Chapter 844 - Guests

With the hour growing near, the party retreated until it was time into a secluded parlor room. All too soon, within the Verninac Chateau, the main foyer begins to fill with arriving guests arriving via floo. At the forefront greeting the arriving guests is the figure of Philippe Verninac and his wife, Louise. The guests arriving are not solely limited to the British Isles but guests from all over the old continent. Such as the Krums from Bulgaria, an old pureblood European family.

The previous head of the Krum family had died at the hands of Gellert Grindelwald. He and other colleagues were brutally murdered when attempting to apprehend Grindelwald, who had been in Northern Europe at that time. The belated Krum had left behind a desolate widow and a newborn son, a mere infant at that time. The belated Krum greatly resembled his son, Mr. Krum was a thin, dark-haired, shallow-skinned wizard with a large, curved nose, and thick black eyebrows that made him appear as if an overgrown bird of prey.

Mr. Krum was not a very handsome wizard, but he was without doubt a talented one. He was the youngest recorded serving member of the International Confederation of Wizards and a shrewd political opponent. He was a stern-faced wizard that was rarely ever seen to be smiling. His newly wedded wife is a thin, dark-haired witch with sharp cheekbones.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Krum," Louise sweetly said. "We are pleased to be graced with your presence at our humbling family event. We offer our sincerest congratulations on your recent promotion within the International Confederation of Wizards and on your successful marriage, Mr. Krum."

Mr. Krum frowns and inimical replies, "I had my reservations considering the old Prince's reputation. Still, I presume that Reginald Prince will at least have the dignity to behave with civility during such an auspicious event."

Mr. Krum did not feel whatsoever any positive emotion towards Reginald Prince. As a young child, his belated grandfather had made certain to engrain into him the dangerous existence that Reginald Prince in fact is. And though Reginald Prince was not an Acolyte of Grindelwald, it could not be denied that the two wizards prior to Reginald's marriage to Sirsa Vernian had been seen in each other's company sufficient to suggest that they were acquaintances. And there were rumors that suggested that Reginald Prince had in fact followed Grindelwald for a time as an Acolyte at least until his marriage. Whether those rumors were true or not, the cold stark truth could not be disputed that Grindelwald and Reginald Prince had known each other. And Mr. Krum held no sympathy for any known acquaintance of his father's murderer.

"Upon the honor of my deceased cousin, Sirsa Prince," Philippe carefully interjected, "I can personally ȧssure that Reginald Prince will act accordingly to his station."

"We shall see," Mr. Krum pressed his lips tightly together, before nodding at the host and hostess, before departing with his wife, who curtsied gracefully in silence.

Falling shortly after the Krum couple is the Karkaroff family. Mr. and Mrs. Karkaroff were both dark-haired and pale. Mr. Karkaroff was tall and robust, while Mrs. Karkaroff was thin with a hooked nose. The Karkaroff family is an old European family that still held plenty of influence especially on the northern side of the continent. Following behind them sullenly is their tall, thin, and only son, Igor Karkaroff. As usual, his friendly, yellow-toothed smile never reached his cold, unmoving eyes. There was a flimsy goatee growing to cover his weak chin, but he had a touch more color on his face than when he attended Durmstrang. It would appear that his final year at Beauxbatons to take his delayed N.E.W.T.'s had been a good decision.

The next guests were a large group of mixed international witches and wizards. There were dark-skinned wizards with turbans, tan witches with brightly colored saris or face veils, and dark-haired, olive-skinned witches and wizards from the east. Some of them wore Kimonos, others Hanbok's, and others Hanfu. They were mostly here to discuss the opening of Information Houses of Reginald Prince set on the Shafiq shipping/trading routes. If negotiations went well, there would be a clear line of information stretching from the East to the West and vice-a-versa. But the old Prince is a cunning foe and none had yet been able to successfully contract with him. They had been tasked to by their Ministry of Magic or Clan yet whoever returned with a successful contract would cause the tides of power to turn in their favor. It was an intense competition with no guarantee of a certain winner in sight.

The Flint's came next far more numerous than the Karkaroff's. Leading the way was not Stephen Flint nor his uncles or cousins, who were part of the main branch, but rather their eldest great-uncle and his descendants, who still resided on the northeastern part of the continent. This side-branch of the Flint family that still resided on this side of the world held much power over various wizarding ministries on the old continent. As such, the main branch and various other branches followed in a calm, collected manner as a sign of respect to their cousins.

At the end of the Flint family easily could be spotted a dark-haired girl with sleek black hair pulled up, sharp features, and blueish gray eyes. Silvia Flint had no curves whatsoever, but the corset has her the illusion of possessing some. She expectantly glanced back behind her at the incredibly large Greengrass family who was directly following behind them as part of the marriage alliance between the Flint and Greengrass families. Her friend and courting partner, Terry would not be able to openly accompany her until they had been introduced to the host and hostess of Verninac. She sighed and shook her head. The Greengrass branch led by Ethel, the family matriarch is a Clan-sized family rather than the typical sized pureblood's families, the Greengrass would take quite the time to be all properly introduced. She had the best hurry up and wait inside the ballroom, and she did.

Phillipe and Louise Verninac openly gaped at the sheer size of the Greengrass branch. There were quite literally hundreds of fair-haired members. All the married daughters of the matriarch, the granddaughters, grandsons had gathered with their spouses, their married children, and countless offspring of age. At the helm of the group is the elderly, but still beautiful Veela matriarch, Ethel Greengrass. She is followed by her two direct grandsons and their families. The few dozen male descendants among the very large crowd of females stood out as there were only very few of them when in comparison to the numerous female descendants.

Accompanying the lively throng of Greengrass family and extended members is Peregrine Mulciber accompanying his fiancé, Rosie, also accompanied by his mother, Meredith Mulciber. Meredith was still a relatively young widow and a beauty that tempted many. It would be with great ease that a possible second marriage could be achieved. Not that she would, but still, it was best that she was surrounded by acquaintances to dissuade those with amorous intent.

They were followed by countless other families such as the widow Longbottom and her son, Frank, and his betrothed, Alice Yates. They were accompanied by their cousins, Parisian Longbottoms descended from Harfang Longbottom and Callidora (Black). They were a rather elegant, lively sort of witches and wizards with gray eyes indicating their inheritance from their grandmother's maternal family. (Not that the Black Family readily acknowledged them as they were too French so to speak.)

The Black Family followed in tow including their elders and those recently accepted such as Arthur Weasely. Arthur's crimson hair was a sight for sore eyes amid the dark-haired family. His elderly father, Septimius was at his side, but his two older brothers', Bilius & Ronnell Weasley were missing. They would be arriving late as they had other matters to attend to but would be accompanied by Ignatius Prewett, his wife, their cousin, Lucretia (nee Black).

In a surprise accompaniment, many onlookers gawk at the Black Family who is accompanied by the beautiful, petite, strawberry blonde-haired Tiffany Topsy. She was flushing shyly as she was accompanied by the tall, handsome, ŀustrous black-haired figure of Sirius Black, the heir of the Black family. Many of the onlookers held frustrated expressions as they had expected to attempt to match their daughters to the heir of the Black family fortune. It was a coveted match, but it would appear all their efforts would bear no fruit considering the lovestruck expression on the heir's face when viewing his companion.

In fact, Sirius's gray eyes were all but glued to Tiffany nearly tripping over his feet causing his younger brother, Regulus to roll his eyes, and his betrothed, Bethanie Fawley to hide a smile. Unlike her betrothed, Regulus, Bethanie was truly happy for her friend. She knew just how bad of a match Vasco Vespucci had been. Furthermore, it would to her gain to be best friends with her future sister-in-law. It would be nice to know she would always have a friend in the family.

Sirius and Tiffany were such a lovestruck couple that even the Hufflepuff's would have shuddered at the bright pink atmosphere that seemed to permeate around them. Still despite her shyness, Tiffany properly comported herself. She already knew that she was the topic of jealously and anger from those who had wished to catch the Black family heir as their own. There were wild rumors claiming that she had used her abilities as a Death Bride to enchant Sirius Black, while others claimed that she had doomed him to an early death. Yet it could not be ignored that Tiffany is a Selwyn on her mother's side, and the Selwyn always paid back in double.. And for this last reason, alone much of the rumors were quelled in her presence considering the brutality of the Selwyn's thirst for vengeance.