Harry considered this for a moment. What Rockclaw had told him thus far jibed with what he currently knew about the Magical World. Old traditions, old technology and etiquette from long before the first car were thought of.
"OK, I am following you so far." Harry said slowly, "So you're saying these laws that have been invoked by my actions are completely autonomous from control by the Ministry or Gringotts?"
"Quite." Rockclaw replied, "They were created when the Wizards Council, the predecessor to the Ministry of Magic, was founded. The particulars are not up to me to tell you, so I would advise asking your Headmaster Dumbledore, as your Magical Guardian, about that situation."
"Right." Harry nodded.
"I must confirm however: have you, in fact, faced and defeated the wizard styling himself as 'Lord' Voldemort three times in a row?" Rockclaw asked, eyes intent.
"Well…twice in person." Harry replied, uncomfortable with the scrutiny he was under, "This year I fought a…a memoryof him of when he was sixteen."
"That would be the incident that triggered the laws." Rockclaw mused, "However, it must have been Voldemort, otherwise the law wouldn't have activated."
"The…memory…was draining the life of a First Year student in order to be reborn as a person." Harry explained hesitantly. Dumbledore hadn't told Harry to keep the happenings in the Chamber of Secrets, but he suspected that it would be a bad idea for the entirety of the truth to get out.
"Hmm…most perplexing." Rockclaw frowned, "Well, regardless of what we do not know, the Line and Lineage Conquering Act was activated, so it must have been Voldemort is some shape or form."
"The what?!" Harry asked sharply.
"The first Law that invoked itself on your behalf, Mr Potter, is called the Line and Lineage Conquering Act." Rockclaw explained, "To be precise, Clause Two was invoked. There are a number of different clauses for a number of different situations, but the L.L.C.A. is intended for one unifying purpose: reward those who have successfully defeated wizards of immense power.
The L.L.C.A. has not been invoked in well over five hundred years now, but it is one of the laws tied into the magic of the country itself, so will exist as long as Magical Britain itself does."
"I-I see…" Harry said faintly, "So, by defeating the Dark Tosser three times, I get…what, exactly?"
"By defeating him three times in a row." Rockclaw corrected, chuckling to himself at the casual insult given to the most evil wizard of all time, "That is Clause Two, which is sadly not as generous as Clause One or Clause Three.
'In that when any Witch, Wizard, Sorcerer or other Magical Human, with the exception of Squibs, does defeat a Lord of Britain three times in succession, that person she then receive the rights, responsibilities, titles and monies belonging to that Lord's family title for the rest of their natural life, returning the title to its rightful owner, along with the rights and responsibilities, upon their death. Any monies left over are considered forfeit to the one who won thrice and cannot be reclaimed by the original possessor. So Mote it be.'
That is Clause Two."
"So…wait…you can't mean…!" Harry asked, pale as a ghost.
"Indeed. You defeated LORD Voldemort thrice, the self-proclaimed Heir of Salazar Slytherin, so you are now Lord Slytherin until the day you die." Rockclaw confirmed, sealing Harry's fate, "Congratulations, my Lord."
"When the Wizarding population hear of this…" Harry shuddered, "People are going to call me the next Dark Lord! Merlin, this is awful!"
"Now, now, My Lord, there is no reason to panic." Rockclaw appeased Harry, "An automatic Fidelius Charm is cast upon activation, with the Magical Guardian (if applicable) and Goblin Account Manager being the Secret Keepers. Until and unless either I or Albus Dumbledore choose to divulge it, no-one else will know about you Lordship."
Harry sagged slightly in his seat in relief and took another sip of pumpkin juice before speaking up again.
"I've never heard of the Fidelius Charm before. And if Professor Dumbledore knows, why didn't he tell me, rather than you? No offence intended."
"None taken." Rockclaw replied, "As to the charm, it conceals a secret within a person. No one can learn the secret unless the one who conceals it, the Secret Keeper, chooses to reveal it willingly. As to Headmaster Dumbledore, I decided that it would be in your interest if you spoke with me first, so I put a Fidelius on the fact that he was a Secret Keeper."
"Bloody hell." Harry muttered. This was giving him a headache. "So, to return to the matter at hand, what does becoming…Lord Slytherin…mean for me?"
Sadly, not very much." Rockclaw shrugged and pulled a portfolio from his black bag and flicked through it, "Salazar Slytherin lived and died long before the Founding of Gringotts in 1474, and therefore you have no monies to receive from Gringotts. You are allowed to become a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors upon your graduation from school, taking the Honorary Slytherin Founder's Seat. There are no responsibilities that go along with the title, nor are there any rights aside from the seat on the Board of Governors. All in all, it is merely a title."
"That…is actually quite a bit of relief." Harry said, "The whole 'Heir of Slytherin' thing this year was very stressful on me."
"I'm afraid that the news isn't over, Mr Potter." Rockclaw said, "You see, unknown to you, you are also Heir Apparent to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, as well as the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell, from which was created the House of Potter. When you were bestowed with the Lordship of Slytherin, the Bloodline Legacy Continuation Act was invoked on you."
Feeling a pit of dread in his stomach, Harry asked, "And that is what exactly?"
Rockclaw sighed. "As you are muggle-raised, there is every chance that you will find what I am about to tell you distasteful and wrong. I would ask that you allow me to finish speaking before you say anything. Alright?"
Harry nodded, his wariness suddenly sharply increasing.