"How is your 7th birthday darling?" Theodore's mother asked from the balcony overlooking their ballroom. Up on the balcony the heavy gray curtains covered about a third of Theodore's peripheral vision on either side. The air felt thick and stifling, like the curtains, and if Theodore glanced up he could see the heavy crystal and ebony chandeliers suspended from the ceiling above the ballroom that added a sense of suffocation to it all. There were candles on the chandeliers that were burning fuel fast and the air felt slightly tainted by perhaps carbon dioxide or the remnants of fuel.
All of the best Sacred 28 pureblood families had lessons from governesses in muggle subjects so they knew the basics of science and the elements, even if they pretended not to know to non-Sacred 28 families to appear more upper class and different from the muggles, muggle-borns and halfbloods. But the upper class wizarding families had long been paranoid about muggle development in knowledge outside of magic and were keeping an eye on what they were doing and attempting to be up to date as much as they could in their own time.
"Couldn't have been better," said Theodore. Birthdays in the Sacred 28 pureblood aristocratic social circles were always a magnificent affair. The Sacred 28 noble families did all events and celebrations the best out of the entire wizarding world. Birthdays could be up to a month long, with many separate parties. One for the entire family and all their relatives, one for all of their acquaintances, one for just their closest friends and inner circle at the moment, other events where one met up with just their father, just their mother, or just a sibling, just one friend, for the event of a birthday, reminiscing about the years gone past and all that they had accomplished in their lives til date.
Theodore had a series of birthday events around this 7th birthday, ending with a giant ball where most of the members of Knareslakesley were invited. Knareslakesley was the wizarding village near the Nott Manor which the Notts owned the land to, and rented out to majority of the villagers there. Because of this they worshipped the Notts almost and relied on the Nott family for some favours. Majority of the inhabitants of Knareslakesley were involved in slightly illegal or grey businesses that the ministry didn't fully approve of, and they relied on the cover of the wealthier Sacred 28 families who condoned these type of businesses to stay alive. The wealthier Sacred 28 families always found a way to pocket a decent share of the profits and get hidden information and whisperings about the world from them, and they always found a way to get cover and favours from the wealthy Sacred 28 families (particularly the one who rented them their land) as well to survive.
It was tradition for the bigger Sacred 28 families to throw large events and celebrations at important milestones of their lives - birthdays, weddings, christenings, and invite almost everyone from the village. It was also a cheap way (to them) to keep everyone worshipping them whilst not actually having to build any deeper personal relationships with the vast majority of them. Something the Sacred 28 families always did - keep their personal connections and relationships elusive.
The ball was brilliant. Theodore had entered after an announcement from his mother, who was helping him throw the ball (technically it was for him), he gave a small rehearsed speech thanking everyone for coming and that he hoped to have a long relationship with many of them, where they all cheered for him and oohed and ahhed over his cuteness. He felt he got the effect he wanted and built a good relationship with them.
After he was done mingling for a little while he had retired to the balcony where the hosts of the ball could sometimes watch and chatter. Or the inner circle could be permitted to come up on the balcony and share a few moments of private time with them. This was quite useful as not that many balls truly had a purpose for the host to share with majority of the members. They mostly wanted to talk to one or two important connections, but the ball was thrown to keep everyone else worshipping them, thinking they were wealthy, powerful and glorious (images were incredibly important) and so the ball really functioned as an event where the masses could mingle amongst themselves, and possibly have important conversations on that evening with people they wanted to network with, just in a nicer place, whilst attributing all of that to the people who'd thrown it.
Although often the hosts wouldn't stay on the balcony for a few private moments for long, and would spend majority of the ball mingling with at least some of their closer connections.
"What do you think of…all this? The connections, the games, the glory, the powerful…everything…" asked Theodore's mother, waving her hand at the air. She was tall, bold broad shoulders and sharp pointed elbows, the type that seemed invincible and surprising to have died early. A large oval face, thick black hair that was curled at the base, painted on features with make-upped precision and a sort of calculating elegance that appeared effortless, like calculation was a second skin she slipped on and could wear so effortlessly. She had dark eyes and often wore elegant coats and gowns in shades of grey, blackish red and purple, from a style of a bygone era.
It appeared to be a mix of ancient fashion centuries ago in the wizarding world that the old Sacred 28 families used to wear, and also a niche muggle fashion some monarchies wore that was a throwback to what muggle monarchies wore several centuries ago as well. Something that if Theodore hadn't seen the fashion magazines (muggle), in his mother's bedroom when he had been told to give something to her by his father once, he wouldn't have guessed came from there.
But he never saw those magazines again and guessed it was his mother's guilty pleasure. Although some witches and wizards were burning with curiosity about how the muggles lived, what they did, (or some of them), it wasn't the sort of thing they wanted to admit or discuss with others unless they were sure they shared the same guilty pleasure. He never asked his mother about it.
Theodore paused. Ever since he was young he had always been told by both parents that he was no ordinary individual. Special. Witches and wizards had struggled for so long, both to stop the muggles from persecuting them out of any fear of magic, and also to try and find some order among the magical folk. They had managed to find an alternative for how to deal with muggles who would want to persecute witches and wizards if they truly knew people had magic by creating a wizarding society that was largely hidden from muggles, as well as the ministry, aurors, St Mungles, which attempted to provide some services to witches and wizards, some way to sort out the magic they could do (and were still learning about) to provide benefits to everyone, but there was still loads to discover and sort out.
There were branches of magic that were volatile and untapped into. Magical creatures, plants, that needed more research. There was a grapple for money as well as many witches and wizards were always trying to invent things to come up with money, or they wanted to restructure the politics, government, business, in order to benefit them, put themselves into power, glory, wealth. There was a fight for prominence, power, to become the best of the wizarding world.
The wizarding world only came together in the 1600s, it was only a few centuries old (wizarding Britain anyway) and whilst they had the Ministry of Magic which was their government ever since it came together in the 1600s, there was some dissatisfaction at the government. There were some witches and wizards who dreamed of being the wizarding king or queen, having a monarchy instead, thought it would suit witches and wizards better.
There were some people who wanted both the Ministry and a monarchy.
There were some people who didn't want the government at all, and Theodore had always known that was how Lord Voldemort, the villain of his parents era, had come into power. Because there was dissatisfaction with the wizarding world, he had promise to reform things, take the ministry out of power. If there wasn't the feeling of wanting something new, Lord Voldemort would've never had the supporters he did.
It was a game. All of it. The Sacred 28 pureblood families had managed to be the winners for centuries, they were the wealthiest, most influential, most powerful. The ones pulling the strings behind the puppet show. The safest, securest, the most gloried. They didn't have to worry.
But it was hard to truly play games. A lot of the most interesting, conniving, calculating of all people somehow found their way to the Sacred 28 social circles. Sometimes it felt like a long con where you wore a mask, multiple masks, layered all over each other, from birth til death, if you wanted to get involved in politics.
You didn't have to do it. Theodore's parents had always told him that the Sacred 28 families had worked out a system where if a child didn't want to participate in the world of politics, connections, reading people's true motives and incentives, ambitions, finding a way to work with all these people to get what they wanted out of it, benefitting themselves whilst seeming to work for others, they didn't have to.
In the past children of the Sacred 28 had committed suicide because of pressure. They didn't want to be born into the role. So nowadays the Sacred 28 had set up a system where if a member didn't want to play any piece in the giant chess game that evolved around the wizarding world, they could just live a quiet life. Blanketed by wealth, not having to work for a living, listening to what other people said.
It was always an option available and had done a lot to decrease the suicides over the years. It was good because suicides were bad for the family name.
But there was a rule - if you said yes, you wanted to play the game, then you accepted it and didn't blame anybody, one's parents or family, for the outcomes that occurred. If your deepest darkest secret was found out, if you were humiliated or controlled by someone else for life, if you lost your family's wealth and were hated, you accepted the consequences of playing the game, the losses.
7 was an important year in the wizarding world. It was a magical number. An important number. This decision was asked to Sacred 28 children on their 7th birthday. If there was one thing Theodore would perhaps change about the traditions of the Sacred 28s, delaying it may be one of them. But as it was, his parents were asking him now, on the eve of his 7th birthday overlooking the grand ballroom of the Manor, after it became apparent just how much control, power and wealth they had over everyone.
Theodore paused.
Even at the age of 7 he was already cautious, distrustful. He didn't trust the world. Most people were out to get him. It felt cruel and cold. He didn't want to play the game but he also didn't trust himself to tap out of it well. He knew he would always be drawn by the thirst for more power, the beautiful intricacy of lives or manipulations he could sense. If he had to watch his younger sister Thalassa (of 5 years) play the games his entire life but never be permitted to take part in it himself, he knew he would feel like a caged animal.
If one didn't want to be involved in the games the Sacred 28 played, then one had to play the part of someone who opted out well. Never sticking their nose in anything, never meddling, never requesting details. Be entirely out of it. Listening to what others told them to do. Never being told the full picture.
The price of humbleness and humility was too high. Theodore thought if he couldn't really keep his nose out of Sacred 28 things, it was better that he just said yes and played the game, rather than tried to be a non-player and fail.
A lot of the Sacred 28s who were in the game didn't tell of anything to the non-players. They didn't know the gossip, what was going on, and that was the norm. It was only their immediate needs that were taken care of - food, drink, a place to live, pleasant but shallow conversations, hobbies, but they weren't privy to anything more.
"I think it is harder to pretend I am not part of this world despite being born in it, than it is to play my part in it dutifully," said Theodore.
"I think it is better to play the game than try to play the wise person who chooses not to play. For the biggest fools are those who pretend to be the wisest person when they are not. I choose…to be a key player in Sacred 28 politics from now until my death or true retirement…and it is the wisest choice I know of," he said.
"Very well…the magic shall be done tomorrow," said Theodore's father as he draped an arm around Theodore's shoulder, seemingly happy, pleased. Theodore had always sensed his father wanted him to say yes, to play the game, because he did, and Theodore could practically see the relief rolling of his father's shoulders.
He had long suspected his father was a deatheater, which was illegal, and that he wanted Theodore's assistance perhaps, to wrap up some plans he had to change the world with Lord Voldemort and the deatheaters all these decades back. So it was a great relief that his son would help, and not be of the type to prefer not to play the game.
People weren't supposed to ask until the 7th birthday, although some Sacred 28 families still applied great pressure.
Theodore had no idea if his mother wanted to play the game or not. One didn't have to say. His father had admitted he wanted to play these games, but his mother had said nothing about the matter. It was very possible for her to still assist with throwing balls and explaining how things worked without actually having said yes herself.
There were some magical protections given to those who had chose to play the game upon their 7th birthday by their family. It would take no more than a day, the magical protections couldn't guarantee much, but it was better than nothing.
After that, Theodore accepted full responsibility for anything that would happen to him in these games of office politics. If he lost it was his fault. If he won it was his victory. (And he hoped to win). For for the Sacred 28 families, it was a choice to get involved, not an obligation. By just the tiniest of all margins.
Author's Note: I wanted 'Sacred 28 7th Birthday Tradition (Theodore)' as the chapter title but I ran out of character count so I shortened birthday to bday. Theodore is characterised in this fic as sort of serious brooding person so he'll prefer his full name (I can imagine him shaking his fist at me and wanting the full name) so out of respect to the character I shortened birthday not his name :P