Chapter 7:

Sirius Black invited myself, Narcissa, and Draco to dinner along with the Tonks family and Harry Potter. It was not at Grimmauld Place. He and Harry lived in a rural cottage. I wasn't told, but assumed that Grimmauld Place was kept as a safe house and secure meeting location, but with too many bad memories for Sirius he'd rather live somewhere else.

He actually got himself another house elf, something I wasn't expecting. I guess after hearing about how Harry Potter had to do all the housework at the Dursleys he decided to get an elf so there were not chores that needed to be done at his cottage.

We arrived and Sirius said, "I want to formally thank you for helping me get released from Azkaban and also for letting me know to claim my Lordship of House Black." We gave the formal replies expected by our etiquette.

The Tonks family arrived. Narcissa went over and hugged Andromeda and everyone greeted each other. Nymphadora said, "Wotcher Harry" to Harry Potter. I held my tongue on this, but it grated me. She should have been raised with the refined accent of the Black family, not the common accent she exhibited. She also had a rare magical gift of being a metamorphmagus, but was cast aside from the Black family due to her father being a muggleborn. I was thinking of using her as another example of how many of the most magically gifted in our society are half-bloods.

Sirius said, "I would like to announce that the Tonks family has been welcomed back to being part of the Black family.

I also announced that the Black family renounced the actions of Bellatrix. I went through a complicated set of actions, including facilitating reparations given to the Longbottom family from Bellatrix's own property kept in the Lestrange vault, and further complicated steps in facilitating the discovery of a stolen object that also contains a soul piece of Voldemort placed by Bellatrix in the same vault. That object has had the soul piece destroyed by Goblin curse breakers. The object was returned to the heirs of Hepzibah Smith in its original condition, before its theft by Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort.

I am not going to look a gift jobberknoll in the beak. I appreciate our cooperation and want it to continue."

Draco behaved correctly, and called Nymphadora Tonks his cousin. I addressed her as "Tonks" the name which she wished to be addressed as, and said, "Tonks. I am gratified that the Black family has come together.

I am planning to push forward some changes in our society. I am inclined to refer to your example as part of that effort."

Tonks said, "What? Me?"

I continued, "Do not underestimate yourself. You have a rare magical gift last seen in the Black family many generations ago. Did it not occur to you that it took the combination of your background from both your mother and father to bring it out? In addition you have qualified for auror training, a not insubstantial accomplishment.

My point is that contrary to the belief in superiority of pure blood, that a reintegration of magical gifts from generations of squibs or newly created magic, will strengthen our magical society.

I should note that it is not an inversion of my former views. I maintain that traditions and magic from our forebears are an essential part of that society, and those of us steeped in those traditions should help those not to learn of their heritage or their new society that they belong in."

Just before the end of the Yule break, I invited the Grangers for brunch. Knowing that finding the correct book was important, I found one that explained well the need for a magical bond to house-elves, and sent it to Hermione.

We did the formal greetings and they all followed the etiquette books correctly. I said, "Lady Dagworth-Granger, I would like you to meet our house-elves Kreacher and Dobby."

They were in uniforms and politely greeted them. Hermione had already met Sirius's elf, so wasn't as disturbed by the idea. She also knew enough etiquette to not ask questions that would seem hostile to her hosts. Draco helped remind her of this in a letter before her visit.

Narcissa told Hermione, "At Hogwarts, if you ever want food outside of meal hours, you can go to the kitchens. It is directly down the stairs from the Great Hall. Look for a painting of a bowl of fruit, tickle the pear and a door handle will appear. In the kitchens the Hogwarts house-elves would be happy to get you a snack."

Draco added, "Hogwarts does a great service of providing a place for house-elves that are not bound to families to gain magic from. They cannot live for long without that magic."

Later Mrs Emma Granger said, "When Professor McGonagall introduced us to magic, she didn't tell us about the cultural issues between us muggles, the muggleborn, and the purebloods. She only gave us a thin book which was an introduction to the wizarding world."

I answered, "As a member of the Board of Governors of Hogwarts, I am working on changing that. Just as we have a class describing the muggle world for those not acquainted with it, there should also be one introducing the wizarding world.

You need to understand something underpinning the tensions in our society. Quite frankly the wizarding world is afraid of the non-magical world. In the 300 years since we have had the Statute of Secrecy, the non-magical world has grown even more numerous and has more effective ways of killing and of keeping track of people. Looking at the wars in this century, I do not think you could make the case that the non-magical world has become more peaceful than 300 years ago."

Dan Granger said, "Fear leads to violence. I have read some of the back issues of the newspaper, the Daily Prophet."

I answered, "I was part of those violent events, I fell under the influence of a madman. At first I thought he might have had an answer to the encroachments of the safety and continuity of our society. I more recently have seen that it was an approach that cannot have a good outcome.

Lady Dagworth-Granger, I am certain that you will have researched the effects of the Imperio spell and compared it to my claimed effects. You should be aware that the Dark Lord had knowledge of esoteric magic not found in publically available books. I won't go further into that topic, except to say the Dark Lord could be far more persuasive than would seem reasonable.

Getting back to the future of the wizarding world, almost any future projection of different approaches, or even non-approaches, meaning inertia, lead to disastrous outcomes for both worlds. Each is capable of causing enormous damage to the other, and indeed to themselves. In 1693 the non-magical threat to the magical world was already considered catastrophic enough for us to isolate ourselves. Without speculating on who the ultimate winner would be, it would safe to say that it would be catastrophic for both sides."

Hermione asked, "Do you mean by magical attacks or by taking over the minds of those who control the nuclear weapons?"

I answered, "Your mind immediately leaps to the most destructive of methods. While you are brighter than most, and more familiar with the non-magical world than most, others can arrive at the same conclusions."

I continued, "Now that we have convinced ourselves that a war between the Wizarding world and the Muggle world would be disastrous to both, how can we avoid that at a time of increasing Muggle technology."

Hermione said, "CCTV cameras, mobile phones, internet discussion groups?"

I answered, "Among many. Some communication occurs between the two sets of governments. There are some challenges now. Do you think that the East German Stasi didn't know about magic? Now that their archives are being made available to anyone who shows up, will their Ministry of Magic be successful in removing their relevant files? The same would apply to perhaps 20 nations that have suddenly abandoned their culture of secrecy.

Beyond that aspect, and the effective technology of state security services, much of their capabilities are finding their way to companies that simply want to know more about their markets, and to curious people that like looking into anomalies.

Consider the public cameras and the internet. One could imagine a day not far from now when they are combined, making erasing the data and the knowledge from those who saw magic very difficult."

Dan Granger asked, "So you are saying that the Statute of Secrecy is doomed?"

I answered, "It might happen suddenly. It is unlikely that the international organization of Wizardry, called the ICW, will decide to end the Statute of Secrecy."

Emma Granger said, "You want our daughter to be a bridge between the two worlds?"

I answered, "I can see, in part, where Lady Dagworth-Granger got her inquisitive nature and ability to come to insightful conclusions.

There is a belief among many of the pure-blood community that those who have muggle parents have less magical ability. Lady Dagworth-Granger will be a significant counter-example, as will others that we will identify. As the belief also extends to half-bloods, the examples of the Dark Lord, of Dumbledore, of Harry Potter, of Nymphadora Tonks will be instrumental in showing that the top echelons of magical ability can be found among half-bloods."

Draco added, "Those living in non-magical homes have disadvantages at Hogwarts. They don't get the introductions to magic and magical learning that many of us in wizarding homes do, and they are forbidden to practice magic outside of school. Those of us in warded magical homes are not subject to the enforcement of rules against under age magical use."

Emma Granger said, "That is simply dreadful. How expensive are those wards?"

I answered, "I am going to provide wards for your home. If you were to be part of political movements, it would be best to prevent any attempts at revenge. Wards can be built at different levels. Many graduates of Hogwarts can make their own competent ones at no cost. Hiring skilled labor is where the cost is incurred.

There is another factor about under age magic to consider, however. It can be dangerous, and adult spell casters can identify such mishaps and either fix them or bring the victims to our hospital."

Dan Granger asked, "What is Hermione's role in your plans?"

I answered, "Part is what I already said, showing her extra-ordinary ability without being a pureblood. The other will be her learning about and respecting the culture that has existed for many centuries. Yes, there will be things she will want to change, but those will not be immediate or naive ideas, but ones that are well thought out after learning about our history."

Draco added, "Maybe we can add to our potions tutor, learning about history. The ghost Binns seems obsessed with teaching about the Goblin rebellions."

I said, "I will send some texts that would be a good starting point. You can learn also with Harry Potter, since his knowledge of the Wizarding world had been denied to him."

Draco added, "I would like to learn more about this as well."