Chapter 115: The Elders Council Intervenes
Evans probably guessed that Phineas had figured out his identity, so he merely smiled and said nothing.
But in this case, saying nothing meant everything.
Watching Evans disperse the protective charm and head off to find Dumbledore, Phineas suddenly realized something. During his parents' time, the Black family had seldom interfered with departments under the Council of Elders. Although they participated in some of the Council's decision-making, they rarely voiced their opinions.
When had this changed?
Probably after the rise of the Dark Lord. That would mean the elders of the Black family had sensed something was wrong within the Gaunt family, prompting their silence and helping to maintain balance within the Council—thus preventing the addition of another consul family.
But now, the power Phineas had revealed during the family conflict made the Council of Elders realize that even if the Black family remained quiet, their influence on the wizarding world could not be ignored. Once again, the Council had begun to consider rebalancing its structure.
It was unfortunate. Though Phineas wasn't sure of the intentions of the older generation in his family, he could guess they hadn't wanted a new consul family to emerge. Unfortunately, they had noticed it too late.
Still, there was room to maneuver. Just as the Selwyns had hoped, there was still a marital connection between the Black and Lestrange families. In the previous conflict, the Lestrange branch in France had remained neutral. That left Phineas with a chance to win them over.
And as for any past family plans, Phineas was the one in power now. If he didn't know of them, then they might as well not exist. And if they didn't exist, then whatever actions he took were justified.
As Evans had said, his purpose at Hogwarts was merely to inform Phineas of the Council's decision. The actual process would be carried out through standard channels.
Sure enough, the following day, staff from the Pure-Blood Family Management Office arrived at Hogwarts while Phineas was in the Potions classroom brewing.
"Hello, Mr. Black. We are representatives of the Pure-Blood Family Management Office. We're here to investigate and mediate the conflict between the Black and Flint families."
The speaker was a young-looking witch. Her robe bore no distinct family crest, so Phineas couldn't tell what faction she belonged to.
Without knowing her allegiance, it was impossible to judge whether this mediation would proceed fairly—or not.
"Hello. What do you need from me?" Phineas asked.
Family wars were rare these days in the wizarding world. Most recent conflicts were settled by duels or private duels-to-the-death. So Phineas had little idea how the Council handled mediations, especially on this scale.
And he wasn't alone. Many in the wizarding world didn't understand the full procedures, not even the staff of the Family Management Office.
The witch before him was clearly uncertain herself.
Family conflicts were troublesome to handle in general—let alone a rare and complicated case like this. Typically, when the Council intervened in a family war, it was a dispute between two Council-member families. Ordinary families didn't warrant their attention. The goal in such cases was always balance. Even the victors would see no huge benefit.
But the Black–Flint conflict was different.
The Flint family wasn't even part of the Council. In truth, if not for the intervention of the Rich and Lestrange families, the Council would have had no interest in the Flints' fate.
However, because of the influence and pressure from those two families, the staff couldn't allow the Flint family to lose too heavily either.
That was the difficult part. If Phineas refused to accept mediation, and the war continued, everything belonging to the Flints would rightfully fall to the Blacks. But unless the Flints paid a steep enough price, the Blacks would not be satisfied with any compromise.
The witch said carefully, "Mr. Black, you needn't do anything for now. I'm here to inform you that the Council is officially intervening. Please notify your family to suspend any attacks or operations against the Flints. We're also sending word to the Flint family to halt all action and prevent them from fleeing. In about two days, we'll summon both you and the current heads of the Flint family to negotiate a resolution."
Phineas nodded in understanding. In short, the Council had stepped in. All hostilities were to cease while mediation took place.
If either side continued acting, things could spiral. If the Flints were wiped out before the Council had assessed the situation, there'd be nothing left to mediate. So everything had to pause—for now.
If the terms were acceptable, the war would end. If not, Phineas could simply resume the conflict.
Since he understood the situation and the Council's expectations, Phineas complied and ordered his assets to halt their pursuit of the Flints.
Though frankly, there wasn't much left to pursue.
Just as the Council had feared, the Flint family was on the verge of total collapse. Had the witch arrived a day later, they might already have been erased.
Most of their properties had gone bankrupt and were absorbed by Black-owned businesses, which had reaped huge profits in the process.
Only a few Flint family members remained.
Thanks to earlier raids and the relentless pursuit of the werewolf wizards, only two Flint family branches still survived.
One belonged to Marcus Flint, the student who had started it all. Since he was at Hogwarts, he was safe, and his parents had also escaped thanks to his warning. The other branch was hiding in a manor owned by the Malfoy family.
The werewolf wizards knew of Phineas's blood ties to the Malfoys—so, for now, they had left that branch untouched.