Sirius, watch out!" James hissed. "You're going to get us caught if you don't stop making such a racket."

Sirius Black looked up guiltily from where he had nearly knocked over an entire stack of books on the end table. He grimaced apologetically at his best friend. "Sorry, I was just trying to get at the bottom book. It's called Super Secret Seeker Skills to Slaughter Slytherin. Man, wouldn't that be great! We could-"

"Sirius!" James' angry whisper cut off his friend's rising voice. "I think this is a little more important than quidditch. Now be quiet before I silence you."

Sirius twiddled his thumbs and sighed. He was a man (well, a teenager) of many talents, but staying quiet was not one of them. Not even for James could he manage such a feat very long, and if anyone could convince him to keep his mouth shut, it would be James. Not only was Prongs his best friend, but the Potters had also taken Sirius in and given him a place to stay after his own much-despised relatives had kicked him out.

Sirius sighed again as his thoughts started wandering the much-tread path of wondering why all his blood relatives were evil psychopaths. He dragged his thoughts back to the task at hand, only to realize that he couldn't remember what the task at hand was.

"Prongs? What are we doing in here again?"

"You don't listen to anything, do you, Padfoot? We're testing out our new ASS prototype."

"Ass? Listen, buddy, I don't know what you've heard about me, but I'm really not in to that type of thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I'll fully support your right-"

James closed his eyes and counted to ten. He'd swear Sirius was doing this on purpose. He opened his eyes. Sirius was the picture of innocence, which meant that he was obviously guilty. James growled, "Our Auditory Snooper Surveillance prototype, Padfoot. Quit screwing around. This is important! My dad's having some kind of secret meeting tonight and he actually put up silencing wards to keep us from listening in."

"Which means he must want us to secretly listen in," Sirius concluded, nodding. That made perfect sense. "But what's so important about this meeting?"

"That's what we're going to find out, assuming our ASS works right. But it's got to be something big. I overheard my dad floo-calling Lucius Malfoy about it earlier."

"Malfoy? What could your dad possibly need from the Evil Lord Peacock?" Lucius Malfoy was at least a decade older than either of them and becoming very influential at the ministry. He was also married to Sirius' cousin Narcissa, and considering Sirius' views on his family, that was as much a denunciation of Malfoy's morals as anyone could need.

"Shh, it sounds like they're here. Do you recognize the third voice?"

"I think so—wait, isn't that Cornelius Fudge? You know, that stupid wanker from the International Cooperation division who always wears those hideous bowler hats?"

"Judging a man by his hat, Padfoot? I didn't know you were in to that type of thing," James teased in revenge for Sirius' earlier comments. This type of conversation was pretty typical for the two teenagers, who admittedly had very adolescent senses of humor, and it normally would have devolved into a full-scale Prank War. Under the circumstances, however, Sirius delayed retribution in order to hear what their ASS was picking up in the next room.

oOo

"Can I get you something to drink, Cornelius? Lucius? It's a pretty nasty day outside," Charlus Potter gestured for his two guests to take their seats by the fireplace.

"Brr, it's viciously cold out there. A glass of firewhiskey wouldn't go amiss." Cornelius Fudge rubbed his arms to warm them up and determinedly ignored Lucius Malfoy's sneering countenance.

"Fortunately, unlike some in the room, I am a fully competent wizard who is intelligent enough to cast a warming charm when traveling in such inclement weather." Lucius' contempt was clear in both his voice and his facial expression. "I am not here to socialize, gentlemen, so I suggest we get down to business."

Charlus sighed. "Lucius, you are justifiably proud of your status and your abilities, but I assure you that one day you will realize that you make more allies with kindness than with insults. We need to work together, considering the scope of our problem, so please at least try to be polite—unless that is beneath your abilities."

He arched an eyebrow in a teasing manner at the Malfoy patriarch. After a minute, Lucius nodded his head in deference to the older man. Lucius was in charge of his family's finances and politics after a tragic (and mysterious) accident had claimed the lives of both his parents. Despite his status, however, he didn't have the decades of experience that Charlus Potter did, nor the insider's gossip that Cornelius Fudge was privy to.

Thus, the three men's unlikely alliance in the face of a common enemy.

"Right, let's begin. I have news of some legislation our opponent is planning to push through the Wizengamot next month. It seems very innocuous; he wants to increase the required thickness of British Cauldrons by one-eighth of an inch to increase their durability."

"What's wrong with that?" Fudge asked. He was sure there was more to it, but more durable cauldrons sounded good to him.

"One-eighth of an inch is not enough to make a difference in most potions, but it is enough to prevent us from importing any other European cauldrons, since no other country has such a regulation. Furthermore, since thicker cauldrons would require more materials, the price would increase, so no other countries would by our cauldrons when theirs work equally well and cost less."

"So, he's using legislation to isolate us economically." Fudge mused. That was definitely in-line with what he had come to expect from their opponent. The man was incredibly brilliant and had a mind that could weave wizards into the spider web of his choice. You'd never even see the web until you were stuck, unless you had a brilliant ally like Charlus or a devious ally like Lucius. Fudge knew when to keep useful allies like that close by.

"And if anybody mentions that in order to oppose him, he could just argue that he is strengthening our economy by making us independent. British made, British bought," Charlus continued.

"We could introduce alternate legislation to decrease cauldron bottoms in order to reduce material costs," Lucius said thoughtfully. "If we could find some potions masters to testify that the decrease wouldn't affect potion safety, we could argue that the lower cost could give Britain a monopoly on European cauldron sales. It probably wouldn't work, but…."

"But it might at least cancel out the other legislation, especially if we present ours first. Excellent, Lucius. I'll start drafting a proposal tomorrow." Charlus sounded relieved that they'd dealt with at least one hurdle, however small it might be. This was a war fought not in open battles, but in smiling speeches and small details.

"Blast the man!" muttered Fudge. "Every time I think I've got a handle on his game plan, he introduces some new thread that tangles up all my plans into a useless knot. Just last week, he was at the ICW monthly dinner meeting. All kooky smiles and candy, but he wound up offending at least half the delegates there with his wiser-than-thou grandfather impression. And the worst is, I'm sure it was deliberate, but any complaint I lodge will look ridiculous."

Charlus sighed. "If this keeps up, nobody in Europe is going to take Britain seriously. He's decreasing our political involvement by brushing off serious initiatives with trite platitudes, isolating us economically, and all the while, our school's educational standard is shot to hell while he plays politics instead of fulfilling his job as headmaster!"

"Yes, if only there were someone strong enough to stand up to this petty tyrant," Lucius inserted smoothly. "If only there were a wizard with the vision and the support to oppose Dumbledore…."

He trailed off, but his implication was clear.

Charlus snorted. "Save your love letters to the Dark Lord for another time, Lucius. I'm not convinced this Lord Voldemort is anything more than a pawn of Dumbledore's anyway. He may not know it, but by making Britain look like a terrorist hotspot, he's isolating us from the wider community even more."

Fudge stuttered away from any mention of You-Know-Who. Although Dumbledore seriously hampered all of Fudge's ministry ambitions, the Dark Lord could seriously hamper his existence, and Fudge really didn't want to get tortured to death. He turned the conversation back to the Headmaster/web weaver. "But what exactly is Dumbledore's goal with all this? I don't understand why he's trying to isolate Britain so much. If we knew what his motive was, perhaps we could predict his moves more."

"It's complicated," Charlus sighed. "You have to understand, Dumbledore's not necessarily evil. But he grew up in a time when the world was rapidly changing. Then Grindelwald tried to exploit that change and create a magical empire that would force each country to adopt his view of wizarding utopia. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, but I think he's been fighting that war in his head ever since.

"He wants to preserve the British way of life that he grew up with. Britain has perhaps the longest and greatest history of famous wizards of any country in Europe. But the rest of Europe doesn't care; they've been integrating more and more with their muggle counterparts and with each other. Culture, economy, academics are all changing, but Dumbledore doesn't want change. So to protect our history, he's willing to cut off our future."

Lucius sneered in contempt. "A pretty picture. You Gryffindors are always so… optimistic. Call the man what he is: a dictator. The more Britain is isolated from outside influence, the more power Dumbledore has. And the more the British sheep remain ignorant of the rights and governments available in other countries, the more they will simply accept whatever rights and government Dumbledore chooses to grant them. And yet, you have the gall to consider the Dark Lord an evil tyrant? Look around! We are already headed to tyranny and nobody realizes it."

"We do, which is why we are here today." Charlus pulled them back on track firmly. "Now, Lucius, you promised to have an update on the Board of Governors situation. How's that going? Do you think you will be able to get a position soon, or are you still relying on your contacts for second-hand information?"

oOo

The talk in the room continued as the adults made plans, but the two teenagers in the next room stared at each other in shock.

"Dumbledore? Headmaster Dumbledore is sabotaging Britain?" James said blankly. He couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that the kindly headmaster he'd looked up to for the last six years was actually some sort of Machiavellian manipulator.

"I dunno, James," Sirius said uncomfortably. "Maybe they're pranking us. Or it could just be a mistake. You know, getting paranoid because of the whole You-Know-Who thing and starting to see villains everywhere."

James shook his head. "I don't think so, Padfoot. My dad's usually right about these things, and he wouldn't be allying with Malfoy for anything less than a serious crisis. Plus, they had specific examples of stuff Dumbledore's doing."

"But, James, if Dumbledore's so evil, why didn't he expel me in fifth year? He could've. He never even had to let Remus into Hogwarts in the first place, but he did. He's a good man, James. He has to be. Remus and I would both be in Azkaban if it weren't for him."

James thought carefully. "Well, I bet he was never supposed to let Remus come to Hogwarts in the first place, like you said. If he'd expelled you, he would have had to admit that he'd let a werewolf into a school full of children without even warning anyone. He probably would've been fired, maybe even charged with a crime as well."

Sirius was reluctantly shocked. He'd never even thought of that; in fact, he'd made a point to avoid thinking of the entire situation. Mostly, he'd just been numb after the initial event, and later he'd felt like a slimy Slytherin because what he'd done was something his family would have been proud of.

He'd never actually expected Snivellus to follow Remus on the full moon. What kind of idiot takes advice from his worst enemy to go wandering around outside in the dark on a full moon? He'd figured that telling Snape to go was the one way to insure the greasy bat stayed away. When he'd found out what had nearly happened, he'd just been so grateful to Dumbledore and James that he'd never actually thought about the whole situation logically.

"I still don't know," Sirius said slowly. "He could be doing what they said, but not necessarily. I just don't think it's right to turn our backs on someone who's never hurt us just because of something we overheard, even if it was your dad who said it."

A few years ago, Sirius never would have thought that he would be the one urging caution. But without his friend's willingness to listen and give him a second chance, he would be homeless and possibly dead by now. Sirius had learned his lesson; he wasn't going to turn his back on somebody without really thinking it through first.

"You're right, Padfoot." James nodded. "But we should keep our eyes open. If they're right, then we need to know. If they're not right, then we owe it to Dumbledore to clear his name and explain the truth to them."

Sirius smiled widely. "And with the Marauders on his trail, no way can even the Headmaster hide from us."

"Mischief Managed," James said solemnly.

oOo

Over the next few months, James and Sirius kept a close watch on the Headmaster. James had a better position for this, since he had his father's letters to keep him updated on the outside world and his Head Boy position to keep him attuned to the Headmaster's doings at Hogwarts.

In October, his father wrote about successfully blocking new legislation regarding cauldron bottoms, along with several other isolationist or supremacist platforms. In November, his parents were killed in a Death Eater attack.

James made up his mind. It was circumstantial, but added to a few seemingly innocuous things he'd seen the Headmaster do and say, he was certain that his father had been right many months ago. And that meant that he had an obligation to pick up where his father left off. He quietly began an intermittent correspondence with Cornelius Fudge. He didn't trust the other man, but he needed an ally to help him know what was going on in the ministry, and he certainly trusted Fudge more than Malfoy.

James didn't tell Sirius.

Sirius had several private interviews with the Headmaster during his seventh year. Between his own impulsivity and his family's hatred, Sirius was often in enough trouble that the Headmaster's advice and support was welcome. During one such meeting, Sirius managed to subtly bring up politics.

"Headmaster, what do you think about politics?" Sirius asked subtly.

"That's a sudden interest, my boy. Are you thinking about going in to politics when you leave Hogwarts?" Dumbledore chuckled and Sirius couldn't help laughing along. The idea of Sirius Black, of all people, becoming a politician would send any sane person running for the hills.

"No, just thinking about the war, I guess. These Death Eaters are dangerous, but we can fight them. Give me a good, old-fashioned battle any day. But you get these old purebloods like my family trying to pass laws that say muggle-borns aren't even human, and I don't know how to fight that."

"Hmm," Dumbledore considered Sirius seriously, leaning back a bit in his chair. "You've raised a good point, Mr. Black, one that has troubled me for many years. I have often felt that the other side has an insidious control over our political system. Fortunately, I have no small number of friends myself and am occasionally able to block Voldemort's moves, when I can predict them."

Dumbledore leaned forward and met Sirius' eyes. "I think, Mr. Black, that you brought up a good point about facing the enemy directly. Politics is for old men like me. But there are not many men, young or old, who have the strength of heart to fight the Death Eaters directly. Have you made any decisions for when you graduate from Hogwarts?"

"I'll be entering auror training, but even the aurors don't fight the Death Eaters that often. Mostly they just clean up after them." Sirius scowled and kicked his heel against the leg of his chair in frustration. He knew how evil the Death Eaters were, and he was going to prove that he stood against that type of shit, one way or another. He would prove that all those people who'd said that he was evil just because of his last name were dead wrong.

"I believe, my boy, that I have an opportunity for you," Dumbledore said gravely, and Sirius' heart sped up at the intensity in the old man's eyes, as though he were judging Sirius to see if he was strong enough for what the Headmaster needed.

"I lead a small organization of dedicated witches and wizards who put their lives on the line to fight evil and corruption in our country," Dumbledore explained. "Everyone does what they can, but few of them have the training or the character to face the Death Eaters in open battle. I believe that you, Mr. Black, could be one of those few.

"Right now, you need to finish schooling and take your NEWTs. But after you graduate, I would be honored if you would consider fighting beside me in our little group. We desperately need your help, and perhaps you would even be able to recruit others from among your classmates after graduation—your friend Mr. Potter, for instance. You don't need to answer now, but please consider it. I fear that the war will be lost without a bold generation of fighters to stand up for the Light."

"I'll do it, sir," Sirius pledged recklessly. His eyes were bright with his promise; this was everything he had dreamed of. The greatest wizard of the age was coming to him personally and asking him to fight against the Dark. What more could he ask out of life during the time of war?

It was only hours later, after the adrenaline and secret pride had leveled off, that Sirius realized how skillfully Dumbledore had turned the conversation away from politics. He had admitted that he had enough political clout to counter Voldemort's plans, but he had adroitly derailed the conversation before Sirius could ask exactly what Dumbledore's own political agenda was.

Sirius had pledged his loyalty to a man whose true loyalties he knew almost nothing about.

oOo

The next few years passed in alternating periods of interminable boredom and terrifying battle. The underlying tension wore away at everyone, although James managed to carve out a measure of happiness with Lily through sheer determination. He also joined the Order of the Phoenix with Sirius, although whether that was because he supported Dumbledore or wanted to keep an eye on him, was unclear. He kept his opinions to himself at meetings, and although he offered his fullest support for any direct opposition to Voldemort, he made it clear that his vote on the Wizengamot (inherited from his father) and his Gringotts vault were not available for the Order's plans. He would support a law if he thought it right, regardless of whether Dumbledore commanded it or not.

Sirius was at first frustrated with James' reluctance to fully oppose Voldemort. As far as he was concerned, whatever Dumbledore might or might not be up to took second place to the Dark Bastard's reign of terror.

Slowly, however, Sirius became increasingly disillusioned with the Order's grand plans. Time after time Dumbledore dissuaded Sirius from taking direct action against Voldemort. His arguments were always logical—lack of support in the area, not enough Order members, Sirius' lack of combat experience—but more and more, Sirius was beginning to wonder why he'd been recruited in the first place.

"No, dammit!" Sirius shouted angrily. "I'm telling you, this celebration is everything the Dark Fucker hates. A wizarding pub celebrating the muggle's Halloween? There's no way Moldy-Shorts would miss crashing that. He's going to be there, the Death Eaters are going to be there, and lots of people are going to die unless we DO something!"

By the end of his tirade, several people were wincing at either his volume or his choice of words. Dumbledore, however, was still smiling slightly with twinkling eyes. "Sirius, I'm sure we all appreciate your intentions, but we simply don't have enough people to confront Voldemort's army as it is. We will observe the pub and alert the aurors if anything happens, but we cannot afford to start an open battle."

"We have to at least try," Sirius said desperately. "What's the point of fighting against Voldemort if you never actually fight against Voldemort? Maybe we can't win, but if we don't even try, then what's left?"

"I assure you, my boy, we will triumph eventually. When the time is right, we will overcome Voldemort and restore peace to our country. In the meantime, we need to consider several of the proposals I believe Death Eater sympathizers are trying to convince the Minister to sign off on. Sturgis, I believe you have some information?"

James and Sirius exchanged glances. Dumbledore had spoken, and everybody else in the Order seemed to take Dumbledore's word as inviolate law. After the meeting, they apparated back to James' house so that Sirius could spend a few minutes with his few-months-old godson.

"So, Sirius," James began innocently. "I was thinking that it's been a while since we've gone out for a pint. We haven't been to a pub since before Harry was born."

Sirius stared at James for a minute before grinning. "You know, I heard about this little wizarding pub up in York."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they're supposedly having a muggle celebration on Halloween. We could go, if you want."

James smiled a slow, hard smile. "Sounds like fun. I'll meet you there."

At least, no matter what Dumbledore was up to, the two of them had their friendship to rely on.

oOo

"I don't know what to do, Cornelius," James said, wincing as Lily wrapped a poultice around his arm. "I understand that a handful of adults taking on Voldemort is suicide, but Dumbledore's grand plan doesn't seem to be accomplishing much either."

"Does your friend Sirius have any ideas? He was willing to stand next to you when you challenged the Dark Lord last night, so clearly he's willing to oppose both the Death Eaters and Dumbledore." Cornelius sipped his firewhiskey slowly. It had been a long and harrowing day; the only bright spot was the number of people who had managed to escape Voldemort's Halloween raid on a pub the night before while James and Lily Potter had held off the Dark Lord and Sirius Black had kept the Death Eaters jumping.

James let out a breath. "I haven't asked him. He doesn't even know that I've talked to you about any of this. Sirius is the most loyal man I've ever met, and he hates Voldemort even more than I do, but he's pretty volatile and he can't keep secrets. He alternates between seeing Albus as a mentor who leads the fight against evil and a manipulative coward who refuses to back up his words with actions. I know that if I told Sirius what we're trying to do, he'd blurt it out in a rage the first time he had another shouting match at an Order meeting."

Cornelius winced. "That would be bad. I'd rather Dumbledore not know that either of us is actively opposing him. It may be harder to find allies this way, but …"

"But at least we're less likely to suddenly 'disappear' or get arrested like some of his critics have." James sighed in frustration.

"Speaking of finding allies," Lily Potter jumped in, "Are you sure that Lucius Malfoy will support your reform agenda when he speaks with the Minister next week?"

"I think he will," Cornelius said. "Lucius is sneaky, so if it looks like he can't win, he might back down, but chances are he'll have everything planned out from the beginning. I know you don't trust the man, but he's one of the few people who are influential enough to beat Dumbledore at his own game. I trust him to do that."

James snorted. "I'd trust him to do that, too. It's what he'd do if he met Lily or me in a dark alley with no witnesses that I don't trust. The man is pro-Dark and power hungry."

"Power hungry, yes, but I'm not so sure about the pro-Dark. I suspect he mainly supports the Dark Lord for the political clout it gets him among the purebloods. If the Dark Lord disappeared tomorrow, you'd probably get to see a very different Lucius Malfoy."

"That may be," said Lily, "but I have a hard time trusting anyone who can change his beliefs so easily."

Cornelius fidgeted under Lily's intense stare.

"Aw, Lils, leave the man alone. He's doing the best he can in a crummy situation. Between Death Eaters and Dumbledore, the Ministry is riddled with spies and corruption. Cornelius is probably as close to an honest politician as you'll find there," James said, nudging his wife. Cornelius actually felt a bit flattered for a moment until James continued, "Which isn't saying much, of course. Oh, except the Aurors. Some of them are pretty trustworthy."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Men."

"Yes, well, I'd better get going soon." Cornelius cleared his throat. "Are you still planning on adding some more wards this weekend?"

"Yes, definitely," James said. "The main wards are already as heavy as we can make them, but we're going to start getting creative with some hidden wards. We would have anyway because of last night, but Dumbledore's also been hinting that Voldemort has some special reason for wanting us dead. He keeps bugging us to go into hiding."

"With him as our only contact, naturally," Lily said dryly.

"Oh, dear," Cornelius muttered. Give Dumbledore sole control over one's safety and contact with the outside world? That seemed like a very bad idea.

"Yeah, that was our reaction," James confirmed. "Don't worry, if we do have to go into hiding for some reason, we won't be putting ourselves in Dumbledore's hands. And we were planning on leaving a statement with you in case anything happens. Since nobody, not even Sirius, knows that we even talk to you, it should be pretty secure."

"Al-alright." Cornelius gulped. He really didn't want to be the bargaining chip between Dumbledore and the Dark Lord as the only person who knew how to contact the Potters. "Ah, maybe you could just tell me your plans. No written trail that way. Less chance of interception."

"Good point," said James. "That's what we'll do—assuming we ever have to go in to hiding anyway. It's definitely a last resort sort of plan."

Lily laughed. "In fact, by making all these plans, we're pretty much guaranteeing that we'll never need them. Hopefully, we'll be perfectly safe here."

"Hopefully," James agreed.

oOo

Cornelius poured a glass of firewhiskey with shaking hands. A year had passed—exactly a year had passed since that fateful conversation with the Potters. He couldn't believe how thoroughly all their plans had fallen right into Dumbledore's hands. Did the man have Seer blood that he could so accurately block any move to defend against him?

Lucius Malfoy stood next to Cornelius, waiting unobtrusively for the devastated man to pull himself together. He wasn't certain what he felt at the news. His lord had been defeated, but Lucius wasn't entirely sure that his lord had been entirely sane for those last few months. Voldemort had lost sight of whatever vision he'd had for the Wizarding World and seemed content to spread anarchy and terror instead.

So maybe Lucius was better off with the fresh hand that they had been dealt.

Except that Dumbledore was the dealer, and there was no bet on whether or not the cagy old man was stacking the deck.

The Potters dead, and their Wizengamot vote and fortune neutralized—two known progressives were no longer any threat to Dumbledore.

Voldemort dead, and Dumbledore was once again renowned as a leader of the Light. Most of the powerful purebloods who had supported the Dark Lord were thoroughly discredited, if not actually in Azkaban.

A child savior, helpless and given into Dumbledore's custody. Sirius Black, the child's godfather, had been revealed as a Death Eater traitor and sent to Azkaban. Dumbledore was left with total control over this new political piece.

"Interesting," Lucius murmured. "I thought myself high up in my Lord's confidence, and yet I never heard a whisper that Black was a Death Eater."

"He wasn't the Secret Keeper," Cornelius said in a dead voice. "I talked to James shortly before they went into hiding. Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper, while Black was supposed to divert attention."

Lucius put the pieces together. "And since Pettigrew was seen alive and healthy after the Dark Lord's death…."

"He had to have given up the secret voluntarily, and his claims during the confrontation that Sirius was the traitor were just a show," Cornelius concluded.

"You think he faked his own death?" Lucius asked, continuing the natural line of that thought.

Cornelius shrugged. "It makes sense, but I don't know. Black's much more powerful than Pettigrew; he could have killed Pettigrew and those muggles out of rage."

"He'd be counted a hero for that, if people knew Pettigrew was the real traitor," Lucius said thoughtfully. "I don't suppose there's any way to prove that? If we could clear Black, he'd owe us a favor, and since he's the boy's godfather, that would be a very good position to be in."

"If I had a way to prove his innocence, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you," Cornelius snapped. "Sorry, my friend. That was uncalled for. No, the Potters never wrote anything down, at my insistence. I didn't want anything traced back to me. And now that cowardice will condemn us."

He bitterly swallowed the last of his drink.

"A bit melodramatic?" Lucius asked mildly. "We are hardly condemned. You still have political power and I still have money. We are both reduced, but if we work together, we can quietly build up a power base to oppose Dumbledore's suicide course for the country."

He sighed. "Still, I would be much relieved, both for my sake and the boy's, if there were some way to get young Potter away from Dumbledore. He claims the boy is with his muggle relatives; frankly I'm not sure which option is worse: a wizarding savior raised by ignorant muggles, or a wizarding savior raised as Dumbledore's pawn."

"I wish there were some way to help him too. But what can we do? I don't have any influence in the DMLE; that's Crouch's turf, and I'm pretty sure Dumbledore has some kind of blackmail on Crouch. We could try to get the Wizengamot to declare a trial, but without proof, it's left up to the Chief Warlock."

"In other words, Dumbledore."

"Exactly," Cornelius said. "It burns me to think that they've thrown an innocent man into Azkaban, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Correction: there's nothing we can do about it now. Neither of us has the political clout right now to get Black a trial, and it's not as though we can break him out of Azkaban. Our only option is patience. Sooner or later, Dumbledore's going to have to bring Potter back in to the Wizarding World. If we have enough influence at the time, we can meet Potter and convince him to pressure for a trial."

Cornelius smiled at the way Lucius' mind worked. "And of course, upon learning that Dumbledore condemned the boy's innocent godfather to hell on Earth, the boy will feel betrayed by Dumbledore and grateful to Black's saviors."

"Precisely. We can do nothing for the Potter boy now, but if we plan our moves carefully, one day we will be able to rescue him, cement our power base, and reveal Dumbledore's machinations all in one glorious play."

"It's not ideal, but it's the best we can do." Cornelius agreed reluctantly. One day, Harry Potter, we will meet again and I will help free you from that manipulative bastard. One day.

Unfortunately, Cornelius Fudge didn't know at the time that it would be twelve long years before he saw Harry Potter again.