Chapter three (HPOCSI1)

Percy's apprenticeship and new desire to master both the Dark Arts and there defense had been going very well... Dumbledore had been shocked by his Dark Arts knowledge, skill, and his ability to casually wield powers that most struggled to even comprehend such as Fiendfyre. Once he got past his shock he began assigning him large amounts of work, taught him spells, and had even loaned him books from his private collection.

Percy was pleased to say that Dumbledore was impressed by his ability to rapidly comprehend and gain skill in new spells, rituals, duelling techniques, protective enchantments, and countering Dark Creatures.

Percy had also been reminded of yet another great opportunity when spying upon Draco Malfoy...

Draco had forfeited a Wizard's Duel, which just like in fanon was a major taboo.

Percy waited until Potter was alone with Weasley and Professor Flitwick was just about to leave before revealing himself.

"Hello, Potter," Percy greeted politely. "I'd like to speak with you while a teacher is nearby."

"What do you want?!" Weasley butted in.

"To help him get revenge for House Malfoy's slight, cowardice, and Draco's forfeiture of a Wizard's Duel... not that its any of your business, Weasley." Percy replied.

"Why would you want to help me?" Harriet asked quite harshly. "Your father betrayed my parents!"

"Yes, but I'm not my father and his sins are not my own. House Malfoy has refused to re-swear its oaths of fealty and has led minor nobles to swear fealty to them... such rebellion must be punished severely and this is but one small addition in our planned retaliation. You could avenge the countless others who have died at Lucius Malfoy's hands and House Malfoy could be forced to pay as little as 100,000 Galleons or as much as 500,000 with the right person representing you in the negotiations. Best of all, House Malfoy would have to issue a public apology to you and publicly humiliate themselves further."

"You should do it, mate," Ron said eagerly. "Even if you have to work with Black."

"What do I have to do?" Harriet asked. "We were out past curfew and could get in trouble."

"Where Wizard Duels are concerned you can do whatever is required to attend them and since Malfoy has acted in bad faith as his name implies you won't get into any trouble... Professor Flitwick hasn't given any indication that you are in trouble." Percy nodded behind Harriet and Ron, causing them jump due to having forgotten about him, and causing Flitwick to chuckle. "I can arrange for you to be interviewed by the Daily Prophet with Dumbledore nearby and you can start with public humiliation to force a smaller compensation. Or you can have Dumbledore and a Solicitor negotiate on your behalf to get you more money and then get a vague public apology in the Daily Prophet that will lessen the damage to the Malfoy name. Getting you more money from the negotiation and the vague apology and then leaking the reason through your friends would get you the best results; damaging the Malfoy reputation and name, costing them large sums of money, and preventing them from funding another Dark Lord any time soon."

The last was Percy's primary objective.

"You'll need allies, House Longbottom, House Bones, Dumbledore, House Weasley, and Dumbledore could act as your champion if Lucius Malfoy seeks to duel you to honor the arrangement and legally hurt or kill you. It's unlikely that Malfoy would dare to do that given that Albus Dumbledore has limited guardian rights over Hogwarts students who are orphaned or muggle-born and is obligated to defend them." Percy said, having fully convinced Potter to play his game.

It took five days for Dumbledore and House Black's Solicitor to wear down Lucius Malfoy in negotiations... Lucius quickly changed his mind when Dumbledore revealed that he would be Harriet's champion in any duels. None of the other allies even had to get involved.

House Malfoy paid out 500,000 Galleons, an extremely large sum, and now Percy was being annoyed by House Black's Solicitor to take the customary 10% offered by Potter at Dumbledore's guidance and reduce the level of respect gained from the act.

"I'll take 1% and give it to you as legal fees, will that be satisfactory?" Percy asked.

That shut the idiot up, greed was helpful for that.

"Good," Arcturus said, pleased with how events had progressed. "I'll also be annulling Narcissa and Lucius' marriage and reclaiming the dowry, allowances, and be demanding fines for their broken oaths and all those that they led in rebellion."

"That will nearly ruin House Malfoy," Dumbledore commented.

"Lucius tried poisoning me, despite me having no proof," Arcturus quipped. "That boy needs to learn some damn humility."

"What happened to the proof?" Dumbledore asked in suspicion.

"I used the Killing Curse on the house-elf that did it," Arcturus replied. "Percy had to convince me not to burn Malfoy Manor to the ground with the Malfoy's inside of it."

"That was fortunate," Dumbledore said, knowing that if Arcturus survived then a Blood Feud would have made it completely legal.

That was unfortunately the happiest that Percy would be for a while...

Percy would return to his schooling and apprenticeship with vigor and would rapidly progress in it, though it would still be years before he acquired his mastery.

Apart from Quirrell letting a troll in so that he could try stealing Nicolas Flamel's Philosophers Stone and Hermione Granger befriending Ron the Moron and Harriet Potter, nothing of importance had happened. Percy was currently departing Hogwarts to be there for the dying Arcturus Black.

Percy was extremely irritated, having believed that he died in 1991 due to the poison attempts that they had caught, and Percy had hoped that he would have several years more to grow in power and skill under his great-grandfathers guidance.

**Black Manor, six hours later...**

After arriving at Black Manor, Percy was quickly escorted to Arcturus in his chambers... and was greeted by Cassiopeia Black.

"Hello, Aunt Cassi," Percy greeted sadly.

"Hello, Percy," Cassi returned gently.

"What happened?" Percy asked Arcturus, suspecting the worst.

"I got old," Arcturus quipped. "Surprisingly it is just old age and with Cygnus, Draco, and Narcissa cast out they can't locate or enter Black Manor and neither can their house-elves. I'm sure that they will try seeking revenge now that I'm going to be dead."

"Then I'll turn Malfoy Manor into a graveyard," Percy replied with venom, amusing Arcturus and Cassiopeia.

"Cassi will help you on the Wizengamot and will give you time to unlock more of your potential. Grow even stronger Perseus... and give your enemies no mercy. Cassi will help you with the political aspect and let you concentrate on gaining power and completing your education."

Arcturus removed the Lordship ring and handed it to Perseus, who put it on sadly. "I, Arcturus Black, hereby declare you Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black." Arcturus said. "You are already an adult in the eyes of magic and that cannot be opposed."

"I'm sure that a few will try, but I'm sure that they have children at Hogwarts and children can be bullied or even have accidents there... so tragic," Percy replied, his ruthlessness approved of by Arcturus and Cassi. Percy would have felt guilty, but they would kill his entire family and enjoy it if he showed any weakness or a lack of ruthlessness.

The funeral would be a small private matter consisting only of family and the few friends that Arcturus had left attending, but the Minister of Magic would crash the event... Percy was inclined to curse him, but Cassi stopped him and they used the funeral to influence the new Minister. Percy still wanted to dispose of the moronic scumbag obsessed with power, status, and influence. But at least he could do that later if needed. Thankfully Fudge hadn't had any stupid thoughts about hindering House Black and Percy saw no reason to have him dealt with or too personally assassinate him.

After taking care of house business Percy returned to Hogwarts to study and work on his plots. Percy needed greater levels of power and knowledge, and resources and adhering to canon helped with that.

April came and with it Hagrid acquired a dragon egg due to Voldemort's plots... Percy decided to do the natural thing and he simply reported it... to the DMLE. But now most of the teaching staff, including Quirrell, McGonagall, and Snape were all occupied with the DMLE.

Due to foreknowledge, getting through the challenges set by Dumbledore unmolested was quite easy and Percy soon arrived at the Mirror of Erised hidden. Percy didn't want to use the stone... at least that was what he used his Occlumency to convince himself and the mirror of.

Percy easily took the stone and then got the hell out of there.

Percy took the stone just outside of Hogwarts' wards and he sent it off anonymously via house-elf in a warded box.

His plan done, Percy returned to his studies and awaited the inevitable event of Dumbledore summoning the entire school to the Great Hall.

**Sixteen hours later...**

Every student and teacher was summoned to the Great Hall... Quirrell was suspiciously absent and all the teachers looked quite tired.

"Some hours ago, an object that was hidden on the third-floor corridor was stolen..." Dumbledore began tiredly. "Whoever stole it has one chance, and only one chance to return it to me to avoid criminal charges."

"What was it?" Cedric Diggory asked.

"A Philosopher's Stone," Dumbledore replied, shocking everyone not in the know. "Without it, I'm afraid that the Flamel's will both die." When no one spoke up, Dumbledore continued. "If no one will confess then every student and teacher will have their things searched. The entire school will also be searched..." Secretly he and Snape would also be using Legilimency to read most of the students minds while questioning them and possibly using weak truth potions.

The last months of the Hogwarts term were spent with suspicion being directed at everyone... Percy was, of course, questioned by Dumbledore and his things were searched by he and Flitwick. Percy was dosed with truth potions and Snape tried battering down his Occlumency barriers and was put in the Hospital Wing for an assault upon nobility and was castrated... it was entirely legal given that permitted retaliatory punishment included maiming, death, and extinction of family line. Oh Dumbledore complained, but Percy simply stated that was a reasonable punishment since Snape was celibate anyway and had broken the law. He had to be punished or Percy would be seen as weak, but Dumbledore also had use for him so he needed to live... that meant that his injury needed to be something unlikely to be discovered. Dumbledore was now convinced and Snape was nearly raving mad, which Percy found hilarious.

But now Percy was on the Hogwarts Express and had drained some more students of their magic. The gains weren't substantial, but they most definitely helped.

Percy would spend his entire summer undermining Arthur Weasley's Muggle Protection Act, continuing his apprenticeship under Dumbledore, studying, training, and growing his power, and leaking Arthur Weasley's secret experimentation on Muggle Objects to Madam Bones. Arthur Weasley was punished for breaking his own laws and then fined even worse... publicly. House Weasley was now indebted to the Ministry for over 10,000 Galleons.

But Percy took advantage of the desire for Muggle protection and introduced his own Muggle Protection Act through his proxy Cassiopeia. The act passed with a super-majority due to protecting Muggles, but by also empowering Magical's and granting them many more rights; usurping ownership of Muggle property, being able to protect Muggleborns without their knowledge, and limiting the Ministry's ability to harass the nobles.

Arthur quickly took Percy's bait and House Weasley became the vassals of House Black, Percy acquired their debts and they couldn't be freed until the debt was repaid in addition to 20% interest.

Percy was incredible amused by the total damage done to House Malfoy... 500,000 Galleons lost to Harriet Potter, 2,000,000 to House Black from the reclaimed dowry, allowances, and all of the penalties for breach of contract, and another 250,000 Galleons as punishment for refusing to swear oaths to House Black. They also used their wealth to salvage the situation and had spent over 600,000 Galleons to rescue the Goyle, Crabbe, Parkinson, Rookwood, Dolohov, Bulstrode, Flint, and Avery families all from ruin and keep their vassals. That last act seemingly spared House Malfoy from a complete loss.

Percy also intended to slowly weaken that alliance and take advantage of any opportunities to speed up the process. It was with that in mind that Percy began an expansion of House Black's influence in the Magical World... the Malfoy's only did the minimum in bailing out their vassals which still forced their vassals to sale valuable shares in business to recover from their losses.

Percy soon owned a controlling interest in the Daily Prophet, Flourish and Blotts, Witch Weekly, ML Press, Spella Weekly, Witch Holiday? Magazine, and 50% ownership in the Firebolt Broom Company, 45% in the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, 45% in the Leaky Couldron, 45% in the Cleansweep Broom Company, 25% in the Comet Trading Company, 40% in Quality Quidditch Supplies, 30% in Potage's Cauldron Shop, and several others. House Black now controlled a far more sizeable portion of the national economy and the shares in the broom companies alone would quickly replenish Percy's investment fund designated for the magical world.

"How did you manage all this?" Cassiopeia asked in awe.

"Predictably House Malfoy was greedy enough to rescue their vassals from ruin, but too greedy and narrow-minded to think of them beyond that point and that forced all the wealthy nobility and pure-bloods to sale off shares in companies to recover, educate, and provide for their families. When they rapidly sold their shares it caused a panic and others quickly sold... I simply bought up the shares. People will blame House Malfoy and their vassals for causing a panic." Percy explained, causing Cassi to laugh.

"Thereby weakening them further," Cassi realized. "And House Black will hold all of those shares for centuries most likely, depriving them of the long-term income. The broom companies in particular are a massive loss to them."

"Yes and most of Voldemort's support-base is broke now. Even the Nott's lost a sizeable amount of money out of stupidity. I love stupid people... they're so unwittingly helpful." Percy gloated.

"They may also seek revenge," Cassi pointed out.

"And their children are trapped in a castle with me for months out of a year... who knows they might even kill themselves due to their poverty or ruined life. They could fall down a flight of stairs, have a potions accident due to poor instruction, or stupidly start a duel and die." Percy paused as Cassi thought on that. "Remind them of that should they make any threats to you."

"I will," Cassi replied, impressed by Percy's willingness to kill his enemies or target their weaknesses.

"Arthur Weasley should be here soon," Percy commented. "Do you have the list of locations where our enemies are hiding artifacts?"

"Yes and combined with your own information we can cost them many rare objects which can then be stolen using your Metamorphagus powers to impersonate the allies of the Dark Faction and send them to Azkaban." Cassi replied. "With the Fidelius Charm you can easily hide them all."

"And the bill to profitize Azkaban?" Percy asked.

"Ready as soon as Sirius is proven innocent or pardoned," Cassi replied. "Financial warfare is amusing and it will force them to pay to keep their kin alive or see them executed. You truly are one of the most creative wizards that I've met."

"Thank you. It's hard work being this amazing." Percy replied, amusing Cassi.

Once Arthur Weasley arrived he was given the information that they had acquired for him and surprisingly he didn't object to targeting the people for them and was eager... Percy didn't mind since it served his purposes. Percy would be looting artifacts and books from his enemies with impunity and without exposing himself.

Yes, House Black would reclaim its lost power and dominance and then grow even stronger.