The Anger.

"Once you get into the numbers we're talking about, they can pretty accurately determine how much of each thing they're going to need, and in what areas, for decades to come. Unless, of course, something happens that upsets it, such as a major war, a market crash, or similar."

"Wow!" said Daphne. "I doubt we magicals do anything like that."

"That wouldn't be surprising," said Harry. "I doubt there's a sufficiently large enough number of wizards and witches in Britain to make it worthwhile, yet."

The three then sat down with Harry and Hermione writing down all the things they knew around population growth in muggle Britain over the past half-century. Hermione also used the opportunity to write the letter to her parents with her request.

As she finished, Harry knew he needed Hedwig. She arrived a minute or two later.

"That's quite eerie how she does that," said Hermione.

"Hedwig is Harry's bonded familiar," replied Daphne. "She comes when she knows her bonded has need of her. It's part of the magic of the familiar bond. Harry called to her over their bond link; so, she came."

"On top of that, I also used a rarely performed bonding ritual that allows Hedwig to draw on some of my magic," said Harry. "A normal post owl has a form of magic that allows them to find whomever their package is addressed to. Even if that person is hidden. Plus, certain magics can also be employed to make them deliver only at certain times, such as the magic here at Hogwarts which tells them to deliver as breakfast winds up for the day.

"Because I wanted Hedwig to be better than just that, her bond to me allows her to draw on my magic to perform certain additional feats. For example, she's a lot faster than a normal owl. I don't know how fast, but I'd put it up there with the speed of a falcon. The special harness she wears also protects her from someone wanting to intercept her, to steal mail.

"And the magic also supplies her with a greater than normal intelligence and a longer life span. She knows when someone or something is trying to intercept her, and her increased intelligence aids her in avoiding that sort of thing. For example, if someone tries to set another mail redirection ward against me, she can ignore it if she knows I want her to."

"You think someone would try that sort of thing?" asked Hermione. "I know they already have, Hermione," he replied. "I know there had to be a mail redirection or refusal ward against post owls on Privett Drive because I never received one item of mail from the wizarding world until I received my Hogwarts letter. The goblins are pretty snarky about it as they were trying to get mail through to me regarding the Potter accounts, and the owls couldn't get through.

"They were the ones who recommended to me to purchase my own owl and to fit it with a Head of House harness. It was my idea to take it to the next step and perform the bonding ritual. I'm very happy with the result."

"Do you think I should get one?" she asked.

Thinking for a bit, Harry sat back considered the various options.

"I'm thinking of a cat," said Daphne. "My parents didn't push it, but I've been thinking of getting a cat for a while now. I don't know what advantages it will have if I perform the bonding ritual, though."

"Something to look into," said Harry. "If you're not thinking of getting one for a while, you've got plenty of time to decide."

"I don't know if I can afford a familiar," said a suddenly sad Hermione.

Harry and Daphne grinned at each other while Hermione had her head down.

"There's no 'affording' of a familiar, in the general sense, Hermione" said Daphne. "While a pet can be a familiar, a familiar is not really a pet. A familiar, in the sense of the relationship between Harry and Hedwig, is more that they're - ummm - well, linked. But that doesn't explain it any better."

"You can't just go into a pet store and buy a familiar," said Harry. "The familial bond occurs naturally - magically. However, you can find your familiar waiting for you in a pet store, just as I found Hedwig in the Owl Emporium waiting for me. I knew she was my familiar because I was drawn to her. And, as soon as our eyes locked together, I knew who she was. I felt it."

"And," said Daphne. "A familiar does not necessarily have to be a toad, or a cat or an owl, which is what you're limited to as pets. It can be any creature, really. It's believed Merlin's familiar was a dragon; Gryffindor's was a Griffin; Slytherin's was a serpent; Ravenclaw's was a raven; and Hufflepuff's was a badger. Hence, the emblems. And, of course, we know that Dumbledore's is a phoenix."

"Is there a spell I can cast to find my familiar?" asked Hermione.

"Not that I'm aware of," replied Daphne while Harry shook his head and shrugged.

"Everything I read in that book," said Harry. "Said that familiars come naturally. However, you can open yourself to accepting a familiar bond by walking through pet shops and allowing your magic to feel one out. See if you can get a chance to go to Diagon Alley, over Christmas, and take a wander through the pet shops, including the Owl Emporium."

"I'm sure things will work out if you have faith, Hermione," said Daphne. "Sometimes, good things can happen when you least expect them to. And, if you feel your magic pulling you into a pet store or somewhere else, allow it to happen; within reason, of course."

At just after 4.00pm people began to filter in. Daphne had the ledger with ink and a quill ready for folks to sign in. And both noticed quite a few new people in the group, who had to write their own names adding them to the bottom of the register.

By the time 4.30pm came around they had filled almost every seat.

At 4.30pm Harry closed the door and said, "Welcome, everyone. It's good to see some new faces among us." "For those who weren't here last fortnight, this weekend I promised to go over the Houses within Wizarding Britain. What they represent; and who they are."

"Some of you have already heard me tell you about them, especially those of you in First and Second Year Ravenclaw. However, so you're all informed of them, we're covering that information again; plus more.

For the next hour, Harry and Daphne discussed and identified the Houses. They covered the basic history of each, how they interact in society and, from the lists handed out, who the most important people in each house were.

They also covered a little about the betrothal and what it meant, and why betrothal contracts existed from a political standpoint. However, they also went into the normal magic that was related to betrothal contracts.

With the help of volunteers from the club members, both also demonstrated a lot of the formal modes of greeting; how greetings were carried out formally and informally; whether the person or persons visited via floo, apparation or just walked up; if it was in someone's private home or out in public; and quite a few others.

The club members loved it and laughed in the right places. Some even volunteered to make right fools of themselves to highlight errors.

After getting everyone calmed down again and regaining some semblance of control. Harry and Daphne decided to wrap the meeting up.

"So, there you have it," said Harry. "Any questions?"

"So, the Noble and Most Ancient Houses," asked one of the newbies. "They're like, wizarding royalty, yeah?"

"In a way," replied Harry. "You can think of them as equal in rank to Marquessates. Noble and Ancient Houses are on a par with Earldoms; and so forth."

"Then, who is the King or Queen? The Minister?"

"Merlin, no!" replied Daphne. "There hasn't been a person recognised as ruler of magical Britain since Merlin. And, even he refused to be recognised as such."

"What about Gryffindor and founders?" asked a second person.

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"Godric Gryffindor, Salazaar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were elevated to the rank of Earls and Countesses, respectively, replied Harry. "However, they lived before there was a recognised ruler of the non-magical realm. Back then the rulers were Dukedoms; and Marquessates did not exist. So Earldoms were the next rank down from ruler of the realm."

"So, it's the Noble and Ancient House of Gryffindor, et cetera?" "No," replied Daphne. "The rankings of Noble and Most Ancient House and down were not officially recognised until centuries after the passing of the four founders. However, if their heirs were to be discovered, thereby reactivating the House, then I believe they'd be recognised as Noble and Most Ancient, if not something of higher status."

"Higher?" asked the same person.

With a shrug, Daphne replied, "There are some who believe the heir apparent of one of the founders should rightfully be the ruler of magical Britain. The trouble is, no one really knows who the rightful heir actually is. Almost all of the Most Ancient and Ancient Houses can trace their lineage back to at least one, if not more, of the founders.

"The problem then arises in determining who the rightful heir would be from among them. You need to understand that there has been a lot of interfamily marriages among the Great Houses. Even my and Harry's betrothal is an example of that. If someone is actually discovered to be the highest claimant to the title, then that person would become Duke of Magical Britain - the ruler of all. Magical Britain has never been thought of as a kingdom; but has been considered by some historians to be a Duchy. Hence, the title of Duke."

"And no one's ever stepped forward to claim the title?"

"Of course, they have," replied Harry. "The last one to publicly do it was Voldemort. He came forth about twenty years ago making the claim he was the Heir of Slytherin. Based on that claim, he claimed it was his right to rule wizarding Britain. He then used terrorism over the next decade to try to enforce his claim. He, of course, failed in his attempt."

"It is also believed, through common consensus," said Daphne, "that the rightful Heir of the title Duke of Magical Britain will come bearing proof of their right. No one rightly knows what it is - it could be the mythical staff of Merlin; the sword Excalibur also known as Caledfwlch and Calesvol; the Three Deathly Hallows of the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the True Cloak of Invisibility; or could merely be a true record of blood heritage found through the Inheritance Test the goblins can perform called Primogenitor. No one knows."

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