Then Harry took up the explanation again, "As Hermione's Protector, Cygnus and Isabel sent their findings to me. It was my decision to hold off on saying anything about this until it could be confirmed by the goblin's Inheritance Test. I didn't want the possibility of this being true to affect Hermione, or you, until it could be confirmed one way or the other and we could all discuss it in depth."
"What does this mean for my family?" asked Wendell.
"In the muggle world? Absolutely nothing," said Cygnus. "It's only effect will be what you make of it.
"However, in the magical world, this is a huge thing. Hermione is now no longer recognised as being a muggleborn; she's now considered a half-blood like Harry. As Head of the Dagworth-Granger House, irrespective of her position as a protectee of House Potter, she has a social status almost equal to us in her own right. And no one can argue against it. Her wearing the House ring stops that.
"Secondly, as Head of a Noble House, like Harry and me, she has a hereditary seat awaiting her on the Wizengamot; that's our form of parliament similar to your House of Lords." Looking directly at Hermione, he said, "Which reminds me, Hermione, you are now going to need a Regent to take your seat until you're of age."
"I pick you," she quickly said.
"Hold on, young lady," he quickly came back with. "While I thank you for the consideration you've given me. This is something you want to research and talk with your parents about, first. While Isabel and I are currently your magical guardians, my politics may not reflect your own. You want to pick someone who would be willing to vote on the Wizengamot along lines you believe you would vote in their place if you were of age to do so.
"You need to give yourself some time to think it through. And you need to listen to the counsel of your parents and others first. Alright?"
Hermione nodded and her parents breathed a sigh of relief. "Still, you are my magical guardians, you did cause this..." she indicated her ring, "... to happen, and I know I can trust you to do right by me."
"Again, thank you," said Cygnus. "I'm honoured you think that way. But, at least discuss it with your parents, first. Besides, there's going to be a great deal of paperwork to deal with before reaching that stage. The first of which will be reactivating your House. "Once it becomes acknowledged House Dagworth-Granger has been reactivated with Hermione as its undisputed Head through primogenitor, you're going to find yourselves very quickly courted by others. There will be those who hope you will align your House with theirs; there will be offers of betrothal contracts..."
"What?" blurted Monica, cutting in.
Cygnus nodded and said, "You know why they're important, Monica. To protect the interests of House Dagworth-Granger, it would be wise to engage in a betrothal contract before she marries.
"However, there is certainly no hurry. Most families, these days, allow their daughters to fall in love naturally. Then, when she indicates she wishes to enter into marriage with another, the Heads or Regents of those Houses involved sit down and discuss the conditions. "One of those conditions - I beg you - will include that at least the second-born son will have the surname Dagworth-Granger, to ensure the continuation of the line. As your familial protectors, both Harry and I will ensure Hermione and her assets are well protected.
"Unlike Harry's and Daphne's contract, there will be escape clauses for both parties. I will not make that mistake again."
"Sorry," she said abashed.
With a nod of acceptance, Cygnus continued, "Now, by rights, as Hermione's magical guardian, those offers should come to me, anyway. But some may try to bypass me by going directlyto Hermione.
"The ring she now wears has built in protections against someone trying to place Compulsion Charms or similar on any paperwork they send her. The ring will flash and or vibrate in different patterns if there's any of those sorts of hanky-panky going on. I'll be teaching Hermione what those flashes and vibrations mean and how to use the ring to protect herself from that sort of thing.
"Next. I believe Harry has already loaned Hermione certain books that cover wizarding etiquette and customs in our world..."
Harry and Hermione nodded.
"... But, as Head of a Noble and Ancient House, Hermione is going to have to learn more than what is in those books. I believe Isabel will be the best instructor for her for that."
Isabel nodded.
"That means, young lady," said Cygnus looking at Hermione. "You're going to be spending time with Isabel over the first part of your Christmas break before you go visiting your grandmother with your parents. And possibly after you return."
Hermione was clearly excited about the prospect of more learning over Christmas.
Looking back at Wendell and Monica, he said, "The biggest upside of all this, is that we can now ward your home six ways from Sunday, when we couldn't before due to your status as a muggle household. Because one no longer exists, your home will now be thought of as Dagworth-Granger Manor. A truly magical household that will have muggles living there, instead of the other way around."
"This is a lot to take in," sighed Wendell. "Again, you've done so much for my family, I cannot repay you."
"Well, said Isabel. "What we get out of this so far, is that my research will be recognised as already having found a missing heir and reactivating a once-thought extinct House. And, as it's a Noble and Ancient House, the - kudos, I think is the word - are going to be a lot. It validates my research making it worth that much more.
"Our House benefits a great deal, just from that alone."
"But, it's not something we've done for you," said Wendell.
"I have an idea for you, if you're interested," said Harry, having a brainwave.
"Yes?" asked Wendell.
"Isabel's research would be helped enormously by the application of a computer," said Harry. "I don't know all that much about them, myself. But I do know they're just what you need when dealing with databases."
Monica was nodding and said, "Go on..."
"See if you can get the British Registrars Office to send you the births, deaths and marriages records in database form on a floppy? - or similar," he suggested. "Then ask Cygnus to send you a copy of all the records in the Book of Bloodlines associated with extinct Houses, and enter that information into the database. And, finally, you need access to the latest magical census to develop your database of known magicals."
"And then I can run a matching script to compare names between the three, looking for similarities..." said Monica, nodding thoughtfully.
"Exactly," said Harry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my site on Tiendup! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/