Chapter 10 – Change Is In The Air
Ministry Standoff In Diagon Alley
By: Rita Skeeter
As the last shops were closing late Halloween night, activity in the magical shopping district really began to pick up when our very own Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, arrived with six aurors to contest the recent arrest and prisoner transfer of Gregory Nott, who was being accused of illegally obtaining funds from the Hogwarts school account. Unfortunately for the Minister and his aurors, Madam Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was waiting in front of Gringotts along with over a dozen of her own aurors, including famed auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, and a representative of the goblin nation who refused to give his name.
Minister Fudge demanded that Madam Bones and her aurors step aside and allow him and his selection of aurors into the bank to free Gregory Nott, who Fudge said was being held unjustly before an innocent man was murdered. Madam Bones refused, stating that if Minister Fudge and his aurors stepped one foot into the bank with their current plans in mind, the goblin nation would view that as an act of war, dissolving the treaty that has been in place since the 1700's, to which the goblin on the scene confirmed would happen and said that the blame for a war between the goblin nation and wizarding Britain, if not the world, would fall squarely on his head.
"That is if it still remains on your shoulders if Chief Ragnok allows you to keep it after a surely bloody and violent war," added the goblin with a frighteningly nasty smile.
It was only after a tense few minutes that the few onlookers still around at the time said felt like hours finally ended with the Minister and his aurors standing down and returning to the Ministry.
The question I must ask, my faithful readers, is why our dear Minister was willing to risk a war against the goblin nation over a single wizard. A wizard where there was sufficient evidence of his guilt on file both at the Ministry and at Gringotts bank. I must also ask if a man that overlooks the facts in front of him is trustworthy enough to lead the people of wizarding Britain.
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Lucius Malfoy crumpled up the special edition of the Daily Prophet before throwing it into the fire in his private study.
"Incompetent fool," Lucius growled as he stormed over to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink, despite it being early in the morning. He downed the drink quickly, feeling it burn his throat as he did, before he started pacing back and forth. Lucius knew things would not end well with this. Not when so many negative aspects of what he had planed to do would result in if this was brought to light.
This left Lucius with one of two options. Stand by the Minister's side and try to salvage what he could of the situation, or distance himself as much as possible and leave the man to his fate.
"Fuck him," Lucius said. He would just have to make sure that whoever was elected to replace Fudge was as big a fool so he could easily manipulate them. And if not… Well, accidents did happen all the time.
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SH-THUNK!
The head of Gregory Nott rolled across the stone floor of one of the inner chambers hidden deep within Gringotts bank. Far deeper down than the high security vaults guarded by the dragon.
"The sentence has been carried out," said Chief Ragnok of the goblin nation. "Let the record show that the human once known as Gregory Nott has paid for his crime by decapitation, as decided by the ruling council of the goblin nation. And send a copy to the human Ministry for their own records as well."
"And his vault?" asked Morthok.
"Reclaim all that was taken and return it to the Hogwarts vault, as it is rightfully their money," said Ragnok. "Plus twenty percent for ourselves as payment for his crime. The rest will be handed over to his surviving kin. After all, we are not monsters, despite what some wizards may think of us."
"And him?" asked Forktooth. "Shall we display his head on a pike out front of the bank as a warning to any other that might wish to steal from us?"
Ragnok stared at the headless corpse for a moment.
"No," he finally said. "That shall not be necessary. Word shall spread of his death soon enough. Plus, humans are weak of stomach. The sight of a head might turn business away, and that is not profitable for us… Feed him to Glenda. I'm sure she would appreciate a treat that isn't the usual herd of cattle that she usually feasts on."
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Quirrell sat curled up in the corner of his private quarters, shaking and cowering in fear from an attacker he could not escape.
The Dark Lord had been most displeased at Quirrell's failure to kill Harry Potter the previous night, so much that he spent hour after hour manipulating the nervous system in his body to simulate the cruciatus curse on the man. Each time he did so, he would stop just before reaching the point where his mind would break from the pain and allow him a brief moment of respite before starting all over again, for the most feared dark wizard does not suffer fools, nor failure lightly.
Finally, when the sun started to rise that morning, Voldemort put an end to his punishment of the man, saying that he hoped he learned his lesson and did not disappoint him again.
The Dark Lord's anger returned shortly after that with the arrival of the Daily Prophet, which resulted in another hour long round of torture for his puppet before he started to feel his essence start to grow weak yet once more and ordered Quirrell back into the Forbidden Forest to drink fresh unicorn blood before anyone else in the castle awoke and discovered him.
And now Quirrell sat huddled in the corner, feeling slightly ill after drinking three pints of unicorn blood, though not as bad as he had felt that very first time.
"We must change our plans," Voldemort said from the back of Quirrell's bald head. "The boy is more powerful than I first believed. Simple tricks and traps will not be enough to kill him… No… I must be at full strength in order to do this myself… I must have the stone, and soon."
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Severus Snape ascended the stairs that led to Dumbledore's office, wondering what the Headmaster needed to see him about so urgently that morning.
Snape had just woken up when one of the school house elves popped into his private room and told him that his presence was requested by the Headmaster before popping away.
So after slicking back his hair and putting on a clean set of black robes, Snape made the long trek up from the deepest part of the dungeons where he lived, up to the second floor entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"Come in Severus," Dumbledore said just as Snape was lifting his hand to knock on the wooden door.
Snape opened the door and seemed to glide into the room by the way his robes flowed behind him as he walked.
"You wished to speak with me?" Snape asked.
"I did," Dumbledore said, sounding quite tired due to the fact that he had not slept at all the previous night. "Please, have a seat."
Snape sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the wizard sitting across from him, who had conjured a kettle along with a couple of cups and was making a pot of tea for the both of them.
"You still take two sugars, yes?" asked Dumbledore, and Snape nodded.
Dumbledore handed the potions master a cup of tea before sitting back and taking a sip of his own cup.
"I have had a very long night last night," Dumbledore finally said. "First the incident with the trolls. Parents wanting to know that their children are alright. And then early this morning I received an owl from the International Confederation of Wizards in regards to the competency of our Minister, who it would seem that last night he and a small selection of aurors had planed to raid Gringotts in some attempt at rescuing a prisoner that had been caught stealing from the goblins, and also came close to starting a new war with the goblins as well if he had not turned away when confronted by the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement… Suffice to say, things will be very hectic around the Ministry till the beginning of the new year since it would seem that the Minister will be forced out of office and a new Minister will need to be selected. And as head of the Wizengamot, that means I shall be quite busy as well. Which brings me as to why I have summoned you here this morning. I want to get this problem cleared up as quickly as possible."
"Problem?" asked Snape. "What problem?"
"Last night, Andromeda Tonks came to see me about Harry," Dumbledore said. "Not surprising, considering what had happened last night."
"You mean how the idiot child nearly killed himself by standing there like a fool?" asked Snape. "Not to mention causing damage to the school."
Dumbledore sighed slightly, seeing that perhaps what Andromeda had mentioned was correct.
"What happened last night was no more Harry's fault that it was yours," said Dumbledore. "The young boy was obviously stricken with fear at the sight of the troll, and as for the spell, it was nothing more than accidental magic caused by that fear… No, what I am talking about are the accusations of your attitude towards him in your class."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Snape. "I treat Potter no differently than any other incompetent student that wastes my time."
"Right there," Dumbledore said, "what you just said about your students leads me to believe that some of what I have been told is in fact true."
"The brat is incompetent with no idea how to brew a simple potion," spat Snape.
"He is a first year student that grew up with no knowledge of our world till only a month before coming here to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "Of course he does not know what he is doing. It is your responsibility as a professor to instruct and educate him."
"I've tried," said Snape. "He refuses to listen and instead wastes my time."
Dumbledore slowly nodded his head for a moment before he pulled out a sheet of parchment that Andromeda had given him.
"I have here a list of complaints from Andromeda in regards to your actions and behavior towards Harry," said Dumbledore. "The first on this list is that when you took role for the very first class Harry was in, you singled him out as a celebrity."
"Just to take some of the wind out of his sail," said Snape. "I overheard him bragging about how great it was to be him and loved by everyone. I did nothing more than to remind him that he will not be treated special just because of who he is."
"Harry has never once asked for any kind of special treatment since I first met him," said Dumbledore. "In fact, from what I have observed and what his head of house has kept me informed on is that he is quite uncomfortable when anyone makes a big deal about who he is."
"Then obviously Professor Sprout has been blinded to the truth," said Snape. "Probably she is still in awe that her house, known for taking in the castoffs of the wizarding world, has someone that is actually known for something. Which I still doubt he had anything to do with the fall of the Dark Lord."
Dumbledore stared at Snape for a moment before deciding to continue.
"Another complaint is that you asked him questions beyond first year knowledge during his first class," said the Headmaster.
"I simply wished to gauge the knowledge base of the class," said Snape. "To know what I would be dealing with and to see if perhaps if any of them might be predisposed of the gift that is the art of potion making."
"I see," said Dumbledore. "I would commend you for that if the complaint did not also state that you ignored other students trying to answer the questions and singled Harry out in answering them."
"Does it also make mention of how when he failed to answer my questions that he insulted me?" asked Snape. "Of course not, because it would be a shame if Saint Potter was viewed by anyone in a negative light."
"Actually, it does mention that he made a remark about your hair," said Dumbledore, seeing the slightly surprised look on Snape's face. "Which was in response to you insulting him by asking if he was too incompetent to tie his own shoes. While I do disagree with how Harry reacted, it is not surprising in the least. He is still a child after all, and children will sometimes act out when confronted as the way you were doing. However, since it also states that you deducted points for his comment and his family is not contesting that, we shall move on."
"What else are they claiming I have done?" asked Snape, who was starting to grow rather annoyed.
"They bring up the issue of safety in your class," said Dumbledore. "On multiple occasions, cauldrons have exploded in your classroom. Three of them have been Harry's."
"I cannot be held responsible if they refuse to pay attention to the directions," said Snape.
"Which brings up their biggest complaint," said Dumbledore. "That you do not actually teach the class, and in fact only put directions of how to brew the potion on the board and expect them to brew it perfectly without any further instruction."
"And?" asked Snape, not seeing the problem.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair and let out a sigh as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose before putting his half moon spectacles back on. He stared at the man sitting across from him for a few moments, gathering his thoughts and decided to ask the question that had been on his mind since Andromeda had brought this to his attention.
"Tell me Severus, how do you feel about James Potter?" asked Dumbledore.
Snape sneered for a moment and said, "I detest the man. He was nothing but a pain in my backside for the seven years we were in school together. It is his fault that Lily turned on me."
"Did she" Dumbledore asked. "Because I do remember hearing about an incident during your fifth year that leads me to believe you turned against her."
"I was stupid and let my anger get the better of me and said something I shouldn't have," said Snape. "But that was also because of Potter's fault. Humiliating me like that in front of everyone. It was because of him she was no longer my friend."
"Was it?" asked Dumbledore. "Remember, there is not much that happens within these walls that I do not eventually learn about. And I remember one of the paintings telling me of how a few days latter that Lily had decided to talk to you and forgive you for what had happened and how you were the one that walked away from her, saying that you didn't need someone like her as a friend. That you had made better… Purer friends… That was when you fully turned to the dark, wasn't it?"
"My choices in my past are just that," said Snape. "The past. I am no longer that man."
"And yet you let the past cloud your judgment about Harry because of who his father is," said Dumbledore. "I am not completely blind to how you behave in your class. I know that you prefer the stick to the carrot, as it were. But I have never seen you go out of your way to treat a student badly such as you have with Harry. Hasn't the boy suffered enough by your actions in the past that you cannot let him be?"
"You still hold that over my head?" asked Snape.
"You cannot escape from your past sins," said Dumbledore. "No matter how far you try to run from them."
"I didn't know he would go after them," said Snape. "That he would kill her."
"I know you didn't," Dumbledore said. "But unknowingly or not, you played a part in the life Harry was forced to live from that night forward. You are partly responsible for the person Harry has grown up to be. However, he is not the person you claim him to be."
"He is an insufferable brat," spat Snape. "Just like his father. Why am I the only one able to see it?"
"Because that is how you choose to see him," said Dumbledore. "You do not choose to see Harry, but instead you choose to see his father when everyone else says that they see more of his mother in him than anything else. And in many ways, he is like neither of them. The fact that he was sorted into Hufflepuff should be proof enough that Harry has grown into his own person and not just a copy of his parents."
"You can spout the gossip of the great Harry Potter all you want," said Snape. "I know the truth about that boy, and nothing will change how I feel about him."
Dumbledore sighed once again. He had hoped that he could talk some reason into the man, but it was obvious that he would hold onto the past until his dying breath.
"Very well," Dumbledore said. "You leave me with no choice in this matter than to place you on probation."
"WHAT?!" shouted Snape as he jumped to his feet.
"The school rules require me to give you thirty days to change your ways," said Dumbledore. "If it had been up to Mrs. Tonks, you would have been fired immediately. However, I have convinced her to allow you the chance to change."
"You cannot be serious?" asked Snape, who could not believe that this was happening.
"During your probationary period, myself or another professor will be present during all of your classes," Dumbledore continued. "You will be held to the rules the founders set forth in regards to the behavior of Hogwarts professors. All points that you give and deduct will be reviewed as well to ensure that they have been fairly given, as will all punishments."
"So I can no longer assign detention?" asked Snape.
"You may, as long as it is deserved," said Dumbledore. "I wish I did not have to do this Severus, but after talking to you, I can see that perhaps a small part of you still clings onto the man you used to be… Now, if you will excuse me. I must talk to Minerva about the coming month as I am sure with the situation at the Ministry, I will be gone from the castle quite often in my role as Chief Warlock."
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Harry stopped dead in his tracks just a few feet shy of the entrance to the Great Hall, where he could hear the loud conversations of the student within. It took his friends a second to notice that Harry has stopped.
"Something wrong?" asked Hannah. "Because I'm starving this morning since I didn't have much of an appetite last night and didn't eat."
"I don't know if I can do this," said Harry. "I mean… After last night, they must all think I'm a bit of a freak."
"Who cares what they think," said Susan. "Besides, if anyone keeps bothering you about it, I'll kick them in the shin."
"Me too," said Hannah.
"And I'll inform one of the professors that you are being harassed," Hermione added.
They all looked at Neville, who shied away a bit at being under everyone's gaze before he took a deep breath and said, "I'll have your back."
Harry could tell that it had taken a lot for Neville to say that, knowing how nervous and shy the boy was, and that gave Harry strength as well.
"Okay," Harry said, nodding his head. "Let's go eat."
However, as Harry and his friends entered the Great Hall, it would have seemed that they had been worried for no reason as no one paid them any more attention than usual.
"This is weirding me out a bit," said Harry as they sat down at the Hufflepuff table. "I expected everyone to stop talking and stare at me when I walked in. Instead, they're all acting like I don't exist."
"It does seem a bit odd," Hermione said as she looked around and noticed most of the students had copies of the morning paper with them.
"Bloody hell," Hannah said when she picked up a paper on the table nearby.
"Language," Hermione scolded before Hannah showed them all the headline on the front page.
"Bloody hell," Hermione quietly said after she finished reading the article.
"What was the Minister thinking?" asked Neville.
"He never does," Susan said. "Or, at least that's what my auntie says about him. He never does anything, big or small, without consulting someone first. Usually it's Professor Dumbledore, but I doubt that he would have given the Minister advice that could lead to a war with the goblins."
"Maybe it was a friend of that Nott guy," Harry said. "Wait, isn't there a Nott in our year?"
"Yes," said Hermione. "He's in Slytherin."
They all turned to look at the Slytherin table and saw the young boy they were looking for being consoled by a few of his fellow house mates while others seemed to look quite upset about what they had read in the paper.
"While I feel bad for what happened to Nott's dad," said Harry, "as I kind of know how he must be feeling. Though, maybe not as much as I never really knew my parents. Still, a part of me is a little grateful about what happened as it means that I'm not the center of attention… That makes me sound like a bad person, doesn't it?"
"No, of course not," Hermione was quickly to assure him. "Besides, as you said, you feel bad for him."
"Plus, it's not his death that is what is distracting everyone," added Susan. "It was the Minister's actions last night."
"Exactly," said Hermione. "Since I actually stay awake during History of Magic…"
Everyone looked a little guilty as she said that since none of them had yet managed to remain awake through one of Professor Binns' lectures.
"… not to mention that I've already read the entire history book, I know how brutal a war with the goblins can be. Though, perhaps the book is a bit biased as it was written by a wizard, and history is always written by the victors of war who can paint the picture of the enemy in any light that they wish."
"No, the books about the goblin war is pretty accurate," said Hannah after she swallowed a mouthful of waffles. "They can be quite vicious when given reason to be. And stealing gold from them is a good reason for them to pull a Queen of Hearts."
"Queen of who?" asked Neville.
"The Queen of Hearts is a character from a book," said Hermione. "She had a tendency to have people she didn't like or felt that they didn't respect her enough, or just because she was bored, to have their heads chopped off by proclaiming, 'Off with their head'."
"I remember my cousin watching a cartoon movie about that," said Harry. "It was called, 'Alice in…' something. I never really got a chance to see it."
"Alice in Wonderland," Hermione said. "It was a Disney movie. Back during the time that movie came out, they had a tendency to make movies that always had some scene that would surely disturb children… Like Bambi."
Hermione started to get a little misty eyed as she thought about that movie with the little deer in it before she shook her head to try and get rid of the bad images it left her with.
"Old Yeller was the worst," Hannah said, her shoulders slumping at the memory of the film.
"Do either of you know what they are talking about?" Susan asked Harry and Neville, both of whom shook their heads no.
"Hope that you never do, because they are very sad movies," Hermione said as Hannah wiped the tears from her eyes on the sleeve of her robe.
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Minister Cornelius Fudge sat slumped in his office chair, his hands over his ears as countless Howlers shouted at him all at once. And while it was hard to discern what one was saying over the other, he was able to pick out a few choice words such as imbecile, moron, buffoon, incompetent, stupid, prat, git, and a few more colorful words that one usually does not say in the presence of polite company or children.
To make matters worse, he had just received a return owl to the one he had sent Lucius that morning after reading the story in the Daily Prophet, and it was not what he had expected at all.
In the letter, Lucius made it quite clear that he had no intention of helping Fudge to worm his way out of the mess he had made, and that if he even tried to implicate him as being involved in any way, that he had evidence that would ruin Fudge for the rest of his life and possibly even see him sent to Azkaban. And even if he did not care about his own future, he had countless friends that would testify that he had been within their company during the time he was talking to the Minister, making it look like the last desperate act of a man trying to find someone else to blame for his mistake.
Of course, Fudge could have used that letter as proof, had it not been charmed to dissolve within minutes after it had been delivered.
Lucius Malfoy could be called many things, but an idiot was not one of them. He had not avoided Azkaban after the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by being a fool. He had made all sorts of plans and back up plans for any eventuality that took place in order to cover his own ass.
And so it was that Cornelius Fudge was left floating down the river alone and without a paddle. The ICW was calling for his dismissal from office, and things within Britain weren't much better due to the article that Rita Skeeter had written, which was proven by the countless letters and Howlers that were slowly filling his office.
Finally, when he could no longer stand the constant chaos of the Howlers yelling at him, Fudge started snatching as many as he could into his arms and started throwing them into the fire in his fireplace.
This was how Amelia Bones found him when she walked into his office, rushing back and forth between his desk and fireplace.
"I do hope that none of that is incriminating evidence," she said over the noise of the Howlers.
Fudge jumped in surprise, dropping an armful of letters.
"What?" he said. "No. Of course not. How dare you insinuate that I would be up to anything illegal."
"Well after last night, oh for heavens sake, finite," Amelia said as she pulled out and waved her wand, causing all of the Howlers to go silent and drop to the floor.
"Much better," she said as she put her wand away.
Fudge straitened himself and said, "I would have done that myself, but I felt it best to listen to the complaints of the witches and wizards of Britain."
"Of course you did," said Amelia, though she was not buying his claim for a second, as she knew that he was a pretty poor wizard, just barely managing to pass the core classes during his N.E.W.T. year.
"Anyways, the reason I am here is to inform you that the Wizengamot will require your presence this afternoon at one to hear your side of the story of the events of last night," said Amelia.
"They aren't wasting any time on this, are they?" Fudge asked as he sat down behind his desk.
"Honestly, Cornelius, can you blame them?" asked Amelia. "You nearly started a war with the goblins for Merlin's sake. It's only been ten years since the war ended against You-Know-Who and his followers, and we've finally been able to get things back to the way they used to be before that war started last year. Not to mention that because of your refusal to increase the budget in my department, there would have been no way that anyone in Magical Law Enforcement would have been able to stand up against the goblins for long. It would have been days, a week at the most, before the Ministry fell to them. Not to mention that our entire financial economy is held in their hands. You risked the entire well being of all of magical Britain last night."
"You think I don't know that?" Fudge nearly shouted.
"Then why did you do it?" asked Amelia, who was really curious as to why he would have risked it all.
"It's not important," said Fudge as Lucius' threat echoed inside his mind. "Now, if you shall excuse me, there are things that I must do before the meeting later today."
Fudge pretended to make himself look busy and Amelia sighed internally as she watched the man completely dismiss the obvious help she was offering him before she turned and left the office.
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Snape fumed as he took stock of his potion supplies, something he always did whenever he was upset. Since the beginning of the school year, Snape had gone through his potion supplies more than a dozen times, and it was all Potter's fault. Every time he saw the young wizard, Snape could feel the hatred well up inside him to the point where he wanted nothing more than to curse that cocky smile right off of James' face. But of course, he couldn't do that, as it was unbecoming of a Hogwarts professor.
Snape growled as he replayed his meeting with Dumbledore over in him mind. The man had practically treated him like an impudent child. The probation was ludicrous in his mind. He had done nothing wrong. But Potter had whined like a little child about how life was unfair and the world bowed down before him and gave him what he wanted. And now because of it, Snape would be watched over by others in the same way he deals with the incompetent students he was forced to teach year after year. With a judging eye just waiting for the tiniest of slip ups so he could swoop down upon them and point out just how worthless they really are.
"I'll show them," Snape said to himself. "I will show them all that Potter is nothing more than a spoiled little brat that is manipulating all of them. I'll do as the Headmaster said. I will be nice and ignore the boy, who will foolishly let his guard down. And then, when he least expects it, I will catch him in the act and everyone will see just how rotten he truly is."
The potion master allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he continued to sort through his potion ingredients and dreamed of the day when he would no longer have to deal with Harry Potter.
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It was just after one in the afternoon when the Wizengamot met up inside of courtroom ten.
"I call to order this special emergency session of the Wizengamot to discuss the recent actions of our current Minster for Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, with I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore presiding over this session in my role as Chief Warlock. I now ask that all members currently here identify themselves along with their position in the Ministry if applicable for the record."
"Madam Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Lady Augusta Longbottom."
"Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minster for Magic."
"Bartemius Crouch Sr., Department of International Magical Cooperation."
"Elphias Doge."
"Tiberius Ogden."
"Madam Griselda Marchbanks. Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority."
"Very good," Dumbledore said. "Now, as I said, we are here to…"
Dumbledore stopped talking when the door to the courtroom opened and a woman walked in.
"Pardon my lateness," the woman said. "I am afraid I was delayed trying to make my way through the chaos the press gathering in the Atrium is causing."
Everyone looked at each other slightly confused.
"Mrs. Malfoy, your presence here was not requested," Dumbledore said. "This is a closed meeting."
"To which I shall be a part of," Narcissa Malfoy said. "The Black family has a seat on the Wizengamot, and as I am the only one with Black blood that is currently not deceased or imprisoned, in this time of need. And I dare say that the current situation with Minister Fudge falls under that heading, does it not?"
"It does," Dumbledore said. "My apologies. Rarely has the Black seat been filled during these past ten years that I tend to forget it is still active."
"Accepted," Narcissa said as she joined the rest of the members of the Wizengamot.
Fudge paled slightly when he saw the look Narcissa gave him. It was obvious to him that she had been sent there by her husband to ensure he kept him mouth shut.
"Where were we?" asked Dumbledore. "Ah yes… We are gathered here today to discuss the recent actions of our current Minister for Magic and to decide if vote of no confidence needs to be held in regards to his actions. Minister Fudge, do you have anything to say on your behalf before we begin?"
Fudge stood up from his seat and looked around at all the faces of the members of the Wizengamot. Some of them looked less than pleased with him.
"Last night I acted in what at the time I believed to be in the best interest of wizarding Britain," Fudge said. "Unfortunately, I did not have all of the facts and did not know that Gregory Nott was guilty of stealing funds from the Hogwarts account, and thus from the goblins themselves. Had I known, I would not have taken the actions that I did last night."
"Minister Fudge, may I ask from whom you received your information?" asked Amelia.
Fudge looked at Narcissa for a brief moment before saying, "It came by an anonymous owl."
"So it was not Lucius Malfoy who told you about it?" asked Amelia.
"No," said Fudge. "O-of course not."
"I object to you trying to implicate my husband in what happened," said Narcissa.
"I mean no offence," Amelia said. "I just find it odd that Lucius had visited the Minister shortly before this happened, and seeming quite upset at the time when he did."
"And just where did you hear that from?" asked Narcissa.
"From the Minister's secretary," Amelia said. "When I questioned her this morning to see if she might have noticed any indication about what would happen."
"Madam Bones, I am afraid that Amanda, the Minister's former secretary, cannot be trusted," Umbridge said. "She has made… Passes at the Minister in the past. Any statement she has made could very well be viewed as personal retribution for his refusal to accept her in the way she desired. In fact, I was forced to let her go just before coming to this meeting when I found her looking through the Minister's personal items in his office."
"I see," said Amelia. "However, her statement was in regards to Mr. Malfoy, not the Minister. So unless she made any flirtatious advancements towards him, I do not see the point of bringing that up unless you wish to distract the Wizengamot from the facts."
Umbridge smiled sweetly at Amelia and said, "Of course not."
"Very good," Amelia said. "So, Minister… What was the nature of your meeting with Mr. Malfoy last night?"
"He was upset," Fudge said.
"Yes, I covered that," said Amelia. "The question is why."
"I… He, um…" Fudge stammered as he glanced at Narcissa again, who arched her eyebrow at him. "I had cancelled dinner with him last night."
"Dinner?" asked Amelia.
"Yes," said Fudge. "My wife and I were to celebrate Halloween with him and his wife, along with a few others. However, I was tired from such a long day at work that I canceled at the last moment, which is why he was upset."
"I can confirm what the Minister is saying," Narcissa said. "My husband and I had planned a perfect evening to celebrate not only Halloween, but also the anniversary of the fall of You-Know-Who. Money had been spent expecting a certain number of guests. Recently, a few of our personal investments have not brought us the returns we expected, so when my husband found out that we had spent money that was not needed to be spent, he grew slightly agitated and went to speak to the Minister about it personally, as he prefers to talk to people face to face instead of just sending an owl since he finds it… Impersonal."
"I believe that settles that matter," Umbridge said with a sickening sweetness to her voice that made a few members of the Wizengamot internally cringe. "Shall we move on?"
"Very well," Amelia said after a moment.
"Minister Fudge," Bartemius said as he stood up. "May I ask why you felt it a good idea to take six armed aurors to Gringotts?"
"As I said, I thought they were holding an innocent man," said Fudge.
"Did you not receive the notice posted by the auror department three hours before you took the actions that you did?" asked Bartemius. "I know that my department received it."
"I get so many notices throughout the day," said Fudge. "Hundreds of them from all different departments. It is possible that I missed it."
"That would be my fault, actually," said Umbridge. "All notifications to the Minister come through my office so I can go through them and dismiss the ones that are above his concern. I may have accidentally tossed it aside."
"Above his concern?" asked Madam Marchbanks. "He is the Minister for Magic. Nothing that happens within the Ministry is above his concern. That is why the notifications are sent to his office. So he can be kept up to date on everything that is happening."
"As I said, it was a mistake," said Umbridge.
"One that nearly sent us to war," Madam Marchbanks nearly shouted.
"But we didn't go to war," Umbridge said sweetly, though deep down she wanted nothing more than to pull her wand on the old woman for raising her voice at her. "Besides, the goblins know their place is beneath us and would never stand a chance against our forces."
"Well, considering that the Minister has refused to increase the budget of my department for a few years now, I fully disagree with you there," said Amelia. "In fact, had the Minister not stood down last night, I believe that most of the Ministry would be under goblin occupation right now, with us struggling to hold on to what little ground we could."
"Nonsense," said Umbridge. "They're nothing but filthy little creatures. We have magic on our side."
"You really are a fool if you believe that," said Augusta. "The goblins have a magic all their own. Not to mention that all goblins are trained to fight hand to hand from the day they learn to stand on their own two legs. Add to that the countless investments they have made over the centuries in mythril, which if you are to incompetent to understand what that means, is that they would wield weapons and wear armor that most magic would be unable to penetrate."
"I would be careful Lady Longbottom," said Umbridge. "Some of what you are saying could be mistaken as sedition."
"Only a fat, ignorant cow who is self deluded in her own worth would take what I mean as sedition," Augusta said.
Umbridge had a murderous look in her eyes as Dumbledore started to bang his gavel on the table in front of him.
"Ladies, ladies," he said. "Please… We are not here to argue and make accusations and to fling insults amongst ourselves."
"My apologies," said Augusta. "Ignorance and stupidity from others tends to bring out the worst in me."
"Very well," said Dumbledore. "Now, something Madam Bones mentioned has brought up another question. Why you have not increased the budget to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"
"I saw no need to," said Fudge, which was a lie. He had constantly turned down the requests at the advice Lucius had given him. He was starting to question the man's friendship at that moment.
"No need?" said Amelia. "I would like to point out that this year was the first year in the past three that we were able to hire new recruits for the aurors. And even then, only five of them. Yet the crime right in Knockturn Alley has risen nearly twenty percent during this same time period. Not to mention the severe increase in the black market trade of dark artifacts which are practically taking place right out in the open. However, my department cannot do a single thing about it because we did not have the budget."
"Minister, what do you have to say in regards to that?" asked Dumbledore.
"Increasing the budget and putting more aurors on the street would just cause people to panic," said Fudge.
"Aurors out there to make sure everyone is safe would not cause a panic," said Tiberius Ogden. "I know I would feel safer knowing that those trained to fight dark witches and wizards were out there, ready to deal with them."
"There is no threat of any dark witches and wizards out there," Fudge said with an air of superiority.
"There is always a threat of those that desire to practice the dark arts," said Dumbledore. "If there wasn't, then there would not only be no need for the aurors, but also for Defense Against the Dark Arts to be taught at Hogwarts."
"Poppycock," said Fudge, waving his hand dismissively.
Dumbledore sighed and looked around at the other members of the Wizengamot. Aside from Umbridge and Narcissa, no one really seemed to be pleased with the Minister's obvious refusal to believe that threats truly are out there.
Checking his watch, Dumbledore said, "As it is starting to grow late, I believe we shall end here for the day and reconvene tomorrow morning at ten sharp. Until then, this meeting is dismissed."
Dumbledore banged his gavel on the table in front of him and everyone stood up.
"I don't know why we are bothering to continue this tomorrow," Madam Marchbanks said as she walked over to Augusta Longbottom. "Based on what I have heard so far, I have no desire to see him remain as Minister for Magic."
"Neither do I," said Augusta. "However, you and I both know that there are protocols to follow in regards to this matter. If we don't, Cornelius could easily turn around and claim that he was not given a fair chance and end up remaining Minister till the end of his term. And by then, he could do enough damage control to be re-elected… No, I'd rather sit here and listen to his dig himself a deeper hole than rush things."
"You should show more respect when talking about our dear Minister," Umbridge said, who had been listening in on their conversation.
"And you should mind your own business," Augusta said. "Now be gone. I have no time to deal with spiteful and hate filled… Things, such as yourself."
"I would be very careful if I were you," Umbridge said in her false sweet tone. "You would not want me as an enemy."
"I'm not afraid of the likes of you," said Augusta. "I've dealt with far more foul things in my time."
"Perhaps," said Umbridge. "But what about your son and daughter-in-law?"
"You dare threaten my family?" Augusta said, reaching for her wand.
"Of course not," Umbridge smiled. "But accidents do happen."
And with that, the toad looking woman waddled out of the courtroom while Augusta used every ounce of her will power not the curse the bitch from behind.
OoOoOoOoOoO
Later that night after Fudge had returned home and was having a quiet dinner with his wife, due to her being upset and not talking to him, the front door burst open and three men wearing black robes and slightly broken skull shaped masks rushed into the house.
Mrs. Fudge screamed when she saw the intruders, and was quickly silenced when she was struck down by the killing curse.
"Please, don't hurt me," Fudge whimpered at the three Death Eaters surrounded him.
"You have become a liability," one of the Death Eaters said. "We know you will eventually crack under the questioning."
Fudge recognized the voice of the man speaking.
"Lucius?" he asked.
The man removed his mask and Lucius Malfoy gave him a very cold look.
"Yes, Cornelius," Lucius said. "It is I. I am a true follower of the dark."
"But… But you said…" Fudge stammered.
"That I was under the imperious curse?" asked Lucius, who then chuckled. "Nothing more than I lie myself and others concocted in order to avoid being sent to Azkaban. However, that is a secret of mine you shall take to your grave. AVADA KADAVRA!"
The jet of green light enveloped Fudge, ending his life instantly. Lucius then cast the fiend fire spell before he and his two accomplices left the house as it burned completely to the ground in a matter of minutes and they disapparated away.
OoOoOoOoOoO
A/N: Boy, was this a fun chapter to write.
Sorry for the lack of Harry in this chapter. I just needed to tie up the events from Halloween before I could continue. Harry will return to the focus in the next chapter.
Also, next chapter we'll be skipping forward a bit closer to just before the Christmas Holidays and also find out who the new Minister for Magic is. Want a clue? It's not Amelia Bones.