The Hundred Acre Wood
Disclaimer & Warnings: See chapter 1
Timeline: Thursday, August 1st, 1991, nearing noon
Chapter 21 – Best Laid Plans
"I found it Minister!" Dolores Umbridge crowed triumphantly as she waved the file over her head at Cornelius Fudge.
"It's about time," Fudge fumed as he quit his pacing. "And please Dolores, call me Cornelius. I apologize that I was rather short with you before – it was just stress."
"Quite all right Cornelius I understand completely. Why don't you sit down and I'll give you a shoulder massage to help you relax." Dolores Umbridge guided the Minister over to a chair and started to knead his muscles. "Isn't that better?"
"Ah… much. Now let's see what damage that muggle's made to our plans," Fudge said flipping open the file.
"Merlin! The idiot," Fudge muttered, getting angrier by the minute. "The stupid… brainless… asinine… muggle idiot."
"What is it Cornelius?"
"Dursley has practically destroyed ten years of hard work in one night."
"To be fair Cornelius… you just waited you didn't really do any of the work…" Dolores's voice trailed off as Fudge started to glare at her.
"As I was saying, that muggle's almost destroyed all I've worked for."
"Whatever did he do?"
"See for yourself," Fudge snorted holding out the document.
"Oh my… what does it mean?"
"It means that a bloody werewolf gets all my gold. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless Dursley hasn't completed consummating the contract. Hm… it may not be too late."
"You've said that twice now Cornelius. Just what do you mean by consummating the contract?"
"According to the slavery statute it's the final step in binding the slave permanently to his master. If you'd completely read the fine print of the statue you brought me, you'd know it already and I wouldn't have to take the time to explain it to you," Fudge said with exasperation.
"I do apologize, Cornelius, but I am curious. I thought that was what the slave collar we found in Borgin & Burkes shop in Knockturn Alley was to do. Wasn't the contract just to transfer ownership of the boy to you after he was trained?"
"The contract does much more than that Dolores. It works in conjunction with the collar. First, the contract must be enacted within the allotted time period, and then the collar is applied to brand the child as a slave. Then when the master finalizes the contract, the collar begins to meld around the slave's neck. Once the meld is complete, the collar is permanent and so is the contract. Until that time, with the correct spell it could be removed and the contract broken."
"I'm confused Cornelius, you gave Vernon Dursley the collar to put on the boy. Then isn't Dursley his master?"
"The mere act of putting on the collar didn't make Dursley his master. He was only his hired trainer until he did this…" Cornelius Fudge indicated the file in front of him with a sneer.
"Then how did you get Dursley to put the collar on him, if it wasn't to his benefit? The man arbours magic."
"Ha-ha! I told him it would prevent the boy from accessing his 'magical core', so he was all for it. Of course, it does nothing of the sort, that extra layer of wards took care of that."
"Then what was the purpose of our looking high and low for that collar?"
"The slave collar learns as the child's disciplined, what behaviours are acceptable for the slave and what are not, and what the punishment for unacceptable behaviour is. The 'rules' you might say. Once the contract is enacted, and the slave's bond complete, the collar will punish the slave appropriately for breaking any of the rules if the master isn't available to do so, or if he doesn't care to do it himself. The collar doesn't care who the master is, it only cares how the slave behaves. That's why it was so important for him to be trained to be totally submissive. So when I get him, he'll do anything I want without question. Back when slavery was widespread, there were camps where masters could send slaves to be trained. Why should the masters dirty their hands with the disgusting work if they could pay someone else to do it?"
"Then how did Dursley ruin it, if you can still take over as his master? All I see on the contract are some brown scribbles, and where someone wrote: 'one blanket, one book, and 2,500 pounds', in blue fountain ink."
"That's precisely how Dursley ruined it. The contract documents the slave bonding and requires the master to take the slave by force three times to completely meld the collar in place."
"Ick!… by force?… you mean…?" Dolores squealed cutting him off.
"I most certainly do," Fudge replied after a long pause.
"Cornelius… dare I ask it? You would do that? To a… boy? I mean… to have to be that close of contact with… ick… a child?"
"For that much gold, yes I would."
"But wouldn't the boy be able to identify you, if he was ever questioned about what happened?
"First, the collar wouldn't allow him to speak of it, and secondly you forget the polyjuice potion. It wouldn't be me he'd identify, but Dumbledore."
"Still, is it really… necessary?"
"The sexual act is the most lasting and binding. To ensure the slave bond's never broken, it's necessary. Moreover, until it the binding of the contract is complete, the slave can be released from it, if the life debt's paid in another way. Nevertheless, once the bond is complete, the slave is a slave for life - it's irrevocable. They can be sold to a new master, but they'll always remain a slave."
"But why three times? Surely once would be sufficient," Dolores said with a slightly revolted look on her face.
"It takes three times to complete the bond. In addition, each time, the collar must be activated by the master. The first time the slave turns over all his worldly goods to the master, the second time it enforces the slave's complete submission to the master's will, the third time seals him body and soul to his master and permanently welds the collar so that it can never be removed. The final binding transfers control of the slave's magic to his master, this way if the master dies so does the slave. This ensures the slave will never retaliate against the master."
"So when Dursley wrote on the contract 'one blanket, one book, and £2,500 pounds…" Dolores said hesitantly.
"Finally! You see the problem. That was the first binding, turning over all his possessions. I am assuming these brownish stains are where Dursley had Potter make his mark in blood to consent to it. The problem was that Dursley didn't know about the gold in Gringotts, he only listed the paltry sum in that debt ledger he's been keeping on the boy."
"But I don't understand…"
"Think woman! Think! I waited until Potter turned eleven. There was a reason for that! I could've enacted the contract at any time once the boy was adequately trained, but it was very important to be patient and wait. When the Potters were killed, and we had the child dumped in our lap, I had the department investigate the family's finances - as was our right so we could make claims to be reimbursed for any costs."
"And to make sure we weren't being saddled with a pauper," Dolores piped in.
"Right," Fudge said, giving her a look to squelch any further interruptions. "That was when I discovered just how much gold the Potter Estate had, and how the trust funds worked. The day the boy turned eleven the first vault that holds the Potter Educational Trust Fund became his to access. Ten years ago, it had over two million galleons in it. With interest, it's now probably closer to five million. Moreover, that's just the Trust Fund. There are over ten vaults in the Potter's holdings, the rest become available when he turns of age. However, until the boy turned eleven the only gold available was limited to what was actually spent on his care, which, according to Dursley wasn't that much, less than a pound a day. I couldn't keep a goldfish alive on that."
"Why didn't Dursley spend more then, if he would've been reimbursed for it?"
"Because I didn't tell him the gold was there. I only told him he'd be reimbursed for the bare necessities and if he got too extravagant, not even that. I'm no idiot! I didn't want him depleting the stores just to buy sweets for that fat son of his. Beside which, if he knew how much gold was involved do you really think he'd sell the boy to me?"
"So what you're saying is since the vaults weren't listed among the boy's worldly goods on the contract…"
"Gringotts will only pay out the £2,500 pounds withdrawal the boy authorized them to pay, by signing the contract, those squiggles you pointed out, and since the slave contract prevents the slave from owning any further worldly goods, the rest would go to the next beneficiary listed in the Potter's will."
"Lupin," Dolores breathed, her eyes narrowing at the thought of the werewolf that hadn't the decency to run for a different county or go into hiding with the rest of his misbegotten ilk.
"Yes, Remus Lupin. That is… unless Dursley hasn't acted on any of his… ahem… baser instincts."
"And if he has?"
"Then we'd better pray he didn't also enact the collar to seal the bonds. If he has, and has carried it through all three times, then while I can still buy the boy and then dispose of the muggle for causing all this trouble, I'll never get my hands on the gold. I really want that gold. I need that gold."
"And if he hasn't?"
"Then it might not be too late to amend this list. The goblins won't act on it until it's irrevocable. Let's go see what we can salvage out of this mess my dear," Fudge said as he strode pompously out of his office.
Dolores hurriedly followed close behind, stepping into the elevator with him to descend to the Atrium level. A bright pink haired girl ran smack into them as they stepped out of the lift, landing in an ungainly pile at their feet.
"Oops! Wotcher! Sorry about that!"
"Get out of my way, you bumbling clod," Fudge snarled as he stepped over her on his way out. "Make a note of that Ms Umbridge. Fire all low calibre employees."
"Got it, Minister."
Dolores jotted down the note, and then using Tonks as a step, she followed him out of the building.
'Hm… wonder where the toad and the toothache are off to in such a huff. Without his guard to boot... that's curious..," Tonks pondered watching with a curious eye as Minister Fudge and Dolores Umbridge left the Atrium.
"I think I'll just tag along and find out. After all, I am an Auror. We like to know things. Wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't. Besides the Minister shouldn't be traipsing about unprotected. Don't want to be one of them low calibre employees they were talking about. Now, do I?"