“Did it work?” Alex asked with wide eyes.

Lady Narcissa Malfoy sighed. “Oh, it certainly worked.”

“How?” she asked, drawing out the word. “I mean, I don’t know what’s needed to make the torture curse actually work. It wasn’t written down anywhere I checked.” Again, she didn’t mention the fact that she had tried to use it once. And on Lord Slytherin, no less. Even if she hadn’t known Lord Slytherin was Harry at the time.

Lady Narcissa pursed her lips and looked to be putting a good deal of thought into deciding how or if she should answer. Eventually, she did. “The Cruciatus curse is not like other curses you may have come across in the Black Library, or even elsewhere. It does not require emotion, nor power, or even a special wand technique. What it requires is far more insidious than that. The Cruciatus curse applies the theoretical maximum pain to the target it is possible to experience and cannot be blocked by shield, or swatting, and little in the way of occlumency will allow the victim to power through its effects. To apply the curse is simple and it is not about anger, despite what many believe. It is about morality. To cast the curse, you must believe, deep in your very soul, that to cast this curse that causes such terrible torture as to possibly drive the victim insane, is the morally correct thing to do. A moral good. That is the true reason the curse was declared unforgivable. Not because of the torture, though the torture is terrible. Many dark spells and curses cause similar pain or have side effects that are demonstrably worse. But because of what it says about the caster.”

Alex let out a long breath. “Wow.” She stood in thought for several long moments. “So, what happened after that? Did Bellatrix fight back? This is the future Bellatrix Lestrange we’re talking about.”

Narcissa laughed a laugh with zero mirth. “You’ve clearly never been on the receiving end of the cruciatus curse, my girl. No, Bellatrix did not fight back. And neither did I. Bella folded after being held under the curse for just a few seconds. I caved before she could even turn her wand on me. We surrendered our keys and opened the box together. Andromeda was betrothed to Ted Tonks before the sun rose the next morning. I found my Lucius not long after and Bellatrix accepted a proposal from Redulphus Lestrange. Bella was never quite the same after that. She wasn’t put under for long enough to permanently break her mind, but that was definitely the start of her descent.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Language,” Narcissa admonished, though the effort seemed half-hearted. She was busy staring off into the middle distance.

“But what about your parents?” Alex asked after a moment of thought. “What about Lord Black? Weren’t they angry?”

“Apoplectic,” Narcissa said with a nod of her head. “But what happened afterwards isn’t really part of this story.”

“Oh, come on!” Alex said. “You can’t leave it like that!”

Narcissa shrugged. “The contract box was all part of a ruse to start with. Remember what I said about the Black blood coming with a need for control. Our parents had never intended to give us full freedom to choose our own husbands. Only choice with caveats. The contracts had hidden clauses written into them that people without the right upbringing would not think to look for. Anyone who wasn’t noble, or who wasn’t from the sacred 28, who signed the contract, would be cursed with infertility — thus ensuring the noble house of Black would not grant offspring with the precious blood of Black to unworthy houses. Andromeda left our family home inconsolable when she learned that little nugget and never came back. Our parents obviously knew the moment Ted Tonks’ name appeared on the family tapestry and had prepared a suitable ‘welcome’ for her when we arrived back home for the summer.

Alex looked confused. “But doesn’t Andromeda have a daughter?”

“Oh, yes. And no, Nymphadora Tonks is not a bastard. Ted Tonks was far greater a man than either my sister or I ever gave him credit for. During the rise of The Dark Lord, Andromeda was put on a death list to be eliminated as a blood traitor. When Bellatrix learned this, she rushed off to save her. Yes, even then she still put the wellbeing of her sister over the wishes of The Dark Lord. Unlike our father, who’d requested special permission to be in the execution squad.

“When Bellatrix arrived, she found Ted duelling our father and The Dark Lord in one-on-one combat with one Charlus Potter. Charlus was one of the few wizards who could stand up to Voldemort and Ted had been taking lessons from him for years. As soon as he found out about the curse, Ted appealed to Charlus, who took him on as his student. He trained with just one purpose in mind — to eventually kill the man responsible for the infertility curse and thus break it.

“Bellatrix turned up just in time to watch our father take a blood-boiling curse right in the chest and his head leaving his shoulders a moment later. That certainly didn’t help her mental stability. She jumped into the fight and ended up saving The Dark Lord — one of the reasons he seems fond of her. The Dark Lord then defeated and killed Charlus Potter and would have killed Ted Tonks as well, but the aurors showed up at that point and they were forced to flee.” Narcissa nodded to Alex. “Your father was on that squad, by the way — fresh off his apprenticeship.”

“The point I’m trying to make with all this, Alex, is that the Wizarding World isn’t the same as the witch’s world. Wizards live in a world of direct conflict and power. They are the staff. We support our men from the shadows. We are the dagger. Trust is never something that can be assumed. Your performance at the duelling arena was masterful and Lord Slytherin has clearly done a wonderful job cultivating your talent. But he has trained you as a powerful wizard would. What you really need to reach your full potential, is the guidance of a powerful witch — one familiar with how to move in this world as a woman. And especially as a Black, that overwhelming urge to control and dominate can become as much a weakness as a boon, if not tempered with feminine guile.”

Alex shuffled uncomfortably. Suddenly, her own upbringing didn’t look nearly so bad by comparison. “I’ll think about it,” she finally said.

Narcissa smiled. “That’s all I can ask for.”

— DPaSW: TGS —

The general press of wizardry in Wizengamot Hall was making its way back towards the main assembly room, pointy hats and flowing robes bunching up at the doorway as ushers called the elite of the Magical Britain back to service.

Luna was tightly glomped onto an unresisting Alex as the Black witch finished her story.

“I see,” Harry finally said. “And you want my opinion on possible next steps.”

“Yes,” Alex said simply. The girl wasn’t nearly her usual cocksure self.

Harry thought about it for a moment before noting that he really did need to get a move on. The Muggle Protection Act hearing was about to start and that wasn’t even the first place he needed to be.

He traded glances with Daphne who gave him a knowing nod back. She knew her role in the upcoming sessions.

“Go with Luna,” Harry finally said, turning back to Alex. “We’ll leave the matter of Narcissa aside for the moment. “Instead, put together a strategy to connect back with your Dad. That’s my—” Harry weighed the choice between ‘order’ and ‘advice’ before going with, “—advice.”

“Right.” Alex nodded, still clearly reluctant, but with less grumbling than the last time the subject was raised. “I can do that.”

— DPaSW: TGS —

Lucius Malfoy took his seat in the main Wizengamot Chamber. Even as he did so, the very structure of the room was changing, shifting from a rectangular court staring down at one unfortunate soul to a more circular legislator, more suitable for the important function of shouting at each other.

From here, Lucious could see his two main challengers for the day. At the back of the larger third of seats sat James Potter, presiding over the Light faction. And at the back of the smaller third, there was sat Lady Sunny Greengrass, proxy for Lord Slytherin, presiding over the Gray.

Everyone had already received a copy of the proposed changes to the so-called Muggle Protection Act, so this reading was really just the last chance for the various faction strongmen to woo potential fence-sitters.

The Wizengamot wasn’t a democracy, so there wasn’t a clear incentive for party loyalty as there might be in a legislator that relied on regular elections for its members to secure their seats. This allowed more freedom in legislation, but it also created a problem for faction leaders needing to steer their group’s collective interests.

The fact that Slytherin had managed it for years now was impressive.

Malfoy himself had secured a large chunk of the votes for the Muggle Protection Act in contract form months before even the first reading, but it had taken a lot of effort and he still didn’t have everyone in the Dark on board.

That centralization of authority was important.

It meant that if Slytherin wanted the act to pass he either had to make a deal with him, or fully get into bed with the Light.

He was sure Slytherin had more in common with himself than he did with the likes of James Potter.

Looking over to his primary rival in the Light, Lucius saw that the chamber was rapidly filling up. Soon, not a single seat would be unoccupied. The chamber wouldn’t remain full for long, of course. While the official reading and speechmaking took place here, a lot of the real work happened in the hallways and private rooms, over a cup of tea or glass of brandy. This reading was being broadcast to the whole of Wizarding Britain and it simply wasn’t practical to get much ‘real’ work done while the commoners were listening in.

“Good afternoon, my lords and ladies, wizards and witches of the Wizengamot,” Dumbledore called out from the chief warlock’s podium. “Can we all please take our seats in a timely and ordered manner, thank you. We’ve a lot to get through this weekend. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get through anything at all!”

Lucious smirked. The near-total deadlock in the Wizengamot had likely tweaked Dumbledore’s nose more than anyone else.

“Thank you!” Dumbledore called out once the mass had mostly been seated. “If no one has any points of order, we’ll begin?”

“Point of order,” rumbled a now familiar voice from the doorway, echoing throughout the large room.

Lucius had been half-expecting this.

The masked Lord Slytherin closed the door behind him, this time not standing dramatically in the entranceway as though the theatre had just called for the protagonist to step up on stage.

“I will be taking my seat for this session, Chief Warlock,” Slytherin said as he swept across the floor and up the stairs, taking them so lightly as to almost appear to float.

A susurration filled the chamber.

“Very well.” Dumbledore nodded. “Do you wish to make a speech?”

“Lady Greengrass has always spoken for me and has already given my accession speech, Chief Warlock,” Slytherin said, approaching said lady and taking her unresisting hand. “I’ll not bore you all with more grandstanding today.”

As Lady Greengrass curtsied to Slytherin and made her way to the visitor's gallery, the enigmatic Gray Lord took his seat for the first time in the Wizengamot.

Calm, understated, business-like. Quite unlike his previous appearances.

Yes, Lucius could deal with a man like this. He just had to make the man drop some of the more outrageous paragraphs. Then he could package the whole thing in exchange for getting Draco and the others out from under Alexandra’s thumb. A done deal.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. “My lords and ladies, wizards and witches, today we will be hearing the third reading of the Muggle Protection Act, sponsored by Lord Greengrass, with amendments made by several noble wizards whose names can be found in the copies I’ve no doubt you’ve all received. I call upon Lord Jacob Greengrass of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass!”

A general cheer went up from approximately one-third of the chamber as the young lord got to his feet.

What followed was half an hour of boring legislative reading, most of which had already been heard twice before, but that wasn’t what everyone was here for. There were eight changes to the proposed act under discussion — some important, others seemingly minor.

Lucius knew differently.

Each alteration represented a policy point on Slytherin’s secretive agenda. Together they formed a window into how the man thought.

Once Lord Greengrass sat back down, a good number of wizards started heading for the doors, while others raised their wands in the air.

Dumbledore pointed. “Lord White, of the Noble House of White, you have the floor.”

“Thank, you Chief Warlock,” said a rather portly wizard, standing up amid a cluster of other Light wizards. “I’d just like to say, as before, that I appreciate this act for its furtherment of muggleborn rights and muggle protections, but I do wonder if some of the proposals might not be unwise for the greater implications they bring with them.” The man cleared his throat. “Particularly in regards to permanent muggle-born immigration to the Wizarding World. For example, paragraph twenty-four explicitly requires that the memories of muggle relatives not be fully erased but rather removed and stored for a minimum of five years after the muggleborn has fully immigrated. Obviously, this is meant as a safeguard against foul play, but it also creates a dangerous precedent that the ministry should have the authority to store copies of memories. Even if those memories are muggle, this is a gross threat to privacy and a violation of the basic rights not just of wizards or muggleborns, but of humanity in general. Moreover, storing copies of relatives' memories has the additional unfortunate effect of lessoning the permanence of immigration, which is the whole point of permanent immigration in the first place. If we want to fully integrate muggle-borns into our society, we do not achieve this by giving them a potential route to return to their old lives if it becomes inconvenient after they have already ‘committed’ themselves.

"I do think, however, that the proposed sixty-day cooling-off period for muggleborns who’ve signed a permanent immigration contract is a good idea."

By now a fair number of wizards had vacated the chamber and were enjoying Jammie Dodgers in Wizengamot Hall. Not Slytherin, though. He remained seated carefully listening to the arguments being made.

“The other point I want to make is that the proposed new regulations on oblivators, requiring them to get signed permission from the DMLE before mubbleborn parents can have their minds altered is problematic in the extreme for our capability to fulfil our obligations to the international statute of secrecy. And as one of the founding signatories, Magical Britain has a responsibility to lead the Wizarding World in muggle mental control and hamstringing our forces in such a blatant way sends entirely the wrong message to our magical friends outside the island. In short, these amendments, which I believe are being dubbed the ‘Clare Cooper’ laws—” the man let out a chuckle. “— These laws really need more time to mature, I cannot support them in their current form, and I implore my fellow Lords of the Wizengamot to stand with me in voting them down.”

— DPaSW: TGS —

Alexandra Black, Heiress of the Noble House of Black, undisputed and total winner of the Hogwarts Duelling Tournament in her first year, and grim animagus, was currently not hiding behind a table of snacks and dainties in Wizengamot Hall.

No, absolutely not. She wasn’t hiding. She was just strategically placing herself for better observation.

The fact that she’d just seen her dad walk by after leaving the wizengamot main chamber paid not part in it at all!

“Alex, you’re going to have to go talk to him sometime,” Luna said in a wheedling voice. “You promised Harry. Why not now?”

“But what do I say to him?!” Alex half-wailed. “I can’t just come out and say I need help! What do I need help with?! There isn’t anything right now! It’ll sound weird!”

“There’s nothing weird about wanting to spend time with your dad,” Luna replied.

“Yes, there is! There is for me!”

Luna smiled. “Why not ask to duel him? He’s an auror. Duelling is something he understands. Say you are thinking of following in his footsteps.”

“But I’m not!”

“Then say you need help preparing to represent England.”

Alex pressed the sides of her witch’s hat against her ears. “Agghhhh! Fine. Fine, I’ll do it. Just… just give me a second.”