The chamber was dimly lit, the glow of enchanted flames casting elongated shadows across the stone walls. Three men stood around an ornate table, their expressions solemn as they reviewed the parchment before them. The air crackled with ancient magic, the kind that seeped into the very foundation of wizarding society—powerful, binding, and absolute.
Lord Hadrian Potter, his dark hair streaked with silver, set his quill down with a measured breath. "Are we all in agreement?"
Across from him, Lord Evander Nott gave a sharp nod, his aristocratic features impassive. "This alliance will ensure the stability of our bloodlines. The recent conflicts have made it clear—divided, we are vulnerable."
"Not just vulnerable," Lord Cassius Malfoy added, his voice smooth yet weighted with concern. "If we do not take steps to preserve our traditions, the old ways may be lost entirely."
Hadrian glanced at the parchment again, the elegant script spelling out an arrangement meant to secure the future of their houses. A triad—one witch, two wizards—bound by magic, ensuring that their families would remain allied, their legacies intertwined.
"The contract will remain dormant until a Potter daughter is born," he reminded them.
Cassius exhaled. "And with how rare witches have been born into the Potter line, it may never be enacted."
Evander tapped the parchment. "Then we have little to lose and everything to gain."
Hadrian reached for his wand, murmuring the incantation that would seal the magic into the contract. Gold filigree wove through the parchment, the runes locking into place as the agreement took hold.
None of them could have known it would take over two and a half centuries before the magic was awakened.