Harry moved in front of the dais with the Wizengamot sitting back in shock. Blood Feud was serious business. It entailed one House taking oath to destroy another House. Other Houses caught in the Feud could be seriously damaged.
As Harry moved to the front of the room, he noticed something on Dumbledore's robes. His own House Crest was contained on Dumbledore's robes edged in gold. He needed this rectified before he could be interfered with.
"Madam Bones, before I continue further, I have a question. Who currently holds guardianship of myself and may act in loco parentis?"
Madam Bones looked at Harry and said, "According to papers recently filed, Sirius Black, has guardianship."
"Is it true that as the Scion of the House of Potter, the person holding my guardianship has regency of my House until I obtain majority?" Dumbledore's eyes widened momentarily.
He knew he should have tried harder to keep Harry away from Sirius. Events had spiraled out of control and with a death eater being found at the school and with the resurrection of Voldemort he had been too busy to properly direct Harry Potter as to his destiny. The fact that he had been staying at Ms. Grangers should have precluded his finding out too much as Sirius Black should have been busy himself taking care of Black family business. By the time Black would be ready to have Harry moved in, he himself should be sufficiently prepared to allow Harry to learn what he needed him to learn and no more.
Madam Bones agreed with this. She thought for a moment. Very little attention was paid to the numerous House Crests that adorned Dumbledore's robes. Some investigation would have to be made as to who should be holding the Voting Right of the numerous houses that Dumbledore held in proxy.
"I ask that the Voting Right of House Potter be passed from Chief Warlock Dumbledore to Lord Black of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, as he has taken up my guardianship."
"As Minister of Magic, I agree with you. So Mote it Be!" All in the chamber could see the crest disappear from Dumbledore's robes as it appeared on Sirius's.
"Now, as to my business before this body, I, Harry James Potter, Scion of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, with full approval of my regent, Lord Sirius Orion Black of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, declare Blood Feud against Tom Marvolo Riddle of the House of Gaunt and his henchmen."
There was rustling around. Confusion reigned around the chamber. No one knew who Tom Marvolo Riddle was and the House of Gaunt had disappeared 50 years earlier with the death of its Head after Azkaban. Augusta Longbottom of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom stood.
"Scion Potter, I must ask. Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle and what is his relation to the House of Gaunt?" Malfoy tensed. He knew Voldemort's real name, even if he didn't know more than that.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle is the issue of the daughter of the last Head of House Gaunt, Marvolo Gaunt. His mother was Merope Gaunt who died in childbirth and Tom Riddle, son of the muggle Manor Lord Riddle and his wife, all three who were killed by Tom Marvolo Riddle to hide his connections to a muggle. He then framed the son of Marvolo Gaunt who was sent to Azkaban. He died there."
The Wizengamot was shocked. The Gaunts had been well known pureblood fanatics. The fact that the daughter had had a child with a Muggle was astonishing. Dumbledore had been even more nonplussed. Even he had had to work for many years to uncover this information. How had Harry obtained this information?
"And what cause do you have against Tom Marvolo Riddle to declare Blood Feud?"
At this, Harry pulled his wand and in letters of fire spelled "Tom Marvolo Riddle." When all were looking at this he waved his wand and the letters rearranged themselves to "I Am Lord Voldemort."
"Tom Marvolo Riddle murdered my father, Lord of the House of Potter and my mother, his wife. He has attacked me repeatedly in the last 14 years. This, I feel, is sufficient cause to declare Blood Feud and my guardian regent concurs."
Bedlam was heard around the chambers. No one had known that Voldemort had been a half-blood. The death eaters felt duped. In their zeal to destroy muggleborns and advance their pureblood philosophy, they had tied themselves to a half-blood by necromantic magic. And he wasn't even the child of a muggleborn by of a MUGGLE!
Dumbledore felt that this was out of control. The sounds of shock and outrage across the chamber meant that his calm and collected reasoning would not sway the Wizengamot or the public. The purebloods would rebel against Voldemort because of his status as a half-blood. The death eaters would either support their master by force of magic or hide themselves away from the coming storm. The muggleborns and half-bloods would be outraged that the purebloods would follow the lead of a madman not even pureblood. This information would throw their world in chaos.
"Lord Black, do you affirm the Blood Feud as Regent of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter? And do you have the forms informing the Ministry of Magic regarding Blood Feud and alliances?"
Sirius came forward and handed several parchments to Madam Bones. He then pulled his wand and stated, "I, Lord Black of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, guardian and Regent for the Scion of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, do affirm Blood Feud against Tom Marvolo Riddle and the House of Gaunt! So Mote it Be!"
Changes were happening to the robes of Harry, Sirius and Hermione. Hermione came and stood with Harry. What the Wizengamot members saw shocked them. Hermione's robes held the House of Potter crest trimmed in red above a House of Gaunt crest in red, meaning she placed herself under his command. Harry's robes held the large crest trimmed in gold and red, with the Gaunt crest below it. Sirius's robe, instead of being trimmed in silver with the red to indicate alliance, was trimmed only in red. This meant that the Lord of the House of Black had placed himself under the orders of Harry Potter in the Blood Feud.
Harry stood before the dais and added one more shock. "The House of Potter calls one more ally in this Blood Feud." Amelia nodded to Sirius and he sent a patronus message off. The chamber stirred as Harry, Sirius and Hermione stood calmly in front of the dais waiting for their ally to arrive.
The doors to the chambers opened, and Ragnok, Director of Gringott's Bank and Chief of the Goblin Nation entered escorted by four Goblin Guards. Only this goblin had right to enter these chambers, but only as a supplicant. The Wizengamot was confused.
Ragnok moved in front of Harry and said, "The Goblin Nation comes in alliance with the House of Potter in Blood Feud against Tom Marvolo Riddle and the House of Gaunt. We provide treaty to House of Potter, with the Minister of Magic as witness. This treaty shall hold, at your request, until the destruction of Tom Marvolo Riddle and shall constitute a magically binding Oath. Do you accept?"
"I, Harry James Potter, Scion of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, with full permission of my Regent, Lord Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black accept the offer of treaty. Please present the treaty." Sirius waved his wand and a table appeared in front of the dais with Harry, Hermione and Sirius and one side, with Amelia joining them, and Ragnok with his Guard on the other.
The Captain of the Guard placed the treaty they had discussed in front of Ragnok and placed a blood quill next to it. Only the goblins still used blood quills for contracts as blood magic for wizards was considered somewhat dark. Wizards could sign with the blood quill or sign with a regular quill with a magically binding oath to follow to contract.
Ragnok took the blood quill and signed his name to the treaty. All could see the red blood that appeared on the back of his hand as he did so. Harry took the blood quill and, after a moment to review the terms, signed his own name to the treaty. Sirius took the quill and signed his own name to the treaty as Harry's guardian and Regent. The Captain of Ragnok's Guard took the quill and signed as witness. This was his only roll in the Council of the Goblin Nation -- to act as witness to treaties where other goblins could not come. Amelia, contrary to expectations, took the blood quill and signed her own name as witness as the Minister of Magic.
The moment she finished signing, the crest of Gringott's appeared on Harry's sleeve. This showed that Harry recognized the goblins as allied with the House of Potter.
The goblin's uniforms also changed. Goblins did not hold to the same traditions as wizards, but Ragnok had decided that in this case, this tradition would show their resolve to the wizards and to all magical beings.
The uniforms of all of the goblins Guards took on the crest of House Potter in the center of their chest trimmed in red signifying that Harry Potter had authority over them in the Blood Feud against the House of Gaunt.
Slowly, the crests appeared on the chest of Ragnok. Instead of the silver and red trim that all had expected, a small crest of the House of Potter appeared with the crest of House Gaunt appearing in red below it. Trimmed around the crest of House Potter was a thick red strip with no hint of silver.
The Goblin Nation had placed itself under the orders of Harry James Potter in Blood Feud against Voldemort and his death eaters. And the shock of this would be felt around the magical world far beyond the shores of Great Britain.
Harry had announced in the Wizengamot that any offered alliances could be done at Gringott's as he had deputized Ragnok in the fight and allowed the goblins to sign alliances with the House of Potter in the Feud. As far as Harry was concerned, the goblins knew what they were doing as far as war was concerned and Harry didn't need to give out orders as they didn't need them.
With a question to Amelia Bones, he had placed his personal protection on Amelia and her family and the Minister's robes now showed that she was under the protection of House Potter. In the spirit of the new treaty, Ragnok offered the same and the crest of Gringott's appeared right next to the crest of House Potter on her shoulder. As this was personal protection and not protection of the Minister of Magic position, it didn't even violate any treaties.
Once again, as these things had never happened no treaties had ever covered the contingency. Politically, it was in very non-traditional for the Minister of Magic to be under anyone's protection much less show alliance to a particular House. But in a Blood Feud, the traditions became murky. Harry Potter had signified that harming Amelia Bones or her family as collateral damage to the Feud would not be tolerated and this was backed up by the power of the Goblin Nation.
Harry and the rest had then gone with the goblins back to Gringott's. This had been a calculated move to avoid Dumbledore and his meddling.
Hermione had urged Harry to consult with Dumbledore before they left for vacation, but Harry with the help of Sirius had convinced her that it wasn't time yet. Even though Hermione thought Dumbledore had Harry's best interests in mind, she could see that he had to lead in the fight against Voldemort as the prophesy had named him. She wasn't into divination, but appearances counted for much.
Harry wanted nothing more than to get back to the Grangers and prepare for his vacation. The goblins were taking care of Voldemort's horcruxes and locating him so that when all the horcruxes had been destroyed the destruction of Voldemort once and for all could take place.
It was decided two weeks away would allow everyone to settle down and get it fixed in their mind that Voldemort was back, Harry and the goblins would take care of him and that Harry was not available for witches and wizards or the press to hound.
The goblins could see the changes occurring because of the treaty with Harry Potter. When witches and wizards entered their bank and saw the crests on the chests of all of the goblins, they knew something had changed. To the average witch and wizard, the treaties between the goblins and the Ministry of Magic were less important than what they could see. And seeing a wizard's crest on the chest of every goblin, they were viewed with a bit more diffidence.
The wizards and witches who knew the customs were even more polite. They saw the crest of House Potter and knew they had allied themselves with the Boy-Who-Lived. Even before the news of Voldemort's return the next day, they decided that it would be in very bad taste to treat his allies with less than full respect.
This was further aided as the result of an incident that occurred within 10 minutes of the treaty being signed. One of Voldemort's followers had been at the bank and saw the crest of the House of Potter on the chest of the goblin teller that he had been dealing with. He had made a snide comment about Harry Potter. Within moments goblin guards had restrained him, tied him up, and he had been taken with records of the bribes he was guilty of and turned over to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the atrium of the Ministry with VERY public statements to the Aurors.
It was quietly passed around the death eaters and other purebloods that going against the alliance of Gringott's and House Potter could see the goblins giving all information to the DMLE on financial dealings and the new Minister of Magic was not one to take bribes to cover things up. Killing Amelia Bones would not solve the problem as all of their gold was still in vaults at Gringott's and Azkaban was far, far preferable to what the goblins did to prisoners they kept. And if it was proven that you were a death eater, Blood Feud would see the goblins destroy you.
It became very in vogue to be carefully polite in Gringott's.
The tone around the dinner table was much more cheerful than could normally be expected with such grave circumstances surrounding everyone. Harry and Sirius had set the wheels in motion and, as long as they informed the closest branch of Gringott's where they could be reached, the next two weeks could be enjoyed without the cloud of Voldemort holding over everyone's head.
The plane was scheduled the next day. Naples, with its many historical sights and nearby beaches, was calling and Harry looked forward to the first full vacation in this or the other life. Tonks, Hermione and Emma were planning on getting Sirius onto a beach full of women in bikinis and causing his head to explode. Robert was contemplating keeping a trustworthy chaperone for his daughter and her boyfriend.
To Robert, it seemed that the his wife was less concerned than he felt she should be, Harry's guard was herself at an age where she wouldn't see anything wrong and the boy's godfather had a history of a lothario and Robert didn't know how far he would let Harry go.
Then again, he could just go with whatever happened. Harry was respectful and seemed to have convictions set in stone. It was far more likely that his normally very conservative daughter, almost a year older than Harry at almost 16, would instigate things. And Harry would do anything for her. He was, as far as Robert was concerned, still a teenage boy and no teenage boy could hold out for too long against the interest of an attractive girl.
It was going to be one hell of a two week vacation.
The next morning everyone was getting ready to go. The Daily Prophet had shown up, and the return of Voldemort, along with all of the revelations of the day before, was front page news. Editor's comments were questioning Harry's alliance with Gringott's but very politely. He would take a chance when they reported in at the local Gringott's in Italy the next day to pass off a response to the editorial.
Apparently the Weasleys had gotten wind of what had happened as both Errol and Pig had shown up during breakfast to deliver mail.
Harry and Sirius had concluded that they should have mail misdirection wards and only mail from certain people could get through. They didn't want to alert the Weasleys to any changes so they were on the list.
Mrs. Weasleys had a letter to Harry expressing her concern for his safety, which apparently had been written shortly after the howler for Sirius calling him a bad guardian for allowing Harry to get involved in a Blood Feud, especially against "he-who-must-be-named." Harry snorted. Like I'm still a little kid and Sirius is a bad influence. Overbearing harridan.
Ginny had sent a letter to Harry with some treacle tarts and Harry wouldn't touch them with a ten foot poll. He expressed interest in front of the family but privately, to Hermione, he expressed concern. They decided it wasn't worth it at this point to even worry about it, but Hermione was still planning on a severe reality adjustment for the red-haired fangirl.
Ron had written a letter to Harry wondering why he hadn't included him and his family in what happened at the Wizengamot and wondering if he was coming over to the burrow this summer. He had also written a letter to Hermione (not knowing they were both at Hermione's house) that fame seemed to be getting to his head and that he wanted to talk to her about reigning in their friend. Hermione was incensed.
Arthur had sent a letter of support to Harry and informed him that if he could do anything to help he would. The twins had used on of their new mail order owls that they had gotten with the help of the investment from Sirius to send a letter to Harry with their support and to try a sample of one of their new inventions, Canary Creams.
Fawkes, with a letter from Dumbledore, had shown up around the same time. Dumbledore asked for a meeting with Harry and Sirius about what had happened at the Wizengamot and other related information Harry needed. Harry and Sirius laughed, knowing that Dumbledore had very little control left about what was happening.
Harry and Hermione had sent letters to Neville and Luna the night before letting them know what was happening and inviting them to a joint birthday party for Harry and Neville on Neville's birthday. They also reaffirmed to Luna that she would be watching over Hedwig and Crookshanks as they would be out of the country (Sirius had agreed to take Crookshanks over to the Lovegoods before they left for the airport). Neville had replied with his own owl that he was supportive, agreed to the party and added that his grandmother would want to talk with Harry and Sirius after they got back. Luna had replied that she would be delighted to attend the party and was happy to look after Hedwig and to send her back after the reply and to drop off Crookshanks. She also included information that the story about Voldemort would be on the front page of this week's Quibbler above the latest article about snorkacks that had been bumped to the inside of the paper.
By the time that everything was ready to go, Hedwig had flown back to the Lovegoods via Amelia Bones with Tonk's weekly report on her assignment, reply letters to all the Weasleys had been sent by the same owls the originals to Harry, Hermione and Sirius had been sent, a letter informing Dumbledore they would meet after Harry's birthday had been sent with Fawkes, and Crookshanks had been taken with the letter to Luna to her place. Everyone were looking forward to the trip.
A/N: Ok. Things are all set up. One more look at the Daily Prophet and then off to Naples. It's going to be a blast. Oh. And by the way, the word nonplussed means utterly perplexed and puzzled. I've seen it used a number of times in fan-fiction to imply calm, which is closer to the opposite. I'm just saying ....