Chapter Text
James Potter threw the morning Prophet onto the kitchen table with a snarl. “That bastard is choosing a wife!”
Lily's eyes widened. She snatched up the paper and read the headline: Emperor Slytherin Looking for Love? Lily gasped, her knees weakening in shock and horror. Almost numbly, she began to read aloud for the benefit of her beloved seventeen year old daughter, Rose.
“Yesterday afternoon, Minister Lucius Malfoy—right hand to Emperor Marvolo Slytherin—came to the Daily Prophet with a press release announcing that the Emperor is looking for his Empress!”
Rose Potter pressed a hand over her mouth, paling.
Lily swallowed. “Emperor Slytherin will be hosting a summer long Selection Tournament at Hogwarts Castle. The tournament will include challenges of wit, power, and resourcefulness. Whoever the winner may be will become the next Empress on the winter solstice following the tournament. Participants will be required to lodge at the castle…” Lily Potter trailed off into a whisper, horrified by the news and what it would mean for her family.
“That fucking bastard !” James threw his coffee mug at the wall, fuming as it shattered. Lily and Rose flinched only slightly, used to such outbursts from the man. He glared at the shattered remains, chest heaving. “He’s never taken an interest in having a wife before! Why now?!” He thrust his fingers into his hair and growled. “The bastard’s probably only doing it so he can have an heir! Ugh! The Order was hoping if we laid in wait long enough he’d drop his guard! But there’s no way he’ll lessen security with a wife and heir!”
He started to pace the dining room, fists clenched and nostrils flaring. This wasn’t what he’d wanted! It wasn’t what he’d planned ! He was supposed to be the emperor! The one everyone adored! Not that bastard!
Then, an idea struck him. He turned towards Rose. “Darling, you have to enter the tournament!”
Both Lily and Rose gasped in horror. “No!”
Tears welled up in Rose’s eyes and she clenched her hands in mirror of her father. “I am not going to marry that bastard!”
James shook his head, his face suddenly lit up with this idea. “You have to! It's the only way, and when you win you can kill him when he least expects it!” He grinned.
Rose pouted and got up, stomping her foot like a toddler. “But Daddy ...” she whined.
“I’ll do it,” came a soft, but firm voice. The three Potters turned towards the fourth member of their family, who they often forgot existed.
Hekate Potter sat quietly at the table, watching the display with unimpressed eyes. Though she was the eldest twin, her younger sister, Rose, had always been favoured. Hekate had never understood why their parents favoured Rose: they were both equally beautiful in their own way, and were always surrounded by friends and people who adored them. Academically, Hekate had always excelled far better than her sister, and yet their parents were always giving Rose the preference.
Frankly, if it weren’t for her last name, most people wouldn’t even know Hekate was a Potter.
She and Rose looked nothing alike. Rose had shoulder length, fiery, straight hair, creamy fair skin, brown eyes, and an attractive smattering of light freckles across her nose and cheeks. In contrast, Hekate had long, curly, raven tresses down to her bum, lightly tanned skin, flashing green eyes, and long full eyelashes. Both girls kept fit, however Hekate’s body was more toned due to her constant exercising. Rose, though a healthy weight, was softer, thanks to her only exercise coming from playing quidditch.
At her sister’s words, Rose lit up like a Yule tree. “Yes! Hekate can do it!” She clapped excitedly. “I’m sure she’s more than capable of winning this thing! I mean during mock duels in Defence she beat Professor Carrow in two minutes flat! Plus, she’s a Puff .” Rose laughed, rolling her eyes. “I mean, who the hell is going to expect a puny Hufflepuff to assassinate the Emperor?”
Lily nodded, suddenly relieved her darling daughter wasn’t in danger. “Yes! Send Hekate!”
James smiled. “That's a brilliant idea, Rose!”
Hekate rolled her eyes.
“Besides, there’s always the chance of you being caught.” He patted Rose comfortingly on the shoulder. “And I wouldn’t want my darling daughter to get killed for treason, so Hekate can go instead.”
“Since I’m entering, I’ll need every advantage I can get…” Hekate hedged.
The others frowned.
“What do you mean?” Lily asked, squinting like she couldn’t see how Hekate had jumped to that conclusion.
“Well, this is The Dark Lord we are talking about.” She folded her hands in front of her. “Do you really think he’s capable of running a fair tournament? He will probably choose the most powerful bride, not just magically but politically. We have to make me a contender for that position. I mean, imagine how many widowed ladies and wealthy heiresses will be joining?” she prompted, knowing her point would land, particularly with her father.
James scowled. “You’re right. What should we do? I mean, how do we make you seem better than full blown ladies?”
“You could take me to get my heir rings,” she offered, holding her breath. She knew her father had been withholding her heir rings from her because he was researching how to legally disinherit her and pass the titles he controlled onto Rose. He’d been furious when Emperor Slytherin had made it illegal to disinherit the eldest child unless they were a squib—and even then, the disinherited child was entitled to a third of the family's wealth.
James held both the Gryffindor and Potter titles, however Hekate was also Heiress to the Black and Peverell titles which her godfather and grandparents held respectively. James couldn’t stop them from making her their heir, however he had thus far prevented her from getting her heiress rings. He still hoped to convince his parents and best friend to make Rose their heir.
Before either James or Lily could say anything, Rose was nodding along. “Yeah, let her borrow the rings until she wins the tournament!” she said, almost clapping in excitement. “Then she can give them back and Daddy can keep trying to find a way to give them to me since I should have been born first!”
Frankly she was up for anything that meant she didn’t have to marry the evil Emperor.
Now that Rose had lent her support, James and Lily nodded along also, unable to say no to their favourite.
“You’re right, Rose.” He smiled adoringly at her. “Okay, we’ll go to Gringotts tomorrow and get the rings, then we’ll take you to Hogwarts to sign you up for the tournament,” he said decisively, though not bothering to look at Hekate.
Hekate dipped her head in agreement, swallowing her smile. She was relieved no one in her family seemed to understand how heir rings worked. One could not simply borrow a ring. Once the ring accepted someone, they were irrevocably the heirs of that House until either they became Lord or Lady, or they died. And while a Lord or Lady couldn’t legally force an heir out of their birthright, an heir had to claim their ring within a year of turning fifteen, otherwise their siblings could claim the ring and become heir. Hekate was immensely grateful no one had told her family about that loophole, because she was almost 18, and she wanted those rings before she got out of this family.
The last thing she wanted was for Rose Potter to win this over her too.
~~~
One Week Later
Hekate stood amongst the other entrants ready for the first challenge. There were around a thousand women who had entered the tournament, as she’d expected, and the people running the Tournament were already showing favouritism. Contestants were lined up in order of rank, and Hekate, as someone who held two ladyships and two Heiresships, was the highest ranking woman in the lot.
It was a fact that had delighted Hekate and infuriated her family when everyone had found out just how powerful she was. The day after she’d gotten her Potter and Gryffindor rings, James had been absolutely furious because both Sirius and his parents had transferred their titles directly to Hekate. They’d even come to Hogwarts directly to give them to her in person. James’s face had been truly priceless.
That had been a week ago and Hekate was still receiving flak from her parents and sister for “daring to accept” the titles. Rose had thrown an epic tantrum and attempted to storm into Hogwarts to yell at her personally, before crying and stomping her feet at the front gates when they’d refused to open to her. She had stood there red faced and screaming, and to the Potter’s shame, the whole debacle had even made the Prophet's front page. The headline had made Hekate smile and significantly improved her mood for the entire week: ‘YOUNGEST POTTER THROWS TANTRUM OVER FALSE INJUSTICE.’
To her left, Lady Zabini sat on her cushioned chair, calmly waiting for the hosts of the Tournament to make themselves known. Every contestant sat in a chair, however once again, the class divide was clear. The quality of your chair depended on your rank, the simplest one was an unfortunate young lady who sat on a hard stool at the end of the line. Hekate’s own chair was gold, and generously cushioned with both padding and various charms for her comfort.
In addition to that, those of nobility sat under an open tent, the top of which protected them from the unforgiving sun. Hekate even had her own magical fan—it was all ridiculously lavish, and Hekate adored it.
In the next moment, their hosts stepped up to the podium. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood in the centre of the group, their cool eyes surveying the contestants. To their left stood all three Lestranges, while on their right stood Andromeda Black, Severus Snape and Barty Crouch Jr.
Lord Malfoy cleared his throat, a noise that carried across the arena thanks to the area-wide Sonorous charm on the entire stage. This gained the attention of those who had been inattentive. “Good afternoon, ladies. As you can probably guess, you are all divided by class and wealth. This will have no bearing on the actual tasks, however, Emperor Slytherin wished for the separation as a kind of experiment, to see whether class—and/or wealth—truly does matter in terms of ability,” he announced.
At this, those on lesser chairs perked up. Before they had resented the unfair treatment—now they saw this as their opportunity to show the wizarding world that they were just as good as the nobility.
Hekate smirked, knowing this was most likely a ploy to continue the class divide with little to no opposition. From her seat, Hekate could see Know-It-All Granger preening on her wooden, collapsible chair.
Narcissa spoke next. “Now, for this first challenge, only five hundred of you will make it through. The rest of you may either leave after your loss, or join the spectators,” she said, gesturing to the stands that formed a U around the large field.
Once she felt everyone understood, she continued. “This task will be timed. You have one hour to complete it.” She folded her hands in front of her, surveying the women. “The task is to get to the other side of the wall—by any means necessary!”
She clapped her hands and a rough stone wall began to rise at the halfway point in the field. It grew and expanded until it stretched the width of the field. As the contestants watched it, the stage all the hosts stood upon, rose from the ground and levitated to a viewing box at the end of the field. In it, Emperor Marvolo Slytherin watched.
Narcissa dipped her chin. “Begin!”
Contestants were up and sprinting across the field towards the wall, not even waiting for it to stop rising. After a moment it did, and Hekate was glad she hadn’t followed the sheep mind as most others had. The wall stood at twenty feet tall. No easy feat for those attempting to get over it.
Hekate examined the wall, having silently magnified her vision to scan every inch of it. As she did, she spotted it—one door-shaped section of smooth stone. There wasn’t even the tell-tale rippled of a ward surrounding it. She smirked at the majority of competitors still sprinting for the wall. None of them seemed to have spotted it, and the lead runner was still a good ten yards away.
Some had cast spells to make themselves faster, but apparently not one had remembered that they could apparate .
Hekate rolled her eyes. Morgana save us from sheeple and conformity biases.
There were at least some witches with brain cells left who hadn’t immediately run off like asylum escapees. Some had hung back to analyse for the best route. They were Hekate’s true competitors. If she let them pose a threat of course. Which she wouldn’t.
Barely ten seconds had passed since the task had begun, and that was all the headstart Hekate was willing to give anyone. With all the natural poise she had, she finally stood up and apparated directly to the door. The spectators gasped as she landed neatly a few feet away, and the stupid runners behind her cursed like they’d ever had a chance.
Without missing a beat, her wand was in her hand and she was firing off detection spells faster than most sheeple thought possible. There was no tell-tale ripple of a ward around the door, but she had to be sure. When none appeared, she turned the handle.
The door swung open and she stepped through. Closing it behind her, she cast a quick transfiguration spell to make the door one with the wall.
She didn’t want anyone copying her after all.
Once she was done she turned back to the second half of the field and apparated over the finish line to the stunned amazement of all the spectators and judges.
Hekate: 1
Everyone else: 0