The List of Magic

by mintytoothpick

The Sacred Twenty-Eight. The ancient pure-blood families. Families like the Malfoys, Blacks, and Lestranges had persisted for centuries, with their lines unbroken, unsullied by inbreeding, despite their rigid insistence on pure magical blood. How had these families, so small in number, survived where others had withered? Unbeknownst to Dumbledore, the answer lay before him.

1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The List

The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts had an air of mystery that even Albus Dumbledore, seasoned though he was in the arcane, found unsettling. Circular and steeped in centuries of history, the room seemed to pulse with the magic of all those who had occupied it before him. Ancient portraits of former headmasters gazed down, some with curiosity, others with a kind of silent reverence. But they said nothing as Dumbledore took his place behind the great mahogany desk.

There, waiting for him, was a scroll of parchment. It appeared ordinary enough at first glance, tucked amidst stacks of books and trinkets that spun and whirred in the background. But this was no ordinary document. It had materialized the moment Dumbledore had assumed the role of Headmaster, summoned into existence as if by the will of the castle itself.

He unrolled the scroll, his eyes quickly scanning its contents. What he saw was far more than he had anticipated.

It was a list.

Not a list of current students or past Hogwarts attendees, as might have been expected, but something much deeper, much more profound. The parchment held the names of every magical child born, the moment their magic had been strong enough to manifest. Whether Muggle-born, half-blood, or pure-blood, each name was etched onto the paper, glowing faintly as if with its own inner light. Some names, Dumbledore noted, had appeared mere moments before he unrolled the scroll, newborns just coming into the world, their futures not yet written.

As he examined the list further, he realized the full gravity of what he held in his hands. This was more than an admissions tool. This was a complete registry of every magical soul in the wizarding world, updated in real-time with the births of those strong enough in magic to one day attend Hogwarts.

Dumbledore's heart raced as the implications unfolded before him. With such a list, one could track the growth of wizarding society, predict the rise and fall of powerful magical lines, even anticipate potential threats or allies. It was a weapon in the right hands—or the wrong ones.

He continued scanning the names, many of them familiar: Potter, Bones, Greengrass, Longbottom. And, of course, Malfoy. He frowned slightly at the sight of that name, recalling the ancient, pure-blood family that had persisted for centuries in its relentless pursuit of power and influence.

As Dumbledore stared at the scroll, another name materialized—a faint shimmer in the air, a new child born somewhere in the world. The magical threads of the list recorded every birth, every flicker of power. It felt invasive, unsettling. How long had this scroll existed? How many headmasters before him had kept it locked away, guarding this knowledge?

The truth, however, was far more complex than Dumbledore could have imagined.

The list was not as secret as he believed.

Far beyond the walls of Hogwarts, in the manor houses of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, similar scrolls existed. These ancient pure-blood families had their own copies of the list, passed down through generations, used with ruthless precision to ensure the continuation of their power. The Sacred Twenty-Eight had been using the list for centuries. The powerful pure-blood families had long known that survival would not come through reckless inbreeding and shrinking bloodlines. The wizarding world was too small for that, too fragile. So they had adapted. Through the list, they ensured the birth of male heirs when needed, arranged marriages with the strongest magical families, and even quietly adopted children with potent magical potential when their own lines began to falter.

To outsiders, it appeared as though the Sacred Twenty-Eight were simply lucky—always producing strong, magically gifted children and maintaining their dominance within wizarding society. Few questioned it. Fewer still knew how they did it.

The list was their lifeline, a way to manipulate their bloodlines without appearing to stray from the strict code of pure-blood supremacy. The Malfoys, the Blacks, the Lestranges—they all had their eyes on the parchment, tracking each magical birth with the precision of a hunter stalking prey. They made calculated moves, knowing exactly which families to bind to theirs through marriage, and which to quietly absorb, ensuring the pure-blood lines endured.

But Dumbledore did not know this. He believed the list was a secret entrusted solely to the headmasters of Hogwarts, a tool to protect the school and its future students. He had no reason to suspect that the same families who had ruled the wizarding world from the shadows for centuries had access to the very same list he now studied.

As Dumbledore locked the scroll away in a hidden compartment of his desk, sealing it with protective enchantments, he felt a strange sense of responsibility settle over him. The list was a powerful secret, but one he believed only he could control. It would stay hidden, used only for the benefit of the school, or so he thought.

He had no way of knowing that elsewhere, in ancient manor houses steeped in as much history as Hogwarts itself, the list was already in play. It had been for centuries.

And the Sacred Twenty-Eight had no intention of relinquishing their hold on the future.