Harry Potter: The Witty Wizard

"While that's true," he agreed. "I meant, Neville always treated me as a fellow Heir Apparent. I just never completely realised he was doing it."

When he saw she understood he said, "Now, there's a way someone can go from almost near the bottom of the... political food chain... to almost the very top in one swift move. Do you know what it is?"

"You mean 'Betrothal Contracts'," she firmly replied, happy she knew the answer to that one.

"Betrothal Agreements," he returned. "An Agreement does not become a Contract until the conditions of the agreement that would change it to a contract are met in full."

"'Agreement' is just a soft word used for people afraid of the word 'contract'," she said. "At least, that's what Mum and Daddy say."

"In the muggle world and in almost all situations in the wizarding world, they'd be right," he nodded. "However, Betrothal Agreements are more a combined promissory note and list of conditions needed to make a contract come into effect. To save issues, the Betrothal Agreement is written in such a way that it becomes the Betrothal Contract once the agreement conditions are met."

"What sort of conditions?" she asked. "What was contained in the Hogwarts library, when I tried to delve deeper, only said in general that it would be matters of importance between the two Houses of the betrothed."

"In other words, a Dumbledore answer," he said. "Answered the question without providing any useful information."

"Exactly," she said.

"Examples, then," he said, then stopped peeling potatoes to think about it. "Leaving out listing the definitions used first... a condition could be... 'Upon the evening prior to the date of their union, the prospective bride must be confirmed by a certified Healer to be a virgin'.

"If that condition is found not to be... confirmed... then the wedding will not take place and the Agreement will lapse. That is, it will not become a Contract."

"A virgin?!" Hermione asked a little shocked.

"It's just an example, Hermione," he gently said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be part of any Agreement. Think about how backwards and out-of-date the wizarding world appears to be when compared to the muggle world.

"Another could be... 'The aforementioned betrothed groom must attain at minimum three NEWTs of Outstanding level in any three subjects as graded by the WEA... And such attainment must be within twenty four months beyond the prospective groom's seventeenth anniversary of his birth'.

"That way, if the groom-to-be proves himself to be a dum-dum, then the family of the bride-to-be can void it."

"I see," she mused. "That... kind of makes sense. I don't like that bit about being a virgin, though."

"As I said, it was just an example and one that was often included to ensure the prospective bride didn't turn into a... let's face it... 'doorknob' for all the boys at school."

"Doorknob?" she asked.

"Everyone gets a turn?" he replied with a grin.

With a huff of stifled amusement, she grumped, "I noticed you didn't choose to say the groom had to be a virgin."

"Out-of-date, male-dominated society, remember?" he returned. "Besides, the bloodlines are important to the Houses. It would not do for the new 'Lady' to suddenly give birth to what the 'Lord' believes to be his Heir, only to discover later the child is not his by blood.

"That's happened in the past and led to both the death of the 'Lady' and the infant and blood-feuds between Houses. Not a good thing to go through."

She nodded and said, "I can see that."

"But, even the Contract can later be voided due to conditions not being met," he went on. "Sirius has told me he's used a clause in the Betrothal Contract between Bellatrix LeStrange née Black and Rodolphus LeStrange to void theirs. Their Contract stated that an heir had to be birthed as a result of their union within five years and a second within ten. It's now been more than ten years and there hasn't even been a first one."

"So, what does that mean?" she asked. "They have to get divorced?"

"Nope. Voiding the contract was the divorce; or the wizarding world equivalent of it." he simply replied.

"But, back to the original point about sudden elevations due to Betrothal Agreements," he said. "I found out my Dad and Mum entered one around the time they became engaged. In one swift move my Mum went from being 'just a jumped-up muggleborn' to the 'Lady Presumptive Potter'. As the betrothed of the then current Lord Potter, she was seen in wizarding society as that. That she was a muggleborn no longer had any meaning, as her position as 'The Betrothed of Lord Potter' trumped it."

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