FicWad

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters, ideas, and situations created by JR Rowling and owned by her and her publishers. I own the original elements & characters. No money is being made by me, and no trademark or copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter XIII



The sobbing Margot quickly confessed her complicity, and cleared anyone else at Hogwarts of being involved, at least so far as she knew. Tonks took her away, while Moody removed the bodies.


"Quiet!" Harry called, and the anxious population of Hogwarts complied. "It's time the truth be told."


"Harry!" Dumbledore protested.


Harry ignored him. "Hermione, Luna, Padma? Would the three of you take down notes. We'll combine them for a press release later."


"Harry!" Dumbledore again pleaded.


Harry again ignored him. Instead, he stood on a bench and told the students the full story of the life of Tom Marvolo Riddle. There was a shriek when Harry got to the murder of Myrtle -- she had been lurking invisible in the hall, Sir Nicholas explained. In fact, all the ghosts and spirits (except Peeves) were now present, he told Harry, although few could be seen. Myrtle was crying in a corner.


Harry went on. Dumbledore went white when Harry explained about the Horcruxes, although he felt just a bit better when Harry described how dehumanizing the use of even one of them was and how immortality (as opposed to merely extending the lifespan) on Earth was a pipe dream. Harry then explained what five of the six Horcruxes were, and how he had already destroyed four of them.


"Luna?" he then requested.


Luna stopped scribbling and handed Harry her bookbag. "Here is the fifth Horcrux," he proclaimed. "Hufflepuff's Cup! Now, everyone stand back!"


And with that, Harry broke the magic on the Cup. For a brief instant, most of the students saw a glimpse of a ghostly, ghastly image, until that version of Voldemort faded.


Harry continued the story, telling them the full story of Quirrell, the Chamber of Secrets (leaving Ginny's name out of it), Sirius' escape and then Pettigrew's discovery and escape, and the Triwizard Tournament, ending with Voldemort's rebirth in June. "What do you say now?" Harry directly asked a very shaken Draco.


"What?" Draco demanded. "Even if everything you say were true, which I'm not saying it was, do you expect me to acknowledge the wizard who just murdered my father as my lord?"


"No," Harry answered. "I thought you were a real Slytherin, though."


"And what do you mean by that?" Draco demanded.


"I didn't murder your father, I killed him because he was following Voldemort and holding my two future consorts. To avenge your father means furthering Voldemort's power. Is that what you really want? Haven't you figured out that he only uses the Pure-Blood agenda to further his personal power? That what I'm asking you is will you be at least be neutral towards me, the wizard who just made YOU the Head of the Noble House of Malfoy?"


Draco blinked at that. That aspect of things had not occurred to him. "Neutrality? You're not asked me to acknowledge you as my lord instead of the Dark Lord?"


"I am asking for you to stand up as a man, your own man," Harry answered scornfully. "I am no one's lord."


"You are the Head of the Most Noble House of Potter," Hermione stated. "I am your bondmate-to-be and we are fully bonding. You are my lord."


"You said I would be acknowledged as your First Consort-to-be in February," Luna added. "You are my lord."


"And I hope I shall be able to call you the same," Padma added.

"But. . . ." Harry protested, at a loss for words.


Neville stepped forward. "There are no noble titles, like baron or duke, in our world any more," he said. "There are lords. You are a lord, as you head one of the families now called the Original Families. You may also be called a lord outside of exercising those duties if acknowledged as such by at least twelve people eligible to swear their fealty to you. Those people have to be adult wizards or witches, who have no personal or familial ties of fealty to any other. If they are underage, they may offer you conditional fealty until they are seventeen, assuming that they are the Head of a Noble Family over the age of fourteen or if not, if they are over the age of fifteen. And again, they can have no personal or familial pledges which would interfere."


With that, Neville dropped to his knees. "I, Neville Longbottom, acting head of the Ancient and Most Noble Family of Longbottom, do pledge my conditional fealty to Harry Potter as my lord, until my seventeenth birthday."


Harry was shocked. He knew he should not reject Neville's offer for many reasons, and that despite his personal reluctance, he really could not. He drew his wand and tapped Neville on each shoulder. "I accept your pledge. Rise, housecarl of the House of Potter." A flash showed that the oath between them was now in force, unless they both agreed to break it before Neville's seventeenth birthday, when it would lapse, or if Harry did not renew it on his seventeenth birthday. As was his right as the heir of an old Anglo-Saxon family, Harry used the older Saxon term rather than the Norman terms 'knight' or 'vassal'.


Neville had barely stood, let alone moved to kneel behind Harry, when Ron had taken his place. "I, Ronald Weasley, do pledge my conditional fealty to Harry Potter as my lord, until my seventeenth birthday."


Slightly stunned, Harry repeated his acceptance.


Fred and George instantly took his place. "I, George Weasley. . . .


"I, Frederick Weasley. . . ."


". . . do pledge our unconditional fealty to Harry Potter as our lord."


After Harry accepted them, a group of Gryffindors: Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Dean, Lavender, and some others, collided as they tried to follow. "Wait!" Harry begged, overwhelmed. "Please, think! Do all of you really want to do this?"


"Yes," Angelina answered.


"I certainly do," Dean said.


"It's not just Gryffindors, either," Anthony called from the Ravenclaws.



"The Magical World has been looking for leadership, real leadership, against Darkness and bigotry a long time," Ernie declaimed, giving Dumbledore a dirty look in passing. "You're it, my lord. And we're in it with you, if you will have us!"


"And us," Sirius stated. Harry's eyes went wide.


"Unless this is a youth crusade," Remus agreed. "And even then, I think we're young enough at heart to join."


Over the next hour, in addition to Sirius and Remus, every eligible Gryffindor pledged themselves to Harry (even Seamus, which had made Ginny irate, since she was too young to pledge herself to Harry), and so had more than half of the eligible Hufflepuffs. As for the Ravenclaws, the Fifth years other than Cornfoot, Corner, Li, and Edgecombe had done so. So had, to many people's shock, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis from Slytherin. Harry's accepting them had then brought in four Sixth year Slytherins as well.


Harry then called out the students with known ties to Death Eaters, no matter what their year, and had then stand to one side, making Dumbledore look nearly as worried as the students. Harry then called out a smaller of group of fifteen students, Fourth through Seventh years, all but Zack Smith a Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Some, like Cornfoot and Zabini, were dedicated Pure Bloods while disliking Voldemort. Bulstrode and Parkinson were both pro-Pure-Blood, and supporters of Draco at least. Others, like Smith, were dedicated troublemakers. Finally, he called out Cho and the nine girls remaining in her Clique.


"I hadn't asked anyone, well, I suppose other than Hermione and Luna and now Padma, to join their fates to mine." He looked directly at the eighteen students from Death Eater families (ie a parent, grandparent, uncle, or great uncle as a Death Eater; thirteen were in Slytherin, five in Ravenclaw). "You lot probably couldn't, even if you wanted to. I am asking two things from you, however. First, I want you to think very carefully about if you really want to tie your lives to Voldemort. I am going to destroy him. He will lose."


He looked to take in the second group as well. "Secondly, I'm not in favor of 'Mugglizing' magical Britain. I do believe that merit should mean more than blood in Ministry hiring and promotion. I do believe that justice should be based on truth, not influence. I believe we should be more open to Muggle ideas, but not to Muggle society. You can accept those terms and we'll get along, or you can reject them, and we'll see who wins."


Harry now stood again on the bench (he had gotten off to accept Neville's pledge). He held his wand aloft. "I am the Heir of Godric Gryffindor. I am descended from Helga Hufflepuff. I am now the primary magical heir of Salazar Slytherin and one of Rowena Ravenclaw as well." Everyone gasped as the ceiling of the great hall suddenly stopped reflecting the night sky, and reflected the banners of the Four Houses -- surrounding the arms of the House of Potter. "Many of you have wondered at this unusual wand. It was made by Merlin, and only one acknowledged as his magical heir can safely wield it." A gasp escaped from nearly everyone in the hall. Harry glared at the Death Eaters and pro-Pure Bloods. "I suggest you all take that into consideration."


Harry stepped down and faced Cho, and the night sky faded back into view on the ceiling. "We've always treated each other with respect, and even a little affection." Cho nodded, a bit frightened. "You have not treated the woman who will become my First Consort with either. May I please ask you and your friends to at least treat her respectfully, if not kindly?"


Cho bowed deeply. "That is a reasonable request, Lord Potter," she answered. "I shall do so, and ask my friends to do the same. And I deeply regret that one of our group tried to injure her and our friend Padma. I swear, I didn't know about her father."


"I believe you. Thank you, Miss Chang." Harry respectfully bowed to her and then turned to face the majority of the students. "Now, one final thing."


The great hall tensed.


"It's after Seven-thirty, in fact, it's almost Eight! No one has eaten anything, not even Ron! Let's eat!"




An hour later, Dumbledore was meeting with Harry, Hermione, Luna, Padma, Sirius, Remus, Moody, Tonks, McGonagall, and Flitwick. "Why?" Dumbledore asked Harry.


"Why anything in particular?" Harry asked. "Or some big why? Like 'why are we here'?"


"Why tell everyone what you told them?" Dumbledore demanded.


"Why not?" Harry asked. "Before I left the hideout, I had Winky home in on me, and bring the broken Horcrux shells. He now knows I've destroyed five of the six, but not that I know what the sixth is. I also know that if he tries to divide himself one more time, it won't work. It would leave his consciousness unable to work the body, but his followers might find a way around that, given enough time. Now that he knows for certain that he has created a sixth Horcrux, he should know that, too. He needs to really protect that last Horcrux, which is inside his snake. He can't afford to guard it himself, so that probably leaves. . . ?"


"Wormtail," Sirius growled.


"Find me Pettigrew, Sirius," Harry said. He looked at Remus. "Any luck with the werewolves?"


"As best I can tell, there are just the thirty-six of us I told you about in the British Isles," Remus said. "Thirty of us are registered, six not. The six unregistered are following Voldemort, as least as of today, or rather five of them are following Greyback, who is following Voldemort. The other twenty-nine are willing to be neutral, in exchange for free Wolfsbane Potion, provided they get it by the December full moon."


"I've already made the arrangements with Professor Slughorn," Harry said. "He's not making it himself, but he referred me to two of his former students he says can do it, and who need the work."


"You're paying for it? Harry. . . ."


Harry shrugged. "For all thirty of you? Twelve hundred Galleons a month or so. It's worth it and I can afford it."


"We'll try and find alternate funding later," Hermione stated firmly.


"Can you help Sirius look for Pettigrew and keep dealing with the other werewolves?" Harry asked Remus.


"Yes," Remus said firmly.


"Good. Oh, and you're on salary. Five Galleons a day. Everyone else who swore allegiance to me today gets five a month."


"I don't need it," Sirius said.


"Keep that in mind when making out any expense reports," Harry retorted. "You lot made me a lord and patron. I can treat you primarily like vassals, or I can treat you more like a Roman patron would treat his clients. I can live with myself more easily with the latter." He turned to Dumbledore. "Next Sunday morning, I will start training those students who swore allegiance. We'll call them the 'Defense Association'. After I run them into the floor, I'll offer to absolve any of them from their oath, and will do so after each training session for the next few weeks, and I'll be training them hard every Sunday. If Voldemort is dumb enough to attack the castle, we'll be able to defend it. After Voldemort is defeated, I'll try again to get them to agree to absolve the oaths."


"That is good to know," Dumbledore said, relieved.


"Professor Flitwick, Professor Moody, would you care to join us and share some of your knowledge?" Harry asked.


"I would be delighted, dear boy," Flitwick answered.


"Wouldn't miss it, lad," Moody agreed.


"I'm hoping you and the other teachers might come and give pointers some weeks," Harry told McGonagall.


"Why . . . why thank you, Mister Potter," a somewhat flustered McGonagall answered. "Or should I say Lord Potter or Lord Harry?"


"I'll answer to any of those, but of course in a classroom setting, just 'Mister Potter' is fine," Harry answered. "Now, it is getting late, and I and my friends here need to get some work done and we also need to settle some personal matters. We might not be available until class Monday morning. We will not make a habit of this." Harry stood, and Hermione, Luna, and Padma rose with him. "Headmaster, I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort still had plans for Azkaban and the dementors. I hope you and your contacts in the Ministry are still looking into that. Goodnight, all." The three women nodded at the assembled adults and followed Harry from the Headmaster's office.


"What just happened?" McGonagall demanded.


"We have a Light Lord, or perhaps a Gray Lord, to oppose the Dark Lord," Sirius answered.


"He is the Heir of Merlin," Remus pointed out. "The magical world, or at least magical Britain, will never be as it was."


"Thank Merlin," Sirius stated, and then he smirked. "Or should I say, 'thank Harry'?"


"I wouldn't in his hearing," Moody growled.



Harry took Hermione, Luna, and Padma to the Room of Requirement, which at first was a comfortable study. Harry first told Hermione in detail what had happened in Voldemort's lair. She and Padma both flushed when Harry got to Padma's confession.


"Shall I tell her my secret?" Harry asked Hermione.


"Yes, I think you should," Hermione said.


"Padma would be joining us more for you than for me," Harry reminded her.


"I was unsure of how I felt about being intimate with a woman, despite fooling around with someone for the last year," Hermione said thoughtfully.


"Ginny Weasley, you mean?" Padma asked. Seeing Hermione's look, she added, "It was obvious to me at least. I doubt if many others noticed."


"Yes, well, Luna and I have also been intimate, with Harry. That, and something Harry told me, made me think about you," Hermione said. "I found I was interested in the idea but I've been more interested in getting to know Luna."


"And what did you tell her?" Padma asked.


Harry told her the story of how he had returned from the future, as well as information about that time line. "I have to admit," Padma said, "I didn't even suspect that." She smiled shyly at Harry. "I do expect to fulfill ALL my duties as consort to you, and I am looking forward to them. I would not be here, despite my strong feelings for Hermione and my attraction to Luna, if I did not desire you as well . . . my lord."


Hermione looked at Padma, who answered, "I wouldn't want to get between you, Harry, and Luna, especially when Harry has to perform in public."


"Harry can shoot twice a day easily," Hermione answered. "We'll do the Sunday ceremony well before lunch, and the two of us can teach you to please Harry after dinner."


"As you will, my lady," Padma replied, her genuine smile revealing her interest.


Luna shrugged. "Hermione likes making these plans for lovemaking, but we always just get carried away and have a fab time."


Hermione gave Luna a look of mock hurt, so Harry jumped in. "Tomorrow morning, after we work out, we also have to finish off the piece for The Prophet and The Quibbler," Harry said. "As for now. . . ." The room of requirement shimmered into a room with a large canopy bed with gold and blue curtains, a roaring fireplace, and one door. "Shall we shower and snuggle?"


That sounded good to the three young women. Harry called for Dobby, who agreed to get them all clean clothes for the morning, and to bring refreshments.




While Harry was enjoying himself, the pro-Voldemort Slytherins were having a meeting of their own. "You've been leading us since Flint left," Bulstrode said, opening the meeting, "and if anything you've led us against Potter, and Granger for that matter, from the beginning. Now, you tell me, do you believe that Potter can win?"


"Does that matter?" Pansy demanded scornfully. "Granger is still a Mudblood and Potter little better."


"Both matter, but only to a degree" Nott said. "I couldn't follow Potter right now even if I wanted to, and he knows enough not to ask. If he does win, however, opposing him now means we lose any political influence for decades. Our fathers have already lost our families that influence for now, unless the Dark Lord wins."


"So, we can't support Potter, but do we work against him?" Bulstrode asked. "Despite my family's ancestry, I'm not a Pure-Blood, not even a Full-Blood, although any children I have will be. I have the least to lose of any of us. Draco, you have the most. You always claimed the leadership. So, now lead us."


It was at that moment that Draco came to the realization that many young and spoiled people never realized until it was too late -- that being young and rich and spoiled did not protect you from the real world. He had not fully realized this in the original time line until that night Dumbledore had been murdered, and then it was too late to change his course. Now, however, he was head of the Noble House of Malfoy and he was the head of this group. His decision would actually affect his life and the lives of his friends. If he chose wrong, they would all suffer for it, and his wealth would likely not protect him, let alone them.


Finally, Draco answered, "The Dark Lord might be in contact with some of us, but until then, I say we stay neutral. If Potter does win, Granger will push for radical reforms which will sooner or later go against them. I mean, just think of that SPEW nonsense last year. Then we shall be able to show that the Old Ways are the best. So until then, we stay as neutral as possible, even if we're forced to pass on information."


With that, all agreed, some with more enthusiasm than others.