A Deeper Connection: A New Beginning

A Deeper Connection - Part II

"I... I am... fine," the Dark Lord stuttered, trying to suppress the tears he was about the shed as he shook his head.

"If you are sure, Mister Prince," the Historian said, her hand never leaving his scrawny arm, her concerned expression clearly indicating that she did not believe his words, "still, do not refrain from asking should you need a break."

Once Tom had nodded his head, Bridget Hawthorne carefully waited a moment until she continued, "Mister Prince, would you mind telling me what you know about the impact of the International Statute of Secrecy on French Wizarding society?"

Grateful for the previous talk with Henry Capet, Tom began to outline how the great French pureblood lines like the Carolingians, Capets, de Valois, and Bourbons had become the absolute rulers of Wizarding and Muggle France while a myriad of smaller houses, like the Delacours, de la Roches, and the Rouvres, had become dukes or counts of smaller regional subdivisions of the country following the rule of Charlemagne, the first Wizard to be crowned the King of both the Wizarding and the Muggle world. Despite the feuding between the most powerful pureblood lines, this status quo had remained until the official establishment of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692. At first, the French had refused to accept the Statute of Secrecy with the House of Bourbon ruling for almost a hundred years past its establishment. Due to the increasing pressure from the International Confederation of Wizards, the French pureblood lines had been forced to abandon their positions of power over the Muggle world, orchestrating a rather clever manoeuvre that had led to series of Revolutionary Wars resulting in the rise of power of their marionette, Napoléon Bonaparte, a descendent of a French Squib (although I wrote Squid at first) who had relocated to Corsica. Unfortunately, the ICW was not pleased by the move either. Therefore, the French purebloods were forced to cut all ties with the Muggle world just as Napoléon was about to seize Moscow.

When Thomas had finished, the Great Hall remained quiet, only to be broken by Bridget Hawthorne, "That is quite correct, Mister Prince. What a good textbook, proper teaching and a bit of personal interest can lead to. Given your accurate account of your homeland, I think you will have no problem catching up with the rest of your future year. Since all of your future classmates have answered this question in their end-of-the-year exam, I think it is only fair to ask you as well. Why do you think we should study history?"

"I... I think it is vi... vital for us, all Witches and Wizards, to th... thrive," the Dark Lord answered, not even having to lie, while his voice grew steadier and steadier, "without recollections of the past, we are nothing. Before Madame Delacour and Auror de la Roche took me to Gringotts to conduct my Inheritance Ritual, I... I did not have a family, no home, no one to care for me, but also no real future. Nothing. Now, I thankfully know who I am, and I will soon be allowed learn here at Hogwarts about all the Spells, Charms, and Potions our ancestors invented, which also would be lost without proper documentation."

"While it is a rather short explanation, I think you grasp the importance of history," Bridget Hawthorne smiled, "congratulations, Mister Prince. I cannot wait to see you in class together with the rest of the second-year students."

With History of Magic out of the way, only Defence against the Dark Arts remained. Since no new teacher had been appointed yet, Tom simply waited, having a rather good idea in mind what was about to happen.

He was not disappointed when Dumbledore stepped forward, "Thomas, my boy, I am glad that you performed so well. Sadly, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers left before the end of the school year due to some unfortunate circumstances. Therefore, I am going to test you if you do not object."

"No, sir," the Dark Lord answered curtly, although there was a bit of uncertainty to his voice, hinting at the previous behaviour of the old goat lover.