Guilty as Charged
"The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children." (Clarence Darrow)
The red-haired witch slowly approached their captured victim and looked up at him. Marigold noted a small derisive smirk on her face.
"Come on now, Lucius," she goaded the wizard. "You can get yourself out of this. You heard me incant the counterspell before – use it."
"How dare you," growled her husband down from the ceiling. "You are my wife! Let me down this instant!"
Now Eleanor actually laughed.
"I doubt that very much, my darling husband," she taunted him. "In fact, I believe you couldn't even tell me what happened the last time you made love to me. It was quite extraordinary, if you recall."
"It's rather inappropriate to discuss that in public, isn't it, Eleanor," objected the wizard and coughed. He looked increasingly uncomfortable in his bat-like position.
Eleanor turned away from him and towards the auror and the professor who had finally risen from behind the desk and approached them.
"Of course this isn't Lucius Malfoy at all," she announced. "First off, my husband wouldn't be seen dead in anything as vulgar and flashy as crushed green velvet. Next, I am missing Lucius' signature serpent cane and – …"
She bent down and lifted a black wand from the floor, wet the tip of her finger on her tongue and rubbed against the wood to reveal a reddish grain beneath.
"This is not even his wand. Lucius' is ebony with a core of Veela-hair, not mahogany. And his is about two inches longer."
She turned back to the wizard.
"Rather clever, though. It could have fooled most people. Now the question is – who are you really? You can either tell us now, and I'll let you down, or we'll simply keep you hanging around until the polyjuice potion wears off. Your choice."
"You, you mean this isn't Lucius at all!" gasped Sedgewick, staring up at the blond man hanging suspended above him.
"Of course not," assured him Eleanor, slightly rolling her eyes.
The parapsychologist recovered almost immediately and a broad grin spread across his face: "I knew Lucius, the real Lucius, would never say such terrible, hateful things to me," he beamed.
"You have no idea, do you, you idiotic muggle fool?" growled the wizard from the ceiling.
The professor looked up at him with interest now.
"What an extraordinary magical feat!" he exclaimed. "Who would have thought – …"
Just then Eleanor whirled around and drew her wand.
"Oh, no you won't!" she said. "Immobilis!"
Everyone followed the direction of her spell and they saw the motionless figure of Miss Langley, who had been in the process of leaving the room and attempting to close the door behind her.
"What are you doing?" cried Auror Brannock accusingly. "You can't just hex people!"
"So arrest me, or advise her to sue me," said Eleanor with a shrug of her shoulders. "Isn't it rather convenient that Sedgewick appears, she excuses herself in order to walk off to summon our suspect and then contrives to burst into the room at just the right moment to 'discover' Lucius Malfoy casting an Unforgivable? I am quite positive she would have allowed herself to be stunned afterwards to give the murderer a clean escape.
Of course 'Lucius' would have managed to then draw the attention of several Ministry employees on the way out, so all witnesses could have corroborated her story of murder and mayhem. It would have held up even under veritaserum if she answered carefully. After all, she really did see Mr. Malfoy."
Marigold looked at her, but the wizard objected.
"She has nothing to do with this, you hear me! Let her go!" he called down to them, struggling against the magical bonds that kept him. "She's innocent!"
Eleanor turned back to him.
"So, are you going to tell us who you are, or do we have to wait another –," she glanced at a timepiece on the wall, "– forty minutes or so?"
Determined silence was her answer. She sighed.
"Fine, have it your way… Marigold, I believe it is time to alert the Minister and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And perhaps you would care to arrest Miss Langley as a suspect. I do not find the fact that a potential murderer protests her innocence particularly reassuring. Oh, you may also want to summon the real Lucius Malfoy. After all, I believe this concerns him, too."
A little while later the office of the Chief Muggle Liaison was bursting with people. Aurors, Unspeakables, Ministry officials and a host of merely curious witches and wizards squeezed into the room, gawping at the suspended would-be assassin of Professor Alfred Sedgewick, whose morosely guarded identity still remained a mystery. The bespectacled muggle seemed thrilled to be at the center of attention and was happy to relate his adventure to anyone who cared to ask.
"Please, let's have some quiet in here! Can you make some space, please," called a voice from the door through the din of babbling voices. "Merlin! Did everybody get here before me?"
Heads turned and everyone could see Arthur Weasley, the Minister of Magic, push his way into the crowd. He seemed rather cross and out-of-breath.
"What's going on here," he demanded, and an Unspeakable stepped forward with an air of importance to brief him.
The Minister appeared truly crestfallen when it transpired that the man with long blond hair dangling from the ceiling was actually not the real Mr. Malfoy. It was obvious that Arthur Weasley would have longed for nothing more than the ultimate and irrefutable proof that his old arch enemy was actually the guilty party.
"Well, where's my son then, the useless lay-about?" he eventually exclaimed testily. "This is his department and his responsibility. He should be taking care of this. At the very least he should be here."
People around him shrugged their shoulders until one young auror suddenly pointed at the ceiling with a gasp. "I, I think I know where he is," he exclaimed.
Everyone followed his outstretched hand and calls of amazement filled the office as the man suspended below the ceiling now sported an unruly crop of shocking red curls and the unmistakable freckled features of a Weasley. Even Eleanor couldn't banish a look of surprise as Marigold nudged her in the ribs.
"Fudge, eh?" the auror teased her old teacher.
"Merlin," the red-haired witch muttered under her breath. "Who would have thought? I had the whole family down as muggle-lovers, but I guess the fact that the female accomplice wasn't Umbridge after all should have tipped me off. Of course both Weasleys also knew about the Mirror of Battle through their Ministry work."
A moment later Weasly senior had stepped up to her. His face was ashen and expressionless.
"I would appreciate it if you released my son from the wards," he told her tonelessly.
The witch bowed curtly and turned to Percy Weasley.
"Dissolvincula," she murmured, intentionally omitting the floating spell, so the younger Weasley crashed rather unceremoniously to the ground taking an Unspeakable and another witch with him in a tangle of robes.
Arthur stepped over to them, located his son, grabbed him unceremoniously by the collar of his flashy green cloak and pulled him upright. Then he back-handed him across the face with a resounding smack.
"How could you?" he asked him. "You've just broken your poor mother's heart! What on earth have we done? Where have we gone wrong to deserve a son like you!"
Percy Weasley shook himself to clear his head, the blow had been rather forceful and stared at his father with an expression of intense hatred.
"You, and this whole good-for-nothing, poor family!" he spluttered. "How I detest all of you! I'm ashamed to be a Weasley! I was the only one who ever tried to be someone, who ever tried to make something of themselves. I worked so hard, I tried so hard. You and Mum never believed in me. You loved George and Fred and Ron who knew nothing better than to make fun of me. You were happy in your filth and your poverty and your stupid admiration of muggles and that old fool Dumbledore. You behaved as if you were ashamed to be wizards, as if you actually wanted to be muggles!
You'd rather put up with everyone stepping all over you than ever asserting yourselves. You've never had any ambition, nothing! Everything I've achieved I've got for myself, I've got in spite of you. Other wizards have money, or influence or a name to help them on in life. I started with nothing. And then when you got to be Minister, all I got from you was criticism. You wanted me to fail…"
His voice broke. "All I wanted was your respect," he choked. "But when I was loyal to my boss, when I took my career seriously, all you did was sneer and laugh at me and tell me I was wrong."
Arthur stared at his son as if he had been the one who had been struck a blow.
"You're wrong, Percy," he said softly. "Your mother and I love you very much. You must believe…"
"Yeah, there you go!" shouted the younger wizard. "Telling me I'm wrong – AGAIN! You can take it and you can stuff it! I hate you all!"
"Excuse me," drawled a commanding voice from the door and caused everyone's attention to shift from the heated exchange between father and son to the entrance of the office, where a tall, blond wizard in a black, fur-lined cloak impatiently tapped the tip of his cane on the floor.
"While I am flattered at this sudden outburst of popularity I'd rather not have a Weasley family spat in my rooms and a Ministry mob take over my office. Someone care to explain?" He cast a quick glance at the motionless form of Miss Langly, whom two aurors had propped up against the wall. "And who in their infinite wisdom saw fit to petrify my secretary?"
Eleanor, who hadn't seen her husband for some days found herself rather taken aback by what she could observe. Lucius looked paler than usual, thinner and somewhat tired. His eyes seemed slightly reddened and puffy and had dirty-yellowish shadows beneath them.
While his attire was elegant and flawless as usual her experienced eyes noticed that his robes seemed to hang more loosely on his frame, he carried himself with a slight stoop instead of his usual straight-backed arrogance, and his blond hair had lost some of its gloss and could have done with a wash as well. The white knotted neck-scarf that he had pulled all the way up to his chin leeched even more color from his face and actually made him look slightly sickly.
Eleanor found herself reluctant to approach him and inclined her head towards her companion.
"Why don't you tell him, Marigold?" she asked.
The auror lifted an eyebrow but didn't comment.
"We just caught the murderer of all those muggles, Mr. Malfoy" she told the wizard and stepped forward. "Your secretary may be a possible accomplice."
"Hm," Lucius tapped Miss Langley's ankle with the tip of one of his boots. "Who would have thought," he sneered. "I thought she was completely useless myself. So who's the brains behind the operation?"
"Percy Weasley," explained the auror. "He drank polyjuice potion to make himself look like you and tried to kill Professor Sedgewick with an Unforgivable, with Miss Langley as a 'witness' who could then implicate you beyond any reasonable doubt."
Lucius Malfoy looked around until he had spotted the two Weasleys.
"Out of my way," he snarled at a few people who stood before him and strutted over to the Minister of Magic.
"Your own son," he gloated as he had reached Weasley senior. "Well, well, well, Arthur! This is a proud moment for you: disgraced by your own offspring. You must be happy that your long years of education have finally paid off. You always were one to advocate befouling your ancestors and besmirching your good name. I guess you have finally succeeded."
"Why you dirty, arrogant, hypocritical…" hissed Arthur Weasley pulling his wand from his robes.
Lucius stepped back drawing his own wand. He didn't look amused anymore.
"Ah, not reverting to fisticuffs this time, I see," he sneered. "Finally done with filthy muggle habits, are we? Fine, have it your way. But remember you're fighting a former Death Eater."
Several aurors and Unspeakables immediately intervened, however, and eventually separated the two wizards and convinced them to put away their wands. Lucius threw back his robes and stepped back with a last look of disgust at the two Weasleys. As he looked around at the crowd his glance fell briefly on his wife, but while Eleanor noticed a short flicker in his eyes he did not acknowledge her. Instead he addressed the assembled wizards and witches.
"Well, I think you've seen all there is to see here. Perhaps you would now kindly vacate the premises and take that scum," he indicated Percy Weasly with his chin, "and his bitch," he glanced over to Miss Langely, "away with you and subject them to the punishment you so wanted to mete out to me these past few weeks."
The glance that hit the assembled witnesses out of icy grey eyes was as intimidating and compelling as ever, and slowly and muttering among themselves people started to leave. Aurors put binding spells on Percy Weasley and Miss Langley, then released her from her immobilis spell and led both prisoners from the room.
Eventually only the Minister, Professor Sedgewick, Auror Brannock and Eleanor remained. Lucius regarded them briefly, then shrugged his shoulders.
"Suit yourselves," he said curtly pulling himself up a chair and sitting down. "I'm afraid my secretary cannot bring tea. She seems temporarily indisposed."
All the time the Sedgewick had looked as if he was bursting at the seams. Now he stepped up to the wizard and grabbed his hand to shake it vigorously. Lucius looked slightly nauseated.
"I just knew it," exclaimed the lanky muggle. "I was the only one who believed in your innocence, who never wavered. And today I was vindicated, along with you. In fact I helped this good witch and your own wife to prove your innocence."
Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah well, one can't have too many pieces of good news in one day now, can one?" he said dismissively, then he turned to Minister Weasley. "Do you actually plan to persist with this nonsense now that you must recognize that even your own son thinks this misguided policy is the worst idea in the entire history of wizardry?"
The older Weasley's shoulders sagged. Finding his own son turning against him and his beloved muggles seemed to have knocked the spirit out of him.
"I guess we really aren't ready," he sighed. "I know it's the right way forward, but we're still stuck in the bloody Dark Ages. You and your scum friends have won this round, Lucius. But you know what: you won't be able to hold history back forever. One day soon muggles and wizards will live together as brothers."
Lucius regarded him with amusement.
"Yet another fool who believes in destiny," he smirked. "Don't you know history is what you make it? If we have enough power of will and our magic is strong enough we can wipe the muggles off the face of this earth. Watch us try, Arthur, watch us try…
In the meantime I gather the Department for Muggle Liaisons is closed and I can resign from this distasteful position and leave these disgusting premises, yes?"
Sedgewick had followed the exchange with increasing incomprehension
"What do you mean?" he asked. "Wipe muggles off the face of the earth? Close the Department? Lucius, what is the meaning of this?"
The blond wizard turned to him with a smile that would have done a shark proud.
"My dear Alfred," he said softly, his voice caressing every word. "Our relationship, like the relationships of all muggles and wizarding folk has been fraught with misunderstandings. It is just the way things are. But it pains me to think that we might part without these misunderstandings cleared up. In fact, friends should always be entirely open with each other. I think, Alfred, it is time I showed you another interesting piece of magic, it is time I revealed to you the truth about myself. "
He got up and faced his muggle counterpart. Sedgewick, who stood before him shuffled his feet and looked slightly uncomfortable, but remained where he was.
"Just relax," the wizard said, pulling one of his gloves back on, that he had removed earlier. "No harm will come to you."
He closed his gloved hand around the muggle's chin in a firm, but not painful grip.
"Look into my eyes, please, if you will," he instructed Sedgewick with oily politeness and then the stare of his own grey eyes hardened.
For a moment Sedgewick's expression grew slack, then his eyes widened in horror.
"Noooo!" he moaned, but he was unable to break the contact, and Lucius' hand now held him with an iron grip.
Weasley moved to interfere, but Eleanor stepped forward and restrained him.
"If you value this muggle's safety you will let this happen," she hissed at him. "Otherwise the stupid fool will keep coming back like a kicked dog to his master until Lucius will lose his temper for sure."
A moment later the blond wizard abruptly released Sedgewick's chin. The man slowly sank to his knees with his face buried in his hands and started sobbing. Lucius looked down at him as if he was some skinned dead mouse his owl had brought in and dropped on his expensive carpet, then turned on his heel, sat back down and took off his glove.
"Do we understand each other, muggle!" he said, his voice sharp with loathing.
Sedgewick looked up, trembling, it was hard to say whether with shock, sorrow or anger.
"You, - you are not human," he whispered. "You are worse than an animal. My God! You and your kind shouldn't walk the earth in daylight."
Lucius threw back his head with a bellow of laughter.
"That's right, muggle! That's the spirit! You want to kill me now, don't you? Wizards and witches deserve to be tortured and burned. Now take your disgusting presence away from here, before I do more than just show you some pretty pictures in your head! And tell the rest of your muggle scum to keep away from us, too."
Sedgewick looked around accusingly at the other witches and wizards, who had witnessed the exchange in stony silence.
"We're not all like that," said the Minister, stretching out his hand and taking a tentative step forward, but the muggle recoiled from him in horror.
"What do I know?" he spluttered. "You might be! I'll advise the Prime Minister to immediately cease all contact. Oh my God! Oh my dear God…" and with that he stumbled from the room.
As soon as he was out of sight Weasley lunged forward at the blond wizard.
"Do you understand what damage you have done here," he shouted. "You have undone years of diligent work, you have thrown us back by centuries! Merlin, I'll…"
Lucius didn't flinch, but remained seated in a position of lazy nonchalance and waved his hand in front of him dismissively.
"Please, Arthur," he drawled. "We'd never be rid of the idiot otherwise. I have learned a few things from this exchange program, too. For example I've discovered that nothing is more tenacious than a muggle who has got it into their head you'll be the topic of their research and an academic publication. Like gnomes to gold, I tell you. He would have driven me – how shall I put it delicately – to 'extremes' eventually."
Weasley looked like he would have liked nothing better than to choke the arrogance right out of his opponent, but with the man's wife and an auror as witnesses he restricted himself.
"Just get out of here," he muttered angrily. "After all you've just effectively eliminated your own job. I really hope I will have nothing to do with you for the foreseeable future. You're a pitiful, arrogant snob with nothing but your precious family and bloodline."
Lucius got up with an air of finality about him.
"Suits me. I'll have this place cleared by my elves before noon. Now if you would kindly excuse me, Minister, I'm sure your son could do with you calling him a lawyer – I've heard Advocatus Tethering is very good, though maybe out of the reach of your purse.
And I'd like you to leave, too, please, Miss Brannock, though I do thank you for your tireless efforts on my behalf over the past few days. You will find the Malfoys never forget an insult and never ignore a favor. For now, however, I believe I have a few matters to discuss in private with my wife."