Hey everyone,
Quick question. Is there anything you would like to see added to the Betrothal Contract? Please note that there is NO guarantee that your suggestions will be added.
I'm just curious,

Venquine1990


Chapter 25
A Few Explanations

25th of June 1995
Potter Quarters, Hogwarts
Harry's POV

I really don't know what I expected when I heard that we would be putting a Betrothal contract together. But thankfully, everything went better than I expected.

After a moment, I realized that the worst I was expecting was that Mr. Diggory might try to expect something out of either Lea or myself that we'd never be able to live up to or that he might make a comment that could cause friction between him and my father.

And thanks to my love for my family, my growing crush on Cedric and Lea and my need to make those I care about happy, I felt worried that, somehow, I might be forced to choose a side.

A role I often pretended to have whenever Hermione and Ron pretended that they were just too different to really be friends.

Yet outside of the results of the Gringotts survey, a few rare times where a topic would come up that made me feel heavily embarrassed and Lea's words causing me to feel concerned about his life, things went rather well.

Yet still, when mum suggests that we just leave things as they are and let Bill take the notes with him to Gringotts, I feel myself releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I even slump down in my seat a little.

Then, after Hermione gives Bill – who reappeared thanks to Dobby – and after Dobby takes Bill back to Gringotts, mum turns to Hermione.

"Well, I know that we initially agreed to let Amos tell you this story. But seeing as how James, Harry and I aren't going to be visiting Gringotts, we might as well help him in this."

And instantly both my best friend and I are at the edge of our seats. Mum asks Mr. Diggory if he has any problems with this and he answers in the negative.

Hermione's head swivels between my mum and my dad and my dad is the one to start.

"It's really quite simple.

Back in 1294, about 11 years after the Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, things were finally looking up for our people.

We hadn't just, through sheer dumb luck, survived this 6 year conflict, we also survived a terrible disease that had wreaked havoc through our country, a flood and a fire.

Don't ask how all that happened in only little over decade, historians are still trying to figure that out. Either way, things were finally looking up and there were enough young witches and wizards, that the older ones felt a renewed sense of confidence in our kind's survival.

Still they decided to hold a survey and only better that they did. They found out that for every witch – there were seven young wizards.

Yeah, that sounds like a really unfortunate result, but remember. Back in those days, a marriage wasn't always just between two people.

Heck, back then it was actually abnormal for people not to have a betrothal or other form of contract tying their families together."

Hermione grimaces, yet she nods. I know the girl well enough to know that she wants to argue against this and state how wrong it was.

But the girl is obviously smart enough to get James' hidden message with this statement. I know, I agree. But it's in the past. We can't change it.

"So yeah, a lot of families became united and a lot of young women – who at the time were raised to believe that baring children was meant to give them some kind of personal Elysium or something – gave birth to multiple kids over the next few years.

Then, about 18 years later, the parents of these new mothers and fathers decided to hold another survey amongst their grandchildren.

Again good thing they did as this time, the equation was 1 witch – for every 16 wizards.

Hermione gasps: "Don't tell me." James nods. Yet before she can start to rant, he holds up a hand to silence her and says:

"Don't worry, it's about to get better. And remember, this is the past. Even using a Time-Turner can't change this."

The girl turns red and I guess she believes that James called her out on her usage of the object last year. But I know my husband and I know that that's not the case.

"Either way, you might think that this would worry both the ones who did the survey and those who participated in it.

Nope!

They just applied the exact same tactic – which was somewhat stimulated by some of the younger witches showing a deep sense of interest in more than one wizard – and expected better results this time around.

Needless to say, the next survey proved them wrong.

Thankfully, this time it was the parents themselves, those who had given birth to the newest generation 18 years earlier, who did the survey.

And when they discovered that there was only 1 witch for every 26 wizards, they knew they needed to change tactics and do something.

So they gathered as many people, clans and families together and called upon every God or Goddess of Love, Family and Magic that they could think of.

A whole array of them answered these calls and after some debate between the Gods and those that summoned them a deal was made.

The young wizards, who had just graduated, would go through a test of 1 year.

Those that passed, would be blessed with the power of their family magic increasing every few generations and, if the wizard of their line was strong enough, gaining that special ability.

Those that failed – or decided that they didn't want the ability, because they considered that task to be for women only – were not allowed this special privilege.

To be honest, quite a few families owe their existence and the fact that they got to grow to the status they have these days, to the parents who did the 1330 gender ratio survey.

I know for a fact that House Abbott, House Edgecombe and House Bole owe their existence and their titles to this survey.

House Abbott actually called upon Lady Hera about 112 years after this and the blessing passed onto women who fall for their own gender within the house ever since.

And while House Edgecombe actually somewhat despises this bit of history, as it supposedly prevents them from living outside Magical England, that's really not the case anymore.

And back then, it was even their own fault as they flaunted this gift to a pair of royals who had just lost a child in childbirth. They were bragging at the wrong time and paid the price for it. But for centuries now, they've never acknowledged this fact.

And House Bole isn't much better. Their way of circumventing this gift – as they call it – is by trying to bind their Heirs to magical beings – while at the same time supporting laws and rules that make life harder for said beings.

Either way, now you hopefully understand why neither Siri, Lily or I are worried about the fact that all our boys are male."

Hermione nods, yet she also asks if it's really okay for James to tell her about the other Families and their – somewhat negative backstories.

James shrugs and Amos explains that it's a bit of the Public History of Magical England and that that kind of history is usually recommended for as many people to learn as possible.

This seems to calm Hermione's apparent nerves, while Lea mutters to himself: "The more I learn about this world, the more curious I get."

Mickey agrees with him on this and I do as well.

Then Hermione turns to Lupin, who has actually not said a word since he walked into the room an hour or so ago.

In fact, if the man hadn't gone to sit so closely next to my left, I would have forgotten the man was even there.

James explains to her that Lupin gave his explanation behind his year-long hiatus. The girl seems to accept this, yet she's also obviously curious about the man's 12 year absence.

Lupin sighs and says:

"Let me start by saying this. Once you hear the end of this tale, you'll have yet another reason to be upset with Dumbledore."

I spot mum and dad share a look from the corner of my eye, while I share a similar look with Hermione, who sits across from me.

We're not so much upset with Dumbledore – as that we absolutely hate his guts and want him far away from us and our new family.

"What you first need to remember is that, back then, I didn't really have a steady job or income. But I felt the need to get professional help to recover from everything that happened back in '81.

The betrayal, the murders and Harry having been placed somewhere, but Albus refusing to tell me where that was and thus me sometimes worrying that he made a similar mistake.

It took me a few years to move past all of this, to come to terms with the shock and the horror that night caused.

Then, suddenly, I actually found myself getting a steady income and I decided to take the chance that I considered it to be.

For a full year, I managed to keep the job and I just lived as frugally as possible, so I could save up my income as much as possible.

Then, once the year was over and my secret caused the old and usual to happen – aka, the end of your third year – I had saved enough to buy myself a nice place where a child could also safely come over to play for a few hours or stay for a few days.

Back then, no matter how much I wanted to be part of your life, Harry, I didn't trust myself to keep you for too long, lest something went wrong on those nights of the month.

But, once the house had been secured, a nice child's playroom had been set up in the second bedroom and I had covered it with Gringotts that I'd be able to keep paying a low mortgage for the house every month, I went looking.

I checked with Augusta, Amelia, Minerva, Poppy, Max Chang, Robert Jordan. Even with Dedalus and a few Muggle friends Lily was able to stay in touch with, even while and after Hogwarts.

Nothing.

None of them knew where Harry was and all, bar the Muggles had been told the same story. That Harry was somewhere safe, but that Albus didn't want to divulge where out of a need to keep Harry safe and secure.

Heck, the Muggles hadn't even known that Lily had died as neither Petunia nor Albus had told them. I had been the one to do that and that had happened back in 1987, 6 years after the fact.

Needless to say, I felt disgusted with Albus that he had just forgotten about such close friends of Lily and desperate to find out where Harry was.

I decided to try and see if I could sell the house I had bought for one smaller, but still with two bedrooms.

I was and this allowed me to safe more of the saved income I still had left. I used this to travel abroad and check the residences that I knew were owned by House Potter.

Yet I came back to England, at around June of 1989, empty-handed and completely befuddled with the mystery of where Harry was.

Albus actually awaited me upon my return and had the audacity to advise me to just quit my search and trust that Harry was safe.

He apparently forgot that, as a werewolf, I would never have been unable to accept that while not knowing the location of my only pack-cub.

So, after a few months of desperately trying to figure out where Harry could be and how it was possible that he wasn't at any of the locations I had checked, I thought:

Surely Albus wouldn't be stupid enough to leave Harry with Petunia of all people? But because I had literally looked everywhere else, I went to check.

And before you ask, Harry, let me explain.

I didn't find the house you probably expected me to find. Instead, I found a smoldering ruin with some weak magical signature still lingering, as if someone had unleashed a powerful burst of accidental magic many years ago and the leftover traces of it were still dying out.

Albus, obviously, knew I had arrived through spells he had placed on the location and came to speak with me.

He said that Harry had been "living" with Petunia and her family for a year when something went strangely wrong.

He had detected the powerful burst of Accidental magic through the monitoring charm he had left on the place when he got Petunia to agree to take you in and had come over.

But by the time he arrived, you had disappeared.

He then told me that that was why he never divulged your location. He claimed that, like me, he had never stopped looking."

Lupin sighs, while my rage at Dumbledore, as Lupin predicted, rises a notch. "He got Petunia to agree to take me in. Yeah right!"

I hold back a snort with effort before Lupin continues:

"I'll admit, the sight of that ruin – after almost 8 years of trying to find you, really broke me. I hate to admit it, but

I gave up.

I gave up looking.

I just focused myself fully on getting and keeping a job that could allow me to fully pay off the mortgage of my new place.

I threw myself in that so fully and so entirely, that I didn't realize how much time had passed, until someone shouted it's almost been half a year since the return of the Boy-Who-Lived!

That's when I realized that it was Yule of 1991 and I went to Hogwarts right away, determined to see you and explain everything.

But, of course, Albus was expecting this and, just when I wanted to leave his office, he distracted me with the words I have a confession to make.

I went to sit down and – well, right now I wonder whether or not he didn't hit me with a Confundus charm or something that night.

Either way, he confessed about his trick and how he had created the illusion of the ruins and the cover story to keep Harry where Albus felt he could best be kept safe and out of the spotlight.

And when I heard that, I suddenly felt so incredibly enraged, I decided to live by a thought that I now regret.

As long as Albus is there, I don't want to be at Hogwarts period.

I hate to admit it, but – I left – and went back to doing what I did the previous two years.

Then suddenly, a year and a half later, Albus is on my doorstep and asking me to take the DADA job.

I'll admit it, out of spite, because that thought was still running through my mind, I made the man make a lot of concessions before I accepted.

And yeah, he tried using both Sirius and Harry to convince me. But I made him think that I had just stopped caring all-together period and that he needed to try something better to convince me.

He probably didn't like it, but looking back with what I learned the other day, I think this made him less willing to try and get between us during our Dementor lessons, Harry."

This statement and the man's smirk, make me hold back a snort. Yet my amusement is short-lived as I say:

"It probably did. But you're unfortunately underestimating how shrewd and vengeful Dumbledore can actually be.

Trust me, Snape didn't agree to brew those Wolfsbane Potions just because Dumbledore asked him or because the Headmaster made certain concessions.

He made a deal with the man, one that allowed Snape to do something that, normally, should've made Dumbledore report him."

The werewolf, and really most of the other occupants in the room, look at me curiously. Mum and Hermione are the only ones not looking at me like that.

I sigh and explain:

"After you left, I decided to study the Potion. Let's just say that I have a way to get access to the kinds of books that Dumbledore might not want me to be reading.

I won't say what this way is, it'll probably come up in either the first or second book.

Either way, I read up on the Potion and discovered an entry from the original brewer that was written down in one of the more obscure books about Potions like these.

Wolfsbane Potion needs to be administered to the werewolf in question no later than 1 week before the full-moon night.

If the Potion is administered in the five days before, it will have little to no effects whatsoever, other than slightly nullifying the wolf's inner carnivore.

If the Potion is administered a week in advance and then on the day of the full-moon, the second batch might as well be a glass of water, it has the same effects.

And finally, if the potion is administered only on the day of the moon, the reverse will happen to when the potion is properly administered.

Oh, and if a wolf were to drink two batches of Wolfsbane on the night of the full-moon, the second negates the negative effects of the first and causes the same effects as when the potion is, like I said earlier, properly administered.

And I'm sure that you, Hermione and Sirius can remember what Snape said when he revealed himself in the Shrieking Shack in Third.

But the man is a Snake and the look in his eyes told me everything.

Lupin, he had used the House Elves to administer the draught through some other drink you took that day.

Then, later that day, he would give you the batch you were expecting and then, the day after the full-moon, once you had recovered, –"

Here I hold silent, yet instead of a white-faced Lupin, mum finishes my sentence:

"He would have tricked you into believing that he had saved your life. That he had spotted something being wrong with you and had given you that second batch – which he probably would have told you he had purposely made to be extra strong and potent – to keep things from running out of hand.

He would have convinced you that you owed him your life and safety and would have asked for something inexcusable to repay the Life-Debt.

The question is; did he do this out of hate and anger towards Moony

Or on orders of – as Harry said – a vengeful Albus Dumbledore?"


Which one is it?
And yes, I know that Lupin took the potion on All Hallow's Eve 1993. But who's to say that Snape didn't pull this same trick twice?
That he decided to use All Hallow's Eve to see if the trick would work, that he would silently gloat about it for the rest of the year and then try again at the end?
Or, if this was Dumbledore's work, that Snape didn't use All Hallow's Eve as a test, report the results to Dumbledore and then await orders from the old man before pulling the trick a second time – only for it to go horribly wrong.
You lot decide,

Venquine1990