UPDATED
Cornelius Fudge prided himself on his political acumen. He knew he wasn't the most accomplished dueler, or the most knowledgeable, but it never mattered before, he was a peacetime minister, and then Black had escaped. He didn't want to bring up the fact that he never had a trial and that, he supposed was his first mistake, he should have contacted Amelia Bones immediately, instead of forcing Rufus to just sweep it all under the rug, and now, now, it seemed things were getting out of control. Oh not immediately, he could probably last two more months, maybe three. He knew no one would believe it, no one could see it. However, there was a specific reason why he had reached the position of minister in the hubbub of the post-war.
He had amazing skills in the political field. Even now while it wasn't obvious, he could already see the signs of it, whispers coming up from the continent. Requests for transcripts of Black which he had to rebuff again and again. A slight doubt in the tones of the foreign dignitaries who insisted on speaking to him regarding the issues of ' Maison de Black '. He wondered if the other members of the Black family, the ones who had left Britain after the incarceration of Black and Lestrange were now making waves again. Everyone knew you didn't mess with the Black Family in Britain or anywhere in Europe, but after the blow of the past war, their influence in England had practically dwindled into nothing, the remaining nebulus of their power having been absorbed by Lucius.
He wondered if Lucius was aware that the rest of his wife's house was stirring, considering the fact that he held the current Black proxy in Hogwarts and on the Wizengamot.
A knock disrupted his thoughts, as his secretary poked her head in the room. "Minister, Madam Bones is here." He pushed a hand through his receding hairline, wishing he had a headache reliever.
"Send her in." He cleared his throat and straightened in his seat, hoping he seemed a bit more dignified than he felt.
"Minister." Amelia Bones intoned as she strode into the enormous office. "Amelia." Fudge exhaled in relief as the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement sat in front of his seat. He needed to bring her into the fold soon.
"I need to tell you something, now what I am about to say may seem shocking but, it is imperative that you remain calm so that we can sort this out soon. Sirius Black-"
"Never had a trial." she intoned blankly. Fudge gaped at her in shock.
"You knew?" He screeched. With a wince, he cleared his throat so as to not sound like a banshee and spoke again. "You knew?"
Amelia snorted, her hands crossed across her chest. "Really Cornelius did you really expect me to not know what was happening with the most important legal case in history?" Her expression spoke of how unimpressed she was with him and his decisions.
"Well, how, Well if you knew why haven't you done anything!" He demanded. Amelia's eyes hardened at his demand. She had much more important things to be doing rather than indulge in Fudge's childish games.
"Need I remind you Minister ," The minister was stressed with derision and impatience of someone dealing with stupidity for too many years. "That you were the one who put a ban on Rufus digging further into it?"
"I-well-i-that was a mistake!"
"Yes. It was a mistake you made, and you can clean it up yourself now." With a cold voice, Amelia stood up and left the office, her heart racing. She didn't even know how she had kept her cool there. So, the message she had received yesterday could have some depth to it. Her mind in flux she walked back to her office, absently nodding to the people who greeted her.
She pulled out the small knife she always kept on her and pricked her finger. Placing the drop on the bottom most drawer she waited for the small ping of magic which signalled that her ward had opened. She pulled out the immaculate black envelope with the silver embossing. Pulling out the parchment she reread the contents of it as she waited for her old mentor to show up.
Madam Bones,
I am writing as a representative of the House of Black from the States, regarding the incarceration and the recent release of the convict Sirius Black. After the previous war, we the House of Black have retracted from the British landscape in disgrace, leaving only Narcissa Malfoy nee Black as the remaining member of our house still active in Britain.
Even before I retracted from British society, I tried to appeal to the Wizengamot regarding the trial and sentencing of Sirius Orion Black, heir apparent to the Black Lordship but was rebuffed at every stage by Barty Crouch and Albus Dumbledore. Now that the issue has resurfaced again and there are new players on the scene, players I hope who are more ethical than their previous counterparts, I implore you to again look into the matter as the sequence of events has never sat right with me.
I await your owl regarding the issue and stand at the ready to offer you any resources you might need in this issue.
Regent Black
Most Ancient and Noble House of Black
Amelia's fingers tapped on the table rhythmically, her eyes going over the words constantly as her mind went over her morning meeting with Rufus and the headache he had presented. A scowl ensued on her face at the way Rufus too had agreed to let the matter of the lost trial transcripts rest because 'obviously Black was guilty'. Merlin she loathed self-important bureaucrats who 'assumed' that they were right because otherwise it would mean more work for them. A sudden bang ensued inside her office as the door was opened and in walked a pile of human being, wood, scars and one revolving glass eye.
"What's this about lassie?" The gruff voice of Alastor Moody reverberated in the room. Amelia's eyes didn't stray from the letter even through the 3-second commotion, not even a hint that she had been startled by him. "Alastor." She greeted him calmly. Alastor Moody looked at her, taking in her calmness and the wand which was placed beneath one palm, seemingly casual yet pointed exactly at the doorway and at him. A gruesome smile spread across his face. "Good." He barked in approval at her caution and her ability to hide her emotions underneath her 'bureaucrat' mask.
"Now what's this about?" he asked as he limped over to her desk and sat down across from her. Amelia didn't say anything, just pushed the letter and envelope towards him, she knew better than to hand it to him directly. Moody's wrist twitched as his glass eye focused on the pieces of parchment. His wand shot into his hand and the next few minutes passed as Moody assessed the letter.
"Seems clean. What's the problem then?" Even as he asked that he had picked up the letter and was going through its contents.
"You think there's something to this?" He asked neutrally. "I didn't until I got to Rufus to talk." Amelia rubbed her head, anticipating the already building headache. A grunt escaped Moody. "Never liked that kid, too interested in politics to be an auror." His sneer said all he felt for Rufus Scrigemour.
"What did he say?"
"Fudge told him not to speak out about it since obviously Black is guilty and that the transcripts must have just been misplaced. "
"Malfoy?" Moody's mind spread over the network of Black relatives as he tried to remember who could have sent the letter.
"His son is supposed to be in line to inherit the Black fortune, makes sense that he would want it to remain buried." Amelia turned around her chair, to pull out the file she had subpoenaed from the inheritances department. "Or at least he was the only one who could inherit it." Moody picked up the parchments she had tossed towards him, absently noting the ambient magic in it, proof that it was authentic.
Moody's eyebrows rose further up his temple the more he read, surprise evident on his face. "Is this viable?"
"Confirmed this morning." She knotted her fingers together, placing her chin on her hands.
"This says Sirius Black is still the heir apparent of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, which would be impossible if he had indeed betrayed his blood-sworn brother and godson."
"And if this is true then that means Black was incarcerated illegally at the least or could even be innocent."
A sudden bark of laughter erupted from her old mentor, matching the shark-like grin on her own face. "Oh to be a fly on the wall when Malfoy finds this out."
"While that is rapidly becoming a favourite fantasy of mine, I am more concerned about the bigger implications of that piece of news." Amelia brought the topic back to what she had wanted to discuss initially.
"My question is, if he never had a trial, why is he roaming around hiding? He could have easily hired one of his lawyers and been walking around freely." Moody rubbed his chin, his mind going over everything that he had seen and known till now.
"Maybe he doesn't know, he has been exposed to dementors for who knows how many years, and his mother did quite publicly state that she 'disowned' him for being a 'disgrace'." Amelia's fingers formed finger bunnies around the words disowned and disgrace, showing how little she thought of that.
"But more than that, I just can't help but think…"
"Don't go there lass." Moody warned even before she completed her statement. He knew what she had been about to say and he didn't want her to get her hopes pinned on something just to get hurt again.
"I'm not, but looking at all this, you have to admit that something is very wrong, especially the letter I got from the regent of House Black whoever they are."
"Do you believe it?" He had always been curious about the true events of 13 years ago, a part of him sceptical, but he hadn't been able to stop to check and by the time he had realised it, 2 years had already passed.
"I don't know. I hope not, because that would mean our government is much more corrupt than we realised, but also, I remember who he was before and I cannot imagine that man betraying anyone, especially James."
"What do you want me to do? I'm retired." Moody asked with both his eyes focusing on her face.
"I need you to head a covert operation to find out what really happened. No one can know, especially not Fudge. If he knows, Malfoy knows and if Malfoy knows…"
"This could all disappear." Moody was aware of how Malfoy and his ilk worked, anything that threatened even an inch of their power, they would be on a rampage to kill the threat. "Why me? You have a whole department under you, there must be someone you trust."
"There are, but I cannot risk them being asked why they are looking into this, you on the other hand are paranoid, were part of the original team, and everyone who has reason to stop this is just afraid enough of you to let you get away with it. Plus isn't your retirement getting old?" She tilted her head daring him to argue her point.
A gruesome grin was her reply as Moody stood up to leave. "Let's get started then lass, time to shake up some feathers."