Shrunken Elf Heads
A/N-Snow days! My very favorite day of school-that is, when we don't have it. The only thing is, when I'm online at nine in the morning, everyone else is asleep. Which is why they should put on TV that school is cancelled before we go to sleep, instead of having us get up, get ready, let the dog out and see that there is like a foot of snow outside. Stupid, idiotic,…*continues muttering under her breath*
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter and Co., nor did I ever claim to own them (okay, maybe once or twice… but my little dog figurines reminded me that I don't). If you still don't realize that no one on this site owns the characters, you're pretty darn stupid.
"There is no right and wrong. Only what you accept and what you refuse to." Lucius coached Draco. Draco nodded. Of course there was no right or wrong! Who would ever come up with such foolish ideas?
"Power is what separates us from those Mudbloods. We have the power!" Lucius chanted. Draco accepted his father's words without a doubt. Why would his father lie to him? Draco was his son, not some kid he picked up on the street! The Dark Lord knew the way of the world. He knew how the world worked. If there were such things as right and wrong, how could people say hurtful things?
Most people are hypocrites. Draco reasoned. Not, of course, the Dark Lord and his followers, but all those who professed themselves to be on the "Light Side". They could not say that they were right when they themselves did unimaginable things. But, your own mess is always much more excusable than your neighbor's.
"The "morals" that the Mudbloods and the Dark Lord's enemies profess to have do not exist. If there are any morals, they are on the side of Lord Voldemort!"
Of course they were! The Dark Lord knew what he wanted, and, although he used what the Light would call "morally unacceptable" methods, he at least he could accomplish it. The Light had no purpose but to counter whatever the Dark Lord flung at their feet. They believed themselves to be right, but how could they think they were when the Dark Lord won three out of every four battles? If their God believed them to be right, by their beliefs He should be helping them win. But He wasn't. Why?
Lucius smiled. He saw that his son was accepting whatever he said. What good it was to be such an influential figure in his son's life! He could brainwash him and no one would be any the wiser. No one would ever believe that Draco Malfoy didn't agree exactly with what his father believed and had to be brainwashed on a regular basis, and so Lucius' tracks were covered. Of course, instead of this kind of brainwashing, he could just use the Imperious* curse to control Draco, but that was such a waste of magic. Besides, this method was so much more fun.
Muggles were good for something.
Now all he had to do was to convince the Minister of that. Oh, even though he had had stints in Azkaban, that fool Fudge still believed him to be trustworthy. On second thought, Fudge didn't really trust him. He just wanted the power that Lucius could provide. And make no mistake, even without Voldemort Lucius was a very powerful man. Not just because of the money that he possessed, but because he was a true Slytherin. He was everything a good Slytherin was expected to be. And Fudge knew that. Although he put on the face that he was concerned about Voldemort taking over, what he really cared about was losing power. Why else would he ignore Dumbledore's warnings?
Lucius smiled. After he was finished with Draco, he would go have a chat with Fudge.
**************
"Of course there is a right and wrong! Who says that all there is is what you accept and refuse to?" Arthur Weasley stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ginny nodded. Of course there was such a thing as right and wrong! Who would think that there weren't?
If the conversations between Draco and his father and Ginny and her father sound similar, they are. And yet they aren't. Because, unlike Draco, Ginny needed no brainwashing. She completely believed in the side of the Light and knew that God was just making them pay for not believing that that devil Voldemort, was back when he really was.
It was all that stupid Fudge's fault. Even now no one was really sure where his loyalties were. It seemed as though he were on Dumbledore's side, but appearances were deceiving. The Light's spies saw that he had many meetings with one Lucius Malfoy, Lord Voldemort's almost right-hand man. And if he was meeting with Lucius, there was no telling what he was up to.
"But, Dad, what about the people on You-Know-Who's side?" Ginny asked, quite confused. If everyone knew what morals were, why were there those who could kill and not feel regret?
"I don't know what satisfaction they get from it, Ginny." Arthur answered. Really, though, this girl had more questions than any moral issue brought up!
"Why can't we figure out some way to tell what is right and wrong?" She asked. Arthur was becoming impatient.
"Because what one person views as right is different than what other people do! There are varying shades of gray, and…"
"Then how can you say that there is such a thing as good?" Ginny wondered out loud. This was a bad choice of words. Arthur glared at her.
"I can say it because there is right and wrong. Understand?" He ground out, his teeth clenched tightly together. This girl was getting on his nerves! So many questions! Ron and the other boys never asked, they just accepted. The facts were the facts.
That's it.
"I'm going to find out a way to tell what's good and what's not." Ginny declared suddenly. Arthur looked at her, shocked.
"How?" He asked, genuinely curious. She shrugged.
"I don't know. I'll figure something out." Ginny said confidently.
And Arthur believed her, because that was the kind of person Ginny was.
*********
A/N-Short chapter I know, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to put in this chapter, so I decided to just wait until the next chapter to cram in more junk. Sound good? And, hey, I want to know what you think. Even if you don't like it…
What is going to happen next chapter, you ask?
Well, the "kids" are going back to Hogwarts. Both Draco and Ginny take the new elective "Interesting Inventions: A Hands-On Experiment" in which each student partners up with another (teacher assigns them) and they have to make up a device. What they make up… well, who knows? Me, of course! Oh, wait…I don't… yet I do…
*shakes her head* confusing!
Well, thanks for reading and have fun reviewing. *shakes her fist* And you better review or I'll go back to pondering the meaning of life!
~*Lili*~