Despite the Scottish monarchs’ best efforts, Scotland and England were still separate realms by the time the Statute of Secrecy was implemented. While England was then controlled by the new Ministry for Magic, Scotland was under the control of the Council of Magical Clans. Even after the muggle Acts of Union, magical Scotland kept its independence and fiercely guarded it. Hogwarts, long a bastion of education, served as neutral grounds, accepting students from England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. It was forbidden to prosecute any international conflicts or blood feuds on its grounds.
When Voldemort rose to power and rumours of a prophecy foretelling his fall emerged, James’ parents managed to convince James and Lily to leave England and hide in Scotland, under the protection of the magical clan Dunbar, long time friends of the Potter family.
In what became known as the Halloween Harrowing, Voldemort led a force of Death Eaters in an invasion of Scotland and attacked the stronghold of clan Dunbar. Casualties were high on both sides, the Potters and numerous Dunbars perished but Voldemort himself along with scores of his followers were slain. The fighting was desperate and even reached the chamber where Harry was being kept. Fortunately, other than a cursed gash on his head, he was unhurt.
Tensions between England and Scotland rose dramatically after this. While the Ministry decried Voldemort’s actions, many old, prominent families in England cried for blood in vengeance for their slaughtered sons and daughters. Scottish clans grew even more united, seeing the attack as yet another English act of aggression. Harry Potter was adopted by the remnants of clan Dunbar and seen as a symbol for magical Scotland, a symbol of defiance in the face of English arrogance.
At Hogwarts, Harry was sorted into Gryffindor where he was safe under the watch of Minerva “Battleaxe” McGonagall. While there, he quickly fell in with a rather large group of his variously distant cousins who gathered around him like a pack of protective wolves. Only one did Draco Malfoy complain to his father about Harry Potter. He was treated to his father paling and showing his their family tree. It was due to the old “Battleaxe” that Abraxas Malfoy died at only 60 and Lucius, the youngest of three brothers, became the head of the family.
As the murmurs of Voldemort’s return spread and international tensions rise, with old families taking sides in the conflict, Fleur Delacour, once a Champion of Beauxbatons, seeks to escape her seeming fate, being caught in a betrothal contract to Corvus V. Lestrange, to which her father was strongarmed by the Delacours’ long-time enemies, the French branches of the Lestrange and Malfoy families. She seeks allies for the coming conflict and Harry Potter, a good friend, comes to mind as the natural enemy of her enemies.