Protection: The Sword and the Shield

The Sword

......Gringotts Bank, London Branch, Diagon Alley, London

Two wizarding wars in less than 100 years had decimated the house of Potter. In truth it had decimated the peerage of the wizarding world. Of the 50 families that made up titled seats of the Wizengamot, only 25 still had members seated. Another 15 families had heirs too young to be seated and 10 families had been completely lost to war. Of the 15 families with heirs, many, like Harry's, was down to less than 5 members, total.

The lower house of the Wizengamot or the non-titled seats numbered 50 as well and ironically housed most of the blood purity elite. Blood prejudice was really just a political insurrection by the middle class against the upper class. Unfortunately they had tied their political ambitions to a mad man.

The balance of power had not shifted as they had lost just as much in the war. Only 30 members remained of the non-titled seats, the remaining 20 and their entire families had been wiped out (or would end in Azkaban) in war. Two wars had cost the Magical English nobility 30 family lines.

The House of Potter was a titled line and Harry intended to have it rise from the edge of destruction. At the pinnacle of its existence House Potter had three families as Retainers and two families as Vassals. Charlus Potter had released those families from their obligations during the war with Grindelwald.

Many of the old families had done the same so as to allow for a more flexible fighting force. Retainers and Vassals are honor bound and magic bound to follow and obey their liege which was causing conflicts. After the war, most families were just getting their Houses in order when Voldemort began his rise. Weaker titled houses was the one victory of the blood purists.

Harry Potter intended to lead from the front and start to rebuild the House of Potter. The first step in that was to open the House. He and Justine sat down to what would be a very long day in Gringotts. His account manager, Ironclaw, started the meeting by confirming Harry's identity with a small ritual. That was followed by filling Harry in on what had been happening in the wizarding world since his exile.

He was happy to know that Tom had been banished but knew that until his Horcruxes were found, he would not be truly defeated. His fame was a surprise, though it did clarify the reception he had received when he entered the Leaky Cauldron and all the looks they were getting. He had wondered if his charm had been magnified or was more potent against magicals.

He started to wonder how he could use his fame to his advantage. The political climate was unchanged since before the war, the blood purist had lost as much as the "light" but had done enough damage to leave magical Britain a relatively hostile environment for first generation witches and wizards but not insurmountable. Harry nodded at the information and then began to explain what he wanted to do.

Harry would first re-open the House of Potter which would reactivate his seat on the Wizengamot. It would also bring all Potter properties out of hibernations and activate the old magics. It seemed, according to Ironclaw, his father and grandfather wished to rebuild the family first, then open the House but Harry did not agree with that. Harry believed an open House would help rebuild the family.

He asked for an accounting of his families former Retainers and Vassals. The House of Weasley had been Retainers and were doing well but were poor. The head of the Weasley Family and his other Retainer, the last surviving member of the House of Prewitt, had married each other and had 7 children, one of which was the same age as Harry. The remaining cousins were scattered across magical Britain, but were all relatively content. The Brown family was doing well the head of the family had one daughter that was Harry's age.

As for the Vassal Houses, House of McGonagall had no heirs and was down to its last member. House of Vector is in good shape. The Head of House has three brothers. They all have children and grandchildren. The Head's oldest grandchild teaches Arithmancy at Hogwarts. Harry nodded as the discussion continued. The Vectors were doing well but were unable to build wealth outside of the influence of the House of Potter. They would no doubt want to re-establish the old bonds.