February 2002
Hogwarts, February 2nd, 2002
Albus was discussing with his followers to ban archaic magic from their country. He had everything, why that branch of magic should be banned since there are no defences against that kind of magic. He will use Voldemort as an example since he knew that the man dabbled into archaic magic, in order to defeat and kill his opponents. It would be easy to use Voldemort and his past actions, in order to make sure that the nomination passes. Albus was not going to fail this time. “This time, my dears, we will be successful. Voldemort had used that magic, in order to kill many of our friends and acquaintances. It is one of the most dangerous branches of magic since no one was able to stop it, when he started to practice this kind of magic. I don’t need to tell you, how many witches and wizards turned evil, when they started to practice archaic magic.” Phineas was shaking his head in resignation. The man is a fool. Many archaic magic users were heroes and only a small minority turned evil since they dabbled in Black Archaic Magic, which is one of the most dangerous and internationally forbidden branches of magic. Many books were made illegal and were kept away from the public’s eye since that kind of magic was dangerous. The only ones, who are allowed to read that material are High Masters in Archaic Magic since they are strong enough to withstand the corruptive nature of that kind of magic. The so-called dark lord and Bellatrix had dabbled in that kind of magic and weren’t strong enough to withstand the corruptive nature of Black Archaic Magic. As a result, they became completely insane. With Bellatrix, things got worse since the Black madness multiplied and that was the reason why Bellatrix had lost her mind easily.
But Phineas will not dwell on the past. He was going to inform Narcissa about the old fool’s plans. He knew that Narcissa will be able to stop that old idiot from doing anything. Why didn’t he notice that Dumbledore was going to be a power-hungry individual, when he attended Hogwarts as a student. Sadly, he was back then an arrogant fool that was blinded by his own ego and hadn’t cared for the students since he was an elitist and tried to maintain his reputation, which caused the opposite. Phineas had managed to fix the issues after Ranruk and his entourage were defeated and Viktor Rockwood and his thugs were dealt with. As he got older, he understood his responsibilities even more and made sure that Hogwarts was internationally recognised until he had died. His successor Armando Dippet continued his work until the fool made Albus deputy-headmaster. He really couldn’t blame Armando for that since the man started to mentally decline due to old age and became senile in his final days as headmaster. He wished that Armando had retired before he announced the old fool as deputy-headmaster. With that, the First Wizarding war would have been stopped and Tom Riddle would have never become Lord Voldemort. It would have saved many lives. Sadly, a maniacal, old man decided to play god.
When everything was finished, Albus asked, if there was something suspicious going on in the ministry. Many shook their head apart from Hestia. Albus turned his attention to the poor woman. Albus noticed that Hestia was starting to fade each day since the revelations of Julius’ death and how Severus was responsible for killing the love of her life. He tried to use Severus’ cruelty towards Julius against Severus in public, in order to gain control over that man since he believed that no one would allow a man, who had destroyed a soul bond, to run freely, but sadly, many didn’t care since the majority believed that Julius had no one else to blame than himself for his death. Albus wished that the public should have been more sympathetic towards Hestia, but no one paid her any mind, which made the woman angry, how cold and careless the public could be.
Hestia had informed him that Amelia and Corban Yaxley were discussing about Aurelius Yaxley. She heard that the younger Yaxley brother was planning something and it is concerning Corban and his family. Albus could use that to sway the man and his family on his side, if he offered them protection against Aurelius Yaxley, but first, they need to have any evidence against Aurelius, in order to prove that the man was planning something big. Many like James and Sirius behaved like children and told Albus that they don’t care, what Aurelius was planning against his older brother since they both were death eaters. Albus withheld his growl and his most loyal and oldest followers were shaking their heads not believing, how idiotic this younger generation could be. They became annoyed, when everyone ignored their stupidity and Albus ordered them to keep an eye on Aurelius Yaxley.
Albus’ first priority is that he needed to find a way to lower the standards in the potion class, but it was hard somehow, but he will succeed.
When everyone left, Phineas went to his portrait in Malfoy Manor.
Malfoy Manor, February 3rd, 2002
Narcissa and Lucius were sitting and discussing Dumbledore’s plans with the other members of their alliance. They needed to make sure that the ban regarding Archaic Magic isn’t passed since that magic is needed for the wards in the ministry, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and other magical places. Without Archaic Magic, the wards couldn’t be updated and they could fail in case of an attack or they could collapse, if they are not renewed. The masters in Archaic Magic are renewing those wards every decade. She already collected all the information about the wards in the ministry and the other magical places.
Callidora huffed: “Albus is making our lives even more difficult. I wish, we could go against him directly, but we would risk a toddler’s life, if we do this.” The woman let out a sigh. She looked at her favourite great niece and asked: “Narcissa, for how long are we going to play this game with Albus.”
Narcissa understood their impatience, but they have to play the long game. “I understand your impatience, great-aunt Callidora, but we are playing the long game in the politics. We need to wait for four years until the Potters’ fame has cooled down. Currently, it is too fresh and we would endanger Akira and his parents. We need to leave the Potters alone for the time being, but we will strike, when it is time for Akira to start primary school. Our focus is now to stop Aurelius Yaxley and his plans. With that, we would be able to discredit the dark fraction and Lucius, Tarquinius and I would have a reason to leave the dark fraction in the Wizengamot and align our seats to the neutral fraction.” Augustinus added: “And Darren and I would be able to move our seats to the neutral fraction in the school board since in the Wizengamot our seats are traditionally in the dark section.” Darren nodded. Everyone knew that if you are in the Wizengamot in one fraction, it doesn’t mean that you have to be in the same fraction in the school board. It also doesn’t count, if the seat is traditionally light, neutral or dark.
Pandora interjected: “But you all realise that you still wouldn’t have enough votes to oust Dumbledore from his Head Governor position.” Narcissa smirked and Pandora knew that the woman had a plan. Narcissa laid out: “Pandora, we will try to track down the Hufflepuff heir. We all know that the Smiths couldn’t be the Hufflepuff heirs since they never proved it in the Wizengamot. With the Hufflepuff seats, we would have the majority of the school board and Dumbledore would have lost the Head Governor position.” Pandora had to admit that the plan could work.
Everyone couldn’t wait for this event to happen, but they needed to think about another distraction. Many were discussing, what to do. Narcissa was thinking hard, what they could change this time until the Lady Malfoy had an idea. Many witches and wizards, who are venturing in the muggle world, do not adapt to the muggle world. It is important since they would be able to hide in the non-magical world easily and remain unrecognised, but that is harder due to the wizarding robes that the witches and wizards are wearing. Narcissa knew, what her nomination would be. Her nomination would be that the magical world should be introduced to muggle clothing, so that the witches and wizards can hide in the muggle world with ease.
Narcissa laid out her idea, when everyone had seen the look on her face. That look alone says that the woman has an idea. Narcissa explained: “I have an idea and it is something that we have been overlooking again.” Augustinus asked her with a mock glare. “What did we overlook again? Seriously, are we getting blind?” Everyone looked at her with a mock-hurt expression. Narcissa huffed at their expressions. “What we have been overlooking is, how we are hiding and adapting in the muggle world.” Everyone was surprised by that and sadly, they had to agree with her. Many witches and wizards especially ministry officials are venturing in the muggle world with wizarding robes not caring that the muggles would notice them. They knew, where she was going with that information. Arthur agreed with her: “You are right, Narcissa. We need to know, how to hide in the muggle world since if we continue like this, then, we would expose ourselves in front of the muggles. If we are venturing in the muggle world, we should at least adapt to their culture and their customs, in order to hide ourselves.” Many agreed on this since an exposition would lead to many problems. Many muggles would fear magic and try to destroy it since they wouldn’t be able to understand it.
“You are right, Arthur, and for that reason, you are going to nominate this nomination.” Narcissa had a grin towards Arthur, who rolled his eyes in exasperation. He asked: “Do I have to?” Everyone huffed. Narcissa said: “Arthur, you are the only one, who is venturing in the muggle world and has the knowledge. Apart from that, Dumbledore would never shoot down your nomination regarding muggles.” Arthur admitted defeat. “Alright, alright. I will show the Wizengamot my dias about my visits in the muggle museums, in order to remind them of the consequences, if witches and wizards are exposed to the muggles.” Arthur had visited with his boys many museums and exhibitions in the muggle world during the Yule holidays. It was exciting, but also terrifying, what he had learned about the muggles and their weaponry. This would make sure that the wizarding world should not underestimate muggles since they could be dangerous and in case of a war, the witches and wizards would be outnumbered by only the sheer number of the muggles.
Albus was not going to like it and it would lead to a changed view about the muggle world. It’s about time to destroy those rose-tinted glasses about the muggles being harmless. They are as dangerous as witches and wizards.
The meeting ended with that conversation.
Wizengamot, February 4th, 2002
Another Wizengamot meeting had started and Narcissa was ready to make some changes and to make sure that muggles shouldn’t be underestimated due to their military advancements in the last century. Narcissa knew that those from the light would try to put rose-tinted glasses about how muggles are harmless and not dangerous and those from the dark would describe the muggles as animals, which they are not since they were even more dangerous than wizards and witches. It would be funny to watch the furious faces of both sides that the muggles could be as dangerous as witches and wizards.
Narcissa knew that Dumbledore would be the first one to make his nomination about the ban of Archaic Magic. The man only introduced the Black Magical version, but neglected to mention the light, neutral and dark version of Archaic Magic. Narcissa really questioned the man’s intelligence.
When he was finished, Narcissa was ready to fall asleep. Now it is time for their nomination. She glanced at Arthur, who just nodded to her in assurance. When Albus asked, if there was another nomination, he sighed in relief that it was Arthur, who wanted to make a nomination regarding muggles. He was sure that Arthur was going to put up a notion that would further underestimate those muggles and it would lead to the dominance of wizards and witches over the muggles. Albus needed this, in order to make sure to make the muggles pay for what they had done to his sister. He never liked them, but sadly, he had to pretend that he likes them and see them as their equals, in order to have the support of his followers, which is easy. In reality, Albus believes that they are vermin that needed to be stamped out. The only thing that he liked about them is their production of lemon drops, but in the other aspects, they are useless. For that reason, he never updated the muggle study class, in order to make sure that his followers are thinking that the muggles are simpletons that needed the guidance of wizards and witches, in order to advance. He was excited about Arthur’s nomination.
Arthur prepared his diashow to show the Wizengamot, how muggles had advanced in the last century and how dangerous, they could be. He started with his nomination. “Lords, Ladies, I am nominating that the wizarding world should start selling muggle clothing, so that we can hide in the muggle world. The muggles could be as dangerous as witches and wizards and if you learn their history, especially the darker aspects of muggle history like the witch hunts during the 17th century or the Spanish inquisition. Furthermore, the muggles didn’t remain stagnant as we have learned during the muggle study class since they have advanced even further than the wizarding world. I have taken some pictures in some muggle museums that I have visited during Yule break as my assignment and what I have learned was horrifying.”
Arthur started to show the Wizengamot pictures about the advancements in the 20th century and it shocked and horrified the members to the core. The worst was the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the aftereffects of the atomic bombs on the health of the affected muggles. Many were sickened, when Arthur showed them a baby with deformities on their bodies. According to the museum guide, these deformities were caused by the radiations of the atomic bombs. Many more dias were shown about the wars that came after the Second World War like the Korea War, the Vietnam War and the civil war in Yugoslavia. Many members were stunned, what the muggles were capable of and it was shocking that a device that the muggles called bombs and grenades could destroy wide areas. From there on, many members in the Wizengamot changed their perspective about the muggles and they came to the conclusion that muggles could be as dangerous as witches and wizards or maybe even more. Narcissa was green, when she had seen, what had happened to the children during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She would never wish this fate on a child. At the end of the dias, Arthur continued: “You have seen, what the muggles are capable of, but this is only a fraction of what I have gathered. From what I have managed to learn, muggles are still advancing in technology and this also includes weaponry. The weapons from the museums were used in the past, for that reason, I visited multiple military bases and this is what I have managed to get legally.” He handed everyone some brochures about the muggle military and everyone stared at the current weaponry of the muggle world. This is insanity. Many members of the Wizengamot were in a panic. These weapons alone could wipe out all magical places in one go. Arthur also continued: “And there is also the issue about the mindset of muggles. According to a squib that is living in the muggle world and is aware of the magical world, not all muggles are accepting of magic due to their religious beliefs and upbringing or the fact that they can’t understand it. If they ever find out that magic is real and something goes wrong. Then like in history, they will blame us, then, the chances of going to war against the muggles is bigger. I believe that no one would want that.” The majority nodded in agreement. Arthur continued. “For that reason, if we are venturing in the muggle world, it should be a requirement to wear muggle clothes with a muggle ID, in order to minimise our chances of being exposed to the muggles. For example, aurors, who have to venture in the muggle world for raids, should wear the police uniform with a British police ID and ID that is common in the muggle world, in order to avoid misunderstandings and to be unobtrusive. I am not forcing you to wear muggle clothes in the wizarding world, but I am really suggesting that we should wear muggle clothes, if we are venturing in the muggle world, so that we can hide.” With that final statement, there were many discussions regarding this issue. Many liked Arthur’s nomination since everything of what they have learned about the muggles changed their perspective. Muggles are not to be underestimated and are as dangerous as witches and wizards.
Albus was absolutely furious. What was Arthur thinking, when he presented this in front of the Wizengamot. It destroyed pretty much everything, what he had said about the muggles in the past, but even he had to admit that muggles are dangerous with their weaponry. And his followers were already arguing since many wanted to disagree with Arthur, but they couldn’t counter his proof since the dias were damning and the brochures were the last nail to the coffin. Albus groaned. He now had to discuss with his followers about this nomination.
Albus requested a privacy ward, in order to discuss Arthur’s nomination with his followers.
When Aurelia Acton took over, she asked, if there were any new nominations. Narcissa glanced at Cyrus Greengrass, who rose his wand. Aurelia asked: “Lord Greengrass?”
Cyrus took a deep breath and said: “I have my doubts about Lord Dumbledore’s nomination about the ban against Archaic Magic. The man only introduced a minor branch of magic and it is the black magical aspect, which is a very dangerous field of magic since casting that kind of magic is dangerous and corruptive.” Cyrus handed everyone some files about Archaic Magic that they had collected from the Unspeakables. It was surprising, how cooperative they were to stop the ban of Archaic Magic. Cyrus continued: “According to these files, Archaic Magic is a part of our ward scheme since they are used to keep the strength of our wards and make sure that the wards can withstand any magical attacks. Furthermore, Archaic Magic can also be used in defensive magic, in order to empower shield and protection charms, and additionally, many of our Lordship or Ladyship rings are coated with protections that are also a part of Archaic Magic and have been renewed by our account managers. If we ban this magic, I am not so sure, if the wards in the ministry, in Diagon Alley, in Hogsmeade and in many other magical places here in Great Britain would remain strong, if we deny the masters in Archaic Magic the renewal of our wards in our nation.”
Many members looked at the file and were astounded that the headmaster again had withheld important information. Looking at the files closely, they noticed that many wards in the ministry, Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Wizengamot, Hogsmeade and the other magical places were created through Archaic Magic. There was also a marked paragraph that the Archaic Magic in the wards had to be renewed every decade or the wards would either decline or fail. No one wanted that and they were angry that Albus was endangering them again with his views.
Cyrus returned the attention back to himself and said: “For that reason, I am nominating to put the current ban against Archaic Magic into question since we need to reevaluate, if the ban is beneficial for our society.” Many had supportive faces and Narcissa was happy that they clearly would get a clear majority. Even Voldemort’s followers are going to support their nomination.
When Albus and his followers were finished with their discussion, Narcissa saw that the old fool had a resigned look on his face since it seems like that it was a tense argument.
Albus retook his seat and was resigned. Arthur had ruffled many feathers in his section with his motion and many of his followers were arguing about the fact that the muggles could be as dangerous as witches and wizards. Albus will have a word with Arthur, but he isn’t sure, if this conversation would bring him anything since the man had countered his statements that muggles are harmless and needed their guidance. Now many will believe that the muggles are even more dangerous due to their weaponry and it is better to leave them be. He had no choice then to agree with Arthur’s nomination.
Albus asked in a grandfatherly voice: “Aurelia, were there any new nominations?”
Aurelia answered in a stoic tone: “There was a nomination from Lord Greengrass. He had nominated to put the current ban against Archaic Magic into question. It seems like that you have neglected to mention, Chief Warlock, that Archaic Magic is used in ward schemes and in shield and protection charms, in order to empower them. You only mentioned the aspect of Black Archaic Magic, which is a very dangerous branch of magic that had been banned worldwide, but you didn’t mention the other branches of Archaic Magic.” Albus and his sheep were given the files about Archaic Magic and they started to go through the files about that branch.
Albus was furious. This information could be damning, but Albus continued with the voting. He hoped that the other members would have been intimidated by the black magical aspect of Archaic Magic and would vote for his nomination. When the vote to his nomination came, the majority voted against him. Albus didn’t understand, why his nomination failed. Arthur’s nomination had passed. The only ones, who voted against the motion were the darker purebloods. The last nomination received a landslide vote, which allowed the nomination to pass.
Albus was ready to kill. Why didn’t his nomination pass? He was the Chief Warlock. He was in control of the Wizengamot and everyone should believe his words. He couldn’t believe that these fools were opposing him like this. When the meeting came to an end, Albus stormed out of the chambers with his followers in tow. The man was clearly furious and his followers didn’t look any better.
Headmaster’s office
Albus stormed into his office in an absolute fury. He couldn’t believe that these fools voted against him and to make matters worse, they put the current ban against Archaic Magic up to question. What was going on? Why didn’t it work? The past four Wizengamot meetings only hindered his cause. Albus was still in deep thoughts trying to understand, what did go wrong during this meeting. Everything was prepared until Arthur’s nomination caused many problems and things went the wrong way, when Cyrus Greengrass spread the detailed information about Archaic Magic, which ruined his nomination. Now the law is inactive for the time being.
Turning his attention to Arthur, everyone gave the redhead a disappointed look. “Arthur, my boy, can you explain me, where you got the information from?” Albus hoped that Arthur got those information from someone dark, who wants to discredit the muggles. Arthur smiled ignoring the look the headmaster gave him and told him the story he and Amelia made up, in order to make it believable. “Well, it all started, when Amelia had read an article from a muggle newspaper about the attacks on the World Trade Center in September 11th, 2001 and how both towers had collapsed by the attack. She wanted to know, how far the muggles had advanced in their weaponry since the article was horrifying and according to the article nearly 3000 people had died during the attacks on the twin towers and the collapse. So, I ventured in the muggle world and had visited many museums that were recommended by some contacts in the muggle world and the military bases, who gave me brochures about the advanced weaponry. After I was finished with collecting all the information I have managed to gather, I prepared my assignment for Amelia and showed her, how far the muggles had advanced in their weaponry. Amelia was alerted by the result. I thought, she was going to call an emergency meeting, when she had seen the result of my research, what the muggles had done in one century. She also left me the task to present it in front of the Wizengamot.”
Albus wanted to groan. He never thought that the incident in September would bite him back in the butt. One little misstep had destroyed his plans regarding the muggles. He can’t go back to the mindset that the muggles are harmless. Alone the attack on the World Trade Center showed that muggles could be dangerous. Albus never thought that this incident in the muggle world would cause this.
He was rubbing his eyes. Another distraction ruined his nomination and his plans for the betterment of the wizarding world.
Albus dismissed his followers and was thinking. He needs to be successful at the next Wizengamot meeting.
Knockturn Alley, February 12th, 2002
Two dark figures were standing in the shadows of the infamous Knockturn Alley and were discussing.
A female voice whispered furiously: “Have you managed to get everything for the ritual?”
A male, harsh voice answered: “No, my contact told me that he needed to gather all the ritual materials for now and he had to be carefully, so that he didn’t get caught, but I can assure you that everything would be ready at April and then, we can get rid of that mudblood whore that had faked this soulbond with my brother and tore my family into pieces. Her children will also suffer for their mother’s action. I will never acknowledge these bastards as my nephews and nieces since they are disgusting halfbloods. It is time to clean this taint from my family. Father didn’t do anything and allowed my brother to do whatever he wanted, but this will stop now. I am really sorry for how he had treated you, but I will make sure that he is going to honour you and make him pay for the disrespect he had showed you.”
The female cackled. “Don’t worry about that, Al. I will make him regret ever thinking, he can do this to me and get away with it. I am going to make sure that he will watch how you are going to kill that filthy mudblood whore and her brats and make him mine like it was promised. With that your family had repaid the debt that my family is demanding.”
The man nodded in agreement. It’s time to bring the honour of his house back and make his brother pay by disgracing the family like this. He will return his noble house back to the top of the pureblood circles.
Unknown to him, an informant overheard their conversation.
DMLE, February 15th, 2002
Amelia was going over some files for the Wizengamot trials that are going to take place today. Normally, the trials should have been the day before, but since Valentines Day was introduced in their world, the trials are going to take place on February 15th and not 14th like it is done usually.
She was interrupted in her thoughts, when she heard a knock to her door. With a Come-in, another woman with a dark cloak entered her office. Amelia knew the woman since she was an informant in Knockturn Alley and she got always the best information from her. “Christina, what can I do for you?” Amelia went behind her desk and sat down on her seat. She indicated the other woman to take a seat. The woman took a deep breath and sat down. She answered: “I have some distressing news from Knockturn Alley, Amelia.”
Amelia quickly took out a notepad. She hoped that it had something to do with Aurelius Yaxley and his plans. The woman continued: “I have seen Aurelius Yaxley and an unknown woman talking with each other and managed to eavesdrop. It is not good. Aurelius ordered from a black-market dealer some banned ritual materials, in order to break a soulbond and I am very sure that it had something to do with Corban and his wife since the man was talking about his brother and how he was planning to kill Corban’s entire family, in order to repay a debt to another noble house and clean the taint from his family.” Amelia should have known that Aurelius was planning something. Now, she was able to open a file against Aurelius Yaxley. Amelia asked: “Can you give me your memory, so that I can view it in my pensive and make sure to certify them?” The woman nodded and Amelia took out her pensive. When that was done and the memory was removed, Amelia viewed the memory for a while. She always made notes, when she was finished with the viewing.
After she was finished with her viewing, Amelia examined the memory, in order to certify it, if the memory wasn’t tempered with. Amelia left a certification mark indicating that the memory hasn’t been tempered with and filed it as evidence. This was good. If she has enough evidence against Aurelius Yaxley and his accomplice, then, she can arrest him and worry less about the safety of Corban, Clara and their children.
“Thank you, Christina. I will handle it from here on”, Amelia said and the woman left her office.
Amelia had plans to tell Corban about Aurelius’ plans, but first she needs to attend some trials before she can speak with Corban.
Amelia Bones’ office, February 20th, 2002
Amelia was waiting for Corban to come to her office. She needed to inform the man about Aurelius’ plans regarding Clara and their children. Amelia had spent five days to identify the woman, but it was fruitless since the accomplice managed to hide herself very well, but she was very sure that it must be Isabella Jugson since the woman had claimed that if their plan is successful, then, the debt with the woman’s family is repaid. Sadly, Amelia doesn’t have any proof, because she needed to find evidence against Aurelius Yaxley first before she can go against Isabella Jugson. She knew that the woman was still bitter that Corban broke off their engagement and married Clara since they were soulmates. Instead of accepting Corban’s reason for breaking the engagement, Lord Jugson, a well-known blood purist, ended the alliance with House Yaxley and declared Corban’s decision as an insult to his only daughter. The man demanded from Lord and Lady Yaxley to force their son to pay his debt back, which hadn’t worked since Corban absolutely refused to listen to the demands of the man. He announced their bonding and Clara’s pregnancy, which infuriated the Yaxleys and the Jugsons further. The split was solved with Corban’s disinheritance, but the relationship was still icy.
Amelia was interrupted in her thoughts, when there was a knock on her office door. With a Come-in, Corban and Clara entered her office. Corban asked: “You wanted to see us, Amelia?” Amelia nodded and answered: “Yes, there is an important matter that we have to discuss. Take a seat.”
When both took a seat, Amelia said: “Corban, Clara, I have bad news regarding Aurelius Yaxley.” The couple looked at each other and turned their attention back to Amelia. Corban asked: “What is going on, Amelia?” Amelia took a deep breath and answered: “Aurelius Yaxley is planning to use an olde dark magical ritual that is supposed to break a soul bond. This ritual would have killed Clara and he is also planning to kill off your children after he dealt with your wife.” Corban wanted to kill his brother. He should have realised that his brother was up to no good.
Amelia knew that murderous look on Corban’s face and she knew that her friend was ready to go to skin his brother alive. Clara was calming her husband down and asked: “How do you know that Aurelius is planning something?”
Amelia answered: “During the end of January, Lady Burke visited Lady Malfoy and informed her about the distressing news regarding Heir Yaxley. During a meeting, Narcissa informed me about Aurelius’ plans, but I couldn’t do anything since it was only rumoured. I only managed to open the file against Aurelius, when my informant from Knockturn Alley came to me to confirm Aurelius’ plans. Now, I am here warning you. The advantage, we have, is that the ritual would be ready at April. So, we have two months, in order to get enough evidence against Aurelius and have him arrested.” Aurelius and Clara nodded.
Before they could leave, Amelia told them that there was another matter to discuss. “Corban, Clara, there is something else. Aurelius is not acting alone. It seems like that he has an accomplice and through my informant, I can tell you that it is a woman, who is helping him.” Corban immediately knew, who it could be, but it better be left unsaid since he only had suspicions.
The couple left Amelia’s office in a hurry. They need to make sure that their children are safe, but they needed a plan to stop Aurelius from destroying their family.
Amelia knew that Corban would kill Aurelius, if he is a danger to his own family. The split in the Yaxley family is getting worse and worse and she is terrified of a succession crisis in case Aurelius is arrested since she was sure that Gerald would make sure that Seraphina becomes Heiress Yaxley, but that would never work since the Yaxley family is a patriarchal family, where only a male can become a head of family. The family magics would choose Corban to be Heir and the future Lord Yaxley, whereas Seraphina would be under Corban’s command. If Corban said that she isn’t allowed to take the dark mark, then, she had to follow his orders, no matter what she wants.
Amelia knew that the woman would be furious, but no one can save her from that fate. She will see, what will happen.
Podmore Manor, February 22nd, 2002
There was another order meeting regarding the school board meeting on Monday. Albus was planning to remove the blood pressure regulating potion from the curriculum. That potion needs volatile ingredients and it could lead to a lost life or to a lost limb in the minimum case. Albus had been forced to go through the potions for the NEWTs classes and found many potions that were used in the medical profession. If he removes some of the key potions, then, he can lower the potion class standards and many of his pawns would be able to attend the class even with an EE.
Albus announced: “This time, we are going to remove the blood pressure regulating potion. The ingredients are dangerous and one little mistake could lead to a loss of limb or in the worst-case scenario to a lost life. We can’t allow this to happen. So, we have to remove the potion from the curriculum.”
Many nodded dutifully. James wanted the class to be easy like it was during Horace’s time, but with Snivellus being potion professor, it would be a lot harder. Stupid Snivellus. Why did he have to make things even more complicated for them? He remembered that the headmaster promised him that Snape would owe him a life debt, when Sirius was planning to prank him by showing Snape, what Remus really is, but it failed horribly since Sirius believed Lily, who told her remaining friends that she broke off her friendship with Snivellus. Sadly, no one knew that it was Snivellus that broke off their friendship. That simple lie nearly led to Remus nearly dying. James had been furious that Lily lied and that later, it was revealed that Snape was the one, who ended their friendship and took away most of her friends like Marlene and Dorcas. He remembered that Sirius cursed Lily and started to prank her for a bit until he put a stop to it and told him that Snape is to blame for everything. He hadn’t found a reason, but Sirius just answered that his simple existence is reason enough. He didn’t understand why Sirius really hated Snape, but he later found out that Alphard Black, Sirius’ uncle and one of Sirius’ favourite relatives beside his mother, wanted to marry Eileen Prince, Snivellus’ mother, but she ran away and eloped with a muggle. It broke Alphard’s heart and Sirius hated Eileen Snape for choosing a muggle over his uncle. When he met Snape, James understood that he was representing the fact that Eileen Snape chose another man over Alphard Black and Sirius hated Snape with a passion since every time Alphard looked at Snape, there was a hurt look on his face, because the woman, he so loved, choose another man and had a son with him. That was the reason why, he was so persistent with Lily. James didn’t want to end up like Alphard Black, who loved Eileen Snape until the end even though the woman died in Azkaban after she was convicted for manslaughter and other charges, and wasted his life for a woman, who didn’t love him back.
Sirius was the same with Marlene, but the woman in question couldn’t stand to be in the same room like him and hated his guts due to their pranks against Snape. Every time, they pranked Snape, in order to save Marlene and Dorcas from his darkness, the angrier and more hateful, they became. They gave up after their fifth year since they would realise their mistake, when Snape joins the death eaters, which he did. But what he hadn’t considered that Snape was a ministry spy and that Marlene and Dorcas had known about Snape’s status in the ministry after their graduation. He was furious and betrayed that both Marlene and Dorcas had known about it and they didn’t bother to inform the order about Snape being a ministry spy. Sirius’ reaction was even more volatile since he loved Marlene and his heart had shattered into pieces, when he and Sirius, who was under the same secrecy and privacy wards like the Wizengamot members, had confronted Marlene and Dorcas about Snape. They revealed that they had known about Severus’ status when he had joined the death eaters and were aware of his crimes. Sirius never suffered such a heartbreak in his life, but this was one hell of a break, and both were lost causes in their view even though Sirius held feelings for Marlene, which were never returned.
James knew that Snape needs to be brought to justice for his actions, but the question was, how. Snape’s status as a spy is something that would be hard to go away. Maybe with the light’s victory over Voldemort, they would get rid of anyone, who is dark and evil.
Arthur left the meeting. He needed to inform the others about Albus’ plan.
Greengrass Manor, February 24th, 2002
Narcissa was watching Draco play with Daphne, Neville, Tracy and Susan. There were also the Weasley children apart from Bill, Ron and Ginny and Penelope Clearwater-Lestrange, who was spending a lot of time with Percy. If Narcissa was squinting, she could see the bond between Percy and Penelope and it was beautiful. Watching the children play reminded Narcissa about the harsh childhood she had with her sisters and her mother. Narcissa never bonded with her sisters and her mother and preferred to spend her time with her father. She mostly ignored the bigoted lessons about muggleborns and blood traitors like her older sister, Andromeda, but unlike her older sister, Narcissa listened to the lessons from her father since they were more concerning, how to be cunning. She was planning to visit the Kurusus during the summer break, in order to see, how they were doing with Akira.
Narcissa was interrupted in her thoughts, when Lucius came up behind her and told her: “Cissy, the meeting is starting soon.” Narcissa nodded and she made her way to the formal meeting room of Greengrass Manor.
When everyone was seated and the tea was served, Arthur started to explain that Dumbledore was planning to remove the blood pressure regulating potion from the curriculum. Narcissa asked: “And what reason are they going to give us?”
Arthur answered: “They want to use the excuse that the ingredients are volatile and dangerous and that the students could lose their limbs or even their lives in the worst-case scenario.”
Narcissa shook her head. That excuse was so flimsy that even Kreacher would have made a better excuse to the removal of the blood pressure regulating potion. She proposed: “We will just point out that the potion is an important medical potion in St. Mungos. If we remove it, then, the students would learn it during their apprenticeship and I can tell you that the trainee healers are expected to know, how to brew this certain potion. Lady Meadow will help us since she is a healer herself in St. Mungos and she knew, what the healers are expected to brew.” Everyone agreed.
Another point is to put a distraction and there Narcissa had a plan. “I have an idea. We should nominate to install a bathroom with a sink and toilets in front of the main entrance and staff entrance of the great hall, so that the students and the staff can go to the bathroom without running to the ones in the first floor. It always annoyed me as a student that I have to go at the other end of the castle, in order to get to the bathroom from the great hall.” Everyone agreed on that and many were annoyed by that fact.
The next thing, they discussed was the curriculum of the primary school. Narcissa exclaimed: “Let’s now talk about the curriculum of the school. The first subject, I would like to discuss, is the transfiguration class.” Narcissa had a file on the ICW curriculum on transfiguration that is at the level of the primary school. The material was cut to the theory part of the first five years until the OWLs since the students wouldn’t be able to use their wands until their eleventh birthday. The children would learn the theory part of transfiguration earlier and could do their theory OWL before they start Hogwarts.
Everyone was looking at the file and they were astounded that their children would do their theory OWLs earlier. Cyrus asked concerned: “And what happens, if someone fails their OWLs?” Adrianna answered: “Then, they have the possibility to revise their OWLs in their fifth year again, but these are only minor cases, because many children are able to pass their OWLs earlier and not be bothered with the theory OWLs on a later date, in order to focus more on the practical portion of the class. The children also can revise their OWLs, if they have a lower grade like an A or an EE, but this is also in a minority.” Many nodded in understanding. If the children in the other countries are capable of doing their theory OWL, then, their children should be able to do the same. Furthermore, there is also a second chance, which would be useful.
They decided to start with the transfiguration class and continue on. With that the meeting ended.
School board, February 25th, 2002
Another school board meeting had started and Narcissa was prepared to bring some changes in the school and the primary school. They will allow Dumbledore and his followers to make their nomination, but they will put up a distraction, so that Dumbledore and his followers would be busy.
After five minutes of being late, Albus arrived at the meeting. Narcissa was already counting down the days, when Albus would be forced to be early. She was getting tired of how he is displaying his importance. When the board meeting started, the last session was summarised. She could tell that Albus didn’t like the result of the last session and when it was time to make nominations, Edward Podmore was the first to make his nomination to remove the blood pressure regulating potion from the potion curriculum. Narcissa really wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn’t since it would be improper. Thankfully, she wasn’t the only one, who was getting tired of this stupidity.
Narcissa barely withheld a yawn, when Edward Podmore was finished with his nomination. Seriously, couldn’t Dumbledore’s followers shorten their speech? Why did they have to make long speeches, when they were nominating something. She had seen that Lady Meadow looked ready to object, but she would make sure that her objection would be heard, when they put up their distraction.
Dumbledore asked, if there was another nomination and much to the man’s resignation Amelia was the one, who wanted to make the next nomination.
“Amelia?” Albus really hoped that Amelia was not going to make things harder for him.
Amelia didn’t react to her dropped title and nominated: “Lords, Ladies, there is another matter that we are overlooking at the main and the staff entrance of the great hall.” Those from the Grey Alliance knew, what the woman was talking about, whereas the rest wore confused looks. One of the neutral lords asked: “And what would that be, Lady Bones?” Amelia withheld her smile and answered: “It is the matter that in front of the great hall, where the staff and the main entrance are, the school is lacking a bathroom, where the students and the staff could wash their hands before they would eat the food in the great hall. We need to make hygienic measures, so that the students are healthy and are not suffering from diseases that could have been easily avoided.” Many were surprised and horrified by this aspect. No one had nominated that and many agreed with Amelia about this.
Albus had seen the conflict in his followers again and he was ready to kill someone. Why couldn’t things be easier for him once? Why did the nomination had to be so hard? Like previous times, he requested the privacy and secrecy wards, in order to discuss Amelia’s nomination with his followers. His followers are not making things easy even for him.
When Albus was distracted by his followers and Aurelia took over, she continued, if there were any other nominations. The woman was excited since it is about time someone changes this backward world. Narcissa was the one, who rose her wand to make her nomination. She knew that from what Arthur had told her that Dumbledore and his older followers were not going to antagonize her and her husband as much as the younger generation of Dumbledore fools would. Aurelia’s attention was on Narcissa. “Lady Malfoy?” Narcissa rose from the Black seats and announced: “I nominate that we should start to work on the curriculum of the primary school. My first nomination would be to install the ICW primary school curriculum in transfiguration.” She summoned the ICW curriculum and standards regarding the transfiguration class in primary schools and everyone was given the information. The Lords and Ladies were going through the files and noticed that the theory part of the transfiguration class would be taught and the children would be prepared for their OWLs at the end of their fifth year in primary school. Narcissa explained: “They would be able to do their theory OWL before they start Hogwarts and in case, they fail or want a better grade, then, they would be able to retake their theory OWL during their fifth year In Hogwarts, but they would have to self-study the subject from there on. Another point are the expectations. The transfiguration class is an advanced class and the theory OWL demands an EE, so that the children could continue to learn the NEWT theory in transfiguration during their first two years in Hogwarts. With that, the students would be able to focus better on the practical version in transfiguration.” Many had to admit that this sounded to be a good idea and the students would be prepared. And if they reach the expectations, which are entailing mostly an EE, then, the students would be able to continue with their NEWT theory in their first two years of Hogwarts.
They agreed that the students should be able to do that. The next issue that Narcissa brought up was her concern regarding Edward Podmore’s nomination and Lady Meadow protested his nomination: “Lord Podmore’s nomination is ridiculous. The blood pressure regulating potion may be a difficult potion, but it is better that the students learn that potion during their NEWT class than later. When I started as a trainee healer in St. Mungos, the first thing that I was ordered to brew was the blood pressure regulating potion, which I managed since I had been tutored in potion. If I had been dependant on the Professor Slughorn’s curriculum and didn’t attend the tutoring, I would have failed to brew that potion. I will give you all a warning, all the NEWT potions in the ICW curriculum are going to be demanded to be brewed during the training as a healer.”
Many nodded mutely and didn’t protest Lady Meadow since the woman is a known healer. Even the darker purebloods knew that the woman was serious even though she is a light witch. Everyone apart from Dumbledore and his followers are going to vote against that nomination since it is doing more harm than good.
After a while Dumbledore was finished with his discussions with his followers. They are going to vote for this nomination since it wouldn’t change much and could also benefit them.
When Albus was finished and retook his seat, he asked Lady Acton: “Aurelia, were there new nominations?”
Aurelia answered: “Yes. Lady Malfoy nominated to start with the curriculum of the primary school and she started with the transfiguration class. She showed us the ICW primary school curriculum of transfiguration, which entails the theory portion of the transfiguration class.” She left out Ophelia Meadow’s protest since it wasn’t a nomination. Albus was a little bit startled by this nomination, but he should have seen it coming. He really can’t protest, but he didn’t like the ICW curriculum since he didn’t want the students to learn too much and lose control of them.
After some thought, he nodded, but tried: “I think it is a good idea, but I believe that the ICW curriculum is going to be difficult for the students since they would be doing their theory OWL in transfiguration earlier and many students are going to be terrified of that.” He looked at Narcissa Malfoy.
Narcissa knew that Albus was going to use that and countered: “Headmaster, it is true that the students would be doing their theory OWL in transfiguration earlier, but they have a second chance in case they want a better grade or have failed the OWL in their fifth year in Hogwarts, but they had to self-study in that case. Don’t panic, Headmaster, everything is taken into consideration.”
Albus didn’t know, what to say. He looked at the file and saw that the students had a second chance in case they had failed their theory OWL or want a better grade. He reiterated his sentiment that the students would have a difficult time to pass their theory OWL, if they use the ICW standards and curriculum.
Afterwards, they moved to the voting. The first nomination from Podmore failed epically. The man fumed in rage and Albus closed his eyes trying not to lash out. How dare these fools? The next nomination from Amelia had a unanimous vote and the third nomination from Narcissa passed with a majority. Albus was not happy, but he knew that his excuse was too weak and he couldn’t find any arguments against Malfoy’s nomination.
The meeting ended and everyone went home.
Headmaster’s office
Albus was angry, but also resigned. Angry, because Edward’s nomination didn’t pass and resigned since the ICW primary school curriculum regarding the transfiguration class had passed. It was not surprising that the curriculum of the primary school would be next. Albus wanted some control over the content, but now he had failed in the transfiguration class and the fact that the students would have a second chance to take their theory OWL made things even more difficult.
Lost in his thoughts, his followers were chattering about the lost vote. James said with a smirk: “Well, Podmore. Another failure.”
The man glared at James and said: “At least, Albus trusted me with the nomination and not you.”
James’ smirk was gone much to Edward’s amusement and the man became angry. Edward had to admit that James was easily to be angered. “Shut up, Podmore. It was only a mistake that I have made.”
The others glared at James and Herbert Jones snapped: “A mistake!? Because of you and your stupidity, we have this problem with the potion class and Snape. And it seems like that we can’t find a way to solve this problem since you supported Snape with the evidence that you have provided for the removal of the warding section.”
James wanted to scream in fury, but he was stopped by Emmeline Vance. “And to make matters worse, you brought all of us in a bad light, James, when it was revealed in front of the board that you have falsified evidence. You know as an auror that you need waterproof evidence and without any proof, you can’t convict anyone.”
Before James could counter his friend, Alastor Moody agreed with the woman: “Aye, she is right, laddie. When you became junior auror, you made baseless accusations against the Greengrass, Davis and even the Zabini families of being death eaters since they were in Slytherin. That is the reason why, I will delay your promotion due to your bias. You also caused Rufus to be suspended without pay back then and now, the man is on probation and has a permanent mark on his record as an auror, because of you and your anti-Slytherin rants that are still on-going.”
James was getting tired of being berated by his friends and allies, but he had done the right thing. He knew that the Greengrass family had contacts with Voldemort, but there was no proof since he had made it up and Rufus followed the tip by creating a false search warrant, which nearly resulted the man’s dismissal from the DMLE. He never expected that Rufus would get in trouble for what he had done. No wonder, he wasn’t offered a promotion this year and it seems like that he would remain a junior auror for another two years. But he hoped that he would get promoted to an auror soon since the promotion of junior aurors is every two years and his second year should have taken place this year in July. He hated this position since the other aurors looked down on him regardless of his son’s status of being the saviour of the wizarding world and the boy-who-lived.
James just glared at them, when the others ignored him, and believed that he was doing the right thing. Lady Magic shook her head. She thought that with this message, James would realise, how judgemental Dumbledore’s followers are and how they are not accepting any failures and setbacks. The man would never learn it and would just follow them blindly like his wife and his two closest friends. Fate and Destiny explained her that John would be the same even though the boy would be leading a hard life, which would be blamed on his own twin brother and not the old man.
Looking at Arthur Weasley, Lady Magic shook her head in sadness since she also knew that Ronald and Ginerva are in the same boot. She had examined the connection between Arthur and the two youngest and noticed that the connection was barely visible, because even though the blood adoption made the two youngest Weasleys biologically Arthur’s children, the blood adoption in this case can’t create a parent-child bond, because of Molly’s actions and Arthur’s unwillingness. Other than that, it would have worked. Both children had a strong connection to their mother and they would be listening to her more than Arthur no matter what Arthur would be doing.
She continued to watch Dumbledore and his fools and couldn’t wait for the old fool’s fall of grace. Lady Magic tried to create a balance in the wizarding world. In the 19th century, she made a mistake by giving Dumbledore the powers of the Light Lord and Grindelwald the powers of the Dark Lord, so that both could create a balance, but sadly, it didn’t work the way, how it was supposed to go. Both had started to coin the phrase “The Greater Good” and made plans to enslave the muggles, which was not in her plans. The Global Wizarding War was her biggest regret since she gave two arrogant fools the powers of the Dark and the Light Lord. When Tom Riddle started Hogwarts, Lady Magic decided to give him the powers of the potential Dark Lord due to his power level and his dark core, in order to stop both Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but somehow Dumbledore had plans for Riddle and it was too late for her to stop Dumbledore from doing any harm to the boy. In 1945, when Grindelwald was defeated, Lady Magic acted quickly and stripped Grindelwald from his powers as the Dark Lord. Unfortunately for her, Grindelwald’s powers were transferred to Thomas Marvolo Riddle, the current Dark Lord, who received a power boost, and sadly, the man became even more unstable with the creation of five horcruxes. When she had examined the book about horcruxes after his defeat, it had strong compulsion magic that could be traced back to Albus Dumbledore. Since Tom was not solely responsible for his actions, she can’t punish him since she needs to punish Albus too and that could only happen, if Dumbledore is brought down.
When the war started in the wizarding world in the 1990s, Lady Magic was enraged. After ten years of fighting and a lot of bloodshed, the deity had enough and when the Potter twins were born, she gave the older Potter boy the powers of the Grey Lord. With that, she would make both Voldemort and Dumbledore pay for their disrespect towards her and for abusing the powers of the Light and the Dark. It had been about time since Death was getting tired of collecting the souls and she was exhausted with the judgements of the deceased.
Lady Magic watched the meeting end, when Dumbledore promised them to find a solution at the next meeting. The deity shook her head, she knew that it would be fruitless, because everything will not go the way, how it was supposed to go for Albus and his followers. For now, she had more important matters to deal with and for that reason, she had to focus on Aurelius Yaxley, who is going to attempt to destroy a sacred bond between his older brother and Clara. Lady Magic knew that that man would suffer hell for his actions like his mother, who is still punished for her actions. When Octavia died, Lady Magic made sure to make her displeasure known and send her to hell, where she was made to watch her eldest’s happiness with Clara and her grandchildren. She also showed her that Clara is a squibborn and was descending from the Evandrus family, which infuriated Octavia even more since that family outranks the Yaxleys. Lady Magic also told the former Lady Yaxley that she bestowed this gift to her son and that by trying to break this bond is a direct insult towards her. Some people needed to learn the hard way that you don’t insult her and try to get away with it. She isn’t a merciful deity, if she is insulted. Lady Magic also had the perfect punishment for Aurelius Yaxley, when he dies, but there are still some details, she had to work on.
Currently, she had to wait and be very patient. Revolutions are taking a long time and it would be entertaining to watch Dumbledore’s and Voldemort’s worlds to fall apart slowly.