Leaning down Rowan's eyes widen slightly at seeing more names than she would have ever previously thought. The Prince family members were naturally there, but very distant cousins as well spread out through Europe, who had married out of the family countless generations ago. And a few that had even migrated to America and resided now cross the Atlantic Ocean.
In retrospect, it would make sense that there still exists descendants of Salazar Slytherin. It properly was the same for the rest of the Hogwarts's founders except for Rowena Ravenclaw, (since her only daughter, the Grey Lady died without any children). The only difference is that said descendants would have no idea that they were descended from the Hogwarts founders. And not all descendants are from the marriage bed, the Prince's are a primary example.
Still, it bore an interesting thought, and maybe someday in the lineage of those distant descendants of the Prince lineage under the right conditions, a parselmouth would be born. It was not an outrageous possibility considering how the number of parselmouth's that had been born into the Prince family. The number certainly could be counted on hand, but still, it was more than most families except for perchance the Gaunt line.
Rowan turned to the next page to the next pureblood family. It was a single page that reads as the Gaunt Household. Underneath the Gaunt family name is listed only a single individual, "Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"It is the end of the Gaunt line with Riddle," Rowan murmured to herself, before turning to the next page "Sayre Household."
Rowan nods her head in understanding, Isolt Sayre was descended from Rioanch Sayre (nee Gaunt). Rinonach and her husband had been cruelly murdered by her sister, Gormalith Gaunt. A parselmouth, who raised Isolt until Isolt ran away to the New World (aka America) with Salzar Slytherin's wand. Gormalith Gaunt prior to dying had sealed the wand, but still, Isolt helped found Ilverymorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
Furthermore, Isolt had two adopted sons, not of her blood, and two daughters. The eldest, Martha Steward, a squib, who went on to marry a member of the Pocomtuc tribe. While Rinoach Steward, the youngest daughter a witch elected to never marry. She was said to be a parselmouth and had elected to never pass down the dreadful ability.
"As if that will prevent anything," Rowan snorted. Judging by the various descendants on the page, Martha Steward's descendants went on to be witches and wizards. And there is the inevitable possibility that someday one of them would inherit their ancestor's ability and be able to speak parseltongue.
Turning to the last page, Rowan's hand freezes at seeing the three names at the top of the list of the family lineage that reads, "Morrigan Household." The Morrigan family had officially gone extinct hundreds of years ago. The Morrigan family had been descended from the famous pureblood witch, Morrigan, who could transform into a crow. Coincidentally, the Sayre family was also a descendant via William Sayre, who was also descended from the witch, Morrigan.
The first name read as Harrison Evans, the father of Lily and Petunia Evans. A loud snort escapes from Rowan's lips. "Oh, the sheer irony, of course, bloody Potter could be a match for Riddle. Who better than someone of the same bloodline to destroy the other!"
It certainly explained why Voldemort had been able to bind himself at all to baby Potter. It was all because Potter too descended from Salazar Slytherin. It undoubtedly explained why afterward Potter appeared to have magically gained the ability to speak Parseltongue. It wasn't so much that Potter magically gained an ability instead a dormant magical ability in his bloodline awoke. Along those same lines, it also made sense, why, the trait seemed to have seemingly become dormant again after Voldemort's death since Potter preferred to believe that it was an ability that he had gained from being Voldemort's living Horcrux.
Arguably Potter could be descended from Godric Gryffindor as well, but that would not have been likely given the babe much of an edge against Voldemort. In Hogwarts History it was stated that Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin despite having stopped being friends were powerful, but equally matched in power. None could destroy the other and as a direct result, Salazar Slytherin went about his secretly building the Chamber of Secrets. And that is in part why Salazar Slytherin in the end left Hogwarts.
Pursing her lips, Rowan concluded out loud, "That is why Lily's sacrifice worked out so well."
Purebloods by nature are powerful, bigoted hypocrites. So much that those squib children could be killed in the worst cases or simply sent away and ignored. There is seldom that is considered holy or even untouchable by Pureblood standards. But one of the few prohibited lines that even purebloods do not cross is the killing of magical offspring. (Admittedly the line is rather gray here for as long as the offspring was not dead, there was no broken taboo.)
The taboo specifically existed to dissuade the greedier and cold-blooded members of the same bloodline family. It was all in an effort to prevent the murder of offspring especially those underage and unable to defend themselves from greedy, blood-thirsty relatives. The ancient pureblood family patriarchs or matriarchs bound the taboo into the very magic core of their living lineage and bound it in such a manner that the prohibition would automatically be passed and bound to each living generation until the family ceased to exist.
It can be clearly explained that when Lily sacrificed herself, the magic did begin to react in such a manner since she was kin. Even more so, when Voldemort clearly went to attack Harry. It was the ancient magic written into the very magic of Voldemort that prevented him from fulfilling the forbidden taboo. It is rather an act of the utmost causticness.
"Well, at least Severus won't have a problem marrying Lily now," Rowan drily thought to herself. She'd have to show her grandfather sooner or later the tome. And if grandfather further pried, she would honestly answer that she had found the tome in the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't like he could prove otherwise!
Rubbing her dry eyes, Rowan blinks and moves on to the next important question. "Reveal unto me the owed blood debts," she hissed in parseltongue.
The parchment pages crinkle as they flip towards the front of the tome, before halting an inch or two from the front. Several pages of parchment begin to glow once again making it rather easy to identify the list. These are the blood oaths that are still owed in existence, and which had been passed down to their surviving existing descendants.
Rowan presumed that if there were no more living descendants, the blood oath simply ceased to exist. That is unless a blood oath still applied to the dead…. Who knows, then again, maybe a ghost?
The first Pureblood family is a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families, the Rowle's. Thorfinn Rowle, a notorious Death Eater in Potter's time had mysteriously vanished from Durmstrang during Halloween. Many suspected foul play, but no clue had yet to be found of the culprit. It was as if Thorfinn Rowle had simply walked off his own accord into the night and vanished.