The Necromancer

Chapter 38

“What?” Rachel asked in utter disbelief while Sirius started laughing.

Tom turned in his seat to stare at Harry. This was an utterly brilliant plan, a simple way to raise their numbers. It was positively clever. Let the muggles raise magical offspring and by the time the offspring were old enough they could join Magica and build a magical life there. Much like a cuckoo laying its egg in another bird’s nest.

Absolutely brilliant.

And yet…and yet…this didn’t sit well with Tom.

“There are a number of ethical concerns to take into account,” Masaru said delicately, giving Harry a searching look.

“As long as you match the description of the donor the muggle parents selected with whatever magical seed you replace it with, it shouldn’t be too much of an ethical problem,” Leon said, looking rather amused by the whole thing.

“I’d do it,” Sirius said, still laughing. “I think it’s hilarious.”

Tom still wasn’t sure what was keeping him from agreeing with Harry’s plan. It had only been hours since he’d had almost all of his soul returned to him. The one remaining piece was currently sitting on Harry’s shoulder, clearly enjoying the sudden chaos in the room.

Tom hadn’t been lying when he told Harry that he was still the same man. He was without question. He was the same man who had initially split his own soul and then committed any number of crimes. Yet Tom felt as though the whole world had been tilted off its axle but Tom hadn’t noticed until Harry had pushed it the right way up again this afternoon. Suddenly everything made a lot more sense, as though all of Tom’s sensory receptors were turned back on to full force.

“But we would leave the kids with the muggle parents, right?” Rachel insisted, giving Harry a desperate look. “Because I am not comfortable with this at all.”

Harry made to say something, but Tom beat him to it. “Neither am I.”

Clearly shocked, Harry turned to look at Tom with wide eyes. “I thought you’d agree with my plan.”

“As did I,” Tom said with a rueful smile before addressing the whole table. “I do not mind the idea of donating sperm to raise the magical population. However, I was born of deception and I know first hand what an utterly vile thing that is to discover about yourself.”

“Oh,” Harry said a very small voice, obviously only hearing this for the first time now.

Tom ignored him. “The last thing we need is for there to be resentment amongst these magical children for the donors who wilfully deceived their muggle parents. Imagine in 20 years a small army of pissed off wizards and witches coming to extract vengeance on their muggle parents’ behalf.”

“That problem would be easily solved by just donating sperm as sperm donors,” Sebastian pointed out. “Without replacing anyone else’s sperm.”

“Exactly,” Tom said, now offering Harry a reassuring smile. “We’d still raise the magical population, but there would be no deception. I’d rest easier if we did it that way.”

“We would still need laws,” Regulus pointed out with a frown on his face. “Imagine in 20 years 10 of your offspring showing up all demanding a cut of your family’s fortune.”