Chapter Seventy Five - More Headaches

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Seventy Five - More Headaches

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

When he arrived in what was clearly a large medi-ward, Harry was immediately levitated onto a bed.

He heard Sirius angrily mutter to a medi-witch, "He's been hit with the Cruciatus Curse - twice."

And, almost immediately, he was practically force-fed two potions. Neither flavour of which he recognised.

The effects were almost instant. He felt the trembling in his muscles from damaged nerves settle down and calm.

After the healers muttered a few incantations upon him, they moved away to be replaced by his godfather, who was arguing with yet another healer.

"I'll get into bed in a minute," he snarked at the healer. "First, I'm making sure my godson is alright."

"Damn it, Lord Black," the healer snarled back. "I've got incoming and I don't have time to play games with you!"

"Fine," snarled Sirius. "Treat me here, then."

"Sirius," said Harry, trying to be stern but failing. "Play nice with the lovely healers or I'll conjure up a rolled up newspaper."

Sirius looked back at Harry with surprise before he barked with laughter. "Alright, Harry. With a bad joke like that one, I know you're going to be okay."

He then moved over to the bed next to Harry and lay upon it as the healers moved to treat him.

Looking across, Harry could see that Sirius had a large gash on his upper wand arm, as the healers moved to cut away the sleeve of his robes.

"Please, ladies," he said. "No going goo-goo eyes over my ripped and manly physique."

"I'm sure we'll be able to restrain ourselves," said one of the healers with so much sarcasm it literally dripped from the words.

Harry couldn't help it. He giggled; like a little girl. 'Must be the shock of coming down from all that adrenaline,' he thought. 'Yeah, that must be it. There's no way I'd giggle if it was anything else.'

As he lay there, he looked around the room to see quite a few other beds occupied with healers treating them. Some had patients who were obviously already treated and were sleeping, or looking around themselves.

There was another light crack of an incoming portkey arrival with the sound of a bell giving a short, sharp ring just before it arrived.

He watched as he saw Daphne and Hermione appear in the middle of the floor. Two healers moved towards them as Daphne snapped, "We're fine! We weren't in the battle!"

Hermione's eyes locked with his for a moment before she tapped Daphne on the arm and, pointing at him, said, "There!"

Both girls then hurried over with Daphne bursting into tears as she practically dived on top of his chest.

"You bloody idiot!" she almost shrieked at him. "You just had to get snarky with him, didn't you!"

"Yes, actually, I did!" replied Harry. "I could see my rescue party moving to surround us and I needed to make sure Riddle and his masked morons kept their attention focussed inwards. If any of them had looked outside of their circle they could have spotted my rescuers and possibly - probably - got us killed!"

Daphne was about to say something else when Harry heard someone say from across the ward, "That was a damned brave thing you did, Lord Potter."

Looking up, Harry saw a rather undistinguishable individual looking back with a small smile on his lips. "Oh, hey," said Harry.

The man gave a slight nod and said, "And, you were correct. By you holding Vol- Riddle's - attention to you, it allowed us all to get just that much closer. I have little doubt we'd have lost more - or allowed some of them to get away - if you hadn't done so."

"We - lost people?" Harry quietly asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

With a sad smile, the man replied, "We did. However, you're not to think it was because of your actions. You did far more than anyone had a right to expect of you. Merlin! You're only a fourteen year old child..."

"Nearly fifteen," interrupted Harry. "Nearly married, too."

The man smiled and said, "Nevertheless, you still did far more than anyone had a right to expect of you. The people we lost weren't as a result of the fight with the masked Death Eaters. We lost them to a couple of traitors in our midst; an Unspeakable and an auror; both of whom were discovered to have been marked."

Harry sighed and fearfully looked at Sirius; who was looking back at him with a sad smile of his own. "Anyone we know?" he softly asked.

"No," replied his godfather. "There were just a few minor injuries among our family and friends."

"Friends!" Harry exclaimed, trying to sit up. "We need to let them know we're okay."

Another incoming portkey alert and three others arrived. They each bore minor injuries and were quickly hustled onto beds.

"Already done, Harry," said Daphne, after the latest scurrying was done and pushing him back down. "I sent a patronus to Tracey, letting her know we're all okay; and to pass the message on to the others."

Allowing himself to flop back onto the bed, Harry sighed and said, "Good. Thank you. I wouldn't want them to unduly worry."

Harry was quite bone-weary. He tried to stay awake to hear news that every one got back safely, but the strain of the night soon saw his eyes start to drift closed. The last he remembered was Daphne leaning in to kiss him on the lips before she said, "Sleep peacefully, Harry. It's done."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The next morning - or afternoon, or whatever - Croaker came in and handed him a prophecy sphere with a smile. It was full of dark grey smoke or mist.

"What's this?" asked Harry looking up at Neville's great uncle, the Head of the Unspeakables.

Grinning back, Croaker said, "That's the prophecy sphere that held the prophecy concerning you and Riddle. As you can see, the contents are now dark grey. As I've explained to you before, that means the prophecy has been completed. It's the final confirmation you destroyed Riddle."

"So, it's really over, then," Harry sighed with happiness.

"Yep," said Croaker. "You're done."

With another sigh and an almost dreamy smile, Harry heartfelt said, "Finally!"

"You can keep that, if you like," said Croaker, indicating the sphere. "I'm told they make wonderful conversation pieces."

Looking back down at it, Harry said, "Yeah; and it should get Dumdum Dumbledore off my back."

"That's already done," said Croaker. "I floo called him, this morning, at his brother's pub in Hogsmeade. He was expecting to receive a recall to - once again - take up the mantle of Headmaster of Hogwarts. He was all packed up, ready to go back to the casle. When I showed him the sphere, he was quite shocked. He almost appeared to be disappointed."

"Awww - poor baby," mock-pouted Harry. "Did someone up and destroy all his plans?"

Croaker chuckled and replied, "You know; I think you may have hit the nail on the head with that." He appeared to think a bit before he grinned again and said, "Yes. I think that's exactly what he felt happened."

"In that case, I think I will hold onto this sphere," said Harry, just a little annoyed. "And, each time he tries to say Riddle will come back, I'll just wave it under his nose."

"What happened to his - remains?" asked Harry.

"Well, we've kept the head; the body was tossed through the Veil of Death, as was his snake - after we confirmed it was a living horcrux," replied Croaker. "Oh, and a nice shot with the Severing Charm, by the way. It was a perfect and clean cut."

"I'm not going to be in trouble with - umm - killing him, am I?" asked Harry. "After all, he couldn't really defend himself when I hit him with the Diffindo."

"Nope," replied Croaker, quite chipper. "Riddle was declared dead in 1981. What you did was destroy a life-sized homunculus - a body made from magic. Magically, you may have killed him; but, lawfully, you didn't; as he was already legally declared dead."

Reaching into his pocket, Croaker then drew forth a piece of parchment before handing it to Harry.

Taking it and looking at it, Harry asked, "What's this?"

"That's an oath we want you to take," replied Croaker.

Reading it right through, Harry looked up and said, "You're kidding!"

"Nope!" grinned back Croaker.

With a sigh, Harry drew his wand. Before starting the oath, he looked back at Croaker and said, "You know, I've decided I'm going to hate you now."

"I don't care," replied Croaker with a chuckle. "You won't be the only one who does."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Harry was released from the infirmary, that evening, and floo'ed directly to Greengrass Estate. And, stepping out of the floo at the Estate, he immediately fell flat on his face.

Muttering imprecations as to the parentage of the inventor of the floo system as he climbed back to his feet, he was suddenly tackled back to the ground by a blonde-haired missile hitting him from the side.

"Oof!" he exclaimed. "Damn it, Tori!"

He was immediately flipped onto his back with Tori sitting on his hips. Before he could even focus, his chin was grabbed and he was forced to look up.

"Mmmph!" he exclaimed, before his chin was released. "Oh! Hi, gorgeous!" he said to - not Tori - Daphne.

"Tori, indeed," she mock-snarled down at him. "Tori's at Hogwarts, ya dummy."

"Of course she is," said Harry, trying to smile sweetly. "How ever could I have forgotten. It's not as if I've only partly recovered from vanquishing the worst dark lord Magical Britain's seen in about three hun... mmmph!"

"Shut up," glowered his betrothed, while holding her hand over his mouth.

When he nodded back, she pulled her hand away.

When he wasn't going to speak again, she relaxed. "Now," she said, "Aunt Amelia's sitting in the informal dining room with Dad, Sirius and Remus. She needs to debrief you of what happened. She's also got news for you. You are to answer any and all questions and not be either flippant or snarky."

"Can I be petulant?" he asked. "Or, what about snooty?"

"Shut up," she glowered at him, again.

"Okay - okay - I'll be good; I promise," he said, a little meekly.

Staring back for a few moments her face slowly morphed into an evil little smile. "At least someone's happy to see me," she softly said, giving her hips a little grind.

Harry, realising what she was talking about, blushed and said, "Errr - I don't think you should do that. I'm not going to be able to walk for a few minutes if you don't stop."

With a grin, she suddenly hopped up off him and helped him to his feet.

With a sigh of relief - and a surreptitious readjustment of his man-wand - he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you," he said, before heading off for the dining room.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Walking in, he saw Aunt Amelia, Cygnus, Sirius and Remus quietly talking over cups of tea.

Looking up, Sirius suddenly grinned at him and said, "Here he is! The-Man-Who-Vanquished!"

"Oh, Merlin!" Harry moaned. "Not another bloody hyphenated name!"

Sirius chuckled back and said, "I won't tell anyone if you don't," before he kicked a chair out next to him. "Come. Sit!"

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to say to you?" snarked Harry.

Sirius just chuckled while tapping the seat of the chair.

Harry sighed and walked over, taking seat. One of the Greengrass elves then suddenly appeared with a cup of tea for him. Tasting it, it was exactly as he liked.

While he was sipping his tea, Amelia set a dicta-quill going.

"Now," she said, turning back to Harry. "First off, how are you feeling?"

"In a word; relieved," replied Harry.

"What about - physically?" she asked, with a smile.

Thinking a bit, Harry replied, "Pretty good, actually. No aches or pains. The effects of the double dose of Cruciatus Curse have also stopped. And the healers fixed the stab wound on my elbow up, right as rain."

Nodding, Amelia said, "Excellent. Now, I want you to step me through everything that happened from the time you stepped onto the outside lawns of Hogwarts on your way to the Quidditch stands to watch the final task."

With a sigh, Harry began. By the time he finished, a couple hours later, he felt his throat would have been feeling quite raw, if not for the tea he'd been drinking. Amelia had only stopped him to ask pertinent questions a couple of times during his tale. The other adults just remained silent, except for a few near-silent gasps.

"Alright, Lord Potter," she said. "With the exception of asking you for the memory of what happened, that's the official part out of the way. Do you have any questions for me?"

"Plenty," replied Harry, quietly. "First, the light stuff. Did anyone find what happened to my communication mirror?"

"I've got it, Harry," replied Sirius. "I damn near stepped on it when I was crouched behind one of the grave markers."

"Probably the same one I was crouched behind before Pettigrew shot me in the back with a Stunner," mused Harry. "Next, how many of - our side - did we lose?"

The adults looked at one another before Amelia sighed and said, "Six aurors and three Unspeakables. None who weren't either of those. However, that also includes the three - traitors."

"Do I know the names?" asked Harry.

"No, I don't believe so," replied Amelia. "But, it'll be in the paper soon - so - the ones who died from the Unspeakables were Broderick Bode, Clementine Whipple and Augustus Rookwood. The aurors were Arnold Peasgood, John Dawlish, Alastor Gumboil, Frederick Savage, Gawain Robards and Prudence Proudfoot. We're not identifying which of them are - were - the traitors; to give their families peace."

"I know some of the names of the masked morons, but who was actually killed in the battle?" asked Harry.

Again, the adults all looked at each other before Aunt Amelia stared firmly right at him and said, "They all died in the battle; alright, Harry?"

Harry looked back for a moments before it dawned on him what she said, "Then, it is a pity none of them were able to survive their wounds from such a vicious and hard fought battle."

Aunt Amelia and the other adults visibly relaxed at his words, before Aunt Amelia quietly said, "Yes, it is."

Looking down at her notes, she said, "Those who died at the graveyard on the other side were: Tom Riddle - of course - Merton Avery, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Vincent Crabbe Senior, Samuel Gibbon, Graham Goyle, Conrad Jugson, Walden MacNair, Lucius Malfoy, Cameron Nott, Peter Pettigrew, Evan Rosier Senior, Thorfinn Rowle, Roberto Selwynn, Severus Snape, and Dominic Yaxley."

"Sixteen - or seventeen, if you count Riddle. It felt like thirty, while I was there." Harry sighed and said, "That's the fathers of - four of my year mates in Slytherin. And, Professor Snape thrown in for good measure."

Harry then sat there quietly for a few moments before, with his head bowed, he quietly asked, "Did you see them? Did you see my Mum and Dad?"

All the adults, except Remus, let out a quite audible sigh before Sirius replied, "Yeah, pup. Yeah, we did."

"It was Mum who told me the snake was the last horcrux," Harry quietly said.

The group sat in silence for another minute before Sirius asked, "So, Harry; what did Croaker want before he released you?"

Looking up and at his godfather with a bit of a grimace, Harry replied, "That I can't tell you until I go see the goblins. Once I've done that I can tell you, though." Sitting up a little straighter, he continued, "He also told me I've got to do it pretty quickly; so, we'll need to head there as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow morning, then," said Cygnus. "Before I take you back to Hogwarts, so you can finish the year out with your friends."

Finishing his latest cup of tea, Harry excused himself to go say goodnight to Daphne before he headed for bed. It was getting quite late.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Rising early the next morning, Harry quickly readied himself for the day. He dashed down to the informal dining table to have breakfast, only to have already been beaten by Daphne and Cygnus.

With a sigh, he said, "Good morning," before giving Daphne a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning, Harry," said Cygnus as Daphne said, "Good morning, my love."

"As soon as you've had breakfast, we'll head for Gringotts; if that's alright with you, Harry," said Cygnus.

"That's fine," replied Harry. "The quicker we get it out of the way, the better we'll be."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Walking in through the doors of Gringotts, one of the goblins came forward, immediately. "Director Ragnok would like a word," said the little fellow, before he spun on his heel and walked off, clearly expecting Harry, Cygnus and Daphne to follow.

With a shrug at the other two, Harry followed the goblin through the bank, up a flight of stairs; and told them to wait, while he banged on a huge pair of golden doors.

He entered and came out a few seconds later. Turning to them, he said, "The Director will speak with you now," and walked away.

With a shake of his head, Cygnus led the three of them inside.

They entered quite a large room. Covering the wall at the far end, behind a large desk, was an array of weapons. Sitting at the desk was a rather old goblin.

The old goblin looked up, ensured he had their attention, and gestured to three chairs set across from him and a little back from the desk.

Cygnus led them over and they sat together with Harry in the middle, and Cygnus and Daphne to each side.

After a few moments, Cygnus lightly cleared his throat before he asked in a deferential voice, "Honoured Director, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Ragnok paused in his writing for a moment and glanced at Cygnus before turning his gaze upon Harry. "Lord Potter," he began. "I received quite the unusual notice from your Unspeakables, yester-evening."

Harry didn't know what to say; so, instead, chose to say nothing. He just squirmed in his chair a little.

The old goblin gave an almost predatory smile before he said, "I have summoned Master Account Keeper Bloodfang to join us. He shall be but a moment. Then, we shall begin."

Just as the old goblin looked down at the parchment upon his desk, another door to the office was opened. In walked Bloodfang.

The Potter Accounts goblin was carrying a huge ledger in his two hands. On top of that, he held two smaller ledgers. And, on top of those, he carried a small stone basin and an athame.

He set the lot down on the edge of the Director's desk before backing away a little.

Harry gave his 'friend' a small smile.

Moving some parchment out of the way, Ragnok pulled the stack of ledgers towards himself. He removed the stone basin and athame and set them aside before rising from his desk.

"Step forward, please, Lord Potter," the old goblin quietly said.

Harry rose and walked to the side of the desk.

"I require you to undergo a second rite of inheritance, today, Lord Potter. This one will be in greater detail," the old goblin said, handing Harry the athame. "Cut the palm of your hand and allow the blood to pour into this basin. When it has enough, your hand will be healed."

Harry switched the athame to his left hand, took a decent grip on the grip of the knife, held out his right hand over the bowl, and sliced through his palm in a sharp downward slice.

Immediately, blood began to out from his palm and rapidly drip into the basin. Daphne gasped while Cygnus appeared to be in shock.

Once the basin seemed to have had enough, runes around its rim unseen until then, began to glow. The blood pouring out of Harry's deep laceration stopped immediately.

Harry looked down as he drew his hand back and saw the wound was healed and gone.

Looking back to the basin, Harry watched as Ragnok added something to the blood, turning it almost instantly black.

Then Ragnok picked up a large gold quill, dropping the tip of it into the blood/ink.

A quick flourish and a large sheet of parchment appeared before Harry.

Ragnok looked straight at Harry and said, "Take the quill in your right hand, Mister Potter; and place the tip of it in the centre of the sheet of parchment before you."

Harry did as required. Suddenly, the quill leapt out of his hand, so Harry pulled his hand out of the way.

The quill began to rapidly write. It appeared to be writing from the bottom of the sheet, upwards, though. The quill also had to make a couple of trips back to the blood ink before it finally stopped, and fell over and lay quiescent on the parchment.

Ragnok reached over, picked up the quill and returned it to the stone basin. Then, he reached for the sheet, orienting it so he could read it.

Once he was apparently done, he said something in the goblin language to Bloodfang, who seemed surprised. Bloodfang left the room as Ragnok gestured for Harry to retake his seat.

Harry was pretty sure of what Ragnok found, so wasn't impatient to know. However, he could see both Daphne and Cygnus were.

"Lord Potter," said Ragnok. "It appears your Unspeakable Croaker is correct. By right of conquest, and the claiming of such last night, you are now the Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Slytherin."

Harry heard Daphne gasp and suddenly clutch at his arm quite tightly. Even Cygnus seemed quite shocked.

"Furthermore, what the Unspeakables did not inform us, is that you are also the Head of the Noble and Ancient House of Gryffindor by primogenitor; and the Ancient House of Gaunt by conquest."

Harry just nodded and sighed. "Please tell me there are no marriage contracts tied to any of those," he begged.

Ragnok smiled and said, "There appears to be not. However, we shall have confirmation of that, shortly."

Ragnok conjured up a small Victorian tea table; and had caused to be set a tea service with three cups, upon it. Harry reached over and made tea for himself, Daphne and Cygnus.

As Harry was handing the other two their cups, Bloodfang returned with another goblin. Bloodfang was carrying another slim ledger, while the other goblin was carrying a set of wooden ring boxes. All of them were set on the desk before Ragnok.

Ragnok then looked at Harry and asked, "Is it your intention, Lord Potter-Slytherin-Gryffindor, to take up your Head of House rings, at this time, for those who have them?"

Harry sighed, nodded and said, "It is."

Ragnok then gestured for Harry to come forward again, before he opened the first ring box in his hand; and offering it to Harry.

Knowing which ring to take, Harry extracted the Head of House ring for Gryffindor and was about to put it on his next in line finger when Ragnok said, "On the same finger as your Head of House ring for House Potter, Lord Potter. The rings will combine into one."

Without looking up, Harry simply nodded and did as instructed. As the two rings met there was a flash. Both rings now blended into one.

Harry then went through the same for the new Head of House ring for Slytherin. There was no such ring for the Head of House Gaunt.

As Harry returned to his seat, he could feel the rings inputting information into his head. He wondered why he hadn't felt that with the Potter ring, until he realised it was because he hadn't mastered Occlumency then.

Once Harry had retaken his seat, yet again, Ragnok said, "The correspondence I received from your Unspeakables also informed me there would be business you would need to take care of, immediately."

Again, Harry nodded. "I will also be needing to call in debts due to all four Houses. However, I wish to review them before informing you which ones I want to call in. Is that alright with you, honoured Director?"

Ragnok gave that predatory smile again, before he replied, "Of course, Lord Potter-Slytherin-Gryffindor."

Harry blanched at the name and said, "Please. Just call me Harry. If you absolutely have to use the Lord nonsense, can we stick to just Lord Potter, please?"

Again, the smile, "Of course - Harry."

"I also understand you to be an exceptionally busy being, honoured Director," said Harry, moving to rise. "I believe I can conclude this business with Gringotts today with Master Account Keeper Bloodfang."

"You may remain seated, Harry" the old goblin quietly replied. "It is not often we discover one of the founders of Hogwarts; much less two at once. I wish to speak with you, further. And to ensure a copy of the record of debts owed you, and owing by you, for all your Houses is with you ere you leave us this day."

Harry sat back and nodded as Daphne and Cygnus both, also, appeared to be relaxed. However, Harry knew Daphne's posture was a complete fabrication. He guessed the same with Cygnus.

"First," said Ragnok, leaning forward in his chair and placing his arms on his desk. "I wish to know how it is you came to be recognised as the new Head of House Slytherin - by conquest - yester-evening."

Harry sighed and glanced at Cygnus. Cygnus gave him a barely perceptible nod. Turning back to Ragnok, he said, "Well, it'll be in all the papers soon enough. Last night, I finally destroyed - for good - the one who calls himself - sorry, called himself - Lord Voldemort; Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was Head to both Houses of Gaunt and Slytherin."

Looking back in surprise, Ragnok said, "The dark one is dead?"

"Yes, but not just dead," replied Harry. "He's dead for good, this time. It's also been confirmed within the Department of Mysteries."

"And just how did you destroy the dark one?"

"By one-on-one magical combat through a wizard's duel," Harry flatly replied.

Ragnok nodded and said, "That would do it. Do I also understand it was the Unspeakables that told you how to claim both Houses by oath?"

"You do," replied Harry. "It seems the Unspeakables wanted me to do it so I could use the claiming of debts to financially ruin those who might seek to use their fortunes to bring forth another dark lord.

"However, I'm not prepared to ruin everyone in the process. There may well be some very nice families that could be harmed if I was to call due all debts."

As Harry was speaking, another goblin came in with a small stack of parchment, and placed them before Ragnok on his desk.

Once Harry had finished speaking, Ragnok said, "That is very wise of you, Harry." And looked down at the parchment.

He quickly moved through it before giving a slight grunt and sliding the whole pile across the desk. "These are the copies of the records of the debts. Please use them wisely."

Harry stood up slightly and picked up the records before taking seat again. He didn't even bother to look at them, for now. There was plenty of time for that.

"Further," said Ragnok, "it is confirmed there are no further marriage contracts pending that would concern you."

Harry sighed with relief.

"Now, I believe that concludes our business today, Lord Potter. Thank you for taking the time to answer a few of my questions."

Harry and the other two stood. "And thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, honoured Director. May gold continue to flow into your vaults; and may your enemies feel the keen edge of your axe."

"As with you, Lord Potter-Slytherin-Gryffindor," said the old goblin, standing and giving a slight bow, to which both Harry and Cygnus responded in kind.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Walking out of the bank via the main floor, Harry said, "I feel you have many questions. Shall we partake of icecream in a private booth at Florean's before Daphne and I have to head to Hogwarts?"

"Capital idea," said Cygnus.

Once they were seated in the booth, before the questions could start flying, Harry said, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you before. That annoying hooded git, Croaker, made me take a vow not to tell anyone until after I'd visited Gringotts. Which we've now just done."

"So, you really are a Slytherin," smirked Cygnus.

Harry groaned and said, "You're going to rub my face in that - like - forever, aren't you?"

Cygnus chuckled and said, "I happen to think it's - what do they call it? - karma. This is what happened due to you tricking the Sorting Hat out of sorting you into your rightful House."

Harry just grunted in response.

Daphne asked, "So, when we marry in five weeks, I'll become Lady Daphne Ophelia Greengrass-Potter-Slytherin-Gryffindor?"

"Not if you don't want to be," said Cygnus, cutting in. "You can choose almost any combination of name of the four - sorry, five. I forgot about the House of Gaunt."

"I think the right thing to do with House Gaunt is to declare it dead," said Harry. "It's a House with a truly horrid history. It should be relegated to the pages of history and let die."

"Now, don't be so hasty," said Cygnus, raising a placating hand. "It is an Ancient House. Pour enough gold into its vaults and it can be elevated to Noble status just off its Ancient status. That automatically grants you another seat upon the Wizengamot.

"Besides, we've already lost enough Houses to the ravages of war - especially, to that man. That's why Isabel and Monica are working hard to track down heirs to some Houses thought defunct because they'd lost track of the squibs."

Harry groaned, "Wise counsel, Lord Greengrass." He sighed and said, "Alright. We'll see what we need to do to elevate the Ancient House of Gaunt to Noble status before I consider ending it - Next?"

"How many wives do you intend to take?" asked Cygnus.

"What?" Harry looked up, startled.

Harry could feel Daphne squirming in her seat next to him.

"Settle down, Harry," said Cygnus, again raising his hand in the placating gesture. "In the wizarding world, when there's a rare occurrence of one person holding two headships, that person is entitled to one wife per title. As you currently hold four titles - soon to be five - my question is rather apropos for the situation. So - how many wives do you intend to take?"

"One!" squawked an almost indignant Harry, blushing away.

"It's up to you," said Cygnus. "However, it's really up to you both. It's also something you should both consider, to make sure those lines do not die out."

"I can name different Heirs for the different Houses?" asked Harry.

"Certainly," replied Cygnus. "My next question is; are you going to go public with this?"

"Yes," replied Daphne.

"I am?" asked Harry, turning to look at her.

"Yes," she replied again. "You can use Luna to - disseminate the information."

"You realise there's going to be unattached witches and Heads of Houses, out there, who are going to see this as a way to push young witches upon me, by way of betrothal contracts, don't you?" asked Harry.

Daphne's face adopted a resolute expression before she replied, "Yes. Together, we'll deal with them."

Nodding, Harry said, "Fair enough, then. This afternoon, we'll drag Luna aside in our Room and give her the information. We'll give her the final 'interview' on the weekend."

Daphne nodded back.

Harry then said, "I think we need to go visit Dewey before we leave here, today. I'd hate for him to get upset we forgot to let him know."

"No," smirked Cygnus. "He'd be most put out."

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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