Harry Potter and The Curse of Bad Faith

Our story starts like all good fairytales with a generous helping of romance, more than a dash of magic, a prince who is most charming, and a terrible curse given out as a harsh lesson. And so our tale begins in the traditional way. Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a little magic kingdom far far away there lived a very wicked man...

Approximately 850 A. D.

Sir Rowland of Tanis sneered in acknowledgement of his guards as they shoved him to his knees in front of the king, and the king gave a tired sigh as he fiddled with his wand.

"Sir Rowland, you are the sneakiest, most clever, politically aware person I have ever met in all of my days. You would sell your own mother if you thought it would bring you an advantage. You have strove for years to gain power. You have conspired to overthrow this kingdom, and this time you almost did it. You have brought our beloved Kowpens to its knees, and the blood on your hands is near incalculable. There is not a witch or wizard of our fair land who has not been touched by your atrocities. For this you will be punished. The penalty for crimes such as yours is death, and your compatriots have already been judged and are moldering in their graves, but..." Here the monarch paused as if pondering. "I am loathed to give up such a resource as you. It occurs to me that if you were working for this kingdom, instead of against it, we would be strong and stable, and my people could be content."

At this, Rowland Tanis looked up at the king in surprise, and then dread at what the king was implying. 'Surely,' he thought, 'the king is going to do the practical thing and do away with me.'

The monarch continued with his judgment. "Sir Rowland, I will give you a choice, a terrible choice. This day, this hour, either you and all that bear your family name or blood will be geias bound to me, my family, and the throne of Kowpens from now until the last descendant of your line dies, or you will die and end your family line now. Chose, Rowland. Chose now."

Rowland's mind raced. Death or enslavement for not only him, but his descendants for as long as his family existed. And the spell would most likely make him feel obligated to have children to continue his line. After all, if one Malfoy would be good for the country, then several of them would be better. Also, to have children would provide servants for the next generation to the crown, he acknowledged with cynical thought. Still, if he chose death then that would end everything right now, and as long as a Tanis was alive there was hope of escape.

"Death or being bound magically to your service?" Rowland drawled. Even filthy, on his knees, and about to be put to death his arrogance was apparent. "I chose live, no matter how fettered."

With a satisfied look, the king nodded, "Very well." Then gestured to his counselors, and they stepped forward and consulted in hushed voices with each other as they and the king to come up with the proper spell to use on the condemned. After some debate, they started making preparations for the spell to be cast on the traitor.

"Sir Rowland of Tanis," the king proclaimed and the scribes' magic quills wrote frantically to take it all down, "From this day forward you and all of your descendants shall bear a new name. A name that will remind them of your faithlessness, and why they are bound as they are. I and mine for will hold your family's ambition and ruthlessness in check as long as our two families exist. You and your family shall put my and my family's interests above your own. You shall guard, plot, plan, advise, defend, and kill if needed to serve us, and thus serve the crown. From this day forward you will be my most faithful of servants."

A look of absolute horror crossed over Sir Rowland's face as it dawned on him the true consequences of how complete and ruthless this binding was going to be, how changed his life would be, and he pulled at his chains in a futile attempt to escape his fate as the king and his council drew their wands and encircled him. Softly they began to chant and move their wands in mysterious patterns. Blood was shed by the doomed man as well as the king, and Rowland felt the magic take hold of him. He screamed in pain as it tore him apart and made him anew. The curse, for surely something so painful was a curse, bit into what made Rowland... well Rowland and altered him just enough to be what his new master wanted. As suddenly as it began it was over, and the former traitor lay in pain on the cold stone floor, trying desperately for his pride's sake, to not show how he hurt.

The king allowed him to gather himself then bade him to rise. "Arise, my most faithful of servants. From this day on you shall be known as Sir Rowland Malfoy."

Approximately 1195 A.D.

Young Alexander Malfoy stood by his prince's bed, and watched as his dark haired prince drew another painful breath. It was apparent that his master would very soon leave this world.

They were both far from home, as his master was impulsive and jumped headlong into whatever adventure came his way. The current king of Kowpens, and father of Alexander's prince, had long despaired of his wayward youngest and had bid Alexander to do his best to watch over the prince. Alexander Malfoy, the many great grandson of the infamous Sir Rowland Malfoy, had indeed done his best, but his master had firmly been of the mind to join Richard the Lionheart in his crusades. Which had led them to the far reaches of the known world. Unfortunately, the youngest prince of Kowpens would never return home.

It was a shame that no one had yet discovered a way for wizards to travel great distances by magic. For then Alexander would have whisked his master home to be healed or die among his family, if nothing could be done. As things stood, though, all the young wizard could do was feed his master the pain reducing and healing potions he had brewed, and hope for the best.

Faithfully, the young Malfoy took care of his prince until he expired, and with true sorrow Alexander cast incindo over his prince's body. Then he gathered the ashes into an urn with a wave of his wand.

Alexander was a true Malfoy, taking after his great-grandfather not only in the pale Malfoy looks and silver eyes, but also in cunning and ambition. Alexander realized that he currently had no standing orders from his master.

The king had bid him to take care of his master, the young prince. While he should take the ashes of his master back to Kowpens to have them scattered in the royal mourning rose garden with the prince's ancestors, there was no reason why he had to go immediately. Surely, the prince would not care if his ashes were scattered today or say a hundred years from now.

The Lionheart had made him an attractive offer after saving his prince and, incidentally, the Lionheart from a stray arrow in battle. 'Yes, Baron Alexander does have a nice ring to it.' It was a shame he couldn't change his last name, because of the family curse, but what could not be changed must be endured. With such thoughts in mind, Alexander Malfoy sought out the Lionheart and accepted the English King's offer, and later settled in England under the rule of King John.

He carefully kept the urn of ashes safe, passing it on to his son with instructions that it had to be returned to Kowpens ... eventually. Thus the urn was passed from father to son, and the details of why were lost over time.