Chapter 13

As Harry led the way to the classroom he pondered how exactly he would bring u the possibility of her teaching him the customs of the Old Ways. He was hesitant to just bring it up out of the blue as it could land them into trouble if they were overheard. His thoughts carried him until they reached the painting and he said "open up please." The painting swung open revealing the spacious room. There were desks, large enough for two students to sit beside each other, covering 4/5 of the room. He turned to Griselda and said "Ms. Marchbanks I was informed by Samuel Greengrass-Davis in a letter that you would be serving lunch as part of your instruction. I suggest that you contact a house elf and set that up with them."

Griselda nodded and said "well I believe that will not pose any problem." She took out her wand and waved it and muttered several detection and sealing charms. When she had finished she turned her gaze onto Harry and said "it's a pleasing sight for these ancient eyes to see that someone has rediscovered the rituals concerning wizards and the magic field Lord Potter. I must say that when Samuel brought word to me that he had come into contact with a person that had connected to the magic field it lifted an immense burden from me, as I had feared that I would die before someone had rediscovered the ritual. I will be more than happy to teach you the customs of the old ways." She sighed and said "before I do that I must make sure that you know what this entails. The ministry has an absolute hatred of all things they consider dark. You see back when Merlin broke away from the old ways he not only broke his vows to the God and Goddess, but he also felt that witches and wizards were powerful enough to stand on their own without being tied to a force that was more powerful than them. You see the magic core for every witch or wizard is roughly the same except for a certain percentage of the population. Now since you were sorted into Ravenclaw you were tested for your magical potential correct? Or have they discontinued that practice?"

"They still carry that out ma'am."

She nodded then continued on with her explanation. "As you may have noticed everyone except for a few people were with a range of 60-100 points of each other correct?" Harry cocked his head and recalled all of their scores then nodded as she was correct. "Now if a person connects to the magic field their core will be enhanced to a lesser or greater degree. Say you had a core that registered at 365, then that person connected to the magic field, their core could expand up to 90 points on the scale or it could expand only 15 to 20 points. It all depends on the connection. Now Merlin felt that since his religion said God created man equal than anything that enhanced his or her standing above others was unnatural and evil. His philosophy spread quickly and those who didn't change their beliefs were prosecuted, so they began to meet in secret places in the dark hours when it would be easier to escape persecution. They eventually became known as the Children of the Dark or commonly known as Dark witches and wizards. Now you may have heard of the use of the term Dark witches or wizards in your history class; that is because the label dark has become a catchall for anything the ministry doesn't approve of. This ranges from rituals, blood magic, sacrificial magic, prostitution, werewolves, vampires, cursed items and almost all of the things you could find in Knockturn Alley. They used to consider worshipping the God and Goddesses as dark as well, but had to change the laws on the books when England changed their laws to allow the practice of all religions. They still disapprove of those who worship them, but can no longer persecute them legally." She paused and then said "where this is all leading up to is the importance that you not tell anyone unless you have their oath to never tell anyone that you practice magic that is powered by the magic field. If you do so the ministry and anyone who hears about it will torture you, interrogate you then kill you; or even worse you could be sent to the Department of Mysteries where you may be unfortunate enough to survive for a number of years."

Harry gulped and replied "consider the point to be understood and will be applied ma'am."

"Good. Now Samuel told me that you and Patricia found the henge in the forest?" Seeing Harry nod she said "good. I'll have you walk me out when our instruction is done and we will go there. I will teach you there all of the customs and lore that an adult would know. This will take about two years all told if I were to only each you once a week so I will teach Patricia much more and she will be able to teach you when you are living at your home."

Harry thought for a few seconds then asked "I have invited a fellow student to stay with me during the holidays and summer as well when I learned that her parents kicked her out when they learned that she was a witch. It goes without saying that she is a muggleborn and I was hoping I could eventually let her join. Will that be a problem?"

"No, in fact before the attempted eradication muggleborns were our main source of new blood. We never had any problem with muggleborns once they learned our ways and customs, Lord Potter. In fact we used to marry them to bring new blood into our lines and keep the magic strong. Our only problems were their parents and most of our new members faced the same situation as your friend. So no there won't be a problem."

Harry nodded and sighed in relief. He then asked "is there anything you need to get read ma'am?"

Griselda shook her head in negation and replied "no, I have everything I need. I'll contact my house elf and have him send on the schedule for when lunch shall be served. Good day Lord Potter."

Harry nodded and replied "good day Madam Marchbanks." He then left the room and went to his dorm room. He saw Hedwig there and asked 'well girl, ready for another flight to update my list once more? I think I'll also ask if there is any way I can update it without having to send you.'

Hedwig hooted and replied 'don't worry master as I enjoy being useful. The only downside is that I am not here to read with you.'

Harry chuckled and wrote out a letter to Owlops saying:

Harry attached the letter to Hedwig and watched her fly off into the distance. He then went to the common room and talked with his year mates until 1040. They all got up and went to the classroom and sat down. Looking around Harry saw that almost every first and second year of all of the houses were there except for the Slytherins. The only people from that house were Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis.

Griselda stood up and flicked her wand at the door causing it to shut then said "good day ladies and gentleman. I am Griselda Marchbanks and I will be teaching you the social customs and manners pertaining to general wizarding culture, after that I will teach you the manners customary to those in the upper class. This course will take three hours every week. This class will all be practical work, but I expect all of you to take notes as I will be testing you at various times. I will even come here unannounced during meal times throughout the year to see if you are comporting yourself correctly. If at any time I find any of you to be a disruptive influence I will unceremoniously banish you from here at tell your head of House why I have done so, is that understood?" Seeing everyone nod she smiled and said "good!"

"Now the first thing I will be teaching you is how to greet someone. In the muggle world, at least around here, it has become customary to shake a person's hand in greeting. We however do not. Wizards greet each other by giving a slight nod of the head, witches greet each other by offering a slight curtsey and a wizard will lightly kiss the hand of the witch. This covers the first greeting or if the introduction is formal. However if it is not formal merely nodding your head in greeting is appropriate. When a witch approaches a table to sit, the wizards are expected to stand until she sits. Ladies I would suggest that you don't take a long time to sit down as it leaves a bad impression on your dining guests. Now if you are dating a wizard is expected to help his date sit by holding and scooting her chair closed to the table. Now on to..."

The lecture continued on in this manner for some time while she touched on various subjects. When it was 1230 she said "now that covers various subjects that are important. I will be having you eat here as a practical discussion on table manners and comportment due to eating in mixed company. Before that happens I suggest that you all take ten minutes to wash up and use the facilities." The class streamed out and came back into a room that had been transformed. Where there had been the standard tables for school there were now ten various circular tables scattered around the room. Griselda told everyone "wait to the side for right now until everyone is back." Once everyone returned she said "now as you can see I have set up tables for you to eat at. I have placed name tags where you have been placed. I want everyone to find their name and sit there. Once you have done so I expect everyone to introduce themselves as you will find that I have purposely mixed the houses up."

Harry searched the tables and found where he would be sitting. He knew a few of the people from his past life but didn't know the rest. He waited for the girls to sit then sat himself. Looking around at the faces of his companions he said "I'll get the ball rolling then. Hello I am Harry Potter and it is a pleasure to meet all of you." All of the rest introduced themselves and Griselda came by and overheard their conversation and nodded before sweeping off. They ate with all of the decorum they could manage.

When they finished their meal Griselda said "now that are finished I ask that all of you leave here for the next five minutes while the house elves restore the room to its previous arrangement." The class filed out for the allotted time and when they came back in they sat at their previous spots. Griselda said "now I will critique the behavior I saw." She then launched into a review of the behavior she saw as well as further lessons. When the class finished she said "now I expect to see an improvement in your deportment next week. I ask that Neville Longbottom and harry Potter stay behind please." When everybody except for Neville and Harry had left she said "now I have been asked by Lord Potter to teach him the customs and expectations that he will face as a Lord of an Ancient and Noble House. He has informed me that you Neville wish to join in on the lessons as well; is that correct?"

Neville nodded and replied "if you would be so kind ma'am I would be grateful."

Griselda nodded and said "very well. Now the two of you sit down and pay attention as this will be important to you both as the two of you carry more political weight than almost everyone in our world, especially when you consider that the both of you will eventually sit on the Wizengamot. Now in essence the both of you are Lords because one of your ancestors was ennobled by a King of Britain. Since the Statute of Secrecy was enacted it means that all titles are only valid on the magical side as the crown would not recognize your houses anymore. Now the Potters have been in England since time immemorial and were ennobled before the Romans ever came, while the Longbottoms were ennobled when the leader of the Britons enticed them to stay and defend these lands from their Norse brethren." She paused then said "now your duties as far as politics go are quite simple and that is to sit in the Wizengamot. You cannot sit until your 25th birthday. For you Neville you will be able to claim your lordship either on the death of both your father as well as Augusta; or on your 17th birthday if your father's condition remains the same. As for you Harry you have already assumed the Lordship, correct?"

"Yes ma'am I have."

"Very good, now another duty you both have is if the Queen calls upon your oaths you must help defend the realm against an external enemy. Such as if we were invaded by Germany in WWII you would have had to fight them. Now the Statute of Secrecy would prohibit you to use magic against muggles so you would have fought their magic troops. In this day and age it is not likely, but you never know. Next is the Queen of King call upon you to give them council; you must attend and answer all of her questions truthfully. No monarch has done this in recent times, but it is still valid. Next is you are required to marry before you reach the age of 21. The only case where you can escape this clause is if you have a soul mate as in the case of your Grandfather Lord Potter. Charlus had a soul mate in Dorea Black and waited to marry her. He married when he was 60 I believe. Now one final thing that you both should know is that due to your Lordship you can legally marry more than one woman. This exemption is only for those Heads of an Ancient and Noble House. The only other case where a man can marry more than one woman is if he consents that the children from his second wife shall carry their mother's maiden name, such as in the case of Samuel Greengrass-Davis."

Harry asked "one question I have concerning that is there a limit on how many wives a Lord could marry?"

Griselda frowned and said "well as I said earlier in my class our society doesn't really expect females to do more than bear children and raise them. There are exceptions but not many. Now as for your question you can marry as many as three."

"I see, thank you ma'am."

"Very well now the last thing that pertains to you as Lords is the taking of slaves. Now slaves can be acquired through four distinct ways. The first is if a female is charged with life imprisonment then she can accept to become a slave. The next is if her husband attacks you and you kill him in battle you may be able to cast Ego Vindicatum totus preda. Assuming that it is successfully cast and the husband has no heirs then his wife becomes your property. The third way is if the Wizengamot condemns a person to death you can change that sentence to slavery assuming that the female is still capable of child bearing as the sole condition you will face in that case is to impregnate her within two years. The final way is to call in a life debt owed to you by an unmarried witch of at least 15 years of age. Now not all slavery is equal gentlemen. You can have them be as lowly as a pet or you can have them act as your wife so it is all up to you."

The last thing you will have to face is that you are bound by your magic to defend all magical citizens from unprovoked attack. So if you found some blood purists attacking a muggleborn then you are bound to defend them if at all possible and not stand idly by. That wraps up your duties gentlemen as the mores for general society will suffice you amongst your peers as well. Harry if you could stay behind I need to discuss some things with you. I bid you a good afternoon Mr. Longbottom. May you have a pleasant day."

"May your day be pleasant as well ma'am and I must thank you for telling me these things as I was unaware of most of them." Neville then turned and left the room.

When he had closed the door behind him Griselda flicked her wand and her trunk obediently rose and followed her out of the room. Harry followed her and they made their way in silence until they reached the henge. Harry was slightly surprised that Griselda could make her way here without any directions.

Griselda had her trunk settle onto the ground and conjured two chairs facing each other and two desks in front of them; she then sat down in one of the chairs and gestured for Harry to sit in the other. She then said "now that were are out of the castle I will instruct you in the lore of the Children of the Dark. When you meet someone in a secure environment for the first time you should reach out and draw your index finger down their mark, like so."