Albus Dumbledore entered the meeting room of the Wizengamot and looked around.
People he had known for decades were gathered around the room.
Albus sighed.
At the moment, only those Albus knew were gathered, but soon, the new Lords would join them after they had sworn themselves to the Wizengamot in front of the gathered other Lords and Ladies.
For a moment, Albus looked around, his gaze searching those that were missing.
Augusta Longbottom wasn't there, and Albus knew what that meant.
He sighed internally.
In his opinion, Neville Longbottom and the other heirs who would join the Wizengamot today were far too young to dabble in politics, but sadly, Albus had no say in their joining.
His gaze travelled further through the crowd.
Some of the Lords and Ladies were still gathered at the bottom of the Chamber, others had already taken their seats and were talking with their neighbours.
And then he saw somebody he hadn't expected to see at all.
Malfoy.
Lucius Malfoy.
Albus stared at the man.
"He should be dead," he thought, feeling a bit thrown. "Voldemort… my own intelligence… everything said that he died…"
And yet, Malfoy was there.
Lucius Malfoy was there - and from the looks of it, Albus wasn't the only one who was thrown by it.
More than one person threw a look or two at the Malfoy Lord.
Albus took a deep breath and forced himself to ignore it.
Instead, he returned to looking over the crowd, deliberately ignoring the corner the Malfoy Lord was standing in.
While he watched the crowd, his mind returned to the last time he had been in this chamber - back, when Harry had been there and defended himself.
And with that thought he remembered the questions he had had back then - questions, he had dismissed back then and wasn't willing to think about it even now.
He knew that Moody had thought that Harry was an imposter, but Albus had always been sure that he knew better - and not only because of what he had gathered from the day Harry had defended himself in the Wizengamot.
Instead, Albus was sure that Harry had been possessed by Voldemort on and off over the whole last six months.
Albus's reasoning was easy: the boy, while different, was still too much Harry, knew too much that only Harry knew and - the most important thing: the boy could do a patronus.
A patronus that he had been shown to produce in his own memory at the trial.
And memories couldn't be faked without people seeing that they were faked.
It was somehow reassuring that Harry, for all the influence Voldemort had on him, hadn't yet succumbed to the dark.
That thought stop brought back his musings from the trial and his discussion with Sirius who hadn't been happy when Albus had talked to him after it.
"I thought you were there to defend Harry - but now I heard from others that you simply sat by and watched!" the enraged future Lord Black had accused him. "And don't tell me it wasn't so! Nymphadora was there as an Auror and she let it slip that Harry had to defend himself even though you were there!"
"I had prepared everything to defend him," Albus countered calmly, when Sirius glared at him childishly. "But Harry obviously had another idea."
Sirius scoffed.
"What should he have prepared?" he countered with an eye roll. "He's a child."
"He showed them his memories," Albus answered, while foregoing the fact that Harry had also known how to defend himself by using the laws - Voldemort's influence, Albus was sure of that.
Of course, the memories Harry had seen came with their own troubles.
Harry's patronus was a stag.
Everybody in the Order knew that.
And yet, the memories showed something different, something that if Alastor had known, he'd had taken as a confirmation of his theory.
"A phoenix," Albus had mused when he had seen it in the Wizengamot meeting. "Not a stag."
And yet, Albus, while surprised, had seen the change in the patronus as something else.
Of course, Alastor could have been right with his imposter-theory, but Albus thought that the phoenix-patronus had more to do with the fact that Harry had been traumatized just a few months before.
"Voldemort forced him to watch Cedric die," Albus knew. "A patronus can change through a great emotional upheaval. Watching his classmate die and Voldemort resurrect - that could have been enough."
Harry had survived that encounter while Cedric had died, so Albus wasn't too surprised that Harry's patronus had changed - most likely without the boy actually registering.
Most likely, Harry might have had no idea that his patronus had changed until he showed the memory - and even then he might not have noticed with the stress he was under and the strain of fighting off Voldemort's influence on his mind.
Of course, neither of that he had told Sirius back then - and now, after Sirius had turned himself into the new Lord Black, Albus was even less inclined to tell the other man that Harry had been influenced by Voldemort.
Sirius, with his sudden inclination for the dark, might have seen it as a way to join the dark fully, after all.
Oh, Sirius hadn't said that he would join the dark, but his behaviour, the fact that he suddenly used his family magic - Albus wasn't blind. It was only a matter of time now.
If at all.
Maybe, with the Wizengamot starting, Sirius would give in and leave the light to take over the heritage he had gained from his ancestors…
He was too much like his name's sake, too much like Phineas Nigelus Black, to refuse the calling of his ancestors inclination of the dark much longer.
Albus mourned the day when the last of the Blacks would fall to the dark.
For a moment, he closed his eyes in silent grief before he turned his gaze towards the Black seat.
It was still empty.
Sirius wasn't there, yet.
It made Albus nervous.
What if Sirius had taken Harry with him to announce him as his heir?
Albus took a deep breath.
No.
Sirius had promised him that he wouldn't force politics onto Harry until Harry had found his feet. Albus didn't know what to think of Sirius right now, but he was willing to think that Sirius would keep his promise to him until he thought Harry better prepared.
Maybe, Albus would have mused on that more, would have tried to plan out how to keep Harry from the Wizengamot until the boy was truly ready and not just ready in Sirius's eyes - but something else stopped him in his track.
A seat that should have been empty, was occupied.
He started, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
The Potter seat was occupied.
The POTTER seat was occupied.
It should have been empty.
It was Albus prerogative to vote for the Potters.
He was the Potter proxy.
So why… how… why ?
He stared at the person in the seat.
It took him a moment to understand what he was seeing.
It took him another moment to remember who the man was - who was sitting in the seat that belonged to the Potters.
Xenophilius Lovegood.
Lovegood .
A commoner.
A man who shouldn't even be there - no matter that his father-in-law was a Lord, no matter that his daughter would be a lady one day…
Lovegood .
Why was Lovegood in the Potter seat?
How was he there?
It shouldn't have been.
Albus… Albus was the proxy!
Albus clenched his hands to fists.
Lovegood was sitting in the Potter seat.
And no matter what else was true, for a proxy to take a seat in the seat of a lord's family, the proxy must have a claim to the seat as a proxy.
So, Lovegood's claim was legal .
Which also meant that ALBUS had lost his claim.
Albus's hand clenched further.
He had lost his claim - and he didn't even know how, or when! He hadn't been told, he hadn't known… and Albus didn't understand.
He had no idea how he had lost control over the Potter seat without finding out.
And he had even less an idea how to change it back so that he had control again.
Albus forcefully tried to unclench his fists.
He knew that the loss of the Potter seat also meant that he had lost his guardianship over Harry - something that Albus knew he needed even more now with Voldemort back.
For a moment, Albus wished that he could go to Fudge and ensure that he'd regain Harry's guardianship but he also knew that Fudge was far more interested in Albus losing his own seat in the Wizengamot than help him regain control over Harry.
Before he could think about it further, somebody interrupted his frantic thought process.
"Albus," he turned and looked at the man who had stepped up behind him.
"Alastor," he greeted his friend.
The old Auror followed Albus's gaze towards the Potter seat.
"Guess that Lovegood decided that he had to be here today as well," the Auror said as if it was logical that Xenophilius Lovegood was the Potter proxy.
"Lovegood," Albus finally forced himself to say. "This isn't the first time he's there?"
Proxy, unlike lords, didn't have rituals to take over the seats. They showed their claim by being able to take a seat in the seats and not by swearing themselves to the Wizengamot like the lords. They were proxies, there to keep the seat active when the lord wasn't able to attend or too young and they always voted in the lord's interest.
Albus had been the Potter proxy even though he had never taken a seat in the Potter seat.
He had his own seat to sit in, after all.
"He was there the last time, I heard," Alastor said dismissively. "Wasn't active before. I wonder why he decided to show up back then and today. It's not as if he cares for politics, after all."
Albus swallowed.
"How… how did he claim it?"
How was Lovegood related to the Potters? Because, as far as Albus knew, only relations could claim a seat if the Wizengamot themselves didn't decide on a proxy.
Albus had gained the Potter seat through a Wizengamot decision - so for Lovegood to claim it without another official vote on it, meant that Lovegood was related to the Potters.
Alastor shrugged.
"Something about a distant aunt marrying in the Potter line," he said. "As far as I know, his claim is ridiculous, but for whatever reason, the seat accepted his claim, so here he is."
Which didn't bode well for Albus at all, because for such a distant relation to be accepted above Albus… it was basically an indirect indication that Albus had been going against the wishes of the current Heir Potter.
Which again was an indication that Harry might be losing his fight against Voldemort's influence.
Albus shuddered.
Before he could think further about it, the Wizengamot was called into session and he was forced to take a seat.
There was nothing Albus could do right now.
Whatever he did, it would have to wait until after the first meeting in January.
Stepping into the Wizengamot chamber was nerve-wracking for Neville.
Yes, he had known it would happen.
Yes, he had his Gran at his side.
But that didn't matter.
Keeping calm and collected took basically everything out of him.
Nevertheless, his hands shook when he stepped up into the line of those who would claim their seats today.
Neville guessed that he should be thankful that he wasn't the only one claiming today. He was a mess already, it would have been worse if he had ended up waiting for the introduction alone.
Then, the meeting started.
It was the usual introduction, an announcement that this was the first meeting of the new year, before Amelia Bones went on and told the hall that the claimants for the seats would start their claim now.
Zabini, as one of the youngest, was the first family called.
Neville watched his schoolmate step forward and couldn't help but wonder if the other boy was as nervous as Neville.
"Step forward, Heir, and state your claim," Amelia Bones said who was not only leading the Wizengamot that day but also the introduction of the new lords.
Blaise Zabini stepped to the front of the platform.
Neville couldn't help but feel a bit envious when he noticed that Blaise's hands didn't shake at all when he placed them on the obsidian obelisk in the middle of the platform.
Neville remembered what it was.
The Stone of Judgement.
Enhanced by Merlin himself - and also the stone King Arthur had drawn Excalibur from.
This stone knew every family, could trace the lines and only it could decide through the magic woven into it if the title the person was trying to claim was theirs to claim.
"I am Blaise Bazileus Adrian Zabini" the Zabini Heir said. "I am heir to my line."
Everyone in the Wizengamot knew these words. It was a traditional form to state the claim to a House and had to be formulated like that whenever a new lord took over.
"I call forth the Lordship I carry. I am Lord Zabini, as I was born to my father who was the last Lord Zabini."
Soft light began to glow around the boy and a crest - his family-crest - appeared behind him. A sign that the boy had stated the truth and was also acknowledged from the Chamber itself as the rightful heir to his line.
"So be it, so mote it be." The boy ended and the crest lit up behind him before the light entered his body.
"So mote it be" Amelia said. "Welcome, Lord Zabini - take your seat."
And so it kept going.
Albus couldn't help but feel nervous when the first heir stepped up and claimed his position.
Zabini.
A boy Albus had long since seen as a lost cause.
There was no chance that Zabini would be anything but part of the dark secion.
He didn't know who he expected next, but it definitely wasn't Minerva.
The old witch threw him a dark look when she stepped up and claimed her seat.
There was silence when McGonagall entered their ranks.
And Albus knew why.
Everybody had known that Minerva's father was a muggle - and yet, she had a seat, a seat that she inherited from her father's line.
Albus clenched his fists again.
It was something he had never wanted Minerva to find out.
The McGonagalls had been magical once, something that Albus had found out by chance, but their allies…
Albus shook his head.
Black.
Slytherin.
Prince.
LeFay.
Emrys .
No, Minerva, in Albus's eyes, would have been better off without taking her seat.
Sadly, the witch hadn't come to him and had instead decided to come here by herself to claim something that wasn't worth claiming.
It would just throw her to the sharks, because alliances weren't so easy to change, especially not without talking the change through with the lords you were allied with before announcing it in the Wizengamot.
If you didn't, it was easy to end up in a blood-feud.
And that had been something Albus would have liked to protect his colleague from.
But before he could muse how to help her, another person stepped up.
Sirius.
He, unlike Minerva and Zabini, was already Lord of his line.
Instead, he looked over the other lords, before reaching for the Stone of Judgement.
"I am Sirius Orion Black," he announced, looking around the others. "I am Lord of my line."
The obelisk lit up.
"For my house, I call an heir today," Sirius added. "Of blood. Of magic. Of worth."
Albus pressed his lips together.
Hopefully, Sirius had decided against Harry.
Albus prayed that Sirius hadn't decided for Harry.
"I call a Black to me," Sirius said. "I call a sibling as my heir."
Murmurs could be heard throughout the Chamber.
Albus frowned.
Sibling?
Sirius didn't have any siblings… well, not anymore…
No.
Stop.
There was Christmas.
There was the man Albus had seen shortly, the man who had looked just like…
"I call Regulus Arcturus Black as my heir," and with that, another person stepped up and reached for the obelisk. His hand touching Sirius's.
And Albus, for all that he hadn't seen the other man clearly for over ten years, recognized him nevertheless - just like he had while the man had been standing in the shadows at Christmas.
A man that couldn't have been real - something Albus had convinced himself of after their first interaction.
He had dismissed it as an illusion.
As a play of light or a spell cast to confuse him.
He had blamed the vampire for it.
And even if it had been real, Albus knew about the animosity between Sirius and his family and while Sirius had changed, Albus still had believed that Sirius hadn't changed enough to choose the other man.
If an heir, Albus had expected Sirius to choose Harry - sibling or no sibling.
But then, Albus had also been sure that the sibling had been something the vampire had created with illusions, something to discountenance him.
And yet, here was the evidence that Albus had been wrong and that the man had been real.
He was there.
Standing right next to Sirius.
Regulus.
The boy who should have been dead, killed by Voldemort.
Regulus .
"Thought that brat died years ago," Alastor next to him commented, sounding oddly unbothered that Sirius had just named a Death Eater as his heir.
And Albus?
Albus wondered if he should have been content with Harry as Sirius heir instead, if the alternative was Regulus Black…
Sadly, before he could think about it more, Neville Longbottom stepped up and claimed his seat - just to declare his grandmother proxy in the next moment.
Albus expected Neville to be the last, but instead, another known person stepped up to the obelisk…
Harry was standing in the shadows of the Chamber, watching the proceedings with hooded eyes.
It was time.
His fists clenched.
His eyes closed, his lids pressing together and he could feel the tension running trough his veins.
For a moment, he could see nothing but the Stone if Judgement and the things it would reveal when it was his turn to step up and stake his claim, then unbidden, another memory pressed forward.
"Tell me why, Eam ."
It had been a simple question - a simple question by a woman Harry had tried to keep away.
"Helily," he greeted the woman who still called him 'uncle' up to this day - and who had recognised him no matter that his appearance had changed.
" Eam," she replied, her ghostly eyes searching his features. "Tell me why."
He sighed.
"Why what, Helily?"
"Why are you trying to avoid me? Why are you keeping me from your plans? Why, Eam ?"
And Harry, for all the time he had lived, didn't know how to answer that question.
For him, it had never even been a consideration.
He hadn't wanted his little goddaughter involved - and not even knowing that little Helena Lily Ravenclaw was fully grown and dead had changed his desire to keep her away.
He sighed.
"There's… I know you're grown… I know you're dead, but-"
A sudden understanding lit his goddaughter's eyes.
"You think you failed me," she said. "When I died. When I quarrelled with Mother. You want to protect me."
"I went up against Tom Riddle," Harry replied, unable to keep quiet anymore.
"I was at school, back then," his baby girl immediately countered. "If you'd just asked, I might have been able to help you."
"Or you might have been forcefully involved into something that would have destroyed you," Harry immediately countered, his eyes looking determined at her, willing her to understand. "Tom Riddle might have turned insane over time - but no matter how insane he acts, he was a brilliant head once, and I can't trust that he won't have a time or two when he still is."
That actually shut Helily up for a moment.
Then she grimaced.
"You fear he'd obliterate me," she said. "You fear he'd go and destroy everything that's left of me, leaving nothing of me, not even my soul."
"You said you knew him," Harry countered, his face sever. "So tell me he wouldn't."
From the silence that followed, the answer was heard even without words as clear as day.
He would have.
And they both knew it.
"I loved you when you were a child, Helily," Harry finally told the silent ghost in front of him. "And I loved you when you were grown and when you died as well. I still love you. Do you really think that I could have gone and ask you for help when you are even more vulnerable than the living right now?"
Because unlike the living, Helily could only lose her current being - and that being done with dark magic would mean that her soul would be lost for eternity as well.
Ghosts might have been indestructible when it came to normal spells, but the spells that worked on them had catastrophic outcomes for them.
"I can't risk it," Harry repeated.
He could see understanding in his goddaughter's eyes at that.
For a moment, she seemed to struggle with herself, then she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright," she agreed, her eyes on him, and clearly struggling to accept his reasoning, yet willing to try anyway. "But… if it's not I… why do you disregard other things that can help you?"
That actually stopped Harry in his tracks.
"Other things?" he repeated, his eyes narrowed.
And his goddaughter, his beautiful goddaughter, just looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I lived for centuries, Eam," she said as if he should understand what she meant from that fact alone. "I heard things, I saw things."
He frowned at her.
She returned his frown with one of her own, obviously not happy with his reaction.
" F æder 's sword," she said, her gaze accusing. "I might not have understood it as a child, but I've had centuries to understand it now."
Godric, of course she would remember the sword he wielded.
"Helily," Harry said slowly, not sure how to answer when he wasn't even sure what she wanted from him to begin with, but she interrupted before he could say anything further.
"It's Excalibur," she said, no doubt in her voice. " F æder was LeFay, but for whatever reason I can't understand - you, Eam, are Pendragon ."
Because of course his precious goddaughter would have to stumble over a secret he had tried to keep as close as possible for longer than she had been alive…
His goddaughter gestured around her.
"Not only that," she said. "This-" her hands gestured again. "- is Camelot."
There was on accusation in her voice, just knowledge and certainty.
Harry closed his eyes, his lips emitting a soft groan.
"How?" he whispered and his goddaughter shrugged.
"I used my time wisely and read through every book of the library," she said, as if it was nothing unusual - which it wasn't if you considered that she was a Ravenclaw by blood and house. "There are books there. One of them… it speaks about you. Salvazsahar Pendragon, the prince ."
And of course she'd go and combine spare facts to a working theory.
Sometimes Harry wondered if he had done wrong when he supported his goddaughter's fascination with books.
"Of course you would find that," he gave in, not willing to lie.
She crooked her head at him.
"What about Emrys?" she asked. "Were you lying?"
Harry shook his head with a sigh.
"My mother was of Pendragon's line and Arthur adopted me," he answered.
And his goddaughter, his precious goddaughter looked at him in understanding.
"Lily," she said. "You named me after her."
Because she knew, because she had always known and Harry… Harry couldn't fault her for approaching his mother if she had, couldn't fault her for understanding.
He closed his eyes.
"Helily," he said slowly. "What do you want?"
She looked at him thoughtfully.
"Why not the throne?" she asked. "Why not forcing them to listen and to obey?"
"Because you can't claim the throne without the support of the people," Harry countered, feeling old and tired and… he let go of that thought, there was too much to do to linger on his exhaustion. "And I can't guaranty that I will have it when I enter the Wizengamot."
"But you'd know if you were there," she countered. "The throne… if you had it, it would glow. It would call you."
Which wasn't a lie.
Harry looked at his goddaughter, love in his eyes.
"I would," he agreed and then looked away, his eyes searching the future in the walls surrounding them. "But claiming it… the throne is a possibility that shouldn't be explored. It would mean something to people I might not be able to fulfil."
"But it would help!" Helily countered. "It would ensure that people would have to listen!"
Harry opened his mouth to object, but his goddaughter wasn't done yet.
"Leaving it unclaimed could be dangerous!" she added, her eyes pleading. "If somebody else-"
"There are wards on the throne, Helily," Harry interrupted her calmly. "The only one who can claim it is me. I am the heir - and as long as I live, no other heir can be named by anybody else but me."
Helily frowned, clearly intending to object, but Harry wasn't done yet.
"Those wards on the throne are dangerous, Helily. They will kill who tried to breach them without a ritual claim. You don't play with wards like that - and people know that! By wind and fire! Even Tom Riddle knows that!"
"Would they kill you as well?" Helily immediately countered. "You said it yourself! You're the heir, Eam ! They-!"
"That's not up for discussion," Harry interrupted her. "If I'd go and wanted to claim the throne, I'd do it by ritual - and not by simply sitting down on it! You don't play with wards and no matter if you're bound by them or not - wards like the ones on the throne are deadly! Maybe I'd survive it if I tried to claim the throne without a ritual, but maybe they'd kill me anyway - heir or no heir. It doesn't matter! No matter how, I won't try to claim the throne!"
His goddaughter pressed her lips together.
"Then I'll-!"
And Harry didn't even need her to finish the sentence to know what she wanted to say.
"I can't lose you, Helily!" he countered. "I… I can't involve you, not with what's at stake for you when it comes out!"
And finally, finally, his goddaughter reluctantly nodded, willing to give in and accept.
"Alright," she said, this time sounding like she actually meant it. "Alright… but… if I keep away… promise… promise me you will find somebody else to help you."
And Harry, for all that he didn't want to, did what she demanded.
She was his baby girl - and if a promise like that would keep her safe, then he would promise.
And he had done as he had promised.
He had found help.
Regulus.
Anastasius.
Sirius.
The Weasleys.
The Longbottoms.
Severus .
He had found help, had gathered allies to keep his goddaughter away, had conducted a plan to take down his opponents.
And now, after all these months, he was here, at the Wizengamot, finally able to do what he had promised himself he would when Allaric Moody had died.
"Are you alright?"
Harry turned and looked at his own uncle, just like he had been Helily's once upon a time.
"I am, Oncle," he said and turned his gaze back to the Wizengamot proceedings. "Just… remembering."
He shook his head with a sigh.
"It's… it's overwhelming a bit," he confessed. "This… today… I planned it, I hoped for the best - by wind and fire, I even went so far to bear the brunt of wards that were made for me yet also made to keep me out to be here."
His Oncle frowned at that.
"Care to elaborate?" he asked and Harry shook his head.
"The wards on Privet Drive," he said, not looking at the other man. "It's complicated. And… it's done. It's over and I survived. Leave it rest."
For a moment, his Oncle watched him with a frown.
"Twisted wards like the ones you described can have consequences," he finally said, clearly not willing to let it go. "Erratic behaviour-"
"Oncle, let it go," Harry interrupted the other man. "It's over and done now. And today it will end. No need to dwell on it."
For a moment, it looked as if his Oncle wanted to elaborate on it nevertheless, but in the end, the older looking man inclined his head slowly and gave in.
Instead, he looked back into the chamber.
"It's our turn now," he said to Harry. "Ready?"
And Harry looked to his Oncle with a smile.
"Ready," he agreed before he stepped into the chamber on the heels of the current Lord LeFay - Nicholas Flamel.
Albus Dumbledore blinked in surprise when the next person stepped up.
Oh, he had rumours, so he shouldn't have been surprised, but it had been rumours, nothing else.
His friend himself hadn't contacted him and told him that he would be there, so while the rumours existed, Albus hadn't been too sure that they weren't all that existed.
Nicholas Flamel.
Nicholas Flamel was here.
He had expected to be told by Nicholas if the other man really came - instead his friend was standing there besides a foreign young man, observing the room with him.
Flamel looked old and he had a cane to walk. His hair was white and his fingers shaky.
And yet - he was alive.
"Well, that's a surprise" Alastor said and leaned back.
"You're right, Alastor" he said. "I thought Nicholas wouldn't come, no matter the rumours. I even feared that he might have died already, to be truthful."
He hadn't heard from the other man for over a year, already, after all.
Alastor Moody shrugged.
"He was a famous alchemist. Even if he doesn't have the Philosopher's stone anymore - I'm sure he has some other things up his sleeve that would buy him another bit of time," he countered, before he leaned forward in interest, his eye seeming to be more fixed on the man next to Nicholas than Nicholas himself. "Do we know who will inherit the Flamel-seat when he is gone?"
"He is the last of the Flamels," Albus shrugged. "The family next in line would be mine, I think."
Well, he didn't actually think it - he knew it - but it was better when no-one knew he had looked it up some weeks ago.
In that moment, Flamel reached the Stone of Judgement, stopping next to it with the young man at his side, clearly concerned about Flamel.
A helper?
Someone who looked after the old man and ensured he wouldn't fall?
Albus wasn't sure how to place the young stranger, and he was still reeling from the previous surprises to actually think clearly about it.
Nevertheless, the stranger… he looked familiar, somehow… like a long forgotten face, suddenly seen again after decades… like someone he should have known or whose relation he had met before…
Before he could ponder about it further, Alastor spoke up next to him again.
"Ah, so he is giving up his seat today," Moody observed. "You're sure he doesn't have a child, Albus? He seems awfully close to the young man next to him."
"His children died hundreds of years ago," Albus answered. "As far as I know his line finally ended in squibs."
"What a tragedy for such an old and mighty House," Alastor murmured, but Albus didn't look at him. He fixed his gaze on his friend, who was standing calmly in front of the obelisk.
For a moment, Flamel seemed to watch the whispering Lords and Ladies in front of him, then he took a deep breath and started - but not like everybody else had done before him.
"Today" Nicholas announced. "I will step down from my seat in the Wizengamot and also as a Head of House."
Even more people started to whisper. Even Albus was surprised.
The most of the lords and ladies had guessed that Flamel would give up his seat in the Wizengamot - but that he was also stepping down as a Head of House was something no-one had suspected. You needed a successor to be able to step down before your time - and the Flamel-family had dwindled until there were just Flamel and his wife left.
"We will have to look up your relations to pass on your seat - as for your Headship… you cannot give it up unless you have a direct successor, Lord Flamel" Amelia Bones, who was heading the session, said while smiling softly at the old man.
Nicholas Flamel laughed.
"I know, my dear, I know," he agreed. "But don't worry. I have a direct successor from my line in mind."
Albus blinked. Surely Flamel would not give him the Headship of Flamel, would he?
Well, they were good friends so maybe…
"So state your successor and your relationship to him. We will hear you out and decide if your relation is enough." Amelia Bones answered.
"Thank you, my dear" Flamel answered and his eyes wandered over the crowd before he looked back towards the young man slightly behind him. "But the Wizengamot has no right to decide if I have the right to chose my successor or not."
Albus frowned at that.
Flamel, for all of Nicholas's age, was one of the younger lines and therefore it didn't have a charter like some of the older lines like Emrys or LeFay had.
Not that Albus could decode where the younger lines ended and the older ones began. There seemed to be no rhyme and reason to the distinction between older and younger - not even age.
Not even Slytherin counted as an older line.
But the Potters, a line whose name had come up far later than Slytherin, was counted among them.
No rhyme and reason.
At all.
"Lord Flamel-"
But Amelia Bones was interrupted by Nicholas before she could finish her reprimand.
"I might have to confess something that will explain why this respectable body has no say in my chosen successor," he said slowly.
At that, there murmurs picked up another notch - something that didn't seem to bother Flamel at all.
Albus frowned.
"Confess?" he asked aloud, but just for himself, wondering why Nicholas hadn't just started the proceedings instead of talking about a confession…
"I have to confess, that I have lied to all of you - and I have done it for the last six hundred years," Nicholas Flamel spoke up over the crowd's whispers.
"Lied to us?!" this time Amelia was not the only one who repeated his words.
"Yes," Flamel answered and Albus stared at the old man.
What…?
"When I was a young man, the last name I carried, was feared. So when I had the chance to change it when I moved to France, I did. I wasn't born a Flamel. I invented that name. Now it's time to change it back."
Now the whispers increased to actual discussions.
Albus Dumbledore stared at the man in front of him. He knew that his family was a relation to the Flamels - they both descended from Godric Gryffindor after all - but he had never found even a trace that the man had changed his last name…
And not just changed his name.
His real name had to be from an old family - a family that had a family charter, unlike the newer ones…
Of course, that would also imply that the family had a lot more power than what a younger family had. Albus had never understood why an older family, no matter if they were truly older or not, had more power in the Wizengamot than other families.
"Blood has power," his father had always said. "And the Olde ones are always closer to their origin that others will ever be. It's just right that they have more power than the rest of us have."
Albus had never understood what his father had wanted to tell him with that.
He shook that thought off.
It didn't matter right now.
What mattered was the family that Nicholas was originally part of - and the heir, that might end up being Albus himself, if he was lucky.
"Well, that's truly a surprise," Alastor next to him murmured, oddly enough not sounding surprised at all.
Albus threw his friend a look, but before he could say more, Nicholas stepped forward and reached for the obelisk.
Even from the distance, Albus could see the mischief in his friend's eyes when he took charge of his claim.
"I am Nicholas Godric Harryjames LeFay," Nicholas Flamel stated, and the murmurs stopped as if a silencing charm had been spoken. "I am Lord to my line."
The Stone of Judgement lit up, accepting his claim.
For a moment, people seemed to hold their breath, then Flamel continued.
"I call forth the Lordship I carry," he said. "By blood. By magic. By will. Today, I will give it up. Today, I will step down. Today, I will hand it to my heir. So mote it be."
The Stone shone brightly in clear acceptance and Nicholas stepped back.
Albus felt dazed.
LeFay.
Nicholas was Head of LeFay.
He hadn't even time to think about the implication.
Before somebody could comment on it, demand a declaration who the named heir was, the young man next to him stepped forward and reached for the still slightly glowing stone.
Something.
There was something about the young man.
He looked familiar, and yet like a stranger.
Albus had no time to think about it, no time to wonder about it, before the young man's hand touched the Stone of Judgement and he started to speak.
"I am Salvazsahar Serendu Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Emrys-LeFay," he stated, his voice a soft, warm baritone. "I am the heir to my lines."
Soft light surrounded him, showing that he was saying the truth.
Next to Albus, Alastor sounded as if he was choking.
His eyes - the magical one and the other - were wide in surprise.
"SEL," he coughed, or seemed to cough.
Albus frowned, but he couldn't comment on it, before the young man continued.
Stepping up next to his Oncle was something that Harry had never expected to do.
His eyes travelled over the crowd, took them in.
He was a bit surprised when he saw that the Potter seat was actually already occupied.
It took a moment before he understood who it was.
Xenophilius Lovegood.
For whatever reason the Lovegoods had taken over the Potter seat in his absence and therefore taken that point of power from Dumbledore.
It wasn't what Harry had had planned, but it definitely was an interesting development as well.
He suppressed his smile at the thought how Dumbledore reacted when he had seen Xeno in the Potter's seat.
Stepping forward and taking Nicholas's place… it felt natural, yet nerve-wracking.
That feeling vanished the moment his hand touched the stone.
Calmness spread from the stone towards him.
A natural warmth reached for his arm, the magic in the stone connecting with his own and touching his blood-magic.
It was a connection that was soothing and felt like home coming.
Harry couldn't even say how long it had been since he had felt something like that last.
Behind him, he could feel the throne starting to glow softly, nearly invisibly.
It felt like a mental connection, something inside him, some part of his magic, reached out towards the wards of the throne and tangled with it.
Harry had felt like that before, it had been years, but the connection to the throne had always been there whenever he was part of the Wizengamot.
It didn't matter if he ignored the connection, some part of himself still reached for the magic of the land and therefore the throne.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the magic of the obelisk and the magical connection with the throne, weak as it was, wash over himself, then he started his claim.
"I call forth the Lordships I carry. I am Lord LeFay, because I was born to my mother, the heir of LeFay."
Again soft light of the Stone of Judgement glowed, but this time a crest appeared behind him - the LeFay-crest, a sole white lily on a black grounding.
There were murmurs, but it seemed that most had expected that claim since he had come forward at his Oncle Nicholas's side.
Harry guessed that this might change for the next name he would mention - because while he knew he could have stopped after LeFay, he wasn't willing to do so this time around.
"I am Lord Emrys, because I was born to my father, the last Lord Emrys."
Again another crest appeared and settled next to the LeFay crest. This time it had a snake in it.
It felt good to claim Emrys once more.
Harry didn't remember when he had claimed Emrys last, but it didn't matter. In his heart, Emrys was the name that really belonged to himself.
He might have been born to his parents, Lily and James, might have been adopted by Henri and Cathérine Malfoire as well as Morgana LeFay and Arthur Pendragon - but in his heart, he had always been his atr's son.
Myrddin's son.
In his heart, he was Emrys, so to claim Emrys again was more like coming home than anything else - even more than being back at Hogwarts or touching the Stone of Judgement.
He looked up from the stone, his eyes searching the rows of the Wizengamot.
People were gawking at him, disbelief in their faces.
And yet, not one of them could protest his claim because the Stone of Judgement had already agreed that he was saying the truth.
"I am Lord Grim, because I was born to my father, the last Lord Grim."
And behind him, the Potter crest appeared, telling everybody who just wanted to look - wanted to understand - who he really was.
Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Grim-LeFay, known to the world as Harry James Potter.
Harry wondered how many people knew the truth, knew how to connect the truth that he had been hiding behind his last words right now.
Grim.
Heir of Grim.
Heir of the only immortal not bound by the laws that governed the other immortal Firbolgs.
Heir of James Potter.
Heir of Charlus Potter.
Heir of Peverell Grim.
And people still refused to count the Potter's to the older lines…
His eyes met Dumbledores - just in time to see recognition spreading in the other man's eyes.
Albus stared at the last crest behind the stranger.
Grim, the stranger had said.
And for a moment, Albus tried to dismiss the similarity, but a single gaze towards the seat Xenophilius Lovegood was occupying told him that he hadn't imagined it.
The seat was also glowing softly, but didn't seem to try and evict Xenophilius nevertheless.
The Potter crest.
"Grim," the young stranger with the familiar face had said.
But it was the Potter crest.
Potter.
Albus stood, unwilling to sit through the claiming further.
He needed to say something, he needed to object.
Not only had the young stranger named three names - no, he had also named Potter, even under another name, as one of them.
This was Harry's seat.
Not the strangers!
And Albus wouldn't sit by silently and watch how somebody else claimed it.
"You have no right to this seat!" he called out, not caring that he broke the ritual.
The young man stopped and looked up towards him. Others followed suite, a lot of them looking disapproving or were frowning, so Albus decided to elaborate.
"This seat belongs to Harry James Potter!" he said. "It doesn't matter if you go and rename it! It's still the Potter's seat!"
The young man's lips curled in amusement.
"This seat is Grim," he said, his hand still on the stone, lighting it up again with a further truth. "No matter the name Potter, this seat is Grim and has been Grim for longer than Slytherin line even existed."
"This seat is Harry's ," Albus said and leaned forward, not willing to give up what he knew to be the truth.
"You certainly meant Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Grim-LeFay's," another voice spoke up and Xenophilius Lovegood leaned forward as well without standing up. "At least, that was the boy's name at the time of his birth, given by his birth-parents."
Albus frowned, but before he could say anything about that, it was Amelia Bones who spoke up.
"Care to explain, Mr Lovegood," she asked coolly.
Lovegood leaned back into his chair with a shrug.
"I'm aware that the world thinks the boy's name was Harry James Potter," he said, sounding casual and quite indifferent. "But fact is, that my wife was a good friend of Lily Potter and she knew that Lily and James decided to name their boy traditionally."
At that, a lot of people following Albus broke out into furious whispers.
The party that belonged to the dark side on the other hand, looked at each other with incredulity in their eyes.
Lily Potter.
A known muggleborn.
And she had gone and named her son traditionally.
Xenophilius Lovegood seemed to be oblivious to the mayhem he had caused and instead continued with what he had to say.
"Lily named the child Harryjames," he said. "James decided on Salvatio. And Sirius, his godfather, on Amethyst. Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Grim-LeFay."
Then he opened his eyes and looked around.
"Shouldn't you all more wonder why a child of Grim-LeFay descendant wasn't given to the Lord LeFay to raise - their Lord? Like law it demands and all that?"
This time, the dark side started to whisper while the light side looked at each other uncomfortably.
Albus gritted his teeth.
That was a question he had never expected to be ask. Back then, he had taken on Harry's guardianship, ignoring any other relation Harry still had. Albus had seen it as necessary… but now.
The way the others looked at him, it was clear that him side-stepping others for Harry's guardianship might ensure that he lost even more credibility in the Wizengamot.
Because, no matter how much Albus wished it was different, in the magical world family was everything - which meant that keeping a child from their family was nearly seen as a crime itself.
"So, I ask again," Lovegood continued, his eyes darting around the room. "Why have we never talked about something important like that until now, and yet, discuss the rightfulness of a claim that was clearly accepted as true?"
This time, even the light side had some people frowning at Albus.
Amelia Bones was looking at him coolly, before she said harshly.
"Sit back down, Albus Dumbledore."
It was said pointedly, and while it wasn't said disrespectfully, she also hadn't used 'Lord Dumbledore' which was telling in itself.
Albus wanted to object further, but Alastor reached for him and actually forced him to sit.
"Interrupting a claim, Albus," he whispered, clearly unhappy. "What were you thinking, old friend?!"
"I was thinking that I should ensure that Harry still has his inheritance!" Albus countered, but before he could say something further, the young man spoke up again.
"I am Lord Grim," he said in repeat, the crest behind him flashing with another confirmation. "No other claim exists to that title."
Albus expected the light to dimmish at the lie - instead it brightened again.
"That… that can't be!" he stared at the stranger who now looked back at Albus with contempt. "Harry-!"
There were murmurs all around Albus now, a lot of them asking about Harry, but before somebody else could voice their questions, the young lord continued, his green eyes now fixed on Albus.
"Mine is the line Malfoire to claim - because it were my parents who were the last true Lords Malfoire before me," he said.
And this time the crest that appeared was recognized by all members of the Wizengamot. The smile the young man in front of them showed was the smile of a predator.
The crest was the Malfoy-crest.
For a moment, Albus stared at the stranger and the Malfoy crest displayed by him, then he turned to search out Lucius Malfoy's seat which he had ignored until now.
Malfoy's face was expressionless and Albus wondered if the man had known or if he had been as surprised as the rest of them.
Moody next to him chuckled.
"Finally I understand why Lucius Malfoy never wore his family ring," he snickered. "I never thought there was a Malfoire still alive to claim Lordship."
Albus turned to look at his friend. He had expected a lot, but not that.
Never that.
"You knew?!" Albus asked astonished.
"Of course, Albus," Moody said. "I learned it as a child - didn't you?"
"No…" Albus nearly choked when he had to admit that he was clueless until now. His brain was furiously trying to remember if he had ever heard something along these lines but his father's lessons had been long ago and he couldn't remember anybody else mentioning something like that ever before.
Obviously, from the faces of quite a lot of the dark side, the most of them hadn't known as well.
Albus wondered if that meant that he could use the young man to ensure that Voldemort lost the support of the Malfoys.
Then a second thought came to him.
The rumours of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy's deaths… had the return of their Lord of House anything to do with it? Had the young man approached them before today and told them to break ties with Voldemort? And if he had, why was Lucius here instead of still in hiding?
Harry watched the crowd at his declarations.
The discussion about Potter couldn't have gone better.
He had expected the interruption, had counted on it to seed some doubt in the other Lords and Ladies when it came to Dumbledore - but he had never thought that it would turn out that well.
Xenophilius Lovegood was an unexpected help with knowledge that Harry might have known, but had known without the backing except of the fact that he had time travelled. Xeno on the other hand had a legal way of knowing those facts - and had used it to bring it under the people.
Harry noticed that there were more than one considering gaze thrown his way and he wondered how many of them had noticed what Xeno had implied.
"You certainly meant Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Grim-LeFay's," he had said. "At least, that was the boy's name at the time of his birth, given by his birth-parents."
Birth-parents.
A name given by his birth.
Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Grim-LeFay.
Salvazsahar Serendu Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Emrys-LeFay.
From the length of Harry's true name alone one could guess that not only was he traditionally named, but also that he had been adopted before.
Traditionally named meant three first names. One from the mother, one from the father and one from the godfather.
Two additional names could have only come from an adoption.
If you knew traditions, the truth was lying open.
Amelia Bones had started to look at him in a different light after Xeno's revelation.
The same went for Augusta and Neville Longbottom as well as a lot of Lords and Ladies from the dark or neutral fractions.
And yet, Albus Dumbledore's gaze had remained void of any kind of recognition.
That, more than anything else, spoke against him in Harry's eyes.
Traditions were important and while a name was just a name - spurning smaller traditions like that didn't speak well for the important greater ones like feasts and rituals and magic…
And now, shown that example, more than one person finally could see it.
And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough to safe them in the end.
Harry's hand tightened on the stone.
It was time.
Time to start anew.
Finally.
"There's just one thing left to say, now," he said, suddenly whispering. "I gave this name to those I loved - and now that they're gone, I take it back."
It was time to call the Grand Family into being.
Albus expected the young man to finish his claim.
He expected him to step away and make room for somebody else.
Instead, the young man looked at Nicholas Flamel briefly and they exchanged a nod.
Then, he looked up, suddenly looking more regal than Albus had ever seen another wizard look like.
His voice, when he finally spoke, was soft, yet heard clearly throughout the chamber and it bore a weight that seemed to linger even when he took a break from speaking.
"There's just one thing left to say, now," Emrys-LeFay stated. "I gave this name to those I loved - and now that they're gone, I take it back."
At those words, a pressure seemed to build in the Wizengamot Chamber and suddenly even the last one of the Lords and Ladies fixed their attention on the young man staking his claim.
There was just one ritual calling that started this way.
Albus had never seen it happen before.
A name had been given away, had been handed down to somebody else… a name had been given away and was now reclaimed.
Everybody knew what that meant.
The only way to give a name away was by adoption. A child was adopted as an heir and therefore gained the name even though it wasn't of their family's blood.
A reclaiming of that name never meant good things.
It either meant a death of the heir - or a banishment of the adopted child from the line.
Albus shuddered, but before he could wonder what happened, the young man spoke up again.
"I gave my name away and it has fallen in the eyes of men," he said with a sad tone in his voice.
Albus was intrigued.
To take back a fallen house was something that normally didn't happen.
To take back a fallen house would mean to root out the members who weren't in line with the House's family politics, who had discredited it in the first place, and then to take back those people who were still worthy of the House.
Albus wondered why the young man even bothered when he had other houses he could lean on.
It would be tiresome to look up all the information to find those who were responsible for the fall of the house and Albus expected that the young man would ask for leave so that he had time to find the culprits.
Instead, Salvazsahar Serendu Harryjames Salvatio Amethyst Emrys-LeFay continued as if he had known the culprits all along.
"I redeem my House," the young Lord stated. "I redeem its name, its honour and its association. I am the only one who carries its name but I will take back those who are born to it."
Now everyone leaned forward.
Everyone knew that now the relations of the house would be stated, the heir named and finally the house instated as a redeemed one. Those who wouldn't be named wouldn't belong to the house any longer.
This was the most horrible way to be banned from a House - and also the most effective.
Albus had never thought that the young man would redeem his house in front of the whole Wizengamot. Redemption like that had just happened two times since the founding of the Wizengamot…
"He's casting people officially out of a house?!" Albus asked horrified.
"He does," Moody said grimly. "I wish I knew which House has fallen so deeply that he doesn't see another way to redeem it as its Lord…"
Albus also wanted to know. A fallen house like that would either be a help for Voldemort or against him - it were the members that mattered. And the members the young lord would take back would be named next…
"I will take back the Longbottoms, because they have lived their life in honour," every head turned to Augusta and Neville Longbottom who kept their faces expressionless.
Normally, people were named who belonged to a house, not Houses - except the House itself was so old, that other houses had come from it. But that did just happen when the first one belonging to the new house was a younger son of the original one who had changed his name when he married.
Albus knew that if the Longbottoms once belonged to said house the name-change had happened centuries ago.
There was just the question if the Longbottoms accepted the claim on their House, in the end. If they did they would be allies to the House of the young lord, if they didn't they still could be allies but their bond wouldn't be a strong one - just as strong as every ally-bond in politics.
But there were other benefits, too. A House who was the subject of another was shielded from others and sometimes also had a financial benefit, because the main house would support them - even if they had money themselves…
"I will take back the Prewetts, because they have had the courage to live their life slyly and had the courage to stand by their allies," the young man continued.
Another House claimed by Emrys-LeFay.
This time no-one reacted. The Prewetts were extinguished and because of that it did not matter if they were taken in, as it would not change anything - or so they thought until the young man continued.
"As it is, the name of Prewett has vanished. So I will give it back. Coming from a daughter of my house I will cherish her blood, whose blood mingled with the son who became Prewett. As such I will take in the Weasleys. They are my kin. Their second born will be Prewett again."
Now the Wizengamot was in an uproar.
The Weasleys were a lesser, absolutely poor family who did not have a seat in the Wizengamot. But the Prewetts had. As such the second born Weasley-son would have definitely a seat - and the first-born also, if the house that the young man was reinstating was powerful enough to upgrade the status of the Weasley-House.
It would be a social upgrade to a family the most of the wizards and witches in the Wizengamot despised.
Amelia shot a loud spell in the air and the wizards and witches quieted down again.
The young Lord smirked, and then he continued with his bombshells.
"I also take back the Prince-family. They are my heir of this house until I will have sons of my own."
The noise increased again.
"He is naming an heir out of one of the families he takes back?!" Albus whispered horrified at the implied power the boy was giving the Prince-family. "He cannot do that!"
"Unless the family had been the heirs to begin with," Moody said. "The family-name must have fallen far that even the heir had to give it up in the end…"
Albus looked at Moody with wide eyes.
"What family…?!"
Moody shrugged.
"I don't know. I am not sure I ever heard of a family fallen so deeply." He answered uneasily. Albus was sure Moody was lying and had detected a pattern all the others hadn't.
It looked as if Moody was suddenly half-hopeful, half-terrified. As if he knew or at least had a solid guess - a guess he was hoping for and at the same time was terrified about the idea that he was right.
"Since there is no-one with the name Prince left, I will give the title to the only one who can carry it. Severus Snape will be reinstated as a Prince. He is the one who will carry its title."
This time Albus's face darkened.
He knew that Severus had loved his mother dearly and had longed to carry on her name but was denied it because of his blood-status as a half-blood with a Muggle father. Severus' grandparents had despised the idea that the ancient and noble House of Prince would be in the hands of a mere half-blood and so they denied him his inheritance. That he was now granted the title was something that would sweep the sour man to the side of the young man who was standing in front of the Wizengamot…
Albus wasn't sure if Severus would continue spying if he heard that announcement.
"I'll have to stay silent about that one," he thought. "I cannot afford to lose him…"
The young man continued.
"Since the Prince family has fathered two other families I'll also take in the Greengrass-family, because they're honourable in their beliefs and the Zabinis, because they stand their ground against temptation."
"Well, that's a family," Alastor murmured. "Two chronically light families and three constant grey ones as potential parts of the Grand House - their alliance would make an utter chaos in the Wizengamot…"
"Good that it won't happen then," Albus said sighing. "I don't think the grey families will ally themselves with the light and the light also won't ally themselves with the grey. It is more likely that just the grey or just the light will take on the offer."
"Yes," Moody said. "But they will still have quite a standing. Don't forget the lad carries the names of Emrys and LeFay - nevertheless the other two, minor families."
Albus nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe we should approach the young Lord after the Wizengamot-session," Albus said. "He could help us against our enemy."
And Albus would have a little more control over the three grey families or the Longbottoms - whoever would not deny the relation the young lord offered.
Of course, there was still the matter with Harry and his own family.
Albus guessed that if he could actually talk to the young man, maybe he would be able to regain the Potter-seat for Harry. It was only fair that the boy got his inheritance, after all, no matter what the Stone of Judgement said or not.
"Maybe you should listen to the end before thinking ahead," Moody said and Albus was sure that his friend definitely had an idea which family was reinstated.
"I will also accept the Malfoy-family as close-kin through my daughter's House, the Weasleys," the young Lord said at that moment.
Now everyone stared at him, then at Lucius Malfoy whose face seemed to be frozen in an emotionless mask.
Albus was pretty sure that Lucius would deny the relation as soon as he was allowed to speak. No Malfoy would ever name a Weasley 'cousin'.
Albus guessed by the naming of a close-kin that the young lord was nearly finished with rebuilding this ominous house.
The last part missing before he could name the redeemed House would be the names of the relations he would banish from the House.
"Finally, as it was done before, I will do it again," the young lord said and again whisper erupted. It was unusual to deny relations to a person or a house more often than once. Normally the house would lose its claim to the family after being banned once and as such wouldn't be counted anymore.
So why did the young lord deny relations again?!
"I will deny any relations to the Gaunt family. They were never the children of a daughter of my house, and they will never be. So be it, so mote it be!"
The whisper increased.
Albus stared at the young man, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
An oath to deny a House?!
"Gaunt?!" Albus whispered to himself. "The House is related to Gaunt?!"
That was disconcerting and the only redeeming thing Albus could see in that fact was that the House was denying its relationship to that family.
Still…
Gaunt .
That didn't bode well - denied relation or not.
And it hadn't even been that great of a relation in the first place.
Just a daughter, married into the Gaunt line.
A daughter who had been banished from the house she had came from.
Gaunt.
"But why deny a House that has already been declared extinguished?" Albus couldn't help but wonder.
Except… no! No-one knew - so this couldn't be the reason, could it?!
But why then?!
"Tom," Albus thought frantically. "Tom."
But as much as Tom would have been a reason, the relation between Gaunt and Voldemort wasn't something that was official knowledge.
So, why go and banish a House that was officially extinguished?
Except…
Albus looked at the young man.
Did he know?
Did he KNOW?
And if he did - how ?!
Albus was losing his thoughts when the young man continued.
"I have redeemed my family. I have redeemed its name, its honour, its association." The young lord said. "I name it proud, I name it sly. I name it cunning. I name it the child of the lily. I name it the heir of the Basilisk."
Albus started at that statement.
Basilisk and lily?
He knew that those two had to be important parts of the crest - but he had never heard of a crest like that…
When he looked at Moody, he saw him smiling, his eyes gleaming. Whatever House Moody had in mind - he had been confirmed.
And then the young lord finally said what Albus wanted to know
"I call my family's name since I am the Founder. I name it Slytherin. So be it, so was it, so mote it be!"
Gasps filled the hall.
Everyone looked at each other while the last crest appeared behind the young man. Then the crests suddenly lightened up and shot back into the young man's body. His claim had been verified.
"Slytherin?!" Albus stated faintly, forgetting that the young man had named himself the founder of Slytherin and not the Lord. Even a redeemed House still had just one founder - the man who had first carried the name which later belonged to the family…
Moody snickered.
"And he redeemed the house," he said still grinning like mad. Albus could understand his friend somehow. Moody had been a Slytherin in Hogwarts after all…
But he himself still could not grasp the facts…
"That cannot be - the House of Slytherin is extinguished," Albus said still with a low, breathless voice.
"I would say it simply went into hiding," Moody said grinning. "I would never have guessed that this Wizengamot-session will be one of the most interesting ones ever…"
The other wizards around him still whispered the name of the family that had come back to life. The most of them were as speechless as Albus felt. No-one had thought that maybe a founders-house would return to them today…
In that moment Lord Greengrass stood.
"Greengrass accepts to be subjects to Slytherin," he said loudly over the stunned silence of the Chamber. And suddenly everyone started to talk at once - all with huge eyes and an absolutely flabbergasted expression on their faces.
Lord Greengrass sat down again, a smug expression on his face.
Albus could understand it.
Greengrass was a Slytherin - being related to the founder himself, even if it may be just through adoption, was something every Slytherin dreamed of…
Next to him, Blaise Zabini, new Lord Zabini, also stood. One moment he looked unsure at his mother, then his face changed into a cool masked.
"Zabini also accepts to be subjects to Slytherin," he said loud enough to be heard everywhere in the Chamber.
Again murmur erupted.
Now it was sure that the new House Slytherin would consist of the grey families that belonged to it. Of course not every family would be able to state their alliance today - the families that weren't there would do so at home in private after getting a missive about the declaration and who belonged to the House already.
Albus was sure the Weasleys would deny the invitation as soon as they read the names of the joined families. The only ones that had to declare themselves today would be the Longbottoms and the Head of Malfoy as he had been invited, not the Lord Malfoire.
Albus was sure that both would decline. Malfoy would never accept an alliance that would maybe force him to stay away from Voldemort - and that would associate him with the Weasleys and the Longbottoms…
Finally, Augusta and Neville Longbottom stood up.
Albus knew that the Longbottoms were firmly light. He guessed that they would sever the ties the young lord had knotted and declare themselves independent from Slytherin. They were a family of Gryffindors after all - being related to Slytherin would grant them nothing…
Still, Albus mourned that the reinstated family had to be Slytherin.
They didn't need a new dark family in the Wizengamot.
The only good thing, he could see, was that the young lord had unknowingly severed the ties of the family to Voldemort himself…
He turned his attention back to the Longbottoms.
A last time Augusta and her grandson looked at each other, then the lady nodded.
"Longbottom declares itself subject to Slytherin," Augusta said.
At that the noise increased tenfold.
It seems as if the most of them had guessed that Longbottom would deny relationship.
Albus was flabbergasted that they hadn't - even more because the Greengrass and Zabini-Families had declared themselves subjects before the Longbottoms had. All in all the firmly white Longbottom-family had accepted grey cousins… and a house as black as the night as their Grand Family…
In that moment Lucius Malfoy stood slowly.
Everyone quieted down and looked at the Malfoy-family head - even if he was not the Lord of his family, he still was the head of Malfoy.
"The Malfoy-family accepts to be close-kin to the Weasley-family," he said.
The answer was staring.
Of course - Slytherin was a mighty house - but accepting to be close-kin to a family the Malfoys despised… that was definitely something different…
Albus felt suddenly lightheaded. He could not grasp that the young Lord in front of him had been able to throw out a simple lash and pulled in everyone he had aimed at.
Why had the Longbottoms declared themselves subjects to Slytherin?!
Why had Lucius Malfoy decided to be close-kin to Weasley?!
What was he missing?!
Moody next to him shook his head, snorting.
"Damn brat," he murmured. "We will have to watch our backs now. Damn silver-tongue of his!"
Albus just stared at his friend, too stunned to ask what Moody meant.
And he wasn't the only one. The Chamber was quiet for a moment - so quiet you would have been able to hear a pin drop…
Greengrass.
Zabini.
Malfoy.
Longbottom.
Four names, four agreements.
"I need to talk to the Weasleys," he thought, feeling desperate.
He knew that if the Weasleys really agreed, there could be repercussions not only for them, but for Albus's side as well.
At the moment, the Weasleys were fully under Albus's protection, but if they stepped out and agreed to joining the family, Albus wouldn't be able to protect them any longer.
He gritted his teeth and decided that he would have to ensure that he was able to talk to the Weasleys before they heard that they were asked to join a Grand Family.
He needed them to understand what it meant and the consequences of it.
Before he could think further about it, Amelia spoke up.
"Well…" Amelia finally said. "Maybe we should continue with the new lords…"
For a moment, there was silence, then, the next Lord stepped forward and Albus couldn't help but clench his fists again.
It was somebody he hadn't expected.
Somebody he hadn't wanted there at all.
"I am Charles Prewett," Charlie Weasley said. "I am heir to my line."
Alastor next to him shifted.
"So, Prewett is back," he grumbled. "Was time, I guess."
Albus turned and stared at his friend.
"Prewett," he started to say but was interrupted by Alastor.
"Wonder why you didn't tell one of the Weasleys to claim that seat years ago. They could have just helped us here, don't you think so, too?"
Yes, they could have… but it also made them a target and Albus had thought that it would have been better for them to keep far away from politics, because, as nice as they were, not one of the Weasleys was trained in politics…
Of course, then Charlie had to make it worse than he already had with his last sentence.
"Prewett declares itself subject to Slytherin."
"This is going to be Charlie's death sentence," he thought grimly. "Voldemort won't let that stand. He will kill Charlie the moment he hears about it."
Because with Charlie, with Prewett even as subject to Slytherin, the light would gain influence - something that the Dark Lord wouldn't accept.
Albus mourned for Charlie already.
Well, at least he did until the next announcement…
Because the next people who entered the Wizengamot, were the Weasleys - and they accepted Slytherin's claim as well.
Of course, the person after, was even worse…
Severus shuddered.
The pressure in the air surrounding him strengthened.
Some of the other Death Eaters stopped and looked at each other and then in the air.
The air seemed to hum, as if electricity was running through it.
"What-?"
Severus interrupted himself, his eyes roving through the alley.
"It's an old spell," Lovegood replied as if he had finished the question. "Even with the preparation Opapa put in it takes some time to charge it."
"Charge it," Severus repeated. "A spell…?"
Lovegood looked at him in amusement while the humming got louder and louder.
"You should go, Professor," she said. "The Eternal Prince is waiting."
"It's time," the vampire agreed and with his last word, the pressure surrounding them finally broke.
There was a flash, brighter than the sun, and the humming stopped.
For a second or two, Severus could see nothing at all, but his ears still functioned.
There were voices all around him.
Voices, whimpering and groaning.
Then his sight returned.
Lovegood still stood in front of him, her eyes trained on him.
"It's time, Professor," she said. "Don't make him wait any longer."
For a moment, he hesitated.
He was tempted to look around, but he forced himself to ignore it.
The sounds told him enough.
The raid was over.
There would be no deaths by Death Eaters in Diagon Alley anymore today.
It was over.
The raid was done.
And there was no need to look around to assure himself that.
He took a short moment, to take another breath, decided that the raid definitely wasn't his pidgin any longer.
Should someone else pay for the failure.
Severus had to be somewhere else.
With that thought, he apparated away.
He left Diagon Alley, left Lovegood and Uncle Ana… and a ward over an alley that stopped every attack and every attacker before they could hurt anybody else.
Diagon Alley was safe.
The battle surrounding Diagon Alley definitely was won by another side than Voldemort's.
And it hadn't been Dumbledore's side either…
With that thought, Severus decided to go where he was actually needed - and that wasn't in Diagon Alley any longer…
Apparating to the Ministry, ensured that he reached the Chambers of the Wizengamot meeting just in time to hear the Weasleys declaring themselves to Slytherin.
For a moment, Severus hesitated, his eyes searching the crowd until he found Sal's gaze.
The other man was sitting in a chair that had been empty for centuries - a chair that Severus hadn't expected him in.
It wasn't Potter, because in Potter's chair sat Xenophilius Lovegood - something that Severus hadn't expected as well.
It wasn't Slytherin, even though he had obviously claimed Slytherin as a Grand Family because otherwise Weasely wouldn't himself declared subject to Slytherin.
And it wasn't LeFay.
Instead, old Flamel was sitting in the chair that showed, like with Lovegood, that he was a proxy and not the Lord.
No.
He was sitting in Emrys chair.
Of course it was Emrys chair - Severus wasn't even sure why he was surprised that the other man had chosen Merlin's family's place as his seating.
In that moment, poisonous green eyes met Severus's own black ones.
Sal nodded once.
It seemed to be every bit of endorsement some hidden part in Severus needed, because something inside of him relaxed at that nod.
And Severus stepped out and up towards the obsidian.
There were murmurs all around when people started to recognise him.
' Death Eater' he heard murmured. ' Dark Wizard. '
He ignored it, but he reached for his arm, deactivating the illusion of a dark mark he had worn until today.
Deactivating it reminded him that he wasn't alone any longer, that he wasn't just a Death Eater turned spy anymore.
It felt reliving to finally show it today.
For a moment, he looked at his employer.
Albus was sitting in his chair, his eyes darting from Arthur Weasley to Charlie Prewett and back.
Severus looked away, and instead reached for the obelisk.
The stone felt cool under his hand when he finally touched it.
For a moment, it just felt like stone, then warmth seemed to creep up into Severus's hand from it, warming it.
"I am Severus Tobias Prince," Severus said, the words seeming to come to him from the stone under his hand. "I am heir of my line."
It was only while speaking those words that Severus understood that he had given up the last name he had used since he was a child the moment he had stepped up to take lordship.
He wasn't a Snape anymore.
He was a Prince now.
Because, unlike in the muggle world, last names were a lot easier to change in the magical world - and they meant a lot more than just a name to tell the lines apart.
They told people about the magic resting in the veins of the people using it.
And they warned people about the danger they posed.
And while he was able to claim Prince, he also knew that if Sal hadn't been, he would have been able to claim Slytherin with the same ease as he was claiming Prince right now.
Being accepted as the Lord Prince by the light surrounding him was just the last confirmation. The feeling of the obelisk under his fingers had told him that he was accepted long before he even finished his claim.
He felt Albus Dumbledore's eyes on him.
He could see the shock in the other man's face, far too great for the other man to be able to hide it any longer.
For a moment, Severus wondered if it might not end in a heart attack for the older man.
He should feel guilty, he knew.
Instead, he spoke the words that would declare him independent not only of Albus Dumbledore but also of Voldemort.
"Prince declares itself subject to Slytherin."
The murmurs turned into loud discussions at that.
Severus couldn't help but feel a bit smug about it.
There was no better way to flip the bird at not only the Dark Lord but also Albus.
Stepping up and taking his seat was just the icing of the cake.
For a moment, there was silence in the room, clearly a lot of people were still reeling from Severus's declaration - and the declarations of the other people before.
Then, Amelia Bones got the Wizengamot really started.
It started with the usual: one tedious discussion after another. Laws that some Lords had prepared were introduced, old discussions about cauldron thickness and other bagatelles like that. There was even a discussion about a private feud or two thrown in just to mix things up a bit.
It was the usual.
It was what had always been part of the Wizengamot.
Some more restrictions for muggleborns proposed from the dark side.
Some more opening to the muggles proposed from the light side.
And Slytherin kept their distance, just watching, not adding anything - not unusual for new lords and alliances in the first meeting of the year.
The first meeting wasn't there to solve anything. It was there for introduction to the new lords and for an overview of things the fractions wanted to reach that year.
It wasn't there for more. It had never been, so far.
It was a day the lords and ladies knew that they were watched by the rest of the population far closer than normally. So the meeting contained propaganda and a try to establish oneself in the public eye.
"Anything else?" Amelia Bones asked finally.
Sal stood up.
His eyes swept over the rest of his fellow lords.
"House Emrys asks to be heard," he said, his voice echoing in the chamber.
"House Emrys has the word," Amelia agreed.
For a moment, Sal looked around some more, his eyes finding Severus's and some of the others before he spoke up again.
"House Emrys demands accountability from the Ministry for its breach of its own laws," he said, his voice echoing some more through the Chamber.
Silence.
And then, chaos broke out and people started to shout, to discuss and to accuse Sal as a liar.