A unexpected Guest
It had been a peaceful day in the office for Cornelius, he only had two meetings to attend and a bit of Paperwork to go through. Overall it was a normal peaceful day, so naturally it all went wrong. He was in a meeting with Lucius Malfoy and Amelia Bones when it happened. They were discussing whether or not they should raise the budget of the DMLE. In the middle of the discussion, effectively cutting Lucius off who had been in the middle of saying something Cornelius hadn't really been listening to, the enchanted Grandfather clock decided to announce the arrival of a Person of great Importance.
Activating the trigger for the Audio relay he wondered who had the nerve to come here without an appointment. “I am Lord Hadrian Mortem and I am here to look at a Prophecy.”
Everybody in the room froze at that. Mortem? Aren't they supposed to be dead or at least gone? Why did they come back now if they were not gone? And what Prophecy? Is there a Prophecy concerning the Mortem Family? On and on the questions floated around his mind as he stared blankly at the Clock for what felt like hours but was probably closer to about 30 minutes.
The Mortem family is perhaps the most powerful Pureblood family there has ever been. There, the darkest of the dark, a Family of Necromancers and were generally very ruthless. While they usually stay neutral in any conflict that occurs in both the wizarding and muggle World but they were downright brutal to those that attacked them or theirs. He doubts that somebody is stupid enough to impersonate a Mortem, the last person that tried to do that was found dead with his guts ripped out in the middle of Diagon alley.
“We need to go down and greet them. You don’t just ignore a Mortem.” Lucius cut through his thoughts. Malfoy was right of course, he did not want to find out what would happen if he offended Lord Mortem. Without needing to be prompted any further he got up and started walking out of his office to where the Elevator is located. The other two followed behind him after a beat or two.
Cornelius was on edge, the elevator went down to the Atrium both too fast and not fast enough. When the lift finally stopped he immediately made a beeline for the security desk. Manning the desk like always was Eric Munch, unfortunately or fortunately however you want to look at it there wasn’t a single other person that could have been Lord Mortem in sight.
“Did Lord Mortem come through here already?” He asked Munch, cutting right to the chase.
Munch, who had been looking at some Papers looked up and answered: “Yes, he came here to acquire a Prophecy so I sent him down to the Department of Mysteries.”
“Good thank you for the Information.” With that Cornelius turned around and walked back towards the elevators fully intending to catch him down in the Department of Mysteries. The other two had been waiting by the elevators for him.
Once he got closer he informed both Malfoy and Bones: “Munch already sent him to the Department of Mysteries.”
“Alright so we're planning to fetch him down there?” Amelia had asked, looking wary at the elevator down to level nine.
“Yes.”
“Then let us go.” Lucius said while striding to the Elevator. The other two both followed quickly, the walk was a very short one, they only had to walk a couple steps and they were already in front of the elevator.
As the doors of the lift opened Cornelius's eyes widened and for the second time that day he froze. The man he was standing in front of was practically towering over them despite the fact that he was just a bit taller than Lucius. He was young, probably barely in his twenties, with windswept black hair and glowing acid green eyes. His Clothes, while old fashioned, fitted him. The man that could only be Lord Mortem was wearing a Dress Shirt that was white as snow, a dark blue waistcoat with silver Ivy detailing over the shirt and over that he was wearing a black Frock Coat. Mortem had tailored black trousers on and black dragonhide boots that looked brand new. In addition to his Clothes he was wearing an intricate dark blue plague doctor Mask with the same silver Ivy detailing that his waistcoat had. All in all he was very intimidating.
The expression on Mortems face was rather hard to read thanks to the Mask but he thought that it might have been curiosity. After a long stretch of silence Mortem decided to speak: “Good Afternoon, is there something you need?”
His voice was smoother and more melodic than he had anticipated. Cornelius was still studying him when Bones decided to speak up after taking a couple steps back: “Good Afternoon, may I ask, are you Lord Mortem?”
“I am and would you be so kind and introduce yourself and your companions Miss?” Mortem confirmed what he had already gathered.
“Of course, excuse me for not doing that earlier, I am Amelia Bones the Head of the DMLE and this is Lucius Malfoy and the man next to him is none other than our Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.” She introduced each of them since Malfoy and Conelius were still busy inspecting Lord Mortem.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Now is there something you need?” Mortem politely inquired.
It was Lucius that answered Lord Mortems question. ”We were on our way to greet you and assist with whatever business you happen to have at the Ministry today.”
“Oh there is no need for your assistance since I already acquired what I came for.” Mortem respectfully declined their offer of assistance.
“But what about your Seats?” Cornelius asked bewildered.
“My Seats?” Mortem questioned, looking a bit surprised now.
“Your Wizengamot seats.” He clarified.
“I will look over them at a later date since I am in a bit of a time crunch.” That was fantastic news. He really wanted this conversation to be over. The way Lord Mortem towered over him and looked at him like he was a tiny unimportant bug made him feel uneasy.
“When should we expect to see you again for the reclaiming of your Seats?” Amelia ever the reliable asked.
“How about in one week from now. Friday at the same time as I came here today.” It was a good suggestion because it gave him time to prepare.
“Excellent, next Friday at 4 pm. in the afternoon. Well met Lord Mortem.” He was aware that he was rushing through the tail end of this conversation but if he has to spend another second in the vicinity of Lord Mortem he is going to have a Panic attack.
"Then I shall take my leave now. Well met Minister, Miss Bones, Malfoy” The Farewell was met with two more ‘Well Mets’ from both Bones and Malfoy. With that done Cornelius turned around and began his way back toward his office.