Chapter 5 – Ties of Protection
Fortunately for Daphne, Cyrus already arranged for her to spend New Year's Eve at home, even before her letter could reach him. He, too, wanted to have a private conversation.
In an uncharacteristic show of affection, Daphne rushed to her father upon arriving, embracing him tightly. "Hey, my girl, is something wrong?" he asked, concern on his face.
"Promise me first," Daphne demanded, her voice thick with angst, "that you won't use what I tell you to hurt me, not even if you think it's for the best."
Paradoxically, Cyrus felt pride in his daughter's lack of trust. "You're asking a lot, to bind my hands like this. Your imposed inflexibility could hurt you too. Do you truly insist?" Daphne nodded resolutely. "As your father and head of house, I make a solemn promise that what you are about to tell me in confidence, I will use to help you and not to hurt you." His words echoed with magic, and Daphne knew her father was bound to his word.
"Harry Potter isn't wearing any family rings – neither the Head ring, nor the Heir ring, nor even a Member ring. He is completely unprotected. Anyone could feed him a love potion and steal him away from me," Daphne bemoaned.
Lord Cyrus Greengrass blinked in surprise, absorbing the situation.
After some thoughtful consideration, and having dragged Daphne to his office where he looked through some documents, Cyrus proposed a solution. "Betrothal contract style 28 has been traditionally used when a noble intends to marry a newblood, and it does offer the protection you ask for. Harry would be guarded by the weight of our family name. Until the contract is annulled or fulfilled, we'd have authority to force him to undergo magical cleansing, he would be bound by a fairly strict fidelity clause, and we'd have standing to sue if he is magically manipulated, within reason."
Daphne gave Cyrus a teary smile. "So it'll be alright?" she asked with a weak voice.
"Yes, it'll be alright," Cyrus answered. "But now let's discuss how you want to fill in the details. Here, have a look at the Bones variants, also known as template 28(c)…"
They discussed matters of law for a long time.
When they'd finished the parts of the contract that would govern mutual protection and the engagement period Daphne felt better. "Could I have a look at Lord Crouch's marriage contract?" she asked, drawing on a cautionary tale about the dangers of marrying for love.
Cyrus summoned the contract out of his archive, but eyed her speculatively. "The clauses on shared property and Wizengamot votes in this contract are masterful and worth considering, but a lot of it takes things too far. We will not enslave the last heir of a noble house."
Daphne blushed. "Of course I don't want… Of course I want him to be happy with me. I just don't want Harry to waste his power an influence."
"By which you mean you want to control how all your combined influence is directed," her father replied with a roaring laugh.
Daphne blushed deeper.
"Now there is something I need to show you," Cyrus continued, his tone shifting. "This is the reason I pulled you home. But you'll have to agree to a vow of silence, for both my protection and yours." This was an opportunity to teach his heir about the nature of vows, so took it. "Why do I ask for your permission, and how strong can we make the vow?"
"Contract magic derives its power from tradition, authority, and consent. Though within this framework both authority and consent can be viewed as a combination of will, fairness and tradition," Daphne recited. "… In simple terms, you ask my consent because it will make the vow stronger. As for the exact mechanics of that… I'm afraid I've forgotten," Daphne sighed.
"You described the mechanics rather well in the essay you wrote last summer about why the Dark Lord couldn't force people into loyalty oaths at wandpoint." Cyrus stated. "You didn't cheat at that, did you?"
Daphne turned her eyes down.
"Please continue."
"As for how strong the vow will be," Daphne recovered, "you will probably use a traditional vow of our house, which means we will be building on a centuries old tradition. You will be acting within your authority as head-of-house and father, and you have my willing consent. That should add up to a powerful vow, sensitive to intent, and capable of blocking even veritaserum and legitimacy."
Cyrus smiled proudly and stood up.
"Do you agree that what you witness from the moment we enter through this doorway until you leave again is sealed under my authority as Head of House Greengrass? What you see, what we discuss, and what you find out in there through any other means, you shall not reveal without permission of your Head of House. Not through word, not through thought, and not in any other way."
"I do so agree," Daphne affirmed.
"Then by my authority as your Father and Head of House, so shall it be sealed," Cyrus intoned.
A cold shiver ran down Daphne's back.
"Now, come," he said, leading her with a firm hand.
The truth circle was a work of art, and Cyrus was proud to show it off to his daughter.
When Daphne saw the cell it was obvious that Lord Lucius Malfoy was a wreck. He wore bloodied clothes, his face was haggard, and the man cowered.
Daphne was shocked and didn't hide it.
"You may think this is excessive, but…" her father shrugged, "Lord Malfoy killed Lords Prewet and Lady Bones. This is the worst I could do to him. Thus far. He'll do far worse to us if I can't find a good enough way to bend my oaths."
Daphne looked at him questioningly. "What precisely are your oaths?"
"I'm sworn not to kill or arrange for the death of another oath-sworn member of the Wizengamot, whether through action or inaction, not to wilfully cause such a person to be permanently maimed, and upon capture of another Lord or Lady I must negotiate for their release within a year and a day."
Daphne blinked. "And Lord Malfoy…"
"Is not bound by his oaths, as a result of the Dark Mark. It is a rather unfortunate loophole that he technically still 'swore' the oaths, even if the oath didn't stick."
"Is the destruction of mind or magic considered 'maiming'?"
"No, because our rings protect against all methods of permanently harming the mind or magic that were known when the oath was designed. The most thorough way to protect yourself from someone you're not allowed to kill would have been to burn our their eyes, ears, tongue, and limbs, or to permanently abduct them, so both of those were forbidden. Now we've discovered the dementor loophole that the minister is so fond of. But dementors are loyal to the Ministry, and I worry that even if we could arrange for one to kiss our esteemed guest, the secret would almost certainly get out. The torture curse could also bypass the protections, but the unspeakables may have already found a way to trace the curse if it's cast upon a Lord. Funding has certainly been made available for that purpose.
Lucius curled up into a fetus position as his possible horrible fates were discussed.
"And if aurors arrived, being able to swear false oaths would be a very strong tool to convince them you're right. As apparently happened after the last war."
There was silence as Daphne thought. Then she turned to Lucius. "Will you try to kill father and me, if you get free?" she asked.
Lucius' eyes shifted between her and her father. Cyrus drew his wand. Lucius flinched. "Probably," he admitted. "You're too dangerous to let live."
A/N 1: I have more to write on Lucius crimes, but this was a perfect sentence to end on, which is why I stopped here. Some of the more villainous versions of Lucius kill one witch/wizard a year. Whilst magical Britain only has a birth rate of about 40/year, corresponding to a population of perhaps 3000 magicals. Lucius could have a vast, rather horrifying, and pretty interesting impact on wizarding Britain, but I'm not sure whether I'll get to explore that in this story.
A/N 2: I can't imagine the legislative body allowing everyone access the Obliviate if they didn't have a way to protect themselves from the effect. The same goes for various magical compulsions, including love potions. That's why in this story the members of the Wizengamot and their families (the nobility of wizarding britain) protect themselves with artefacts passed down through the generations. These rings may or may not also empower magical compulsions that are cast by the wearer.
A/N 3: Thank you CasketFan for the kind reviews! I replied with private messages to most of them, but I think you might have your notifications turned off.
Anyone else considering whether to review, please do! I enjoy reading when people enjoyed the story, and it's useful to hear when I did something particularly well or particularly poorly.
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