Chapter Fourteen

I see double, you?

Sirius was not happy to learn that Snivellus Snape, Bully, Stalker, and confirmed Death Eater had gotten away scot-free after the Voldemort War, and evidently was still ruining the prospective careers of Potions students.

He floo called Minister Fudge that same evening.

'Sirius, great to hear from you,' began Fudge in a jovial tone.
'I was planning to invite you to the Yule Ministry Ball, this saves me an Owl. Young Harold is invited as well, of course.'

'Thank you Cornelius, I will be happy to make an appearance,' Sirius replied. He had recently made a sizeable donation to the non-existing Widows of Aurors Fund, one of Fudge's many money laundering schemes.

'I am afraid I am calling you for something rather less pleasant. How much do you know about the Hogwarts situation?'

'Anything in particular my friend? Albus is still convinced you are not on the sight of the light, he really seems to dislike both you and our mutual friend Lucius,' Fudge said.

'Ah yes, that unpleasant bit. Harry told me that his Sorting had been... peculiar. Apparently Dumbledore was still expecting the Boy-who-lived to appear. No, I was meaning to ask you if had heard about the Potions teacher, Snape.'

'Well...' Fudge stalled. He knew Snape was a lousy teacher, and was probably responsible for there being so few Potions Students. But that also meant he had a good excuse not to increase the Auror Team sizes, and could find... creative ways to spend that part of the budget. Plus Lucius Malfoy had previously mentioned Snape was a family friend.

'There have been rumours sure,' he decided on answering, 'however you know I cannot directly intervene in the running of Hogwarts.'

'I was afraid of that Cornelius,' Sirius sighed. 'Can you do me a favour and do anything you can to try to reign him in some? Apparently Snape has been telling the same lies Dumbledore has, only even worse. Who knows, he may be trying to indoctrinate the students against you.'

Always deflect on another, one of the Marauder rules. Keep them paranoid and they will see enemies in every shadow, so you can go your own way.

'Yes, yes, that is troubling. Thank you for warning me Sirius.'

'It was my pleasure Cornelius. If we do not speak earlier, I will see you at Yuletide,' Sirius ended the call.
If England was powerless, it was time to go to a higher authority.

That Wednesday morning he had gone over to the office of his distant cousin Lima, the Magical Governor of Gibraltar.

'Edward, thanks for seeing me,' Sirius began in a clipped tone.

'Of course Sirius, I will always make time for family,' Lima answered. The elderly statesman (he had recently celebrated his eightieth birthday) thoughtfully stroked his beard, as he looked at his prospective successor. Sirius looked haggled, as if he had hardly slept.

'By the state I find you in, am I correct to assume young Harold has been in contact with you, and you did not like what you hear?'

'How did you – of course, you are an expert at reading people.' Sirius leaned back in the comfortable chair with a sigh.
'Dumbledore has lost his mind. Not only has he done nothing, nothing, to get rid of the insane Blood Cult in England, but now my son tells me that he still has a confirmed Death Eater on staff!'

'Ah, that would be one Severus Snape?' Lima had heard rumours about the Potions Professor even in Gibraltar.
'Sirius, how bad is it?'

'It's bad Edward, bad. Harry has had only one encounter with him so far, but from what he told me Snape is the same man he was back when he was actively fighting for Voldemort in the late '70s.
'Even if Harry is exaggerating much, and you know he is not much of a braggart, the picture he paints is not happy. Snape should not be allowed anywhere near decent folk.'

'I see, I see,' Lima was thinking, 'I take it you came to me, to see if I could take you along to tomorrow's ICW meeting then?'

'That would be perfect Edward. If you can arrange it so that I can speak to the Education Committee again, I may be able to do some good.'

'Your timing is excellent then cousin. Dumbledore has sent word he will not be at the next meeting, so we are free to tell the truth about him.
'I will once again raise my own concerns about our Chief Mugwump.'

And so a plan was made.

The next day Lima and Black flood to the secure reception hall in Geneva. The ICW had relocated there following the many European wars, as Muggle technology became increasingly dangerous. Geneva was a part of Switzerland, one of the small Muggle nations that seemed to manage to keep the peace. Switzerland was also a Magical nation, having broken off from the Holy Roman Empire before the Magical government fully separated from the Muggle one in the German states.

Sirius spectated the larger meeting, which was mainly about international cauldron bottom depths, until Lima introduced a motion to have Dumbledore's actions of the 1980s and afterwards inspected. He cited specific examples of corruption under Bagnold, including the Death Eater pardons.

'As our esteemed Mugwump was raised to the position of Chief Warlock in Britain by this time, I must question, Witches and Wizards, why did he not act?
'Albus Dumbledore is and was not a naïve man. He must have been able to foresee the consequences of not dealing with the insurgents after the War ended.
'Indeed, signals from Britain say that the Blood Cult is still widespread there.'

That got a good reaction. Blood Supremacy had been a fringe ideology in most countries, and was not a part of mainstream belief. Only the Magical Empires of Russia, China, and Nippon openly believed in it. The South American Viceroyalties, the Confederacy of Brasilia, the NAMC and MSAA, as well as most of the smaller Asian and European states, had all forsworn the ideology at some point.

'I must ask you, esteemed Heads of States, Ambassadors, Governors, and your Royal Highnesses, is that the sort of man we should be trusting as Supreme Mugwump?
'A man whose loyalties are split between this esteemed body, the sovereign state of Britain, and one of the great schools of our world?
'I call for a vote of dismissal and election of a new Mugwump!'

The uproar was enormous. Dumbledore had lost a lot of popularity over the past few years thanks to leaked info by Sirius and Lima, but never before had he been openly questioned like this. Alas Russia used its veto, and the motion was shelved.

After a less invigorating session on whether or not the Veela Nation should be granted spectator rights at the ICW or if the current status quo of them falling under French and Bulgarian authority should be maintained, the session ended for an extended lunch break.

Sirius made his way over to Wung Xiujing, the current head of the Educations Committee of the ICW. She was a Chinese woman in her thirties, who had been a teacher at the Imperial Academy for Magic in Nanjing for a few years now but had taken a sabbatical to take her current position. And, Sirius knew, was unmarried.

'Ms Wung?' Sirius gave a curt nod of the head to the woman as she indicated she was her, 'I believe Mr Lima has kindly requested you offer some of your time to hear one of my concerns?'

Wung nodded, and lead Sirius off to one of the smaller offices.
'Mr Black, I have heard about you. You are supposed to be one of the late British Dark Lord's closest followers, and at the same time one of his biggest enemies.
'Men such as you intrigue me. Please elaborate as to why you wished to speak to me.'

'Were this any other day madame, I would say I was captivated by your beauty,' Sirius smiled at her, then became serious, 'Alas I have come with great concerns for the state of education in Britain.'

That certainly got Wung's attention, 'Do speak up. Mugwump Dumbledore has been very reluctant to cooperate, after we forced the IGCSE prep on him.'

'Thank you. The primary concern is with the current only Potions teacher...'

Sirius spent a good half hour telling Wung about his own experiences with Snape, his proof that Snape had been an Inner Circle Death Eater, and recounted how Snape had interacted with an eleven-year old in his first week (Harry).

A good indicator of how angry Sirius was was that he did not try to further flirt with Wung following their meeting. Wung promised to look into the situation as soon as possible, and at that Sirius left.

He said his goodbyes to Lima, and flood back to Gibraltar. Another important discussion was coming up.

Sirius changed his clothes to a more dapper outfit, and took an international floo to the Ministry of Magic from Lima's office. Lima had given him permission for that day, normally it was quite prohibited.

From the Ministry, Sirius went to the Leaky Cauldron, where he found his date waiting for him.

'Rita Skeeter, looking as lovely as ever,' he laid on the charm, 'You are a brave woman, to be willing to talk with what was it again? You-know-who's right hand man?'

'Hah hah eh,' Rita spluttered nervously, 'I never believed that Sirius – I may call you Sirius?' she did not wait for a nod or reply but continued, finding her courage.
'It was just what my editor wished me to write at the time. You are a fascinating man, so little is known about you. Now tell me, why did you request this meeting hmm?'
She took out a notepad, and Quick-Quotes Quill.

'No need for those yet Rita,' Sirius pushed her quill away. Let me tell you a story about Dumbledore's youth, I am sure you'll find it rather interesting.'
Sirius began recounting the story that James Potter's former neighbour Bathilda Bagshot had once told him shortly after the Potters moved into the house in Godric's Hollow, about a young Dumbledore and his friendship with Bathilda's dear nephew Gellert...

Short chapter, I needed to get the politics out of the way quickly before I can go back to Harry. You'll get the next one later today or tomorrow, once I go over it again for a last pass.

Story recommendation: Muggledad's Partners, Story ID 5012016. One of the best Harry/Daphne stories on this site.