Chapter 59
The fallout from the book was incredible.
Catastrophic for the Light side, but utterly beautiful in Tom’s humble opinion.
Scrutiny had fallen hard on everyone with close ties to the old man, and James Potter’s temporary suspension from the Wizengamot had been extended pending further investigation. Given the depth and breadth of the claims against Dumbledore, Potter would likely be suspended indefinitely.
Mad-Eye Moody had gotten out of the mess reasonably well, but Doge and Diggle had doubled down in support and were now being shunned in a similar vein to Dumbledore. The Weasleys were keeping a very low profile, as were most other Order members.
In the immediate wake of the book’s release, there was a flurry of interviews and articles and early chapter releases of new books from the Light as they scrambled to regain control of their image.
One of Tom’s favourite interviews was from Dumbledore’s own brother, Aberforth. The crochety publican had very few kind words for his disgraced brother, and indeed added fuel to the fire by confirming several stories from their younger days.
Another favourite interview, this one far more emotionally laden, was simply titled ‘A conversation between two estranged sisters.’ Rita had outdone herself with this piece. Her usual inflammatory, overdramatic style had been completely done away with. In its place was simple, raw honesty. She had even included the moments that neither sister had been able to speak, overcome with tears or anger or grief or any number of swirling emotions. The article had been reprinted multiple times due to popular demand. Tom had privately cut out the article from the paper one day and placed it in the drawer of his desk. Call him overly sentimental, but the knowledge that he had righted some of the wrongs done to one of his people… it fuelled him. Encouraged and inspired him. He reread the article each time it was in the newspaper, but still kept the copy in his desk.
The topic of squibs began in whispers and careful questions at first, but soon curiosity began to grow, and it wasn’t long before those questions were being asked in the open. There was much debate in Tom’s office over several days, before the plan of action was decided.
It wasn’t yet time for Tom to come out of hiding. Dumbledore still wielded too much power – shaky though his current platform may be, he wasn’t yet unstable enough not to be able to mount an attack and destroy Tom’s reputation further.
So in the end, it was Sirius who introduced Marius Black to Rita Skeeter for an interview in Gringott’s. The location itself was irrelevant – the journey to the location was important. Sirius Black, striding through Diagon Alley, looking powerful and devastatingly handsome, with an older man who had the definite look of a Black, though not a Black anyone seemed to be familiar with – the gossip mill had begun to turn before the interview had even taken place.
Rita’s writing style was against restrained and factual rather than exaggerated. It seemed that with real, heavy hitting stories suddenly available – and indeed seeking her out, rather than the other way around – she no longer felt the need to go overboard.
‘Interview with a squib: Marius Black’ became the first of a series of interviews with squibs, at first from more prominent family lines – but then it continued, again due to popular demand, onto any squib who was willing to be interviewed.
The general wixen public had been shocked and perturbed to learn that not only were squibs being dumped in the muggle world, but that they were in fact fully functional humans, capable of holding jobs and having families. It seemed ridiculous at first thought, but given the propaganda and fearmongering coming from both sides for so long, it was sadly understandable. The more squibs that spoke out, however, the more the public was willing to believe that squibs were not the end of wixenkind, or any such radicalised nonsense. Marius Black’s theories and research were widely sought after, as people eagerly sought to educate themselves. He was offered a weekly newspaper spot, in which he would detail an area of the wixen world in which squibs would be beneficial, or in which they were able to function normally. He made subtle comments and hints each week too, in which he alluded to the fact that squib children deserved an education and the right to know where they came from, and that there was space in their society to include more people. He even went so far as to outright say that the future of the wixen world would likely depend on squibs in the not too distant future – that the people they had turned away had learned to cope and even thrive in the muggle world, and they would be the key to maintaining either the secrecy of the wixen world, or the key to harmony between wixen and muggles. Marius gave no indication about which way he thought society should head – only that squibs were the bridge between worlds that they would come to rely on.
The Light side was in disarray.
It quickly became apparent that Dumbledore heavily favoured himself, and then the Potters, as the public face of the Light side. With both being shunned and regarded with suspicion, his plans derailed quickly.
The Weasleys were not public speakers, and they had enough to be getting on with, with six children and another on the way. Doge and Diggle had both made themselves out to be sycophants incapable of independent thought and were therefore summarily ignored. Emmaline Vance had some traction for a little while, but a sharp comment to a reporter with a Grey core had her on the outs quickly. Reporters might be a cutthroat lot, but they had a strange sense of camaraderie when it came to one of their own being treated poorly.
The other Order members were seemingly either not suitable public faces, or their commitment had begun to waver in the face of the book, and the media campaign that further destabilised Albus Dumbledore’s reputation.
All in all, the Light side were beginning to scramble, becoming desperate.
Tom supposed he should have seen it coming.