CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
So you want to start a war, in the age of icons. So you want to be immortal, with a loaded gun
JKR'S sandbox, which makes me sad but oh well
-o0o0o0o-
Sirius Black cut off Dumbledore's stuttered excuses. It was obvious the older man had not expected the cavalry to arrive so quickly, despite Harry's very public patronus.
"We have bided our time far too long." Sirius growled, grey eyes glowing eerily with white fire. "You have done inexcusable things to this family. Had I not intervened when you attempted to hire Gilderoy Lockhart, half of your students would have been obliviated messes because of that incompetenet peacock." Sirius growled.
"And yet you still allow Gilderoy to roam free." Albus mused, his eyes somewhat panicked. Sirius barked a laugh.
"Did you really think that?" He asked, the question obviously rhetorical and his tone spiked with hot, rising, fury. "I've had tabs on the man. The moment he steps a toe out of line or attempts to obliviate someone, whoever I've sent to watch him will intervene and he'd be at the DMLE faster than you can say snitch. That's besides the point, Albus." He growled.
Arcturus felt an old voice in his head. A memory of his best friend. He could hear Charlus' urging. It's time to do things the Gryffindor way, Arcturus.
Arcturus stepped up. "The crimes you have committed against this family, this school for that matter will be brought to light, Dumbledore. I had intended to do this in a much more respectable and eloquent way, but I'm sure that this will reach the news outlets just fine." He growled, gesturing to the reporters that were invited to cover the picking of the champions.
"Arcturus, that's not necessary–" Dumbledore began, only to be cut off by the man, who took a step forward.
"You sent Harry to live with muggles that abhor magic and everything to do with it, he was just a babe and was already sent to a dark corner in a cupboard under the stairs. He had not been fed. You hid the philosopher's stone, knowing full well a shade of Voldemort was possessing Quirrell and set up a first year level obstacle course in order to test Harry." Arcturus spat, disgust in his tone.
The reporters were frantically scratching on their notepads, writing everything down. Dumbledore took a step back and Arcturus took one more step closer.
"You took away a priceless family artefact from James Potter, knowing that if he had it, it could have very well saved their lives from that man in Godric's Hollow. You managed to coerce Lily and James to move away from the heavily fortified and warded to the hilt Potter Manor in order to hide them under the measly fidelius charm in a cottage. Of course, Charlus and Dorea were gone by that point, and they trusted you." He spat, his own eyes glowing with a white fire.
"Arcturus–" Dumbledore warned, his gaze growing more frantic as he noticed the horrified gazes of his staff and the students that made their way in. Harry's friends stood by him, and, Narcissa noted vaguely, so did Viktor Krum.
"You attempted to manipulate Harry into becoming another one of your mindless sheep. You allowed Dementors onto Hogwarts grounds, then the next moment went to the Prophet and lamented what the world had come to." Arcturus spat, his fury growing even worse. "You knew Pettigrew was in Hogwarts under the guise of a rat and did nothing. You allowed him to escape your wards not once but twice. You knew Sirius was innocent when he was accused and you left him to rot in Azkaban, not knowing Narcissa would come after him."
Sirius flinched, remembering his brief stint in Azkaban like it was yesterday. Dumbledore was growing frantic.
"And this isn't even discussing the awful shite you did during the war with Grindelwald. Meaning nothing at all. You allowed millions to die, muggle and wizard, simply because of old sentimentality." Arcturus smirked as he watched the man flinch and falter.
"I–How did you–"
"Know?" Arcturus mused. "Charlus and I fought on the frontlines for years until all of a sudden the war was over because the Great Albus Dumbledore finally got up off his lazy arse and decided to fight against his friend in a final duel that gave him all the credit of stopping that war." Arcturus spat. "You're nothing but a snivelling coward."
"And now." Remus growled, stepping forward. "Harry's name came out of a sentient magical object with a binding contract. And the only thing you did to possibly deter anyone younger from entering was a ruddy age line, Dumbledore?" At this point, the clan had all but forgotten anyone else was in the room. Remus' eyes glowed amber as his voice lowered to what seemed like a guttural growl. "You know damn well most of Voldemort's followers are well above the age of seventeen and they have magic powerful enough to confuse the Goblet."
Harry noticed Fake-Moody inching away from the scene. His eyes narrowed as he watched the man attempt to take a sip of his now empty flask and attempt to flee.
He and Draco shared a look, them being the only ones that noticed.
They took their wands out and aimed, casting at the same time.
"Confringo!" Draco fired a blasting curse at the man's feet to knock him down.
"Incarcerous." Harry intoned, tying the man and binding him tightly with chords.
Everyone was broken out of their stupor.
"And how exactly did you not know that someone was impersonating your long time friend with bloody Polyjuice potion?" Harry snapped, throwing the flask to Remus who caught it.
Remus opened the cap of the flask, flicking it with his thumb and pointer finger before smelling it. His eyes darkened with anger. He moved with a speed that was almost inhumane as he grabbed the fake Moody by the throat.
His normal eye almost began to pop out of its socket as the man began choking, frantically clawing at Remus' hand around his neck and kicking his feet that were in the air.
"Who are you?" Remus growled lowly. His voice was guttural, and Harry felt it reverberating through his very bones. He looked at the quiet, cold anger flooding through Moony, and for the first time in his life, Harry could understand why Remus was one of the most feared and respected wizards in Britain, werewolf or not.
"Unhand him!" Dumbledore commanded, his voice not sounding as meek as it did moments ago. "He can't answer our questions if he is dead, Mr. Lupin."
And for the first time in 14 years, Remus agreed with the aged wizard.
He set the man back down, the ropes that bound him now cast back into place by Harry.
Frank stepped forward, wand at the man's throat and eyes narrowed in fury. "Now, talk."
Nobody in the room was quite ready for what they learned.
Harry sent a patronus to Amelia Bones, asking for her presence immediately.
The media was dispersed, each of them whispering about what they learned that day.
It seemed everything had imploded in Albus Dumbledore's face, and he had no idea what the repercussions would be.
Serves him right. Neville thought. Now he'll think twice about sticking his crooked nose into people's business.
-o0o0o0o-
Barty Crouch Jr. was once again taken into custody. Madam Bones was going to question him via veritaserum, but Harry knew the man spilled everything he knew.
The extent of the plan which he was aware of was to impersonate Mad-Eye and get Harry into the tournament.
It was the next morning in which Albus Dumbledore saw the first wave of his consequences hit.
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: NOT THE HERO WE THOUGHT HE WAS?
By: Barnabus Cuffe
Our resident child hero, Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived was entered into the triwizard tournament by people who wished to do him harm. All seemed to happen under Albus Dumbledore's nose! His longtime friend, Alastor Moody (see page 3 for more information on the last Blood War) had been incapacitated and a Death-Eater took his place via Polyjuice potion. This man shall not be named for the sake of the privacy of the ongoing investigation.
The Black Family (See more on Arcturus Black and the war with Grindelwald on page 5) were quite obviously livid, and many-a mistakes of our revered Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock, and Headmaster of Hogwarts have come to light. Friends with Grindelwald? Placing the Boy-Who-Lived to be with magic-hating muggles! Orchestrating the arrest of the current Lord Black (see page 6 for Sirius Black), and much more.
Before all the nay-sayers and Dumbledore followers get angry, remember this: What do we truly know of Albus Dumbledore?
The entire school could be seen holding a Daily Prophet and looking at Dumbledore with something akin to betrayal. How could he do this to one of their own? They trusted him.
It was no secret that Dumbledore was glaringly absent from his throne-like seat in the middle of the staff table at the Great Hall, and the teachers were all whispering amongst one another.
Viktor Krum set his copy of the paper down and looked at Harry, who looked suspiciously neutral.
"This man, Dumbledore, he was…"
"Not the best." Harry finished for him, nodding firmly.
"Da." Viktor agreed. "He tried to throw your godfather into Azkaban? And place you with magical-hating muggles?" Viktor looked vaguely horrified at the thought.
Draco nodded, cutting in before Harry could reply. "Dumbledore has tried everything he could to get Harry under his thumb since the moment Uncle James and Aunt Lily…died."
Viktor looked deep in thought. "Your current administration has a way of…how do you say…buggering things up, eh?"
Neville laughed as he joined the table. "Yes, yes they do."
Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour soon joined the Slytherin table, the twins and Hermione having sat with Neville.
"This table is the Slytherin table for a reason." A haughty voice snapped.
"Shut it, Parkinson." The friend group chorused all together, not once looking up from their food to know the girl was glaring at them with her already upturned nose turned up at them as if they were scum.
But there was another figure approaching, one that though they all knew, never had the opportunity to get close to. Susan Bones.
"Hello Harry," She murmured shyly. "I just wanted to let you know that even with the article confirming you didn't put your name in, the Hufflepuffs are angry at you. They think you're taking away from Cedric." She saw that Harry opened his mouth to retort, but she frantically continued talking. "I believe you, of course! My Auntie speaks very highly of you." She said.
She was flustered under the gaze of the most intimidating set of people she had ever seen, but soldiered on. "I just want to let you know, you still have supporters in Hufflepuff." She smiled a small smile at the boy, before walking away briskly.
"Charming." Hermione said with a smile.
"And very smart." Draco added.
"Good with a wand, too." Daphne mused.
Harry grinned. "What are you lot getting at?"
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce her into our friend group. She's loyal, and her aunt is the head of the DMLE." Neville shrugged.
"Politically advantageous, as Arcturus would call it." Theo nodded. "Not to mention, good for us too. We could use a witch like her in our corner."
"And we could use a few more girls." Hermione muttered. Daphne and Fleur nodded in agreement.
"Sounds like a plan, but first," Harry grinned wolfishly. "We have some…people that we need to introduce our new friend Viktor Krum to."
Fleur and Cedric grinned at one another, and everyone laughed at Viktor's confused expression.
-o0o0o0o-
Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur had just come back from their stint in the forbidden forest at Hagrid's behest.
All four of them were pale and breathless from running. Why were they running? Dragons.
"You have got to be bloody joking." Cedric gasped, clutching a stitch at his side and breathing heavily.
"There is no possible way. That has to be a prank, right?" Fleur said, worriedly fidgeting with her silvery hair.
"We have to tell the others. Twelve heads are better than four, right?" Harry asked softly. The others agreed as they trudged back up to the castle, walking toward the Room of Requirement where the others would be waiting for them.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, getting up immediately, eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"Dragons."
"I'm sorry?" Theo asked, cleaning his ear as if he didn't hear correctly.
Blaise's eyes were wide, unblinking.
Draco had his head buried in his hands with a groan whilst Neville sighed and began rubbing his temples.
George and Fred were dumbfounded.
"Umm," Daphne squeaked. "Can you repeat that?"
"Yeah!" Theo seconded vehemently. "It sounded like you guys said Dragons but–"
"That is exactly what we said." Fleur deadpanned, flopping on the loveseat dramatically.
"We're going to die." Cedric murmured. "I'm barely seventeen and I'm going to die."
"Oh pull yourselves together!" Hermione snapped. "You four are the best of the best. Countless people put their names in the Goblet and Magic chose you. Yes, the British Ministry is insane and has a problem with fucking things up, however, you are the most gifted of the other entries."
Harry stared at her, eyes wide in shock. "Now pull yourselves together! Room? Can you please turn this into an imitation of the Library?"
The room reformed and around their cosy area, turned into the Hogwarts Library. Hermione grabbed a book and opened it.
"Now. Everyone, get to reading." She said, and when nobody made a move to do so, she glared at them all and snapped "Now!"
Everyone got to work immediately.
-o0o0o0o-
An emergency Wizengamot session was called.
Everyone filed into their seats, the Greengrasses, Longbottoms, Malfoy's, and Bones' families all sat around the Black and Potter seats, showing solidarity. As Sirius was proxy for Harry, Arcturus sat in the Black seat in his stead.
The older man was grumbling. "I gave up the Lordship so I wouldn't have to bloody sit in this seat in this room full of jumped-up old windbags that sit quietly with their thumbs up their arses."
"Quit your grumbling." Sirius said, only half good-naturedly. "Stop acting like a child."
Arcturus' eyes went comically wide. "I will curse you out of those robes right now you fuckwit."
Cyrus Greengrass chuckled underneath his breath at the banter displayed by the two men.
"Says the man that runs away when Grandmother Melania is upset at you." Sirius retorted.
"Says the man that ran away from home because mummy was a crazy harpy." Arcturus snapped back.
"She crucio'd me!" Sirius said, aghast. Arcturus shrugged.
"And I crucio'd her. Then the bitch died. Get over it." He said back. Sirius was gaping at his grandfather, whilst Amelia sighed.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." She muttered.
"Fudge is not going to like this." Lucius interjected. "He blundered up many things recently, and he is going to be on the defensive."
"Fudge is a useless minister anyways." Frank snorted. "He's never done anything worth mentioning. How are we going to count on him now that war is on the horizon?"
"I could kill him." Arcturus said blankly.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that either." Amelia grumbled.
"Good! Plausible deniability. We cannot afford to lose the only competent person in the Ministry right now." Arcturus agreed amicably, nodding his head. Sirius stifled a laugh at the mixed expression of surprise at the sheer gall of the man and delight at the compliment that blended across Amelia's beautiful face.
"Oh no." Lucius grumbled, watching Fudge walk in. But it wasn't the minister itself, more the person he walked in with. Ignatius Avery.
The two were whispering to one another frantically as they took their seats, Fudge's deplorable undersecretary following them with a simpering smile.
"Not good." Sirius muttered. "If Avery has Fudge in his pocket.."
"The aftermath could be very bad. Despite everyone in this chamber knowing that the Dark Lord will return, it is possible that Fudge will do everything he can to deny it to the public if Avery tells him it's what he should do." Cyrus said, worriedly.
"What are we here for, Madam Bones?" Fudge asked, as she called the meeting.
"The trial for Barty Crouch Jr." Amelia announced. "But first, I would like to call a vote of No-Confidence against the Chief Warlock, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Now Amelia, surely–"
"I second that." Cyrus said, standing up in agreement. Soon enough, the chamber was a chorus of agreements, even from those firmly in Dumbledore's corner.
"And who would we nominate?" Tiberius Ogden asked, eyebrow raised.
Avery stood up. "I would like to nominate Corbin Yaxley."
Many of the Darker families agreed with that notion. Sirius grit his teeth in annoyance. "I would like to nominate Griselda Marchbanks. Madam Marchbanks is known to be a neutral party, is reliable, and quite honestly, the most honest and unproblematic of all of you lot." Sirius said simply.
"I accept your nomination." Madam Marchbanks said, with a nod to Sirius. Sirius nodded back and sat down.
"Let's vote. Those for Corbin Yaxley?" Amelia called.
About thirty wands were in the air, all from darker families. "Those for Griselda Marchbanks?"
The rest of the 100 wands were in the air, and with an overwhelming majority, Madam Marchbanks was sworn in as Chief Witch.
"Now," she called, banging the gavel. "Pertaining to the trial of Barty Crouch Jr–"
"Actually, Chief Witch, there is no need for that." Fudge said proudly, standing up.
"And why is that, Minister?" She asked, unimpressed at being cut off, and narrowing her eyes at the stout man.
"Why, I ordered the Dementors Kiss. It happened just before the meeting." He said proudly, expecting mountains of praise.
What he got instead was pandemonium.
"You bloody idiot!" One voice called.
"How could you be so stupid?" Another lamented.
"SILENCE!" Arcturus called gruffly. He then addressed Fudge, as the room fell completely still. Arcturus glared at the now shrinking and puce coloured man. "Just when I thought you could not get more stupid, you managed to prove me wrong."
"Now see here–" Fudge bolstered, pointing a pudgy finger in the man's direction.
"Put your finger away before I break it." Arcturus snapped. "You complete ignoramus! He could have told us of the Dark Lord's plan. And not only was what you did an incredibly stupid move politically, it was also a slight against my family!" Arcturus thundered. People felt as if his voice could be heard in the high heavens, with the way it echoed in the soundless chamber. Amelia very much wanted to add in her own choice words, as he went over her head as the Head of the DMLE and if she had it her way she'd curse the scoundrel into the fifth century, but she had a feeling Arcturus Black would handle it for her.
"It was not–"
"It was! That man illegally entered my grandson into the TriWizard Tournament to harm him!" Arcturus spat. "We followed protocol instead of making it a family matter because for some odd reason we thought that even you and this godforsaken administration could not find a way to fuck it up and you have! The only lead on the whereabouts, plans, or movements of Lord Voldemort–" he was cut off by gasps and screeches.
"It's a bloody name! Get over it!" Sirius snapped.
Arcturus continued. "And you have managed to completely destroy that. With not even consulting the council! You do not have all the power, minister. We, the Wizengamot do."
"Mister Black is correct." Cyrus stood up as well. "You do not have the power to go over our heads and do as you see fit, Minister. This is a violation of the law and the oath you took when you were sworn into office."
Fudge began stuttering and sweating profusely.
"Hem hem." The most irritating voice Frank Longbottom had ever heard in his life interrupted. "Excuse me, but he is the Minister of Magic. You should obey him. His word is law."
"It is not, you insufferable pink shrew." Sirius snapped. "Our word is law as the main governing body. We should have been aware and we should have voted on it. This cloak and dagger operation has incompetence written all over it." He then grinned. It was a smile that placed a chill down everyone's spine. It was an unhinged smile that promised pain. One that was dripping with malice, the same way the man's tongue dripped with silver. "Oh just wait until the media gets wind of how horrible of a mistake you have made, Minister."
The title was said with the obvious insinuation that Fudge would not be minister for long. It was a promise that everyone heard.
A promise that Sirius vowed to keep. The moment he was able to, Cornelius Fudge would no longer be in office. His name and memory just a mere whisper in the wind.
a/n: i know what you guys are thinking. A new update? this fast? has hell frozen over? the asnwer is: no, but I seem to have been hit with the inspiration bug lately. finally, the moment we have all been waiting for. the fall of Albus Dumbledore, and the beginning of the downfall of cornelius fudge. Tell me what you think! Review and give me suggestions and all that. I'm sooo excited for where this story takes us. Literally none of this was planned, it just happened. The story has a mind of its own. Let me know what you think!