This is a fic that I have had an idea for a few months but have not had chance up until now to write. I have posted this first chapter to gauge public opinion before I start working on it for real, so please, please be honest and give me your brutal first opinion of this…

Pairings for this first part of the Ravenswood Series: Harry/Susan/Hermione, Sirius/Amelia, Neville/Daphne, Ginny/Dean, Fred/Alicia, George/Angelina.

INTRODUCTION

This story is unlike most of my stories, so I felt the need to introduce the concept first. The Ravenswood series begins during the Summer Holidays between Fifth and Sixth Year where Harry is at Number 4.

This was inspired by Radaslab's The Harem Wars, but also at the same time it was also inspired by Vance McGill's version of this style story.

Please note that It is very AU from after the Battle, especially when it comes to Harry, Hermione and Ron. It is MOSTLY Canon before, but not entirely. This is going to be a 5 part series, featuring the main parts of Harry/Hermione/Susan, but with some changes to the pairs at the transition between Series I and Series II.

This is a "partial" response to the "Slave Challenge" posted by Ranger Dragan (I think) some time ago.

The Challenge bits I accept are as follows:

Harry finds himself with slave(s) – Done, but not until Series II, and only the 1.

Dumbledore has to be a right bastard - Done.

Weasley bashing - Done.

Harry finds himself in these circumstances thanks to Sirius – Done.

He must have been defrauded out of his inheritance up to now - Done.

He inherits an island floating around in the Atlantic – Partially Done as Ravenswood is in the Channel Islands.

This fic assumes a world that is grossly male dominated and oriented, where women (witches) are considered chattel.

DEFINITIONS

Magical Guardian - Always a wizard. A magical guardian controls the life of his wards. The magical guardian can bind his wards into marriage contracts or sell his witches as concubines. It is the father, if the father is a wizard. If a child has no wizard father, it can be decided by Will. Otherwise, it vests in the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

A boy is subjected to such guardianship until age 17.

A girl is subject to it until she is bonded to a wizard by way of a betrothal contract or a concubine bond…

Auction – Every year an Auction for Concubines is set up, with each Magical Guardian having the allowance for two witches per auction year. This is to stop Magical Guardians who have more than two witches under their charge from depleting schools or orphanages that they control of the females under their control.

Anyone purchasing their single allowed Concubine may authorise an agent to take their purchase, but the owner MUST be named at the time of the transfer of contracts.

Betrothals - legal or magical reciprocal bonding between a man and a woman intended to be permanent and created either for love or family. This is a form of contractual relationship differentiated only by the nature of the contract. If the contract is breached, the party that causes the breach of it loses 75% of their family assets.

Concubines - The magical guardian of a young witch can sell her off as a concubine. For all practical purposes, this is a slave. She is bound involuntarily to a wizard and short of harming herself, will do whatever her "Master" wants.

This bond came into being to make sure a witch did not need to get hitched to a Muggle (and risk being burned or worse) as she could be bound to a wizard as a member of his family. The bond became perverted with the rise of Pureblood ideals and was turned into a means for subjugating Muggleborns and for the baser pleasures of Pureblood Masters. (In other words, the concubines became the magical sex trade and were the working women of the brothels.)

Laws introduced in the 1910s meant that a Wizard would only be permitted to be a Master to one concubine and one betrothed/wife. Grandfather rights were in force for those who already had more than one concubine, but for those who had one already, they were not permitted another one.

The bonding is, for lack of a better word, a form of ritualistic rape as in most cases the witch is not consenting to the bond. This will become apparent in part two of the series when Hermione is "bound" to her Master.

The Bond is permanent. The witch will always be a concubine. Her bond cannot be broken, only transferred to another wizard, and only through sale, confiscation of assets or as the Spoils of war.

CONCLUSION OF INTRODUCTION

That being said, Harry will have a Concubine and a Betrothed in his life, Susan Bones playing the part of the betrothed and Hermione eventually playing the part of the Concubine. There will be mentions of rape involved in Series I of this fic as Ron is involved in it, with the aftermath of it being in Series II.

THIS FIC IS RATED M. If you're not old enough, STOP NOW.

Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England

24th July 1996

Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open.

The misty fog that his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all colour, so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair.

The room was strewn with various possessions and a good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores, and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spell books lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a puddle of light on his desk.

To the left of this paper sat another, which had been folded so that a story bearing the title Ministry Guarantees Students' Safety was visible. But the entirety of the news story was obscured by the large birdcage standing on top of it. Inside it was a magnificent snowy owl. Her amber eyes surveyed the room imperiously, her head swivelling occasionally to gaze at her snoring master. Once or twice she clicked her beak impatiently, but Harry was too deeply asleep to hear her.

A large trunk stood in the very middle of the room. Its lid was open; it looked expectant; yet it was almost empty but for a residue of old underwear, sweets, empty ink bottles, and broken quills that coated the very bottom. Nearby, on the floor, lay a purple leaflet, sent from the Ministry of Magic, one which had tried to give the reader some practical advice on how to defend their house and family.

Harry grunted in his sleep and his face slid down the window an inch or so, making his glasses still more lopsided, but he did not wake up. An alarm clock, repaired by Harry several years ago, ticked loudly on the sill, showing one minute to eleven. Beside it, held in place by Harry's relaxed hand, was a piece of parchment covered in thin, slanting writing. Harry had read this letter so often since its arrival three days ago that although it had been delivered in a tightly furled scroll, it now lay quite flat.

'Dear Harry,

If it is convenient to you, I shall call at number four, Privet Drive this coming Friday at eleven P.M. to escort you to the Burrow, where you have been invited to spend the remainder of your school holidays.

If you are agreeable, I should also be glad of your assistance in a matter to which I hope to attend on the way to the Burrow. I shall explain this more fully when I see you.

Kindly send your answer by return of this owl. Hoping to see you this Friday,

I am, yours most sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore'

Suddenly a scratching was coming from the window, the sound of someone throwing something in order to get the attention of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry woke from his slumber and headed to the window to see in the back garden the group of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Susan Bones and a German Shepherd dog.

Heading downstairs, Harry let the group into the house through the back door when the German Shepherd turned into Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.

"Aunt Amelia. Why don't you check for any wards and I will help Harry pack?" Susan said, trying to organise the rescuers of the Boy-Who-Lived into an order of some fashion. "I need to talk to him anyway."

"Susan. Surely Nymphadora-"

"DON'T CALL ME NYMPHADORA!" Tonks shouted at the older redhead. Amelia left the room intent on finding the wards that Susan mentioned

"Don't mind Tonks. She is still pissed off as she had to kill her Aunt Bellatrix the weekend. If only that crazy bitch hadn't tried to kill Neville Longbottom than she would still be alive." Remus said, holding his girlfriend tight around the waist, Tonks's hair turning bubble-gum pink.

"That may be Professor Lupin, but we need to get Harry and go." Susan said, frowning at the couple who were taking their time. Seeing her aunt return and frowning, Susan turned to Harry, saying the one thing that made him scared. "You're not safe here. There are no wards whatsoever!"

The quartet quickly packed Harry's clothes and other supplies into his trunk. Remus had pulled a hula hoop out of the bag Tonks was carrying when they heard a sound that they did not want to hear…

…the sound of apparition.