Chapter Text
"Rowena Ravenclaw's Daughter was believed to be the last of her line but she wasn't. A Ravenclaw heir emerged three decades ago and claimed the Heirship in '74. The last of Helga Hufflepuff's line died decades ago and the title was taken through Right of Conquest and Salazar Slytherin's heir hasn't been found yet but the line still exists, so they're somewhere out there and Godric Gryffindor... It's rumoured the Potters were descended from Godric but your Father, James Potter, and his Father, Charlus Potter, never did an Inheritance and Heritage Test as they were both an only child, so it wasn't necessary to claim the Potter Heirship."
"Wait, royal?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Yes. They're all lines descended from the Pendragon line. They aren't the primary Heirs of the Pendragon line but they are descended from the line. Arthur didn't have any children. They're all descended from Morgana," Draco said.
"Wait, wait, wait," Harry said. "You're saying it's possible my family were descended from Morgana!?"
"Yes," Narcissa said and Harry's eyes went wide and I started going through the wands Ollivander picked out for me.
"That's 35 seats. What about the other 15?" I asked.
"Morgana's heir has two, Merlin's heir has two and the Pendragon heir has two. The Pendragon House is the only one known as 'The Most Noble, Most Ancient, Most Royal and Most High House of Pendragon'. The primary, secondary and tertiary heirs of Pendragon are the only ones with the 'Prince/Princess' title. The Pendragon heir will always be Morgana and Merlin's heir, as Arthur didn't have kids and Morgana and Merlin only had one child each and they had that one child together. Each department in the Ministry has a seat that the department heads sit on. There are 7 departments. The Head of House of 'The Most Noble and Most Anicent House of Peverell' has one seat... House Peverell is the only House with that title, by the way... The last seat used to be for the Headteacher of Hogwarts, as education is very important but, after the war, it was decided that the seat would be changed to the Potter seat, given what you and your Parents did, Harry, and Dumbledore already had a seat as Chief Warlock," Narcissa said.
"Wait, so I might have two seats in the Wizard version of the government? Two out of fifty?" Harry asked.
"4% of the votes and you're only 11," I said with a smirk. "If you get a job in the Ministry and become a department head, you'll have another 2% of the votes."
"No one's had more than 6% of the votes in almost a decade as the last heir of Merlin, Morgana and Pendragon vanished the day after the war ended. She was also the Ravenclaw heir," Narcissa said.
"What's 'Right of Conquest'?" I asked as I finally found my wand. My wand is white. It's made of yew wood, it has a Dragon Heartstring core, it's 10 3/4 inches and is unyielding. Harry started his turn.
"Right of Conquest is like a Wizard's Duel but the adult version. A Wizard's Duel is a duel between two Wixen under the age of 17. 17 is when you become an adult in the Wizarding World, by the way. A Wizard's Duel and Right of Conquest happen when a person is so offended by something a person has done or said that they have to defend their honour, or their House's honour, and the only way they believe to forgive the other person's offence is by violence. A Wizard's Duel ends when someone forfeits or is knocked unconscious, or can't perform any more Spells, usually due to Magical Exhaustion but sometimes just because they can't use their hands anymore. If someone forfeits, it not only dishonours the person who forfeits and their House, but then their second has to take over. If the second loses, both the second and the forfeiter have lost. However, if the second wins, both the second and the forfeiter have won. Though the forfeiter has still dishonoured themselves and their House. The loser of the Wizard's Duel has to do whatever the winner wants for a whole week, no matter how embarrassing or insulting to the loser it is. Well, anything within reason. You can't force them to do anything illegal, dangerous or inappropriate, like kissing. Sometimes, they have to embarrass themselves so badly, stricter families can disown them for embarrassing their House so badly," Draco said.
"A Right of Conquest Duel, however, is a fight to the death," Narcissa said. "It is the only way to legally kill someone. Of course, you still can't use the unforgivables as, while the killing is legal, the Unforgivables are still illegal, but still. This can only happen if Magic accepts the need for a Right of Conquest. It will only accept it if you feel you and/or your House have been offended to the point that only the person's death can be enough to make up for it. However, if the other person wins and you die, then the matter is settled. No one else can fight over the matter or your death. So, if someone offended me and we fought a Right of Conquest and I lost, no one could then fight the person who offended me or anyone else over my death or the offensive thing. Of course, if they did the offensive thing again, then they could, but still. You don't need to tell the person that you're going to fight a Right of Conquest with them, either. All you do is say the phrase 'I wish to defend mine and my House's honour with a Right of Conquest against' and then the person's name. You don't even need to do it in front of them either. If Magic accepts the need, you will glow a bright blue colour. If not, you will glow a bright red colour. If you still fight them after and kill them, it's breaking the law. You need to be able to prove the Right of Conquest was accepted and that'll happen by an Inheritance and Heritage Test. You gain all property, titles, money and anything else the person you beat owns, including Wives."
"Wives!?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Some proper Purebloods have traditional Marriage Contracts that make the Wife property of their Husbands. Both Bellatrix and I have those Contracts. Bellatrix is my other Sister, the one in Azkaban. Lucius doesn't take advantage of it but Bella's Husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, did," Narcissa said.
"What do you mean your Sister's Husband 'took advantage' of the Contract?" I asked with a curious and slightly harsh tone.
"Traditional Marriage Contracts ensure that the Wife can't harm their Husband but the Husband can harm their Wife. Most also force the Wife to have at least one child to continue the line. Mine had that but Bella's didn't. Both of our Contracts force us to sleep with our Husbands whenever they tell us to and some Contracts force the Wife to do whatever the Husband orders them to, even if it'll cause the Wife harm or it's something she really doesn't want to do. Luckily, mine and Bella's don't have that clause but I know a few people who do. Before they were sent to Azkaban, Rodolphus took great pleasure in forcing Bella into his bed every night. Unfortunately, there are only two ways to break a Traditional Marriage Contract. The first is having the Heads of all the Houses involved in the Contract (e.g., mine and Lucius' would be the Malfoy Head of House and the Black Head of House) agree to dissolve the Contract. The second is the death of a spouse. However, most Contracts have it that if the Husband dies, that's the end of the Contract but if the Wife dies, another female member of the Wife's House (if there is one and they're not wed or in a Betrothal Contract) will marry the Husband. Meaning, if I die, Lucius would then end up marrying no one because the only Blacks left that are female are Andromeda and her Daughter, and because Andromeda was disowned, her and her Daughter don't count," Narcissa said.
"But what if Draco were a girl and you died? Draco would be the only female member of the House, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes. In that case, Draco would end up marrying Lucius, unless the Head of both Houses agreed to dissolve the Contract. While proper Purebloods have no problem with this, Blood Traitors do. Despite them all being inbred themselves in one way or another, most of them still frown upon incest, even though it's a very common and accepted thing in our world," Narcissa responded with a frown. Harry smiled as he found his wand.
"Curious," Ollivander said. "Very curious."
"Sorry but what's curious?" Harry asked. Ollivander took the wand from him.
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr Potter. It so happens that the Phoenix," he said. "Whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather. Just one other. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand, when it's Brother gave you that scar." He pointed at Harry's scar and then lowered his hand.
"You sold him the wand? You know his name?" I asked.
"Who owned that wand?" Harry asked.
"We do not speak his name," Ollivander said. "The wand chooses the Wizard, Mr Potter. It's not always clear why. But I think it is clear," he said as he got closer to Harry. "That we can expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible, yes... But great."
"Okay, that's enough of that," Narcissa insisted and she paid for the three wands before ushering us out of the store. "Pet shop next, I think." We met up at the pet shop with a blonde man.
"Ah, Mr Potter," he said when he spotted Harry's scar. He held his hand out to Harry. "Lucius Malfoy." Harry grabbed his hand. "We meet at last. Forgive me." He yanked Harry closer by their joint hands and used the Snake-head of his cane to move some of Harry's hair to get a better view of the scar. "Your scar is legend. As of course is the Wizard who gave it to you." Harry pulled his hand back.
"It's nice to meet you," Harry said.
"Hi," I said. He looked at me and then at Narcissa.
"This is Hermione Granger," Narcissa said and Lucius' eyes went wide. "We're adopting her, Lucius. After this, we'll have to go to the Ministry. I know you're probably not too happy about having to go into your workplace on your day off but--"
"It's fine, Cissy," Lucius said. "This is important. I don't mind. It's nice to meet you, Miss Granger."
"It's nice to meet you too," I said to him with a smile.
"Hermione, look! Isn't she gorgeous?" Harry pointed out a white Snowy Owl. "What do you think I should name her?"
"How do you know it's a girl?" Draco asked and Harry pointed at the sign that stated the species and gender of the Owl. "Oh." Draco blushed a litte and I giggled. He pushed me.
"Draco, don't push your Sister!" Narcissa admonished and I hugged her.
"It's okay. He's only playing and he didn't push me hard," I said. "And, Harry? I think you should name her Hedwig." Harry nodded.
"Hedwig it is then," Harry said. Draco picked out a male Eurasian Eagle Owl and named him Ulysses. I looked around and ended up picking a Niffler.
"Hermione, Dear, only Owls, Toads and Cats are on the approved list," Narcissa gently said and I made a pleading pouty face at her and she cooed. "Severus, do you think you can get the Niffler approved?" Professor Snape hesitated for a moment.
"If you insist," he replied.
"What will you name her?" I thought for a moment.
"Bellatrix," I said.