The former Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore, was sat at his desk in Hogwarts, staring sadly at the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet, which was spreading the word of his removal from the position as Chief Warlock. He cursed the nine members of his own party who had voted for his removal, those damned fools, did they not realise that they had just seriously hampered the party's standing in the Wizengamot? The TWP and the eleven independents who had voted for him would have done so no matter what, for they did not like him, and they didn't like him because they were against his party's ideals! The fools! They had shot themselves in the foot now, as the muggles said. He sighed mournfully, he had tried his best to further the movement away from the traditional, blood-purist ideals that a lot of the Wizarding World clung to, that progression would likely stop now; the likelihood of a progressive-leaning Representative being elected Chief Warlock was nigh on zero. If only they knew why he had done little campaigning. Something had struck him as odd when he had examined the scene at Godric's Hollow a few months ago, the ash left behind next to Voldemort's robes. There wasn't a body, but ash. This had struck him as odd, very little magic could completely disintegrate a body in that way, and it was obvious that none of it had been cast. So he had examined the ash closer, after everything had been sorted. Upon closer inspection, it became obvious that the ash was not that from a body, but from wood! The ash was simply from the burning wood of the cottage, not from Voldemort. This confirmed his previous suspicions - that Voldemort had procured some means of protecting himself from true death. The man's body was gone, but the man himself was not, not completely. Even now, that thought sent a shiver down Dumbledore's spine. The reason he didn't campaign was because he was looking into the means that Voldemort could have used to obtain this immortality. And for that, he lost his leadership of the Wizengamot. Typical. Well, at least he was still a Representative, and still leader of the Progressive party. The Supreme Mugwump sighed, there was no point crying over spilt potions; he picked up his quill and continued to work on the seemingly ever-growing pile of paperwork. Hmm, maybe now that will change, he thought, as he popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth.
I, with my Oliver Bovin glamour in place, was walking down the street in Muggle London, a few days after the removal of Dumbledore as Chief Warlock. I had set up a meeting with a bank manager at a British Muggle bank. I had a need to earn money, and while I was earning a fair amount of money as President of the Daily Prophet, if I were to fund more exploits, I would need to make some more money in the future. Thus, I had booked a hotel room in London and was now on my way to a branch of Barclays. Once I was indoors, I headed up to the teller and asked to see someone about investing – soon I was sat in the office of some person or another who knew what they were talking about. They rambled on about the credentials of the investment credentials of the bank, and how qualified they were and how they would create a highly profitable portfolio for me, but quite frankly, I couldn't care less.
After around five minutes of listening to their spiel I interrupted. "As fascinating as that is, all I am looking for is someone to handle a number of investments for me. I don't need a micro-managed portfolio, I just need a person to handle the investments I want completed, and to sell them when I tell them to."
"Well, that isn't exactly a service we offer." The charcoal suit-wearing woman told me.
"I'm sure you could do it; you look like you know what you're talking about. How long have you been working here?" I enquired, with a charming smile plastered on my face.
"Nearly fifteen years, sir, but I'm afraid that is against the bank's policy, a financial advisor cannot handle investments outside of the ones that they manage on behalf of the bank." She told me.
I sighed. This was the third time I had heard a variant of the same thing. "Well, isn't that a shame." I told her before I pulled out my wand. "Imperio" I articulated, telling her that she would indeed handle my investments on the side.
She nodded. "Of course, Mr. Bovin, I can do that for you, and what, exactly, would you like to invest in?"
I told her the list of companies, and once we had ironed out the details, I thanked her and left, feeling satisfied. My finances were now secure. I knew for certain that Microsoft, Apple, and certain other companies were going to become very successful in the coming years, and I would be a very rich man indeed.
There was much excitement amongst the pureblood elite, when they all received, on the 20th May a gilded envelope, with the Seal of the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy upon it. The envelope contained the source of the excitement, an invitation to a ball, hosted by the Malfoys themselves. For example, Lord Greengrass' invitation read as follows:
Lord Michael Greengrass, Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass,
We, Lord and Lady Malfoy, do invite you to celebrate the second birthdays of our twin children, our first-born and heir, Draco Lucius Malfoy, and our second-born, Cepheus Armand Malfoy.
The ball shall be held at Malfoy Manor on the twins' birthday, June 5th. We hope you find the time to participate in the festivities.
Cordially yours,
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, Lord and Lady Malfoy
The invites caused such excitement because, as far as anyone knew, the Malfoys had only one child, and if there was a second, no one assumed it would be a twin! Although it was true that no one had publicly seen any Malfoy children, the rumour mill, ever present in pureblood society, stated that they had only one child, though the name remained unknown. Clearly they were wrong, and the pureblood elite was desperate to see the new children, as sacred as they were to purebloods. On June 5th, the time came.
Lord Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have held this ball if he hadn't been effectively ordered to by the Dark Lord. Balls were more Narcissa's element, and while he understood the political and social benefits they had, he hated the boringness of them, and the fact that he had to pretend to like certain people just because they were members of the same party. Alas, the Dark Lord had ordered him to hold one, in order to show of the fact that he actually had two children now instead of one. Thank Merlin that he and Narcissa hadn't officially announced the birth of Draco. At the time, with the chaos and uncertainty of the war, they had held back, and since the war ended, he had been far more concerned with furthering the Dark Lord's new plans than the etiquette of pureblood society.
Speaking of the Dark Lord's new plans, he held himself in two minds. On the one hand, the idea of a peaceful takeover appealed to him; it would make things far simpler than a violent takeover, which, while it had been going well before the Dark Lord's supposed death, was certainly a waste of magical blood. On the other, the new-found appreciation of magical beasts was unsettling, and he certainly hoped that the Dark Lord would still favour the advice made by humans rather than goblins, or Merlin forbid, werewolves. Not only would that put his position in rocky territory but only doom would follow if the beasts had any sway over the Dark Lord.
He also didn't understand where the Dark Lord's new ideals came from. One day he was, though Lucius hated to admit it, quite insane, and the next the man was speaking jovially over a glass of Firewhisky. The blonde aristocrat could not get his head around it. And this sudden change in ideology! It just didn't make sense! Lucius pushed the thought to the back of his mind. It didn't matter; for now his position was secure and he didn't have to worry about treatment for exposure to the Cruciatus Curse anymore. As long as things remained as they were, and the Dark Lord didn't start spouting blood-traitor ideology like that fool Arthur Weasley, then Lucius was ok with it. He chuckled as he started walking down the stairs, as if the Dark Lord would care about Mudbloods!
The Malfoy Ball, What a Night!
By Ashworth Pringlebrook, Witch Weekly's Special Society Columnist
Dear readers, you would simply have loved the ball hosted by the Malfoy's last night! It was a night of glitz and glamour amongst the social elite yesterday, as the Malfoy's officially announced their two children, twins in fact: Draco Lucius Malfoy, the elder by two minutes, and Cepheus Armand Malfoy, the younger of the two siblings. Although the gossip amongst the elites indicated that the Malfoys only had one child, the Malfoys had not officially announced a pregnancy let alone the birth of any children. At the ball Lord Malfoy explained that due to the chaos of the war and the aftermath, they had decided not to announce the birth of their children.
The ball was a fabulous affair, with live orchestral music conducted by the marvellous Rich Freely, who had travelled from his native United States to perform at the ball with his orchestra. The food was excellent and specially prepared by the Malfoy House Elves.
There were many famous guests at the ball, with every member of the Traditional Wizarding Party present, of which Lord Malfoy is a leading member, there were also many Progressives at the event. Other notable attendees included famed Potions Master, Severus Snape who, if rumours are to be believed will be joining the staff at Hogwarts next year, as well as the President of the Daily Prophet, Oliver Bovin. Notably absent from the event however, was the newly elected, Lord Crouch.
Lady Malfoy also told the tragic story of Cepheus' illness that he suffered soon after birth. She explained that it was only thanks to special healers that they secured for him that he lived. She described his recovery as "miraculous" and professed her "deepest thanks" to the healers that ensured that her son lived. Lord Malfoy said that he would be introducing legislation in the Wizengamot as soon as a new Chief Warlock is elected, to create a new children's hospital, so that "every ill child will have the care they need to help save their life, just as these wonderful healers saved Cepheus". Lord Malfoy also promised, in a show of great generosity, to donate 500,000 Galleons to the new hospital, once it is opened.
All in all, dear readers, the ball was a resounding success, and I guarantee that the elite in society will be eagerly looking forward to the next time they get an invitation to a ball hosted at Malfoy Manor.
