Harry Potter And The Great Getaway
Chapter 14: When All Else Fails, Tell The Truth
When Malfoy's owl arrived, Hermione magically copied the message so both could read it at once. And even in duplicate, it was equal parts fascinating and frustrating.
In the first part, he detailed precisely how he – with Harry's full knowledge and backing – not only take control of the full House Black empire, but coordinate it with House Malfoy's own diminished influence and build a power base that would wield tremendous but largely invisible power for whatever purposes it was turned.
In the second part, he described how Hermione would – while maintaining her position in the Department of Mysteries – would take on more and more of a public role, becoming a highly influential observer and, occasionally, influencer of events. She would keep her job until the powers that be had no choice but to offer her a leadership role where her comments would now have the force of law behind them.
In the third part, he described how Harry would withdraw more from every day events, but still on occasion make his own observations. He would put his backing behind largely non-political causes and issues, such as the care of orphans from the recent War, caring for those who were injured, and rehabilitating repentant Death Eaters. He would, subtly, reinforce just how much he had lost and sacrificed for Wizarding England without getting maudlin – the message would be a very quiet "this is what was taken from me, this is what I gave up, this is what I suffered, and I am willing to forgive in the name of healing these wounds." Never, ever put that explicitly, but the right people in the right places would say that for him.
In the fourth part, he outlined a theoretical campaign to illustrate how the three of them could work together to push a political cause. Hermione would propose outlawing the left-handed wielding of wands. Malfoy would at first resist it, then gradually give ground while wresting compromises from Hermione. In the end, with Harry coordinating between the two, the measure would pass the Wizengamot and the left-handed usage of wands would be illegal.
Hermione looked up at Harry. "Damn him. This is the most infuriating document I've ever read."
Harry nodded. "I know. What is this codswallop about left-handed wand-wielding? It' totally ridiculous!"
Hermione shook her head. "That's exactly its point, Harry – to be pointless. Malfoy spent pages upon pages showing exactly how we can build a tremendous political power base, with which we could achieve a great deal of good – or cause a great deal of harm. Then, when it comes to giving an example of how it would work, instead of giving us a hint of what he intends to do, he fabricates this complete absurdity that tells us nothing of his intentions." She slapped the table in frustration. "He knows that the one question we want answered more than anything – just why he's doing this, and what he wants to achieve – and refuses to tell us."
Harry nodded. "Perhaps because we haven't actually asked it?"
Hermione chewed her lip. "That's certainly part of it. But we can't just ask it – how could we trust any answer he gave us? What way would we have to know if he's telling us the truth?"
"There's always Veritaserum..."
She shook her head. "That would be worse than useless here. The kind of relationship Malfoy is proposing here requires a trust at a fundamental level, where we simply can't question each other's honesty. To even suggest using Veritaserum is to say that, at a basic level, we can't trust him to deal honestly with us without force. And even if we were to offer to take it ourselves, it still represents a level of distrust that would poison all future dealings." She sighed. "And we can't simply slip it to him without his knowledge. That would be a betrayal of trust that would almost certainly come out, and virtually guarantee the betrayal we fear – and we'd deserve it. For all we know, he doses himself with something that reacts to Veritaserum before each meeting with you just to make sure it doesn't happen, and then we have shown our willingness to betray him."
Harry nodded slowly. Then, after a long moment, he looked up. "Hang on, I have a thought. Let's go over that first part again, where he talks about how he'll build up his own power base. I think I see something we can use."
"What do you have in mind?"
"The part where he talks about coordinating the powers of House Black and House Malfoy. He very carefully keeps them separate, never talking about merging them or uniting them, merely coordinating them. What if I were to take your seneschal idea and propose it to him as a way of formally giving him the authority he needs to pull it off?"
Hermione smiled. "That just might do it. It'll give him what he is asking for, but at the same time denying him something that he isn't asking for – but might really be after. Seeing how he reacts to that could give us a great deal of insight into what his real intentions are."
"I'll Owl him back and suggest a meeting."
HP HP HP HP HP
Harry strolled into the Black office with a forced sense of calm, documents clenched in his hands. "Malfoy. Glad you could make the time for me."
"Considering what we're discussing, Potter, you know you virtually have me at your beck and call." He gestured to the seat. "Now, what is this idea you have?"
"I've been considering the part of the plan where you coordinate the two Houses, and how you would exercise the authority you'd need over House Black. I very well could simply say that you're acting in my name and have my trust, but I think we could go one step better and formalize it. What would you say to my formally naming you my seneschal for House Black?"
Malfoy's face froze for a long moment, then he spoke coldly. "I think, Potter, that the time for games is over, and that we both lay our cards on the table. All our cards. And we should start by bringing Granger here as well."
"Hermione? What's she got to do with this?"
"Don't take me for a fool, Potter. The very reason you came to me in the first place is because I know this game far, far better than you or Granger. I've known for some time that my dealings with you have been really with the both of you, with her remaining out of sight as much as possible. This seneschal plan has her swotty fingerprints all over it. I am suggesting that, instead of you giving her a full rundown of what we discuss here and then plot your next move, we simplify matters and bring her here now and avoid any unnecessary confusion."
"I'm not sure she's available right now..."
Malfoy took a single Galleon out of his desk. "I will wager this that at this very moment she is safely ensconced at Grimmauld Place, impatiently awaiting your return to properly debrief you and analyze my reaction to your seneschal ploy. And I am being so blatant about this because I want there to be no question that I understand what you're doing, what you've been doing, and what you fear most about it. So the time has come to set aside all pretenses, by all parties, and actually do some real work."