Chapter 46: A Pact of Protection
The four Slytherin students were led out onto the grounds by their parents. As they strolled around the lake, Lord Greengrass started the conversation. "We are going to talk with you as a group since we are all family and you were raised that way. (The Ladies of the houses were sisters.) Daphne, I need to know where you and your sister along with your cousins fall in this mess."
Daphne replied "We have stayed out of it father. Thanks to Draco Malfoy, Potter looks on all of Slytherin House with distrust even though most of us have never given him reason to do so."
Lord Moon asked "So none of you have said anything derogatory towards him?"
Lilith Moon answered "No sir, we have tried to remain above it."
Lady Greengrass asked "Please tell me you did not wear those disgusting badges I heard about."
Three of the heads looked down. Lord Davis hissed "I'm so ashamed of you Tracy. Why would you do something like that?"
"I'm sorry father. We didn't do it on purpose. When we put them on, they said 'Support Cedric Diggory'. We didn't know they would change and when they did, we tried to remove them but they had a sticking charm on them that wouldn't allow us to remove them until that night. I don't see what the big deal is though. Potter is too weak to do anything."
Daphne hissed back "Didn't you listen to Professor Snape that night in the common room. Potter may be weak right now but he won't always be. I assume that is what this is about?"
Lord Greengrass said "Yes. But in the future, it would serve you well not to refer to him as Potter. If you can't call him Harry then call him Mr. Potter. There is a lot more going on here than we know and if Jones and Diggory are moving towards him, things in our world could change quickly."
Lilith asked "But aren't the Diggory and the Jones Houses neutral like us?"
Lord Moon said "Yes they are but they are of a lighter persuasion than our families. As you well know, the Potters are a very old family and well connected. There are currently over fifty vacant seats in the Wizengamot and with young Harry being the last of his line, we don't know how many seats he will obtain on his majority. He could very well be a voting block to himself."
Lord Greengrass added "I am almost positive that he will gain at least ten seats. If that wasn't enough, I've heard a rumor that he will lead the Black family as well."
Astoria gasped "Aren't those the seats that Draco says will be his?"
Lord Davis chuckled "I'm sure he thinks that but I'm sure the current head of House Black may have a differing opinion. After all, he is the godfather to young Harry."
Tracy asked "Who?"
"Sirius Black"
Astoria asked "The mass murderer?"
"The one and the same."
Daphne said "Wait a minute, in the article; Megan said that family turned their backs on Harry as well. Do you think he meant Lord Black?"
Lord Greengrass said "We don't know and that has us worried. If it was true, a vengeful Potter and Black family joined together would not be a good thing right now as they have enough power to seriously impact the Wizengamot and the Ministry. Daphne, it is obvious that you have remained completely above this mess so I want you to make overtures to him. We are going to approach Lord Jones and offer our help and support."
As they were coming back around the lake and getting closer to the entrance of the castle, Lords Jones and Diggory along with their wives were coming out of the door with their children in tow as well as a little blond girl. They were about to start their own stroll around the lake when the two groups came face to face. Lord Greengrass stepped forward and shook both of the Lords' hands. Once the greetings between families were done, he said "We have discussed it and would like to offer our support in the matter that faces you."
Lord Jones looked at him warily. He was about to answer when Daphne stepped in front of Megan and said "Megan, I'll swear an oath if you require it but we really want to help."
Megan stared back at her and asked "Why are you saying this to me?"
Daphne snorted "Come on Megan, it's obvious that Granger is out of the picture and you're the top contender. We also know that Harry is going to be a major influence on our world. Even though my family's views are a little darker than yours, we all are neutral and share basically the same goals. I'm not going to deny that we don't want to be left out when things change but if your houses take a protective status over House Potter, your fathers will have a harder time of it than you realize. Between the light houses and the dark houses making a run at it, they will have their hands full so if you add our families to the protection, the work can be shared by five instead of two."
Lord Jones asked "Lord Greengrass, do you normally allow your heiress to speak on behalf of your house?"
He responded "I trust my daughter in all matters. In all honesty, we, and I include all of the adults in this, are just the muscle and advisors. The real solutions will be created by our children as I'm sure Mr. Potter has no trust in anyone our age at this point."
Megan looked up at her father who was watching her intently. She finally said "I'm still confused as to why everyone is looking to me for a decision on this. Cedric started it and our fathers decided it was a worthy cause to take up. I think that the decision should be left to the more experienced and that is obviously not me."
Lord Jones smiled in pride and laid his hand on her shoulder. "We're not asking for a decision. We are asking for your opinion."
"My opinion says yes but I'm biased and only want Harry protected until he can do it himself. Cedric, your input would be good about now."
Cedric added "Our families have always been friendly with each other and are usually on the same side. There are some things going on that I don't agree with and I feel something needs to be done about it which is where our parents come in. I cannot answer for an Heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House as that would be above my station. I will however be very grateful to all of you if you were to start blocking any movements towards House Potter and maybe put some plans in place for when he returns."
Megan nodded and then said "Harry has confided in us about his plans for the future. We swore an oath not to reveal anything so it won't do to ask. I will ask that you tie the matter up as long as you can. Once Harry reappears, Cedric and I will begin the education he should have been given starting at age six. If you can give us this time, I promise that we will arrange a meeting between all five families and Harry where you can make your offer."
Lord Greengrass said "That sounds prudent and reasonable. When young Potter first came to Hogwarts, I was concerned that he lacked knowledge of our world. Daphne's observations also showed things that I couldn't comprehend but at this point, it seems as if he was being set up to be thrown amongst the sharks. I would like to avoid that and will swear an oath that we have no ill intentions towards Mr. Potter. He could be a major force in our world for good and we see this as an opportunity to improve things for the better. It is something our family has dreamt about for a long time."
Lord Jones replied "Ours as well. We see Mr. Potter as our best chance to accomplish this."
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