Recapping Chapters 96 - 100
The Department of Mysteries have recovered the bodies from the cave that were once inferi, and they have also removed the basin containing the fake locket in order to study it further. Regina Rowle surmises that Sirius had been under the misapprehension that his younger brother, Regulus, was located inside the cave - proven wrong when the tracking ritual he did in the cave failed.
She suggests they utilise the books on necromancy the department has access to in order to investigate other rituals they could attempt to try and locate Regulus’ body.
They are only able to perform necromancy on Samhain - outside of this single sacred day they are unable to pull off the rituals. Any attempt to use a necromantic ritual to find Regulus will have to wait until Samhain in the following year.
Harry experiences some mixed reactions from the student population after the unorthodox way he caught the Snitch during the Quidditch game. Dominik is insufferable as expected, but there are other students too who react negatively. Harry’s friends are quick to rise to his defence though.
Harry throws himself into preparation for the winter exam period, but finds himself struggling in attempting to defend his mind for his Mind Arts exam. If he fails the exam, he will not be able to continue in the Mind Arts class in the new year.
Harry admits to Astrid and the Phoenix first years that Durmstrang was always meant to be a temporary arrangement, and the original plan was to return to Hogwarts from his third year onwards. This is met with a great deal of consternation, and the first years are determined to convince Harry to stay.
With the exams fast approaching, Harry is stumped by Professor Sylvan’s feedback that he doesn’t have faith in himself. He believes this means he needs better conviction in his abilities, but when he discusses it with Liam and Astrid it becomes clear they don’t think he is quite on the right track. They both advise it is something he needs to work out for himself.
Harry goes straight to Tom who helps him realise he knows how strong and capable he is - but the crux of the issue is his lack of confidence in his control over that power. He doesn’t have faith in his ability to harness his own magic.
Following this revelation, Harry stops shying away from his power and starts fully utilising his wandless magic to Occlude his thoughts. He succeeds in both wrangling his magic and putting up a decent defence to Professor Sylvan during their last practice session.
The weekend before the exam week starts, Harry receives a letter from the goblin ambassador to the British Ministry of Magic. The ambassador advises Harry that the contract has been provided to the Golden Court in Sweden for the attention of Queen Yrsa and her advisors. Harry might be invited to a meeting following the final consultation process - though no promises are made.
Harry’s excitement at the update is spoiled by the discovery that the Daily Prophet has run another article on him that morning - one written by Rita Skeeter. According to Skeeter an insider source close to Harry reported to Skeeter that Harry had committed a “vicious and unprovoked attack on another student.”
Harry and his guardians suspect Dominik and/or a parent leaked the story to Skeeter in order to tarnish Harry’s reputation. Harry is panicked the story might be running in other news outlets, however, mainland Europe has far tighter media laws than Britain and cannot run stories on identified children without parental or guardian consent.
Harry and his guardians find themselves helpless to an extent to handle the article other than getting it pulled quickly from circulation - Skeeter is careful not to cross the line into defamation and a potential law suit could backfire on them.
They suspect she has some sort of leverage over the editor of the Daily Prophet, for him to be allowing the kind of articles she writes through to print. Arcturus assures Harry there will be consequences, and the matter is to be left to him to handle.
Harry sits his exams, performing well throughout. Importantly, he passes his Mind Arts exam, securing a spot in the class for the new year. Liam, Astrid, Kasia, and another girl, Ilona, all pass the exam as well.
He also succeeds in casting a light spell for the first time during his Charms practical, which impresses Professor Hyseni greatly. He achieves his by using his wandless magic, though he still casts the spell with his wand to keep up appearances.
After completing his Transfiguration practical Harry finds Mira Zamfir, his prickly housemate, waiting for him outside. She demands to speak privately with him. Once they are alone, Mira immediately declares Harry owes her and she wants to call in a favour. She hints at what she saw a couple of months prior - Harry performing wandless magic when he was defending her from Dominik. She’s kept it to herself, and for that, she wants Harry to assist her with forging a letter from his guardian and sending it to her own guardians.
Harry is completely taken aback at the request, and examines the draft letter Mira wants him to forge in Sirius’ handwriting - it is a request for Mira to stay with Harry during the school holidays. Harry is baffled why Mira wants to stay with him and the purpose of the subterfuge - she makes it clear she will not actually be staying with Harry and she is evasive as to where she plans on going, insisting it is none of his business.
Harry makes it clear it is his business, and if anything happens to her, his family’s door is the first place the authorities will be knocking. He refuses to do what she wants, and when Mira threatens to tell people about what she saw that day, Harry tells her to go ahead. The reality of the situation is that Mira was so unpopular, most people wouldn’t give her their time of day to hear what she had to say. People would think it was fake, and even if they believed it could be true, Harry still felt calm about the situation. He had been shying away from who he was and his potential for too long. Tom had helped him see it. Harry also suspected Mira was bluffing - she did not seem the type to blackmail someone.
Mira grows frustrated realising Harry won’t budge and tells him to forget it, but he presses her on the issue. He suspects not all is well at home for Mira, and she is looking for an escape from a bad situation.
Harry shares his own experience with Mira, and suggests he tells his guardians, which she is not a fan of. Harry explains if they do things above board, they can arrange somewhere for Mira to stay that doesn’t need to involve Harry at all. He has his Aunt Cass in mind - Mira seems interested in the fact Aunt Cass was a retired Curse-Breaker.
Eventually, Mira agrees to Harry telling his guardians and seeing what they can arrange before the holidays commence. Mira tells Harry if his guardians report anything they are going to make things worse for her. Harry understands, but he also makes it clear his guardians will have to do something.
Sirius and Arcturus arrange to speak with Professor Falk as the head of house, and they also plan to make a report to the Romanian child protection equivalent. Aunt Cass immediately agrees to host Mira for the Yuletide holidays, and Arcturus writes to Mira’s guardians, offering to meet them in Bergen on Saturday to make introductions and discuss Mira staying with their family.
Harry completes his final exams, his last one being his Martial Magic exam. It culminates in Finn and Harry being the only ones left competing against each other, with Finn pulling ahead. The competition lights a fire under Harry, and he wishes so fiercely to be faster that he accidentally wills his magic to bolster him physically. It allows him to seize the win from Finn, who can’t keep up with the pace, and bows out of the competition soon after. The motivation to keep going wanes and Harry finds himself extremely lethargic as his magic recedes.
With his final exam complete, Harry gets his results later that afternoon during his teacher reviews, performing very well across the board.
Mira’s guardians, a Mr and Mrs Bucșă, write back to Arcturus declining his offer of a meeting and agreeing for Mira to stay with the Blacks for the holidays. They have no intention of seeing Mira during the break, which is another red flag for the Black family.
That night after dinner Finn catches Harry’s eye and seems to want to talk. Harry excuses himself from his friends and goes to meet with Finn in private. Finn admits he hadn’t wanted to distract Harry during the exam week, so he waited until the week was done before saying anything.
Finn informs Harry his parents were not pleased when he spoke with them. Finn admits he had been acting poorly towards Harry under incorrect assumptions - unbeknownst to his parents - who now insist on Finn fixing the situation without delay.
Finn explains when his great-grandfather, Benedict Vogel, offered to buy Potter Potions from Charlus Potter he also offered one of his granddaughters for a betrothal. He breaks the news to Harry that there is a betrothal contract between the Vogel and Potter families, signed by Euphemia Potter née Prewett and his own great-grandfather Benedict Vogel. Benedict Vogel is still alive, but refuses to talk about the contract and why he and Euphemia signed such a general document binding their descendants in this way.
Finn had been labouring under the misapprehension that Harry knew about the contract, which was partly why he was so frustrated when he met Harry and he said nothing to acknowledge it or the history between their families.
Finn implies the Potter’s copy of the contract might have been hidden or even destroyed. And with all deferrals used, it falls on Harry alone to honour the contract with someone from the Vogel family - including possibly Finn himself.
There is a mutual termination clause in the contract, but Finn warns Harry that Benedict Vogel won’t terminate the contract and won’t explain why either. When he dies, Finn’s great-uncle will become the new party to the contract. Finn advises Harry grimly his great-uncle will be no better - he stands to gain everything from keeping the contract in place.
Finn suspects it is Harry’s grandfather, Charlus, who hid or destroyed the contract - he reportedly shut down all talk of the contract when James was a baby and told Finn’s grandfather not to contact anyone from his family again, threatening legal action.
Finn confirms his parents will send a copy of the betrothal contact to Harry’s guardians and also hints they will likely want to speak with Sirius and Arcturus to discuss the situation further once they have had a chance to review the contract.
On the last morning at Durmstrang before boarding the Nerida home for the Yuletide break, Harry shares his holiday plans with Astrid and the first years. Astrid and Klara both recognise the Drozdov family name, and Harry learns they are in fact royalty.
Professor Falk asks to speak with Harry privately after breakfast, and takes him to her office. When they arrive the ghost of Nerida Vulchanova appears - she is the one who wished to speak with Harry. Professor Falk steps outside to let them speak privately.
Headmistress Vulchanova keeps things brief - although Harry had been warned not to bring the necromantic item in his possession back to Durmstrang after the break, she gives him explicit permission to disregard that order and keep the diary with him if he chooses to do so.
Before the headmistress leaves, Harry requests to speak with her further. He has been reading the book about her life, and realises she met the founders of Hogwarts. Harry wants to understand the situation with Salazar Slytherin and the rift between he and the other founders better.
The headmistress explains some of the history of the region at the time Hogwarts was founded and that Slytherin never sought to exclude Muggleborns from Hogwarts. But he did want them to make a choice - they could study at the school and build their life in the magical community, or they could choose to remain untrained and live a Muggle life.
After leaving Hogwarts, Harry learns Slytherin came to Durmstrang on Nerida Vulchanova’s invitation where he taught for a few years. He eventually left to go track down Parselmouth bloodlines in India and Egypt, and Nerida lost contact with him after a time.
Harry leaves school for the Yuletide breakand introduces Mira to Arcturus, Sirius and Aunt Cass. The girl takes the international Portkey with them back to England and then departs with Aunt Cass to stay with the older woman at her Cornwall property.
Harry breaks the news about the betrothal contract to his guardians, who are shocked and furious at the situation. They promise to figure things out, and will wait for the copy of the contract to be provided so their lawyers can look at it and advise what their options might be.
Harry lets Tom know the good news about him getting permission to bring the diary back to school with him in the new year. He also tells Tom the bad news - the existence of the betrothal contract. Tom is enraged at the situation.
The following morning Sirius escorts Harry to Gringotts for his private appointment with the head goblin, Skarde. Harry asks Skarde more about his inheritance of the Peverell estate, and why his father never claimed the inheritance despite being a dark wizard. He learns that the Peverell estate had actually been offered to his father twice according to bank records, but James had declined to make a decision on both occasions. The bank records do not speculate why a client makes a decision, but Harry theorises it could have something to do with his father’s young age and the stressors of the ongoing war at the time leading him to delay his decision.
Harry asks Skarde if there is anything else relevant to the Peverell estate he should know about. Skarde confirms there is a legal matter that he is bound by confidentiality to only discuss with Harry.
Skarde explains there was a shift in inheritance in the 1200s. The then owner of the estate, Cadmus Peverell, passed away when his only child was still a minor - Tristana Peverell. When Tristana reached her majority at seventeen, legal documents were filed with Gringotts. The documents were signed by Tristana, as the nominated beneficiary of her deceased father’s estate. It was also signed by her uncle, Ignotus Peverell, named as the executor of her father’s will. In short, Tristana disclaimed her interest in her deceased father’s estate - the Peverell estate. A deed of variation was also filed by agreement, formally excluding her from the Peverell trust. Ignotus then had the power to name himself the new beneficiary, claiming the Peverell estate for he and his descendants.
Harry is horrified to realise his ancestor might have cheated his niece out of her rightful inheritance. He takes the documents from Skarde to be studied in more detail.
Arcturus meets with an old school friend, John Fairfax, whose family once owned the Daily Prophet. John lives in New York with his wife, Maggie, but his son still sits as Chair of the Board of Directors. Arcturus asks John for a favour get Richard to intercede on their behalf to stop the pattern of harmful reporting of Harry. John agrees wholeheartedly to help, and insists Richard will also agree. Arcturus requests the opportunity to speak with the editor himself before Richard makes a move to clear house. John promises Arcturus will have that opportunity.
Later, John comes with Arcturus back to Grimmauld Place, seeing Sirius again and being introduced to Harry. He insists they all come to visit New York at some point.
Harry and Sirius go through a box Sirius found in the Potter vault, which had belonged to Lily. It is a memory box, filled with letters from Severus Snape, photographs and little trinkets. Harry decided he can’t keep the box, and he wants to give it to Professor Snape. He hopes Sirius can use the opportunity of the box’s return to begin making amends. Sirius plans to give the box to Lucius along with a letter, and request he deliver both to Snape - though he is not expecting anything to come out of it.
When Harry is later writing to Tom he has a sudden realisation - if Tom was related to the Gaunts as Harry suspects - and if he was still alive today out there somewhere - he was another claimant to the Peverell inheritance. The same inheritance Harry’s ancestor had possibly stolen.
Harry has not told Tom about the Peverell inheritance or his connection to Morgana, so he does not say anything about this revelation. However, unbeknownst to Harry, Tom is capable of reading his thoughts and picks up on what Harry is thinking. Tom learns he is not only descended from Morgana, but Harry’s ancestor has seemingly stolen the inheritance from his own ancestor.
In spite of his frustration at the situation, Tom cannot find it in himself to be angry at Harry. He suspects there will be issues with Harry’s inheritance - per the old lore of inheritance the power of three combined made one the rightful inheritor of a claim - a legal right, a blood right, and a magical right. Harry had the legal right but Tom had the right to the inheritance by blood and magic. A piece of paper could disclaim the legal right to something, but magic could not be so easily swayed, nor could blood be fooled. Tom theorises that if they could somehow join their claims they might be able to inherit the Peverell estate properly together.
Harry leaves for Saint Petersburg with Sirius and Arcturus, leaving Tom behind as agreed in case the Drozdov family have the means to detect necromantic items. Upon his departure, Tom is confronted by Kreacher, who appears to know he can understand the house elf. Kreacher threatens Tom that if harms Harry or fails to serve him, Kreacher will do everything to destroy him and tell Lord Black.
Harry and his guardians arrive at Drozdov Island in Saint Petersburg, and are awed at the size and grandeur of the palace and grounds. They are met by what appears to be Mischa, but Harry immediately clocks there is something wrong. He correctly guesses it is one of the twins using their Metamorphmagus ability to pretend to be Mischa. The real Mischa appears soon after and brings the Blacks in to meet their parents, and Fenna and Cas are reprimanded for their mischief.
Prince Nikolai Drozdov of Novgorod and his wife, the Princess Anouk of the House of Van Voorne, provided warm greetings to their guests. The Blacks were now aware that Nikolai’s father is the current Grand Prince.
The Blacks receive a tour of the house and grounds, and then Mischa takes Harry to their room to catch up. Harry learns the twins are prone to using their Metamorphmagi abilities to trick people. When they were younger it was a harmless trick, but now they are getting older it is less funny because their disguises can be quite convincing. Mischa’s grandfather has threatened to take the twins to straighten them out.
Mischa informs Harry their grandfather is traditional and implies he does not understand Mischa’s gender identity. Fortunately though, Mischa’s parents are very supportive.
They talk about school, and eventually they get to talking about the old families in Britain and why they only have lords and ladies. Elsewhere in Europe there is a great variety of titles.
Mischa shares the theory put forward by their aunt, Tatiana, who is a genealogist and has done some research into the topic. Apparently, at some point in the early medieval period, there was a royal wizarding bloodline who claimed their title did not come from a Muggle source. They refused to provide proof of this claim, and also refused to recognise the noble status of anyone whose title was Muggle in origin. They appear to have been influential enough to set the expectation in Britain that it was improper to use your noble title if you had inherited it from a Muggle source.
Regardless of whether this family really existed or not, the tradition of keeping Muggle noble titles seperate from wizarding bloodlines seems to have continued in Britain long beyond the family seemingly disappearing.
Harry wonders if this mysterious family Mischa is referring to could be the Peverells - he knows his ancestors were once styled as royals, but there is no mention of them in any of the history books.
Nikolai gives Harry one on one training, and teaches Harry more about the Metamorphmagus ability. He learns he might one day be taught how to alter his own DNA to allow permanent transformation. Nikolai warns him though there is a high risk of damage or death, and Harry will require extensive training before he is ready to learn the technique.
Sirius and Arcturus speak with Anouk and Nikolai about arranging a reintroduction to the social scene in mainland Europe. The couple seem surprised at the request, and indicate they would have thought the Blacks would go to the Battenbergs for assistance, given the closeness between their families. Arcturus makes it clear that whilst they share some common goals with the Battenbergs, they do not align when it comes to heritage.
The Blacks are aware by allying themselves with the Drozdov family and being reintroduced by them into society they will be sending a message to all that they are traditionalists. That is exactly the message they want to send though - they are proud of their heritage and seek to be known as they are.
Nikolai and Anouk agree to help them, and plan to organise some invitations for Sirius and Arcturus to attend some events during the winter social season in January.
When he is not training with Nikolai, Harry spends time with Mischa, Fenna and Cas. They teach him to ice skate, and he spends the days being shadowed by the twins, who are determined to work out how Harry can always tell when one of them is disguised as someone else.
On their last day in Saint Petersburg Harry and his guardians wake to some significant news coming out of Britain - the Senate had just passed The Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures Amendment (Werewolf Rights and Responsibilities) Bill 1992. The most important part to come out of the bill was that there would be a clemency period for werewolves to be registered with the Ministry without any penalty for previously failing to register. The bill is scheduled to come into force on 1 January 1993 and the clemency period would run for the month and expire at midnight on 31 January.
Remus makes the decision to register in the clemency period but still leave the country to have a better life abroad. He has been accepted into a teaching course in Denmark, and plans to leave in the new year.
With the promise in place that Harry will be back in the summer to stay with the Drozdov family in the lead up to the DAYS gathering next year, Harry and his guardians left Saint Petersburg.
Upon returning home, Harry is informed by Tom that Kreacher knows about him. Harry does not hesitate to summon Kreacher, who makes it clear he will continue to guard Harry’s secrets as long as he is not in danger. Kreacher knows the diary can listen, because the locket was the same. The house elf could not communicate with either item - but he can sense the feelings from both.
Harry speaks more with his guardians about the implications of their family being reintroduced into society as traditionalists. The Sacred Twenty-Eight don’t have ancestral lands like the aristocratic families of Europe do. Their titles don’t fit into their hierarchy of nobility either. Harry realises this means they won’t have to just be worried about anti-traditionalists taking issue with their family - but the traditionalists too who don’t think the Blacks have a role to play in the movement.
Remus and the Greengrass family arrive for Yuletide. Harry learns Daphne has been struggling at Hogwarts, and Astoria announces she has decided to enrol at Durmstrang next year. Daphne blows up at the announcement, storming off, and leaving Astoria distraught. The situation is quickly smoothed over by Gareth and Rosie, who get to the bottom of the issue - Daphne wants to attend Durmstrang and misguidedly directed her frustration at the situation against Astoria.
The adults make it clear to Daphne, and Harry by extension, that the education of their Hogwarts peers is not their responsibility. Durmstrang will give Daphne opportunities Hogwarts simply cannot. With her parent's encouragement, Daphne decides to accept their offer to enrol her at Durmstrang next year with Astoria. Hearing that, Harry decides he wants to stay with them at Durmstrang for at least another year.
The following morning Harry meets his new mind arts tutor, Ismini Stone, to discuss a tutoring plan. Harry knew from the moment he met her that something was different about her. She felt the same to his senses as Fleur Delacour and Dion Lykaios. The meeting with Ismini is successful, and they confirm she can start tutoring next week, after Yule. She will be staying with them for a few nights for the tutoring, as she ordinarily lives in Greece.
As they are walking Ismini out of Grimmauld Place, they run into Remus, who freezes up upon seeing Ismini. Ismini leaves soon after, and Remus admits once she is gone that he could not control himself for a moment around her. He doesn’t know her personally, but the wolf in him recognised something in her. Remus has only felt this way around other werewolves - he is not certain though that Ismini is a werewolf. Harry confirms he still wants her as his tutor, and Sirius agrees.
After Yule, Harry tackles the test Sirius and Aunt Cass have prepared for him in order to assess his readiness to enter the Peverell vault on his own. They have set it up at the Potter’s property in Cornwall, with Harry’s permission.
Although Fleamont Potter had built the cottage for his wife Euphemia in the 1910s, there were indications that the wards around the property were far older than that.
Aunt Cass comments on the excellent condition of the cottage and grounds and asks if house elves have been maintaining the property. Harry confirms they come around once a month to look after everything and Aunt Cass comments that Harry’s grandfather Charlus never retained a house elf. He had been adamant about not keeping the house elf Dorea inherited when she turned seventeen and it caused fights between the pair until they compromised and hired human staff.
Harry takes the test and manages to pass through a combination of ingenuity, skill and a bit of luck. He finds a shocked Sirius and Aunt Cass on the other side.
With no choice but to honour their agreement, Sirius takes Harry to Gringotts that same day, stopping via Grimmauld Place to collect Arcturus. When they arrive at Gringotts, Skarde is pleased at the turn of events, and eagerly escorts the Blacks down to the vault.
Harry steps through the gateway, and is able to pass through without any resistance. On the other side he finds himself in a cave, covered wall to ceiling in ashgaräz. In the middle of the space are two trees growing out of the stone. Their branches intertwined overhead, forming a natural archway. Harry believes they are hawthorn trees.
The two trees are the source of the power in the space, a magic more ancient and overwhelming than Harry has felt before. Harry decides to approach the trees, believing the space between them might form some sort of gateway.
As he gets closer it feels like a physical weight is bearing down on him and a faint sense of dread begins to tighten his stomach. He pushes on, but every step forward becomes a battle. The moment Harrys steps under the natural archway of the trees the magic drives him to his knees and steals his breath.
Unable to fight the magic off, Harry turns inward, desperate for anything to save his life as the air is stolen from him and he begins to lose consciousness. He feels a tug of something, and a sense of familiarity, and as it passes through Harry he reflexively breathes again and the magic in the space suddenly recedes. He is able to get himself out from under the trees and back to the edge of the cave where it is safe.
Harry realises the magic of the gateway had deemed him an intruder. The legal contract had been enough to satisfy the goblins to give him the Peverell inheritance, and the fact he was a direct descendant of Morgana and he had a dark magic core granted him entry to the vault itself. But the gateway had soundly rejected him.
Meanwhile, Tom in the diary is exhausted. He had felt the moment Harry reached out for help, and as he reached back through their connection it drew him straight into Harry. Tom had grounded himself in Harry’s magical core and pushed back, surprised when the powerful ancient magic immediately receded. Realising Harry was not breathing, Tom reached into his lungs and willed him to breathe. Finally, Harry started breathing again, and Tom was flung back into the diary soon after, magical reserves decimated.
His intervention saved Harry’s life, but he is alarmed to realise if he had felt Harry’s desperate call for help, he was probably not the only one.
Sure enough, elsewhere in the world Voldemort considers his options after sensing one of his Horcruxes in peril. He could not detect which of them had reached out, or the nature of the threat. The bond had soon fell dormant once more, but the situation created a sense of urgency. Voldemort resolves to return to Britain once his body is restored and check on each of his Horcruxes.
To that end, Barty Crouch Junior has been brewing a solution under his direction, using Slytherin’s research journal, for over a year now. The solution is nearly ready to be transmuted, but they require a sacred day to do it. The next one is Imbolc, just over a month away.