A Nest of Vipers

Chapter 2: Into the Frying Pot

Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England, Great Britain, Late-June, 1996

“What a quaint little town, Daphne” said Tracey as they walked towards Harry’s home.

“The houses look identical, and probably cost a lot too, but why does the Heir of an important house live with muggles and dress in much too large, secondhand clothes?” asked Daphne.

“Not just that, but why does he not wear his heir ring, he is the last Potter after all?” Replied Tracey.

“Dumbledore’s probably his magical guardian, and his proxy in his seat in the Wizengamot.  I know that bugs my father greatly.  He so often says the old geezer is has too much power in the Wizengamot, being Chief Warlock, and proxy to almost a half dozen Noble and Ancient or higher houses, despite only being from a minor house.”

They pondered this in silence as they reached his house.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A middle aged woman answered the door.

“Oh hello girls are you looking for Dudley?” asked Petunia.

“No, we’re looking for Harry, is he here?” asked Daphne.

“So your one of those freaks like him, from that madhouse school are you?”

Harry having heard their conversation, through his window hurried downstairs.

“Oh it’s you two,” Harry began coldly, “what do you want?”

“We have information for you about your godfather.” Said Tracey.

“Well then come on in”

When Petunia began protesting, Harry drew his wand and pointed it at her. Ignoring her protests, he said “Do you want him to come after you?”

He turned and the girls followed him upstairs. As he opened the door to his room, Daphne asked if he had a cat at some point after noticing the cat flap on his door.

“No, that’s where they used to feed me.” He replied coldly.

A confused look spread over the girl’s faces, before fading to mild irritance.

“Nice room, Potter.” Tracey said.

“It’s better than the cupboard was.” Harry replied ignoring the confused looks.  “You can sit on the bed,” he began, then asked, “You said you had information on my godfather?” He asked the girls.

“Well, we know he died, and his will-reading was held a couple of Days ago. We’ve also got a request and some questions for you but, about your godfather, He named you, his heir, as the new Warlock Black.” Began Daphne.

“Warlock…wait what?” Harry Stammered. “What do you mean, Warlock Black? How’d you hear about the will-reading?”

“You didn’t know, your godfather was heir to one of the most important families in Britain? As to the will I’ll get to that shortly.” replied Daphne shocked.

Quickly regaining her faculties, Daphne began. “Well, all the old families, like the Potters and the Blacks, are considered Noble and Most Ancient, which means that they’re members of the Wizengamot, and incredibly wealthy.  But since by the look of shock and confusion on your face, I’m assuming that your magical guardian, didn’t do their job and teach you about your role in this world.”

Harry began to speak, but Daphne held up a finger to halt his words for her to finish.  With them both taking a breath, she continued.

“Since you didn’t know about the Warlock-ships, I’m going to assume you don’t know about the Wizengamot seats and about Heir rings. After all if you had your heir ring, Fudge wouldn’t have dared having you tried, the Wizengamot wouldn’t have stood for it, since he’s only a member of a Noble House. Not to mention, Umbridge wouldn’t have been able to torture you in her detentions.  Blood quills are after all illegal, not to mention she’s not even noble.”

“No.” said Harry angrily, before saying. “Why didn’t Dumbledore tell me about all this?”

“Well, we’ve got a couple of theories, but the prevailing theory is that he’s manipulating your holdings for his own personal gain, since he showed up at your godfather’s will-reading, and said you weren’t interested in claiming the warlock-ship. Just so you know, if you don’t claim it in a year it will fall to the next male in line, Draco Malfoy. Also claiming your lordships, will emancipate you.”

“So how do I claim my warlock-ships, and get out of this hell hole.”

“Well you’d have to go to Gringotts and do an inheritance test, which will allow you to claim your titles, but first our problem.”

“Okay,” said Harry hesitantly.

“We want to marry you Potter, and now you can marry both of us since, you have two titles. Before you say no, we’d like to tell you about our families.  They’re either neutral or grey depending on your point of view, in the Wizengamot, and both our fathers voted for your acquittal, but since our families are neutral, the death eaters have been hounding us to side with them, Lucius Malfoy has been trying for years to convince my father to sign a betrothal contract for either me or my sister Astoria, for his son Draco.  Draco threatened to set a werewolf, named Fenrir Greyback, on my sister if I didn’t agree to marry him, when he thought he would get the Black Warlock-ship.  You should know also that apparently his attempt at his first betrothal contract fell through, since his ‘was to be betrothed’, Parkinson, is already betrothed to some mysterious stranger, so he’s more volatile now than ever, with his father in prison.” Said Daphne.

“So why do you want to marry me, other than my titles?” Harry asked.

“Well, the answer to that is for several reasons, first we’re in a relationship with each other already, we love each other and don’t want to be separated.  Second you’re the only male at Hogwarts we both find attractive. And third, you’re an heir to two Noble and MOST Ancient Houses.  Lastly, you’re also a nice guy that doesn’t view women as objects.  However, we don’t want to be stay at home wives, we want careers, and to travel.  Also aligning our families would strengthen, our opposition to the Death Eaters.” Said Tracey.

“Well, I for one have never wanted a stay at home wife, and I disagree with how this war is fought, Aurors have to use stunning spells while, death eaters use killing curses with impunity.” Said Harry.

“My father will agree with you greatly.” Said Daphne.

Edited: 1-19-18 changing dates and grammer