Chapter 7
Round and round the Mulberry bush, pt 2.
Disclaimer: Any resemblance to any real person or event is entirely coincidental. Except the Queen and Royal family who I am respectfully borrowing.
7 June 2006
Wizengamot Chamber Lobby
5 Minutes prior to the meeting
After reclaiming consciousness, Amos Diggory arose to behold the prophesized Lord of Azkaban. Rumors of the Lord of Azkaban had been circulating around the world for years. Less than scrupulous people had, over the years, attempt to claim the seat, or pretend to be the Lord. But those claims had always eventually been proven false. This was a common enough occurrence that groups of magical kids would send newbies out to find the Lord of Azkaban, much like their muggle counterparts would look for left-handed monkey wrenches.
What struck Amos, hard, was three pieces of evidence which obviously made this one look real. The first was that as the Warlock, he had received the official warrant from the goblins stating that the Lord had claimed his rights and was duly accorded them. Amos had known that his was coming, but he certainly didn't expect it soon. Things don't happen in the magical world very fast. The remainder of the executive, the office of the interim minister, and the best political experts at its disposal didn't believe they would from the Lord before the end of the session. They thought this mysterious new Lord wouldn't appear until the state opening of the Wizengamot next year.
In fact, the interim minister was so confused and unsure of what to do, that he had sworn everyone who knew to silence, including a reluctant Amos. Percy was busy trying to put the government back together and keep some semblance of order. It had been his intention to essentially take the rest of the remaining session as a form of grace period. He had intended on dealing with the Lord later, and at his own initiative, after having time to stabilize and strategize. Amos knew that if this man was the true Lord, he could easily end the organized magical society by causing chaos, with a government already walk a dangerous tightrope.
These concerns flooding his mind, a quick and poignant hope arose that this was a prank on Harry's part, but that was dashed with the knowledge that Ms. Granger's disdain and hostility for such things was legendary. Speaking of those two, they provided additional reason as to why this figure might be the true lord. Amos was never particularly close to Harry, but had heard of him from Cedric as an upstanding young man, if perhaps with a propensity for mischief and a knack for getting into trouble. Of course after the tournament, it was only natural for Amos to keep an eye on Harry, and he found nothing but good, even patience, especially while being slandered. Harry had also according to stories inherited his father unquenchable curiosity and love of mysteries. If Harry thought this young looking figure was the Lord of Azkaban, than it was more likely than not true. The final new reason Amos came to as to the sincerity of the supposed Lord, was but another character reference, who but Ms. Granger.
Even though Amos was a good guy and not your normal grubby and grasping politician, he could still think like one. Imagine his position, he had in effect earn a favor from Harry Potter, who had, in turn, to partially pay that debt had given his foreknowledge and warning about the Lord, as well as a personal recommendation for Amos to the person who could well reshape the world. Then the other thoughts, about prophesized Lords and not knowing what to do, and the like came back to hit Amos hard; followed closely by more political thoughts about how that unruly mob of a legislature would react to the new lord. Or the interim Minister. Or the Press. All this on top of concerns that Amos had no idea who was going to be elected minister in the wake of Fudge, as he had been unable to build a consensus among his own allies as to who should be elected minister. These complex thoughts of course elicited an equally dramatic response….
"…uh…huh?"
"Oh, right, the hood," said Azkaban as he started to pull it down. Azkaban was an individual not easy for the eye to welcome as a friend. He had cold grey eyes which held some warmth, but Amos shuddered to think of them were they not aimed on a friend. He had a high brow, manicured hands, an aristocratic cheek, a surprisingly full mouth with a very wry smile, and a small smooth nose. These all combined to have the effect of creating a face that could with little effort rival the arrogance and distance of the Malfoys, yet could easily be warm and friendly given the proper environ.
"Excuse me, Lord Azkaban, how would you like me to introduce you and Ms. Granger to the Wizengamot?" Amos stumbled to say.
"Mr. Diggory, right?...Mr. Diggory I hate to sound rude, and I appreciate our mutual friend Harry here introducing us, but I would prefer you to simply give me the floor and allow me to introduce myself, after you introduce and install Harry. Also, while formally we may need to uses titles, I would be honored if you would call me Bob."
"Amos, then Bob, Amos is my name. Well, Bob, let me congratulate you on your engagement to Ms. Granger. Speaking of, Ms. Granger, have you been holding out on us? How long have you known Bob? Have you guys set a date?..."
"Mr. Diggory," interjected Harry, "I hate to interrupt, but we do have a meeting shortly and I don't know anything about the Wizengamot. Bob, although being a lifelong neighbor to Hermione, has just recently graduated from an American magical boarding school and doesn't know that much about magical England. I don't suppose you could give us a crash course…?"
"Certainly, Gentlemen. The Wizengamot is a body of a 1000 votes. Although only roughly 400 people are in it. The wizarding peerage has five ranks. Dukes, Marquis, Earls, Viscounts, and finally Barons, each ranks carries certain privileges. Also each ranks has a number of votes. Dukes have 5 votes, Marquis have 4, and so on. But this only matters in hotly contested issues. Most issues are done informally in the "Committee of the Whole" which alters the rules significantly, especially in that while "in committee" each Wizengamot member has only one vote per seat. Of course this matters less to people like Bob here who simply have multiple seats. Only a few members have multiple seats personally, or in their immediate control, the Malfoys being a notable example. They have voted the Black seat, in addition to their own and one that they bought, since Sirius was sent to prison.
Normally we meet in the committee of the whole, which is also when we organize by party. There are 4 main party worthy of note. There are the liberals, the conservatives, labor, and finally the Muggle Unionists. Labor and the Liberals are natural allies and hold the ministry most of the time. The conservatives are usually the opposition, led by your friend Malfoy. I myself, was formerly associated with Labor, until I was elected, when I was required to renounce party affiliation, appoint a proxy for my seat, and become a neutral and respected statesman of sorts. In particular to your situation, as new members, picking a party is crucial and will affect you for the rest of your life. Most new members, unless they are children who have been strongly brainwashed and ascend to a seat, usually wait for 6 weeks while they are traditionally courted by each party. After that period they usually make a maiden speech on an issue important to them, and that is when they declare allegiance to a party. You may of course change party but it is a rare event, and one of note. Don't do it too often.
Finally, the last major thing that the Wizengamot does is its judicial function. Only members who have a duchy are allowed to sit as judges. The Minister and the Head of Magical Law enforcement direct the judicial panel much like a American Muggle Grand Jury. I have no control over that, as my function is strictly legislative. You, Bob, will have a seat in the court. Harry, you do as well, once you claim the Black seat, Proxies cannot vote in the court, but you may once you claim it. Your Potter seat is a Marquis seat, and not on the court."
"Complicated stuff," said Bob.
"Don't worry" heckled Harry, "Hermione will keep it, and you, straight."
Hermione, knowing she was being double teamed and was unable to do much about it simply blushed and sarcastically returned to Bob, "Oh, my strong man, having faith in me. I will reward you this evening."
Amos interjected at this point "Well the meeting starts soon. This meeting is unusual as we are meeting as lords today, i.e. not in committee. The reason of course is that we are selecting a minister today. Regretfully I have no idea who will prevail. While I nominally lead the body, and am entitled to freely lobby amongst all the members and parties, I have been unable to build a consensus between my own Labor party and the liberals. Certainly Malfoy has something devious in mind, but everything is up in the air."
