Chapter 20

Harry was sitting in the garden of Potter Castle with his grandmother, telling her about his year in school. They were soon joined by his grandfather. When he finished telling them about his year he put the invisibility cloak in front of them, his grandfather was looking proudly at him and handed him the cloak.

"Harry, take this. It belongs to you, not Thomas. As Scion Potter it's rightfully yours and I am proud of you for what you did, saving Thomas even if you don't like him. Remember Harry, one day you will be Lord Potter and Head of Potter clan, and the primary responsibility of Lord and Head is to protect his family members no matter what his differences with them may be. What you did today was great, I am proud of you." Charlus finished with a wide smile.

Dorea too smiled at him for a moment, but it changed to a fake glare, and she started to rant on how careless he was becoming, how he put his life in danger and how these potter men are idiots, but she was happy Harry saved Thomas's life.

Harry just smiled at them, and he spoke about how James, Lily, and Dumbledore were bothering him, how cute his little sister was, and how close they had become even though they had met 4-5 times.

Charlus, who was smiling, turned cold on the mention of James, Lily, and Dumbfuck. Not that he was scared of them, but, as much as he hated to admit, he had let the world know about Harry. He had done a wonderful job, but still, the real tension had begun now.

"Yes, I had come to talk about an important matter. I have heard from my sources in the ministry that James and Dumbledore have started some sort of investigation about you and have planned on taking your custody, but no need to worry, we will have a Potter family meeting this summer and have some revelations. Dumbledore will also be called into this meeting, only for a part of this meeting. He will be present and after the part of information is given he will be asked to leave. Then we can continue our meeting on other important topics." Charlus told them with a grin.

"you listen to me Charlus Henry Potter, I won't be sending my grandson away from me, and if you try to go against me I will hex you to insanity." Dorea told him coldly with a glare.

Charlus could do nothing but shudder "I will never be send Harry away Dorea, I promise you that."

Dorea nodded and turned to Harry "Listen son; I am proud of you, you fully understood what I told you before you left for Hogwarts. Now why don't you tell me about your cute little sister?"

Harry told them everything he knew about Rosy; it could be seen that Dorea was very much interested in meeting her.

After a few days Harry found himself in the lord's study sitting in front of his grandparents.

"Harry, listen to me carefully. I am going tell you about the darkest times in the Potter's history, and a family secret which is only told to heirs by the head of the house when they are deemed worthy. I knew you were worthy long before, but this needed a few tests which you have passed. But you must understand Harry that this is such important information that I didn't even tell James as I didn't find him worthy enough to hold this secret." Charlus finished with a sigh when he remembered James. What a disgrace he was to the Potter Clan.

"Yes grandfather. I am ready, and I will do my best to keep our secret. I will not let you down." Harry smiled at him confidently

Charlus smiled at him and started "Harry, listen carefully, I am telling you a story known as the darkest time of the House of Potter. It was really a miracle that our line survived it. The Potter family is one of the oldest families in Magical Europe," said Charlus. "At one point in time, our family was quite large, which was headed by Alfred Potter. We didn't care much for politics in the Wizengamot – our governing body – but instead, focused more on business. We had warders, Quidditch players, healers, duelists, potioneers, enchanters, and businessmen in our family. Our power in international trade was unparalleled by anyone in Europe. We thought ourselves invincible, increasing our fortune through shrewd business tactics and investments that were planned meticulously. However, things didn't remain rosy for long."

Charlus took a deep breath. "One of Alfred Potter's nephews felt it was his right to get the Lordship of the family." he continued. "That wasn't possible because the next in line to head the clan – the family – was Alfred Potter's son, William. With that in mind, he descended deep into the Dark Arts, consorting with people who were hell-bent on our destruction as they manipulated him, feeding his ego."

"I won't bore you with the details right now about why people wanted to see us dead; that is a story for later, but suffice it to say, we had many enemies. The boy was able to raise a small army of his own. With sheer power and use of different magical instruments powered by his blood, he was able to get his people inside the various homes inhabited by the family around the world. It was a massacre. He and his companions slaughtered every single one of the Potters – except three members."

"The main line, Alfred Potter, his wife and His son, William Potter, were here, at Potter Castle. They didn't know what was going on until William's friend, Steffen Greengrass, was able to find out about it. The massacre was truly well-coordinated and executed. Several years of planning was needed to pull it off, from what we found out later."

"Within a day, the once mighty Potter family was brought down to its knees, never to recover again, with only three surviving members left because one of them was power hungry. However, by the time the attackers came to the castle, those three were ready to defend themselves, but they didn't have time to call the Potter's army. But they had a different plan, so they brought down all the wards on the castle. They waited for the traitor and his small army to enter the castle, and as soon as they entered the castle all the ancient war wards were brought up to their maximum power, which killed all of them. As soon as all the people who had entered the Castle had died, Alfred Potter raised the Family Banner and gathered all of our army and he killed everyone from the families who had secretly helped the rebel Potter. They were killed ruthlessly. Unfortunately, one escaped; it was the person who had mainly helped the Rebel Potter, never to be heard from again. Even if all the enemies were killed, great damage was done to our family, which was controlled by the one known as The Greatest Potter of All Time: William Potter, who accepted his lordship soon after the massacre. Alfred Potter, after leading our army against all who had helped the Rebel Potter, had become weak, so he thought it was good to retire and gave the Lordship to William, who brought the family to greater heights than it ever saw before, and got the title of greatest Potter of all time." Charlus finished with a sigh; he now felt a great weight off his head after telling Harry what he should know, but now came the most difficult part...

Harry was shocked. To think someone would do that just for the sake of power and wealth was something he couldn't imagine. But he was proud to carry the Potter name which had such a powerful history.

"Grandfather, it is an honor knowing about the world famous Potter Massacre and I promise to uphold the Potter name." Harry said proudly, at which Charlus smiled widely.

"Harry we have to tell you about something. It is very difficult to tell but we have to tell you, but you are in a marriage contract..." Dorea said sadly.

Harry felt his whole world shaking. How could his Grandparents do this to him? They themselves had married out of love. They always told him how a marriage contract was shit and it should never be used.

"Grandfather, how could you?" Harry stuttered.

"No Harry! I would do no such thing, it was made 200 years ago!"

Flashback

Charlus was in the Goblin Nation's Head's office; he was there to somehow nullify the contract placed by his great Grandfather and Stephen Greengrass for Harry.

"Greetings Lord Ragnok." he greeted the warrior.

"Greetings to you as well my lord. I have gone through the contract with fine detail, and I'm sorry to say that it's unbreakable. It was created nearly two hundred years ago by your great-great grandfather William Potter and Steffen Greengrass. It explicitly states that in case either family does not have a male heir, only then would the marriage contract be enacted. As you know, Lord Cyrus Greengrass does not have a male heir. So the marriage contract between Scion Potter and Heiress Daphne Greengrass cannot be broken. Both families have immense wealth and political power. This contract was established keeping in mind the friendship between the families and the fact that the wealth won't pass onto the wrong hands."

Charlus sighed. He had hoped he could avoid this, but he had held out little hope. Unfortunately, he couldn't even blame William Potter for the contract, as it was created soon after the Potter Massacre.

End of Flashback

"Harry, this wasn't our choice. It is an ironclad contract. I am really sorry about this." Charlus said sadly.

"Ah, come on, it can't be so bad. After all, Harry sees Daphne with affection. I have seen it, or am I wrong Harry?" Dorea said teasing.

Harry could do nothing but Blush.

After a few minutes of silence Harry spoke "Has Daphne been notified about it?"

"No, but Cyrus told me he will tell her during the holidays." Charlus told him.

"No, tell him not to tell her. I want her to accept me as her lover on her own free will, not to be forced. I know he can't keep this from her for a long time, but tell him to give me time, till we go to 5th year. Please Grandfather." Harry said pleadingly to which Charlus sighed and told him he would talk to Cyrus.

"Harry, as you know, the Gryffindor and Peverell family's daughter married into the Potter family. We control the family votes in the Wizengamot, but we can't accept the lordship of those families because of the will of Godric Gryffindor, who stated that only a worthy Potter will get the lordship, which the magic will judge; the same goes for lord Peverell." Charlus finished telling him the last secret.

"But how can we control the Wizengamot votes if we are not lords?" Harry asked

"It was also stated in the will of the last lord Gryffindor and Peverell that we can take care of political affairs for their family as regent until any worthy Potter is chosen by magic." Charlus finished and Harry nodded in understanding.

"And now comes the time where we decide the date and time for the next Potter family meeting." Charlus told them with excitement.

"Hm... could we do the meeting after we come back from France? I don't know why you both want to go to a dueling tournament this year." Dorea told them with clear irritation.

"Yes! Let's do it after we come back from France, please grandfather! I don't want to lose the fun in the meeting by..." Harry was about to talk but he silenced himself.

"Yes, yes! We will hold the meeting after we come back. Now that that's taken care of, let's talk about how you will deal with Daphne. Do you have any other girl in your life you met this year, or have you decided to try for only Daphne?" Charlus asked him with clear excitement.

Harry blushed at this. "Come on grandpa, I'm only eleven; you can't expect me to have a girlfriend already."

Charlus let out a booming laugh. "Nonsense my boy, I'll have you know I was quite the ladies' man in my school days. Even when I was your age girls were just lining up to go on a date with me. You have a legacy... Ouch!"

Charlus turned around to see Dorea twirling her wand in her hand. "And when were you going to tell me this dear?" She said slowly approaching him.

"Now, now dear, this isn't necessary. I was just sharing my experience with Harry." Charlus stammered, sweat dripping from his face.

"Really? Let's see then, but before that. Harry, why don't you go ahead and go to sleep? We'll talk in the morning." Dorea said politely but the undertone left no place for arguments.

"Of course, good night grandma." Harry smiled warmly at his grandfather. As he exited the Lords Study he could still hear the sounds of curses being fired.

Chuckling, he made his way back towards the master bedroom. His dreams, for a change, filled with happy thoughts.

On 23rd July the Potters and Blacks (Sirius, Marlene and Rigel) were in France. They all had thought they were here just to watch the dueling championship, but Charlus and Harry had other plans.

Taking a deep breath, Harry entered the counter for the participants.

The person in charge asked, "Name and country?"

"Hadrian James Potter, Magical Britain." he said in a calm voice.

"Potter. Potter. Ah, here we are. You're already registered, good. Just sign here, please. Here's your tag, submit your wand for inspection in the booth inside. Good luck. Next!"

Harry entered the tent and looked around. There were witches and wizards from all over the world, and they all looked, frankly, terrified. Harry could understand. They were kids aged thirteen and below, without their parents, in a foreign land and were going to be in front of a thousand people soon. He put on his name tag and went to submit his wand.

A French wand maker was inspecting the wands. When Harry reached her, he gave his wand to her.

Charlus was outside, convincing everyone that Harry would be back soon. They were seated and they could see the dueling platform clearly.

"Where's Harry? It's going to start soon!" said Dorea anxiously.

Before anyone could say more, the lights dimmed, and the host stepped onto the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen" he began in French, but their group could understand what he was saying. Growing up in a pureblood family gave them many opportunities. "Welcome to the Under-13 International Dueling Championship for the year 1992! We're going to have our preliminary rounds today, and those who qualify will be eligible for tomorrow's tournament. Those who qualify for the Quarter Finals in the morning will take part in the Semi Finals that afternoon. The winners of the Semi-Finals will take part in the Finals that night. So, shall we begin?" he asked, and the crowd roared. The adults were worried that Harry still hadn't shown up.

"Our first match is between Mr. Adonis of Greece and Mr. Hadrian Potter of Britain. Let's give them a big round of applause!" he said.

When Harry entered the arena, the entire group except Charlus had their jaws on the floor. This was something they had never expected. Sirius was so shocked he couldn't form words. Before they could react, Harry and his opponent greeted each other and took their positions.

Harry stood before his opponent. He extended his left leg forward, his left arm raised for balance, his wand was pointed 60 degrees away from his opponent, his face was expressionless and his back straight. This was a stance he had worked on. It provided a means of both defense and offense, depending on his move. Harry's opponent took an offensive position. The boy was going to strike the second he was ready. His wand was pointed at Harry, so he would use a spell that didn't require any elaborate wand movements. The best bet was either the Disarming or Stunning spell, mused Harry.

"The rules are simple. No lethal spells can be used, and unforgivable curses are banned. The duel ends when the other party is incapacitated or yields. Get ready. BEGIN!"

As Harry had predicted, the Greek boy shouted "Expelliarmus!"

A red jet of light headed towards Harry, but he neatly dodged it. "Langlock; Expelliarmus; Stupefy"

The three silent spells hit the mark. His opponent's tongue got stuck to the roof of his mouth, his wand flew out of his hand and the stunner hit him in the chest. The boy dropped to the ground unconscious. The stadium was quiet. No one had ever expected or seen a twelve-year-old boy perform non-verbal magic.

The host recovered quickly and said, "Amazing! That was an impressive display of non-verbal magic! The winner is Mr. Hadrian Potter of Britain". The crowd roared and clapped for who many recognized now as the brother of the Boy Who Lived. Harry bowed to them and exited the arena.

Marlene was the fastest to recover. "That was brilliant! It was the simplest spell chain one could use. It makes sure that unless you can cast spells non-verbally, you can't defend yourself against the Disarming and Stunning spells after you have been hit by the tongue locking jinx. Very simple, but efficient" she said, smiling.

Sirius started laughing. "I can't believe he got one over us all! I mean, he must have been practicing for months and we never realized this. This was the reason he wanted to come to Paris. Impressive." he said.

"You knew, didn't you? That's why you kept telling us not to worry about him." said Dorea looking at her husband.

Everyone turned to look at Charlus who nodded. "we planned it five months ago. He didn't want to tell anyone because he wanted to surprise you all. Looks like he did!" he said grinning.

They all watched as the rest of Round One was finished in quick succession, but so far no one else could do non-verbal casting. Once the last duel was over, "There are twenty four duelists who have qualified for round two. This round will be held this evening. Thank you" said the host.

Harry came over to them, grinning from ear to ear. "So, were you surprised?" he asked cheekily.

"Damn Harry! where on Earth did you learn silent casting?" asked Rigel before Sirius could talk, who nodded at his son's question.

"That's something I've been practicing from the beginning actually. So, what do you think?" asked Harry.

"Well, as much as I want to yell at you for not informing us, I can't. I really hope you win Harry." said Dorea, Marlene nodding in agreement.

Harry smiled and the group left for lunch.

Harry blasted through Round Two as well. Since it was Under-13, the duels took very little time. But he had to admit, the competitor he faced was good for her age, only Harry was a lot better. Harry hit her with a few jinxes to which the girl shielded herself but was eventually defeated when Harry cast the Aguamenti charm, soaking her to the bone, and stunning her to end the duel.

The Quarter Finals had 12 participants. Here Harry decided to dodge rather than fire. His opponent was quickly getting tired after firing so many spells, and he took advantage of that and fired a stunner when the opponent had just stopped firing spells, ending the duel.

The Semi Finals were much better in Harry's opinion. There were six duelists. If Harry won this round, he would be automatically qualified for the finals because of his record of wins. The other five would have to fight in another round and the winner would join him in the Finals.

His opponent in the Semi Finals was a boy from Brazil. The boy was cautious as he knew Harry was a fierce opponent. He dodged spells as well, and instead of the usual spells, used a mixture of different charms in his arsenal. It definitely worked, as Harry got hit once when he least expected it, but managed to overcome his opponent, by using his advanced knowledge of charms against him.

The Finals were between Harry and a girl from Japan. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the finals of the Under-13 International Dueling Championship! Today we have our two finalists-Akeno Hana from Japan and Hadrian Potter from Britain! Both have proved that they are way ahead of their peers in terms of magical knowledge. We will now see who wins. Take your places. Get ready. BEGIN!"

But to the crowd's surprise, neither party fired any spells. Harry had observed this girl. She, like him, was a powerful observer. While Harry used non-verbal casting and advanced knowledge to win, she used her knowledge to set a trap. And he wasn't going to fall for it. They were circling each other like a pair of tigers.

After several seconds, Harry decided to lay a trap of his own. He took his wand behind his back and started shifting it between his hands. The girl didn't know that he was ambidextrous. He could use that to his advantage. She would probably shift her focus to the hand where he was holding his wand. If he could fool her and attack her, she would be thrown off guard. The crowd watched in confusion as Harry shifted his wand from one hand to the other, the entire time keeping it away from his opponent's eyes.

Sirius' eyes narrowed in calculation. This wasn't a technique he had seen before. Just then Harry suddenly attacked. The girl had expected him to fire with his right hand as she had seen it twitch, and that was where she had aimed her spell. But she figured out too late that Harry was using his left hand. She dodged but was caught. Painful boils erupted on her upper arm. He was toying with her, she thought furiously.

Harry smirked as he dodged another spell coming his way. She sent a barricade of spells his way, but he switched to transfiguration, one of his favorites in a duel. He conjured a huge bunch of leaves with sticky sap and banished them towards her. The girl set the leaves on fire and banished them back at Harry. Harry expected this and used the Aguamenti charm to put off the fire and create a ball of water, a very impressive feat of magic. He pushed it above the ground where it was rotating at a fast rate using a smart array of quick runes.

He then cast a barricade of spells that the girl dodged. The girl wanted to end it and deal with the water bubble, so she said something in Japanese and a white beam of light shot out of her wand. Harry cast a stunning spell and both spells connected. Flashes of light could be seen as white and red clashed against each other. After a few seconds, Harry let go of the spell, dodged, looked at the ball of water suspended above, and slashed his wand in the air. The water fell directly on top of the girl below. Harry immediately took his chance and fired the spell chain he had used in the first duel. His opponent lay unconscious on the floor.

The audience was stunned. "What a spectacular display of the various branches of magic and sheer brilliance for one so young! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE WINNER OF THE UNDER-13 INTERNATIONAL DUELING CHAMPIONSHIP OF 1992 IS MR HADRIAN JAMES POTTER OF BRITAIN! Congratulations Mr. Potter! And congratulations to our runner-up Miss Hana of Japan!" said the host.

The arena was cleared, and the French Minister of Magic came up to them to give them the cash prizes and trophies. A smaller trophy was given to the runner up and Harry was given the larger one. The crowd roared and several people took pictures as he hoisted his cup in the air, and Harry Potter couldn't control his tears. He wasn't a worthless squib. He had achieved something in life. He had risen from the small boy crying in his room to the U13 International Dueling Champion of 1992. He looked at the proud faces of his friends and family.

There was a large party thrown for Harry that night. Charlus got them all several plates of French food and a bottle of non-alcoholic wine for the kids. After a few hours, they decided to go to bed.

The next morning after having breakfast, the group headed to the International Floo Terminal to return to Britain. Once back the group said their goodbyes to each other and Potters portkeyed to Potter Castle.

He proudly kept the large trophy in the study. The portrait of his great-grandfather was grinning from ear to ear, saying that there was another Dueling champion in the Potter family. The Potters smiled and went to their rooms to get some more sleep.

Two days later, the news broke out. Harry's face was grinning from the front page of the Daily Prophet as he held the trophy. The picture was clearly taken just after he had been given the cash prize and trophy.

BROTHER OF THE BOY WHO LIVED WINS UNDER-13 INTERNATIONAL DUELING CHAMPIONSHIP

Harry was sad to still be referred to as Brother of BWL, but he would work hard to have his own name and not be known as such. the paper described his ability at silent casting, about how he used a wide variety of spells, charms and transfiguration to win the duels. They had also mentioned his ball of water, for which he had used runes to make it spin and float. He was surprised to read that Professor Flitwick had been present to watch the Semi-Finals and the Finals. He had said that Harry was a very gifted child and that he was confident he would one day win the rest of the Dueling Championships as well.

He idly wondered what Albus Dumbledore's and the other Potters' reaction would be that their pawn was training to defend himself. He chuckled to himself.

"I have sent the letter to James and Dumbledore to come and attend the meeting on 30th July" Charlus saw Harry was about to open his mouth "yes I know Harry the next day will be your birthday. This year you and your brother will be celebrating your birthdays together. Please Harry, this one year. You know why I am telling you this; I have not spent time or even attended his birthdays, so this year we have to do it. As your grandfather I don't want to do this, but as the head of the Potter clan I am required to. But, be ready for some fun on 30th July!" Charlus finished with a wide smile.

Harry could understand what his grandfather was telling him; it was his responsibility to do this, but Harry didn't have time to be bothered by this; he had to go to meet his friends, so he left after informing his grandparents.

Review please. Next chapter will be the best: a big revelation and a big shock to James, Lily, and Dumbbells.

Credit to colt01 for the dueling part of this chapter!