1
The Awakening
One . . . two . . . three.
One . . . two . . . three.
One . . . two . . . three.
In through the nose, and out through the mouth. Repeat. In through the nose, and out through the mouth.
"-at's why I really do think . . . are you quite alright?" The Minister stopped in his long, and frankly superfluous, monologue of precisely how Dumbledore was secretly planning to overthrow him, and what they must do to stop him.
"Ah, yes. Quite all right. Just . . . finally realizing the true extent of the corruption." Upon noticing the attention seemed to have suddenly moved completely to him, A - Percy BS'd a response to what he assumed the Minister was ranting about. This wasn't a total lie in a way, either. He really was just now noticing how far the corruption went - in the Ministry. He had always known that things weren't perfect, however, he had, perhaps naively, assumed that it wasn't terrible, and with a little work and a few shoves in the right direction, things would start to become much better.
Unfortunately, it went much deeper than just a few pocket-lining workers or backward-thinking lawmakers. It went to the very heart of the Ministry. Anyone in power or who held sway, all the purebloods (especially the Malfoys) who held the highest positions, even the Minister himself, were compromised in some way. Some were dark witches or wizards under the sway of Xe-Voldemort (Xe, who's Xe? There's only one Dark Lord and everyone knows his name, even if they dare not speak it), some in fear of the Dark Lord and his power and so deferred to him, some were in denial and looking for scapegoats, some were simply unreasonable hate-filled and prejudiced, and some were just greedy.
"es, it must be so hard for you to hear this-, " He tuned back in just in time to see the Minister looked down at him in pity and continue his explanation, now simply specifically to him instead of some unseen audience.
Oh, you have no idea. Listening to you drone on and on makes me want to stab my ears. I can't take this much longer.
"but hear it you must. For, Dumbledore surely has almost all of the student body and most of the faculty under his control already. Now is the time to fight back - before he gets too strong!" The Minister by this point was red-faced and sweating from the wild gesticulations and a fierce, almost shouting, tone of voice he used to explain the situation.
"Quite right Minister, " placated Ax-Percy, as he slowly made to get up from his chair. "But, alas, as he has done nothing illegal-"
"YET!"
"Yes, nothing illegal yet, there's not much we can do. We can't arrest a man on suspicion alone. You must have solid proof before anything drastic happens."
As the Minister opened his mouth to no doubt let loose another, extremely long, speech about the dangers of leaving Dumbledore in power and how he must be stopped, Percy quickly stood up from the chair and continued to politely bid goodbye to the Minister as he gathered his things.
"Unfortunately, like I said sir, at this time there's not much you can legally do unless you catch him in the act of doing something illegal. I thank you for the wonderful opportunity to learn from you, but I'm afraid I must be getting home now. Have a marvelous evening Minister, goodnight."
A little flabbergasted at the speed with which the youth suddenly tore out of his office, the Minister could only stare in faint shock as one of his most dedicated underlings all but fled from the room.
It must be because he's finally, truly come to realize the danger of having Dumbledore in charge of Hogwarts. It must be so hard on the poor boy, he was a student there not too long ago, and all students do, at one point, come to greatly admire their headmaster. This all must just be hitting him pretty hard right now. Oh well, let him have a day or so to sort it out before asking him to partake in the plans to bring Dumbledore DOW-to justice, I mean.
Unbeknownst to him, however, Axe-PERCY, was having a few thoughts of his own on the way out.
What a slimy little piece of work. I almost feel sorry for the guy in a way: he's obviously not qualified for the job, and Dumbledore obviously is a hundred times more so, so it would seem a little daunting to not only have news spread of the return of one of the worst crime lords (because that's essentially all Voldemort is - a glorified Mob Boss) coming from someone who's pretty much your superior in every way except title. Not to mention he's exceptionally weak minded and that combined with all the dark wizards and witches whispering in his ear is making him go completely mad!
At least the way things are going, I won't have to work under him for much longer.
(He didn't know how soon his wish would come true).
