Here's chapter eleven for your enjoyment, this is the penultimate one! Once again, thank you to everyone that followed/favourited/reviewed this story so far. You're all amazing!
Chapter Eleven
Running through the bowels of the Ministry, Daphne silently cursed the Department of Transportation for taking so long to let her through the international customs. Of all the days she didn't want to be late, it was her first day back at the Wizengamot after her six-month break, not that anyone knew she was coming back today, not even her father. She didn't even plan on sitting with the other members today, but rather up in the public seats so she could observe what had changed within the political body without the hard-line conservatives watching her every move and questioning everything she wrote.
After three months of arguing and three months of soul searching, she wanted a little more peace and quiet before she tried to make waves again. Throwing a quick smile to Felix the Wizengamots happy-go-lucky security wizard, Daphne sidled into the upper seats of the audience just as Shacklebolt called everyone to attention. Then, much to her surprise she felt the Guillotine Wards being raised around the room. Clearly, whatever was being discussed today, someone didn't want to be interrupted. Though, by the looks of confusion on some of the faces of the Wizengamot, not everyone knew exactly what those wards meant. Should make for an interesting session, she thought with a smirk.
"First order of business, Harry Potter, you have the floor," Shacklebolt announced, banging the gavel to signify the start of business.
"Thank you Minister," Harry said, standing up, the family seal on the front of his box glowing slightly to signify he held the floor. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here today to put forward Degree 271928, Actum ad Populum. Section one of the decree, allows a witch the right to open and manage a Gringotts bank vault, independent of their male relations; through blood, bonding or marriage," Harry announced, glancing up he was pleased to note the Pureblood conservatives were starting to take notice, Enola seemed to be particularly interested in what he was saying. Harry knew that it was an extremely closely guarded secret, that despite being known as a deadly black widow with three dead husbands' fortunes claimed as her own, her one and only son, Blaise, actually controlled the family fortune, allowing his mother just enough access to keep up the deception. Having unrestricted access to her late husbands' fortunes was no doubt appealing to her.
"Section two of Decree 271928, allows a witch the right to petition the Ministry and the Wizengamot for the right to initiate divorce; annul; dissolution; separation and the dissolvement of bonds -where able- with no more than reasonable proof as required by a wizard through Decree 1498, marking section two of Decree 271928 an amendment to Decree 1533, numbered 1969." Pausing once more to look up at the expressions of the Wizengamot, Harry noted that the eldest members looked almost murderous at the possibility of their wives being able to leave them after a life-time of neglect. The younger members looked worried, as they would lose their wives at the first angry word, along with half their fortune. From his conversations with Daphne and more recently with Rowan, Harry knew that a lot of wizards took full advantage of the fact their wives had no way of escaping their cruelty, especially if they had an heir that they wanted to remain with, in the hope that they could negate some of the damage their abusive fathers could do.
"Section three of Decree 271928 allows all witches the right to vote in Minister of Magic elections, without conditions or restrictions, from the age of seventeen. Section three of Decree 271928 will also be marked as an amendment to Decree 1918, number 1969."
Hushed murmurs broke out throughout the chamber as people realised just how much people Decree 271928 was levelling the playing field between witches and wizards in what was a very patriarchal society. From her position at the top of the public seating, Daphne could see clearly how the staunchest conservative wizards of the court scrambled to collect their thoughts enough to pose counter-arguments to the Decree that Harry was proposing. It was clear that the Decree would be popular amongst the general public, especially the witches of the country, for obvious reasons.
Daphne had to admit that the way Harry had introduced the Decree was inspired. By proposing the Decree be read under the Guillotine Wards ensured that he wouldn't be interrupted after every word he stoke, stopping the delays that usually plagued these kinds of proposed Decrees. It gave her a sense of satisfaction to see how frustrated the doddering old wizards were getting at being silenced. Daphne was slightly surprised to see some intrigued faces amongst the conservative bloc. Slughorn and Belby looked to be the ones most likely to support the Decree when it would be time to vote. She knew that Belby especially had lost quite a lot of talented potioneers when a witches' husband decided she could no longer work. It was a conversation she knew all too well. She also knew that most members would remain staunch opponents to the Decree however.
"Finally, section four of Decree 271928, allows for the succession to include daughters where a family lacks a direct son to inherit it's title. Section four also includes the succession rights if seats held by the Sacred Twenty-Eight, to be determined by the current holder and not pre-determined by birth or gender." The silence in the chamber was deafening as everyone tried to absorb the fourth and final section of the Decree. Even if someone knew nothing about the Wizengamot, they could tell just how much of a big deal this could be. It could reshape the Wizengamot and the country like nothing before it.
All at once, every member of the Wizengamot started talking at once, drowning each other out as they tried to have their say on the proposed Decree. It took Kingsley banging his gavel with the addition of a sonus charm before it was quiet enough for him to proceed. "Mr Potter has concluded the reading of Decree 271928; I'll now open the floor to questions. Let's keep this organised and civil," he informed the chamber, before motioning for Hadrian Flint to start the questioning.
"Have you lost your mind, Potter," he spat at the young man, clearly not expecting to be the first one to be called on. "There is no way we well approve such a decree. It would be disastrous for our society."
"On the contrary, I think it would be only beneficial to society if witches were afforded the rights this decree proposes," Harry responded calmly. "That's why, after consulting with Gringotts, various departments of the Ministry and the countries most renowned professors and lawyers, we are all gathered here today for the Decree's reading. It's final reading, that is," he added and Daphne could swear she saw him smirk at the other wizards.
"What? That's preposterous, this is the first reading. Just because you're the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't mean you can just flout the rules of this body," Fudge told him with a sneer.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Harry told him, holding up his copy of the court diary, something each member had and that was linked together with an effingo charm. "This is actually the fourth reading of the decree, something you'd know if you'd looked at the diary entrances. This is the final reading before the vote. I can hardly be blamed if none of you bothered to show up for any of the previous readings."
No doubt sensing that Harry's comments -however true- were going to cause quite a bit of indignation amongst his fellow Wizengamot members, Kingsley quickly moved the questioning on, selecting Edmund Burke to speak next, completely ignoring Fudges sour glare.
"Isn't this all a bit much? Would it not be more efficient to start small and work your way up to this …. dream you seem to have," Edmund asked, not truly believing that the decree would be passed.
"No, I don't believe it's too much. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it doesn't go far enough to correct the imbalances of our society," Harry responded calmly, having clearly prepared his responses to the pushback he was going to receive. "In fact, I approached some of my fellow members to get their opinions on the Decree, with the aim of adding their names as co-publishers. Something I'm pleased to say, was achieved. Which is why Decree 271928 is co-authored by Madam Amelia Bones and Rowan Greengrass."
"Why in Merlin's name would you put your name to such a thing?" Bulstrode asked, clearly not thinking through his question- or to whom he was talking to.
"Why do you think I'd support such a decree, you buffoon," Amelie responded with a scoff. "Just because I managed to jump through every hoop and sidestep all the obstacles you tried to put in my way to my seat on this body, means that I don't want the next generation of witches to have to go through the same thing," she explained calmly to the men of the Wizengamot. "I'd like to think that we've evolved since I joined this body, but since I was the last witch to join and that was almost ten years ago, I think it's high time we had some fresh blood within this body," she explained to them all.
"Likewise, I'd like to not see my two daughters subjugated by the wiles of the less intelligent wizards they'll unfortunately marry. They both deserve far better than what they'll get from society today. Quite honestly, I'm ashamed that I haven't pushed harder in the past to het decrees like this passed," he admitted, hanging his head slightly in shame. "But that is my guilt to deal with and I can only make a vow to myself to do better for my girls and -Merlin willing- girls of their own on day, so that they are never held back by the basis of their sex."
"As touching a speech as that was Rowan, and I'm sure your daughters will appreciate the sentiment, I am still yet to hear what society will benefit from us passing this decree," Nott Snr asked, clearly not impressed by what he'd heard so far.
"I'm glad you asked," Harry told him with a smug grin, standing again to address the court. "We'll start with the economy, shall we? After consulting with the Goblins and Arithmancy experts, they have determined that the passing of this decree, it has the potential to add approximately 177 million Galleons to the economy. As you might imagine, Gringotts welcomes that potential gold in its vaults, as I believe a lot of you will. What with your dwindling fortunes making life less than you'd like it to be," he informed them, pausing to looked around at the wizards of the Wizengamot, noting that the conservative bloc were doing their best not to look highly insulted by Harry's words, while others were looking rather thoughtful at the picture he was trying to paint.
"Section two of the decree then, do you know how many bonding's and families you'd be breaking apart? You'd be responsible for all those destroyed home," Nott Snr sneered, obviously thinking that by mentioning families it would tug on the poor orphans heart strings, would make him reconsider.
"If a wizard cannot keep his witch without relying on an ancient decree, then he doesn't deserve to keep her," Harry told him simply. "Approximately 1.6 million women in Britain suffer from domestic abuse and this decree gives the witches of that statistic the opportunity to escape their abusers. If you have any objection to that part of the decree, it says an awful lot about your character frankly," Harry responded with a glare.
"We're not here to discuss your torrid history with witches, especially your poor late wife who I'm sure would have jumped at the opportunity this section of the decree would have provided her," Augusta Longbottom remarked, clearly not having the patience to deal with the sexist old wizards. "This decree is just the thing that's needed to drag our society into the 21st Century. And if any of you disagree or try to stop its progress then you don't deserve a seat on this council," she remarked, staring her conservative council wizards down, almost daring any of them to argue with her.
"We don't need this decree," Fudge shouted out incredulously, not wanting to hear any more. "Our society is functioning perfectly well as it is with everyone knowing where their place is. Why in Merlin's name would you want to mess with the natural order of things," he asked with a shake of his head. "Next, you'll want to give Werewolves; House-Elves and other creatures equal rights too," he asked derogatively, not taking the younger wizards ideas or ambitions seriously in the slightest.
"Give me time, I'll get to those issues too," Harry replied with a grin. "There's a lot that needs to change, but we'll start with Actum ad Populum and go from there."
"If there are no more questions, - or statements might be the better description, in relation to the clauses of Decree 271928, then we will proceed to the vote," Kingsley said, raising his wand to silence the chamber, both the council seats as well as those of the public. Upon seeing Fudge open his mouth, no doubt to argue on the legality of the vote being taken so soon, Kingsley quickly remarked, "As Master Potter has already stated, this is the fourth reading of the decree, just because you haven't checked the diary doesn't mean you get to postpone the vote. Let this be a lesson for you, perhaps it'll make you less complacent in matters of the Wizengamot," he told the council with a pointed look. "Now, you know the process, light the crests on your box to show your vote on the question. Who here opposes Decree 271928?" he asked, looking around the chamber waiting for the votes to begin being cast. Fudge was the first to light up his crest, looking furious. Then Nott Snr cast his vote, but no other crests lit up, surprising quite a few members of the chamber and public, Harry included. He would have thought there'd be more of an objection to the decree.
When it became apparent that no other crests were going to be lit, Kingsley nodded to his undersecretary to make a record of the votes. "Who here supports the passing of Decree 271928?" he asked.
Slowly, the crests in front of the boxes began to light up. The crests of Harry; Rowan; Augusta and Amelia lit up almost as soon as Kingsley finished speaking, with Abbott; Fawley; Macmillan and Wood following suit. Those were all the crests that Daphne knew would light up at the vote, now it was time to see who else would vote for the decree.
Looking over at what she called the conservative seats, Daphne watched with baited breath as she saw Balby; Slughorn and Zabini light up their crests in support, the determined looks on each of their faces daring anyone to question them or their vote. Then, in a more shocking turn, the crests of Bulstrode and Parkinson lip up, both men almost looking guilty. Daphne had no doubts that they were thinking of their daughters, she knew that Millicent had been married off to an older wizard a couple of years ago: it wasn't a love match but the last she heard, Millie was happy enough, something to be grateful for.
When it became apparent no other crests would be lit up, the undersecretary made a record of the votes cast, and to surprise of quite a few, both Burke and Flint had yet to cast their votes. "Who here abstains from voting on Decree 271928?" he asked finally, both Flint and Burke lighting their crests, marking their votes as null, void and essentially worthless, ending the vote on the decree. "All votes have been cast and recorded. I hereby declare that Decree 271928, Actum ad Populum, passed into law by a vote of 13-to-2, with 2 absentee in it's favour," Kingsley declared with a bang of the gavel and all at once, the women in the audience cheered, drawing amused looks from some members of the chamber, including Harry, who looked up at the cheering crown, his eyes catching Daphne's amongst the crown, cocking his brown as though silently asking, 'So how do you think I did?' and Daphne couldn't help but smile back at him in delight.
When Harry joined the Wizengamot all those months ago, she knew that he was going to make waves and ruffle some feathers, but she had no idea how much of an affect he would have and how quickly he was going to achieve it.
Merlin, could she call it.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's pretty much twice the length of the other chapters but I couldn't think of where to cut it without messing up the flow.
Quick little fact about the numbers I used for amendments and decrees, they're all based on actual dates that UK equivalent legislation was brought into law in the UK.
Section two for example; the first date is the earliest year I could find a record of a man divorcing his wife (actually it was Henry VIII) while the second date is when women could file for divorce without having to prove 'fault'. That's a 436-year difference!
Anyway, the next chapter is the last one of this story, hopefully it lives up to expectations for you all.