Henry's Future

" Don't worry about being deceived Grandfather, Uncle, it was simply inevitable for a grifter like Riddle to appear and fool all of you. Voldemort was nothing more than a slightly more fearsome copy of Gellert Grindelwald after all. Others trying to replicate the efforts of Grindelwald will continue to appear."

" Well that would have been the case had I not been born. Such idiocy can no longer stand. You preach the pure blood cause but focus solely on the benefits you maintain by continuing pure blood families. By doing so you simply settle for small selfish gains."

The scolding was less than well received by Cygnus and Lucius but the boy had shocked them several times today, so they held their tongue to see where this would go.

"Have any of you imagined what would happen in world without muggles? Could you imagine a world only filled with Wizards?"

At these words both camps in the room visibly trembled. The Tonks family felt this might become a set of words they could not support let alone bear to hear. Alfred and Isabella in particular were quite wary of the question and wondered if they would have to put down their own grandson to save humanity. The Malfoy and Black retinue felt this was a strange turn to a conversation that was so far decisively not in their favor.

" Remove your worried faces grandma and grandpa. Only a fool would eliminate muggles to have wizards reign supreme. No my desire is for all muggles in Britain to become Wizards until we are the dominant culture in Britain. Slowly after succeeding in Britain we will have the world follow in our footsteps."

At these grandiose words Henry directly gazed at Alfred and Isabella Tonks.

" Grandma, Grandpa think about it. You two more than any other former muggles in the Wizarding world should know the horrors of the worlds current muggles. They may not discriminate based on ones blood line like wizards but muggles discriminate against each other's skin, religious beliefs, even the person they love can all become a demerit and cause of death. Would a world filled with Wizards do the same? No. Other than blood line wizards have far less forms of prejudice."

" Wizards are nothing more than the next step in evolution. Think about it. Your flesh and blood remained the same but you two now have longer life spans, access to abilities you could never dream of, a world of infinite possibilities became open to you. All because your magic awakened. Would you not want to grant your friends the same gift? Your future great grandchildren, or possibly even future children?"

As Henry left his grandparents with such a loaded question he turned to Cygnus and Lucius.

" Why should the gift of magic be limited and hidden from the rest of the world? Every wizard should marry a muggle in my view. Muggles have technology that rivals magic in some functions by merit of the knowledge they've amassed with their numbers alone. If wizards had a similar population to muggles would we not achieve the same? More?"

The Malfoy family had tried to conquer the muggle world in a similar fashion before so Henry's idea resonated with Lucius. Assimilation was often more effective than domination after all. Cygnus was far less interested in Henry's idea but thoroughly entranced with his ambition. Whether the boy succeeded in his pipe dream or not mattered little but how far Henry was willing to go for the dream mattered to Cygnus. Based on what he heard and learned of the boy today, it seems he could be molded in to a great wizard worthy of the Black family name.

" Sure your precious blood purity would suffer for a few generations but ultimately what grand vision was not built on setbacks and sacrifices. In the end when only Wizards remain in the world would not everyone eventually become pure bloods?"

That line was the nail in the proverbial coffin for Cygnus. Henry's dream was grander and far more farsighted than any previous pure blood ideology. In his old age he knew instantaneous results could rarely be achieved but would be the most often pursued and desired. It's exactly why the Black family supported Voldemort, the charlatan had the power to enact his will with immediate results. In contrast Henry's plan was less attractive but far more feasible. After all marrying muggles wasn't strictly a necessity, as long as every able wizard man sired a few bastards the effects would be sufficient. As Cygnus pondered on progressively more sadistic forms of enacting Henry's vision the more he saw the plans merits.

" That entire vision depends on one mans endorsement. Albus Dumbledore. Despite your issues with the man he is in fact the most powerful Wizard alive. His endorsement and teachings would greatly aid my vision for the future. After all the second most powerful wizard, Voldemort , was his student."

Once more the room was dumbstruck. Right, if Henry investigated Voldemort's origins he likely knew of his teachers. That Voldemort was taught magic by Dumbledore was shocking but at this point they knew Henry likely had the research to back his claim and didn't question his words.

" That grandfather is why I must attend Hogwarts. There is no better school to enact my vision. "

In the room there was only two people who had lost track of what in the hell was going on. Ironically both were seated in the same spot. One was Draco who was still stuck on his grandfather trying to marry him off to his cousin. The other was the beetle who was hiding in Draco's cloak. Rita Skeeter.

Skeeter had more or less stumbled on the gathering of the Malfoy family and Cygnus Black. When saying that she stumbled upon the gathering, it should be understood that she waited outside the Malfoy Manor for months now. Luckily 'stumbling' on their family outing.

Normally she would avoid the Malfoys because no matter how good the story, things could become very dangerous when peeking on Death Eaters. Unfortunately the Malfoys were currently connected to the Wizarding worlds most sensational family. The Tonks. Rita was hoping to catch a big scoop by tailing the Malfoys. Specifically by tailing Narcissa in particular.

When she first arrived at the Tonks home with the Malfoy family she was regretting coming along. There was no scoop just some daughter being taken back home after her exile. Such a story would get her nothing. When Andromeda nearly slammed the door on them she was at least able to get something in Witch Weekly if she spun it right. Something about Andromeda being exiled over a love child maybe?

As the day progressed another story appeared. She could publish some details that the Tonks family was protected from Death Eaters, it could be a good scoop... if she didn't value her life.

Rita still had some hope of getting another scoop as the family eventually decided to have a civilized conversation. Unfortunately the subsequent talk over going to Hogwarts or Durmstrang was a snore fest. Rita was beginning to experience massive regret in coming on this little expedition. This family was a waste of time.

Luckily the boy known as Henry had flipped the table and opened her to a slew of sensational titles. Muggle Dark Lord Riddle? Mentoring a Dark Lord? Secrets of You-Know-Who?

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would stumble on the scoop of the century today. Voldemort had a muggle father. That information alone would garner her endless amounts of readers. The ministry has been avoiding the topic of the once powerful dark lord but striking a huge blow to their enemy may loosen the hush order.

More than that was the connection between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Teacher and student. Rita never liked Dumbledore and this was a great way to get one over on the old fogey. If the deal she made with Dumbledore didn't exist she would immediately plaster his secret all over the prophets front page.

The idea the kid in front of her had on wizard supremacy was by comparison far less sensational. Nonetheless there was barely enough for a story to be written about the boy. She could likely write one about the Tonks boy and paint him to be the next Grindelwald. It would be a quick and easy well paying story. Not one of her bests but with a little editing it would be enough.

The only problem for her being the two bigger scoops gnawing at her. Begging to be published and known by the world. The amount of fanfare such secrets would gather her were so delectable that she could taste it.

The consequences of publishing them were far more trouble than she could handle however. She usually liked writing tell all books on dead people so Riddle fit her usual modus operandi but his remnant followers were a bit too much of a health risk for her. The one on Dumbledore would be less troublesome if not for the fact the old man knew she was an unregistered animagus. Going to Azkaban just to put the old fogey in his place was definitely an unacceptable trade to her.

Rita's journalistic troubles aside, Henry and Cygnus had more or less reached an accord. Under the supervision of Ted and Andromeda of course. With the support of Lucius and Narcissa to boot. The agreement came down to a few key points:

Henry, and by extension, Draco would attend Hogwarts.

The Tonks family name would remain but they would have Henry and Dora hyphenate their surname.

Henry's new grandfather stressed the grandeur of the Black family name and begged Henry to make it his only surname. While the Tonks elders reminded him they were war heroes and their family name was not any less.

Henry's position on the subject was completely neutral. Seeing as Black was his mothers surname too, he didn't want to take sides on the matter. With Henry not supporting either side, this fight lasted for quite a while with Alfred inches away from punching Cygnus. Eventually they agreed on hyphenating as a compromise.

The next point focused on Dora. Henry flatly stated Dora will marry whoever she damn well pleases. Muggle or otherwise.

This point was stressed by Henry and this time it was his turn to nearly came to blows with Cygnus. Eventually Henry stated that in exchange he would marry at the very least a half blood.

In response Cygnus countered that Henry could only marry a Pure blood. Eventually Henry caved. His future spouse was of little importance and nothing more than a mere inconvenience.

The final point focused on the Tonks residence.

It was agreed that the Tonks family would continue living in their home as they have but the family would gather at the very least once a month at the Black family manor. To Cygnus this was non negotiable. In return Andromeda would regain access to her dowry.

The Malfoys at the end of the negotiations stood to gain nothing. Naturally Lucius would not have reached his position if he could not gain anything at all.

For his part he requested to be Henry's defence against the dark arts tutor. Under supervision of the Tonks of course.

Lucius may not have gained much on this excursion but at the very least he found hope.

Lucius loyalties never truly lied with Voldemort. His support was not of Voldemort himself but to the cause the man represented. With his endless wealth he had no need to work himself to death like his new relatives did, so he had endless time to wallow in the pity that was the fall of Lord Voldemort or should he say Riddle?

Many different theories regarding how The Boy Who Lived had survived the Dark Lord's attack were made over the years. The most persistent of them being that the boy himself was a great Dark Wizard. This assumption was the one Lucius prescribed to most eagerly, to a certain extent it could be said Lucius was pinning all his future hopes on Harry Potter. The idea that Potter would one day become the new pure blood champion was Lucius' greatest hope. Until today.

Today he saw a plan more cunning than any of his fellow Death Eaters could ever concoct. Not only could Henry eventually achieve his vision, he would even have enemies like Dumbledore supporting him. The champion of muggles would eventually eliminate them. Magnificent.

Instead of dreaming of a future with the uncertainty that was Harry Potter, Lucius would rather gamble on this child that already had a vision of a pure blood world.

As negotiations came to a close the visitors eventually left and the Tonks home came to its previously known peace. At least it would seem so on the outside.

Currently in the Tonks family living room Henry was boxed in with each one of his family members pointing a wand at him.