Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Linda had stayed home from work since her son had been identified as a wizard. While she was happy for him to be able to learn magic and seek a better life than they had under the rule of the wizards, she was also afraid of what could happen at Hogwarts, when her son would come into contact with the children of the nobles.
The results of Jims tests hadn't yet been delivered, so they didn't know yet what to buy for his first year. Jim had been excited to go buy his wand but it hadn't been possible yet as they needed a sign to identify their bloodstatus to go into areas for wizards.
She was cooking lunch when she spotted a wizard in ministry robes appear from thin air in front of their house. He was followed by 10 more who took up positions behind the first, who approached their door. Linda dashed to the door, it could have very negative consequences to not treat magicals with the highest respect. She had heard about people taken into custody for bumping into a wizard.
She opened the door and stood face to face with a man of roughly 50 years of age. He had long blonde hair and a walking cane with a silver headpiece. "How may I help you, Master..." "Malfoy. But there is no need to address me as such, my lady. Is your son at home?" Linda stepped to the side to let the man in, half in shock. Now that he had said his name she recognized him.
Lucius Malfoy, Duke of Wessex, was entering her house. People whispered that he was the right hand of the Emperor and Father in law of the young prince. "Stay here." Malfoy ordered the other men he had come with.
"Can I offer you something to drink, Duke Malfoy." she tried as he rejected the normal honorific of Master. The duke turned to her and smiled "I would appreciate a tea." He looked around their living room and looked at some picture frames of their family. "Is your husband not home?" "No he's at work, he'll come home later. But if you want to speak to him I'll call him." Malfoy just shook his head.
Malfoy had sat down on the couch and waited calmly while Linda was making the tea, panicking inside what was going on. As the tea was finished, she poured Duke Malfoy a cup and was about to sit down when Malfoy asked "Would you mind getting your son?"
Linda nodded and made her way up the stairs, knocked on Jims door. "Yes!" Jim shouted from inside and she opened the door. "Jim, we have guests. Would you come down to greet them please."
"Is it Aunt Margaret? I really don't want to talk to her." he replied. "No it's Duke Lucius Malfoy of Wessex." If not for the serious tone and the signs of terror in her eyes, he would've thought her to be kidding. "Okay."
As Jim entered the living room he saw the blonde man sipping tea out of a mug with a picture of him with his parents on it. What a picture, such an important man was sitting here in their living room. Jim stood frozen in the door, not understanding the situation.
"Come in, Young Master." Malfoy said but Jim was even deeper in shock now and didn't move a millimeter. Lucius nodded towards the empty sofa opposite him and Jim moved slowly towards it. Not sure if this was a dream or indeed real. He was sitting on the sofa in their living room with his mother facing THE Lucius Malfoy.
Malfoy pulled out a letter and handed it over to Jim. "This is for you." Jim held the envelope in hand and slowly opened it.
Dear James Lewis,
We hereby inform you of your bloodstatus. As shown by your ancestry check you are a direct descendant of the Ancient House Peverell. As the only descendant of House Peverell with magic, you inherit the title of the Kingdom of South England, as soon you reach either 14 years of age or pass your O.W.L. Exams. According to magical law you inherit all possessions and estates owned by House Peverell.
Yours sincerely,
Dolores Umbridge
He couldn't quite process what was happening. "Here this was in the envelope." his mom said and handed him a ring. He took the ring and kept staring down in shock. His mother, who had become extremely curious by now took the letter and started reading it as well.
After a while of silence Lucius spoke up. "I think it is time for me to explain to you what this means for you." Both Jim and his mom returned to the present and looked at Malfoy. "You are a Peverell, an Ancient House of wizards. As you may know from the school, the four wizard kingdoms were formed in the 13th century when the most powerful wizard families came together to repel outside threats. The Kingdom of Wales under house Slytherin, Scotland under house Blackwood, North England under House Aetheridge and South England under house Peverell. These four houses along with their vassals repelled the outside threats and formed a mighty alliance which lasted centuries until it fell because of stupid notions of equality. But our Emperor, may he be blessed, returned the former glory to the Empire. While he is a descendant and holds the title of Wales himself, the three other thrones have been left empty as there houses are extinct. That was until now, you are in line to rule over South England. As head of house Malfoy and Duke of Wessex, I'm your direct vassal."
"What?" Jim asked after a long pause.
"I think I need to give you two time to think. I will return tommorow to escort you to your royal residence."
Jim had a very intense dinner with his parents that night. This came as a surprise for all of them, though his dad could remember his grandpa always telling him stories about their forefathers and how they were mighty magicians. But he had always thought it was a fairy tale like all the others his grandpa had told him, whenever he visited.
Well it turned out that it wasn't all made up as their status in the world had changed drastically in one day.
The next day both Edward and Linda stayed home with their son, to wait for Duke Malfoy. They were pretty tired as they all had problems falling asleep with the exciting news on their mind. They were sitting on the sofa talking with the tv on in background when Edward hushed them. "Turn the volume up."
"The Ministry of Magic has announced that a descendant of the King of South England has surfaced and will claim their title in the future. The Ministry is not willing to share with us the name of the newly discovered royal..." the announcer continued talking but they turned the volume down.
"Jim, why don't you take a nap until we get picked up." Linda suggested and it sounded like a great idea.
A few hours later the door bell rang, Linda opened the door and was greeted by Lucius Malfoy. "Great to see you again, Lady Peverell."
"It's a pleasure, Duke Malfoy. Come in, Jim is taking a nap right now but I'll go wake him up."
"That'd be great."
Linda woke Jim up and met with Edward and Lucius in the living room. "Now that we are all here, it is time to tell you the plan. We are going to apparate to Peverell Manor, or to be more precise to the gates of Peverell Manor as we can't enter it without permission of the head of house Peverell. Which means we have to get through the gates with James first. Outside of your house are 10 Aurors who are waiting for us to come out, they will apparate alongside us, incase the resistance wants to ambush us."
The family of three just nodded and went with it. They left the house with light luggage and Lucius grabbed their hands and apparated with them. The second time was a bit better for Jim but it still was very uncomfortable, but he didn't vomit. Though his parents did so.
They stood in front of a big double-winged gate, in the middle of it was the sign of house Peverell, the same that was on the ring he had gotten in the letter. It was a triangle, that encapsulated a line and a circle. To everyone's relieve nobody had been waiting for them and they walked towards the gate. As they stood directly in front of it, Lucius turned to Jim. "You have to open the gate with the Ring of House Peverell, it identifies you as the head of the house."
Jim took the ring out of his pocket and put it on his left pinky finger. He hesitantly stretched out his hand until it touched the gate. As he touched it a jolt went through the gate and it swung open. The party of 14 went through and saw a road leading through a forested area. They continued the road for about half an hour until a big palace appeared between the trees.
As Jim opened the front door he was greeted by a spacious entrance hall which was covered in dust. It seemed like nobody had been here for a long time. "I'm sorry for the state of the palace but nobody was able to enter it for the last centuries. We'll organize some house elfs to take care of it. But first you need to connect to the wardstone. It tends to be in the center of the building."
"What is a wardstone?" Jim asked.
"It will connect you to the enchantments of your estate. I'm not sure of the extent of it."
They made their way further into the building. It was so big, you could lose yourself if you weren't careful. But after a while of searching they found a room in which a stone hovered in the middle.
"That should be it." Lucius said. "You should be able to connect to it with the ring as well."
Jim approached the stone and put his left hand on it, he felt a flow information entering his mind. He suddenly knew the exact outlay of the estate and which living being were where. To his surprise there were a lot of magical being in the forest surrounding the palace. As he discovered that there was a whole library on magic he almost wanted to run of but he reminded himself that he had time for it later.
He looked further in his mind to discover anything of significance in the estate when he stumbled upon a big vault beneath the palace, it was protected by a multitude of enchantments and curses but he felt that he could enter it without problems. But he didn't need to, as he concentrated on the vault he could make out its contents. A mountain of gold coin, multiple artifacts and other items.
"Well I guess now that that's taken care of, I should leave. I'll send you a few house elfs to take care of the basics. But you should hire a few servants for the estate as well. I guess I'll see you soon, my lord." Lucius said and walked out of the room, Jim could feel him walking towards the exit.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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