Chapter 27: Harry, have you ever had a dream? Pt. 1
6th August 1993. On board the Knight Bus.
"Before anything else, you should know I am related to you; you can call me cousin. I have only recently returned to the British wizarding world and only learnt of your existence as a member of my family a few months ago.
I would have contacted you earlier, but Dumbledore had made that nigh impossible with all those wards."
Harry sat there in shock; he had a family in the wizarding world who was actually related to him.
Why had Dumbledore never told him? Did that mean he had to stay with the Dursleys? Would the man in front of him give him a home?
"I am sure you have lots of questions, and I will do my best to answer them. For example, you may not know that the wizarding world is split into several classes and political factions. For example, there is a wizard Aristocracy, which you and I are members of." Ares explained to Harry.
Harry felt like he was in a dream; not only was the teenager being told he had a family, but he was also an aristocrat! Listening to the Dursleys, he knew they were important, respected people.
"You are from the Potter family, an ancient and noble House, so not an unimportant one but not at the top of the hierarchy. I am the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell, which gives me a certain leeway in Britain with all its discriminatory laws." Ares said, watching the boy in front of him nod in understanding.
Ares then explained how in simple terms, the Wizengamoat, the central government body for passing laws, was split into three sides.
There were the Light families, the Grey families and the Dark families, and in the Light families, there were two factions, Dumbledore and Dowager Longbottom. Still, Dumbledore was basically in control of the entire block.
In the Grey families, there was only one faction of note: the Greengrass family, who controlled all the other neutral families.
The Dark families had several factions as the Black family who had headed the coalition had become extinct, so the significant factions were Malfoy, Nott and Carrow. However, Malfoy usually had the most control.
The leaders of these blocks controlled them through blackmail and threats (Dark), money and influence (Grey) or manipulative tactics and a sense of justice (Light).
"The Potters family has never really taken an interest in politics for longer than the occasional generation. The Peverell family have been in Bulgaria for the last few decades, so they haven't taken an interest in British politics." Ares finished his explanation.
Harry was amazed. He was even realising this explained how people at Hogwarts acted and why Malfoy was so full of himself.
"So, does that mean half the people in my year are from prominent families? You mentioned a few names I recognise." Harry inquired.
Ares nodded, explaining how the wizarding war had meant that all the heirs and members of the great families had been born around the same time.
"Harry, I would like to teach you a spell that I think you will find interesting, don't worry, it isn't dark," Ares asked, omitting that the only reason it wasn't dark was that the ministry didn't know about it.
Harry nodded and watched intently as Ares waved his wand with two downward swishes and said, 'Vi gravitates,' crushing the bed a few metres away.
"The spell increases the power of gravity on objects and people. The stronger the force depends on the amount of power put in," Ares explained.
Harry picked up his wand, ignoring that he wasn't at Hogwarts and did two downward swishes and said, 'Vi gravitates' forcefully.
The targeted bed moved and strained a little but was otherwise unaffected.
"It takes time to master. Just keep practising." Ares consoled Harry.
This act of teaching his younger self spells would gradually allow Ares to begin replacing Dumbledore in Harry's eyes as a teacher and trusted confidante.
The bus stopped, and Ares stood up, hefting Harry's case with him and beckoning Harry to follow.
They got out before the Leaky Cauldron and made their way inside.
They walked into a small parlour after greeting Tom, Harry covering his scar and sat down.
Barely seconds later, Minister Fudge walked in and started talking immediately,
"Ah, Harry, my boy! Thank goodness Lord Peverell found you! Don't worry about that incident at Number 4; Marjorie Dursley has been punctured, and her memory changed. I suggest you stay here for the last three weeks of the holiday" Actually sighing in relief.
Harry was confused. He seemed to be getting off scot-free, which was unusual as the ministry had told him he would be expelled for underage magic the next time it happened.
Just as he was about to ask, Ares shook his head and put a finger to his lips.
"Room 11 is free, so just be careful and don't wander too far; you should be fine!" Cornelius finished, bowing to Ares and shaking his hand as well as Harry's.
As soon as the Minister had left, Harry turned to Ares and went,
"What the fucking hell was that? The ministry hates me!"
Ares tutted before replying,
"Language! The Minister is keen to keep you safe because a mass murderer has escaped on his watch and wants to kill you. His name is Sirius Black."
Harry nodded, more than a little scared.
"That is why I taught you that spell, and if you allow me, I would like you to come back to my house and learn some basic self-defence; of course, this is entirely up to you." Ares might have felt bad about portraying Sirius as a bad guy if it didn't help him so much as he tried to convince Harry to return to his Manor.
Harry nodded eagerly, anxious to learn more, but then he realised that he would be a little foolish to trust a stranger so quickly.
Ares sensing his hesitation and guessing the reason held up his wand and swore,
"I, Ares Peverell, swear on my magic that I mean no harm to the boy Harry Potter."
'Lumos' Ares lit up his wand point to prove he still had his magic.
Harry agreed to visit Ares, happy to do so now that he could trust the man.
"I'll pay for your room now, and you can come and stay with me. It is far more important for you to stay somewhere safe right now behind magical defences." Ares declared, calling for Tom and paying him fourteen Galleons for the room and his silence.
"Let's go," Ares said to Harry before motioning for him to grab on, at which point the two disapparated.
They appeared outside the Manor, at which point Harry said,
"Cor blimey, how loaded are you?"
Ares just rolled his eyes and walked past the gates, Harry quickly followed, and as he passed through the gates, he felt cocooned in familiar magic like he was home.
Ares called Dobby and told him to prepare a bed for Harry, who, upon hearing about the elf, had a happy reunion, and Dobby set out to do his very best for the best wizard in the world.
Ares gave Harry a quick tour showing him the Duelling room, promising to teach him how to duel correctly, his study, which was protected by more wards than the rest of the Manor combined, and six of the fourteen bedrooms.
Ares only showed him six as they were the most significant bedrooms. Ares had ordered the house elves to renovate the rest of the house with functional modern Muggle appliances such as a Gym and a Home Cinema.
There was a fencing room and a gallery with pictures of Ares and Harry's ancestors, most of whom looked too obsessed with being considered significant.
"I always thought Pureblood families had random portraits painted of serious-looking people to make them look more ancient. It really is a silly tradition." Ares declared, shaking his head.
The kitchens were now the house elves' domain, as he had accepted a dozen more into his service whose job consisted of helping with cooking, rebuilding Slytherin Fort and keeping all his other properties in a liveable condition. The kitchen was reasonably modern, with cookers and an AGA.
When Harry walked into the library, his first thought was, 'Hermione would love this place!' and his next question was ', Why are there so many books?'
"Welcome to the pride of my family, we may not have taken an interest in politics, but we have been accumulating knowledge for over six centuries, although most of this was collected by the Goblins who had orders to buy up any rare or useful books. There is, of course, another smaller private library for research and ancient and dangerous spells, some invented by members of the family, as well as the family grimoire, which consists of only powerful spells invented by the Peverell family." Ares declared with a flourish.
After letting Harry flip through a few books, he led him upstairs to the prepared guest room opposite and told Harry to get some sleep.
Weekly Power Status
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