19Pureblood games:
A/N Prelude: Yes I realize that some of the Idea's I post here aren't half bad, if you want to adopt one, PM me and we'll talk about it.
~Manatheron~
Due to old wars there is a law in effect that once the population drops below a certain number all eligible women must be married by the age of 18 and have produced an heir by 21. The limit has been hit, and Harry, discovering the fact in an obscure book, brings it to the attention of Hermoine within the hearing of Prof. McGonnogal. This touches off the 'Pureblood Games' according to the law the wizards have proven themselves inept at all forms of decision making. All established families are now authorized to use whatever methods they deem necessary to capture the attentions of the people around them. It's a truly Darwinian free-for-ass as you have no say at all unless you can avoid being drugged, Jinxed, intoxicated, or straight out bludgeoned or seduced.
-updated-
-Slight wheel of time crossover, 5th age or so, only vague stories remain of the Dragon lord, but bits of the high tongue can still be found in old books.
Harry upon being named Sirius's heir gets a copy of the Black family Grimore which mentions 'Das Damaar' Unfortunately for him it also comes with a compulsion to formally declare the great game re-instated if he sees the wizarding world in sharp decline. The compulsion triggers, and the next morning at breakfast he stands up and walks to the front of the hall and stands there ignoring requests and demands from the teachers until the hall quiets realizing that something odd is going on. Upon gaining most of their attention, he quite formally states
"I am Harry, Lord of the Ancient and most chivalrous house of Potter. I declare Das Damaar Re-established., I am Harold, Lord of the ancient and most Noble house of Black, I formally declare Das Damaar Re-established."
Having said His piece the Geise released him, and Harry blinked for a moment before paling Dumbledore and most of the staff stared at his back in shock, therefore they hadn't had time yet to react when Susan Bones stood up.
"I am Susan, Lady of the Ancient and most courageous house of Bones. I Declare Das Damaar Re-established. I am Susan, Heir Apparent of the Ancient and most Humble house of Prewett. I declare Das Damaar re-established. By Ancient Oath I declare Minority reached. Who will stand for the Majority."
There was a feeling in the air then, As though a great weight had descended upon the room, here and there one or two people moved as though unaffected, but for the majority of the room, to move or speak seemed an impossible goal. Albus was one of the few who could still move, but he seemed shocked into silence, Minerva was struggling futilely against the oppressive magics that had been invoked, trying unsuccessfully to stop what Harry and Susan had started. It was somewhat of a surprise to Harry when a Slightly oriental looking girl stood at the Ravenclaw table.
"I am Su-Li, Heir Apparent of house Prince. House prince stands with house Potter." Snape's eyes could have burned solid rock "I declare Das-Daamar re-established"
Smirking, Draco caught Harry's eye, and with slow deliberateness began to stand. He didn't manage to complete the action however when another voice chimed in.
"I am Blaise, Lord of the ancient and most Persistent house of Zabini. House Zabini stands with house Bones. I declare Das-Damaar re-established. The Majority has been reached, So mote it be."
Draco was slammed back into place by the forces that held the rest of the room, his face quickly staining a furious red as he struggled to protest that he had stood first. The magic invoked didn't seem to care however as Blaise's body glowed for a moment, His now visible aura a deep earth tone Brown. Su-Li nodded and sighed a little. Before answering.
"So mote it be."
A second flash, Her's a brilliant sky blue. Susan smirked slightly at Harry. Before nodding to the two already oath bound.
"So mote it be."
She flashed twice, first a bright silver, and then a deep Navy Blue. Harry sighed, he could feel the magic pressing him to complete his part. He had no intention of starting this when he woke up this morning, but he had read enough to know there was no going back now. He bowed deeply to the silent room, and his reply was little more than a whisper, though everyone heard it quite clearly.
"It is done, The weave is set. So Mote it be."
Harry's aura flashed twice as well, first a brilliant gold, and then a Red so dark that it bordered on black. Every person in the hall watched in mute silence as the four students gathered up their belongings and walked to the door, their steps synchronizing as they reached it. Both boys bowed slightly to the girls who nodded in return, and drew their wands before stepping though the doors. The boy's shared a glance and drew theirs as well. Before they could step forward however a brilliant red light sped across the hall, Harry, his instincts honed by years at the Dursleys, ducked and stepped though the door. Blaise was only a second behind, and the second stunner dissipated it's self on the trailing edge of his robe just as he stepped though. Both spells had been launched in less than three seconds, and it was all that was needed to ignite chaos in the hall.
Blaise had hardly stepped though the door when he flung himself to the side, narrowly dodging a second blast of red, this one from in front of him. Susan had an impish grin as she kept him covered.
"Now's as good a time as any"
The red of her next stunner was intercepted by a shield from a nearby suit of armor summoned by Harry, and Blaise took advantage of it by immediately rolling to his feet and launching a counter attack. Harry was in no position to help him however as Su-Li was flinging hex's and jinx at him with frightening speed, no few caught him, but then he was giving as good as he got. It was a hectic couple of minutes for the four of them, the girls, thinking they had the upper hand hadn't expected either of the boys to recover so quickly, and both sides were hard pressed, the sounds of their fight mingling with the sounds of spell fire from within in the hall. and then they stopped, both sides eyed the other edgily. The hall behind them eerily quiet again. Muttering Harry tried to cast a shield, but much like the stunner he had tried seconds before, all he got was sparks.
Su-Li smiled and pocketed her wand, as did Susan a moment later.
"Dumbledore must have enforced a spelless zone around the dining hall"
Susan commented idly.
"Pity" Said Su-Li " I think I nearly had mine for a minute."
Susan nodded, and Harry and Blaise shared a look before they also holstered their wands.
"Pax?" asked Susan
the other three were quiet for a moment before Blaise spoke up.
"One week ceasefire, just us four. That should be long enough to weed out the weaker players."
Su-Li nodded and turned a mysterious smile toward Harry.
"Don't get caught before then, it'd be a shame if I had misjudged you."
she turned back to Blaise.
"Agreed. Pax."
The other three echo'd her.
"Pax."
with that the two girls turned and walked away.
"I don't know about you"
Said Blaise suddenly,
"But I'm getting the hell out of here before the rest of that lot comes piling out those doors."
Harry nodded amicably
"Agreed. Good luck."
Blaise returned the gesture before hurrying off leaving Harry to contemplate what had turned out to be one of his few friendly exchanges with a member of Slythern. It was this pause that meant Harry was the only person to see exactly what happened next. The door to the great hall opened, and an angry Dumbledore came striding though, his magic distorting the air around him as he bore down on the only remaining instigator of the mess that was now his school. His eyes seemed to flash and flicker with power as though there was truly a storm behind those usually placid eyes.
It occurred to Harry about then that he really should have fled when he had the chance, but what happened next would bring a smile to his face to his dying day, all that rage and power vanished into a look of shock as he was hit from behind with a stunner. Harry, mouth agape watched as Madam Pomfrey stepped out from behind a the very knight who's shield had saved Blaise. Winking at Harry the nurse levitated Dumbledore and walked away humming happily, Albus trailing behind her sedate pace.
Shaking his head, Harry hurried to leave before the rest of the class came to their senses.
-Inside the great hall, immediately after the departure of the four instigators-
Chaos, a simple word for a complex action, but that was precisely the state of the great hall as the doors closed. A handful of the better read pure bloods and half bloods, Neville among them immediately cast shields and dove for the floor, Draco, looking like Christmas had come early quickly stunned Daphene Greengrass and Tracy Davis, only to be felled a second later by Marriette Edgecomb, most of the muggle born sat in shock as those who had grown up in the wizarding world seemed to suddenly lose their minds, attacking and subduing each other with reckless abandon. It was into this mess that Dumbledore finally re-awoke. He watched dispassionately for nearly a minute before sighing. Standing up he pulled his wand and for the first time since Grindwald completely loosed his magic. Twirling in a tight circle he cast, and across the entire hall students and teachers alike fell stunned. In one bold stroke he had stopped the fight and negated any claims his impetuous students may have tried to make. It was hard to claim a person upon awaking from being stunned after all.
Shaking his head he walked to the middle of the room. He couldn't stop this mess, not until he could get Harry,Susan, Blaise, and Su-Li to declare it ended, but he could mitigate it at least. Stopping in the exact center of the room, he knelt and placed his wand tip to the floor.
"I invoke the nulling. Das Damaar has been declared and all area's that can be nulled are now non responsive to students."
there was a brief flare along the wards, and he could feel the rooms that were now blocked. It was a pitiful list. The house dorms, the great hall, and the few classrooms still in active use. He had stopped the great game from being played in perhaps a tenth of the school all told, and even then all he could do was prevent spells. Potions, enchanted objects, rune stones, the list of things that would still work fine in those area's was staggering. Angry both at himself and at his student's he stalked from the great hall. Immediately upon leaving he came upon a rather distracted looking Harry. Fully intent on giving the boy a piece of his mind he missed the feeling of the stunner that took him in the back until just before it connected giving him barely enough time for the shock to register on his face before the world went dark.
Neville looked up tentatively from behind the bench where he had been sheltering. As he felt Dumbledore's magic fade, around the hall he could see a scant handful of other students doing the same. He didn't know exactly what the headmaster had done, but he knew what a nulling was supposed to do. Hopefully he gave his wand a swish, trying to re-erect his shield, all he got for his efforts was some silver sparks. Shaking his head in disgust he holstered his wand and climbed to his feet. surveying the hall. Keeping a weather eye on the others who escaped as well, He immediately started waking those around him. Shaking shoulders and murmuring a quiet word or two before moving on.
I don't know what's gotten into you Harry, but this is going to be one hell of a ride
A/N Post Script:
The great game I've created is a warping from the WoT version. It's true purpose was lost over the years, and a new system implemented. Basically it's a 'keep what you Catch system' now, and your freedom is at stake since being caught is tantamount to being a slave until you're released by the person who caught you, or the one who caught them. Fortunes and titles change hands hourly as the game ebbs and flows. Families ransoming their heirs can lead to vast fortunes changing hands, duels can be fought with captured people as the stakes, and anyone able to catch an active head of house can raise any family they want one tier in magical society. (Ancient, Elder, Established, recognized, and founded ( in order of the hierarchy) ) so controlling them can dramatically change the political landscape of society, especially as the 'Ancient' families had all but vanished.
Note's on how I envisioned the new game to work and effect the world:
New houses require either Ten other non housed people's recognition to be valid, or recognition from an existing house, they must be declared publicly, (Specifically either the great hall, or the steps of Gringotts, both of which are neutral zones) and they come with a vote on the (soon to be greatly expanded) wizengamut. Captured heads of house are usually ordered to fold their votes to the house that captured them, and the house it's self is dissolved into the family that claimed them. Deals can of course be brokered with houses more powerful than your own for protection.
The interior of businesses can be declared neutral ground and their safety maintained by ward stones on the doorways.
The Gringott's goblins find the whole thing amusing and are are selling the stones only to known businesses as they're now under giese to keep them away from personal residences. The goblins actively break the ward when they find it anywhere else, and are roaming the wizarding world for the first time in nearly five decades to do just that finding it absolutely hilarious to watch the wizards scramble to protect themselves.
-The invocation used binds any recognized magical families into the game as well as anyone who declares themselves head of a new family as soon as they declare it. The rules are simple, Keep what you catch.
-There are restrictions in place to keep anyone who is 'houseless' from getting captured so the muggle born are safe until they (rather stupidly) declare themselves founders of a new house.
-As soon as word got out about what had happened in Hogwarts all of the established pure blood families, and an large number of mixed heritage families immediately retreated into their ancestral homes and activated any and all possible defenses.
-Old family lines (like the gaunts) can be claimed in a variety of ways including conquest, blood, proxy, and duty.
-Luna Keeps trying to ambush Harry, Out of all the people trying to do so, only Su-Li and Susan come as close-
-Hermoine is the first muggleborn to declare herself the first of a founded family, and is nearly caught a couple of times for her trouble, but many of the muggle-born think it's a great Idea and do the same without realizing the implications of what they did.