Chapter Four: The Opening Act

'Our doubts are traitors

And make us lose the good we oft might win

By fearing to attempt.' -William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

'We have been told that our world is in jeopardy, that our way of life, that our very lives are at stake! But where I ask, is the proof? Only in rumours and lies! Are we to allow ourselves to be manipulated and governed by fear?' Lucius Malfoy paused from his rapid fired speech to take a sip from the glass on the podium.

Hailey Ahlgrim glared at the pureblood aristocrat running for Minister of Magic, keeping her arms staunchly crossed as the audience around her applauded. She glanced down at her notes: names of influential wizards or witches and how they seemed to receive his message, any character weaknesses she could spot or issues he did not address, and a sketch of Malfoy being skewered by an Erumpent. But now that Malfoy had warmed up to the subject, Hailey was jotting down everything he said. If Lucius Malfoy became Minister… Hailey would take a Portkey to Antarctica. Full stop.

'If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has truly returned, why has He not shown Himself? There have been no attacks, no deaths, and no Dark Order activity of any kind. My fellow witches and wizards...'

That was it. Hailey could not stand it anymore; just sitting there doing nothing. She gathered her parchment and Self-Inking Quill and, with many an "excuse me, pardon me", made her way to the aisle. She drew herself up to her full height (which was far from impressive), whipped her hair over her shoulder and marched out of the conference hall. It was a brilliant display of defiance, considering she had spent a hundred Galleons for her seat.

She could only hope Lucius Malfoy saw.

Hailey exited the lecture hall and took to wandering the streets of Diagon Alley in hopes of calming her tumultuous thoughts. After several hours, however, she was forced to give it up as a bad job and went to the Leaky Cauldron to Floo home.

Stepping out of the grate in the study, she brushed the soot off her robes and glanced about the darkened room. In the corner, Horatio, her scarlet macaw, was fast asleep on his perch. Her father's chalkboard had been moved to the side of the room and the instruments on his desk were silent.

It appeared her father had gone to bed early and for that Hailey was thankful. Recently her father had alternated between running countless equations in the study and spending long hours away from the house; what he was working on she could only guess.

Hailey tossed her notes on the desk, stoked the fire with a flick of her wand and threw herself into her father's old wingback chair, inhaling the comforting scent of her father's pipe as she ran her fingers through her hair.

The past fortnight had been a trial to be sure. First, she had learnt Voldemort had returned, then Fudge was discovered to be embezzling money and now Lucius Malfoy might very well be the next Minister, while people in the Ministry were getting sacked left, right and centre. Hailey had taken to sequestering herself in her office; she arrived by the fireplace and left in the same manner, she had also asked Clark to do the same and so far they had both managed to avoid being let go.

Her gaze strayed to the parchment on her desk, her mind wandering to Malfoy's speech. Lucius Malfoy was among the last people on earth she would want as Minister for Magic. And that was not simply because she had a personal vendetta against the man. Hailey stood and began to pace. Ah yes, the infamous Malfoy/Ahlgrim rivalry.

The two families admittedly had much in common. Both were affluent, both had pure bloodlines, and both the Malfoys and Ahlgrims were known for their altruistic donations: the Malfoys practically had a wing in St. Mungo's named after them, and in about a month's time there would be the groundbreaking for Hailey's brainchild, the Plainsborough Lycanthrope Sanctuary, a hospital designed to provide treatment for werewolves and to provide a secure place for their monthly transformations.

After that, however, their families veered off in utterly different directions. While the Malfoys' pure bloodline was the result of careful planning, the Ahlgrims' bloodline came from pure chance. The Malfoys discriminated against half-bloods, muggles and muggle-borns; the Ahlgrims strove for equality. Each was the antithesis of the other. And if that, as well as their personal histories, were not enough to make the very thought of Minister Malfoy repulsive- there were the rumours… rumours that Lucius Malfoy had not been put under the Imperius Curse during the War as he had claimed, but rather had acted of his own volition. She had no doubt he was capable of such things, his father, Abraxas Malfoy, was a monster and Hailey was quite certain that in that case, the Quaffle did not fall far from the goalposts. Still, the idea that Lucius Malfoy, a wizard who exercised so much influence in the Ministry, might be a Death Eater made her undeniably queasy. Hailey shook her head. Death Eater or no, Lucius Malfoy becoming Minister would spell disaster… yet there was nothing she could do.

Her discouraging thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door; Hailey started and then called. 'Come in!'

It was her father, and judging by the thick book under his arm, sleep had been eluding him as well. 'I was wondering when you would come home,' he said. 'Lucius Malfoy's speech did not just wrap up, I hope?'

Hailey shook her head. 'No, I spent the last few hours attempting to shake off my righteous indignation.'

He chuckled, though there was the flinty glint in his eyes that appeared whenever the Malfoys were the topic of discussion. He settled in his chair and began to pat the pockets of his dressing-gown muttering, 'Pipe, pipe, oh, where is the blasted thing?' When his search came up empty, he raised his wand. 'Accio pipe!' and the pipe sailed into his hand from under a pile of parchments on his desk. He stuck it in his mouth and another two waves of his wand had the pipe stuffed and lit. "So, has your righteous indignation worn itself down to a bearable level yet?"

Hailey nodded and took a seat across from her father.

'Good. Now, what did Malfoy have to say?'

'Nothing unexpected. He seemed to alternate between calling Albus senile and accusing him of being an alarmist. No, what was more surprising was what he didn't say.'

'Which was…?'

'Anything about pureblood supremacy; he avoided the topic entirely.'

'Well, you cannot expect he would alienate his potential voters in such a way,' her father pointed out.

Hailey inclined her head. 'True. I suppose I just did not think he was that good a thespian.'

'We shall have to wait and see if that remains true, this is only the opening act.'

'Of what will doubtlessly be a great tragedy.'

Her father took the pipe out of his mouth and regarded her seriously. 'That is uncharacteristically pessimistic of you.'

Hailey sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. 'My usual optimism has gone on holiday, I'm afraid.'

The pair was silent for a few minutes: Radulph occupied with his pipe while Hailey gazed into the fire. 'I hate to be the one to say it,' her father said at last, 'but unless something drastically changes, I believe Malfoy shall be our next Minister. His only opposition is Professor Allgood, and everyone knows he is only running at Fudge's behest.'

She scowled, then glanced slyly at her father as an idea began to form in her mind. 'You know who would be the perfect candidate? Someone from a respectable pureblood family, but who doesn't believe in pureblood supremacy, one who has experience in the Ministry-'

Radulph held up his hand. 'I know what you are getting at and the answer is no. I retired from the Ministry decades ago. I never intend to go back, especially now He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has managed to resurrect Himself. I do not say that out of cowardice; I believe my place is at Hogwarts as School Governor, even if it is not as prestigious as Minister for Magic.'

Hailey was tempted to dispute the matter, but she knew it would accomplish nothing. 'So Malfoy is our new Minister then?'

'Perhaps not.' Her father leaned forward conspiratorially. 'I have heard rumours of another possible candidate.'

'Who is it?'

'One who fits your criteria- a pureblood who does not give a damn about bloodlines, one with plenty of experience in the Ministry- a close friend of mine, in fact.'

Hailey wrinkled her forehead. 'Who?'

Her father arched an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look.

She returned the stare for a moment before comprehension set in. 'What!' She leapt out of her seat. 'Father, you cannot be serious!'

He smiled widely. 'Why ever not? You have quite the reputation in the Ministry- a good one, which is no small feat. You are on both the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards, for Circe's sake! You and Albus are the only ones to accomplish such a thing in the past century.'

She strayed over to the hearth and ran her hand over the ornate mantelpiece, her thoughts flying in so many directions she was uncertain which one to pursue first. 'You… you think I would be a good Minister?' she asked at last.

Her father nodded. 'Undoubtedly.'

Taken back by the absolute conviction in his voice, it took her a moment to answer. 'I- I am honoured.'

'Well,' he prodded after a minute. 'What do you say, hm?'

Hailey shook her head. 'In order for my name to even appear on the ballot as an eligible candidate, I would first have to collect nine hundred and ninety-nine signatures and submit them to the Ministry. four hundred and ninety-nine promised votes. Do you truly think I could get that many?'

Radulph stood and went over to his desk and began to rifle through stacks of parchment. 'Hailey,' he said with a small smile, 'there are occasions where I wonder if your humility does not cross the line into a lack of self-confidence.'

She scowled. 'It's not a lack of self-confidence,' she argued, 'it's… it's more an acknowledgement of everything that is at stake.' She shook her head. 'What makes you so certain I could get the promised votes?' She glanced at the chalkboard. 'Have you been running the numbers?'

Instead of answering, he extracted a large scroll from the pile on his desk and held it out to her.

She took the proffered scroll, immediately recognising the symbol on the wax seal: it was of a dog standing protectively over a small bird- the same seal, the Ahlgrim family crest, appeared on all post Hailey sent. She broke the green seal and watched as the parchment unfurled, hit the ground and trailed a good metre behind her. Taking a deep breath, Hailey skipped the opening paragraph (which began "We the undersigned") and began to read:

Radulph Ahlgrim

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Amelia Bones

Dirk Cresswell

Mafalda Hopkirk

Stamford Jorkins

Hailey's eyes widened as she continued to scan the list. Some of the names she knew; she spotted the signature of Tom from the Leaky Cauldron and as well as that of Galen Fezziwick, a kindly old wizard whose love of enthusiastic plants had landed him in a spot of trouble with the Ministry. Many other names, however, were wholly unfamiliar. Hailey felt her eyes grow moist as she cleared her throat. 'I-I don't know what to say.'

Her father smiled, capturing her hands tightly in his. 'Say you will run and give these people something to hope for; try, that is all I ask.'

'It still seems like quite a bit,' Hailey said with a quavering laugh. 'I'll consider it, but I can promise nothing more.'

He nodded, satisfied. 'I shall leave you to it, then.' He kissed her forehead and exited the study, shutting the door softly behind him.

Minister for Magic… The idea was preposterous and yet… and yet Hailey could not eject it from her mind. She remembered vividly her first day at the Ministry as an assistant to Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her duties were rather menial: running reports to various departments, taking messages while Madam Bones was out, fetching tea and the like; but Hailey did not mind, for she truly felt she was doing some good. However, Hailey quickly came to realise the Ministry she worked in was radically different from the stories her father had told her as a child: people were now more concerned with ensuring failures were not traced to them than doing the job right, tasks were now shunted from department to department to department… In short, everything possible was done to reduce the Ministry to an inefficient labyrinth that was impossible for the common wizard to navigate.

But if she became Minister, Hailey could work to change all that. She could restore the Ministry to its former glory. Ideas, schemes, fears and doubts, flittered half-formed through her mind till she felt the twinges of an impending headache. Hailey exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. Eventually, her eyes strayed to the roster in her hand. She had been given a chance, a chance to do more than she had ever dreamed…

But then there was the matter of Voldemort. Hailey was a fighter, no one doubted that, but she fought with her quill, not her wand.

The flames from the fireplace danced across her face, making her brown eyes look fierce and bright. She had much to consider, and she stayed up much of the night, the fire waning as her heart and her mind warred with one another.