We met in the magical city of London, in a nice little restaurant. Gapal Patil arrived with his wife, Madhri, and for two hours both parties were actively getting to know each other and trying to find out more. There was no rudeness or ignorance: Hindus are generally polite and smiling people, and if you behave accordingly, it is very easy to communicate with them. Besides, we had already met the man himself once, when St. Mungo bought a batch of first aid seals from me, and Gapal and his wife work there.
It was easy to find topics for communication as I am in the newspapers and the man himself works with my products. At the end of our meeting, we agreed to meet again at their house in a week, when the parents bring their daughters for the weekend (which is allowed for magical families, but not particularly welcome).
I understand what the Patils mean by this invitation, as well as what they want to discuss with me, since this first meeting was a normal formal introduction, which often included mention of the couple's daughters, as well as their letters.
If my plans had included an alliance with one or both of the sisters, I would have gone to the next dinner with Junko as I was supposed to, but that was not the case.
After the meeting with the girls' parents, I had a final decision to make, and I didn't want to delay its realization, so after dinner, when Gapal had just begun a veiled proposal to marry one of the daughters to me, it was my time, and I gently interrupted the man. At that moment there was a tense look of anticipation on the faces of the girls, for it looked as if I was going to refuse, and yes, I did.
— Mr. Patil, I can guess the reason for your interest in me, and I can guess what proposal you are prepared to make. However, I would like to go ahead and make you a counter offer. — The man was surprised, but not overly so, and continued to express his benevolent interest. — As you know, I had a duel to the death with Severus Tobias Snape, which I won. — The man nodded demurely, the interest in his eyes growing stronger. — This information is not public, but it is known to some people in high society, most likely some people in the Ministry as well. — I paused for a moment, moistened my throat with tea, and continued.
— The fact is, Mr. Snape was the last blood heir of the Prince family, and with him, the family effectively ceased to exist. — Another pause, but only to study the man's reaction, his level of knowledge on such matters. Judging by the change in his expression and the involuntary trembling of his hand, the man had guessed something. — According to the ancient laws, I had the right to claim the prince family, — a short pause during which the girls even held their breath. — and I got it.
— It turns out that you are now... — the man loosened his tie slightly, obviously reassessing the situation.
— I have the right to decide the fate of the Prince family. — I nod, although in India this gesture is not always a sign of agreement, and often not at all. — So, — another pause, during which the girls held their breath, their emotions heavy with expectation. — I propose that your family change its name and take responsibility for the Prince family.
I was clearly expected to say something else, judging by the ringing silence and the literal stupor of emotion. After a minute, when I felt that the owners' minds had recovered a bit, I continued.
— I've been making inquiries about you, Mr. and Mrs. Patil, watching the girls at school. You are not criminals and you have not come to Britain to escape the law or trouble. You are cultured people who respect traditions and customs, which is very important to any normal magician. You have not fought on either side of a political war in the last war, you are still young and healthy, and your knowledge is perfectly suited to the Prince's family, his heritage. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that you are well suited to take your rightful place in the magical world among those who will influence its fate (the Prince family has votes in the Wizengamot). Are you ready to shoulder that burden?
— Your offer, Mr. Hoshino, is very tempting, and many would accept it without a second thought. — Gapal began cautiously. — However, despite my sincere respect for you, it is very rare for a man to forget his own benefit... — I smiled at these words, even more convinced that I was right.
— You're right. — I keep smiling. — And I'm glad you paid attention. The fact is, due to circumstances beyond my control, I have no chance to lead the royal family or any other foreign clan. But I do not dare to destroy what has been built through the hard work of several generations of worthy people. So I began to look for decent people who were not afraid to take responsibility, people I could trust. But trust is a tricky thing in these times, so I am forced to take measures to protect myself and those who will be by my side.
— So we...! — Parvati squeaked, but was silenced by her sister and ignored by her parents.
— Unless this knowledge is a family secret, we would like to know the nature of these 'measures' before we give our response to this more than generous offer. — Madhri expressed her husband's thoughts, and Gapal nodded in agreement, continuing to look at my face.
— I offer you to stand at the head of the lord's family, to receive everything he now possesses, in exchange for submitting to the Hoshino family as a vassal. — That's it, the price is set, now we wait.
In fact, it was possible to do it differently, to choose other people, or to take one of the sisters as a wife, but to perform the wedding ritual on the stone of the Prince family, thus making the girl a lady of this family, and our children with her will first be dedicated to the same family. And I think many people would do that.
But I am not "many," and I have my own head on my shoulders, and my train of thought is my own — my own. I have to live in Britain, and my children, and the next generations of the family, and to be blunt, they will all need spouses, and there are very few pure-bloods, and it is not certain that you can keep up with all the others.
But if there are enough full-fledged clans, especially if we work with these clans, that is, cleanse magic of curses, restore the tradition of honoring the old laws and customs, well, and so on, then I will not have to worry about the lack of worthy parties for my descendants.
As for the prince's wealth, I'm not greedy enough to be like the fairy dragons and rake in all the gold just for the sake of it. And what use are my poor vassals to me, right?
But it's better to have an alliance of equals, not of the strong and the weak. Actually, I have a few more reasons, including the aforementioned "bonus" for saving a dying magical family, but the one already mentioned is more than enough.
And anyway, it's my right to decide what to do with the Prince's family, and I'm not going to involve outsiders by asking for permission or advice. I suppose Snape may have thought about the inheritance once, but never came to anything, or was talked out of it, or something, but I'm not interested in that.
What's important now is that Gapal and Madhri have agreed to my proposal, and we'll talk about the details later. In particular, I have set the day of the ritual to join the Prince family of the Patil holiday Beltane (night of April 30 to May 1), which is not much time left, and we will have to hurry with the preparations. There we said goodbye, to meet again very soon, but without my sisters — they won't be let out of Hogwarts so easily, unlike me.
In fact, the preparations would boil down to a few simple rituals for those joining the Clan, which Gapal and Madhri assured me they could handle on their own. All four of them will be on a purification fast, which again is not my concern, but the fact that I, as Regent, will have to "crown" the couple at the altar is really only my concern, and I will prepare for that.
It would be nice to get rid of the curses, but in that one visit to Prince-maenor, I did not sense anything dangerous in the magic of the family altar.