Ripples

Chapter 5

Cornelius Fudge prided himself on his political acumen. He knew he wasn't the most accomplished dueler, or the most knowledgeable, but it never mattered before, he was a peacetime minister, and then Black had escaped. He didn't want to bring up the fact that he never had a trial and that he supposed was his first mistake, he should have listened to Amelia Bones, instead of just sweeping it all under the rug, and now, the British ministry was being shunned. Sweat formed on his hairline.

Just then a knock sounded on the door and his undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge entered.

"Minister, I have asked Amelia to arrest the reporter who printed today's article but she refuses, I have a special arrest warrant for you to sign here." She said in that sickly sweet tone of hers.

Fudge stared at her, wondering if she really was that stupid, and seeing her for the first time.

"Arrest...why in Merlin's name would we arrest that reporter?" He asked.

Dolores blinked her eyes, the minister had never before questioned her when she asked him to sign something.

"For treachery against the ministry of course! He had no right to print all those, we should squash all resistance before it can reach a peak Minister!" She exclaimed.

"Squash...Dolores, right now we are walking a political minefield. We cannot arrest that reporter or we will be impeached like that. Send in Amelia Bones and send out notices to the wizengmont members stating an emergency session, this weekend."

Umbridge looked shocked at the fact that her minister was denying her something, but no matter she shall have that insolent reporter arrested after the session, and squash all those ridiculous rumors that stated that Britan was being boycotted. Personally, she felt it would be better, that way they could create the perfect nation with perfect witches and wizards, presided over by Cornelius and of course her.

Amelia Bones was to say miffed, and annoyed, very annoyed with the minister for magic. She had stated specifically when she found out about the lack of a trial that they had to reverse this but did Fudge listen to her? No, well now he was having to face the repercussions of his decision. She walked determinedly towards the office of the Minister, knocking and entering.

"Minister." She said frostily as she crossed the room and took a seat in front of him.

"Now, Amelia...There's no need to be so frosty is there?" Fudge replied nervously.

Amelia narrowed her eyes at this. "You seem to have forgotten minister, that I had warned you of the repercussions of letting anyone be declared a convict, especially someone of Black's stature. You will forgive me if you find that I am less than inclined to listen to your reasonings."

"Yes quite right, quite right of course. We just have the matter of what to do now."

Amelia suppressed a snort at this. "There is no we Cornelius. You created this mess, you clear it up. Now if you will excuse me, I have more important things to do than sit here wasting time." She snapped as she quickly made her way out.

The Malfoy household prided themselves on their punctuality, every morning like clockwork, the head, the lady, and the heir of the house took their breakfast at precisely 8 in one of the beautiful locations of their expansive manor. Breakfast was meant to reconvene and assess if any new developments of the previous day or if no new developments then commenting on old situations that were firmly under their control. At precisely 8:35 as they moved on from breakfast to tea, the daily prophet would be bought to each member and the next 15 minutes would be spent commenting on whatever they thought merited a comment, before each member drifted to their engagements.

But on 7 July 1994, this regularity of the household was distrubed. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black's teacup slid from her delicate hands, the cup breaking with a resounding crash, Lucius Malfoy turned pale, his white hands shaking as for the first time in his life, an emotion showcased on his face while the young Malfoy heir stared at the paper in horror before opening and closing his mouth without any sound escaping.

"Lucius...Lucius...The House of Black is restored." Narcissa said. She didn't know whether she was horrified or delighted. On one hand, she knew that now her husband would have to acknowledge her supremacy as the Black and she was glad to have her authority back. She was fond of her husband but was sick of being treated as pretty arm candy. On the other hand, she was hoping that upon maturity her son himself could take up the mantle of Lord Black.

"Father! What on earth does this mean? I thought I was to be Lord Black!" Draco whined. For all his Slytherin ambition, he was still a petulant and spoiled child.

"Be quiet Draco." His father said sharply. His mind going in a whirl. He had no idea who or when the House of Black had been reinstated, though if what the paper had told was true then that meant it had never gone underground, just left the British soils, but now with the Sirius Black fiasco, it was returning to the Britan. He had to find out more about this. He quite enjoyed lording the fact that his son was the future Lord Black to give up that mantle now. Half his business fortune and political alliances were made in the name of House of Black, not Malfoy. Making a snap decision, he folded the newspaper in half and stood up.

"I'm going to the Ministry, I'll let you know what happens soon. And Narcissa, you should probably tell Draco the implications of this news."

Narcissa picked up the replaced teacup, hiding her smirk behind it. So, Lucius was going with the change in power dynamic until he could determine otherwise.

Albus Dumbledore with his many oddities was a creature of certain habits. His love for sweets, specifically sherbert lemons, a cup of sweet lemon tea with his morning paper are a few to name. As he opened the Daily Prophet on this particular morning he never expected the news that stared out at him. He abandoned his tea as he quickly read through the paper, turning the pages to read all about the benevolent House of Black. His mind quickly went through all the members of the House wondering who had been leading said house past 12 years. Arcturus had passed a few years back, so had Pollux, Cygnus was long dead to even consider him. The widows of the three men were scattered across the world, sharp but too uninterested in politics. Alphard too was long dead, making Sirius his heir after he was disowned, Marius was a squib who had relocated to Australia, he wondered if it was one of his children, but they had never even shown any interest in British Wizarding World, he didn't even know if his children were magic or squibs. That left Cassiopeia Black, but he had thought she had become a recluse like her siblings when the first war had ended. He was certain that it wasn't Malfoy, he wanted the black fortune for himself to even consider it. His mind was telling him he was forgetting someone, someone very important. His eyes closed as he cast his mind back to that time as he tried to remember any member of the house he had forgotten and just as suddenly the answer came to him. Dread filled his stomach as he realized just who he had forgotten and disregarded and what a powerful enemy he had made. Guilt filled him as he had refused to believe a Black. His mind stilled as he recalled the words he had spoken to Astrid Black some 12 years ago.

"I put my faith in a Black and it left the world with a mass murderer, I should have known that a Black would always be a Black and never will I make the same mistake again."

Turns out he was wrong, she had been right about her cousin, he was different, and now that she had gotten certain proof he did not doubt in his mind that his imminent end was near.

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