Gilderoy Lockhart
Gilderoy read the copy of the Daily Prophet in stunned silence. Yesterday and the story about the murder of Dolores Umbridge had been bad enough—and strung up in the middle of Hogsmeade! This was even worse. All of his hard work was undone. Narcissa Malfoy, Cantankerous Nott, Barbara Nott, Miles Selwyn, Clayton Selwyn, Huge Crabbe, Frank Goyle, Augusta Rookwood—they were all back in Voldemort's ranks. Not to mention the werewolves, and especially the brute Pierre Sauvage.
Gilderoy took a stiff drink of whiskey and read the headline again.
MASS BREAKOUT: DEATH EATERS BACK ON THE STREETS
The Daily Prophet, until now, had been firmly on his side. Now, the article was full of criticism.
"Questions abound as to whether Minister Lockhart is up to the job."
"The response time of the Aurors was questioned by many"
"Some doubt that Minister Lockhart is the man to keep us safe."
Lockhart curled the paper into a ball and threw it angrily at the wall. He took a deep breath and an even drinker sip of fire whiskey to compose himself.
He was Gilderoy Lockhart. He had gotten out of bigger jams than this. He needed to think—there must be something he could do to get people back on side. What he needed was to capture a Death Eater, but since Lord Voldemort had started his hit-and-run attacks, his Aurors had no luck. By the time they arrived, the Death Eaters were gone. And he just didn't have the numbers to guard every muggle town or wizarding residence.
But, he had to do something. He sat down on his chair, closed his eyes and thought. The problem—keeping Death Eaters behind bars was the main one. What good did it do to capture them, if Lord Voldemort would just break them out once more.
The solution … Lockhart opened his eyes. He had had an idea.
"Weasley!" he shouted, almost upending his bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey as he got up from his desk.
"Yes, Minister," Weasley appeared at the door, looking harassed.
"Summon the Wizarding Wireless Network," Lockhart said. "I am going to address the nation!"
Dudley and Friends
"I knew he would muck it up sooner or later," Ron said, darkly. "Eight Death Eaters free—not to mention the werewolves."
"Well, I don't think they were all Death Eaters," said Hermione.
"They are now," Dean said, darkly. "Look at this way, Narcissa Malfoy has been arrested, charged and put unconscious by the Ministry … then freed by You-Know-Who. Of course she's going to join. They all are."
"You're right, I think," Hermione said sadly.
"I knew he would balls things up," Ron said, mournfully.
Dudley didn't reply. It wasn't looking good for Lockhart. The past jail break had essentially stopped Madame Bones from becoming the new Minister. He doubted if Lockhart would resign, but he must be feeling the pressure now.
He looked up at the staff table. All of the professors were looking grim. Tonks was in discussion with Flitwick, a copy of the Daily Prophet between them. Dumbledore looked as angry as Dudley had ever seen him.
Dudley didn't feel in the mood for class, and, judging by the lack of effort shown by his classmates. None of them did, too. The Great Hall was very subdued when the students all trooped in for dinner.
Cho joined them for dinner, as did Luna. Cho had news. "Lockhart's going to give a speech on the WWN," she announced, helping herself to a chicken leg and eating it hungrily. She had just finished a quidditch session and was still wearing her robes.
"I'm starving," she muttered.
Dudley smiled slightly, amused that as well as quidditch, one of the things she and Ron had in common was a ravenous appetite.
"Just what the world needs—words of wisdom from that prat," said Ron.
"I hope he reassures everyone and explains what the Aurors are going to do," said Hermione. "Rather than just brag about himself and what he has done."
"Five galleons says he brags," said Ron. There weren't any takers. Even Dudley, who liked Lockhart, readily admitted the man bragged about his accomplishments too much.
"Maybe they've made an arrest?" Dean said, fairly. "You've gotta think Lockhart wants to do something to show he has everything under control. Maybe they've arrested and he wants to tell everyone?"
"I guess we'll find out at … what time, Cho?" asked Hermione.
"Eight," said Cho. "I'll join you at Gryffindor Tower if you like. Then, we can go for a walk before curfew." She said, looking at Ron.
"Last minute kissing before the big match tomorrow," Dean said.
Ron glared at him but Cho grinned. "Well, they say get a kiss for good luck." She said, smiling slightly.
The talk turned to the quidditch match. Ron tried, showing zero subtlety to get some last minute information on her team from Cho, but she wouldn't comment. Luna, too, refused to speak.
"I went to a few sessions, but I want Ravenclaw to win, of course. So I'm not saying anything."
After dinner, they headed back to Gryffindor tower to wait for Lockhart's announcement. Even the Wealsey twins stopped mucking around and gathered around Lee Jordan's Wizarding Wireless. Dudley imagined the scene would be repeated throughout the castle—the entire common room gathered around radio. Probably even in the teacher's lounge. Everybody would want to hear what it said.
"Quiet, it's starting!" Hermione said, quite unnecessarily as everybody was silent anyway.
"This is Dorothy Waffling with the WNN. Tonight we have a live statement from Minister Gilderoy Lockhart addressing the disturbing news from this morning. Without further ado, let's go live to the Ministry, where Minister Lockhart is waiting," said Dorothy Waffling.
There were a few second silence and then, Lockhart spoke.
"As I'm sure you all know, yesterday, nine Death Eaters were broken out of Ministry of Magic custody. Those nine have now rejoined the ranks of You-Know-Who, along with a number of Death Eaters. Now, I know you are all going to pass blame and point fingers—but, under current Ministry of Magic rules and regulations, the events were unavoidable. Our Aurors work hard to capture Death Eaters—even with my recent Ministry Emergency Defensive Order 12, which allows Aurors to use lethal force, they still try to bring in Death Eaters alive …"
"Not the usual, Lockhart speech," said Ron, raising his eyebrows. "Zero bragging … yet."
"…but what is the point? Our brave Aurors capture Death Eaters. You-Know-Who finds a way to free them. His followers captured a member of my Minstry and tortured her to find the whereabouts of our new, secret prison. That won't happen again. That can't happen again. As of today, I am introducing to you all Ministry Emergency Defensive Order 13. Any and all Death Eaters apprehended will be executed. Thank you."
"Executed?" Dean repeated.
Cho looked stunned. " … nobody expected that," she said. "A death sentence."
"That's barbaric!" said Hermione. "The death sentence was abolished back in the 1818 Wizengamot Conference in accordance with the 184 Lithuanian Accord Agreement."
Dudley thought about it. "What else can be done?" he said, finally. "Twice now, Voldemort has broken his followers out of jail. Jail doesn't work for them."
Kingsley Shacklebolt
Shacklebolt was livid as he gazed at the wavey-haired pillock in front of him. Lockhart's announcement had come as an absolute surprise. He hadn't consulted him at all. He had just recklessly and foolishly announced it.
"It's barbaric!" he said. "It's breaking centuries-old agreements …"
'It's the only way," said Lockhart. "Believe me, Kingsley—I didn't want to have to introduce the death penalty, but my hands are tied. We can't contain Death Eaters—he always finds a way to free them.
"But … surely, we can send them abroad or … or somewhere else? Or assign Aurors …" Shacklebolt argued. He wasn't angry at the death penalty, though he disagreed with it. They were meant to be better than the Death Eaters, and between his hex-to-kill order and the death penalty, Lockhart was leading the Ministry down a dangerous path. No, he was angry that Lockhart hadn't even consulted him about it. It was blatant disrespect. If it wasn't for the fact he had to oppose Voldemort, he would hand in his resignation right now.
"The Aurors are stretched too thin," Lockhart said.
Reluctantly, Kingsley had to agree.
"And, so far, the rest of the wizarding world is staying neutral," continued Lockhart.
Unfortunately, this was true, too. Lockhart's attempts at gaining support from foreign ministries had, so far, failed. At most, he had secured promises from some that they wouldn't ally with Voldemort, and France had agreed to take in muggle-born refugees if the need arose. Things weren't at that stage yet, however.
"There is no other option, Kingsley. It's the only way to ensure our safety."