AN: I do not own Harry Potter.

So, you guys do get more Christmas in April. Sigh.

The problem with the Dark family's side is that they took the science of the day of Tom Riddle (Charles Darwin and contemporaries introduced the ideas of evolution and eugenics (the breeding of a population to get a desired result) and by the 1940's, it was popular. I can see a young Tom Riddle getting a hold of some of the books written by these men, or Mein Kampf, in Muggle England and introducing them to his rich classmates. Hitler was popular in western civilization before the world learned he started conquering Europe and more, and what the practical side of eugenics looked like(killing undesired populations in the Holocaust).) and applied it to magical societies which are a lot smaller than the muggle populations, which caused them to suffer from inbreeding on a society that already somewhat practiced it, as blue-blood was a thing people believed in for a long time. This resulted in more squibs, madness, and other issues, like the Gaunts (Tom Riddle Jr.'s mother's family).

The problem with the recent Light side, of which Dumbledore stood as a beacon, was that they were trying to introduce modern laws to a society that was still mainly in the feudal era, without trying to go through the in-between stages. Sometime in the past they were successful in putting in a Minister and the Auror system. I mean, yay, an actual elected person who is supposed seen as the face of the people. The Minister is aware that each of the Lords could declare war on the Ministry and as there are alliances among the Lords, if enough Lords are not happy with him, or a powerful enough Lord isn't happy with him, he or she could die very fast. The Aurors were more popular among the Lords, possibly because it was like the Sheriffs and Sheriff's men of the time period they seem to be in. It doesn't work without major civil difficulties.

There wouldn't be as big of a problem with the USA or any other country that has had to organize a government system more recently is because the time period they are reorganizing from is more modern. I assume so, at least.

The Dark Army: How that works in a feudal system

Each of the Lords basically live in castles and fortified manors and were the places that the common people would congregate to last the siege during war. It was law that the sons of the lords (not just heirs) would start learning offensive weaponry at the age of either six or nine with the long bow (I forgot where I found that, sorry for a lack of reference). With a magic wand, I don't see the king of the time , if they were known, making a difference for the magical people, of them having to start to learn offensive, deadly magic if possible. In 1363, by command of King Edward III (and previously by King Henry III), all adults were to be able to handle bows and arrows, as well as the hand to hand weaponry, so therefore that would mean that all magical citizens would be required to be taught offensive, killing spells. Since the British magical world seems to have mostly frozen themselves in that time period even with any innovation they have, I can see this still taking place with the same defensive structure. This is why the Lords were active combatants, if they were on a side. I imagine any neutral Lords defending themselves, but not joining a side, unless it was of national importance. So yes, Draco Malfoy, in first year, could absolutely fight in a duel against someone his age similarly trained, and I can see Lord Lucius Malfoy having a narrow sword in his cane with the snake head as the pommel weight, as he could legally carry one.

Sorry, it's just that previously my idea of the Dark Army was mostly based on Star Wars. The army in Star Wars were controlled by the Sith, known as the Dark Side of the Force, and it ended up being the peace-keepers (Jedi and everyone else that does anything like that that rebelled from the Sith Emperor) to lead the Rebellion against an elite military under the wrong hands. Taking out the Light (or Dark) Side of the Force (or magic) is impossible because if you kill all known users, the Force (or magic or whatever deity that ensures there is magic) will likely ensure that there are more users/people with the ability, because the Force (or magic) requires balance, otherwise there wouldn't be both.

Okay, rant over for now.

Percy's Interlude

Percy was glad for the apartment that he had. It was a well warded place that reminded him of the recently re-warded Burrow.

He could afford it because it was partially paid for by anonymous donors. He said anonymous, but he was sure, as well as his dad, that the writings matched that of Lord Malfoy, and his family's adopted little brother, Harry Potter. He could recognize the chicken scratch of his young family friend anywhere after seeing it on many pieces of school work. His dad could recognize i\the Malfoy Lord's, because with the family feud, it was rather necessary to know that.

Anyway, he was being watched a lot in public. He was glad for the exercise in recognizing, avoiding, and appearing normal in front of said watchers from his siblings, older and younger, so he knew of it. Even without that, he knew they were watching him because a couple people were very obvious with watching him how they did it whenever they were around each other. Because of what he and his family were sure of what they were watching for, he and his dad had been very professional with each other when they met. Most of their talking was done either through letters, floo, or the few times that he could catch his dad in his very busy department without any of Percy's co-workers. If Lord Malfoy hadn't sent that letter, he probably wouldn't feel safe talking to his dad at all, and he probably wouldn't have felt as safe as he did without the ability to talk to his dad.

He was going to the Burrow today for supper and family, as it was Christmas. He had a few small presents that he had been able to make or afford shrunk in his pockets. He grabbed the Floo powder, said "the Burrow", and went through the green flames.

He landed in his parents' house, with his family and Sirius Black and the two semi-adopted siblings gathered in the dining room.

"Welcome home, Percy. You're in time for supper. The tree is in it's usual place, you can put any gifts there before you wash your hands. Oh, I am soo glad to see you!" gushed his mom.

He quickly did so, entering the dining room and finding the empty place between Charlie and Hermione, and slipping in.

Charlie side hugged him when he sat down.

"Hi, guys. I am glad to see each of you."

"No trouble leaving the apartment?"

"No, I have a private Floo connection."

"Awesome."

"Do you.."

"Want us to..."

"Send you some tricks?"

"Or defensive things?"

"Something defensive would be appreciated, if you have something finished, twins."

"We have just finished a shield hat."

"It protects from most spells we know, including jokes, just not the red and green Unforgivables."

"We didn't try those ones, you see."

"We used gnomes as living targets."

His dad nodded his head, "We appreciate you using those pests as test subjects instead of your siblings."

After supper, and washing up, the group gathered in the living room for gifts and games. It was a lot of fun, and Percy felt included in a way with the younger siblings as he hadn't since he started Hogwarts. He had been too different and known it by then. Sirius's tradition was different, but felt right with Christmas. It was amazing, and he cherished everything he was given, even if he still didn't get people's humour, unless they were exaggerating it so he could get what was going on.

He did go home with a shield hat and other things the twins thought he could use.

When he got back to the Ministry, he was once again placed with organizing completed paperwork and delivering them to the various departments within the building or to the file room. He had proved himself patient with paperwork and his honest work ethic had placed him with many sensitive documents that he treated with the confidentiality that such things required. It wasn't the most glorious of work, but he was already higher in the hierarchy of the Minister's office than when he was hired, which was answering the Floo and directing them to the correct department. Hours later, he was almost done that stack, and was putting the last papers in the correct file. He stopped for a second to stretch his neck and arms, and headed back to the office. Once there, he saw it was lunch, gathered his stuff, and went to head to the cafeteria.

He was interrupted by Lord Lucius Malfoy standing by the doorway stopping him.

"Young Weasley, I was wondering if I could count on your habit of honesty to deliver a message for me."

"Of course, Lord Malfoy; I just need to get out of the doorway," said Percy, stepping more into the doorway. He stepped to the side to the side of the doorway, and looked at the man, waiting for the message.

The well-dressed blond lord drew a letter out of his inner robe pocket and handed it to Percy Weasley with bare hands. Lucius Malfoy, with a grave face, looked him in the eye and stated, "This letter needs to get to a certain young man with a well-known scar that I know spends time with your younger brother. It is important and time sensitive. Can you get it to him safely?"

Percy took the letter, and when nothing happened, took the letter, and put it in his own inner robe pocket. He nodded, and said just as seriously, "I can, sir."

Lucius Malfoy flicked a smile at him, before nodding, and walking off.