Return Ⅲ

Still, there was a good number of Rowle descendants covering over one page and into a second and even third page. Rowan's hand freezes at reading two names and that is of Mrs. Maribel Pettigrew (nee Rowle), and of Peter Pettigrew. She lets out a low whistle of shock, but then again that certainly explained why Peter-, no Wormtail, in Potter's time betrayed the marauders.

If Wormtail was indeed a Rowle through his maternal side, his cousins would have likely approached him. Wormtail would have wanted to be a pureblood and finally be recognized and become a part of his extended family. And especially more as the war escalated and his relatives' made promises of power and safety. It was a very powerful motive and people had betrayed dear friends for much less.

The next family was that of Selwyn, Rowan grimaced, but her face softened at seeing a name among the numerous descendants of the Selwyn's, Tiffany Topsy along with her immediate family. Tiffany's mother, Helena Topsy (nee Selwyn), her brother, Mycroft Topsy, and lastly her nephew, Christopher Topsy. The little tyke and Rowan did not get on at all.

Several more families were listed the Carrow's, Macmillian's, Parkinson's, and last but not least the Abbott family. Rowan almost choked at spotting Andrew and his family name. Who would have thought that such a sweet Hufflepuff family would have once a thousand years in the past mixed with Salazar Slytherin!

Although privately Rowan very much approved, it just showed that people shouldn't go, and judge based on appearance and Hogwarts House sorting!

Turning to the last page, Rowan's hand falters at seeing the last family name, Burke. A low choking sound escapes from her lips as a cold smile spread across her face. "Finally!" She whispered. "You finally did something right Salazar Slytherin!"

Rowan carefully reads through the living descendants of the Burke household, before her gaze rests upon the name she most eagerly anticipated, Murtagh Burke. For a moment, she clenches her hands in tiny victory, before reminding herself not to become overly confident. She had found only one single link and that was via the blood oath. It looks like she was going to be closely researching blood oaths in the future.

Feeling that she had gained all that she could Rowan was carefully closing the book shut before she recalled a nudging detail from the back of her mind. There was one other connection that Voldemort and the unborn Potter held that bound the two together and that was through the Peverell line. The Peverell line had gone extinct via the male line, but the female descendants had gone on to marry into other pureblood families which should still exist to the present day.

The Gaunt lineage was descended from the second brother, Cadmus Peverell, while the Potter lineage was descended from the third brother, Ignotus Peverell even more specifically through his granddaughter, Iolanthe Peverell, who married Hardwin Potter. Interestingly enough, the Prince lineage was not descended from any of the Peverell lines. They had other lineages including Merlin, but not any of the Peverell lineages. (Although Morgana La Fey's and Helga Hufflepuff's lineage was passed through the Snape line down to Rowan and Severus. Admittedly that of Gellert Grindelwald as well.)

Yet Rowan wondered if that was truly the case. Curious for more than it was good for she just didn't ignore the inkling. She had learned to listen to her inklings even if they tended to cause far more trouble than they were worth. Opening the book back up, she pauses for a moment to compose her thoughts. "Reveal the Peverell ancestry excluding the descendants that pass through the Potter and Gaunt family lines," she hissed in parseltongue.

The book pages do not turn. Pursing her lips Rowan thinks for a moment that she had simply over-guessed herself. Though theoretically, the enchanted genealogy tome should also house the ancestry of the brides including the Peverell bride that married into the Gaunt family which should by de facto tie in the genealogy of the two other Peverell brothers. It was a wild gamble, but one that Rowan was willing to take. It wasn't though she had anything to lose.

Abruptly the pages finally begin to whirl causing hope to swell inside Rowan's chest. The parchment papers cease to flip about before plopping open towards the start of a family tree. Her midnight indigo eyes focus and startle slightly at seeing the name at the top of the list, Antioch Peverell, the first brother.

In retrospect, it would make sense that the eldest Peverell brother would have a biological child even if said child might have been born out of wedlock and not officially recognized. In fact, none of the brothers are said to be married except for the third, where it is suggested by the act of the third brother leaving the invisible cloak to his son to inherit. Yet the second brother for certain at least had one legal descendant who married into the Gaunt line and so the same logic must apply to the first brother.

Skimming through the family tree, Rowan saw this Peverell male line die out by the fourth generation with the family line only continuing through the daughters. Quickly enough the family lines became smaller and smaller as the pureblood families began to die out due to a combination of factors. Some descendants never married and reproduced, while others died very young and were never able to produce an heir or any wild seedlings. Squib children were often cast out or outright killed and the few that survived to be adults died from pestilence, war, or childbirth. The remaining descendants via the squib line went extinct by the early 1200s. Afterward, the line solely continued through a handful of descendants growing smaller and smaller until only four male heirs and a single female heir remained.

Seeing that the family line is nearly at an end, Rowan turns the following page. Her hand turns the yellow parchment hard enough causing it to crinkle. Her hand stills at seeing the final names on the last two pages. Of the four male heirs, two die young from dragon pox, the third from a wizarding duel, and the fourth is lost at sea. The only survivor is the last female descendant, who marries into the Bagshot lineage.

The Bagshot lineage quickly dwindles within three generations leaving only two existing heirs. The eldest is that of Bathilda Bagshot born prior to 1873, a famous historian and former History Professor at Hogwarts. The elderly witch would outlive her younger sister and her niece. And would live to see her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald imprisoned for his crimes against humanity.

Gellert Grindelwald, it was a name that Rowan did not have any desire to see again. She clenched her jaw and traced with her eyes to the next name in line that of their grandfather, Toby Snape, whom she had never met. And then to her father, Tobias Snape, and finally to Rowan and Severus Snape.

Midnight indigo eyes return to focus on the name of Gellert Grindelwald. Gellert Grindelwald was not the biological father of Toby Snape, but rather his third parent through magic. It was an unpleasant thought, but the past could not be denied. Annoying as it be, it would make plenty of sense in retrospect for Gellert Grindelwald to possess the lineage of Antioch Peverell. The same ancestor who possessed the Elder Wand (and lost it) only for a future descendant to repeat the same story. And if nothing else, it at least explained Gellert Grindelwald's fixation with the Elder wand.

Rowan's eyes flicker away from the tome and to her wand. The dark-colored elder wand is 13 inches with a core made of Thestral Hair. Her wand was a rare type of wand and had already been strange prior to absorbing death magic. However, she could not help but wonder if the wand combined with the death magic sensed the previously unknown lineage of Antioch Peverell. And if so despite not possessing the original elder wand, it would explain the reason as to why her elder wand had been able to grow in power to resemble far closer to the original elder wand.

If so, then that meant in one way, or another the wand had been touched by Death. But Rowan had not died unless-, her coming into this world counted. Her eyes wildly flicker and her mind races at the complications. If that was the bargain made with Death, then the original promise made to Antioch Peverell would remain and continue to exist with her.