Author's Note: I so enjoy writing Wizengamot scenes, here's another. MNF

Chapter 19:

Wizengamot

Monday 22 August 1994

"So, they're going to vote in a new Chief Warlock or Witch today, correct?" Harry asked as Sirius straightened Harry's red and navy-blue striped tie. Harry had on a fine Muggle suit on under his silk fly away robes with both the Potter and Black family crests on his chest. His tie reflected the colours of his Potter house, which would always be first in his heart.

"It will be the first order of business this morning, and with all honesty, it might take all morning. However, since we tabled last month's meeting due to the death of…HIM it may be chaos. Also, I need to boot Malfoy out of my seat and Remus will remove whoever has been voting the Potter seat. I can't wait to see who was considered proper and voting as the family would have," Sirius replied.

"Why is Malfoy in your seat? Doesn't he have a seat of his own?"

"He's in the seat because he thinks that one day Draco will be my heir. Obviously, since you're my son and you have the ring, that's not happening. There is a seat the Malfoy's sit in, but it was the Weasleys, and a Malfoy ancestor stole it. It's a very long story, which I will happily tell you when we have time, which is not now," Sirius said with a tone which punctuated the finality of it all. Remus appeared from the stairway and the trio Disapparated to the alley by the Ministry and entered through the 'Muggle' phone booth entrance. Sirius did not want to attach their Floo to the Ministry.

The atrium was crowded, and Sirius had a bit of trouble at the check-in and wand registry. It was quickly resolved when Amelia and Susan arrived and the head of the DMLE told the wand checker to let him pass, lest he be brought up on charges of disorderly conduct while on the job.

"Doesn't anyone read the papers?" Sirius grumbled as Amy took his arm and Susan fell into step with Remus and Harry.

"They do, darling, but since the Prophet is only reliable about half the time, they aren't sure what to believe," Amy said gently to her fiancé. "We look like a pair of berries in a basket with our matching robes." Both had spoken of their loathing of the plum, boxy, itchy robes of the Wizengamot. You had to order them through Madame Malkin, and the body had deemed what fabric to use. Normally Sirius would never wear something of such low quality.

"Well, you are definitely sweet enough to eat, my luv," Sirius said, not daring to kiss her in such a public place, although the announcement of their engagement (or re-engagement in this case) had been in the paper.

"You're a goof, Sirius, but thank you for the compliment."

The conversation behind the lovebirds was more mundane. "Are you excited for your birthday party? You didn't have to invite me, you know. Just because they," she said pointing to the back of her aunt and his father, "are going to get married. We could ignore the quasi-sibling thing."

"I wanted to invite you and Neville wanted you there. He said he's only passing Astronomy because of your help. As for the quasi-sibling thing, I want to be friends. We're going to share holidays for the rest of our lives – we should spend time together. I've never had a sister. I think I'd like to discover what it's like."

"I've never had a brother," Susan answered. "I definitely think we can be friends."

As Amelia had to sit in the front area, as the head of the DMLE, Susan was going to be in the heir chair next to Kingsley Shacklebolt, her aunt's dear friend held the proxy vote until Susan was seventeen. Kingsley, as the second son in his family line, would never inherit as his older brother, Thurston, already had two sons. Unless the whole family was wiped out, Kingsley would always be a spare, which suited him fine and allowed him to take the more daring career of Auror than his brother, the barrister, had.

Sirius and Amelia parted ways, and he guided Harry to the area for Lords and their heirs. Lucius Malfoy was already sitting in his seat, Draco beside him.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd come," Lucius said. "There are so many who question the validity of –"

"I am validly not guilty, now, please get out of my seat and remove your," Sirius paused, wanting to call the boy a 'spawn' but decided he needed to be more mature if he expected Harry to be, "child out of my heir's chair."

"I'm your heir, Father told me," Draco howled like a wounded animal. "I have the ring." Sirius inspected the black-stoned ring.

"While that is a Black family ring, it was an engagement ring that belonged to my great-grandmother. I have no idea where Narcissa found it, but it is not the Black heir ring. The heir's ring was in my vault at Gringotts, where my grandfather undoubtedly had it put before his death. This is my son, and heir." Sirius moved so that for the first time Malfoy and son could see Harry. Malfoy blanched a bit, as no one had seen Harry since his blood adoption, and his resemblance to the Black family was now unmistakable.

"What did you do?" Malfoy asked in a tone that dripped with venom.

"I blood adopted my godson, so he is now my son and heir. Meet Harry Potter-Black."

"You! You are nothing but a problem for me. You're not worthy of that name!" Draco pulled his wand from his pocket and his father immediately took it from him.

"Go sit with your grandfather. I will be in the gallery." At least Draco had the sense to listen to his father, although he glowered the whole way to Abraxas.

"This isn't over. Narcissa was promised Draco would be the Black heir by Pollux."

"It was never Pollux's prize to give away. Arcturus was the head of the family, and he skipped over his own son to make me his heir. I have made my son my heir. There is nothing you can do about it. Now, go sit down or I'll call my fiancé over to arrest you."

"I look forward to bringing you and your false heir down a peg or two, Black," Malfoy sneered before moving off.

"Wasn't expecting that much fun," Sirius said, sitting down and indicating Harry should sit next to him. Remus was on the other side, in the Potter family chair, Kingsley and Susan were behind them, next to Augusta and Neville, who Harry greeted warmly.

"You know how to make an entrance, Lord Black. Perhaps you're what we need to get this body to act accordingly," the battle-axe of a woman said and Sirius just grinned rather mischievously at her.

Cornelius Fudge, as the Minister for Magic opened the meeting and when the man looked around the room, he looked physically ill to see Sirius sitting there, as regal as the day is long. Harry sat next to him, looking rather regal himself and taking in all the things he remembered from Madame Longbottom's lessons; except for the spoon thing. What if they put a cream soup spoon and a broth soup spoon out at the same time? Was he supposed to skip over the incorrect one or was he to use them both? Harry shook his head for having such a foolish notion while he was supposed to be paying attention. He'd noticed that since he'd been speaking with Dr Ostrofsky, he wasn't having as many nightmares and was sleeping better; but sometimes his brain was scattered.

Roll call was taken, and there was definite murmuring when Sirius answered for the Blacks. Of course, no one could do a darn thing about it outside of murmuring. The real challenge came when the name Potter was called out, and both Elphas Doge – a close friend of Dumbledore's – who was sitting with Horace Slughorn and Edwina Selwyn tried to stand to claim the vote, but Remus did also. It was clear Remus was there as the Steward for House Potter, as he had the official crest on his robes and the chair, he sat in had displayed the Potter crest on the small medallion above his head. When Fudge accepted Remus as the voting party for the Potter seat, Malfoy junior stood from the gallery to object.

"This man is a werewolf! he cannot sit in the Wizengamot!"

"Then I suggest we not have a Wizengamot meeting at midnight on the night of a full moon," Sirius sniggered and those around him laughed.

"Point of Order, Minister," a tired and obviously overworked aide to the Minister said, lifting his hand. "We cannot take an objection from someone in the gallery. Only a seated member of the Wizengamot can object."

"Then I will take up my son's objection," Abraxas Malfoy said, looking irritated that he was forced into this course of action. "A werewolf cannot sit in the seat of a Lord and have a vote in this body."

"Objection," Amelia said, standing. "There is nothing in our charter that prevents a werewolf from being the Steward of a N and MA house. Therefore, Mr Lupin's presence in the Potter family seat is permissible."

"Heh Hem," a squat woman, dressed in violent pink robes and seated at the side of the minister stood (something you could hardly tell as she was short as well as squat) and glared at Remus. "We have rules about where werewolves can work in this country. I am sure that working as the Steward to a Noble and Most Ancient house is prohibited." Her smile was vicious.

"Actually, the law is under appeal as being unenforceable by the DMLE," Amy answered with a poorly disguised smirk. "Additionally, the aforementioned bill was about workers for the Ministry, Hogwarts and businesses in large shopping districts where the PUBLIC congregates. A private home would not be covered." The squat woman sat down with a huff.

"Who is that?" Harry asked Sirius.

"That is Fudge's lackey and mistress, Delores Umbridge. She is not a nice person. She's the same age as Malfoy, in seventh when your dad, mum, Remus, and I started at Hogwarts."

"Fudge has sex with her?" Harry asked, disgusted.

"Oh, when you're old enough I'll let you see the section on the pair of them in Auntie Cassie's book."

"Please, when we get home." Harry begged. Sirius looked at him.

"Harry, while I don't consider any sexuality to be abnormal if both parties are willing, there are some acts which I think you need a primer for. What they do is something you require a primer for." Harry looked at his father in a frightened way. When he and Amy had looked their page in Cassie's book it put the pair completely off sex that night.

Fudge opened the nominations for Chief Warlock or Witch, and the first name suggested was Lucius Malfoy's by his father's old buddy, Cantankerous Nott. The beleaguered aid named Reginald Willow-Bee, reminded the gathered body that only a Lord or Lady in good standing with the Wizengamot could be offered up as a candidate. Cantankerous then changed his nomination to Linus Pucey. Lord Pucey accepted, although the man looked unimpressed by his submission. He was at least one of the literate Death Eaters left, as someone had whispered about nominating Mulciber – who definitely could not read, at least if Sirius remembered correctly. He'd been schooled at home, and he and James only met him at official family functions.

Albena Shafiq stood and nominated Thurston Shacklebolt, who while somewhat dull did know the law, as a barrister, and his family was firmly in the 'no on Voldemort' crowd. The problem with either man was that they were still relatively young – contemporaries of Sirius and Remus – and the look shared between them said they were concerned their lack of experience in the Wizengamot might make them vulnerable to blackmail. Sirius knew he had dirt on them both, thanks to Auntie Cassie.

Sirius stood and looked to someone who had been friends with his grandmother Melania. "I nominate Griselda Marchbanks," he said in his most proper voice. She was one of the few that had nothing written about them in his Auntie's book – the others were Minerva and Remus. (Remus's lycanthropy was the worst kept secret in the Wizarding world.)

The head of the Wizarding Education Department stood, leaning heavily on her walking stick and nodded her head at Lord Black, who had been one of her favourite Charms NEWT examinees ever. Sirius had made the chairs in the Great Hall dance the waltz around the room to music he charmed the tables to play.

"I accept," she said graciously. Sirius had known she would, as he and Augusta had visited her the day before. Thurston Shacklebolt withdrew his name, leaving the Lord Pucey, one of those who used the 'Imperioused' defence after the Blood War and the utterly unimpeachable character of one of the senior most, and beloved, members of the Wizengamot and Ministry, Lady Marchbanks. The woman was sworn in that morning.

"Everyone be seated," the Chief Witch said after she was seated in the high chair. Now, we have one other proposal to discuss this morning. Lord Black, I believe you are bringing it to the floor. Sirius nodded and stood, as did Remus, Augusta, and Kingsley.

"The Houses of Black, Bones, Longbottom and Potter believe a vote of no confidence should be taken regarding Cornelius Fudge and his placement of dementors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. To provide testimony, I call Minerva McGonagall forward."

Harry looked up at his father and was ever so proud to call him dad.