O

And Pansy knew how displeased Lucius Malfoy was to see that his daughter wasn't in the top ten, a list that gets published by the Ministry and can get the families of the students some prestige.

"Whatever, what are you going to do to the Mudblood?" Pansy asked, changing the subject.

"I've been reading up on long-lasting curses, I want to make sure everyone sees how powerless Grayson was to protect her. I want to break her and make her flee the school, to make it clear that Mudbloods aren't welcome here." Lyra said, making Pansy nod.

She might be on Grayson's side, but that didn't mean she didn't agree with Lyra.

- Grayson -

"Come in, my boy, take a seat. Would you like a lemon drop?" Albus Dumbledore said happily as I walk into his office, taking my first look around it as I take in the dozens of portraits, the various artefacts and the ancient tomes lining the bookcases.

There's also an empty perch over to the side.

Glancing at the small silver bowl of sweets on his desk, I remember the rumours that he drugs his sweets with truth serum. Using my eyes I hold back the urge to roll them.

An Enchanted Bowl connected to a giant stash of Lemon Drops in the Headmasters private chambers.

Regular Lemon Drops, bought at a muggle store.

"Yes, thank you." I say, taking one of the sour sweets, watching as he beams at me. I am not using my eyes on him. Not when Su Li noticed me using them on her, but I think I can use them on his bowl without it being a problem.

"Ahh, so very few people actually accept my offer. Oddly enough, the last person to accept was your brother." Albus says with a chuckle.

"Damian has always had a sweet tooth, it runs in the family." I admit as I pop the sweet into my mouth. "May I ask what you called me here for, Headmaster?" I ask as I meet his eyes, shoring up my mental defences in preparation for the Legilimency probe that never comes.

"Several things, my boy. First of all, as part of my duties as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I make sure to greet all of the Heirs of families that have seats. As you are no doubt aware, you are permitted, but not required, to sit in on our meetings to help you prepare for your future role amongst us, and we meet once a month, though the date changes and there can be emergency sessions. You will receive a letter with the date on it at least a week in advance unless it is an emergency session in which case you could get as little as an hour warning." Albus explains as my panic I had hoped it would be something like this. "Again, you are not obligated to attend, but I would recommend it, so you are not simply dropped into the deep end, so to speak, when you take your titles. Naturally, you will be excused from class for any meetings, and the teachers have already been informed, and somehow I doubt you will struggle due to a missed class or two a month." he chuckles.

"I see, I do think I will be attending as many meetings as possible, most people have longer to prepare, but this was dropped on me quite suddenly." I admit as I suck on the sweet, they are pretty nice even if I prefer magical sweets.

"Wonderful, now secondly, in regards to your new betrothal." Albus starts as my eyes narrow, my family business is certainly none of his business. "As a betrothed Heir, you have the option to take a private suite to give yourself and your betrothed more privacy. This is a policy that leads back to the Founders themselves after Godric Gryffindor's own son was betrothed to Helga Hufflepuff's daughter." Albus explains kindly, clearly noticing my anger. "The suite supplied is enchanted to provide as many rooms as necessary as it was common for Heirs to bring their servants to school at the time.

"Hmm, why haven't I heard of this before? I know at least two other couples in a betrothal." I point out.

"In some cases, the betrothed couple refused the private suite, for one reason or another, and in many cases, the betrothal is supposed to be kept secret, and as such, they didn't take the suite to keep their status hidden. There are seven other couples using the private suites at the moment, though they are all older than you, and often it is used for couples that are in separate houses. The charter also specifies Heirs, and often the betrothed couples are not the Heirs of their families." Albus explains, making me nod in agreement.

A lot of betrothals are to make a political alliance between families, and often they are kept secret until the families are ready to reveal it. It's common to use second or third sons and daughters for betrothals as well, since they are 'less valuable'.

"I see, thank you. I'll have to discuss this with my betrothed before coming to a decision." I say making him smile.

"It's a smart man who doesn't try and make every decision alone, though in this case I would suggest you take the room. If not for your sake then for the sake of Miss Granger." Albus says making me frown. "As she is under your protection, you would be allowed to take her into your private suites, much like Miss Davis could come with you. The suites will provide as many rooms as necessary, and Miss Greengrass could have her own room if she desired, you'll find the rooms more luxurious than even the Slytherin private rooms."

"You're worried about Juliet?" I ask, as some things fall into place.

"Indeed, in truth I had considered arranging for her to transfer to another school when she was sorted into Slytherin, as historically there has never been a muggleborn student that lasted until their owls in Slytherin, and even I cannot tamper with the Sorting Hat, it will always send people where it believes they should go. I decided not to after word spread of your own actions. It was a courageous thing you did, protecting her against your housemates." Albus says approvingly.

"I had my reasons." I admit after a moment, making him chuckle.

"Naturally, Severus does like teaching his students to not do anything unless it benefits them, and I'm sure Lady Raum-Black has done the same. Regardless it was a good thing all the same, no matter your intentions." he says kindly with a small smile.

"In that case, I'll take the private rooms. Daphne isn't so sociable that she'll want to stay in the common room anyway, as long as she can take Tracey with her." I say making him nod.

"Of course, the private suites are on the seventh floor, and yours will have the Raum and Greengrass family crest on the door. You can set your own password when you first enter, and there will be a small guide leaflet on how to add more rooms if you require them, Hogwarts will provide after all. I do believe it was Rowena Ravenclaw who designed it on Godric's request." Albus says calmly.

"Thank you, will that be all, Headmaster?" I ask, making him smile.

"For now, my boynfor now." Albus says gently. "But my door is always open if you have any questions."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir." I say, rising from my seat. "I'll take my leave if there is nothing else. I have quite a bit to do today, after all."

"Of course, it was a pleasure to speak with you, at last, my boy."

- Albus -

Grayson was certainly more polite than his siblings, quite the likeable young man.

And one whose magic had grown stronger over the summer.

It was subtle, but there was a definite but small increase in his magical reserves and potency.

Something that didn't just happen naturally.

The Raum's have always had powerful children, and he had long suspected that they had a method of increasing their own power, so was it possible that as the Heir, Grayson now had access to such a method?

No-one really knew what the Raum family magic was, and while most families had their family magic well know, such as the Weasley's fertility magic or the Blacks deadly curses, the Raum's family magic was kept secret all these years, something he had never been able to discover.

Grayson became the Heir, then his magic started to improve, and he was likely trying to keep it a secret. It all added up, but it also made him reconsider his old opinion on Grayson.

He'd written Grayson off as a potential dark lord purely due to his weakness, but if he had a way to increase his power then it was a possibility that he was indeed a potential future threat.

He didn't want to think so, but Britain could not survive another dark lord, not with Voldemort's shadow still hanging over them. As such it fell to him to ensure that the young genius did not go the way of so many other geniuses.

Giving him some additional benefits such as the far better private suite, would only give the young man a positive image of him. He'd use the next few years to make sure he didn't repeat his mistakes with Tom again.

He should never have been so suspicious of Tom, never realising how his constant paranoia pushed the young man further and further into darkness. He should have listened to his request to stay at Hogwarts over the summer, or at least found another place for him to stay.

A mistake he may be repeating with Rose, but the magic of her mother's sacrifice was something even he didn't truly understand, and it had already saved her life at least once, possibly more.

He kept a very close eye on the Dursleys, and even the slightest hint of real abuse would be crushed mercilessly. Rose may not like her chores and the strict way Petunia treated her, but she wasn't abused. He couldn't risk letting Lily's sacrifice be lost because Rose didn't want to spend the summer doing chores without magic.

Something Sirius understood, even if Rose disliked it.

Rose was a girl filled with anger at the world, and in truth, he was more concerned about her than he was anyone else in the school. Her power and temper made a dangerous combination, and all attempts to teach her Occlumency to help her control herself had failed, as she had no talent for the mind arts whatsoever.

Grayson Raum and Rose Potter, they were undoubtedly two young students to keep an eye on, for better or worse.

- Grayson -

Tracking down my new suite, I have to admit I am impressed.

The furniture here is a match for my own home, and it already has four rooms prepared, and there is some strange magic at work here as I was able to add a fifth with a little manipulating of a small map of the suite.

I've set the password to Amethyst, for now, I considered making it something Demon related, but that would be retarded.

I've also scanned every inch of this place for spying or scrying charms, but I think I might be a bit too paranoid since I found nothing except a very, very old one above the master bed.

Like, four hundred years old, and utterly defunct after so long.

"Perhaps there is a benefit to this relationship after all?" Daphne admits as she takes a seat in one of the enchanted chairs in the living area, nodding in approval. "I would have preferred you ask first but I'll let it pass if the bedrooms are half as impressive as the living room." she deadpans as she sinks into the magically comfy seat.

"Living it large, huh? Damn... this place is nice." Tracey admits with a smirk as she looks around. "Have you two seen the bathroom yet? It has a massive bath like in her prefect's bathroom.

"When did you see the prefects bath?" Daphne asks suspiciously, making Tracey smile mysteriously. "Ignoring the idiot, you do realise the error you have made, right Grayson?" Daphne asks with a hint of amusement.

"Have I missed something?" I ask, my mind racing before the door bursts open, a sense of pure dread filling me.

"Gray!" Astoria shouts as she leaps at me, hanging from me as she wraps her arms around my neck. "So this is our new suite?"

Oh no... Oh, no, no, no... Please No.

"With me here, I couldn't risk leaving Astoria alone in Slytherin... so I've had to bring her here." Daphne points out, the first real look of amusement I've seen on her face. "You brought this on yourself, I'm afraid"

"Brought what on himself?" Astoria asks as I try and pry the brat from me. "This is gonna be so fun! I can't get into your room for some reason, Gray but now I can see you whenever I want!"

Lord Lucifer, please protect me from this evil.

- Lucifer -

Did Grayson just pray to him?

For safety from a twelve year old girl?

Well, there was a first time for everything.

- Grayson -

"Back! Get off me you demon midget!" I say, pulling her off me as she grins up at me. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to ward the master bedroom enough to hold off an army." I say as I flee with my pride mangled.

Some things are more important than mere pride.

I'm leaving Juliet in her room for tonight, so I can catch Lyra, then when I move her, I'll make it seem like I'm doing it because she was attacked to improve her image of me even further.

Spending the next couple of hours hard at work warding the ever-loving Hell out of both my room and the suite in general, I have to aprid, even with certain gremlins having a far greater ability to torment me, this suite could work out much better in the long run.

Eventually, one of the other residents of my new suite shows up with her usual scowl, though slightly smaller than usual.

"It's more than acceptable, I suppose. I'm warding my own room though." Morrigan says immediately after she arrives, looking over my own ward scheme. "I like my privacy."

"That's fine, pick any of the empty rooms." I say calmly, getting a nod from her.

"I will, are we still on for tonight?" Morrigan asks, a hint of enthusiasm in her tone.

"We are, but I need to deal with something else first, have you got your sleep supplement? We probably won't get to sleep before classes." I point out.

"I do, I'll be ready and waiting. Even I haven't gone that far into the Forest." she says quietly, aware that the others are just a room away as they explore and leave me to my warding. "No one seems to know what is in the depths of it, and there are no records."

Astoria was bugging me, but I pointed out that I needed to focus on keeping our rooms safe and Daphne distracted her, realising that I was right and that this was more important than her amusement.

"It's not that surprising, the Forest was here first after all. The founders built Hogwarts here to take advantage of the abundance of magic, but all attempts to 'tame' the forest have ended in almost complete failure." I agree.

"We will succeed." Morrigan says confidently.

"Naturally, as long as we are careful. If we aren't, the forest will chew us up and spit us back out, if we are lucky." I point out, getting a firm nod from her. "Tonight is just an opening expedition, to test the waters and see what is beyond the mapped out and recorded sections."

"I have to admit, I've been looking forward to it." Morrigan says, very hesitantly as I smile at her.

"As have I, sister. As have I." I agree. "Do try and play nice with the others, please?" I ask making her scoff as she glances at where Tracey and Astoria's voice is coming from.

".I'll try." Morrigan replies, precisely zero faith in her voice. "Has Keira finished the ritual to power us up?"

"I have no idea, she's avoiding me for some reason." I admit making her scoff.

"The elves can move my things to my new room, I'll go find the idiot." Morrigan decides, picking a room at random and leaving the suite quickly, determination in her step.

Whoops?

Sorry Keira, but you shouldn't have been avoiding me... I'm sure you'll be fine?

- Later -

"Are the ropes really necessary?" I ask as I look over Morrigan's prey, bound to a chair in tight ropes as she stares at us with a grin.

We are in Morrigan's new room, under privacy wards. Family business, after all.

"She kept trying to escape." Morrigan says with a shrug, Keira's wand in her hand.

"I did not! I was in the middle of something before you kidnapped me, if you'd have given me five minutes I would have come willingly." Keira counters making Morrigan shrug.

"Right, first of all, Marietta?" I say, watching Keira laugh.

"Did you like it? Marietta couldn't look me in the eye after she got back, it was hilarious." Keira giggles.

"Really, Keira? How did you even convince one of your friends to whore herself out?" I ask, making her grin.

"Friend? I don't even like the bitch, she's a manipulative cunt who has been taking advantage of Cho for years, everyone knows it, but Cho won't listen. They've known each other for too long for Cho to doubt her. I just found the idea of the bitch whoring herself out hilarious, and are you saying you don't want a cute red-head that will suck you off on command?" Keira counters.

"I still would have preferred some warning." I say sternly. "I don't mind independent action, but I want to be informed over what you are up to."

"Yeah, yeah." Keira replies easily.

"You're too soft on her, Grayson. You are her master, not just her loving little brother." Morrigan points out, making Keira scowl at her slightly. "You know full well she will do it again if she thinks it will be funny."

"Damn it Keira. She's right, isn't she?" I ask, knowing my sister well enough to know she speaks the truth.

"You could order me not to?" Keira offers, making me shake my head.

"I don't want to rely on orders, and you're smart enough to find loopholes. Morrigan, unbind her." I order after a moment.

As Keira stands, now unbound I frown at her.

"Keira go over to the bed and bend over it, then pull your trousers down."

"You can't be serious?" Keira asks, even as her body obeys my orders. "I'm fifteen, I'm a bit too old for a spanking." she reasons, even as her trousers are pulled down, exposing her pale ass barely covered by a small blue thong.

"Stick your ass out more." I order as I approach, gripping her thong and yanking it off her, making her yelp in surprise.

"Dammit Gray, I liked those panties." Keira grumbles, going silent as my hand rests on her firm backside, giving it a squeeze.

"Thirty spanks since this is your first offence. You will count them." I order sternly as she looks back at me with wide eyes, realising that yes, I am indeed serious.

I can see Morrigan smirking triumphantly as I draw my hand back, and with a burst of demonic strength, bring it back down, making her yelp loudly as her buttocks ripple from the blow.

There's already a red mark forming where I struck her.

"O-one..." Keira says quietly, yelping again as I move over to her other side. "T-two..."

"You've needed a good spanking for years, Keira. Maybe you'd have been less eager to talk back to your betters if mother had bent you over her knee." Morrigan mocks as I continue spanking her.

"Need I remind you that you could be bent over next to her, Morrigan?" I say sternly, making her pale as she immediately shuts up. "You may watch, quietly."

Speeding up my spanks, I have to admit it's a good feeling to have my bratty sister yelping as I turn her pale ass red. I love Keira, don't get me wrong, but she is absolutely a brat who is used to getting her way.

I'm thinking that I am going to need to find reasons to have my bitchy sister bent over with her ass stuck out as well and maybe my stern, strict mother.

For number twenty-five, I aim my spank carefully, hitting her directly on her surprisingly wet pussy, making her let out a moan that didn't sound very pained.

"You forgot to count." I point out as her eyes widen in shock, Morrigan chuckling to herself. "Starting again, try not to mess up this time."

Speeding through them, we get to thirty with little problem this time, even as I go for some special hits to try and throw her off, and as she pulls up her trousers, having repaired her thong with a spell, I give her a tight hug.

"If you want punishing you could just ask." I whisper into her ear as her eyes widen. "Demon, remember? I'm very good at spotting lust."

Watching her face burn with embarrassment, I smile to myself in amusement. Keira got off on being spanked, and Morrigan got off on watching. A masochist and a sadist? Doesn't that have potential?

"Now, back to business." I say calmly. "The ritual?"

"Almost done, I've finished my end, and I sent it to mother to double check, as soon as she says it's okay we can go through with it." Keira admits, rubbing her sore backside slowly.

"Then, we are one step closer to gathering the power we need." Morrigan says, actually sounding happy for once.

"I also finished a side project I thought could help us." Keira admits, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pair of simple silver rings. "Ignore the plainness, I'll work on it later." she says, passing the ring over to me.

After a moment of hesitation, I slide it onto my left hands ring finger, opposite my heir ring.

Watching as she slides her own on, I stare at it before I jump slightly.

'Can you hear me?' Keira's voice asks, her lips not moving.

"What was that?" I ask, making her grin.

We needed a way to keep in touch despite the different houses, though this was before you got your own suite, and I decided to... repurpose an old spell to make these. When I'm fully finished, we will all have a ring that lets us all communicate mentally no matter the distance, I got the idea from a story about some enchanted mirrors that let the users talk over a distance. I want to make a 'Master Ring', or maybe an Amulet, with other abilities instead of just sending messages, like tracking the other rings or letting you send a summons, and I want to work out some charms to keep the rings hidden, maybe even give them some extra abilities before I start making them in greater numbers. For now, it's just for me, Morrigan, Mother and you, but there'll be more of us in the future so you'll need a way to keep in touch with everyone. I also want to work out a better design, and maybe get the rings custom forged if we can find someone discreet." Keira says proudly as we both stare at her in shock. "Oh come on, I can work hard when I want to." she says, seeing our looks of disbelief.

"These are amazing." I admit, looking down at the plain silver ring on my finger in wonder as she smirks at me. "Do you need any help with them?"

"Nope, this is my pet project while I wait for mother to check over the ritual, I want to handle it." Keira says as she smiles proudly at me.

"You've done wonderfully, Keira I'm sorry I doubted you." I say, giving her another hug. I can literally feel the pride radiating off her, even if Pride isn't something I can draw on.

I can certainly feel the envy coming from behind me as well.

- Later -

Lying on my bed in my old room, I groan slightly as Pansy massages me. Her inexperienced movements are too rough and too harsh, but she's slowly getting better.

I've set a separate surveillance spell on the wall opposite Juliet's room, so I'll know when they act.

"Gentler, Pansy." I order as I lay there in my boxers, I have a slave girl I might as well use her. "Oww! You know what, I'll just get Tracey to do it later." I say as I go to sit up.

"Wait! It's not my fault I don't know how to do this, it's so muggle." Pansy complains as I frown at her. "I don't know what I'm doing, and you can't just say 'Massage me' and expect me to do it perfectly." she points out.

"I'll get you a book on massage methods, but I expect to see improvement if you want that painting." I say after a moment, admitting mentally that she has a point.

"Fine, is there anything else you want, Sir? Or is it time." Pansy asks after a moment, still naked due to my orders. I want her used to being naked in my presence, and constant exposure in multiple ways is an excellent way to do it.

"She hasn't moved yet, she's still in the common room." I say after a moment of checking my spells, they'll get discovered and removed soon but I intend to remove them myself after this is over. "So we have some time." I say looking at her for a moment as I decide what to do. "Lay down on your back." I order, watching her hesitantly obey as she takes my place. "As someone who is going to be married soon enough, I think massaging is a skill I will need to keep my future wife happy. You don't mind being my practice doll, do you?" I ask as I look over her naked body.

"N-no Sir." Pansy replies, as I try something new. With a mixture of Legilimency and Compulsion charms, I plant the thought that Theodore wouldn't go out of his way to learn something for her, increasing her bitterness.

I don't really care about their relationship, but this is a test in using compulsion charms to manipulate peoples minds. She did say she didn't mind being my practice doll after all.

Starting with her feet, I gently knead the flesh and start making my way up. Massages seem like a solid, cheap method of rewarding people if I get good enough with them, and better yet, they can ignite lust despite being 'innocent'.

I could easily talk Shani into letting me massage her, after all. One good innocent massage could make her come back for more. Healing is a stressful job after all, and I could slowly push the boundaries until she is naked in my bed as I play with her body.

Thinking about it, my art might be a good method as well if I get better. There are surprisingly few legitimate wizarding artists (the portraits don't count since they are drawn with magic and only activate upon the user's death), and upper-class people do like having paintings of themselves.

Working my way up her leg slowly, I reach her upper thigh as she whimpers. Occasionally asking her for feedback, even as my knuckles brush against her slowly dampening slit, drawing out moans and desperate gasps as I touch her like she's never been touched before.

Moving to her stomach, I smirk at her disappointed whimper as my fingers leave her mound, gently working their way up to her breasts, her nipples hard as rock by the time my hands reach them.

Just as I am about to massage her small but incredibly perky chest, I move back making her eyes widen.

"Lyra's moving, stay here." I order, tossing on a silver and green dressing gown, slightly open to show my lack of clothing to make it 'clear' what was happening before I was distracted.

The small reminder of my house loyalties will help as well, even something as small as wearing house colours on my dressing gown and boxers.

Time to get to work.

- Lyra -

"Well?" Lyra asked impatiently, making the seventh year give her a glare. "I'm not paying you to stare the door, I'm paying you to open it... so why isn't it open yet?"

"You need to shut up about things you don't understand, if I knew it was this complicated I would have charged you much more." Melissa said. "There are almost a dozen alert wards all tied together, and I need to detach them carefully otherwise it'll set the whole thing off. Are you sure this was made by a fourth year?"

"Yes, are you so incompetent you can't beat a fourteen years old boys ward?" Lyra asked, irritated at another person telling her how much better Grayson was compared to her. "Ugh, you're supposed to be one of the best at this in Slytherin, and I can't get Morrigan to do it."

She hated this standing around, and Crabbe and Goyle looked like they were going to fall asleep, Millicent at least seemed awake... possibly? It was hard to read the trolls face.

"I can do it, it'll just take some time unless you'd rather I set off the alarms." Melissa Fudge said with a scowl.

"It's a bit late for that." a cold, yet somehow amused voice, said drawing all their attention, Melissa's wand flying from her hand after a flash of red light. "Good evening, Lyra, nice night?" Grayson asked, as he pocketed Melissa's wand in his silky dressing gown, his own wand resting in his hand.

Despite the casual greeting, he was in a fairly professional duelling stance, on guard for any attacks.

"Ugh! You're so useless." Lyra growled, glaring at the incompetent older girl.

"No. I didn't trigger the alarms, I'm sure I didn't." Melissa defended, making Grayson smirk.

"You didn't.. but Lyra triggered the surveillance charm I had watching the door." Grayson admitted, making her pale. "Having back up plans is one of the most important parts of being cunning after all, never throw all your eggs into one basket." he said with a casual smirk.

Reaching for her own wand, her eyes widened as it flew out of her pocket and into Grayson's hand without a single spell from him, watching in shock as he waved it at her mockingly.

"As is hiding your true potential." Grayson continued, as Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other in confusion and doubt, Millicent actually stepping back in fear of the cold smile on his face.

- Grayson -

And Keira said spending the better part of a year learning to use the Accio spell wandlessly and silently was a waste of my time...

Who's wasting their time now, Keira?

- Bonus Scene – Satiating Ciri's needs -

Demonic Essence was, without any doubt, the most important thing for a demon.

It was what they used to get stronger, it was their sustenance, it gave them their powers... it was the difference between a Demon Lord and a regular Demon.

Demon Lords were special for a few reasons, but the biggest one was how fast they could accumulate Essence in comparison to regular demons. A demon lord could make more Essence in a single night than others could in years. Demons sworn to a demon lord could produce more, but it was a still much slower process.

She was not a demon lord, her father was. As long as he lived she would remain an ordinary demon, though admittedly a powerful one, unless she managed to gain her own realm and empower herself with it.

Her father had been paranoid, and for her entire life he had used his position over her to take the Essence she managed to accumulate, not wanting to give her a way to escape him. It was common for Demon Lords to take their follower's Essence as tribute, after all.

Now she was free, she could slowly accumulate her own Essence and use it as she pleased, hopefully to find a way out of her predicament, even if she couldn't go to any of the neutral realms of Hell with her brand from Gaunter.

But Essence didn't just appear from nowhere, and she had to work for it.

"Merlin, Ciri." Bea panted, resting against Ciri, as naked as Ciri herself. It was cute that her freckles went all the way down.

Thankfully, she was still a demon, and she had her ways.

Next Update: A Sorcerer's Ambition, Ch10