Chapter 12 - Capturing
The new year started painfully, with the trio trying to recover from a night of indulging with too much alcohol. Alphard was the first one up, chugging a sobriety potion before he even left his bed and he wandered down to the kitchen, by the time the couple wandered in around 11 am, he had prepared a full brunch spread with sobriety potions next to their prepared cups of tea.
"Oh Alphard you are a saint!" Hermione exclaimed while sitting down and greedily gulping down the potion, Thomas sat down next to her and kept his composure but his relief when his own potion hit was evident.
"I am a saint yes, keep that in mind for my next request." Alphard retorted with a tight smile.
"What is it?" Hermione asked while sipping her tea, oblivious to his emotional turmoil.
"Walburga insists on meeting you, says I have hogged you enough and she should meet her sister."
Hermione closed her eyes in contemplation for a minute, "The only memories I have of her are her portrait shouting abuse about half-bloods, half-breeds, blood traitors and mudbloods. How painful will this be?"
Alphard pursued his lips, "Well, she's more subtle than that nowadays, so you won't get abuse thrown at you. Besides I will be there and rein her in if necessary. Thomas, as your intended, will be there as well. It will be okay."
"Won't I get the abuse for being a half-blood then? Hermione is technically a pureblood so Walburga should be fine on that front and since you claimed her as your sister she's not a bastard." Thomas inquired, chiming in for the first time that morning.
Alphard shrugged, "I don't know, she doesn't know and you're a Lord so it might balance it out in her eyes."
"Right, well, we will endure that meeting then." Hermione nodded.
"As a reward for your cooperation, you should know I have spoken to Alastor..." Alphard said, trailing off.
Hermione perk right up, "Oh, did you now?"
"Yes. We talked about everything, our mutual feelings, the possible disownment. He says he's not expected to have children because his much older brother already had a couple, and the eldest son is a father already so the line is continuing without issues, the Moodys aren't as focused and insane as the Blacks clearly. I did tell him my position might change in a few years, making a marriage possible and he's happy to wait, while being with me discretely in the meantime." Alphard summarised.
Hermione had a dreamy smile on her face, "That's lovely, you will be good together."
The first few weeks of 1950 kept the couple busy, both starting their masteries. Thomas, however, still had the Wizengamot to consider as well and the opening session of the year had just started. There were no claims to be heard, so the Chief Warlock continued his regular list until he hit the biggest issue of today's agenda, "Esteemed members, after a thorough search in the British Isles and abroad, I can confirm today that the Malfoy line is completely extinct and therefore their Wizengamot seat forfeit.
As you know, the number of seats are never changing, therefore a new member must be selected, a new family must be voted to the Wizengamot!"
This started a chain-reaction of murmurs, loud conversations, yelling, shouts from the audience but after more than an hour, no candidates had gained the majority vote needed. Thomas had spent the whole time listening to everyone around him and just had an idea so insane it might actually work. He stood up.
"Lord Gaunt, do you have a candidate to nominate?" The Chief Warlock asked him.
"I have a proposition. This august court has been working for the betterment of our society for centuries, even before the Ministry was created. Therefore I propose the new seat be open to a witch or wizard only during their lifetime, therefore bringing a new perspective to the current members." Many members started whispering, the proposition seemed to be viewed positively so far, so Thomas soldiered on, "Of course, since no candidate from a Noble family was approved for a new seat and such candidate would surely wish their seat to be hereditary, we need to elect a muggleborn witch or wizard."
That had the Dark Faction members reacting negatively, as Thomas expected, as well as other members scattered throughout, but he simply held a hand for silence and continued, "I understand this is unprecedented. However, a muggleborn witch or wizard will offer a perspective wizarding-raised members won't have. It will also allow a voice in the Wizengamot for muggleborn members of our society, therefore shortening the cultural divide by making sure they are aware of our culture and how the Wizengamot works for the continued betterment of Wizarding Britain."
Several members were nodding, and murmurs of agreement could be heard. Thomas kept his smile inside, but he had known twisting his idea as cultural assimilation would work on people who remembered Grindelwald's efforts against the Statute of Secrecy.
The Chief Warlock called for silence, "Members of the Wizengamot, all in favour of Lord Gaunt's proposal, please raise your wands."
To his relief, a tiny majority of lit wands were raised. "The majority agrees. The motion passes." At this, the magic of the Wizengamot reacted and the Malfoy seat lost its crest, and held a blank space for a new crest instead.
"Now, does anyone have a nomination for this new seat? Otherwise we will table this for the next session."
Thankfully during the debate several members were already considering a few names, so Lord Potter stood up and once acknowledged he said, "I would like to nominate Raphael Corner."
"Very well, is Mr. Corner present today?" At Lord Potter's nod and Mr. Corner arrival in front of the dais, "Members of the Wizengamot, all those in favour of voting Mr. Raphael Corner as a new member for the muggleborn seat to hold for his lifetime, raise your wands."
"The motion passes! Mr. Corner, please declare witch Faction you are choosing."
Raphael Corner squared his shoulders, and raised his wand, "I, Raphael Daniel Corner, choose to align myself with the Grey Faction.", the declaration caused shocked gasps but Thomas was smiling while Lord Potter appeared thoughtful.
"Please take your seat Mr. Corner."
The rest of the session continued as normal, except Thomas could feel the glare of Cantankerus Nott burning through him.
Hermione was leaving the Ministry after a short lunch shared with Thomas while he was working to prepare for the February Wizengamot session, she was riding an empty elevator down when her world faded to black.
When she woke up, she could feel she was sitting on a chair with her hands tied behind her back, the light around her was dim but the environment felt familiar and she felt dread pooling in her stomach.
"I know you're awake bitch! Open your eyes!" a voice yelled at her, she gave up and opened her eyes to assess her situation. In front of her stood Cantankerus Nott, and her dread increased when she realised she was in the Death Room in the Department of Mysteries, on a chair next to the Veil.
"I hope you're happy with yourself, this is all your fault you know! Your intended was a lowly salesman before you came into the picture! You! A bastard from France!"
While Nott ranted at her, Hermione was relieved the man was angry but knew nothing of substance, it seemed he had assumed she was the easier and safer target for revenge. While the man continued ranting about the new muggleborn seat, the Malfoy line, and everything wrong with the world, Hermione was undoing the biding on her hands with wandless magic.
With her hands now free, she watched Nott work himself into a fury, while she pretended she was still bound. Eventually he raised his wand at her, "I'll take care of your intended next and then your brother, your influence stops today!", as he was about to send a curse to her she sent a wandless stunner at him.
Cantankerus Nott dropped like a rock in front of her, clearly not expecting her to be able to fight back. She retrieved her wand from his pocket and made a split second decision.
"Wingardium Leviosa", she intoned and levitated the unconscious man right through the veil, throwing his wand after him.
She waited a few minutes, to feel remorse or something similar but only felt relief. She disillusioned herself, and used her knowledge as an Unspeakable to leave the DOM unnoticed, she apparated back home after walking out the Ministry.
Alphard was sitting in the living room reading a book when she arrived in front of him, her clothing was torn in places, and she had some blood running down her neck from her transport into the DOM. "What happened to you?" he yelled while running his eyes all over her, he took her arm and sat her down. He did a few diagnostic spells and let out a relieved breath, "Just a small head wound. What happened Hermione?"
She remained silent, and staring off in the distance, while Alphard healed her wound and fixed her clothing. He wrapped her in a tight hug, "It's okay Hermione, you're okay. You can tell me what happened."
Thomas came from the floo at that moment, took in the scene from the hug to the bloodied flannel on the coffee table and immediately went to Hermione and kneeled in front of her, "Who did this to you?" he asked in a deadly tone.
"Nott." she whispered. Thomas was about to stand up, to likely hunt down the guilty party when she stopped him, "He's dead."
He nodded, looked at Alphard to see if he had more information but only received a shrug in response, "Okay, Hermione, how did he die? Why did he hurt you?"
"He stunned me, at least I think, I was unconscious... I woke up next to the Veil in the Death Room." she finally started to explain, "He ranted about me, you, Alphard, Corner, all the changes, even Malfoy. He was furious but he didn't know anything of substance, he was raving. I had undone the biding on my hands when he went to curse me so I stunned him with wandless magic...
I levitated him through the veil and left."
"It's okay, you did what you had to do. He was going to kill you." Thomas murmured while holding her close to him.
"He was, he said he would kill you next and then Alphard." she whispered back to him.
"And now he won't get the opportunity. There's nothing on your wand to implicate you, I didn't see him come back for the afternoon session in the Wizengamot but he wasn't the only one since the agenda was pretty empty. You will be okay and you survived." Thomas ended his reassure with a kiss to her temple.
"His son, Thaddeus Nott, will replace his father in the Wizengamot once he's declared dead. I don't know a lot about him but the little I know isn't great..." Alphard said.
Hermione nodded, "He was one of the first Death Eaters, he was married 3 times before he finally had a son and all 3 wives died under dubious circumstances. Theo, his son, was quiet and withdrawn, we worked together in the DOM and his childhood had been clearly awful.
Thaddeus isn't redeemable, but Theo was so sweet and he won't exist if Thaddeus dies before 1980 but it would save many people."
"Let's give him a chance, let's see what happens when he becomes Head of House, we will keep an eye on him." Thomas said finally.
Hermione nodded, but left to her study. Alphard and Thomas gave her half an hour before they followed, she was writing when they entered, "What are you doing love?"
Hermione grimaced, "A list..." and showed them.
- Fenrir Greyback, b. 1930, werewolf turned in 1932, sadistic, bite children
- Dolores Umbridge, b. 1925, ministry worker, discriminatory laws
- Bellatrix Black, b. 1951, complete psycho from birth
- Thaddeus Nott, b. 1929, will murder his wives, bigot, ?
Thomas read the list and hummed in agreement, "Greyback is already known as the werewolf who enjoys turning children and he's already souring the image of people with lycanthropy. He needs to be dealt with soon."
Alphard added, "Can't disagree with that, and Umbridge is a psycho, she's already drafting so many laws against magical creatures, muggleborns and really any type of minority. She's a hateful shrew."
Hermione nodded, "In my time she was responsible for a lot of the legal discrimination against magical creatures. Taking her out now can only be beneficial."
"Alright, let's focus on the first 2 names. Bellatrix isn't born yet and we can hope she won't be born raving mad. And we've already agreed to keep an eye on Nott." Thomas concluded.
"I have a plan for Umbridge, this whole kidnapping incident inspired me, but I have no idea where to find Greyback." Hermione told them.
"Leave Greyback to me, I'll let you know when I know where he is." Alphard said.
That night, Thomas held Hermione while she sobbed in both relief of having survived her kidnapping and guilt of having killed a man directly, no matter how odious he was. Both Malfoy and Dumbledore were indirect, removed. They held each other while she cried for who she used to be, and finally calmed herself down enough to fall asleep. Before being completely lost to the world however, Thomas whispered "You defended yourself, the world isn't black and white, you protected yourself and your family, remember the context of your actions, and see the shades of grey all around you."
It took almost two weeks before the alarm was raised on the disappearance of the Head of House Nott, it came from his son and the Aurors only took a few days to conclude Cantankerus Nott was dead but no body was found and no culprit could be identified as the man was not popular. Many people were questioned, but Hermione didn't even make the suspect list. Thaddeus Nott became officially Head of House in late February and didn't press the DMLE for answers, his acceptance of his father disappearance made him the suspect in the public opinion but so many people had a negative view of the victim that no one said anything more. Just like that, Cantankerus was no more.
Meanwhile, Hermione had finally accepted the invitation for tea from Walburga, and Sunday 26 February found the trio having tea at Grimmauld Place. Once the formal greetings were exchanged, the conversation remained light for a while. Hermione was fascinated to discover that at this time her sister insulted people like a knife instead of a hammer and managed to hold her tongue to keep the peace, for now.
"Such a pity a Lord like you would grow up away from his people."
"So pleased you finally came to the rightful side of your family Hermione, if only your mother had told Pollux..."
"Such a pity what happened to Cantankerus, I can't believe his own son would turn on him like that, but that's what a lax education brings in your children."
"You need to meet my friend, Rosalind Yaxley, you would get along so well Alphard, and it is really time for you to grow up."
While Walburga managed to insult everyone present, and absent, her husband Orion remained completely silent with a small dazed smile. That intrigued Hermione, she knew from Sirius that his father had been mostly oblivious to his wife's behaviour but Hermione wondered if it wasn't something more. She vowed to keep an eye on it.
Eventually, after an excruciating few hours, the trio bid their goodbyes and was able to flee.