Chapter 6 - Black business at the ministry

-oOo-

Nov 12 1991, London, Ministry for Magic, Department Head meeting room

"Care to repeat yourself?" Fudge asked in a threatening manner, frustrated by all the bad news that was starting to pile up one after another.

"You heard me the first time, dumbass. Honestly the ministers just get stupider over the years." Emily Rockwood, head of the Department of Finance said to Fudge and every other department head in the meeting room. Two much was going on to fake courtesies she didn't have.

Fudge gaped at her. For years he was treated with the utmost respect and dignity. Being insulted and handled in a dismissive manner nowadays was so rare that his mind was in shock at the sheer audacity. In his world it was: "what he wants is what he gets", no one ever contradicted him or talked back to him. So the fact that his mind went blank wasn't a surprise for such a small minded man who was used to getting what he wanted.

Terrance Dolittle, head of the Department for Control of Magical Creatures , took pity on the fool and repeated Emily's previous statement. "The cleanup for the damages alone in the prophecy room would cost us around 10,000 (500,000 pounds) Galleons, and another 20,000 (1,000,000 pounds) for the spells and rituals to rebuild it, which wouldn't be a problem if someone didn't break into the ministry's vault that kept almost all of the money. Around 1,000,000 (50,000,000 pounds) was in the vault, if I heard correctly."

Emily just nodded her head.

In comparison to the muggle economy where the vast majority of money existed on paper in banks the magical economy worked on hard currency, every Galleon, Sickle and Knut was forged and distributed. Because of this a vault was needed to store the incoming and outgoing gold. The money was always moving, taxes were being paid in; grants, salaries and other expenses were being paid out so there was never a huge amount of money but there was always a significant amount of money inside the vault. Especially now that the ministry was saving up to hold the quidditch world cup and the triwizard tournament in a couple of years.

A million Galleons would have been more then enough, especially with the corruption inside the ministry where everyone would "take a bit off". For comparison, the average mid level ministry worker would make 50 Galleons (2500 pounds) a month, more than enough to either support his family or live a very comfortable single life. An average high level ministry employee or small department head would be earning 120 Galleons (6000 pounds) a month. However the people in this room weren't just department heads.

They were the heads of the biggest departments in the ministry from some of the oldest families in the country. These people were taking home anywhere from 2000 to 5000 (100 000 to 250 000 pounds) Galleons a month, legally or illegally.

Fudge's monthly salary, bribes included, was 850 Galleons (42,500 pounds).

"Of course with our current financial circumstances those expenses are out of the question, not to mention the Department of Mysteries haven't had any new breakthroughs with their Divination Department so we could also ask the question on whether or not to even rebuild the prophecy room," Emily said as she looked at Algernon Croaker.

Ever since the Department of Mysteries managed to get their hands on the rights to have the vault in their department the Department of Finance and DoM were in a cold war with each other. In fact the DoM was in a cold war with a lot of departments; they just ignored it and continued to take over all they could.

Before Algernon Croaker could make a retort, Emily continued in her relaxed manner as if reporting the theft of a fortune from the government was of no concern at all.

"That is however a problem for another day, a more serious matter is that within two weeks salaries need to be paid to employees and other immediate expenses must be met. We would need at least 40,000 (2,000,000 pounds) Galleons."

"I see," Fudge said trying to regain his composure, "well in that case we could just blame the person responsible and try to get money out of them." Fudge's lips started to form a predatory smile. 'A lowly department head talking in a disrespectful manner to the Ministry? Well, we will just see about that.' He thought as he eyes Emily foolishly believing that his eyes didn't give away his very thoughts.

"Huh?" Emily responded with a surprised tone, "well, look at you. I never would have guessed you would come up with an actual good idea. Alright, all in favor of removing the minister's salary and budget?"

"What?" Fudge asked no one in particular.

"I can agree to that." said Alexander Selwyn, the head of Ministry Security and Wartime Resources. "I'll put out a press statement saying that Fudge undercut the Auror's budget so much that we didn't have the manpower to guard the vaults."

Which was true. Ever since Lucius Malfoy had Fudge elected a few years ago he had tried to minimize the funding for specific departments, something that the actual department heads cared little about as long as they kept or even increased their own paychecks.

"Don't forget he also increased his personal Auror guards," David Brown, head of the Department of Transportation chimed in, "those highly trained wizards must have a very well paid hourly wage." Brown was willing to play this game. Watching the minister pale after every statement they made was truly the highlight of his day.

"The DoM budget was so insufficient this year that we couldn't do our regular Ward maintenance," added Algernon Croaker. 'There were times for department heads to snipe at each other but when a minister decided to go against one of them then it was time to show the minister his true place.' Algernon thought to himself.

"Now that we are all in agreement on blaming the minister, do you think he should get life in Azkaban or the dementor's kiss? Or should we fake his suicide?" Dennise Moore, head of Human and Inhuman resources, asked of everyone in the room.

During the conversation Fudge became angrier and angrier until he couldn't stand it!

"I have heard enough of this… this… treasonous talk. Aurors, arrest the department heads!" Fudge yelled to his guards.

After a full minute of nothing happening he looked behind him seeing his guards leaning against the wall doing nothing. It was clear they were disinterested. One had the audacity to be picking his nails as if nothing was happening.

"Well!? Why are you standing there? Do something!"

Auror Dawlish looked at Selwyn who nodded once. Dawlish took out his wand and started torturing the minister, first with milder curses and then moving on to heavier darker curses. The entire ordeal lasted for about 10 minutes, for Fudge it felt like a lifetime. He was lucky they were in the ministry's meeting room and not in the individual departments specifically. Department heads had their own ways of handling wayward subordinates. Things that couldn't be detected under their private wards.

After letting Fudge rest a bit, Dawlish levitated him on his chair. Casting a quick cleaning spell, as if cleaning a stain off the wall and not the minister himself.

"Fudge, you forget something," Emily said in a much more threatening manner than Fudge could ever achieve, "the ministers come and go but the department heads always remain."

It was true, the twelve department heads in this meeting were from the oldest, richest, and most influential families in the entire Magical Britain. The power the Lords and Ladies had merely distracted the population from the true power held by the heads of departments. These weren't your Amelia Bones who could be intimidated by Fudge and his cronies, these were sociopathic people who only cared about themselves, their needs and had the influence and magical power when push comes to shove, something that Fudge learned far too late.

As Fudge was recovering from his delusions of power being shattered, Brown spoke up, "Why don't we give him a chance? If he could get 40,000 Galleons (2,000,000 pounds) by the end of next week we'll keep him on as minister."

"What about after that?" someone in the meeting asked.

"I thought that would be obvious, he needs to come up with the next month's wages and expenses, and so on. If he misses a payment then…" Brown trailed off not needing to explain further. Emily gave a delicate and delighted chuckle in response.

Fudge liked this, Fudge liked this idea a lot, he would manage to slip home, empty his vaults and grab his emergency portkey to South America

"Excellent idea!" exclaimed Algernon, then he stood up and cast a spell at the minister. A bright silver collar appeared around his neck.

"What is this?" Fudge asked knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"It's the project you gave us, don't you remember? You wanted to cut down on the number of DMLE officers and Aurors at Azkaban, no doubt some contrived plot by that French ponce, Malfoy. This collar would make it impossible for the wearer to cast any spell on any ministry personnel, would track their location at all time, and if they were to flee the collar would act as a beacon to the dementors. I've been wanting to try it out for some time now." The slow smirk on his face cast a shadow on the room which terrified Fudge.

The fact that Emily shrieked in delight, happily clapping her hands just added to his fear and future nightmares.

-oOo-

Nov 21 1991, London, Ministry for Magic, Minister's Office

Sirius Black wasn't a stranger to his life being turned upside down.

The first time his life changed was when he was sorted into Gryffindor. Second was when the love of his life, Marlene Mckinnon, was murdered by Death Eaters. The third time was when James and Lily got married and made him Harry's godfather. The fourth time was when James and Lily were killed by You-Know-Who and he was thrown into Azkaban without a trial.

He didn't know if he should count Harry's death as a separate occasion. The fact that he survived was such a miracle that Sirius couldn't help but be skeptical, so finding out later that he died from that night, years later, was more of a continuation of the fourth time his life was turned upside down rather than a brand new occasion. He was still trying to figure that one out.

The fifth time was when Peter Pettigrew turned up at the ministry, of all places, and was apprehended. So no, Sirius wasn't a stranger to his life being turned upside down and because of that he was prepared to grab this chance with both hands and never let go.

-oOo-

"So yes, as you can see this was all the fault of the previous… uhm administra… yes that's it previous administration's fault and nothing could have been done before…"

Amelia Bones tried not to roll her eyes at the ramble that came out of the minister's mouth. They were inside the minister's office after the trial that had exonerated the man.

It was a foregone conclusion, at least to her, that the man was innocent. To her there was no other reason as to why Pettigrew would have hidden as a pet rat, save for some weird transfiguration accident.

To other people the trial was the last chance to try and make sure Black never saw the light of day again. There were a lot of people invested in the outcome of the trial, namely Malfoy and his lot, that really hoped Black was guilty of something.

He obviously wasn't, and if she was honest with herself, the more time she spent being in the vicinity of the man the more the man creeped her out. People who were in Azkaban, even for a limited time, came out a bit more crazy then they went in.

They become unstable, irrational, they overreact, they gradually lose control of their emotions and self, in short they would go insane.

What Amelia and only a few people knew was that when dementors feed on people's magic for long periods of time it disrupts the magical flow in their body. There wasn't any magical or mind skill that could prevent you from being affected by dementors. Every part of a magical being was magic, memories, emotions even their voices. Dementors don't just feed on negative emotions they rip it to the surface turning you into an eternal source of food until you die.

Rumor had it that the Blacks were insane. Could it be that dementors could actually cure a Black?

Sirius Black was nothing like the person he was when he went in. He showed signs of calm controlled dominance that the Blacks were known for, yet it was like he controlled his thoughts and emotions more. Considering that Amelia went to school with him and knew him for the sometimes irrational and impulsive man he grew up to be, Sirius terrified her.

Amelia was drawn back from her wanderings by the gravelly voice of Black.

"I'm very glad that you are putting all the blame on the previous administration," started Sirius Black, his gravelly voice seemed to draw people in another thing he never did before, "that does save me some time. I believe 50,000 Galleons (250,000 pounds) a year will be sufficient."

"Fi… fifty thousand Galleons a year!?" Fudge asked in outrage, he did not know what the number meant due to the fact that he was only half paying attention. His previous meeting of the department heads currently at the top of his mind. Ever since that dreaded meeting he freaked out at mention of any high sums of money.

"Yes," started Black, "50,000 Galleons a year for the past how many years I was locked in Azkaban for compensation."

"That… what… Out of the question!" Fudge roared at him. "You should be grateful that I even dragged you out of that cesspool! Besides, it was the previous administration's fault."

"Well yes, the previous administration is still part of the Ministry of Magic, unless we were conquered by the French without me noticing and this is the Ministère de la Magie."

Fudge was speechless, he assumed that if he could fob off all the blame on the previous minister, who since died of old age, he could avoid any and all blame for being at the scene and using the arrest of Black as part of his campaign. He never imagined that Black would just put the blame on the ministry as a whole. That would be messy but still doable. He could put up so much red tape that the lawsuit would come to nothing.

With confidence in his voice Fudge replied, "Of course Mr. Black, you are of course free to pursue compensation from the ministry. I do wish you the best with the legal system. It is of course fair and just."

Sirius nodded as if he was expecting this. Then he said something in such a low voice that Amelia couldn't hear it. After a moment a house elf popped in, dropped a bunch of parchments on the table and popped back out.

Before the minister could inquire about the parchment, Sirius decided to explain "It's actually Lord Black, and as Lord I do have access to all the dirty little secrets and other blackmail that the previous Lords and Ladies collected for the family." Sirius let Fudge sweat a little before continuing. "That is not what is on the table. Those are all copies of loan agreements and properties that the ministry uses all over Magical Britain, starting from the building the Aurors use in Hogsmeade all the way to the smallest outhouse on the White Cliffs of Dover where owls can rest between international flights. Did you know that the contracts belong to the Black family and allow me to terminate the agreements at any time for any reason? After all, I do own all of these properties and can simply cancel contracts that allow you to use them. I can even call in every single loan…" Sirius Black let the statement trail off taking a sip of his tea as he allowed Fudge to think. Not much more needed to be said as he gently reminded Fudge of the wealth and power the Blacks actually held. Power the Malfoys only dreamt of and mistakenly thought they could gain through marriage.

Fudge just stared at the person in front of him. He spent over 10 years in Azkaban, he should have been crazy, he should be grateful to even be out of that hell hole, he shouldn't be someone who would put Dumbeldore's manipulations to shame!

"I… well… right now the ministry is a bit low on funds…"

"Say no more," Sirius interrupted him in a casual and understanding tone, "I am informed about the situation. Luckily for both of us I do have another option for us that I do believe will be satisfactory for all parties. You will allow the creation of a new department, the Department of Incarceration, where I will be the department head and will oversee Azkaban, and other temporary or permanent institutes for incarceration."

While Fudge's brain tried to comprehend the request, Amelia wasn't sure if this was a good thing or bad. If it was her she would make sure that the type of injustice that happened would never be repeated and make sure all prisoners would be treated fair and humanely. Amelia was sure this was not what Sirius Black had in mind.

What Sirius Black had in mind was beyond vengeance. He knew how the magical world really worked and he would bring his family back among the most powerful and ancient families even if he had to rip the ministry apart to do so.

Nov 21 1991, London, Grunnings

Vernon Dursley was no stranger to hard work, he might not be the type of person who would work out or study to advance his career but he was not lazy, not in any way. When he needed a signature forged he would work hours upon hours to improve it, and when the person didn't remember giving it? Well that just means that the person was too drunk to remember it.

Of course with the passage of time and the invention of new technology Vernon also needed to improve on his technique. So when photocopiers were invented a whole new world of forgeries were open to him, which was a good thing. Ever since he was given that life changing order by Mr. Fudge, things were off, like how he was sure the deposit was handed to him directly and he could have sworn he handed it to accounting. It wasn't unusual for him to skim a little money of the top but for some reason he didn't do it this time. Another unusual thing was how when he tried to contact the man again he couldn't find any information on the man.

It'll be alright, all he had to do was to fake the deposit until Fudge comes for the first order. That's all he had to do.

Unbenounced to Vernon his eyes glowed a gentle silver every time he came near to doubt the validity of this deal, pushing him to do everything he could to honor the deal.