About the end to the last chapter; I'd been studying indoctrination in
Social 30 for a few days when I wrote it, and the thoughts I had jump
out at Nate's were much along the lines of what I was thinking. Fudge
is quite the interesting comparison to Mussolini towards the end of
the fascist reign in Italy during World War II. There's another
thought... did the Witches and Wizards of the nineteen forties
participate in WWII, or did they think that was just "some muggle
conflict" and use some funky magic to keep them away from the war...?
Hey, that would make for an interesting back-story for how Hogsmead
came into existence...
Bah, any way, review responses...
Lady Russell Holmes - Nope, not forever. I wouldn't be able to run
through with my Evil Evil Plan if Nate was guilty ridden into
eternity.
Phoenix Flight - Yeah! Now, Nate can run around being a whacked out
rocker again. ^__^
Wolf - *bows* Updated soon enough?
wicchick - Wow, cool; thanks for putting me on your lists. Ahhh, it's
to bad you missed the concert. I missed their latest concert here at
home, too. I sulked for a few weeks after that...
StarBurst598 - I used to update every Sat-Sun-Mon, but I haven't been
managing that lately, no matter how hard I try. So I'll just go with
the fact that I can update between one to seven days after the last
chapter, although it's probably safer to go with checking every four
or five days. You'll either get one or two new chapters up.
Eriol's bear - Remus is alive. He's just been out of touch for awhile.
I would never hurt my favorite character! *pauses* Okay, I might, but
I would never _kill_ him! There's slash in a fic I'm working on called
Mein Kaiser. Of course, I haven't posted it because it's no where near
ready to be put online...
Scamber Dragon - Helkaer's likely going to come back to Hogwarts. Not
to sure about Elear. He's kinda stuck on the whole
being-loyal-to-the-female-drows thing. He doesn't much like Weapon...
Fudge is going down-- and only by Katar. Katar has a lot of pent-up
frustration with the Minister hehehehehehehe
deadredsocks - Socks, you have one of the most unusual handles I have
ever seen. Go you! And you actually sat down to read for five hours?
Go you, even more! I like to think of myself as a god (*poses*), and
obviously I don't have any serious confidence issues. So sure, I can
be a god. I think I shall call myself Goddess Itch... hmmm, no, that
doesn't sound right. Guess I'm still calling myself The Itch ^__^
Unless the story is meant to be a romance from the first chapter,
throwing romance in ruins everything. Kinky sex scenes are fun ~_^
howling wolf - Oh yeah, he's going down, mwahahahahaha!!
Jessica Knight - I checked this chapter for typos, hopefully I didn't
miss any! *pauses* And you will never know that in that last sentence
I made a typo. Urp, I just told you, so know you know... Beta reader?
Hmm, I have someone in mind, therefore, all that is needed is an email
out!
A-Potter-Person - Posted!
Flummox - Nope, neither Harry nor Weapon is going to _make_ him.
Although... someone else likely will. She plays an important part in
the future, heh heh heh. Whoo, I sound like Ganondorf in LoZ:OoT ^__^
Black Rose - And I love to write comments for AAW.
Tasidia - That's a good idea. Maybe he will!
And I'd post the links to AAW and Lupine Night, but they didn't show
up in the last chapter. What happenened there??
Le Potter-verse belongs to Mademoiselle Rowling, who is not, nor will
ever be, the chick known as the Itch.
---
Blackened Sunrise
Chapter Fifty-Two: Allies
The Itch
---
"Helkaer!?"
Through half-lidded emerald eyes, Harry Potter watched the armor-
wearing female dark elf screech at the older of his two Drow guides.
Like the males, her hair was silver-white, and skin a tone of blue-
black, however, unlike the two men, she only had a single eye of
bloodied ruby, the other hidden behind a dark eyepatch. For a
fleeting moment, he compared this warrior elf with the image in his
mind of Fujin from Final Fantasy Eight, and smirked. Then the dark-
skinned Fujin continued her screeching, pointing one gauntleted hand
at the Living Weapon, "What is the meaning of bringing an unchained
_edan_ here?!"
"Sulnore," Helkaer greeted politely, with just the barest tips of his
head. Elear's eyes were locked on the ground, and missed his older
brother's impertence, merely whispering a soft, "Warrior-Priestess."
as his own greeting.
"Helkaer!" she bellowed, bringing the bo staff laying upon her
shoulder to bare, resting it against his adam's apple. He didn't even
flinch, Weapon noted to himself. Obviously, this elf had long since
gotten used to being forced into something against his will, "Your
insolence has grown more and more with each passing day! Not only do
you bring one of the _edan_" she spat the word, "into the caves, but
now you refuse to bow to your betters?!"
The staff moved from being positioned at his throat, to cutting
through the air with a whistle, ready to crack the male Drow upside
the head and likely knock him for a loop. However, her will was
thwarted when Helkaer's golden Power-wrought hand intercepted the
attack, catching the wood in a vice-like grip. His own, ruby eyes
glinted dangerously beneath his silver fringe.
"What in the earth...?" whispered Sulnore, eye locked on the glinting
appendage.
"A token," and Harry brought the female's attention unto himself, "I
took his hand, I might as well give it back to him. Modified, of
course. Looks much nicer than Pettigrew's, I might add."
The woman-- not to mention the two males-- looked confused at his
words, trying to puzzle out a meaning, but he merely waved a hand
with a wide grin, "But that's not what we're here for. Helkaer?"
"My Lord?" Sulnore's eye nearly popped out of her head at the
reverence the well known impudent Drow was showering on this human
male.
"Who is it that is in control of your people?"
"Sulnore's mother is Kaiserin," the eldest of the gathered Drow
intoned calmly, "Sulnore should have been heir, but..."
Sulnore's single eye glittered angrily, fingers reaching up to brush
against the disfiguring scar that ruined the left side of her face
and stole her eye. That mark would always haunt her, and her voice
was a low, a serpentine hiss that-- to her confusion-- seemed to
amuse the 'edan' watching her, "My... sister... took my eye, took my
beauty, took my throne!"
Helkaer's own ruby eyes sparkled, and the watching Elear edged away
from this group. He didn't want to be associated with them in any
way, shape, or form. Harry noted his panicked flight from the group,
but ignored it. The younger elf hardly mattered at this point in
time. Perhaps in the future-- what he wouldn't give to have Ron down
here with his visions!-- but for now... the Weapon dropped his hand
onto the ousted Heir's shoulder, a chill smile crossing his lips.
"I could help you get your throne back."
---
The door to the ministry blew off it's hinges, but what was behind it
was not what was expected. The attacking Death Eaters had assumed
that they were working in secrecy; that all that would be behind
those doors would be ill-prepared politicians.
Not forty trained Aurors.
Fudge's paranoia had done something right-- depending on perspective,
of course. His belief that his former bodyguard would be hunting him
down had him fleeing the relative safety of the Ministry building.
Over the course of three days, one by one had the rest of the
ministers present in the building had learned of the Minister of
Magic's flight, and mimicked it themselves, going into hiding.
So the Members of the Ministry were safe and well.
Just without contact between one another. Even as the Aurors and the
Death Eaters battled, both sides losing men and women, but ultimately
the Aurors winning, the government was scattered. There was no one to
control them. Anarchy was crossing the threshold, leaving the British
Wizarding Community ripe for the pickings... not unlike muggle Russia
at the end of the muggle World War One.
All it would take was a single man, and the teeter-totter of volatile
situations would crash to one side, and whomever was left standing
would be the victor. To the victor go the spoils, after all.
And in this case, the spoils happened to be the control over the
British Wizards and Witches.
---
Remus Lupin watched the sky for only a few short moments before he
continued his trudging through the English country-side on his
passage back to Hogwarts from Mongolia. Good bloody Merlin, he hated
his life sometimes. Early February was not exactly a time he liked to
travel during, especially when he was trying to keep out of public
eye.
From time to time he apperated, but it was far safer to walk. It had
been a lot more bearable when Sirius had been with him, but his long
time friend and doggy-companion had remained behind with his godson.
It was understandable; Harry must have been going through quite the
trying time, considering his appearance the last time the werewolf
had seen him.
He'd looked like a wraith-- pale, pale white under the crescent moon
of early morning, swathed in black from head to toe, with chin-
length, dirty black hair that put Sirius and James' teenaged lengthy
locks to shame in the arena of 'messy'. His green eyes had seemed so
bright, but it was with the light of insanity, not the light of youth
and courage as he remembered from back when Harry had been in third
and forth year.
That had been years ago, however, and time changed a person. A bitter
laugh crossed the man's lips. Changed a person indeed-- he merely
needed to look at himself or Sirius to prove that fact. Oh well,
things to think of for another day.
For now... he tugged his pack up higher on his back and continued his
leisurely walk through the fields, oblivious to the world he was
about to re-enter, oblivious to the troubles and problems careening
headlong towards him, once he returned to the place he
considered 'home' above all others.
---
Fingers trailing along the cold, chill stone wall, Hermione let her
mind drift. This maze was utterly infuriating. She had lost track of
time somewhere, and her lack of magic kept her from doing much more
than shuffling along, one hand pressed smooth against the wall, the
other tucked into her pocket, repeatedly clenching the fist around
those bloody black stones that were utterly useless.
The Enchantress had thought, several times, of throwing those stones
away, but something within her said they were important, and
therefore, she kept them. That still didn't keep them from being
bloody well annoying.
The only reason she knew she'd gotten anywhere into the maze was the
couple of times she'd had to change directions, due to the stone
walls turning on her. It was alright when the passages turned away
from her, however, when they turned so that the wall moved in front
of her nose, it got a bit painful. If she didn't smack her breasts or
face against the stone with her steps, she slammed her knees, toes or
fingers into the smooth rocks. The fingers of her left hand were
bloodied and bruised, but she was positive she was going the right
way.
Wasn't it always turn left, and you'd get out of the maze? She was
sure that she'd read that somewhere. As it was, nothing had happened
as of yet, so she couldn't tell if she was following the correct
passage or not.
The grinding noise of the passages changing position around her did
nothing to reassure her.
---
Nate was jerked out of his relaxing sleep by Pavarti landing on top
of him as she collapsed into the cot. He'd vacated Blaise's when the
younger male had returned a few hours earlier. Apparently, he was in
the bed of one of the Padma twins, considering the fact that the
Gryffindor twin was laying on top of him. And he was now in bunny
form, once again.
With an annoyed sigh, he tried to wriggle out from under the sleepy
Druid, but her arms tightened around him in an almost choke hold,
tugging him up to be squeezed to her chest like he was some sort of
living teddy bear. Since she'd never once fully let go of him, he
didn't change back to human shape, and was therefore in no shape to
escape.
Closing his eyes, he began to almost ritualistically chant, "What you
say, can't believe, I want to know what's right. What you say, can't
believe, I want to know what's right. What you say, can't believe, I
want to know what's right. What you say is unbelievable..."
Blaise cracked an eye open from his own cot, catching the words his
friend was half muttering half singing in a desperate attempt to
ignore the fact that he was being held by someone of the female
persuasion. After all, girls were scary.
However, he made no move to help said friend out of his predicament,
instead going over what Nathaniel had told him when he'd first
returned from training, and thus what he'd relayed back to Sirius.
Sirius was one of the Living Weapons, and therefore, was likely to be
listened to by the others. The Weapons could come up with a plan for
how the Druids and the other former Hogwarts Students could react to
Nate's stunning discoveries.
Indoctrination... it wasn't a word that any of the pureblooded
wizards had any knowledge of. It had been assumed to just be one of
those "muggle things", and promptly disregarded. But now that Blaise
understood the term, knew roughly what it entailed, he found himself
sick to the stomach. It sounded a lot like what had been going on for
years.
Cultural brainwashing, it seemed, stemmed far beyond the limits of
muggle society.
The history course that had once been offered at Hogwarts, less than
two months earlier, had been a joke. All they ever talked about was
goblin revolution after goblin revolution. What about the Wizards and
Witches of history? What of the Salem Witch-hunt? The muggle
Inquisition, or the Holy Crusades? The World Wars-- a subject he
found himself at a loss for; if these muggle wars had involved the
whole planet, why were the wizards and witches being taught of them?--
and other such muggle actions and battles he had to have explained
to him by Nate. And Nathaniel Calaveras was hardly an expert in such
matters.
As the Ravenclaw had said-- he knew only what he learned from his
family's dinnertime discussions over summer vacation. The Slytherin
could understand Nathaniel's want to live in the muggle world now. In
the muggle world, things were much easier-- because that world knew
of their mistakes, and taught about them. The Wizarding World was
lacking in that department.
Oh, he didn't doubt that some of the other countries on the planet
were probably better educated, and likely to not have been censored
as much as Fudge's government, and perhaps the government prior to
him, or even prior to the previous prior government, but it was hard
to think of such things. Especially after having just had the fact
that Fudge might not have been as much of an idiot as everyone
thought shoved into his face.
After all, what would you have to fear from an idiot who's likely to
be very easy to manipulate? Therein lay his ingenious; he could twist
things like the best of them. He had people in the publishing center
of the Daily Prophetic, checking over the newspapers. Not, as
everyone had been told when they'd been introduced, to cast charms
over them to keep the younger children from being able to view
anything that could be considered 'harmful' to their mindsets, but to
keep the stories to the "Truth" laid out by the Minister of Magic.
Or perhaps he really was an idiot, and it was someone else behind the
lines, manipulating the Minister. Either way, it didn't matter. There
was someone high up there that was pulling the strings.
Blaise made a note to talk to Katar. The Missing Weapon had been in
Cornelius' employ for over a decade. He'd likely know who was pulling
the strings.
On that end, he returned his attention back to Nate's attempts to get
out of Pavarti's grip, and not think about being held by a 'scary,
scary girl'. He knew he shouldn't laugh at Calaveras' fears but...
well, it was just to funny an image to pass up!
---
End Chapter
Social 30 for a few days when I wrote it, and the thoughts I had jump
out at Nate's were much along the lines of what I was thinking. Fudge
is quite the interesting comparison to Mussolini towards the end of
the fascist reign in Italy during World War II. There's another
thought... did the Witches and Wizards of the nineteen forties
participate in WWII, or did they think that was just "some muggle
conflict" and use some funky magic to keep them away from the war...?
Hey, that would make for an interesting back-story for how Hogsmead
came into existence...
Bah, any way, review responses...
Lady Russell Holmes - Nope, not forever. I wouldn't be able to run
through with my Evil Evil Plan if Nate was guilty ridden into
eternity.
Phoenix Flight - Yeah! Now, Nate can run around being a whacked out
rocker again. ^__^
Wolf - *bows* Updated soon enough?
wicchick - Wow, cool; thanks for putting me on your lists. Ahhh, it's
to bad you missed the concert. I missed their latest concert here at
home, too. I sulked for a few weeks after that...
StarBurst598 - I used to update every Sat-Sun-Mon, but I haven't been
managing that lately, no matter how hard I try. So I'll just go with
the fact that I can update between one to seven days after the last
chapter, although it's probably safer to go with checking every four
or five days. You'll either get one or two new chapters up.
Eriol's bear - Remus is alive. He's just been out of touch for awhile.
I would never hurt my favorite character! *pauses* Okay, I might, but
I would never _kill_ him! There's slash in a fic I'm working on called
Mein Kaiser. Of course, I haven't posted it because it's no where near
ready to be put online...
Scamber Dragon - Helkaer's likely going to come back to Hogwarts. Not
to sure about Elear. He's kinda stuck on the whole
being-loyal-to-the-female-drows thing. He doesn't much like Weapon...
Fudge is going down-- and only by Katar. Katar has a lot of pent-up
frustration with the Minister hehehehehehehe
deadredsocks - Socks, you have one of the most unusual handles I have
ever seen. Go you! And you actually sat down to read for five hours?
Go you, even more! I like to think of myself as a god (*poses*), and
obviously I don't have any serious confidence issues. So sure, I can
be a god. I think I shall call myself Goddess Itch... hmmm, no, that
doesn't sound right. Guess I'm still calling myself The Itch ^__^
Unless the story is meant to be a romance from the first chapter,
throwing romance in ruins everything. Kinky sex scenes are fun ~_^
howling wolf - Oh yeah, he's going down, mwahahahahaha!!
Jessica Knight - I checked this chapter for typos, hopefully I didn't
miss any! *pauses* And you will never know that in that last sentence
I made a typo. Urp, I just told you, so know you know... Beta reader?
Hmm, I have someone in mind, therefore, all that is needed is an email
out!
A-Potter-Person - Posted!
Flummox - Nope, neither Harry nor Weapon is going to _make_ him.
Although... someone else likely will. She plays an important part in
the future, heh heh heh. Whoo, I sound like Ganondorf in LoZ:OoT ^__^
Black Rose - And I love to write comments for AAW.
Tasidia - That's a good idea. Maybe he will!
And I'd post the links to AAW and Lupine Night, but they didn't show
up in the last chapter. What happenened there??
Le Potter-verse belongs to Mademoiselle Rowling, who is not, nor will
ever be, the chick known as the Itch.
---
Blackened Sunrise
Chapter Fifty-Two: Allies
The Itch
---
"Helkaer!?"
Through half-lidded emerald eyes, Harry Potter watched the armor-
wearing female dark elf screech at the older of his two Drow guides.
Like the males, her hair was silver-white, and skin a tone of blue-
black, however, unlike the two men, she only had a single eye of
bloodied ruby, the other hidden behind a dark eyepatch. For a
fleeting moment, he compared this warrior elf with the image in his
mind of Fujin from Final Fantasy Eight, and smirked. Then the dark-
skinned Fujin continued her screeching, pointing one gauntleted hand
at the Living Weapon, "What is the meaning of bringing an unchained
_edan_ here?!"
"Sulnore," Helkaer greeted politely, with just the barest tips of his
head. Elear's eyes were locked on the ground, and missed his older
brother's impertence, merely whispering a soft, "Warrior-Priestess."
as his own greeting.
"Helkaer!" she bellowed, bringing the bo staff laying upon her
shoulder to bare, resting it against his adam's apple. He didn't even
flinch, Weapon noted to himself. Obviously, this elf had long since
gotten used to being forced into something against his will, "Your
insolence has grown more and more with each passing day! Not only do
you bring one of the _edan_" she spat the word, "into the caves, but
now you refuse to bow to your betters?!"
The staff moved from being positioned at his throat, to cutting
through the air with a whistle, ready to crack the male Drow upside
the head and likely knock him for a loop. However, her will was
thwarted when Helkaer's golden Power-wrought hand intercepted the
attack, catching the wood in a vice-like grip. His own, ruby eyes
glinted dangerously beneath his silver fringe.
"What in the earth...?" whispered Sulnore, eye locked on the glinting
appendage.
"A token," and Harry brought the female's attention unto himself, "I
took his hand, I might as well give it back to him. Modified, of
course. Looks much nicer than Pettigrew's, I might add."
The woman-- not to mention the two males-- looked confused at his
words, trying to puzzle out a meaning, but he merely waved a hand
with a wide grin, "But that's not what we're here for. Helkaer?"
"My Lord?" Sulnore's eye nearly popped out of her head at the
reverence the well known impudent Drow was showering on this human
male.
"Who is it that is in control of your people?"
"Sulnore's mother is Kaiserin," the eldest of the gathered Drow
intoned calmly, "Sulnore should have been heir, but..."
Sulnore's single eye glittered angrily, fingers reaching up to brush
against the disfiguring scar that ruined the left side of her face
and stole her eye. That mark would always haunt her, and her voice
was a low, a serpentine hiss that-- to her confusion-- seemed to
amuse the 'edan' watching her, "My... sister... took my eye, took my
beauty, took my throne!"
Helkaer's own ruby eyes sparkled, and the watching Elear edged away
from this group. He didn't want to be associated with them in any
way, shape, or form. Harry noted his panicked flight from the group,
but ignored it. The younger elf hardly mattered at this point in
time. Perhaps in the future-- what he wouldn't give to have Ron down
here with his visions!-- but for now... the Weapon dropped his hand
onto the ousted Heir's shoulder, a chill smile crossing his lips.
"I could help you get your throne back."
---
The door to the ministry blew off it's hinges, but what was behind it
was not what was expected. The attacking Death Eaters had assumed
that they were working in secrecy; that all that would be behind
those doors would be ill-prepared politicians.
Not forty trained Aurors.
Fudge's paranoia had done something right-- depending on perspective,
of course. His belief that his former bodyguard would be hunting him
down had him fleeing the relative safety of the Ministry building.
Over the course of three days, one by one had the rest of the
ministers present in the building had learned of the Minister of
Magic's flight, and mimicked it themselves, going into hiding.
So the Members of the Ministry were safe and well.
Just without contact between one another. Even as the Aurors and the
Death Eaters battled, both sides losing men and women, but ultimately
the Aurors winning, the government was scattered. There was no one to
control them. Anarchy was crossing the threshold, leaving the British
Wizarding Community ripe for the pickings... not unlike muggle Russia
at the end of the muggle World War One.
All it would take was a single man, and the teeter-totter of volatile
situations would crash to one side, and whomever was left standing
would be the victor. To the victor go the spoils, after all.
And in this case, the spoils happened to be the control over the
British Wizards and Witches.
---
Remus Lupin watched the sky for only a few short moments before he
continued his trudging through the English country-side on his
passage back to Hogwarts from Mongolia. Good bloody Merlin, he hated
his life sometimes. Early February was not exactly a time he liked to
travel during, especially when he was trying to keep out of public
eye.
From time to time he apperated, but it was far safer to walk. It had
been a lot more bearable when Sirius had been with him, but his long
time friend and doggy-companion had remained behind with his godson.
It was understandable; Harry must have been going through quite the
trying time, considering his appearance the last time the werewolf
had seen him.
He'd looked like a wraith-- pale, pale white under the crescent moon
of early morning, swathed in black from head to toe, with chin-
length, dirty black hair that put Sirius and James' teenaged lengthy
locks to shame in the arena of 'messy'. His green eyes had seemed so
bright, but it was with the light of insanity, not the light of youth
and courage as he remembered from back when Harry had been in third
and forth year.
That had been years ago, however, and time changed a person. A bitter
laugh crossed the man's lips. Changed a person indeed-- he merely
needed to look at himself or Sirius to prove that fact. Oh well,
things to think of for another day.
For now... he tugged his pack up higher on his back and continued his
leisurely walk through the fields, oblivious to the world he was
about to re-enter, oblivious to the troubles and problems careening
headlong towards him, once he returned to the place he
considered 'home' above all others.
---
Fingers trailing along the cold, chill stone wall, Hermione let her
mind drift. This maze was utterly infuriating. She had lost track of
time somewhere, and her lack of magic kept her from doing much more
than shuffling along, one hand pressed smooth against the wall, the
other tucked into her pocket, repeatedly clenching the fist around
those bloody black stones that were utterly useless.
The Enchantress had thought, several times, of throwing those stones
away, but something within her said they were important, and
therefore, she kept them. That still didn't keep them from being
bloody well annoying.
The only reason she knew she'd gotten anywhere into the maze was the
couple of times she'd had to change directions, due to the stone
walls turning on her. It was alright when the passages turned away
from her, however, when they turned so that the wall moved in front
of her nose, it got a bit painful. If she didn't smack her breasts or
face against the stone with her steps, she slammed her knees, toes or
fingers into the smooth rocks. The fingers of her left hand were
bloodied and bruised, but she was positive she was going the right
way.
Wasn't it always turn left, and you'd get out of the maze? She was
sure that she'd read that somewhere. As it was, nothing had happened
as of yet, so she couldn't tell if she was following the correct
passage or not.
The grinding noise of the passages changing position around her did
nothing to reassure her.
---
Nate was jerked out of his relaxing sleep by Pavarti landing on top
of him as she collapsed into the cot. He'd vacated Blaise's when the
younger male had returned a few hours earlier. Apparently, he was in
the bed of one of the Padma twins, considering the fact that the
Gryffindor twin was laying on top of him. And he was now in bunny
form, once again.
With an annoyed sigh, he tried to wriggle out from under the sleepy
Druid, but her arms tightened around him in an almost choke hold,
tugging him up to be squeezed to her chest like he was some sort of
living teddy bear. Since she'd never once fully let go of him, he
didn't change back to human shape, and was therefore in no shape to
escape.
Closing his eyes, he began to almost ritualistically chant, "What you
say, can't believe, I want to know what's right. What you say, can't
believe, I want to know what's right. What you say, can't believe, I
want to know what's right. What you say is unbelievable..."
Blaise cracked an eye open from his own cot, catching the words his
friend was half muttering half singing in a desperate attempt to
ignore the fact that he was being held by someone of the female
persuasion. After all, girls were scary.
However, he made no move to help said friend out of his predicament,
instead going over what Nathaniel had told him when he'd first
returned from training, and thus what he'd relayed back to Sirius.
Sirius was one of the Living Weapons, and therefore, was likely to be
listened to by the others. The Weapons could come up with a plan for
how the Druids and the other former Hogwarts Students could react to
Nate's stunning discoveries.
Indoctrination... it wasn't a word that any of the pureblooded
wizards had any knowledge of. It had been assumed to just be one of
those "muggle things", and promptly disregarded. But now that Blaise
understood the term, knew roughly what it entailed, he found himself
sick to the stomach. It sounded a lot like what had been going on for
years.
Cultural brainwashing, it seemed, stemmed far beyond the limits of
muggle society.
The history course that had once been offered at Hogwarts, less than
two months earlier, had been a joke. All they ever talked about was
goblin revolution after goblin revolution. What about the Wizards and
Witches of history? What of the Salem Witch-hunt? The muggle
Inquisition, or the Holy Crusades? The World Wars-- a subject he
found himself at a loss for; if these muggle wars had involved the
whole planet, why were the wizards and witches being taught of them?--
and other such muggle actions and battles he had to have explained
to him by Nate. And Nathaniel Calaveras was hardly an expert in such
matters.
As the Ravenclaw had said-- he knew only what he learned from his
family's dinnertime discussions over summer vacation. The Slytherin
could understand Nathaniel's want to live in the muggle world now. In
the muggle world, things were much easier-- because that world knew
of their mistakes, and taught about them. The Wizarding World was
lacking in that department.
Oh, he didn't doubt that some of the other countries on the planet
were probably better educated, and likely to not have been censored
as much as Fudge's government, and perhaps the government prior to
him, or even prior to the previous prior government, but it was hard
to think of such things. Especially after having just had the fact
that Fudge might not have been as much of an idiot as everyone
thought shoved into his face.
After all, what would you have to fear from an idiot who's likely to
be very easy to manipulate? Therein lay his ingenious; he could twist
things like the best of them. He had people in the publishing center
of the Daily Prophetic, checking over the newspapers. Not, as
everyone had been told when they'd been introduced, to cast charms
over them to keep the younger children from being able to view
anything that could be considered 'harmful' to their mindsets, but to
keep the stories to the "Truth" laid out by the Minister of Magic.
Or perhaps he really was an idiot, and it was someone else behind the
lines, manipulating the Minister. Either way, it didn't matter. There
was someone high up there that was pulling the strings.
Blaise made a note to talk to Katar. The Missing Weapon had been in
Cornelius' employ for over a decade. He'd likely know who was pulling
the strings.
On that end, he returned his attention back to Nate's attempts to get
out of Pavarti's grip, and not think about being held by a 'scary,
scary girl'. He knew he shouldn't laugh at Calaveras' fears but...
well, it was just to funny an image to pass up!
---
End Chapter