Chapter 10: Political, social and Economic Upheavals
The discussion with Felix Montgomery had been an insightful and fruitful one. It excited all of them and gave rise to new hopes that the war wouldn't cripple all of English Wizarding Isles completely. For once, a war ending would begin a golden era for them all. They parted ways, each one with a new spring in their steps.
Arcturus headed out to Gringotts. He had an entire street to acquire and ward to the gills and see about building and leasing out premium town residences in. It had started out as a political idea but there was no reason it shouldn't bring sweet profits to the Blacks.
The revival ceilidh for the grey faction, hosted a week later by the Blacks at the Black Townhouse, precluded with the inaugural press meet to introduce the concept of an exclusive gated community of leased premium housing open for the use of wizarding gentry and nobility. Even Rita Skeeter had been thrilled at the idea.
Floating it as a tribute to his grandson and his friends who sacrificed themselves to bring peace back to them all, had ensured that it would be well received and hard to refute. The newly registered and launched Black Mod Enterprises was also introduced as a firm presently focused on real estate, development and infrastructure, in order to help the community and the ministry speed up the recovery process from the ravages of war.
The press meet soon winded with Arcturus warning all the guests that the wards around the property were still at testing phase and bound to be extremely unfriendly once this meeting ended. That had ensured a swift clearing up and soon, only the invited guests remained.
They were big names in their world; practically the entire list of who's who. Lord and Lady Abbot who ran an exotic ingredients import and export business with their business partners, Lord and Lady Greengrass.
Lady Amelia Bones who headed the DMLE at the ministry.
Lady Olga Gamp who ran the Magical Transport department as well as an extensive farming business that supplied groceries and necessities to every magical family in the British Isles.
Lady Griselda Marchbanks who headed the Education Department and owned shares in many businesses that lined the streets of Diagon Alley.
Her contemporary and rumoured rival, Lady Muriel Prewitt, the silent owner of Flourish and Blotts.
The quiet and unassuming Lady Miranda Spencer and her gambler heir, Marcus Spencer, who owned and ran the public service Owl Post Services.
The brassy hustler Tiberius Ogden who ran the distillery along with his father Lord Ogden.
The very very nosy Lord Brown who owned majority shares in Witch Weekly, Transfiguration Today Magazine, and Pioneer Potioneer Journal.
The perpetually pompous Lord Boot who owned majority shares in Wizarding Wireless Network and was the leading Musical Publisher in the wizarding community worldwide. And his shifty friend Lord Bulstrode who ran an enchanted furnitures and portraits business all over Europe.
And the beloved eccentric old Lord Ollivander, the only wand maker in the Isles, and remembered every single wand he crafted, repaired and sold. Lord and Lady Fawley who traded elf services and sourced anything from anywhere in the world for the right price.
The rigidly formal Lord Shacklebolt, the Archivist in the Ministry whose family ran the only public library in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. And finally, Lord Rowle and his Heir Angus Rowle who owned a lot of property in the Kockturn Alley and some of Diagon Alley.
The elder Lord Montgomery had accompanied Felix, and stood with Arcturus as they had addressed the press, announcing their newly minted private enterprise MoDE, and their first project - a joint venture in Real Estate Development.
Already impressed and ready for more, the invited guests joined the family inside the revamped ballroom for refreshments, music, dancing and conversation. A sumptuous luncheon had been organized to ensure the talks continued seamlessly all day long.
A lot of important names and faces, all of whom leaned towards more neutral outlook hobnobbed freely. Everyone seemed to agree that this blood war had been really bad for business and they were all rather tired of the blood war and the resulting strain on the economy.
Most of them had suffered great losses with the constant attacks and loss of life and property. All of them present here owned a business or had shares in leading business. Each and every one of them understood that a community only survived as long as the economy thrived. And any kind of conflict always killed business just as brutally as it killed lives and destroyed property.
All of them were excited at the possibilities being introduced by Lord Black. Seeing Lord Black team up with Lord Longbottom and Lord Montgomery was in and of itself, rather reassuring and exciting. Here was proof that war was truly over.
Gathered under the roof was the absolute favorite kind of customers, according to Ragnok, who remained hidden under the Peverell Cloak with Aiden, observing and listening to conversations.
It was an odd duo, indeed, spying on the crowd, hunting for dissent or leaks. Had anyone discovered the baby in the arms of the Goblin king, both hidden under an invisibility cloak, silenced and de-scented against detection, they would have been too busy being shocked at the sight to ask questions. Circling back and forth, they had found only hopeful allies all around.
They slipped off and signaled to Arcturus that it was safe to move the party to the study and initiate the actual discussion. Arcturus moved over to Alice to signal that she act as their hostess, along with Cassie and move the ladies along to the music room for a break while the members of the 'Gamot discussed politics over port.
He lead the gathered 'Gamut representatives and their legal age heirs to a conference room with a slim, long table and 20 primary seats, and 40 secondary seats. He announced a warm welcome to what he hopefully referred to as the first of many meetings of a brand new Grey Alliance, to work together as a team to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.
Once all the relevant parties were gathered, and settled down with a drink, Arcturus instructed Kreacher to put a dossier in front of each of the wizards and witches present and recommended they read his proposal. While the guests read through the dossier, he sat back quietly, observing and assessing.
He mentally snorted as he estimated that the eighteen Noble names assembled under the roof presently, if united, accounted for eighteen families holding thirty one votes out of the seventy two votes in the 'Gamot.
The dark faction held a clear total of twelve families and a total vote strength of twenty four. Including Dumbledore, the Light side accounted for six family names holding twelve votes and five lone wolves who usually expected to be courted.
Formerly, the Grey faction had only held 13 family seats, but now, if all went according to plan, they would have gained five new members from Dark and Light factions. Unless the Dark and the Light factions teamed up, the greys already looked forward to having a clear majority.
But Augusta agreed with Wallie and Arcturus in courting the five loners who were usually Order of Merlin (First Class) holders whose seats were not hereditary but elected and awarded. Arcturus also considered the pros and cons of pulling out the seats assigned to Familias Royale, who were the Hogwarts Founders, LeFey, Emrys, and Spencer.
Between Augusta and himself, they now controlled three of the four Hogwarts Founders' family seats along with the LeFey and Emrys seats, a clear majority of five. Idly, he wondered if he could persuade Ragnok to trace out the Ravenclaw line and see if they could make acceptable Allies.
Hogwarts, like the ministry and the 'Gamot was a seat of incredible power and right now under Dumbledore's thumb. Even without that or guaranteed support from the Spencers, owning a clear majority in the Familias Royale meant he could shanghai the 'Gamot into overthrowing pretty much any ruling, motion, law, or bylaw.
But only fools barged into unknown situations with all their weapons loudly advertised. There was always scope for subtlety and cunning in all walks of life. This situation wasn't any different. Cassie and he preferred to keep the particular ace of their Royale influencer votes hidden until absolutely necessary.
He turned his attention and wandering thoughts back to the discussions that were beginning to break out here and there amidst the seventeen others present.
Raising his voice lightly, lacing it mildly with a compulsion of command, he raised the issue of not just repairing the unraveled economy of the nation, but work on the security factor. Two wars, nearly back to back, within two generations, with locally grown dark lords indicated a social problem. Before tackling the problem itself, as a community, first they needed to beef up the security.
Lord Black then unleashed his ace argument. He assured them that as Lord Black who had ignored one half of his family taking up the dark mark and the other half fighting the dark mark, he understood the vulnerability and the risks better than anyone else present in the room. His neutrality had helped anihilate more than half of his blood family.
So he had finally chosen a stance, and uncovered an epic solution for those stuck on the fence. Ever since he had three members of his own blood family take up the mark, he had researched how to free his family and he had finally gotten a breakthrough.
And now he was gladly willing to share the good fortune but only with the deserving. If anyone present here had been forced to take up the dark mark, he guaranteed safe removal, as he had an enchanted weapon that had proven to work. Discretion, privacy and security was important to all present here, and he knew and offered the same.
He openly gambled on the marked ones jumping ship at the first opportunity and announced that he and his allies intended to clean house and wanted his friends to have the first opportunity to escape any prosecution provided they take appropriate oaths and prove that they were under compulsion or feared for their lives.
With a nod to Amelia Bones, he acknowledged that it wasn't fair but all he wanted was to clean up house and move on to rebuilding the badly decimated community. If someone truly repented and regretted, who was he to deny them a chance at normal life?
However, he firmly warned them with a gimlet glare, that this was a one-time offer and he would not condone a blanket pardon only for the forgiven to turn around and continue on the same road.
What Black was offering was a once in a lifetime opportunity to change one's direction, improve and recover one's lost dignity. He admitted that the room was rune enchanted to keep the topics discussed and people met under wraps even against the most powerful legilimens and veritaserum, so everyone present here was safe from prosecution or defamation.
He proposed that, unless anyone had questions, they could depart now and meet again in two days either in privacy or as a group.
The group that parted that day to meet many times again, would form a turning point in the history of Wizarding British Isles Kingdom. And together, they were stronger and inspiring as the harbingers of drastic changes.
History was ready to be redefined.