Summary of last Chapter:
- Voldemort reflects on the progress of his plan to take over Britain. He is pleased with the current state of affairs, as they are ahead of schedule. However, he sees Minister Minchum as a potential problem due to his effective leadership and reforms.
- Voldemort contemplates the situation with the Black family, including Orion, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucius, and Regulus. He also notes the elimination of the Shafiqs and plans to deal with the Greengrass family.
- Voldemort acknowledges his followers in the Wizengamot, but realizes he still lacks significant influence. He identifies the unaffiliated, the Black Alliance, the Sayre Alliance, the Light Moderate Camp, and the Progressives as the major factions in the Wizengamot besides his Traditionalists and thinks of strategies for dealing with each of them.
Chapter 13:
I wanted to ask you guys something: Is it crazy that I have basically the entire storyline up to frickin 1982 planned out? The way I have decreased the pacing I might take a lot longer for what is essentially the prequel of the main storyline than I thought. The bloody main characters of the main story are just 1 year old at this point lmaooo. I hope you don't mind though, I like the way this is going and am really invested into giving you a Marauders Era war story. Also you don't really have to but it would be awesome if you read through how the Wizengamot works and how many votes each house on the Wizengamot has. I put 2 hours and a lot of thought into it. Anyways enjoy the chapter :3
3rd June 1976, Scotland, Hogwarts:
„Phew man they couldn't have made the Potions exam any harder, could they?" asked Sirius his friends as they walked out of the castle. They had just finished their Potions exam and were very happy that they did so, even Peter who was quite good at the subject.
„Well I didn't find it that bad but I agree. I am glad it is over" he said.
„Well Wormtail not everyone is a prodigy at Potions like you are" said James making his friends blush in slight embarrassment.
"Seriously Peter. You are not too far off from being an actual Potions prodigy. You have even managed to impress Sirius' father. Be proud of your skill in Potions and take the compliment with stride, will you?" Remus chided Peter gently making him flush even more.
Since their meeting with the Sirius' family, James, Sirius and even Remus had begun calling Peter their little Potions prodigy which always caused him to flush which they found funny. They didn't know how much all of this recognition by his friends and the Blacks meant for Peter, he had never really been praised by someone, Kettleburn wasn't someone to praise his students a lot. On the other hand, he didn't insult them either which certainly was something to appreciate.
"Look over there. Now who do we have over there? Looks like someone is all alone by himself" James suddenly said mockingly. Remus and Peter glanced at eachother and shook their heads with a defeated expression. James had been a little more arrogant again lately but that was understandable... atleast somewhat. Something very important had happened after all. After 3 years of constant badgering, Lily Evans had finally agreed to go out on a date with the Potter heir, an event that surprised pretty much everyone even said Potter heir himself. Traditionalists amongst the students were quite angry about the desecration of another pureblood family, Moderates shook their heads either with sighs or amused faces while Progressives praised the couple for showing that their class division meant little when it came to love. James was on cloud 7 however and it showed in this very situation. Sirius didn't quite know what to think. Just a year ago he would have jumped on the situation but seeing what he had nearly done 8 months ago... it made him think. Was Snivellus perhaps somewhat justified in trying to get them expelled? They had pulled off quite a lot of questionable pranks in the past after all... brilliant but also questionable. Sirius saw Snivellus'... no Snape's eyes widen as he looked up. He sprung to his feat ready to defend himself but James disarmed him with a expelliarmus just a second later and then levitated Severus into the air. At this point Sirius remembered a conversation with his father where Orion said that Sirius would have to become more responsible to be Lord Black. By then Sirius had realised that he would be able to help improve things with James much easier if he was Lord Black and so Sirius made an actual effort which showed in his grades. He didn't want to risk disappointing his father or worse, his grandfather and so he did something he had never done before. He told his best friend to stop.
"Prongs, that's enough." Sirius said and everyone around him froze. Everyone that had heard Sirius' words looked on in shock at what he had said, even Severus, and Sirius squirmed a little, faced with James' incredulous facial expression but he knew he had to double down now.
"Just stop Prongs, we have better things to do than to bully some gloomy Slytherin that doesn't know that he is on his way of becoming the dark wanker's lapdog." he said shaking his head. He heard a thump and saw that James had lost control over the spell in his shock which meant that Severus had ungracefully Sirius smiled a little at the fact that he had surprised his best friend that much. There was absolute silence before James seemed to finally regain some composure.
"Padfoot by Merlin what is wrong with you? Why would you ever defend someone like Snivellus?" James asked incredulously.
"Look I know that he is probably going to join the dark wanker but honestly what have we ever done to Snape other than bully him? Yes I know they were just pranks but lets be honest Prongs, our pranking has often been dangerously close to actual bullying... Look Prongs I am not asking you to kiss him let's just not waste our time with him anymore. You may not like it but even you have to recognise that Mr. Gloomyface here is a frickin genius at Potions and you don't want to be poisoned in your sleep somewhere down the line, do you? Also you have finally managed to get Evans to date you and I am not sure but.. I don't think she is looking too happy over there" Sirius said finishing his little speech and motioning to Lily Evans who was standing not too far away from them looking absolutely furious. James gulped heavily and after a few seconds, with his face now in a grimace, said
"Fine... come on guys let's go" and so the Marauders left the scene, leaving behind an absolutely flummoxed audience that took a while to disperse. This day would be remembered as the day when Hogwarts recognised that the Black heir had changed... that he had grown up. A few minutes passed.
Severus didn't quite know what had just happened. Had Black actually... complimented and defended him? He had still spoken as if he hated Severus but his voice was as neutral as it could have been. Black actually didn't hate Severus anymore and Severus didn't quite know what to think of that. He was quite embarrased though, never before had he been so humiliated before in his life. First by being utterly defenseless and then because one of his hated enemies was the one to save him from more humiliation and that made Severus quite irritated.
"Sev' are you okay?" a worried voice that was quickly approaching asked him.
He spun around and saw his best friend of 8 years, the best friend he had been in love with for the last 2, running towards him and in his irritation he wanted to lash out on her. In another timeline where Black hadn't spoken up for him he would have, in another timeline he might even have called her a mudblood, destroying their friendship forever in the process. But not in this timeline. In this timeline, Severus fought down his irritation and he grimaced but gratefully nodded towards his friend.
"Yeah.. I think so. It's fine Lily don't worry too much about it.. I am sorry I have to go, I will see you after dinner okay?" he asked at which she nodded so he hurried back towards the castle, eager to get into his dorm so that he could think about what had just happened. He couldn't know that this event would change not only his fate but also the fate of his best friend.
Lily looked on in sorrow. She saw obviously what was happening to her best friend, he was becoming more and more quick to anger and was becoming increasingly cruel towards those he deemed beneath him. She still had hope to get him back to the person she had met back then however. Looking over to the side she saw the infamous Marauders sitting together by a tree in absolute silence. This eased her worries that this event had been planned out to lull Severus into a false sense of security. Thinking of the Marauders made her eyes land on Potter. That utter jerk! At the start of the term she had thought that Potter had finally grown up and he had but not as much as Lily would have liked him to. The cocky bully she met in first year was still somewhere beneath the surface and she had to destroy those last pieces of that personality! For Severus' sake if nothing else. And she knew exactly how. After all, Potter was quite crazily in love with her right? Well she would use that against him. Maybe threatening to leave him if he didn't stop bully people and Severus in particular would get through to him. Maybe she could even threaten to start dating Severus instead of Potter? Thinking on how Potter's would probably look after that made her chuckle. She of course didn't think of Severus that way but Potter couldn't know that could he? She grinned, a plan forming in her mind on how to exactly reach her goal. But she knew that this would have to wait for a while, she had to let things settle down a little.
And boom Snape's worst memory doesn't quite happen in this timeline. How this will change things? Stay tuned to find out ;)
11th June 1976, England, Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot:
It was an important day in the Wizengamot. Arcturus and his fellow Lords would vote on an important matter today, whether Aurors would be allowed to use offensive spells against death eaters and other criminals or not which had been proposed by Head of the DMLE Bartemius Crouch Senior. He couldn't see it passing though. No, he knew that most if not all of the death eaters were purebloods with family members on this very council. The Traditionalists would definetely vote against the proposal. His faction would vote against aswell, they couldn't abstain for this one. The Sayre Alliance would probably vote against the proposal or abstain. Only the Light Moderates around Lord Bones and the Progressives around Chief Warlock Dumbledore would vote in favour of the proposal. The Ministry... for a moment he forgot the Ministerial Seats. Well they would vote in favour. Regarding the six factions that would be 130 votes in favour of the proposal and either 107 or 137 votes against. Now that he thought of it... perhaps this might go through after all. He certainly hoped so. 'Wait what?' you might think which would be understandable. The thing was that while he supported the proposal privately, publicly he would have to be against it. Everyone knew the death eaters consisted of purebloods and he has a Black was expected to vote against anything that would support harming them. Unfortunate, but it was just how things were currently. Still, this left the unaffiliated houses, the amount of which was slowly but steadily decreasing as more and more houses chose sides in the conflict. Arcturus was pretty sure thought that the majority of them would vote against the proposal. Too many had probably already atleast one family member amongst the death eaters. He was thinking of Burke, Crouch, Parkinson, Wilkes, Gibbon, Lowe, Umbridge, Scrimgeour and Higgs who had 37 votes between them.
Then there were houses like Edgecombe, Zabini, Prince, Brocklehurst, MacLaggen, Lovegood, Robins, Ollivander and Dawlish who abstained from every controversial vote either playing it safe or just not interested in the cases of Lovegood and Ollivander.
The more he thought about it, the more he came to the realisation that the vote would probably become quite close. Today in a week would become quite interesting, Arcturus couldn't await the spectacle.
Sorry for the cliffhanger lol
End of Chapter
An overview of the Wizengamot as of the Summer of 1976:
Electory Seat(e): +1
Heridetary Seat: +2
Noble : Peverell (+1 vote) ; Most Noble : Peverell(+3 votes)
Ancient: Peverell(+2 votes) ; Most Ancient: Peverell (+5 votes)
For Example: If the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin had an heir that suddenly came from somewhere it would have +2+3+5 so 10 votes
Edit: I have uploaded this chapter into the document manager and can now see that the difference between Ancient and Most Ancient houses won't be shown like they are in my document. That is quite unfortunate but I have no idea how else to show the difference as fanfiction net limits my options quite severely. Fortunately you can see the amounts of votes each house has somewhere down below so you can guess if they are an Ancient or Most Ancient House. :)
Edit 2: Ugh I have shown houses with electory seats in grey instead of black letters but it doesn't translate to what is being shown on the website :(. I mean I guess you can see if a house is elected to the Wizengamot by them having 1 or 2 votes at most.. but I guess I will put a little (e) behind their names so you know for sure :)
Unaffiliated:
Burke, Crouch, Zabini, Parkinson, Ollivander, Brocklehurst(e), Brown, Patil, Douglas, McCormack, MacLaggen, Goldstein, Umbridge(e), Prince, Hemlock(e), Stonehorn(e), Perks, Dawlish, Edgecombe, Minchum(e), Copplestone(e), Greenford(e), Scrimgeour(e), Johnson(e), Spinnet(e), Accrington, Harlemshake(e), Slughorn, Runcorn, Wilkes, Gibbon, Lowe, Higgs, Cornfoot, Scamander, Lovegood, Robins(e), Jones(e)
→ The Unaffiliates share 125 votes between them
Progressives:
Potter, Longbottom, Prewett, Dumbledore, MacGonagall, Weasley(e), Moody, Shacklebolt, Wintringham, McKinley, Wood, Tripe, Sinistra(e), Vector(e), MacDougal, Kettleburn(e), Bell(e)
→ The Progressives share 62 votes between them
Light Moderates:
Bones, McKinnon, Abbott, Diggory(e), Silverling, Firewheel, Chang(e), Bletchley, Pyrites, Bagnold(e)
→ The Light Moderates share 31 votes between them
True Moderates:
Sayre, Ruslanovich, Blackstream, Serpengold, Montague, Thicknesse
→ The True Moderates share 30 votes between them
Dark Moderates:
Black, Greengrass, MacMillan, Rubisheart, Flint, Bulstrode(e), Selwyn, Travers(e), Avery, Yaxley, Trembley(e), Orpington(e), Fudge(e), Max
→ The Dark Moderates share 56 votes between them
Traditionalists:
Malfoy, Lestrange, Fawley, Rosier, Rowle, Carrow(e), Goyle, Crabbe, Nott, Mulciber, Dolohov(e), MacNair
→ The Traditionalists share 58 votes between them
Ugh now that I added the numbers I realise that the Black Alliance isn't really neutered at all lol. Eh if you read this, don't worry it won't really change the storyline
Ministerial Seats :
Minister of Magic: 8 votes
Chief Warlock: 5 votes
Senior Advisor to the Minister: 5 votes
Senior Undersecretary: 3 votes
Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement: 3 votes
Head of Department of Mysteries: 3 votes
Head of Department of Magical Education: 2 votes
Head of Department of Magical Research: 2 votes
Head of Department of Magical Accidents...: 2 votes
Head of Department for R. and C. of Magical Creatures: 1 vote
Head of Department of Intern. Mag. Cooperation: 1 vote
Head of Department of Magical Transport: 1 vote
Head of Department of Magical Games and Sports: 1 vote
All in All the Ministry has 37 votes available
Additionally on the Wizengamot are people with:
Order of Merlin First Class (+3 votes)
Order of Merlin Second Class (+2 votes)
Order of Merlin Third Class (+1 vote)
Because I like statistics,
Houses and the amounts of votes they have:
Please keep in mind that I have no idea yet who the heads of departments are, the only one I know of is Crouch Sr. being the head of the DMLE
Burke : 10 votes
Crouch : 5 votes
Zabini, : 7 votes
Parkinson, : 5 votes
Ollivander, : 8 votes
Brocklehurst, : 1 vote
Brown, : 3 votes
Patil, : 3 votes
Douglas, : 3 votes
McCormack, : 4 votes
MacLaggen, : 4 votes
Goldstein, : 3 votes
Umbridge, : 1 vote
Prince, : 4 votes
Hemlock, : 2 votes
Stonehorn, : 2 votes
Perks, : 3 votes
Dawlish, : 3 votes
Edgecombe, : 3 votes
Minchum, : 1 vote
Copplestone, : 1 vote
Greenford, : 1 vote
Scrimgeour, : 2 votes
Johnson, : 1 vote
Spinnet, : 1 vote
Accrington, : 3 votes
Harlemshake, : 1 vote
Slughorn, : 3 votes
Runcorn, : 4 votes
Wilkes, : 3 votes
Gibbon, : 3 votes
Lowe, : 4 votes
Higgs, : 4 votes
Cornfoot, : 3 votes
Scamander, : 5 votes
Lovegood, : 4 votes
Robins, : 1 vote
Jones : 1 vote
Potter, : 8 votes
Longbottom, : 7 votes
Prewett, : 5 votes
Dumbledore, : 5 votes
MacGonagall, : 4 votes
Weasley, : 1 vote
Moody, : 4 votes
Shacklebolt, : 3 votes
Wintringham, : 7 votes
McKinley, : 4 votes
Wood, : 3 votes
Tripe, : 3 votes
Sinistra, : 1 vote
Vector, : 1 vote
MacDougal, : 4 votes
Kettleburn, : 1 vote
Bell : 1 vote
Bones, : 8 votes
McKinnon, : 5 votes
Abbott, : 3 votes
Diggory, : 1 vote
Silverling, : 3 votes
Firewheel, : 4 votes
Chang, : 1 vote
Bletchley, : 4 votes
Pyrites, : 3 votes
Bagnold : 1 vote
Sayre, : 10 votes
Ruslanovich, : 5 votes
Blackstream, : 5 votes
Serpengold, : 4 votes
Montague, : 3 votes
Thicknesse,: 3 votes
Black, : 10 votes
Greengrass,: 8 votes
MacMillan, : 7 votes
Rubisheart, : 3 votes
Flint, : 4 votes
Bulstrode, : 1 vote
Selwyn, : 7 votes
Travers, : 1 vote
Avery, : 4 votes
Yaxley, : 5 votes
Trembley, : 1 vote
Orpington, : 1 vote
Fudge, : 1 vote
Max : 3 votes
Malfoy, : 7 votes
Lestrange, : 8 votes
Fawley, : 8 votes
Rosier, : 4 votes
Rowle, : 3 votes
Carrow, : 2 votes
Goyle, : 4 votes
Crabbe, : 4 votes
Nott, : 7 votes
Mulciber, : 4 votes
Dolohov, : 2 votes
MacNair, : 5 votes
**Empty Space lol**
Characters in this chapter and the amount of chapters they have appeared in so far:
- Sirius Black (6)
- James Potter (4)
- Remus Lupin (4)
- Peter Pettigrew (4)
- Severus Snape (1)
- Lily Evans (1)