he couldn't decide if he liked it more than his bed in his dormitory or not. The morning sunshine was streaming in through gaps in his curtains, and his duvet was encompassingly warm. He rolled over to check the clock on his bedside table - three minutes past nine.
When he ventured down to the kitchen, he noticed most of the Black Manor habitants were awake - bar Dorea and Theo. Regulus was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Prophet (Harry wondered how they were able to get it delivered), and he noticed Ditsy and Dippey were sitting at the table eating their own breakfast. Sirius and Ophelia were talking by the sink, with Amelia, Barnaby and Blaise dotted around the kitchen island, preparing their breakfasts.
Ophelia was dressed in St Mungo's uniform and had a bag slung over one shoulder - meaning she was probably about to head to work.
Just as the toaster finished toasting his two pieces of bread, did Ophelia begin to leave. She grinned at Harry and said bye to him, before making her way around the others and saying the same thing, before she left the kitchen to presumably use the Floo in the living room to get to the hospital.
"Oh, Sirius, what's the plan for Theo's birthday tomorrow?" Barnaby voiced, being careful not to be too loud in case Theo was making his way through.
"I'm setting up one of the reception rooms along the hall. I'm actually heading out today to get him presents from myself. I'm assuming you've all got him presents?"
When they nodded, Sirius continued. "Is there something he really, really wants that neither of you have gotten him?"
"Well, he's thinking of trying to get on the Slytherin Quidditch team next term, as Warrington and Montague are leavers so that frees up their spaces, but he doesn't actually have his own personal Quidditch gear as far as I know." Blaise answered straight away.
Sirius nodded. "Warrington and Montague were the Chasers, right?"
Blaise nodded. "Yeah, he's been wanting to be one for a few years now."
"So I'm assuming he'll be needing a broom, protective arm and shin gear, and gloves?" Sirius made a note. "Ophelia is getting him boots, a cape, and the jersey."
"That sounds about right." Blaise confirmed.
"Right, that's perfect. I'll get that for him today after my appointment." Sirius said, folding the bit of parchment up.
"Where's your appointment at?" Harry asked.
"Well, it's at the Ministry, regarding my seat on the WIzengamot. I've got to sort some paperwork out beforehand before I'm sworn in." His godfather replied.
"Woah, you're going to be on the Wizengamot?" Amelia said in slight amazement.
"Will we have to call you Lord Black, brother? I think I'd rather vomit." Regulus said cheekily.
Sirius barked laughter. "No formalities here, please. Being called 'Professor' was weird enough."
When Dorea and Theo did eventually come down, Sirius explained he'd be out for half the day. "I think I'll be back well in time for dinner, but in case I'm not, feel free to eat without me." He then turned to his brother. "Make sure the kids don't burn the house down while I'm out, please?"
They all chuckled. "We'll be fine, Siri. If there's a problem I'll contact you as soon as possible." Regulus Black replied.
They all ate together in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Regulus asked what was on the agenda for them all.
"The weather's nice, so I think I'll go fly about." Amelia said, Dorea nodding avidly.
"I've been reading up on Potions in the sixth year curriculum, and figured it won't hurt to get a head start on brewing them." Blaise said.
Harry hadn't thought about doing that until a later stage, but figured he could still get at least one done and out of the way. He joined Blaise in the Potions Lab at ten.
They found the textbook that was used in NEWT Potions - Advanced Potion Making by Libatius Borage. They each took their own copy and flicked it open. One of the first potions was the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. There was a lot of adding and stirring, and upon closer inspection a lot of the adding and stirring had to be done at the same time.
"The instructions looked so simple at first," Blaise almost groaned. "But it's one of those potions where you have to multitask."
An idea came to Harry then. "How about we work together to brew one? Like, two of us working on the one cauldron. That way, One can do the stirring and one can do the adding."
Blaise looked impressed. "That sounds good. We have plenty of time to do it individually over break anyways, and we've never really had to do a potion in pairs before. Let's do it."
Harry prepared the ingredients whilst Blaise stood at the ready to light the cauldron. Harry carefully dropped the peppermint into the cauldron, ready to stop adding when it turned red. When that happened, he got the second ingredient - shrivelfig, - and prepared to add it. He added it until it turned turquoise. Blaise commented how smoothly it seemed to be going so far as he did his job in stirring it until it turned blue.
When the potion did turn blue, they didn't have to do anything except keep an eye on it, as it was to simmer until it turned yellow. In the meantime, Harry settled the petri dish of the porcupine quills right next to the cauldron, so that he could just grab it and add them in when it was ready.
"What are you hoping to take in sixth year?" he asked Blaise.
Blaise seemed to have made his mind up about his NEWT subjects already. "Potions, obviously, as well as Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, and Herbology. I know I don't technically need them for my future, but I'll probably stick with Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures too. I think my OWL grades will be fine, so I'm not too worried."
Harry was a bit surprised Blaise was going to continue with Care of Magical Creatures. "I'm thinking about doing the same as you, along with Runes, but at this stage I think I'll be dropping History, Astronomy and Magical Creatures."
"Really? I thought you'd want to stick with Creatures because of Hagrid." Blaise raised his brows.
"Well, I feel bad even thinking about it, but I don't want to have too much on my plate, y'know. Though we don't get exams in sixth year, we still constantly get assessments and tests, and I don't want to be adding things to what will be an already big workload, even if it is an easy subject like Creatures. But I guess I'll wait and see - I haven't totally made my mind up yet." Harry explained.
Blaise understood. "I get you. Do you think you'll be able to continue Arithmancy at NEWT?"
Harry blanched a bit. "The thought of the NEWT content for Arithmancy alone is terrifying, but I do want to continue with it, especially since Professor Vector dedicated so much of her free time to teaching me privately. But honestly, the OWL exam was tough. I think at the very least, the best I did was a high A grade."
"I think you underestimate yourself in Arithmancy, Harry," Blaise said honestly, "Anthony and Terry both say you're really good once you get past the initial confusion of the topics, and they're among the smartest people in our year."
"I'm really grateful they've helped me to understand it," Harry said, "but in the exam it's different. You're on your own. And together with the way the questions were worded and how much detail the questions wanted… I still don't think I did that great."
"Even if you don't pass it, I'm sure Vector will still want to continue teaching you in some way. Who knows, maybe she'll give you a wildcard entry into the NEWT course." Blaise replied, and Harry did have a feeling that Vector would do something like that even if he failed the OWL. He felt Vector was fond of him in the same way McGonagall was.
The potion turned yellow at last, and Harry added in the exact amount of porcupine quills that were needed before the colour changed to blue. They had more waiting to do until it turned purple (which didn't take very long at all), which was when seven castor beans needed to be added in.
After the castor beans were added, there was yet again more simmering to be done. This time they had to wait until it turned brown. Then the shrivelfig was going in. That left them some more time to chat.
Blaise came on to a recent topic. "I think I saw my mothers boyfriend at the Ministry battle."
Harry eyed his friend. "You're certain?"
"Well, that room was frantic anyway with so many of us fighting, but… well, Richard's very tall, and I did see a very tall man among the Death Eater's… I wish I got to fight him."
"I have to ask - is he a very cruel man? As in… towards you?"
"He wasn't physically cruel or abusive in the way that somebody like Theo's dad is, but his insults and his disapproval felt like verbal lashings. He's the physical embodiment of the phrase "If looks could kill"." Blaise explained relatively freely, and Harry almost shuddered trying to picture what Richard was like - Uncle Vernon had nothing on him. "I don't know if you know who my birth dad is, but contrary to what my mum is known for doing to her husbands, he's not in fact dead. They separated years ago, though she didn't let me see him that often. Like me, he's black. Now Richard… I'm sure it's obvious that he's racist, but damn… he was forever taunting me with the stereotype of absent black fathers, saying that my 'daddy' went out for milk and never came back."
Harry felt so bad on his friends behalf. "What an arsehole. Did your mum ever tell him off for saying stuff like that?"
"No. Even though she knows herself that my dad wasn't even the one who left - she made him leave when they divorced, not the other way around. And he's not absent either - when I was living with my mum, he always sent me stuff when she was out, and we even met up in Bristol one day when she was away frolicking in Milan." Blaise explained.
A thought came to Harry. "Does he know you're living here?"
"I sent him a letter when we were still at Hogwarts. I didn't tell him about Black Manor, I just said I was staying with a close friend. He was proud of me for resisting my mother and Richard's wishes."
Harry came to the conclusion that Blaise's biological father sounded like a really great person. It was kind of opposite to Theo; Theo had a bad father but a great mother, and at the same time Blaise had a bad mother but a great father. Harry wondered something else; Theo had reconnected with his uncle Proteus… could Blaise reconnect on a more frequent basis with his father?
The potion turned brown in colour, signaling it was ready for the next stage; the shrivelfig. Harry got it ready to be added in.
He carefully put it in, keeping an eye to stop adding the moment it turned pink. As he was on his second spoonful, Blaise spoke up.
"Harry…"
"Yeah?" He wondered.
"That's the wormwood you've just put in, not the shrivelfig."
By the time Harry's eyes could even widen, the cauldron made a shrill whistling sound, which only lasted for a nanosecond before the bottom of the cauldron gave out, spilling the contents all over the bench. "Son of a…!" He exclaimed, quickly stepping away from the bench as the potion contents slid over the surface and eventually poured on to the floor.
He and Blaise shared a look. "Well, that could've gone worse. At least it didn't explode."
Blaise burst out laughing, and Harry couldn't help but laugh it off too. A melted cauldron wasn't that serious - although Sirius would probably wonder why they were a cauldron down. The two boys took their wands out and vanished the liquid that was on the floor, the workbench, and even parts of their seats. Blaise turned the heat off and let the cauldron cool before lifting it through to the waste bin in the apothecary next door, and disposing of it there.
"We can try again another day." Blaise said when he came back through and washed his hands. Harry did the same, and made a mental note to distinguish between the shrivelfig and wormwood next time. He was a tad annoyed he'd gotten it wrong at that stage, as they weren't too far off the finishing stages, but he supposed it wasn't the end of the world.
Sirius had been at the Ministry just over 48 hours ago, and it was like no battle had happened. When he came out of the Floo and into the main atrium, it was a total contrast to what it had been the other night, when the Death Eater's had briefly held governmental power by staging a coup. Sirius had been captured then - he and Remus were already at the Ministry, helping out Minister Bones with finding the Death Eaters that had escaped capture at Hogsmeade, and when their meeting had finished, the atrium had been in chaos; Voldemort and his followers had Floo'd in to the Atrium and immediately started causing terror. He'd done his best to defend, but it was no use - nobody had been expecting another attack, therefore nobody was totally prepared to fight. He'd been shunted into a room in the Department of Mysteries with other Ministry personnel and Order of the Phoenix members. There, Voldemort had them bound and at his mercy, and he shuddered to think what might have happened if Harry and the Senior DA hadn't gotten the message that Minister Bones had sent to her niece, Susan.
All the glass that had been shattered had been replaced, and it was bustling with life again. Sure, some workers had taken sick leave due to their scary experience of being captured, but everything was still moving like clockwork. He saw Arthur Weasley and Amos Diggory by the lifts, and they gestured to him in greeting. Arthur looked a bit haggard still, but that was to be expected; he'd been one of many Order members captured.
"Sirius!" Amos went to shake his hand. Though Diggory had narrowly avoided being one of those captured (the lucky bugger had clocked out and went home fifteen minutes before the Death Eater's arrived, after a long day of being in the courtrooms and committee meetings debating Creature cases), you could tell that he'd been told of what happened, for he was quite on edge.
Sirius shook Diggory's hand, before grinning at the both of them. "Business as usual, eh?" Sirius said half-jokingly, gesturing to the back-to-normalness of the Ministry.
The two men chuckled. Then Arthur spoke. "Is the Minister wanting you in for questioning about the attack already?"
"No," Sirius replied, "I'm here to meet with her and the Chief Warlock - I'm going to take up the Black family seat in the Wizengamot."
That was news to Amos, though Arthur looked surprised but impressed. "Good on you, Sirius!" Amos said cheerfully, attracting the attention of a few witches and wizards walking by. Arthur patted his shoulder. "We need people like you serving on the Wizengamot and in the Sacred 28 council."
"Yeah, and you could swing a few decisions in the committee's too." Arthur said.
"I'm hoping that will ring true, I'm sick of the bigots halting proposals just to line their own pockets or because they are pure-blood ponces. Prejudice is so dangerous in these times." He said, the two men humming in agreement.
"Well, we'll let you get to your meeting. Though Tiberius is new to his role, he's very fair, he'll get you settled." Arthur said, referring to Tiberius Ogden - who had been made the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot when Dumbledore kindly refused the role that had been stripped from him when Cornelius Fudge had been in power. Ogden had actually resigned from his seat when Fudge had introduced the High Inquisitor role at Hogwarts, but had been delighted to be welcomed back when Amelia Bones reformed the government when she was elected.
Sirius said a farewell, before walking to the lifts to get to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a floor he was familiar with. He was to meet in Ogden's office, where he would sign the form to become Lord Black and begin his parliament journey.
When he exited the lift on the correct floor, the open plan office was a bit hectic, even for this early in the morning. Enchanted parchments were flying overhead, going to different offices and desks. It was like this back during the First Wizarding War, he remembered - trying to hunt down Voldemort and the Death Eater's back then had been tough, as they worked from dawn to dusk trying to protect people. He glanced over to the desk that he remembered James occupied; the desk still remained, but his best friend was no longer occupying the large oak desk - it was now occupied by Hestia Jones, who he nodded at in welcome.
He found the office of Tiberius Ogden down a relatively quiet corridor, and was surprised when he noticed Minister Bones was already waiting outside the door. Amelia Bones looked smart; though she was dressed in smart office attire, she looked ready at a moment's notice to get her hands dirty. "Sirius!" She greeted. "Glad you found the office okay. The Junior Assistant's instructions can be quite hard to follow sometimes."
"Minister," he replied politely. "I know my way around this department like the back of my hand."
She smiled. "I'm sure you do, even after all these years." She paused. "Ogden is just dealing with a few Floo calls, and then he'll call us in. He shouldn't be too long."
They weren't kept waiting long at all, as Ogden opened the door barely three minutes later with a cheerful smile and welcomed them inside.
The meeting itself started smoothly, though he was forced to listen as Tiberius explained about Sirius's role and what he would be expected to do as Lord of the House of Black. He did sit up a bit straighter when Tiberius said, "... after all, a person can hold a proxy vote for another House, in cases where if their spouse was born to that house, much like Lucius Malfoy did for his wife."
"Wait, Malfoy tried to have control over the Black family seat on the Wizengamot?"
Ogden looked surprised, but did explain. "Yes. He didn't really take control of the Black seat, per se - that was turned down years ago, but he does vote on the Black family behalf, as you know his wife, Narcissa, is of your family."
"Things like that are done quite easily. As you know, not every single Sacred 28 house has a representative; our friend Arthur Weasley, and his father Septimus, could be Lord Weasley, but they are not. But since they do not wish to be a Lord, they get Lord Fawley - a friend of the family - to vote for House Weasley on their behalf. Proxy votes are only given if they can prove trusted friendship or family come from that house. All it takes is one person." Amelia Bones explained further.
"Ah, I see," Sirius said, suddenly more annoyed that Narcissa did hail from his godforsaken family. "My cousin's sister could technically do the same." He refused to use Bellatrix's name.
"Bellatrix could, if she wasn't a convicted Death Eater." Ogden nodded. "Her husband and his brother would be in the same situation. Nobody is keen to vote on House Lestrange's behalf, as you could imagine."
The conversation moved on. Things like pay, annual leave, holidays and all that were covered. Sirius made a mental note that on days where debates were being held, that he would be expected to remain overtime if they carried on into the late evenings. He was used to late evenings, courtesy of being the Astronomy teacher, so he didn't really have a problem with that, but it was useful to know.
Tiberius Ogden then handed him a few papers. One of them detailed a map layout of the Wizengamot courtroom, and where the House Black seat was located within it. He glanced over a few of the Pureblood names that weren't Death Eater's - Octavia Abbott; the mother of Hannah, who was a joy to teach, Robin Greengrass; the father of Daphne and Astoria, and a pure-blood that wasn't prejudiced towards muggles, Graeme Macmillan; he was sure was the father of Ernie, who was a bit of a nerd but a great student nonetheless.. He was looking forward to working with them.
The second paper was details of all the different committee's the Ministry had. There were simply so many… International Trade, International Relations, Creature Welfare, Spell Creation Licencing… there was even one on Household Spells, and Wand Wood. He would keep some of them in mind though, as well as members within them, for when he and his future colleagues would come together to propose bills and suggest changes.
The third paper surprised him. It was another map, but this one detailed the seating arrangements for when the Sacred 28, as well as the other Noble houses, held votes. He knew about the Noble houses, of course - they were families that were not Pure-Blood or Ancient at all, or pure-blood houses that had stopped marrying other pure-bloods completely (and were therefore not Ancient or pure-blood anymore, according to the Directory, hence their relegation to just a Noble House), but what surprised him was the name of another House.
House Potter.
He looked at the Minister and Chief Warlock. "I never realised that House Potter was a recognised Noble house?"
Minister Bones understood him. "They're not expected to take up their lordships as much, unlike the Sacred 28, but they're still the backbone of deciding parliamentary law and such. As you know, the seat for House Potter has been… lying empty, for quite a while. However, as you know yourself, there are two surviving Potter's - Harry and Amelia. Their father named them both to the Potter seat."
"How does that work?" Sirius wondered. Sounds like something James would do, he thought, almost smirking, complicating tradition so that his two babies can share the title of Lord and Lady Potter.
"It is possible in the case of twins for them both to hold their family seat. However, they cannot actually be Lord and Lady Potter until they are of age - 17. Until next year, they are only the Heir and Heiress of House Potter." Ogden picked up.
That cleared that up a bit. But then Sirius had another thought related to one of his charges. "The House of Nott… Who is the Lord or Lady of that House?"
"Well, by default it is held by Bethesda Nott, as her son Rohan is also a convict. Lady Nott does have another son - Proteus, who is a member of many committee's here. When Bethesda passes away, the seat will pass to Proteus; despite the fact that he is married to a muggleborn, he is still able to be the Head of House Nott as he himself is pureblood."
Oh Bethesda would roll in her grave, if the old bat ever dies, that is, Sirius thought ruefully - Theo had told him all about his grandmother's prejudice and how awful she was, the son that she hates for marrying a muggleborn, representing the House. "Rohan has a son though? Theodore. He goes to school with my daughter and godchildren. He isn't like his father."
"Your goddaughter is close to him?" Amelia Bones voiced, looking at him with a small smile, "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice them during the battle and its aftermath. They were joined at the hip."
"Yes, Theodore is dating my goddaughter." Sirius said, with fondness. He had known they were dating for months now, but Sirius suddenly felt a wave of affection - and he realised he couldn't have wished for a better boy for Amelia. Theo truly protected Amelia, especially during the Hogsmeade and the Ministry battles. They were a match made in heaven.
"If Proteus Nott decided not to take up the House Nott seat, then it would pass to Theodore anyway. It's the same situation; he would be the Heir until his 17th birthday and then he'd be the Lord, depending if he took it up, of course." Tiberius said.
That helped to clarify things significantly. The conversation then moved on - to signing the parchment that confirmed him as Lord Black.
When Ogden slid the parchment and the Blood Quill across the table to him, he skimmed over it quickly. He noticed there was another part to it though - something about naming an Heir, and an additional section for any Regency's he wanted to claim.
"Do I have to have an Heir?" He asked.
"In principle, yes." Ogden replied expertly. "You can always name your daughter, and she can remove herself from it if she ever decides she doesn't want to be an aristocrat."
Sirius nodded. He signed his name on the line that required his signature, and wrote Dorea's full name on the Heiress line.
Minister Bones told him about the Regency bit. "As Harry and Amelia are too young as of yet to be officially Lord and Lady of House Potter, as their godfather, you can name yourself their Regent and cast votes for them in their stead. That would give you a total of three votes you are able to cast in passing bills."
He nodded, agreeing. Three votes! He marveled, that could be the deciding factor in passing important legislation! He named himself the Regent of House Potter, and as well as that he wrote in line containing the end of his Regency - the 31st of July 1997, when his godchildren would be of age.
Sirius kind of hoped that was the end of the politics and aristocratic talk for now. Ogden didn't go over much else - just the formal dress code required when serious debates and talks were in session (he remembered the robes his father used to wear, detailed with the Black family crest and motto… he hoped the dress robes weren't as ugly now as they were back then), and where the House of Black office was located in the building. He knew for a fact he wouldn't be using the office here much; he could so easily just take all his work back to Black Manor with him, where there was an abundance of rooms that could be offices and study's, but it was handy to know he had a quiet place at work where his colleagues would be on hand, and they could discuss bills and proposals whilst being close to resources they'd need.
He was a bit chagrined that he had to sign another document - that was basically the same as the one he signed earlier detailing him Lord Black, but this parchment didn't have the Heir/Heiress line underneath it. Ogden and Minister Bones shared his thoughts. "This parchment is the one that goes in your parliamentary records, the first one you signed was just confirmation of your Lordship and your Heir. It's a pickle, I know."
He tried not to wince as the Blood Quill did its work as he signed his name again. But once he put it down, he smiled at the two people across the table. His work here in the Wizengamot officially began now.
Minister Bones stood up and congratulated him, shaking his hand. Ogden did the same. He told Sirius about the next stage - his first day, which would also involve him taking his Parliamentary vow. "The vow you have to say is detailed within your welcome pack in your House Black office - I highly recommend nipping along to take it home with you on your way out, so you can memorise it. You can choose when your first day working will be."
Sirius had a quick think - he knew he would be working 4 and a half days a week, barring any extra hours he took voluntarily, but when was a good day to start? Tomorrow was Theo's birthday, so obviously not then, but anytime after would be good.
He agreed to start next Monday, with Minister Bones and Ogden nodding their heads. "There are two people who will be sworn in on the same day as you, so you won't be alone in being new."
That was good. Very good. He almost wanted to start now, he was just so optimistic about meeting people with the same views as him and getting down to discussing proposals that would change Wizarding Britain for the better.
After stopping by his new office to pick up the welcome pack, he thanked Minister Bones and Tiberius for their time, and before he left he was given the details of what to do when he arrived at work on Monday morning. He committed everything to memory before saying his farewells and headed towards the atrium again. He did half-think of stopping by to see Andromeda and Ted… but when he asked Elphias Doge (who just so happened to be in the lift with him going down), he said they were busy all day in the courtrooms. Thinking that he'd have plenty of time on Monday to see and talk to them, he exited the Ministry by Floo and instead went to Diagon Alley, to get Theo the last of his presents.
Dorea, Regulus and Amelia touched down on the grass after their little Quidditch game at the same time that Sirius had Apparated on to the front lawn. Dorea waved at her dad in welcome as he strode over, carrying four bags in his arms. That's a bit weird, she thought, surely Theo's new broom, protective gear and gloves wouldn't be needing that many bags?
"How was your meeting, then?" She asked him.
Her uncle Regulus was next to her. "Yeah, how was it? Did you see the formal robes you have to wear? Are they as awful as they were in father's time?"
Sirius chuckled. "I don't know - I just went into Madam Malkin's to order them, and they're getting delivered to my office at the Ministry. I won't know until I open them. The meeting was good - I am officially Lord Black now."
They congratulated him, as did the others when they got back inside. Dorea noticed him sneaking away with the bags under the guise of going to the loo - he was likely going to shove them in whatever room he was preparing that had Theo's wrapped presents in it. Then they got started on lunch - which was simply just a bit of quiche and a small pork pie, with a mug of soup to go along with it. It was definitely filling.
That afternoon, the weather changed slightly and it even rained from 1pm onwards, meaning that they were restricted to indoors. That was fine, though, as it meant Dorea could get some reading done. She finally managed to finish off the muggle novel Emma by Jane Austen, and feeling accomplished, started on another book - only this one was about wandlore.
She hadn't had much time at school to read up on it at school - obviously, exams were a huge factor. She had just gotten on to how cores were fused into the wands themselves when she heard a knock at her bedroom door.
"It's me!" Came from the other side. It was her dad.
She glanced around her room, and deemed it tidy enough. Sure, some stuff was strewn around, but it wasn't messy. "Come in!" She replied.
The door opened, and her dad smiled at her fondly. Then he noticed the book. He chuckled. "You and your fascination with wandlore. Is it okay if I borrow you for a moment, dear?" He asked, still standing in the doorway.
She nodded, and placed her bookmark on the page she was reading, before closing the book and getting up off her bed. She followed her dad out to the corridor.
He led her upstairs to his main study, which was tidy, but there wasn't a spare inch to be seen on the mahogany table as there was so much paper neatly stacked on it. Sirius ushered her to have a seat, and she took the one across the table from his.
"What's up?" She asked him.
"At the Ministry today, you know how the House Black seat has been reinstated with me as the Lord?" He began, she nodded to get him to continue, wondering where this was going, "Well, when I was signing my name to confirm my status, there was a line beneath it…"
He was clearly waiting for her to process what he was saying before continuing. She wasn't too concerned, but she wondered what he was getting at. "Go on…" She gestured.
"The line asked me to name an Heir or an Heiress. Now, don't panic, but I named you my heir." He said.
"...That's it?" She said, surprised, she really was expecting something more.
"You're not annoyed, darling?"
"Well, why would I be?" She smiled, laughing at how relieved he looked that she wasn't going off the head at him, "Though aristocracy isn't the first choice of a potential career path for me, now that you mention it, it's something that does sound interesting. And you aren't planning on dying anytime soon, so it's not something I'll have to particularly worry about for some time."
He barked with laughter. "You're right, I'm not planning on killing myself, but you understand why I couldn't name Regulus the Heir?"
"Obvious reasons. The world still thinks he's dead."
"Precisely." He said. "Plus, even if you do become Lady Black one day, you can take up the seat and just do postal votes for bills and legislation, or get someone to vote for you by proxy. You don't actually have to commit to it as a career or treat it like a job you have to attend; it's just an aristocratic tradition."
She nodded. "Law comes into it as well, though?"
Sirius hummed agreement. "All of the Wizengamot are either lawyers or judges, and some of the Sacred 28 are too, but the Sacred 28, as well as the Noble Houses, aid in passing laws, and have the power to amend or reject bills. Everything related to change passes through them, basically."
Dorea's head felt a bit like an over-wrung sponge trying to take that in. She knew that she would have to read up on the history of the Ministry - in particular the Wizengamot and the DMLE, and figure out how everything worked.
"And I've figured something else out that we can be doing over the summer." Her dad said, although his tone of voice sounded a bit jolly, which meant she wasn't going to like it one bit.
"And that is?"
"Well, I know you aren't going to like this, but even if you don't take up the seat, you're technically a member of the aristocracy now, therefore I'll need to coach you in how to act like one." Sirius said, shifting slightly.
Dorea groaned. "Don't tell me I have to act like some pureblood ponce, like Malfoy!"
Her dad snickered. "Not that bad, I promise. I'm sure Theo, Barnaby and Blaise have had it drilled into them before, you can ask them about it. It just means that you'll be prepared in future for how to greet people of importance and nobility and be a bit more sophisticated.
Dorea huffed. She could understand the reasoning behind it, but she wasn't overly fond of putting on an act, in a way - as that was what nobility was like, in a way. It also meant she would be in the same calibre of people as Malfoy… but she supposed it was okay, as Daphne, Astoria and Hannah were also purebloods. Pansy too, she remembered, almost forgetting about her newest friend.
They didn't have much to discuss after that - all he really told her was to not let Theo go into the reception room just across from the living room, as Sirius was wrapping the presents in there and consequently keeping them in there for his birthday tomorrow. She nodded, though she knew it was unlikely that Theo would fancy poking his head in the room, she kept it in mind.
She left her dad in his office, and went to go find her god siblings - who would no doubt also have to take part in the 'aristocratic training', and would like it just as much as she did.