It was Wednesday evening a week after Harry received his creature inheritance and a lot had happened. The most pressing thing was the letter he received on Sunday from Lord Malfoy. Dumbledore had proposed another bill during Saturday's Wizengamot. It had passed and Harry was livid. The bill prohibited creatures from marrying or procreating with those not of the same species. Meaning for example a werewolf can't marry a wizard, or a vampire, or anything that isn't another werewolf. Harry had been trying to work out a way to remove more of Dumbledore's votes after he was able to get that passed. That left him here looking down at the list of houses he could still give proxies for. Out of eleven houses he had given only four proxies. Dumbledore still held Gryffindor, Potter, and Slytherin. He couldn't touch Potter under any circumstances. Slytherin was tricky and he didn't want to cause anyone else problems. Gryffindor was awkward but if he was careful he could give it out. He just needed to find a way to talk to Neville alone. He was hoping to do that tomorrow during their free period just before lunch.
In the last week a lot of other things had also happened, all much less important than dethroning Dumbles. One thing was quidditch practice. Wood had been ecstatic when he found out Harry had healed and was able to play again. Practice had been as grueling as always but it had been fun. Another change was the Slytherins. After their talk they had gone back to acting hostile towards him in public. It was a big help in lowering Granger's suspicions. She seemed to be on high alert recently, watching him closer than ever. It didn't bother him too much since he now used the time turner every day. He had worked out a good system where at midnight he would go to the bathroom in the dorms, hide in one of the cubicles and use the time turner to shadow to Slytherins bedroom. He would then go to sleep, live the day however, and shadow back to the same stall just after midnight and go to bed in the dorms. He had done that every day for the past week now. it had allowed him to get a lot done so it didn't agitate him as much when he had to waste his time appeasing the idiots.
In the last week he had also been getting used to the new things that came with his creature inheritance. The first thing he had noticed was a kind of empath ability. If someone had strong emotions he could sense how they were feeling. It made it far easier to read Hermione's mood and know when not to push. The second thing he had noticed was his attraction to mischief. Whenever Fred and George were plotting something he seemed to innately know what was happening and just couldn't help himself from joining in. That led to him spending far more time with the twins, helping them with pranks as well as the development of the very first prototypes of Weasleys wizards wheezes. he wasn't sure when they had first started developing them last time but he had a feeling his presences may have accelerated the timeline. He hoped it wouldn't have a bad impact but he didn't see how it could affect voldies come back, and at the end of the day that was the only reason he was still trying to stick to the timeline in the first place.
The last thing he noticed was how little tolerance he had for Ron and Hermione. With the time turner giving him a break from them it was easier to fake his enjoyment of their company, but inside he hated them more and more with every passing day. He had called them out on a few things, like whenever they were mean to someone in front of him, but most of the time he was unable to do much. More often than not he would set something in his surroundings on fire whenever he was with them. This and him slowly telling them off for some of their more obvious behavior led to him spending more time with Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Mostly because if something spontaneously set on fire everyone assumed it was Seamus's fault.
The next morning Harry walked into the great hall and over to the Gryffindor table where his year mates were sitting, only to feel compelled to go a little further down. There was an aura of mischievous excitement coming from that direction. He looked down the table to where he felt it and saw Fred and George sat with their heads bent together. Harry walked quickly towards them and pushed them apart claiming the space between them. Both looked at him bewildered.
"You two are scheming and I want in." If he didn't have the glamor on he was sure his tails would be wagging in excitement. They looked a little hesitant and Harry frowned at them. They hadn't excluded him from any of their pranking so far and seeing the hesitance upset him a little.
"We're just trying to"
"work out a way"
"to get out of the castle"
"without being caught." Harry's frown deepened. He knew full well that they knew exactly how to leave the castle if they wanted to. He pouted at them but they gave no indication that they would say more. He sighed and looked at them with the biggest puppy eyes he could.
"We both know that's a lie. If that's all it was you would use the one eyed witch passageway that leads to honeydukes cellar." Their eyes widened and George opened his mouth to say something but Harry got up from his seat and smirked at them.
"When you want help or an alibi let me know." He then bent down so they were the only ones who could hear him.
"Also not every passageway is on the Marauders map, you know." The two gingers gaped at him as he walked away to have breakfast with his year mates before making his way to the library. He walked to the back wall, found an abandoned shadowed corner, and moved to the Slytherin Hall he had agreed to meet Draco and the others in. He double checked that the room was empty before stepping through and taking a seat on one of the sofas.
After a minute he pulled out a book and started reading. This one was a book written by the centaurs about astronomy and its correlation to divination. When Rowena found out that divination had become a joke she had been furious and decided that two hours of his re-lived day would be dedicated to her teaching him the proper ways of divination. He had protested at first but after a bit he had been fascinated by the intricacy of how astronomy and Arithmancy worked together within divination so was now reading the book she had assigned as homework. That wasn't the only thing he was learning either. Rowena and Salazar had been tutoring him on many subjects as well as helping with a few other things.
He stayed sitting reading his book and drinking tea for a long time. After a while he cast a tempus. They were twenty minutes late. Were they not coming? He had been excited to talk to them more and hoped that they hadn't forgotten. It had been a week now and Hadrian hadn't heard even a whisper of anything he had told them last time, so he was sure he could trust them with more. He wanted to be able to confide in more people, other than Snape and Lupin. He had considered talking to Neville but it only took one little accident like, calling him Hadrian in front of Weasley and Granger for things to go wrong. He would share other things with Neville but for now the Slytherins were distanced from him in public so there was less chance for a slip. He went back to his book and a few seconds later the door opened.
"Maybe he's not coming. We didn't exactly ask if he wanted the lessons. we kinda just went for it and started planning." Pansy sounded cheerful but Harry could sense her disappointment.
"But we still have his books." Bulstrode said quietly. Harry's eyes locked with Daphnes which widened at the sight of him.
"Yeah, and I have questions fo…" Theo was cut off by Greengrass who raised her voice above the rest.
"It's good that he's here then." The group collectively looked towards him.
"We were waiting for you outside the passageway. You wouldn't have been able to go through that door without us noticing. How did you get past us?" Harry just smirked at them.
"Who said I used the door?" They all stood there looking confused for a long moment before Nott walked forward and sat opposite him with a serious look on his face.
"You said something last time and I have gone through the whole bloody library and found nothing but a single mention of it with no real information at all. What is the Seligen Court? It's driving me crazy. You mentioned it last time but I can't find anything about it." The others had taken seats while Nott spoke and Harry was able to hear a grumble from his Right.
"Maybe if you had just asked I could have told you." He turned to the speaker and was surprised to find Goyle.
"I'm surprised you know about it. Not many people do." He pulled his bag into his lap and rifled through it until he found the book he had found in the founders library on the court and passed it over to Nott. He quickly opened it only to look up at Harry with murder in his eyes.
"I can't read this. Do you know how many languages I can read? It's a lot just so you know and yet you give me a book that I can't read." He placed the book gently on the coffee table before burying his face in Zabini's lap and throwing his legs over Draco. The two people who decided to sit on the same sofa as him. Goyle moved forward, picked up the book and opened it.
"How did you get this?" The boy skimmed through the pages quickly.
"It came from one of my ancestral libraries. Is something wrong?" He leaned over Goyle who was sitting next to him and looked down at the book. Theo was right the book wasn't in English but if he didn't notice then it was in some kind of creature language. Goyle looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm just surprised you know Gibberish." Harry was about to ask what creature language that was when they were interrupted by an annoyed Parkinson.
"English please. It's rude to cut everyone else out of the conversation."
"By that logic you all cut me out of the conversation because I barely speak it." Goyle grumbled next to him. And now that Harry listened carefully, that was definitely not English. Damn it, he needed to be more careful with that. Crabbe took that moment to cut in.
"Hadrian, how do you know Gibberish?"
"Um, family magics?" It sounded more like a question but it was technically true.
"The Potters don't have Nymph ancestry." Greengrass was glaring at him speculatively.
"No they don't." He paused for a long moment, biting on his lower lip. "But the Evans do." They looked confused for a moment before Davis spoke.
"Your mother wasn't a muggle born?" Harry shook his head.
"Something no one knew, not even her, is that she was technically a pureblood. The Evans line was a squib line and there hadn't been a muggle in her line for eight generations making her a pureblood." they were all staring at him with open mouths.
"That… that's not possible."
"It is. Most of her ancestors were Squibs, and technically she was a first generation pureblood, but she was considered a pureblood, since after eight generations of only magicals whether they be Wixen, Squib, or Null, you are considered a pureblood by magic."
"She had Nymph heritage?" Goyle asked, looking slightly excited. "Do you know what kind? My pa was an earth Nymph descendant. My father thinks I'm likely to get the creature inheritance too, Just like my pa." Hadrian noticed Goyle was still speaking to him in gibberish which he guessed was the language of the Nymphs at this point.
"Sorry she's not descended from the Nymphs, but her family magics allow me to read, speak, and write most creature languages."
"English please!" Goyle stuck his tongue out at her before answering in English.
"You feel same thing I feel now." She glared at him.
"At least you understand most of the conversation, we get nothing." Harry picked up his tea and took a sip before grabbing a biscuit, watching the argument unfold until a timid voice came from his left.
"Hadrian, where did you get tea and biscuits?" Everyone went silent as they looked at him confirming that, yes, he did have tea and biscuits.
"Did you want some? Kreacher." Kreacher popped next to him, surveyed the scene then popped away, returning a moment later with more cups and another pot of tea.
"Potter. I don't think you realize that outside house elves aren't supposed to be able to get through the wards." Harry paused, his cup half way to his mouth. He hadn't known that. Was he able to do it because he was a founder's Heir? He didn't know and wasn't able to explain something he didn't have an explanation for. He looked at Malfoy coldly.
"Do you want tea or not?" Malfoy just nodded and no one bothered bringing it up again.
"Oh yeah." Pansy broke the stifling silence with cheerful excitement. "Draco and I brought some stuff with us to try and fix your hair." She got up from her seat and walked towards him. "Blaise also brought a few magazines and stuff for clothes." That seemed to be everyone's cue, as most of the group slowly shuffled away to the table at the end of the room, pulling out books and parchment, settling in to do homework.
Bulstrode whispered a low "good Luck." and gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder as she walked by, Leaving him with Pansy, Draco, and Blaise, who all moved to sit closer to him.
"I hate to break it to you but you can't fix my hair. It's cursed." Draco pouted at him.
"A bit dramatic to call it cursed, besides you don't know what me and Pans can do. We can work miracles."
"No, I mean it is literally cursed. One of my ancestors insulted a fay and our lineage was cursed with untameable Hair." Draco's face fell.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do now. You just ruined my life goals Potter." He walked over to the sofa and flopped face first onto it, and he called Hadrian dramatic. Pansy was sitting next to him just glaring at his hair.
"Would it make you feel better if I told you that my real hair looks better than this?" Pansy's eyes snapped from his hair to his face and Draco lifted his head from the cushions to look at him before repeating.
"Real hair." with a raised eyebrow. Harry had been thinking about doing this anyway; he hated the glamor and wanted to spend as little time with it on as possible. He pulled the ring off and felt the glamor fade. He pulled his hair back into a half up half down to keep the front strands out of his eyes and pulled his glasses off.
"What the fuck." Zabini was staring at him with wide eyes and Draco was now off the sofa and back over to them.
"We can still work with this, you have given me hope." He felt something touch his ear and looked to see Goyle poking the point of his ear. All the others had looked over after Zabini's loud exclamation.
"What's with the white streak?" Pansy asked, walking behind the sofa and undoing his hair, letting the curls hang around his face. She walked back around to the front and pulled gently at the lock of white hair.
"Why in the hell would you change your looks like that?" Zabini looked utterly confused by all of this. Everyone had moved back over to the sofas by this point and were staring at him. He felt a little uncomfortable.
"You have pointed ears." He looked at Goyle who was staring at him intently. He opened his mouth to say something but he had no clue what to say to that.
"Um… yes."Greengrass walked over and put out her hand.
"Can I see the ring?" He handed it over to her and she slipped it on to her finger, but nothing happened. She took it off and handed it back while speaking.
"It's a blood glamor. You know they're illegal, right?" No, He did not know that.
"Since I'm not the one who cast it, I'm not the one breaking the law, am I?" She smirked.
"I hope you have proof of that." He nodded.
"I do. It's also why I still wear it. I hate that glamor and would rather not have to wear it but right now that's not an option." She nodded in understanding.
"I would like to see that proof at some point and hope in the future you would be willing to show us." she moved back to the table to continue homework, clearly no longer interested. The others followed her, once again leaving him with Pansy, Draco, and Blaise.
Pansy walked back round the sofa to play with his hair while Draco instructed her and Blaise flicked through the clothes with him. Hadrian had told him that he had bought clothes but couldn't wear them around school but his response was you can never have too many clothes, so Harry spent the two hours learning no etiquette from them, instead laughing and messing around with the occasional intelligent conversation thrown in when Nott and Bulstrode decided to ask more questions. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he was able to laugh this freely. Before coming back in time they had been in the middle of a war and for Harry that war had started at the end of his fourth year. Though he was able to laugh and joke around, he never truly let go and just enjoyed himself. When he looks back on all the good times he had had with Ron and Hermione they were all tainted with reminders that it was never real. He would get revenge but what he truly wanted was friends, family, people who were truly on his side, and this time he would make sure they survived.
Finally it was their free period before lunch and Neville started to split from the other boys, saying he was going to the greenhouse and Harry took his chance to go with him. Once they were alone Harry went to speak but quickly realized he didn't know how to start.
"Nev, I have a question and I want an honest answer. What do you think of Dumbledore?" Neville stopped walking abruptly and just stared at Harry with an unnervingly blank face.
"What do you think of him?" Harry took out his wand and saw Neville flinch slightly. He quickly raised the tip to the sky and made a secrecy vow stating he wouldn't repeat anything from this conversation. Without prompting Neville did the same and they continued walking.
"I think he is manipulative, unkind, biased, and someone who thinks far too much of himself." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Does your gran feel the same?" Neville snorted a surprise laugh.
"She would have far less kindness in the words she would use for him." Harry laughed at that.
"Speaking from experience then?" Neville nodded, grinning.
"Why do you ask?" Harry bit his lip.
"I want my votes away from him but he can't know about it. Not yet, so Potter is out, but I have Gryffindor too. I'm sure you've heard the rumors. Gryffindor married into either the Potter's or…"
"The Longbottoms." Neville finished his sentence with a Cheshire grin and Harry nodded. "You want everyone to think I hold the title so Dumbledore doesn't realize you're aware of your heritage." Harry nodded again.
"As long as you're okay with that. It will put a lot of attention on you, especially from Dumbledore. After all, it will look like you are taking a seat away from him." Neville grinned viciously.
"Whatever do you mean Harry? My gran took me for a blood test during the holidays where we found out I hold the Gryffindor title. She felt it was unnecessary to claim the seat, but out of nowhere she sent me a letter with a proxy form the other day telling me to give her the seat and I, the oblivious Neville Longbottom, who knows nothing about any of this, did as I was told." Harry couldn't help but smile at that. He had noticed in the last week that Nevills confidence seemed to be higher when they were alone and realized he wasn't the only one hiding behind a mask. It was the same with the Slytherins. In public they were cold but behind closed doors they were all really close friends, most had grown up together and Harry had found out Goyle only knew as much English as he did because of the time he spent with them as kids. Goyls father had kept him sheltered unlike his two older brothers for reasons Harry didn't know yet.
"She blames him, you know. Told me to always be wary and to stay out of his grip. She also told me to look out for you." Harry looked at Neville in confusion. "Gran blames Dumbledore for what happened to my parents, and yours. She said that during the war he was the one who convinced both of our parents to leave their ancestral properties, insisting it was safer to be somewhere unknown instead of behind centuries old impenetrable wards." Harry could feel the anger seeping from Neville.
"Yeah, I know. One more thing in the long list of shit that man has done. So you don't think your gran would mind me writing to her?"
"She would love to hear from you. Especially if it is about taking more of Dumbledore's power away from him."
"Good, because I need her to know at least some of the situation so she understands that I want it to look like you hold the title and not me. One word from her that you're not the Gryffindor Heir and everyone would know who it really is." Neville nodded and they continued discussing the details while they worked on repotting some kind of purple flower until lunch. Neville wanted to stay a little longer so Harry left him to it and headed back to the castle.
He was walking through one of the smaller courtyards when he heard a sob. Looking over he found two girls sitting on a bench. The one with blond hair was sniffling, her face red and blotchy. The other girl had light brown hair and was clearly trying to comfort her friend. Harry was pretty sure they were first years judging by how small they were. He walked closer and as soon as the one with brown hair noticed him she pushed herself off the bench and stood in front of her friend, scowling at Harry. He raised his hands in surrender and stopped moving closer.
"I just wanted to check that she was ok." The girl was silent for a long time just glaring at him before answering.
"Lana got hexed in the halls by one of the older students." Harry frowned at that. Who would pick on a first year only two weeks in.
"Is she hurt?" The girl bit her lip and turned her head to look at her friend before stepping aside and nodding.
"She hurt her ankle." Lana had already taken her shoe and sock off so Harry was able to see from a few meters away how swollen it was. It was also turning a nasty shade of purple. He took an involuntary step forward before pausing.
"Will you let me take a look at it?" The two girls shared a look before Lana nodded and Harry moved forward. He sat on the stone floor at her feet before carefully holding the arch of her foot and moving it so he could get a better look. His eyes were immediately attracted to a bronze colored cloud coating the outside of her ankle. He took a closer look and found that it was hovering around a large welt. It was magical residue left over from a very overpowered stinging hex. He frowned and put his hand out to feel the magic. It felt thick and sticky like honey and it had a musty scent, like old dusty books and parchment. He put a little magic into his hand and pulled the residue away from the injury until the bronze color was completely gone. He heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up.
"Are you alright? Did that hurt?" He could see tears brimming in her chocolate brown eyes but she shook her head.
"It stung a little bit but it feels a little better now." Harry nodded and went back to looking over the ankle.
The stinging hex had been ridiculously overpowered. The large welt and the fact that it managed to break the skin proved that. He pulled out spare ointment, gauze, and bandages that were meant for his shoulder, but no longer needed and began dabbing the cream on to the welt. He heard the girl sniffle again.
"I'm Harry by the way. Sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner." The girl sniffled again.
"I'm Lana and that's Astoria. Harry's eyes flicked to the brown haired girl. Astoria Greengrass. His eyes flicked down to the green tie then to Lanas. They were both Slytherin first years. Meaning it was more than likely a Gryffindor who attacked them. He was just about to ask if they knew who did it when he heard heavy footsteps from behind him.
"Get away from her!" He turned to find a wand tip right in his face. He followed it up to the boy's face. He was a sixth or seventh year Ravenclaw. He had gold blond hair and chocolate brown eyes the same as Lana. He must be her brother. Harry pulled one hand away from her ankle and held it up in surrender.
"I was just trying to help." He gestured to the creams and bandages he was still holding on her ankle. If he let go they would all unravel and he would have to do it again. The boy's eyes flicked down and he faltered slightly before his face morphed into anger.
"You mean you're trying to cover for your mudblood." He heard Lanas small gasp and Harry went rigid. Dimly he noticed all the braziers around him extinguish. Hermione did this. He remembered Fawley saying they hexed the younger Slytherins but being told something and seeing it were two different things. He turned back to Lana.
"Hermione Granger did this?" Lanas eyes were wide and scared, and Harry realized how angry he must have looked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking once more. "Make sure you tell professor Snape as soon as you can. Tell him what happened in as much detail as possible, and bring Astoria with you so she can add what she knows. Also bring an injury report from when you see madam Pomfrey. You just need to ask for one. She shouldn't ask questions after seeing the injury but if she does, tell her someone did this to you, and you want to go to a teacher with all the information you can. She will help you." Harry finished wrapping her ankle. "How does it feel? It's not too tight? She shook her head.
"It feels okay but.." she bit her lip. "Seeing your magic pets again might make me feel even better." She looked at him with big pleading eyes and Harry felt his lips twitch into a smile. It would seem Lana was one of the first years he helped on the train. He conjured Soteria and watched as it sniffed at Lanas ankle before sitting down and resting her head in the girl's lap. Harry stood and turned, his eyes widening at seeing more than just Lanas brother standing there. He had Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones with him, along with another Slytherin first year who was probably the one who went and got them. The younger boy quickly walked past him to his friends leaving the four older wizards staring at each other.
"Your Lanas brother right?" The boy only nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that this was Granger's doing." Harry spat his forma friend's name then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before bowing his head slightly to the other boy. "I'm sorry. I should have been there. if I was, this wouldn't have happened." At that the boy's eyebrows rose.
"You would have stopped her?" Harry grimaced.
"I wouldn't have had to. They don't do this shit in front of me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't thought about the consequences of him avoiding the idiots. It gave them more opportunities to do stuff like this and Harry didn't want that, but he also didn't want to have to be around them constantly to stop their bad behavior. Hannah stepped forward interrupting his thoughts.
"What do you mean they don't do it in front of you." Hannah had a frown on her face clearly thinking. Abruptly her eyes snapped to him. "They don't." she sounded surprised like she only just realized. "In fact, they act quite differently around you." Harry just nodded knowing how true that was. "I don't think we introduced ourselves properly. I am Hannah Abbott, Daughter of the Noble and Distinguished House of Abbott. My father is the Viscount of Albaria. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She bowed and Lanas brother started speaking.
"Finnian Abbott, Heir of the Noble and Distinguished House of Abbott. My father is the Viscount of Albaria." The boy bowed and Harry startled slightly; he hadn't known that Hannah had siblings. He looked between the two of them. How he didn't notice that, he didn't know. They had the same eyes, same hair, even the same jawline. His thoughts were cut by another introduction.
"I am Susan Bones Heiress Apparent to the Noble and Ancient House of Bones. My Aunt is Regent of the Earldom of Deerhurst."
"Harry Potter…" he paused. "Heir apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter." He didn't have a regent. He knew that most people thought it was Dumbledore but it wasn't and him leaving that part of the introduction out, was telling. He saw Bones eyes widen a fraction but the Abbott siblings didn't seem to have noticed him deliberately leaving part of his introduction out.
"Why did you tell her to go to Snape?" Susan was studying him waiting for his answer.
"Because he won't let Granger get away with it. All the other teachers would go to the headmaster about it and he would just sweep it under the rug. Snape will go to the headmaster then give out his own punishment anyway. He may not be the nicest teacher but he does care about his snakes. Especially if a Gryffindor was the one to hurt them." Susan shared a look with Finnian before she cautiously asked another question.
"You don't think the headmaster will punish her?" She looked at him skeptically and he choked on a surprise laugh which turned into giggles.
"Definitely not. He wouldn't allow Granger to be punished for keeping the 'dark wizards' inline. Doesn't matter that they're eleven when they're in the house of evil. Right? The only reason Weasley got detention for hexing Malfoy was because he did it so publicly it couldn't be ignored. Granger's not that stupid." Harry had said way too much there but his temper was starting to get the better of him. He was getting more and more annoyed at the thought that there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He just had to get through this year. After this year he would be changing the timeline as much as he wanted. Which meant no more putting up with Weasley and Grangers crap. The future was just too dependent on this year being, at the very least, mostly the same. Susan and Finnian had small smiles that made Harry think that he had passed a test he was unaware he was taking.
"You should probably get Lana to Madam Pomfrey." He looked over at the three first years petting his patronus. Finnian stepped forward and gave a short bow.
"Thank you for your help, Heir Potter." He didn't wait for any response before walking to his sister, picking her up, and placing her on his hip. Susan and Hannah followed, both fussing over the injured first year and Harry made his way to the great hall, hoping that he had enough time to eat something.
The rest of the day went by and after their last class Granger was summoned away by a prefect. Harry didn't think much of it until she came back with tears in her eyes and anger rolling off her in waves. Harry found out she had been summoned to McGonagall's office, where Snape had also been waiting with her last assignment in hand. He had circled two paragraphs of text in red ink and had asked Granger what was wrong with them. When she said she didn't know he opened a book and pointed to two of the paragraphs and stepped back allowing McGonagall to take over. By the end of the meeting Gryffindor had lost thirty points and Granger received two detentions. The two paragraphs of text had been written word for word out of one of the textbooks so they gave her detention for plagiarizing. But with Snape doing that it became clear to Harry that Dumbledore had dismissed Granger's actions. He wrote a small note telling the Abbotts about the punishment Granger received from Snape, so they wouldn't think it had been completely ignored. He managed to discreetly drop it in Hannahs lap on his way past at dinner.
He had also written to Neville's gran starting with small pleasantries and by the following Thursday he had explained a large amount of what was going on. With her understanding of the situation she had assured him that as far as she was concerned she had never spoken to Harry Potter in her life and was ever so proud of her grandson for meeting the conditions required to hold the Gryffindor title.
It was at breakfast that day when he overheard a conversation sparked by that morning's profit. They had done another small piece on Sirius that he hadn't bothered to read.
"Do you think he'll come to Hogwarts to get back at Potter?"
"How stupid is he? It doesn't matter what he does, it won't change the fact that you know who is dead." Harry's mind had screeched to a halt at that. It was so simple. A simple fact he had forgotten. Voldemort was dead. To everyone else at this point Voldemort was dead. No one in their right mind would think or want to think he was alive. He rushed out of the hall and as soon as he was alone he shadowed to Salazar's office. He went straight for the desk and pulled out two change of proxy forms. As long as he was sensible everything would be fine. He wrote out the forms, as well as another tip for a certain reporter, before shadowing to the post bird rental and sent off the letters. The Wizengamot was in two days and he couldn't wait.
It was now Saturday and Harry was sitting in the Wizengamot viewing gallery once more. He was layered under invisibility, a notice me not, and a silencing charm, waiting for it to start. He saw Rita Skeeter sitting not too far from him and smirked. He had sent another tip saying that today's Wizengamot would be interesting. If he continued giving her tips like this she would trust him in no time. Not that she knew it was him sending the letters. He had sent both letters on black parchment and written in silver ink. He had used the presentation as a sort of signature since he hadn't signed the letters. But if he built up a relationship with her this way he would be able to direct her articles in a way that would help him. He was brought out of his thoughts by Lucius starting the session.
"Welcome to the 18th wizengamot session of 1993. To begin, there are a few proxy changes. First on the list is Lord Dumbledore." he gestured to Dumbledore and he stood.
"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Lord of the Noble House of Dumbledore, do hereby claim proxy over the seats of the Noble House of Weasley and the Noble and Distinguished House of Prewett, with permission of their Lord. so mote it be." the Weasley seat flashed gold while the Prewett seat took a few seconds to do the same. Smiling smugly, Dumbledore retook his seat. Many of the other lords were looking at him in disgust knowing exactly what he was trying to do.
"Next is for Madam Bones." He gestured and she stood.
"I, Amelia Bones, Regent of the Noble and Ancient House of Bones, do hereby claim proxy over the Noble House of Gaunt, with permission of its Lord. so mote it be." Hadrian had double checked her voting record and saw that it was mostly fine. Both her and Neville's gran had the same problem where they thought muggles were helpless little lambs that needed protecting, so their voting was a little more muggle friendly than he liked. Their priorities were still to their own culture though, so Hadrian wasn't too bothered.
"Next is Dowager Longbottom."
"I, Augusta Longbottom, Regent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, do hereby claim proxy over the seat of the Most Ancient and Illustrious House of Gryffindor, with permission of its Head of House. so mote it be." Dunbledore was not happy and looked about ready to protest so Hadrian was really looking forward to what would happen next.
"The last was sent through the ministry." Lord Malfoy held up a sealed envelope before opening it and unfolding the contents. He opened his mouth to speak but slowly closed it as he looked over the contents. His face slowly became pale and his hands had a slight tremor. Fudge called out to him a few times but in the end one of the lords closest to him nudged him and he startled before clearing his throat. "The last is the Slytherin proxy being given to Ravenclaw. As Ravenclaws Proxy Greengrass will handle proxyship." Greengrass stood but he wasn't the only one. Dumbledore was also standing.
"This can't be allowed. We all know who holds that line, besides…"
"He is dead, Albus." Fudge roared. "We also know he would never give the proxyship of his house over." Dumbledore's face was twisted in anger.
"Either way a Lord must give permission to the person claiming the proxy, not a proxy held by that person." a clear and chilling voice swept across the room and hadrian was surprised to see Neville's gran also standing, smiling coldly at Dumbledore.
"Lord Dumbledore I do believe you are the last person to be saying such things. If I recall you never reclaimed proxyship over the Potter seat when the Heir turned eleven as custom dictates. Both Madam Bones and I Reclaimed the proxy when the Heir Apparent of our houses turned eleven. You however still hold the proxy from when Lord James Potter, May his soul be with mother magic, gave you the proxy over thirteen years ago despite the Heir apparent having his formal debut. If I'm not mistaken that is quite serious and if it is found that you are using the seat without the Heirs permission, you will be fined and all bills that have been passed over the last two years will need to be reviewed and put to vote again." The entire hall was silent, everyone looking between Dumbledore and Dowager Longbottom. The minister's personal assistant was the only one moving. She was shuffling through stacks of papers until she found what she wanted and broke the silence.
"What Dowager Longbottom says is the truth. Lord Dumbledore you must reclaim proxyship or forfeit the seat" Dumbledore Recoiled like he had been slapped.
"You're accusing me of not asking permission to hold the proxy." Hadrian did not like the smug light in his eyes and was suddenly wondering if he had gained permission and made sure Harry didn't remember. So quickly Harry spoke under his breath hoping this would work.
"I Hadrian Potter-Black, Hereby revoke all previous permission given to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to hold the Potter proxy. So mote it be." he felt the magic settle and hoped that worked, just in case Dumbles had done something.
"We are not assuming anything. We are stating that you didn't reclaim the proxyship when you should have. Nothing more nothing less." Luciuse's smooth voice had a note of smugness and Hadrian couldn't help but grin.
"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Lord of the Noble House of Dumbledore, do hereby claim proxy of the seat of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, with permission of the heir apparent. so mote it be." for some time nothing happened but then the potter seat glowed. However, instead of the usual gold, it glowed red and the once golden potter crest that was inlaid on the back of the chair turned silver, indicating that the seat was now dormant. The whole chamber was in uproar. The most shocked however was Dumbledore.
"But I asked permission." He looked utterly confused before his face morphed into annoyance. He raised his voice before speaking again. "Maybe the way I asked Heir Potter was too informal for Lady Magic to accept it as permission." Hadrian was now thankful that he revoked permission beforehand. Lucius banged his gavel.
"And now Lord Greengrass." Greengrass had no problem claiming the Slytherin proxy which caused Dumbledore's face to sour further. The man had gained two proxies only to lose Three others and come out worse off. The previous bills of the last two years would need to be voted on again and Dumbles had lost most of his power. He had gone from holding seven seats to only holding one of the original seven and two others. He had also gone from holding ten votes to now holding three. If they voted on everything now most of the creature restrictions that had been passed over the last two years will be revoked. Neville's Gran was his new favorite person. She had managed to get the Potter proxy away from Dumbledore and in doing so called into question the voting over the last two years.
By the end of the session it was decided that instead of meeting once a fortnight they would meet twice a week so they can get through all the old bills. Nothing new could be submitted until they were finished. Dumbledore had talked his way out of any punishment for using the Potter seat without permission. He pulled out his best grandfather act and said that he had had the conversation with Harry but hadn't done anything formally. He had assumed that was enough for permission but was 'sad' to realize he had done something like this. Almost the entire hall had understanding expressions and Hadrian was using all of his self control to make sure that he didn't set anything on fire.