Three Vassal Houses
Seeing this horrifying and tragic scene, Peter Pettigrew and Macnair, who had been quietly watching the whole thing, felt their mouths dry. They swallowed hard and looked at Skylar with awe.
Skylar may look young, but his ruthlessness and cruelty are no less than Voldemort's, and perhaps even surpass it; moreover, he is even more terrifying than Voldemort in one aspect—
His radiant image on the outside is completely different from the dark side of him in the Coiling Dragon Dungeon —just imagine how terrifying a boy who can simultaneously possess the personalities of Dumbledore and Voldemort must be in terms of cunning, strategy, and wisdom.
They couldn't help but secretly rejoice at how wise their decision to surrender to Skylar beforehand had been.
Skylar snapped his fingers, releasing them from the "Snake Binding Technique." Ignoring their pain, they dragged their weak and injured bodies, tumbling and crawling to Skylar, kissing the hem of his Skylar's robe.
Except for one person--
Trelawyn Selwyn.
To say that Selwyn wasn't afraid would be a lie; otherwise, he wouldn't have fainted from fright.
However, his hatred for Skylar ran deeper than for anyone else—his daughter had mysteriously disappeared at Hogwarts months ago and had not been heard from since, a fact he feared was Dogie, and Skylar was clearly involved; his wife had been burned to Ashes last night in the battle against Skylar's puppet army, leaving no trace of her remains.
The hatred of killing his wife and stealing his daughter is irreconcilable. So even though his heart and will had been broken by Skylar, the deep hatred still kept his last shred of rationality, preventing him from truly submitting to Skylar.
Skylar had anticipated this, and ignored the hatred in Trelawyn's eyes as if he hadn't heard it, letting him slump to the ground and glare at him. Instead, he turned his gaze to the four Death Eaters who had surrendered in front of him.
"Corban, Claude, Squall, Bahaza, listen to me—" Skylar's tone softened, his previous coldness giving way to a gentler one. "I, Skylar, am not a tyrannical or bloodthirsty person. As long as someone is loyal to me and useful to me, I will accept them without holding grudges, starting today—"
"As long as you serve me wholeheartedly, without any disloyalty, and prove your worth with your strength and talent, I will naturally reward you with certain benefits..." Skylar said calmly, "Even as for Voldemort, you don't need to worry about his revenge; I'll take care of everything."
"Thank you, great master!" the four replied in unison, making it seem to an outsider like a well-trained army.
"Corban Yaxley!"
"Yes, sir! What are your orders, master?" Yaxley replied hastily upon hearing his name called.
"From this day forward, the House of Yaxley officially becomes a vassal of the House of Malfoy, on par with the House of Goyle and House of Crabbe. Do you have any objections?" Skylar asked coldly.
"Your subordinate dares not have any objections; everything is left to your master's decision." Yaxley responded loudly almost without hesitation. Avery's fate was still vivid in his mind. At this moment, he had long forgotten about family honor. In his heart, proving his loyalty to Skylar was the most important thing.
"Very good, I'm very satisfied with your attitude now—" Skylar's lips curled up slightly, revealing a wicked smile, "Since you're so sensible, I won't mistreat my subordinates. You can retain all your family's wealth, as well as all your family's past titles and honors—including all tangible and intangible assets. Rest assured, I always keep my word and will never touch a single thing."
"Thank you, Master! I will forever remember your magnanimity," Yaxley said hurriedly, his face beaming with joy.
The House of Yaxley is one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. In this era of declining Pure-blood families, it is one of the few remaining powerful families in Great Britain, belonging to the first tier. Its history can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and the wealth it has accumulated is quite astonishing.
Moreover, retaining the family title also means that he can maintain his original reputation, prestige, and social status—even after leaving here, he can still be the invincible head of the Yaxley Family in public and in private, instead of appearing as a vassal family like Goyle and Crabbe, who are inherently inferior in social status.
Skylar's preferential treatment of Yaxley was not without reason. Firstly, the House of Yaxley's power was not to be underestimated, and it was unrealistic to simply swallow up the entire family's power. Moreover, doing so would waste Yaxley's reputation and status, which were themselves intangible forces that Skylar could utilize.
Secondly, strictly speaking, the House of Yaxley was the first Pure-blood families to become a vassal of Skylar. Although Goyle and Crabbe were also vassals of the House of Malfoy, they were vassals of Lucius, not Skylar. For Skylar, this was a difference; he needed a loyal subordinate, not someone who blindly served the overlord family to whom he was attached.
"But—" Skylar changed the subject, speaking softly, "Besides wealth and titles, everything else in the House of Yaxley must be handed over, including your dependent families... They must sign new magical contracts and swear direct allegiance to me again... And as a traditional noble family among Pure-blood families, the House of Yaxley must have many valuable books and precious magical collectibles, especially books on Dark Arts and treasures imbued with Dark Arts... As well as all of your family's core heritage, whether it's secret spells and incantations, or exclusive knowledge and technology, I want it all, understand?"
Yaxley felt a chill run down his spine. Although the conditions sounded quite harsh, compared to Avery's tragic end, he could not only retain his right to be a human being, but also retain his family's wealth and status. This was already an unexpected blessing, and he dared not ask for more.
"Yes! I understand!" Yaxley said. "I have two vassal families, the House of Quigley and the House of Cadwaladr. I will write a letter to them today, instructing them to swear allegiance to their master as soon as possible."
"Quigley... Cadwallader..." Skylar had heard of these two families before, but in his memory, they weren't particularly powerful families, even weaker than the likes of Goyle and Crabbe, probably somewhere between the third and fourth tier. Yet, Skylar felt a strange familiarity with these surnames. He casually said, "Well, that'll do for now—although they will be directly loyal to me and obey my orders, I will place them below you, on par with the House of Higgs, House of Warrington, and House of Montague."
When Higgs Family and the others were mentioned, Skylar suddenly remembered where that sense of familiarity came from—
It's Quidditch!
Terence Higgs Family, Cassius Warrington, and Graham Montague were all Slytherin Quidditch players.
Isn't Quigley the same surname as Finba Quigley, the Beater for the Irish National Quidditch Team in the 1994 Quidditch World Cup final last summer?
Finba Quigley was also a professional player for the Ballycastle Bats. Later, in a media interview, when Gwenog Jones, the captain of the Holyhead Harpies, proudly mentioned to a reporter from the Daily Prophet that their fan base was growing, Finba, who was being interviewed at the same time, dared not disagree, because he was afraid that Gwenog would turn him into a scoundrel.
Of course, although he himself feared Gwenog's power, this does not mean that his talent in Quidditch and flying should be denied; otherwise, how could he have been selected for the starting lineup of the highly competitive Irish National Quidditch Team?
As for the surname Cadwallader, it is also related to Quidditch.
Euryg Cadwallader of Hufflepuff is the Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, and Skylar, who is familiar with all the plots of the original books, even remembers that in Pottermore's description of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup, Euryg was the Seeker for the Welsh National Quidditch Team.
Well...
In that case, the vassal families under Skylar's command would almost be able to form a Quidditch team.
[The House of Yaxley, a "high-ranking vassal family," has been acquired!]
[The House of Quigley, a mid-level vassal family, has been acquired!]
[The "Mid-level Vassal Family" of Cadwallader has been acquired!]