Dumbledore sat deep in thought in his office, his fingers laced, his eyes were shut. He was thinking of the upcoming election of a new Minister for Magic. The new Minister would be leading the fight against Lord Voldemort. Depending on who the Wizengamot selected in August, it would shape the Wizarding World in the years to come.
Things were not looking promising. His spy, Severus Snape, had informed him that one of the potential new ministers, Corban Yaxley was a supporter of Lord Voldemort.
Even worse, he had just finished a floor network call with Arthur Weasley. Yaxley had support. A number of high-level Ministry of Magic employees including Pius Thicknesse and Albert Runcorn had come out publicly in support of Yaxley's campaign.
He went through his options. He couldn't publicly declare Yaxley to be a Death Eater—that would put Severus Snape at risk. Lord Voldemort could not even remotely suspect that Snape was a double agent. Acting directly against Yaxley would surely make Lord Voldemort realize that he had a mole in his ranks, and suspicion would fall upon Severus Snape—the only Death Eater in direct contact with Dumbledore. Taking Yaxley out of the equation through others means also wouldn't work for the same reason.
He considered tipping Percy Weasley off about Yaxley. If he could get someone inside Yaxley's campaign, he could possibly undermine it.
Luckily, Madame Bones remained the firm favorite. Dumbledore had yet to declare his support for a candidate. His voice carried a lot of weight and would influence many votes.
He reached out for his dossier on Yaxley. Duelling champion, he had promised a swift and aggressive response to the threat of Lord Voldemort—words that had impressed many of the Wizengamot who disagreed with Madame Bones' defensive approach. His plan to restructure the Auror department also had support—Dumbledore suspected Lord Voldemort had been behind that idea.
Pursing his lips, he flicked through the dossier he had on the other candidates. Luckily, Yaxley wasn't the only one advocating swift action—Rufus Scrimgeour, the head auror, was doing the same and Dolore Umbridge was appealing to the hawks of the Wizengamot by advocating the return of the death penalty. They could split the vote.
While Madame Bones would be his first choice, Scrimgeour would no doubt be a capable minister, too. Perhaps if he advocated from Scrimgeour, he could sway some of the hawk votes to his cause and away from Yaxley.
But would it be enough? It went without saying that Yaxley being voted in would be an absolute disaster—a vote for Yaxley would essentially be a vote for Voldemort.
He had a sudden idea, one which might get Yaxley out of the way without compromising Snape.
He got up from behind his and walked over to the fireplace. Tossing a handful of floo powder onto the fire he said, "Arthur Weasley.
Arthur Weasley stood up. They had been having daily Wizengamot briefings now that the Wizarding World was at war again. Today, interim Minister Bones had approved tighter regulations on the creation of portkeys and agreed to a discussion on adding fresh curses to the list of Unforgiveable Curses. She had also authorized Scrimgeour's suggestion to carry out a raid on all Knockturn Alley premises.
Now, it was time for Arthur to speak. He cleared his throat. Dumbledore had told him what to say. "As the election for a new Minister for Magic draws near, so does the risk of Death Eater infiltration. You-Know-Who has many followers, many of whom may walk among us unknown—nobody suspected Walden Macnair of being a Death Eater."
There were murmurs of approval at this from the other Wizengamot members.
"To help alleviate that risk, I propose that all prospective Ministers be subjected to Veritaserum …
There mutters at this.
"… they will be questioned about any Death Eater activity. That will ensure each candidate is uncompromised.
"Hem hem!" A very short, very stocky witch with grey hair and wearing a hideous pink sweater stood up. "Perhaps I am mistaken," she said ina very sweet voice. "But it sounded as if Mr. Weasley was suggesting subjugating Ministry of Magic employees to a potion used only the worst criminals!"
"It's to guarantee the security of the elections!" Arthur replied.
"It is treating Ministry of Magic employees and the future Minister for Magic like mere criminals!" Madame Umbridge said.
"I am one of the potential ministers," Arthur pointed out. "And I will gladly undertake Veritaserum to prove I can be trusted to lead wizarding Britain."
"Here, here!" said a witch in the back.
"And what's to stop the Ministry authorizing further use of Veritaserum on employees!" Albert Runcorn said. "First to determine if the potential Minister can be trusted. Then all of us!"
He got a few cheers at that.
"If you've got nothing to hide …" a witch wearing scarlet robes began.
"Don't give me that!" argued Runcorn. "It's an invasion of privacy."
"If this were to happen," an elderly wizard with a commanding voice called. "It must be enshrined within wizarding law that it is a on-off event. And it must be carried out privately, in the presence of only a select number of Wizengamot members."
Now, Albus Dumbledore stood up. "Mr. Weasley's idea has merit and will help maintain the integrity of the election. We cannot allow the chance—no matter how small—that one of Lord Voldemort's …"
There was a large reaction of oohs, squeals and oaths when Dumbledore said the name. One wizard even fell off his chair in shock.
"… followers is attempting to become the Minister for Magic. But, I propose that they only be asked questions relating to their support of Lord Voldemort."
More oohs and squeals. The wizard who had fell out of his chair loudly proclaimed "Really!"
The debate went on for another half an hour or so until, finally, Madame Bones agreed to the proposal. Each candidate would be subject to a drop of the Ministry's supply of Veritaserum and questioned.
Lord Voldemort
Voldemort listened to what Corban Yaxley said. The use of Veritaserum on all the candidates for the Minister for Magic vacancy—this had Dumbledore's fingerprints all over it. The muggle-loving idiot, Arthur Weasley, wouldn't be able to think of something like this by himself.
Dumbledore must be keeping things close to his chest. Not one of his spies in the order had informed him of this. But then, Dumbledore always liked his secets. So, did Dumbledore know that one of his loyal Death Eaters was in the running to be Minister, or was it just suspicions?
Voldemort thought for a few seconds. It amused him that Corban Yaxley remained kneeling. "There is a way around this," he said finally. "It is a smart play of Dumbledore's, but Veritaserum can be tainted. Tell me, Yaxley, which potioneer will the Ministry use?"
"Sixtus Swoopstikes," Yaxley replied, immediately. "He is the Ministry's best—a Fudge loyalist. He can't be corrupted."
"He doesn't have to be corrupted," Voldemort said.
"Summon a team of our best duelists—Rowle, the Carrow twins. You are go to Swoopstikes immediately. Place him under the imperius curse—it is a specialty of yours?"
Yaxley nodded.
"Do not mess this up, Yaxley – I don't need to tell you what will happen if you do."
"No my lord, you can count on me."
"Tell no on," Voldemort said.
"No, my lord,"
Once Yaxley had left, Voldemort leant back in his throne, deep in thought. Sabotaging the veritaserum dosage would be a temporary solution. Dumbledore had made a smart move, no doubt about it. He had forced Voldemort's hand.
And yet, why not move forward now ...
Once the Dementors joined his side and Azkaban's gates were thrown open his army would be doubled. And those inside were his most loyal servants whose strength couldn't counted solely with wands—The Lestranges, Dolohov, Rookwood, Nott and more.
Plus, such a scandal as a mass Azkaban breakout would surely end Madame Bones' chances of being elected as the new Minister for Magic. Our of the candidates, she would pose the biggest threat to him. She was intelligent, powerfully magical, well organized and had many allies. He had no doubt the Dementors would join him. They were his natural allies.
He hadn't intended to break open Azkaban this soon, but Dumbledore had forced his hand. He would have to move now. Keep the Ministry distracted with the breakout so their attention was away from further scrutinizing the candidates for the Minister position.
If Yaxley was made Minister, it would be ideal, but he could see potential in most of the other candidates. Weasley was an idiot, the takeover would be swift. Scrimgeour might pose a problem, but he was a field leader with no political experience. Lockhart had a good reputation, but Lucius assured him he was an idiot. Umbridge was sympathetic to their cause, she could be turned. Gethesmane Pickle was experienced, but was far from being a war-time leader.
Voldemort felt certain that he would soon be in control.