Episode 7. Part 1

Episode 7. Part 1

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- Mr. Potter, I wanted to ask you one-on-one why, knowing that both Lucius and I are Death Eaters and followers of whoever killed your parents and tried to kill you, do you still trust us more than Albus Dumbledore? - Lord Nott asked one day when he and Harold were alone. It was the third day of summer vacation. The cousins and the twins had no intention of staying long, but still decided to show their gratitude and stay for a while.

- Don't get me wrong, Lord Nott," Harold was frantically choosing his words, trying to figure out how to get out of it. He could not not answer, the favor of the family depended on it, and perhaps the friendship with Theodore, which the cousins valued very much. It was impossible to lie openly: who knows, maybe the lord had a way of detecting lies. Neither was it possible to cut the truth. So he had to improvise and display Slytherin skills, such as the ability to express himself in streamlined and confusing terms: "I don't trust you. But you're right: I don't trust the Headmaster any more. My opinion is subjective, for I can only judge by referring to the old Daily Prophet, other people's opinions, and my own feelings. I do not know, and cannot know, the true reasons for the last magical war. Still, I don't think that Voldemort's reasons for trying to overthrow the Ministry of Magic with your help, and the reasons why you helped him, were hatred of Muggles and Muggleborns and the notorious purity of blood. Of course, everyone's motives were different: some needed money or power, some were in distress and trying to save themselves, some were persecuted by the law, some really hated Muggles, and some joined your ranks to kill or at least to fight. However, the reasons that made mages join the Order of the Phoenix, led by Dumbledore, were hardly different. They, too, wanted to hold on to power, at the expense of the confiscated from you to replenish their accounts. They, too, wanted to protect families first, and then magical Britain. And some also joined for glory or ego. To fight the dark forces and be hailed as a hero is...

But all the nonsense about good and evil aside, the goals of the Death Eaters are more or less transparent and clear, just as Voldemort's goals are. That is, if you don't count my incomprehensible motives for attacking Muggles. But Dumbledore's goals... That's more difficult," Potter grimaced, genuinely annoyed at the fact that he didn't understand the Headmaster. - Or I didn't manage to find out everything. Of course, he wanted to hold on to the power he had after defeating Grindelwald. And, as an already established Hero of the Light, it was only natural that people handed him the hope of salvation from the new plague, which implied even greater influence and power. But what his personal reasons were are unclear.

I have the feeling that it was the Headmaster of Hogwarts who created you, the Eaters, and called you darkness so that he would not lose his influence in his old age," Harry looked Nott Senior in the eyes, as if challenging. Though really just daring him to do the brave thing of expressing his thoughts and suspicions to someone other than his brother. It was not easy for him. - So that there would be someone to fight the new hero that people now hoped the old hero would raise. - Nott grinned, knowing exactly who Harold meant by "new hero. - I am extremely uncomfortable with that feeling, considering how someone inflated my fame back when I had not yet learned to speak. Do you understand? - Lord Nott understood that the boy made him think, and perhaps even look at the "conflict of light and darkness" from a different angle...

***

- Are you sure you young people don't want to stay? - The large noisy company of his son's friends didn't bother Nott Senior at all. And yet, unlike his son, he was accustomed to a more... solitary life. After the death of his wife at the birth of Theodore, he was used to a huge house was only himself, his son, the housekeepers, and very rare guests. So he was secretly glad that Potter's company was not going to linger. It was only politeness that made him ask the question.

- Yes, Lord. We have plans for the summer," Dudley replied, bowing his head gratefully.

- Well, then, I have a request. Could you take my son with you wherever you are going? I was under the impression that you were a responsible, conscientious young man, Harold," said the Lord to the obvious man in charge of the company. His son had been bored during the summer, and was clearly unwilling to part with friends. Nott saw no reason to hold him back. - I think it wouldn't do my son any harm to spend time with you, and I might let him go under your responsibility. I'm afraid I'll be too busy this summer to look after him myself, and...

- Lord Nott, I am not against your son, but you must understand that I have secrets I can entrust to my friends, but not to their parents," Potter replied gravely, bowing his head to his shoulder and ignoring Theo's joyful, not at all aristocratic squeal. - If you agree that Theodore will have secrets from you - I will take him with me. For my part, I promise that my secrets that I can share with Theo will not be directed against you or your family. Except... against your plans, and that's only because I'm not aware of them.

- That's fine. That's fine with me," the Shining Lord pondered briefly. He already knew that the cousins lived without adult custody. He didn't think it was right, and yet, once he was convinced that the young men were truly capable of taking care of themselves, he was able to trust them with the life of his only heir. He still had enough protective amulets and charms, and he was well-trained! Should anything happen to him, Lord, he had no doubt that his son would be able to handle the affairs of the family by now. Still, he did not know what possessed him to trust them.

The housekeepers quickly gathered Theodore's things, and all his father had to do was to wish the young men a happy vacation, and after they left, to bury himself in the folders of the Daily Prophet. He wanted to understand why the Boy Who Survived thought that it was Dumbledore who had created, or rather provoked, the Death Eaters by his actions...

***

You don't think my mother could have been a Muggleborn? - As per the old arrangement, for part of the summer, the cousins, along with company, came to live with the Flamel spouses. Perrenelle was thrilled to have so many children in her home. Theodore, a lover of artifacting and potions, was thrilled to meet Nicholas. The twins were over the moon to be able to work on their dream of a chain of Magical Pranks stores. And for the first ten days, everyone except the cousins got used to life in an extremely interesting and full of magic house, full of different unusual gizmos that were not available anywhere else. And then... Nicholas, who tirelessly demanded to be called Nick, invited the children to study with him... And for everyone there was an interesting discipline in which Flamel was a legend. He willingly shared his knowledge, adeptly interested in his sciences. So the vacations were both fun and very productive.

Most of the time, the couple tried to be cheerful entertainers for the children. But sometimes they did bring up serious topics of conversation, such as over lunch. At one such moment, Fred broached the subject of bloodline, asking why his family was called "Traitors of the Blood." Nicholas explained that this was the name given to purebloods who refused to follow their founding ancestors. They lose the support of the bloodline, the magic of the bloodline. Lose everything. The Weasleys, he said, lost everything because of one ancestor who married a Muggle, even though it was under the strictest prohibition in the magical laws of the family. As a result, the man lost his magic. His and the Muggle children had it, but they had no clan powers or obligations, which meant that they were, in fact, Muggle-born with a pureblood dynasty.

That's where the conversation came in about Potter's mother, who, according to the Flamel couple, could not have been a Muggle-born.

- Right," Perrenelle nodded in agreement. - Muggleborns, or foundlings, are born to Muggles in random order, but never in one family has more than one mage been born. If your mother was a witch and strong, and your Muggle aunt had a wizard son," she smiled at Dudley, "it's likely that the Evans family's ancestors included mages who were powerful and generic. How they became Muggles is the question.

- Perhaps there was a family curse, which deprived all descendants of magic until a certain condition arose," Nicholas himself entered the conversation, flashing his eyes in a peculiar way. - For example, perhaps your clan was cursed out of vengeance, and until the vengeance was done, no wizards were born in your clan. And revenge didn't happen, not until Lily Evans was born.

- Don't girls marry into their husbands' clan? - Theo asked with genuine surprise. - If that's true (that's how my father explained it to me) then what you said doesn't make sense, because Lily and Petunia Evans, when they marry, come out of their own kind.

- That is so, young Theodore," the legendary alchemist, creator of the Philosopher's Stone, nodded graciously. - Sometimes, however, a girl's lineage is stronger than her husband's. It is often the other way around: the husbands join their wives' clans. I'm not so sure about the Potters, since they are descended from the Peverelles, who, in turn, are from an even older clan. You should check with the goblins on that one, young men. The Ministry of Magic in Britannia forbids blood rituals, but the goblins are not under the law of the Ministry... They might be useful to you in the future. - The cousins looked at each other. Of course, the possibility of learning their bloodlines couldn't help but interest the orphans...

***

- Has someone escaped from Azkaban?! - Theo exclaimed in exasperation. A month of vacation had already passed. Homework had been completed, as had everything that was planned with the Flamel family, so the boys moved to the familiar Merlin Square, already practically their own apartment in one of the hotels. And immediately they learned the latest news of the magical world - from the wanted leaflets posted everywhere. - Don't be ridiculous, no one can do that! Well, or at least no one ever has.

- Take your time, friend. Do you think it could have been somebody's joke, with all that noise? - Dudley asked ironically, nodding at the wall in the dining room of the same inn, which was literally pasted with posters depicting a wanted criminal like wallpaper. - The Ministry of Magic had stirred up all of magical Britain. - He was about to say something else, but he turned his attention to his cousin, who was scrutinizing the man's face on the flyer too intently and thoughtfully. - Harry, what are you up to?

- I don't know," he shrugged, not taking his eyes off his work. - That Black... His face looks vaguely familiar to me.

- It says in the paper that Sirius Black is the right hand of the Dark Lord, and that he was the one who gave away your parents' whereabouts to him," Fred interjected.

- So was he a friend of the family, or did he pretend to be and betray them? - Potter turned sharply back to the company.

- Yes! That's what counts," Nott junior nodded confidently, remembering some of the things his father sometimes told him. - But it's strange, because if he really was the Dark Lord's right-hand man, his father would have mentioned him at least once. I know the names of all the Death Eaters," the boy hesitated, but when he remembered that in the company of these people he could talk quietly about his father's past criminal activities, he relaxed, "and Sirius Black is not among them. There was Regulus Black, but he had died a few years before the Potters had died.

- If he really was the Right Hand, then his existence may have been hidden," George shrugged, rereading the newspaper article with his twin.

- George is right, but you don't go to jail for treason, and that's the main charge," nodded Dursle, who was also reading the article. - You don't get life in prison for killing muggles, even thirteen. Nor does one get life for killing a wizard, unless, of course, the murder was committed with the help of the Unforgivables. And the Dark Lord's Right Hand should have been sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss immediately. Something wasn't right here. - The boys looked at each other, agreeing on all points. They were pensively silent for a while, and it must have occurred to each of them that Black might have been framed. But why? - the question arose.

- Dad said they used to sweep up a lot of people as Reapers or accomplices, put them in Azkaban without trial, if there was even one shred of evidence of guilt. That's wartime law," George squinted. He and the twin got the feeling that they were missing something, and it was preventing them from drawing the right conclusions. - Put away for life without the right to pardon. They say there's a lot of innocent people in there too, the ones who got piled up. But there are also those with the tag of Who-Has-Not-Named, those who take pride in killing and harassing Muggles and Muggleborns. That's why purebloods aren't trusted now, because they had a motive: the fight for the purity of magical blood. True, most of the Eaters got out of jail or died anyway. - Everyone looked at Theodore. He shrugged, "Who'd want to go to prison voluntarily? His father certainly didn't want to go, and he would be like Potter, an orphan himself. Only Harold wouldn't look at him. He frowned:

- Yeah, I don't like that...

***

- Flamel?! But why didn't Nicholas tell us? Spouted some..." the cousins were shocked, sitting in the private room of the Gringotts across from the goblin on duty who was performing a blood ritual on them. The results were... shocking. Nicholas Flamel turned out to be many times the "great" grandfather of the cousins, on the maternal lines. Against this background, the fact that Harold's grandmother was a née Black, a relative of the escaped prisoner, Sirius Black, was somehow lost.

- Harold, he spoke so confidently about the curse of the clan..." Dudley remarked when he recovered from his shock. The cousins crossed their minds as if, judging by the way he'd insisted on sending them off to perform the ritual, and by several other reservations, the famous alchemist knew that they were his descendants. At least one reason for his help became clear.

But the goblin, convinced of something during the ritual, continued:

- As for you, Mr. Potter, you have come to us in good time. According to the laws of your family (which our bank honors and respects as the laws of respectable clients), when the head of the family dies, when the heir reaches thirteen... - in short, Harold, as a thoroughbred heir, received a villa in Spain for personal use, the ability to partially manage finances, the ring of the head of the family and a few other useful artefacts. The Goblin explained that upon reaching adulthood, the Boy Who Survived would gain financial freedom to use the family fortune and Lord Potter's ring, as well as a seat in the Wizengamot. While he was speculating about the gold and the opportunities it afforded, another goblin brought out three boxes. In one was a short, broad, slightly curved, ornate dagger with the Potter crest on the top of the hilt. In the other box was a chain-portal to the very same villa in Spain, and another emergency bracelet-portal leading somewhere, I don't know where, because even the goblin didn't know that. The cousins glanced at each other, but took the boxes silently. In the third, smallest box, was the ring of the head of the Potter family.

Harold glanced at it as he felt a nasty tickle in his stomach. He didn't like that sort of... regalia. And from the look in his eyes, the goblin expected the ring to be placed on his finger immediately...

- Forgive me, but, as far as I know from the Laws, a man does not need to be Lord to inherit from the last of the bloodlines," he squinted.

- You refuse the high honor of being head of a pureblood family? - You couldn't tell by the look on the goblin's face-or was it his face? - I couldn't tell if the goblin was surprised, but there was a note of surprise in his voice. A note of surprise of the utmost degree.

- What's in it for me, this honor? - Harold flared up. - Put me on the same level as the lords, give me one vote in the Wizengamot (one out of a hundred), and make me responsible to magic and the wizarding world? No, I don't think so. I'm not going to save the asses of adult, well-to-do wizards who can defend themselves. According to the paperbacks I've read, no one wanted Voldemort to come to power, except his followers. But only a handful of people, barely three dozen in number, including my parents, were fighting against it. And yet, I don't understand why, but that same handful of people entrusted the mission of destroying the Dark Lord to a year-old infant. Cowards! All of them! And I'm not going to hump for them.

- You refuse to participate in the fate of the magical world of Britain? - Now there was a look of consternation on the goblin's face. Dudley was either frowning or smirking, but the Hero of Wizarding Britain, the victorious Dark Lord Voldemort, the Boy Who Survived-Possibly-Use himself, did not notice it, barking:

- I have already participated in it!

- And you have no desire to change our imperfect system for the better? - As if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, the employee of the magic bank clarified. Dursle could not stand it and kicked his brother under the table. It had a sobering effect on Harry:

- I don't think my voice, even that of a hero of magical Britain (for which, incidentally, anyone else would be awarded the Order of Merlin), would make much difference. And I'm not sure I want to get involved in dirty politics. I shall have my say, but not like this," he said calmly, pushing the box with the ring of the head of the clan resolutely away from him.

- And what about the many vassals of the Potter clan? They are all aware of your existence, hoping and waiting for your return. Their well-being and lives depend directly on your social status! - The goblin exclaimed, genuinely interested in the wealth of not only the Potters, but their vassals as well. After all, it meant both income to the bank and the ability to invest clients' money in profitable activities, thanks to which the overall wealth of the magical goblin people increased.

Harold looked at his cousin again: this was something they hadn't suspected and couldn't think of, respectively. It might have made a bit of a difference, though:

- Well, I guess I'll have to negotiate with them," Potter decided cautiously. - And so... Who are they?! - The meeting, which should have ended quickly, ended up dragging on for hours. The cousins tried to figure out the laws of vassalage, the basics of dealing with finances, and other little things that purebloods are taught from diapers.

The result of the meeting was not only the bloodline, but also the ring of the head of the clan, which the goblin had persuaded to wear after all. Harry grudgingly squinted at him as if he were the enemy, and wondered what consequences this decision would bring him...

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