Unintended Consequences

Standard Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything of the Harry Potter empire. Not my circus, sandbox or monkey. Everything is owned by JKR and her minions.

This story was inspired by a meeting taking place midway through chapter 2 of Raspberry Dream's story 'The Last Attempt to Save the Pureblood Family Lines', used with permission. Text in italics are quotes from her story that led into this additional scene.

Timeframe: November of 1996. The same timeframe as RD's story. AU. Voldemort is history, DE's in prison or dead, Dumbledore, Sirius and Snapes are alive. This is a Marriage Law fic.

Warning: Some discussion of rampant bigotry.

Chapter 2: Reactions

It was the Monday after the first Ministry-sanctioned 'marriages' were to have taken place when the excrement really hit the windmills. More than half of the seventh-year Slytherin boys had expected to consummate with (aka rape) their new brides, none of whom had shown up at the Ministry for the ceremonies. Some of the seventh-year girls were also grumbling, as their families had paid good galleons to the appropriate people to ensure that they would be wed to younger but much richer half-bloods or muggle-bornes. Control of both the persons and finances of the lower classes appeared to have disappeared and that was not how their world was supposed to function!

The head table was missing most of the younger staff, except for Professor Babbling, who was holding the hand of Professor Flitwick. Both Professors Snape and Sinistra were absent, as was Hagrid. Where Hagrid would have sat, there was an elderly witch.

Among those who had gotten married using the ritual, a rumour was circulating that Snape had realized that he had made so many enemies over the years that bribes had been paid, again to the appropriate people, to make sure that their daughters would never be linked to him. Sometimes, it was suspected, the daughters had themselves put up the bribe money against any future inheritances they might receive.

It was soon noticed that Babbling and Flitwick were sitting together, unlike their previous positions at the head table, that they were holding hands and had contented smiles on their faces as they chatted amiably.

It was apparent that the Headmaster was furious at the situation. In the first place, things were happening inside his castle that he was kept unaware of, and the feeling of the castle's wards was that the endemic magic of the place was happy about it. This was personally unacceptable to him. In the second place, people were openly defying the law passed by the Wizengamot, and as Chief warlock, that meant they were treating him personally with disrespect, and this was completely intolerable. To him, it was just the natural order of things that he was the one in total control. And the worst part of it was that he couldn't see that there was a damned thing he could do about it; it appeared that Magic itself had deemed this new reality acceptable.

Dumbledore wished he could just return to his office (and sulk), but there was some necessary protocol to deal with. He stood and cleared his throat. "As I am sure you all that noticed, there have been some changes here at the staff table. Professor Sinistra has taken a position in Australia where she can study the southern sky, and Professor Snape has taken an extended leave of absence due to a severe illness." He could hear the snickers and the whispers of "likely got betrothed to a troll" and "multiple death threats" from the students.

Ignoring the snickering, he continued. "On behalf of the whole staff, I am offering my congratulations to Professors Babbling and Flitwick on their marriage, and when he returns from his honeymoon, also to our Rubeus Hagrid. Until Hagrid returns, Professor Emerita Grubbly-Plank will be teaching the Care of Magical Creatures course. We wish them all well."

If Dumbledore was furious, the remaining children of the Death Eaters were beyond incandescent. As their self-appointed (or anointed) spokesman, Draco Malfoy screamed out his usual mantra "When my father hears of this….", not remembering that his father had been killed and that he was now on his own. "That law wasn't meant to make half-bloods and animals happy! It's bad enough that the bloody goblins are trying to steal our money, but to have them happy is totally unacceptable to the people who really matter. We should be in charge, not any of you. This is all Potter's fault, I know it!"

Harry smiled as he stood an bowed to Draco and the rest of the Slytherins. "Thank you, Draco, for confirming to us all what the real purpose of the marriage law actually was. And thank you for letting us know that you and the rest of your sycophants knew about the real purpose even before the law was passed. The goblins are just doing the job they have been legally obliged to do, which is to audit the accounts of criminals and those who die under mysterious circumstances."

"I have heard that the assets of some of the Death Eaters have rather dubious prevenances, perhaps due to theft or the murder of their rightful owners. They may also find evidence of rampant bribery of Ministry officials. One cannot claim they are stealing for just identifying what was already stolen and then rectifying the crime, now can you? No matter how much you want to claim that what your dead father and his friends stole in the first place is rightfully yours."

"As to this all being my fault, I can swear on my magic and life that I did not initiate the search for a way around your power-grab. That was the fault of the Wizengamot who passed this blatantly obvious attempt to keep their unearned status and subjugate those they thought below their overblown importance. So sad for you that it didn't work out, isn't it?"

Hearing this from Potter, Draco exploded, but as he was drawing his wand to deliver the killing curse, he felt three want tips in the back of his head. He froze, as he heard the voice of one of his housemates that he had thought was utterly loyal to him say "Apparently, you wish to join your father and his half-blood bastard master. If so, please proceed. After all the abuse and other shit you have dumped on us all the past five years, I will very much enjoy blowing your so-called brains across the room."

This revelation finally made it through Draco's mind that the world had changed, and not in his favour.