Summary of last Chapter:
- Pia Flint, Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch Jr. are excited to take part in the raid
- September 1976 Battle of Hogsmeade takes place, the Marauders and Lily and her friends all help defend the village
- Inconclusive battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort
- Head Auror Kevin McKinley gets injured very badly and ends up falling into a coma, Alastor Moody looses an eye and a leg
- 20 innocent people die during the battle, 4 students are missing, several others turned into werewolves
Chapter 21:
Reviews please?
30th September 1976, England, Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot:
„We cannot let this go unanswered! You-Know-Who is threatening the lives of our fellow citizens, the Statute of Secrecy and now even our own children! I know many of us have so far hesitated to do anything against the monster but I urge you to think about this, my fellow Lords and Ladies: Can you really allow him to move freely when he attacks our children like it is nothing? Do I have to remind you that he is the first Dark Lord that has ever done something like this? Most of us do not have many children so they are sacred and we just lost 16 of them aswell as 13 more Hogsmeade residents. I will not sit idle by as he begins to destroy our country, pureblood agenda or not. For this reason I officially proclaim the Security Alliance. Thank you"
Lord Bisonis Burke finished his speech and his chair moved away from the Unaffiliated away to found it's own group. Within the minute, multiple Houses made their support known and the Security Alliance now consisted of Burke, Crouch, Brocklehurst, Edgecombe, Umbridge, Scrimgeour, Dawlish, Goldstein, MacLaggen, Brown, Douglas, Prince, and Minchum. It was clear that this faction was basically going to tow the line with the ministry in most if not all cases. This action also weakened the Unaffiliated by quite a bit as this new faction now had 42 votes while the Unaffiliated now had 83 votes between them. The Security Alliance was quickly dubbed the Ministry Supporters which made the alliance very powerful with 79 votes alltogether. The next topic of the day was the issue with the werewolves that had partaken in the Battle of Hogsmeade as it was quickly beginning to be called.
„As we have seen in the Battle of Hogsmeade, werewolves cannot be trusted and it is clear that our werewolf registries are far from enough in keeping our people secure. The Daily Prophet had a good idea in their article. They should be hunted down and exterminated. I propose a kill on sight order on werewolves." said Lord making Arcturus thoughtful. He'd normally be in favour of the proposal but he had come to know young Remus a bit during the last summer and if he was being honest, he had never met a more peaceful person than Remus Lupin. There was also the fact that Voldemort must have known involving werewolves in the battle would cause backlash so why had he done it anyway? He would get nothing out of it unless.. unless he wanted such a proposal to win.
„I must ask you to reconsider Lord Burke." Albus Dumbledore over at the Progressives side spoke up „The men and women affected by the werewolf infection didn't become werewolves willingly and are suffering from the curse. They are already being estranged from society enough, there is no need to take such hasty action"
„Oh of course it's the grand Dumbledore speaking up for the low lifes of society. Honestly can't you pick more worthy subjects to protect?" Lord Bones asked sarcastically. The Bones family had a long lasting deep grudge against werewolves. There was little chance they wouldn't vote in favour of the proposal.
„Like he said we need to stop further angering them, their situation is bad enough already" Fleamont Potter spoke up in support of his ally.
„Are you fuckin' retarded? Those beasts brought this on them themselves, how the fuck can you just ignore them turning multiple Hogwarts students into more copies of these degenerates?" shouted a clearly drunk Lady Zabini. The woman had clearly partied well into the night judging from her appearence.
'Hah her recent husband must have tragically died again' Arcturus thought with a snort. Lady Zabini was gaining a bit of a reputation, she had had 4 husbands so far and 3 died mysteriously sometime soon after the wedding with her. The 4th must also have kicked the bucket.
„The amount of werewolves partaking in the attack on Hogsmeade was very low, only 6 were caught. There are dozens of werewolves in Britain. We cannot punish everyone of them for the actions of a few. I am sure we can find another solution to this problem" Lord Ignatius Prewett said getting shouts of anger in return. The childless Lord wasn't well liked amongst the darker factions for his extreme tolerance of dark creatures combined with his extreme intolerance of anything dark magic-
„A bloody moron is what you are!" shouted a enraged Jonathan Pyrites. The man had lost a great granddaughter to a werewolf in the atttack. „We cannot just let them off without any punishment."
By now the atmosphere inside the chamber was quite aggressive and Ignatius Prewett of course had to make it worse when he shouted
„I may be a moron but atleast I am not a bloody lunatic like you are Lord Pyrites" which started the shouting match in ernest despite Minister Minchum's attempts to mediate. Ignatius Prewett had always had a little bit of a temper. The Traditionalists had strangely been completely silent during the whole matter. Were they not gonna voice their approval of the proposal? Wait...
„Ah shit we are in deep trouble" Arcturus suddenly muttered surprising Eric Greengrass besides him.
„Whatever do you mean Arcturus?" Eric asked confused.
„Listen Eric, tell the others that we are going to vote against the proposal, I need to talk with someone" Arcturus whispered back.
„Wait we are going to vote against the proposal? Arcturus you know your faction has always voted with you so far but you better give me a damn good reason to tell them or they might just not vote with you this time." Eric muttered to his friend. Recess had been called and people were beginning to stand up and leave the room and he could feel the Lords and Ladies in his faction waiting for his move so held up a hand and said „One moment please". He turned back to Eric.
„Eric think about it. Voldemort must have known that there would be backlash so why would he still involve werewolves in the attack? It would be a stupid decision unless.. unless he wants the Ministry to react in such a way. That man isn't stupid Eric he knows how the Ministry works. He wants us to pass the proposal so let's do the exact opposite" he told his friend whose face turned more grim the more Arcturus spoke.
"Merlin, that is actually quite genius from him, I will have to give him that" said Marvin behind Arcturus who had listened to the conversation.
„Yeah I guess I should have expected something like that. Alright I think that will convince them, go wherever you need to go, Marvin and I will handle the meeting" Eric said and Arcturus nodded thankfully. The Black Alliance ended up being the last faction to leave the premises. Arcturus went straight to the chamber he knew the Sayre Alliance would have their meeting in and nodded at the 2 Aurors stationed at the door.
„Lord Black what can we do for you today?" the right Auror asked formally.
„I need to have a word with the Sayre Alliance regarding today's proposal. It would be kind if you'd let me join their meeting." Arcturus responded as a proper Lord would do.
„I will let them know of your arrival Lord Black but if you will be able to come in is up to them" the Auror responded.
„Of course" „Then please excuse me for a minute, Lord Black" the Auror said and entered the meeting room of the Sayre Alliance before coming through the door again 2 minutes later.
„Lord Sayre and the Sayre Alliance will receive you now, Lord Black" the Auror said and he and his colleague stepped aside to let Arcturus through. Arcturus took a breath and walked in making sure his occlumency was in proper shape. Sure Atticus and him had been friends since the 40s but this was an official manner so a minimum of decorum had to be maintained.
„Lord Black to what do we owe the pleasure?" Atticus asked.
„I will come right to the topic, Lord Sayre. I ask you to vote against the kill on sight order, it cannot be allowed to pass" Arcturus said and he couldn't help but note the confused faces amongst the members of the Sayre Alliance.
„This is quite the unusual request you have right there Lord Black. You are normally quite against any werewolf rights Dumbledore's lapdogs have proposed over the last 20 years so what has changed, why do you suddenly want to protect them?" Atticus asked him curiously and Arcturus suppressed a slight wince. It wouldn't do to show weakness..
„I think all of this is currently going according to Voldemort's plan" Arcturus answered his friend's question, ignoring the winces of several people in the room „I have thought about this and it just didn't make sense to me. Why would he involve werewolves in the battle if he didn't want to cause a reaction? He is a smart man and already has an unknown amount of his followers in the Ministry aswell as the Traditionalist Faction in the Wizengamot. He must expect a level of backlash. My theory is that he wants us to further alienate the werewolves to force them into his corner." Arcturus said and he could almost feel his friend's mind racing. He waited for a few seconds and said
„Lords and Ladies of the Sayre Alliance. I ask you to take my thoughts into consideration when you make your votes. I thank you for having me here today. Now if you would excuse me, I still need to have a quick chat with my own faction".
Arcturus left the room, nodding at the two aurors respectfully, and went to the room where his own allies were sitting.
Recess was over and the voting process had begun. As everyone expected, the Progressives voted against the proposal while the Ministry members and the Ministry faction votes in favour. During the last few decades multiple proposals to reintegrate werewolves into the society had come from that faction so it was no wonder they'd vote against anything anti-werewolf. Then the Light Moderates came and voted in favour of the proposal. To Arcturus' surprise, the Sayre Alliance neither voted in favour or against the proposal, they abstained in unison. Then it was his faction's turn. He and his allies had used the remaining time to talk about his theory, Eric and the others agreed to his reasoning in the end. His Alliance voted against the proposal surprising pretty much everyone in the chamber. He looked over to the Traditionalists who were looking at eachother with panicked expressions. They knew that it was going to be close now but they had no choice but to vote against. Now everyone knew that something was up. It was one thing that the Dark Moderates votes against an anti-werewolf law but now also the Traditionalists? All anti-werewolf and anti-creature in general proposed laws had come from them so far so this was more than unusual.
So far the vote tally was this:
110 votes in favour, 179 against and 30 abstaining.
Now it was the turn of the Unaffiliated, most of them voted in favour of the proposal or abstained.
The proposal in the end was dismissed with 151 votes in favour, 188 votes against and 63 votes abstaining. Everyone except for the True and Dark Moderates were absolutely flummoxed at the outcome. It was quite close but the proposal had been dismissed. Normally the proposal should have gone through without problems so most were a bit lost at what had just happened.
Naturally by the time the Lords and Ladies had finished the session of that day, the news that a law against werewolves had not been passed had traveled throughout the Ministry and had gotten to the press.
The moment they entered the Atrium they were bombarded by questions from a mass of reporters. The aurors quickly intervened and protected the Nobles from the press so that they could get home while Minister Minchum threw the press a bone and announced that a press conference would be held in a couple of days with himself and Chief Warlock Dumbledore's attendance. Arcturus thought about it for a moment before announcing that he too would be answering questions.
1st October 1976, England, Lestrange Manor:
Emergency Session in the Wizengamot after attack on Hogsmeade
Security Alliance led by Lord Burke formed, a new powerful faction in Magical Britain?
Kill on Sight Order on Werewolves proposed and dismissed in an 'absolute confusing' vote!
Unusual sides in the Wizengamot: Burke, Bones, Parkinson and Zabini vs Dumbledore, Black, Malfoy and Ollivander
Voldemort read through the paper again and slammed it down on the desk in front of him... again. He wasn't happy.
„BLACK AND BURKE" he screamed „I WILL GET YOUR HEADS FOR THIS"
No he indeed wasn't happy. Sure it was nice that Burke had played his part in the sense of speaking up against werewolves but the man just had to completely commit himself to his speech and speak out against Voldemort himself aswell. And Black... that man's sudden change of heart when it came to werewolves had cost Voldemort a lot of potential followers.
'ARGH that man is utterly infuriating! Did he somehow get a read on my plans?' he asked himself. But why else would Black have chosen to vote against the proposal? No Black must have found out somehow but Voldemort had already... interviewed all that had known about his plans which meant that Black must have somehow read the situation correctly.
It seemed as if Arcturus Black would have to die pretty soon, he had to become too much of a nuisance for Voldemort but he couldn't do it just yet. Arcturus Black only left the massive wards of Black Manor to floo to the ministry and Voldemort didn't have the forces to attack either the Ministry or Black Manor directly yet. He also didn't have any of his followers in the Manor. Sure there were Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black and Regulus Black but the former wasn't living in Black Manor anymore and the latter wasn't even of age yet so that was out of the question. No attack on Black Manor then, not yet anyway. Now Burke Manor was another matter entirely. The wards on Burke Manor weren't the best though there were a lot of competent fighters inside it's walls. One of them was a death eater however so getting in was probably not going to be much of a problem.
'Hmmm if I am going to attack them then lets take out the Pyrites aswell, the families hold close ties and have even married into another. No if I want to make sure House Burke listens to me then House Pyrites needs to be under my control aswell. Yeah that sounds good.' he thought.
The matter of Arcturus Black becoming a nuisance needed to be addressed aswell however. It was just the fact that Voldemort didn't have enough capable fighters to make the Black Alliance his enemy. Sure he had his lieutenants and there were a couple others but two dozen capable fighters among his ranks weren't enough to eliminate House Black as a threat.
'Perhaps it is time to change my lack of competent followers in general' Voldemort thought and started making plans on how to get more followers. He didn't have many ideas however. He had already brought most of the families that had male sympathizers or whose Lords supported his cause under his thumb and intimidation and stronghandling could only get you so far. Luckily one of his lieutenants, Lucius Malfoy, had a splendid idea.
„Why don't you try to recruit more people from Ireland or France for example my Lord? I am sure your natural charisma and power would inspire a lot of people into following you aswell" young Lucius had proposed and Voldemort had liked the idea so much that he basically chose to make Lucius his right hand once he came to power. He sent Lucius home to have some quality time with his wife before starting to plan out his journey. He planned it to the day of arrival and so on. An hour later saw Voldemort looking satisfied at the parchment where he had written out his plan. He would travel to the following Ministries:
Ireland, Spain, (October 1976)
Italy, France, Netherlands, (late 1976)
Norway, Germany, Poland, (early 1977)
Russia, Ottomans, Armenia, Persia, (early 1977)
India, China, Japan, Australia (mid 1977)
Egypt, Abyssinia, Ghana, Zulu, (mid 1977)
Macusa, Aztek, Inka, Brazil, (late 1977)
Voldemort immediately called for Rockwood who arrived a few minutes later.
„Listen Augustus, I will be away for a year to tour the world. I want to see how many I can find that are willing to join our cause. Once I have left for my journey I want you and Lucius Malfoy to oversee things. You are to kill anybody you deem to be an immediate threat but no more. Raids are allowed but be absolutely careful that you pick weak targets. Attacks on muggles are allowed with no restraint. Also try to find more people willing to join our cause here in Britain. Understood? Alright, do tell all the other members of the inner circle to join me here. You are dismissed Augustus"
Voldemort immediately started to prepare for the assaults on the Burkes and Pyrites' aswell as on the journey.
End of Chapter
An overview of the Wizengamot as of September 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
Unaffiliated:
Zabini, Parkinson, Ollivander, Patil, McCormack, Hemlock(e), Stonehorn(e), Perks, Copplestone(e), Greenford(e), Johnson(e), Spinnet(e), Accrington, Harlemshake(e), Slughorn, Runcorn, Wilkes, Gibbon, Lowe, Higgs, Cornfoot, Scamander, Lovegood, Robins(e), Jones(e), Copperfield(e)
→ The Unaffiliates share 83 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
Ministry Supporters:
Burke, Crouch, Brocklehurst(e), Brown, Douglas, MacLaggen, Goldstein, Umbridge(e), Prince, Dawlish, Edgecombe, Minchum(e), Scrimgeour(e),
→ The Ministry Supporters share 42 votes between them, together with the Ministry seats they have 79 votes at their disposal
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, Rockwood(e)
→ The Traditionalists share 60 votes between them
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
Copperfield : 2 votes
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
Rockwood : 2 votes
**Empty Space lol**
Characters in this chapter and the amount of chapters they have appeared in so far:
- Bisonis Burke (1)
- Albus Dumbledore (7)
- Nathan Bones (1)
- Fleamont Potter (4)
- Victoria Zabini (1)
- Jonathan Pyrites (1)
- Ignatius Prewett (1)
- Arcturus Black (14)
- Eric Greengrass (4)
- Marvin MacMillan (2)
- Atticus Sayre (3)
- Voldemort (7)
- Lucius Malfoy (3)