Akira's true parentage (Rewrite)

Crouch Manor, December 1st, 2002

Bartemius Crouch was sitting with his lawyer in his formal meeting room, in order to discuss with him about the divorce. They went through all the points that would give him grounds to divorce his wife. Wilma was irredeemable and didn’t accept the fact that his ex-son, Barty, was a criminal and a monster. For an entire year, he had received many letters and even howlers from his soon-to-be ex-wife to help her to get their son out of the goblin mines. Bartemius had refused. He wasn’t a fool to go against the goblins.

“Bartemius, your chances of getting a divorce are good. Your wife is responsible for your ex-son’s behaviour. He should have seen a mind healer at your insistence, but your wife’s refusal has stood in your way and his psychopathy got worse and worse. There is also the issue of the fact that Wilma worsened your son’s condition by spoiling him.” Cyrus looked over the points the thousandth time with a sigh. He was chosen to represent Crouch in his divorce case. Divorces and other family matters were not his favourite subjects, when he studied law, but unfortunately, he had to be knowledgeable in these matters no matter what. He is doing these fields rarely since he can’t stand the arguments going on during the court hearings.

Thankfully, in two days, he had an appointment with Christina O’Neill. He had received words from Amelia that Christina is planning to sue Eric and Isabella Jugson, for what had happened to her. Her chances to win are high and the Jugsons could lose their entire fortune for Isabella’s and Eric’s actions.

Bartemius knew that he was annoying his lawyer, but he needed to make sure that Wilma doesn’t make him the bad guy in front of the court. He made many precautions like locking away the family’s money, so that Wilma doesn’t gain access to his vaults. The woman had thrown a fit, when she only had access to her dowery from her family and had sent him many letters and some howlers to allow her access to the vaults, but Bartemius refused, which infuriated the woman even more. “I know, Cyrus, but I don’t trust Wilma. You have seen her temper last year.”

Cyrus hid a grimace. He had seen the tantrum that Wilma Crouch had thrown last year and he wasn’t looking forward to this case. That divorce was going to be dirty and he knew it.

After they had gone through the finer details, Cyrus left Crouch Manor promising that he was going to file the petition of divorce tomorrow.

Greengrass Manor

Cyrus arrived home from his meeting with Bartemius Crouch. Danielle greeted him. “Cyrus, you are back. How was your meeting with Lord Crouch?”

The Greengrass Lord just huffed in irritation. “I am already dreading the court hearing. I am sure that Wilma Crouch is going to throw the biggest fit in this year, but Bartemius had good cards against his wife. I went through the finer details and Bartemius wouldn’t have to pay his wife any support since she failed to address the issues with their son, Barty, back then.” Danielle understood, what her husband was talking about. Wilma has no one else to blame than herself. She is the reason why Barty became a psychopath and a death eater. At least, Bartemius tried, but the man had a full-time job and wasn’t able to address the issues with his ex-son properly. Cyrus grumbled: “This entire case could have been avoided, if Wilma had just acknowledged that something was wrong with Barty, but no, the woman wasn’t able to accept that her son became a psychopath and a sadist. Let’s hope that I am not going to represent a similar case like this one again.”

Danielle just chuckled at her husband’s exasperation. Merlin and Morgana knew that her husband hated divorce cases or solving family matters like custody arrangements or hearings. She had to admit that listening to the rants in one of these court hearings is not pleasant. She said in a comforting tone: “Cyrus, sweetie, I know that this part of your job is difficult, but you have to get through it. Apart from that, you have promised Bartemius that you are going to represent him during his divorce. So, there is no way to back off.”

Cyrus looked at the ceiling trying to remain calm. Oh, why did he promise something like this? He could have easily sent Crouch to another lawyer that could have done the same, but the man came to him since he had very good references in his occupation and he really couldn’t deny that beside Lucius, he was one of the best lawyers in the ministry. He said: “I want to get over this case and have some peace. Family courts are the worst thing that the world had created and this is the worst job for a lawyer. Let’s get something to eat before I collapse. I skipped lunch, because of my meeting with Bartemius and I am starving.”

Danielle chuckled and led her husband to the informal dining room. She couldn’t disagree with her husband. Family matters are really ugly and there are many cans of worms that have to be opened during the court hearings.

O’Neill House, December 4th, 2002

Christina was sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea. She was finished with her third day at work as an auror on desk duty and there was a mountain of paperwork to be finished. She had to admit that Crouch wasn’t joking, when he said that aurors on desk duty had it harder than the aurors that went out on the field, because there were so many papers that needed to be finished. She was glad that the ministry stopped using parchment and quill and instead started to use pen and paper. There were also those type-writing machines that were introduced a few months ago. If that invention wasn’t introduced back then, Christina would have sat for hours to be finished with her assignment that she had got for the day. She didn’t know, if she should have regretted for accepting this job or looked for another job, but her chances would have been slim, if she had looked for another job due to her impairment on her arms.

Christina watched her little brother, Zack O’Neill, who didn’t take his eyes from his sister since he was afraid, if he looked away, she would disappear. The boy was thankfully with some of her relatives during the time period, where she had to spend in St. Mungos and later in the medical ward of Gringotts. Her relatives were informed about the attack on her and they feared that Zack would lose his sister, the only close relative that the boy had. Zack had been inconsolable, when he heard that Christina was hurt. He was terrified that he would lose his mother. Zack had never known his parents and believed that his sister is his mother since she took care of him, when he was a baby. Christina had planned to tell Zack the truth on his eleventh birthday. Her relatives didn’t like it, but agreed that it would be too much for the boy that his mother is not his mother, but his sister.

Beside her relatives, Zack was the last thing that was left of her once big family. The war had taken her parents, two older brothers and a younger sister. Her family was nearly as big as the Weasley Family, but they were reduced to two members now. Thankfully, she had the support from her relatives. Without her aunt and her three uncles and their families, Christina wouldn’t have known, what to do, because she lost her parents and three of her siblings, when Zack was an infant and she was a graduate. She had only started to work in the DMLE as a trainee and later as a junior auror and Christina didn’t earn a lot of money to take care of her brother and herself, but she was glad that her relatives gave her some financial support before she was promoted. Christina also got the life insurance, after she was able to prove that her parents were killed and had saved that money up for financial emergencies and Zack’s schooling. Her aunt, who was single and was retired, when Christina had started to work, helped her to take care of Zack, when she had to work long hours. It was hard, but she managed to get through and her brother and she were living a decent life.

Christina was interrupted in her thoughts, when she heard a sharp knock on her door. She quickly made her way to the entrance and opened. Behind the door, Cyrus Greengrass greeted her. “Ms. O’Neill, you have made an appointment with me. Can I come in?”

“Yes, you can, Lord Greengrass. Thank you for coming. Come in”, Christina said.

Before Cyrus could enter the living room, Zack was up on his feet and in front of him. He asked: “And who are you? What do you want from my mommy?” The boy had a terrified look on his face since he was afraid that he is here to take him away from his mommy.

Cyrus saw the look on the boy’s face and answered in a reassuring voice: “My name is Cyrus Greengrass and I am a lawyer. Your mother arranged an appointment with me regarding some matters that are for adults.”

Zack wanted to ask more questions, but his mother’s voice interrupted him: “Zack, sweety, don’t worry. Lord Greengrass is here, because I arranged a meeting with him, in order to discuss some things.”

“Okay, mommy”, Zack said.

Cyrus raised his eyebrows at the boy. Amelia had never mentioned that Chrsitina has a son. She only mentioned that she had a younger brother, but could the boy be her brother? It could be possible. He had heard of cases, where older siblings had raised their younger ones and the younger siblings saw their older brothers or sisters as parents. This was not uncommon. Before he could think any further, Christina quickly arrived with a tray that has a plate full of biscuits, a full tea kettle, some milk and sugar and two cups. Tea was quickly served and Cyrus started: “Ms. O’Neill, last month, you requested from me an appointment, in order to get some legal advice regarding a lawsuit. What can I do for you?”

Christina took a sip of her tea, in order to calm herself down, and began to explain: “Lord Greengrass, you surely remember the trial of Isabella and Eric Jugson last month.” Cyrus nodded and he felt sorry, for what had happened to the woman. “I need your advice, if it is possible for me to make a lawsuit against the Jugsons.”

Cyrus was thoughtful for a few minutes. A lawsuit would be possible since Eric and Isabella were found guilty, but they needed irrefutable proof that Manfred Jugson was aware that Christina was an undercover auror. “Well, it is possible, but we need evidence that Lord Manfred Jugson had known about your position in Knockturn Alley and that he was aware of what his daughter had done to you. We can’t really charge him for that since the family relation clause is protecting Manfred from legal persecution, but it would make him look bad in front of the court and on the aspect of the civil law, Lord Jugson would be required to pay recompensation to you. The Jugsons could become bankrupt, if we are successful.”

Christina nodded in understanding and felt smug. She had an idea, who could help her. “Lord Greengrass, when I worked in Knockturn Alley, I remembered back then in August that Eric was talking with a crook named Alexander O’Connell and I am sure that the man would sing like a canary, if we put some pressure on him.”

Cyrus hid a grin. Alexander O’Connell needs to be dealt with too. He will inform Amelia about the man. No one should escape the long arm of justice. He could be charged with obstruction since he knowingly received classified information and didn’t report it to the authorities. Furthermore, O’Connell is not related to the Jugsons. So, there was no excuse for what he had done. “He could be our key witness, but first, the DMLE needs to deal with him. I will tell Amelia about O’Connell and I am sure that the DMLE is going to arrest the man for obstruction.”

Christina added: “I know O’Connell. He will sell them out, in order to get a lighter sentence. The man would do everything, in order to avoid a sentence in Azkaban.”

Cyrus had to agree and he had to admit that they are a step closer of making this lawsuit work. They furthermore discussed the finer details like the health scans from the St. Mungos and the goblin healers. Additionally, Cyrus would arrange to get the trial transcripts of the Jugson trial. They could be useful for the lawsuit.

After tea was finished, Cyrus stood up and said shaking Christina’s hand: “Ms. O’Neill, I am sure that we are going to be successful in our lawsuit. But now, I have to go. My wife is waiting and she is not a patient person, if I left her waiting. I will quickly inform Amelia about O’Connell and from there on, we would proceed against the Jugsons. We would file the lawsuit after the December trials, so that we can use the O’Connell trial transcripts against the Jugsons. Is it alright for you that our next appointment should take place on December 18th, 2002 at 5 pm?”

“Yes, that would be alright for me”, Christina answered quickly writing down the date and time.

Cyrus took out his calendar and wrote the appointment down. With that finished, Christina led Cyrus to the floo and thanked him for his help. The man just smiled and said: “You don’t have to thank me, Ms. O’Neill. I am just doing my job to help people that were wronged. This is my goal. Have a nice evening.”

“Thank you, you too, Lord Greengrass”, Christina returned the gesture. With that, Cyrus took some floo powder and flooed to the ministry.

Christina had a relieved smile on her face that the Jugsons are going to bleed for what had happened to her. Zack was coming from his room and asked: “Mommy, is everything okay? Why was he here?”

Christina turned her attention to her little brother and said in a comforting voice: “Everything is alright, Zack. The man that has visited us is a lawyer, who is putting bad people behind bars and is helping those, who are in need of help. He was here to help me with some things.”

“Okay.” The boy was relieved and went into his mother’s arms.

Christina said: “You don’t have to worry, sweetheart. Everything would be alright.”

DMLE

Cyrus quickly made his way to Amelia’s office, in order to talk with her about Alexander O’Connell. There was a lot of work that needs to be done. Two days ago, he had filed the divorce papers for the Crouch case and he received yesterday the response that the court hearing would take place on December 11th. Thank Merlin, that he would be finished with the case faster. Knocking on the door, he was let in by a come-in.

Going inside the office, Amelia offered him a seat. The woman asked: “Cyrus, do you want some tea and biscuits?”

“No, thank you, Amelia. I had some with Christina O’Neill. I am full for now. But I came here for a different matter that is connected to the Jugson case. I will make it quick”, Cyrus said.

Amelia gave him the go-ahead and the Greengrass lord started to explain: “When I was talking with Christina about her plans to file a lawsuit against the Jugsons, I realised that the DMLE has missed someone, who was surely involved in this case and in Christina’s case, could be a potential key witness for the lawsuit.”

“Who did we miss, Cyrus?” Amelia gave him an annoyed look.

Cyrus hid a smile. “It is Alexander O’Connell. He must have been aware that O’Neill, McAdam and Wylder were undercover aurors and I bet my fortune that he knew about the leak and that Isabella had tried to kill O’Neill.”

Amelia was stunned. She completely forgot about O’Connell. The man must have been involved in this mess. She had gone through the reports from her two undercover aurors, who have told her that Eric had been talking with O’Connell, but she forgot to question Christina about this matter. Cyrus had seen the look on her face and knew that she forgot to question Christina about Eric Jugson and O’Connell.

Cyrus added: “And Christina told me that before she was attacked, she had remembered that Eric was talking with Alexander O’Connell. This can’t be a coincidence, Amelia.”

“I agree with you, Cyrus. We will bring O’Connell for questioning tomorrow and we will confront him with the evidence that we have.” Amelia wrote down in her calendar, what she was going to do tomorrow. “Thank you, Cyrus, and I wish you good luck with Crouch’s divorce.” Amelia had chuckled at that.

Cyrus just grumbled. He needs a lot of luck, some calming draughts and headache potions. After the trial, he would need one or two bottles of alcohol, in order to have a calm evening.

Knockturn Alley/DMLE, December 5th, 2002

Alexander O’Connell was making his way through Knockturn Alley. He is trying to keep his head down since Isabella’s and Eric’s arrests. Attention was the last thing, he needed.

The crook was turning a corner, when he noticed two aurors coming his way. Alexander thought sarcastically: ‘Great, the aurors are more often here than the black-market dealers.’ Alexander was interrupted in his thoughts, when he noticed that the aurors are making their way to him. ‘What do they want now? I have answered their stupid questions already’, Alexander thought annoyed.

Before he could say or do anything, one of the aurors spoke up: “Mr. O’Connell, you are coming with us. There are still some questions that need to be answered regarding the case of Christina O’Neill.”

‘Damn it. What now?’ Alexander was not looking forward to that interrogation. The aurors saw his hesitation and were ready to take out their wands. Alexander knew that he is no match for two trained aurors. “Alright, I am coming with you.” Without any resistance, Alexander was led away to the ministry.

Arriving at the ministry, the aurors led O’Connell to one of their interrogation rooms. This time, Amelia Bones and Corban Yaxley were sitting and waiting for his arrival. “Take a seat, Mr. O’Connell”, Amelia said, when O’Connell arrived with the two aurors.

Alexander sat down and looked at the two head aurors. “What can I do for you, Auror Bones, Auror Yaxley?”

“Well, there are some questions for you, Mr.O’Connell. It is about the Jugson case. There are still some unanswered questions”, Amelia said calmly.

Alexander swallowed hard hoping that his role in this mess wasn’t exposed. “And what do you want to know?”

“Well, Mr. O’Connell, we have got suspicious that you and Heir Jugson were seen talking before the attack on Auror O’Neill and these conversations took place on August 17th, August 24th and August 31st. From our records, Eric Jugson had on these dates, three Saturday shifts. All of my undercover aurors have confirmed your conversation. And it can’t be a coincidence that on September 12th, there was an attack on one of our undercover aurors. What were you talking about, Mr. O’Connell?”, Amelia questioned.

Alexander was a bit terrified and tried: “Nothing, only what was going on in Knockturn Alley.”

“Really, O’Connell, from what Amelia’s former undercover aurors have reported to us, your conversations with Heir Jugson were heated.” Corban raised his eyebrows at the man.

Alexander was sweating hard. “Well…” He didn’t know, what to say, but tried: “The situation in Knockturn Alley was a bit tense since the arrests of Aurelius Yaxley and Jack McLean or Jaques Greengrass as he is called now.”

Amelia nearly purred. “Mr. O’Connell do not lie to us or test our patience. Heir Jugson will not be talking, we are sure of that, but Isabella Jugson wouldn’t have any problems selling you out. We could pay her a visit and question her again in Azkaban. I am sure that she would talk.”

Alexander was stunned and terrified. He knew that Isabella wouldn’t have any problems of selling him out. “Alright, alright, I have known about O’Neill, Wylder and McAdam since Eric came to me to inform me that I should keep an eye on them and report to him about their activities. He said that he had gotten copies of the files from your cabinet, Bones. He had them burnt after Eric found out that O’Neill was responsible for the downfall of Aurelius.”

“I see. Did Lord Manfred Jugson know about these copies?”, Amelia questioned in a hard voice.

Alexander was confused, but answered regardless: “Yes, he did. Hell, even little Evelyn Jugson was aware of some bits and pieces, but she didn’t know, what Eric had done exactly since no one wanted to involve a Hogwarts student.”

Amelia nodded and noted it down. She was glad that the interrogation would be recorded. This would be enough to press charges against O’Connell and it would help Christina with her lawsuit against the Jugsons greatly. “Alexander O’Connell, you are under arrest for obstruction. You could have reported it to the DMLE, but you did nothing. Your cooperation could have saved one of my aurors, but you remained silent and Ms. O’Neill nearly died.”

Alexander was handcuffed and was led away to the ministry cells.

“That was satisfying. We have managed to have O’Connell arrested”, Corban said. Amelia agreed.

“I can’t believe that now everything is over. O’Connell will face a few years in Azkaban for his actions and inactions, but it would be enough”, Amelia said with a smile.

Corban grinned. “I can’t wait for the hearing of Christina’s lawsuit. Cyrus will tear the Jugsons to pieces.” Amelia chuckled. “Me too and do not forget that Cyrus is creative, how to make people suffer at court, but I feel bad for him that he had to represent Bartemius during his divorce procedure against Wilma Crouch. He would need a supply of headache cures and calming draughts. But back to the Jugsons, I hope, they lose their entire fortune, for what had happened to Christina.”

“Me too, Amelia, me too.” With that statement, Corban left the interrogation room with Amelia.

McPatrick House/Hogwarts, December 8th, 2002

Wilma was eating quietly her lunch until an owl arrived with a letter and a package. The letter was from her husband addressed to her. She had hoped that Bartemius would realise the error of his ways and would come back, in order to help her with their son. He can’t just abandon Barty and her like this and think that it is alright to let them suffer.

Opening the letter, she started to read it.

Wilma,

I am writing to you that I am filing for divorce. The package has the divorce papers. For a year, I have thought that you would accept and understand that Barty needed to be punished for his crimes as a death eater and for his cruel actions, but you never did. You always made excuses for his bad behaviour even when he was young, and the mind healer had told us that he had had the beginning symptoms of a psychopath. It could have been avoided, but instead you threw a fit and refused to believe the woman back then. And now, look what has happened to Barty.

Wilma, this marriage is over. I can’t continue on with this. The hearing is going to take place on December 11th.

Yours,

Bartemius

Wilma let out a scream of rage. This couldn’t be. He can’t just do that. She quickly opened the package and there were official-looking papers for divorce. She couldn’t believe that her husband is divorcing her like this. She needed to speak with Albus. Wilma took the letter and the file with her and quickly flooed to the headmaster’s office.

Albus was having a calm day after he was finished with lunch. He was doing some paperwork for the school, but he was content that nothing would ruin his day. Going over the papers, he was in peace.

“ALBUS, ALBUS!” Wilma screamed through the floo before she even sat foot in his office.

Albus sighed. So much for peace and quietdom. Wilma was an older version of Molly that had an abrasive voice like her and the same attitude. This wasn’t going to be pretty for him and he knew it. The woman was already standing in front of his desk and looked ready to cry. “Wilma, my dear, what can I do for you?”

The woman started to rant in her abrasive voice: “It is Bartemius! He is filing for divorce!”

“WHAT?!” Albus was shocked that Bartemius is going through this.

Wilma had tears streaming down her face. “He is filing for divorce. That bastard doesn’t want to continue this marriage since he believes that it is my fault that my baby has become bad.”

Albus wanted to groan. It is solely Wilma’s fault that Barty became a death eater. When Bartemius had revealed during the November trials last year that he had arranged a mind healer for Barty, in order to help him treat his psychopathic tendencies, and Wilma had refused to allow her son to be treated, many blamed Wilma for Barty’s cruelty and monstrosity. Her reputation was destroyed after the press got wind of it. Bartemius also suffered a blow, but he was able to salvage it. He asked: “Wilma, my dear, do you have the divorce papers?”

The woman nodded and handed the documents over to Albus.

Albus went through the paperwork and was stunned. Bartemius is serious. What was he supposed to do now? If they divorce, he would lose complete control over the Crouch Family, but he also can’t stop it since interfering in family matters could be a death sentence or a lost limb.

Wilma was sobbing, when Albus went through the papers. When the man was finished, he addressed the issue: “Wilma, find a lawyer. I believe that I could ask Elphias to help you in this matter. He is a lawyer after all and find a way to make your husband pay recompensation or support.” The chances for that are slim, but he had to try, in order to discourage Crouch from divorcing Wilma.

Wilma nodded and thought that the idea didn’t seem to be bad. Bartemius should pay for his neglect that he had showed to her baby and her. With that, she left Albus’ office taking the papers with her and started to make plans to arrange a lawyer, who could represent her.

Albus let out sigh of relief. Now, the peace can continue. Sometimes, he hates it, when his followers are throwing tantrums or fits that would make a spoilt toddler envious. He hoped that things were not going to be more problematic in this month.

Ministry Courtroom 16B, December 11th, 2002

The divorce procedure of Bartemius and Wilma Crouch was taking place in the Ministry Courtroom 16B. The judge hasn’t arrived yet, but Bartemius and his lawyer, Cyrus Greengrass, were prepared for the hearing. Sitting on the other side are Wilma Crouch and her lawyer, Elphias Doge. Cyrus had seen that Doge is Wilma’s representation. He suspected that this was Dumbledore’s doing since Doge was an old friend of the old fool that was loyal to him. He will inform the others about the man.

Elphias had been told by Albus that Wilma needed representation and requested his help in that matter. He couldn’t deny his old friend. He was told that he should stop the divorce at all cost since they would lose control over Crouch, but getting it done is really hard since Crouch has good cards against them.

The judge, Olivia Fairchild, arrived and sat down behind the judge’s table. Her scribe got ready for protocolling the session and formally, the court hearing started. The judge announced: “We are here today for the court hearing between Lord Bartemius Crouch, represented by Lord Cyrus Greengrass, and Lady Wilma Crouch, represented by Lord Elphias Doge. As Lord Crouch is the applicant, Lord Greengrass, you may start.”

Cyrus nodded respectfully and started: “Your honour, my client, Lord Bartemius Crouch, is requesting a divorce against his wife, Lady Wilma Crouch. They had been living in separation for more than a year and for my client, it is impossible to continue this marriage. When my client’s ex-son was convicted for terrorism and murder, the Wizengamot including myself was able to witness Lady Crouch’s behaviour. Lady Crouch didn’t accept the fact that her son was guilty and had mental health issues, when he was a child and later teenager. These issues worsened over the years since Lady Crouch refused to allow Bartemius NoName to be treated and now, she is blaming Lord Crouch for her son’s conviction. This marriage can’t continue on, so, I am petitioning for my client a divorce.” With that, Cyrus sat down.

The judge turned his attention to Elphias and Wilma. She asked: “Lord Doge, it is your turn.”

Elphias stood up and began: “Your honour, my client, Lady Wilma Crouch, is requesting from you to reject the application for divorce, but in case, the application of divorce is accepted, my client is requesting a recompensation from her husband for the cruelty that had been done to their son. She is also requesting support from her husband, if they are separating.”

Bartemius sighed. Wilma really is making things needlessly hard, but she will learn it the hard way that things aren’t that easy.

Olivia started: “Well, Lord Crouch since you are making the request for divorce, can you explain why?”

Bartemius answered: “Yes, your honour. It all began, when Barty was a child. I was working as an auror back then and had had barely any time with my family. Wilma back then said that everything is alright, but I had a bad feeling regarding her statement. When Barty started to attend Hogwarts, I started to pay closer attention to my son, in order to make sure that he doesn’t slack off in school. But it was hard since I had risen the ranks of becoming head auror and later, during Barty’s second year, I became deputy- head of the auror office. Regardless of my rank, I managed to get some free slots, in order to spend some time with my family, and there, I noticed the issues and problems in my family. The first thing that I have seen was my house elf, Winky, burying remains of animals. When I asked my house elf about the cadavers, Winky told me that Barty had been killing his pets. From that point on, I banned Barty from having any pets, but that didn’t stop him from stealing his house mates’ pets and killing them. I received many notifications from his head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick, back then.” Bartemius handed over the notes that he had received from the school. Even though, they were decades old, they were in good perservation.

Cyrus explained: “Filius Flitwick will be here as witness since he can give you some specifics regarding Lord Crouch’s ex-son’s behaviour during his time in school.”

Olivia nodded and went through the notifications. She returned her attention to the man after she was finished going through the notes. “Continue, Lord Crouch.”

“After Barty’s fifth year, I arranged a mind healer to examine him since I was at my wits’ end with him. The mind healer, Cynthia Thompson, diagnosed that my son was suffering from psychopathic tendencies and that he needed treatment immediately. But for that, I needed my wife’s approval.” Bartemius gave the judge the mind healer report. Olivia went through the report line by line. After she was finished viewing the parchment, she allowed Bartemius to continue. “When Wilma got wind of it, she threw the biggest fit in the world and said that Barty doesn’t need to be treated and that these issues are coming from the fact that I was neglecting him. But that isn’t the truth. According to the mind healer report, neglect isn’t the cause for Barty’s mental issues. Mind Healer Thompson found out that Wilma’s treatment of spoiling him and making excuses for his bad behaviour is the main reason why Barty’s psychopathic tendencies worsened. Then, Barty joined the death eaters and after he was caught and arrested with the Lestrange trio, I arranged for mind healers to examine Barty again. It was concluded that he was a psychopath, but he wasn’t incapable of guilt since he was conscious enough, when he committed those crimes. For that reason, I disowned him from the Crouch line. He brought nothing, but shame and disgrace to the family. Wilma threw a fit about the disownment, but I told her off that it was her own fault that Barty became a monster. If she had agreed to the treatment back then, then, he wouldn’t have become a death eater and murderer. From there on, we separated since I couldn’t tolerate her rants any longer and closed down her access to Crouch Manor and the other major properties of my family. I allowed her access to some smaller properties, where she could think things through, but Wilma moved to her parents’ home that was left after my in-laws have died. So, I closed down the other properties since I was sure that they wouldn’t be used. But she still didn’t accept the fact that Barty was guilty. Here are some letters and howlers that Wilma had sent me during the year of separation. With that, I am finished with my tale.” Bartemius handed the letters and the howlers to the judge. The woman looked through the evidence and was astounded by Lady Crouch’s stubbornness regarding her son’s mental health.

Wilma looked ready to explode, when Bartemius was telling his sob story, but Elphias warned her that any outburst would look bad in front of the judge. So, she stewed in her thoughts and was planning to contradict everything.

The judge turned her attention to Wilma and Elphias and asked: “Lady Crouch, can you tell me your side of the story?” She dreaded it since the woman looked ready to rant and she did rant like crazy. “This is a complete lie. Bartemius never once cared for our son and neglected him and me since he wanted to rise in the ministry. He was always career-oriented and ambitious.” With that, the woman continued her rant, how Lord Crouch was a bad father and how he always ignored their son. There were even accusations of mistreatment and abuse. The judge looked at the health report on Bartemius NoName that was made beside the mind healer report and there was no proof of abuse. Olivia came to the conclusion that the woman was lying, in order to make her husband look bad.

After half an hour later, Wilma was finished with her ranting. Cyrus had a headache and was ready to take a headache potion and a calming draught. The next time, Lucius Malfoy will do this. The man had laughed himself silly that he is taking on a divorce case. He will, then, ask him, if it was funny. But Cyrus wasn’t the only one, who had a headache. Elphias, Bartemius and Olivia wanted to take a headache cure too. That woman’s voice sounded like nails on a chalk board.

Olivia moved on to the witnesses and Bartemius requested to call upon Filius Flitwick, his ex-son’s former head of house, in order to have a clearer picture regarding his son’s mental issues. Olivia called the quarter goblin in.

Filius made his way into the courtroom. He was surprised that he had received a letter last week that he was to be witness in a court hearing. He informed the rest of the staff and the headmaster during a staff meeting that on December 11th, all of his classes would be cancelled since he had to attend the hearing in the ministry. Albus and Minerva looked ready to protest, but they couldn’t do anything since in case, Filius would be blocked by attending the court hearing, the aurors would come and lead him away to the hearing forcibly. And barring someone from attending a court hearing is a crime that could lead to a minimum sentence of six months under probation to 5 years in Azkaban. Filius knew that none of them were ready to have charges against them. He also made sure that the classes would be postponed on Saturday in a mandatory tutoring.

Olivia said: “Please take a seat, Master Flitwick.” The quarter goblin obliged and sat down on the witness stand. Olivia began with the procedure of the records. “Your name is Filius Flitwick. You are currently the Charms Master of Hogwarts and the head of the Ravenclaw house. Is that correct?”

Filius answered: “Yes.”

“What is your civil status?”, Olivia questioned.

“Unmarried”, Filius said formally.

Olivia nodded and noted it down. She began: “Master Flitwick, you were called by Lord Bartemius Crouch about his ex-son’s mental health problems, when he was a child and teenager, and later as an adult, he was diagnosed of being a psychopath last year by the court-mandated mind healers. This part is vital since Lady Crouch is accusing her husband that these psychopathic tendencies were caused by his neglect towards her and Bartemius NoName. What can you tell us about Bartemius NoName’s issues and later, his psychopathy?”

Filius heaved out a sigh. He was disappointed about his former raven of what he had become. Filius had studied Barty’s school file before the hearing and he had taken it with him. He took out the file that he had shrunk out of his breast pocket. He also put up some charms, in order to make sure that there were no wrinkles on the parchment. He stood up and handed the file over to the judge. Olivia sighed. A school file of course and it was thick. There was a lot of paperwork in this hearing, but she will look at the content of the file later. Olivia asked the charms master: “Master Flitwick, can you tell us Bartemius NoName’s major activities during his time in Hogwarts?”

“Yes, your honour”, Filius answered politely. “Bartemius NoName formally known as Bartemius Crouch Jr. was a good student for the first two years in Hogwarts, but during his third year, he changed to the worse. He started to steal pets from the other students and had harmed them rather badly including his own. He received detention and point loss for animal cruelty. You would notice that there were many notes during his third and fourth year about his cruel behaviour. During his fifth year, he had started to kill the pets. First, he killed his own pet and then, went around killing his school mates’ pets by gutting them. He was of course caught and was suspended for three months for what he had done.” Olivia nodded in understanding going over the suspension on Barty NoName’s fifth year in Hogwarts. She was sickened, what he had done to the pets.

Filius continued: “Then, he started to harm his house mates, school mates and the younger years during his sixth and seventh year. There was an incident, where he used a tripping jinx on a first year in front of a staircase and injured the child severely. He was caught and received another suspension, because the boy had to spend a few days in St. Mungos. There were also some accusations of sexual assault, but there was no proof of such. If there was anything true to these accusations, I am sure that Bartemius NoName would have faced an expulsion from Hogwarts.” Olivia had to digest that information. Bartemius NoName was really a psychopath and a monster. This is undeniable.

Wilma combusted in fury and shrieked: “How dare you make my baby look like a monster! He has done nothing wrong. Barty always told me that his fellow year mates have bullied him and that you and the other members of staff did nothing. He was treated like trash in school and was punished unfairly.” How dare her former head of house say something so atrocious against her baby boy. In her mind, Barty was alright. “The only solace he had were his friends, who understood him and supported him since I wasn’t able to be there for him.”

Filius shook his head in disappointment. He once respected Wilma McPatrick, but now, he only felt disgust towards the woman. As a mother, she failed horribly since she had raised a monster that had wasted his potential for Voldemort and his cruel followers.

Olivia had enough and said in authoritarian tone: “Lady Crouch, you will remain silent. I know that the truth is inconvenient and can be painful to hear, but by going over the file and hearing from Master Flitwick, what your son was like during his time in school, it is clear to me that your son had these tendencies, when he was a student. Reading his school file, I have noticed a pattern that he had started stealing and harming pets from his house mates and the other students in Hogwarts, when he was in his third and fourth year and then, he started killing the pets of his house mates and school mates during his fifth year including his own pets. Then, there is the fact that he was harming the students during his last two years in school. Lady Crouch, I am tending to believe the school file and Master Flitwick since the notifications also came from the other members of staff and the other heads of house like Horace Slughorn, Pomona Sprout and Minerva McGonagall.”

Elphias rose his eyebrows in shock, when Minerva’s name was mentioned. This didn’t look good. If Minerva was involved in this slightly, then, his defence could fall. The judge could demand to speak with the other professors and he was sure that there was no way to convince Minerva that Bartemius NoName was a good student since the woman hated Wilma’s son with a passion.

Wilma wanted to let out a scream of fury, but her lawyer gave her a warning look. She remained silent, but she swore to make Filius pay for his words.

Olivia questioned: “Are there any other questions for Master Flitwick?”

Both lawyers shook their heads. The judge continued: “Good, then, let’s call upon the next witness, Veronica McPatrick. Lord Doge, you were the one to call her upon as witness, in order to prove Lady Crouch’s standpoint that Lord Crouch was a bad husband and father.”

Bartemius wanted to groan. It was bad enough to listen to Wilma’s rant, but hearing Veronica and Wilma at the same time is a complete nightmare. Those two could wake up the dead with their shrill voices.

When the woman entered the courtroom and sat down in a huff, her identity was quickly confirmed and the nightmare started. Veronica was yelling at Bartemius, how he was a cruel man towards her sweet sister and her nephew, and that he was the reason that her nephew, Bartemius NoName, became a criminal. The rant continued on and Wilma supported her sister with her own rants and tirades against her own husband. Olivia, Cyrus, Elphias and Bartemius developed a massive headache and when Veronica was finished, Olivia ordered a recess much to the relief of Cyrus, Elphias and Bartemius. They needed some headache potions.

Fifteen minutes later, Olivia entered the courtroom refilled with new energy and continued the hearing with a sigh, in order to finish the case quickly. The headache was subdued. “Well, let’s continue with the court hearing Crouch vs. Crouch.”

Everyone sat down. “Lord Greengrass, you have another witness?”

“Yes, your honour, I am calling upon Cynthia Thompson. She was the mind healer that my client had hired to examine his ex-son, when he was a teenager”, Cyrus said formally.

Olivia nodded and called for Cynthia Thompson. A woman in her fifties entered the courtroom.

When her identity was quickly confirmed, Olivia started to question her regarding her mind healer reports about Bartemius NoName and his home life, which also included the family dynamics. The woman answered: “Bartemius NoName. Ah yes, I remember him. He was one of my worst cases that I have ever seen. He had psychopathic tendencies and was a sadist, when he was a student. I urged Lord Crouch that his son needed treatment immediately and the man agreed. But Lady Crouch like a spoilt toddler threw a fit and refused. I don’t understand why Lord Crouch didn’t use the clause of solo parentis. It could have saved us all the trouble, but it is in the past and we can’t dwell on it. And now, there is the family dynamics. Lord Crouch had been an auror, when Bartemius NoName was born, and I remember that both Lord and Lady Crouch had agreed that Wilma Crouch should raise the boy, whereas her husband would go to work and earn the money. I wouldn’t say that Lord Crouch intentionally neglected his son since he had been working non-stop, in order to maintain the family’s fortune and making sure that his wife and child should live comfortingly. Lady Crouch, on the other hand, was bad at raising her son. I managed to deduce that she had spoilt him outrageously with the help of her sister and made excuses for his bad behaviour.”

Wilma was ready to kill. How dare that woman? How dare she make such a judgement? Veronica was enraged that the woman was judging her like this.

The lawyers and the judge questioned the mind healer further. The next witness was the court-mandated mind healer that had reported similar issues like Mind Healer Thompson.

When that was done, Olivia concluded the trial. She knew that the results are clear. The judge stood up and announced: “All rise.” Everyone in the courtroom stood up. “In the name of Lady Magic, I approve Lord Bartemius Crouch’s application for divorce against his wife, Lady Wilma Crouch. I reject Lady Wilma Crouch’s suits of refusing Lord Bartemius Crouch’s suit and I also decline Lady Wilma Crouch any recompensation and support from the Crouch Family due to her actions and inactions regarding her son, Bartemius NoName. So, mote it be.”

With that, the sentence became binding, when Olivia was finished. Wilma was ready to scream. This couldn’t be happening. Veronica looked ready to curse the judge. How dare she? Her sister and her nephew were abused and mistreated and now, that bastard got away with it without even a slap on the wrist. Elphias sighed. This was a setback, but the case was clear.

Bartemius was relieved that everything was over. When the sentence had passed, a stone was lifted from his body. Finally, he was free from that shrew. Cyrus was glad that the hearing was over. He would have committed mass murder, if he had spent here any longer.

Olivia also told Wilma that she would carry the cost of the hearing, which infuriated the woman and her sister even further.

With that, the spectators and the participants left the courtroom. Filius returned back to the school. Bartemius and Cyrus were going back to their respective homes and Wilma and Veronica were making their way with Elphias to the headmaster’s office. They are going to have a ‘nice’ chat with the headmaster about the outcome of the hearing.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office

In the headmaster’s office, shrieks and screams of fury could be heard across the entire castle. Wilma and Veronica McPatrick were screaming Dumbledore’s, McGonagall’s and Doge’s ears off. Both women were absolutely furious about the outcome of the court hearing.

Albus wanted to kill Bartemius Crouch. That man caused more damage to his plans than it was worth it. Thanks to Crouch’s divorce, he had lost control over the Crouch Family. He needed to find out why Bartemius had chosen to disown his own son even though the Crouch line is ending, but there is also the fact that the man became proxy over the Kingston seats and he needed to know, who had claimed the title.

Everything is going the wrong way. Bartemius was supposed to get together with Wilma and plan a way to break their son out of prison, but no, the man had divorced his wife and destroyed his plans regarding the Crouch Family.

“Wilma, Veronica, my dears, please lower your voices. I know your distress, but we need a plan, how to deal with this problem”, Albus tried in calming voice.

Both women got quiet, but they still had glares on their faces. Minerva and Elphias were relieved that things gotten quiet and had their attentions to Albus hoping that the man knew a way around this issue.

Albus quickly collected himself and began to explain: “For now, my dears, I can only suggest to keep your heads down. There is nothing much that I can do for you. Going against the man now is a political suicide, because I am sure that the press was present during the court hearing.”

When Albus said that, an owl flew in with the evening edition with the headline: BARTEMIUS CROUCH DIVORCED! WILMA MCPATRICK (FORMALLY CROUCH) LEFT WITH NOTHING DUE TO HER FAILURES AS A MOTHER! Both women screeched, when they read the headline.

Albus really should keep his mouth shut. Things got even worse now, if it was possible. He paid the owl for the evening edition and opened the article regarding the divorce. When he was finished reading the article loudly to the other attendees in his office, Wilma started crying. Her life was ruined. She was comforted by her livid sister and an irate Minerva. Elphias rubbed his eyes like he was exhausted. This article brought the situation to rock bottom. Wilma’s reputation had been completely destroyed by this article. Veronica’s image was slightly tarnished.

Albus really wanted to kill Crouch painfully and slowly. He told Wilma and Veronica to keep their heads down since there was nothing that can be done. With that, the others left the office apart from Minerva.

“Albus, could things get even worse?”, Minerva asked. She was furious, how Wilma was disgraced. The woman and her sister were old friends of hers during her time in school, but Minerva never understood, how Wilma could have fallen in love with someone like Bartemius Crouch.

Albus sighed. “I hope not. This is a giant setback for our cause. Without Wilma’s connection as the wife of the head of the DMLE, our control over that particular department is weakened. We can’t suffer another setback like this one.” Minerva nodded in understanding, but she was still furious that Bartemius Crouch would treat his wife like this. Unfortunately, she can’t do anything. Minerva hates it that she is powerless in this situation.

Both were discussing, what to do. Albus was reminded that he needed to arrange another order meeting, in order to discuss the Wizengamot meeting before Yule and the school board meeting after. He wouldn’t have had time to do that after the trials since there are the midterm exams. He really hoped that things couldn’t get worse.

Podmore Manor, December 14th, 2002

This time, the order meeting was taking place in Podmore Manor. Albus was discussing with his followers about the Yule meeting. They needed to make some progress against the veelas before things were going out of control. All these setbacks were hindering his plans and this can’t continue on. Albus had the idea that the veelas should be banned from having bank accounts in Gringotts. He doesn’t care, how it will affect those filthy goblins since he believes that the witches and wizards were above them and can push laws that the goblins had to follow. But Albus forgot that the goblin treaties will stop that.

Arthur didn’t know, if Albus is insane or a fool or maybe both, because interfering in Gringotts matters is very dangerous. There are many treaties that are magically enforceable and would cause many road blockers for Dumbledore and his followers. These interferences had led to many goblin wars and rebellions, if someone looked at the history of the goblin conflicts with the wizarding world. He also couldn’t believe that those fools were even agreeing with the old fool, but he is reminded that none of them learned from the mistakes in the past.

Many were desperate that this time, they were going to be successful. Another setback and this year will end up in failure.

Dedalus had the same thought like Arthur, but he would remain silent and watch, how this plan will fail. He asked the old fool: “Albus, what do you plan for the school board meeting after Yule?”

Albus forgot that the school board meeting will take place on December 23rd. Three days after the Yule meeting. Albus said: “I plan to abolish the marking scheme in the history class since it discourages the students from prospering in the class.” The man went on for another half an hour speech, how the marking scheme was unfair and too strict.

Arthur wanted to shake his head. This will fail. No one will vote for the removal of the marking scheme. He will inform the others.

When they were finished with the discussion, James turned the topic to Crouch’s divorce. “I can’t believe that Crouch had really divorced his wife. I thought, he was joking last year.”

Many agreed, but Arthur and Dedalus rolled their eyes. It was clear that the man doesn’t do things in halves. Arthur said: “That woman created a death eater, James. If she had allowed her son to be treated by mind healers, Barty Jr. wouldn’t have become a death eater. He would have been a half-decent man. McPatrick had done Jr. no favours, when she spoiled him and made excuses for his bad behaviour.”

Elphias agreed and added: “You should have seen, how defensive she was especially, when Professor Flitwick was questioned about Barty Jr.’s school life. There was a pattern, how he became a psychopath. For the first two school years, he was quiet, but in his third and fourth year he started to steal and harm the pets from the other students. Then, in his fifth year, Barty Jr. started to kill animals including his own pets and in his last two school years, he had started attacking the students including his own house mates. That boy was a menace during his time in school, if you exclude the first two school years.”

“That is maybe true, but the divorce is a setback since without Wilma, Bartemius can’t be influenced any longer”, Minerva said stiffly.

Everyone had agreed with that. Dedalus and Arthur were glad that Bartemius was out of the order’s influence, whereas the others were angry about this aspect since they had to be more careful than before. Maybe Wilma had her uses.

“Elphias, I have heard that Cyrus Greengrass represented Crouch during his divorce. How was it?”, Arthur asked.

The man sighed. “He had done well. Crouch and Greengrass had a lot of evidence that damaged Wilma in court and convinced the judge. Even a beginner would have been able to win this case since it was clear that Wilma has no one else to blame than herself. I told her and her sister repeatedly that their accusations against Crouch will not work, but they didn’t listen and she demanded recompensation and support from her husband for the ‘bad’ treatment that she and her son had suffered. It was denied of course since all the evidence against Wilma was damaging. Even the witnesses that Crouch had presented were accurate with their statements and were neutral. Additionally, her and her sister’s rants were not helping the matter. There was a recess, where the judge, Greengrass, Crouch and I needed a headache potion.”

Hearing this, Albus sighed. He didn’t know that things were so bad during the court hearing, but listening to Elphias talking about the procedure, it was really bad. He hated that his followers were so stubborn sometimes.

Many order members chattered about the court hearing until Albus ended the order meeting.

Wizengamot, December 17th, 2002

The Wizengamot trials were proceeding their second day. Since December 15th was a Sunday, the trials were moved to the dates of December 16th and 17th. None of the Wizengamot members wanted to sacrifice their free day for the trials. But unlike the first day, the second day had some of the members on edge and when they reached the Os, O’Connell was called upon to be trialed.

Albus was startled, when he went over the file since he was involved with the case of Eric and Isabella Jugson. The man had cooperated in exchange of some information and had pleaded guilty. Albus read out the charges against the crook, where the man was accused of obstruction of justice and espionage.

O’Connell pleaded guilty and a plea deal was discussed. Due to the gravity of Christina O’Neill’s injury, the fact that he had known that there was a mole in the DMLE and that he didn’t report neither Isabella nor Eric, the court sentenced him to five years in prison. O’Connell would spend a few years in Azkaban much to the man’s horror since he thought that he would receive a probation period.

Amelia and Corban smirked at the look on O’Connell’s face. The man believed that he would get a probation. Oh, how wrong he was. The gravity of his inactions and actions was high. He should have thought of that that helping Isabella and Eric had costed him his freedom for the next five years.

Alexander was cursing Isabella, Eric and the DMLE. He shouldn’t have gotten involved into this business, but the money from the Jugsons was too good to deny. Now, he has to spend the next five years in Azkaban and he has no one else to blame than himself.

After the Wizengamot trials, Cyrus had a quick meeting with Christina in the DMLE and told her that they could file the lawsuit now. The woman gave Cyrus the green light and the Lord of the House Greengrass filed the lawsuit. It was time to make the Jugsons bleed and he also added Alexander due to his involvement. He couldn’t wait for the reactions of the Jugsons and O’Connell that they are sued. This would be better than the divorce of the Crouchs.

Malfoy Manor, December 18th, 2002

The Grey Alliance had their meeting in Malfoy Manor. Arthur had told them, what Dumbledore was planning, and everyone was stunned. Adriana nearly shrieked: “That man needs to be committed in the Janus Thickey Ward. He has become senile or is he completely insane? Interfering in the runnings of Gringotts had led to goblin wars and rebellions in the past. This nomination will cause another goblin war and I am sure that the veelas will help the goblins in this. No one would be foolish enough to fight with the combined forces of the goblins and the veelas.” Everyone shuddered at that idea. They would rather betray the wizarding world to the veelas and goblins than to support the ministry with this insane nomination. They want to live long lives and not have their lives cut short due to a senile, old coot and his mindless drones.

“We will stop that nomination and I know a perfect distraction that could help us”, Narcissa said in a determined voice. Everyone had their attention on the Malfoy matriarch even her husband, who was exasperated by Dumbledore and his fools.

When everyone was quiet, Narcissa began: “We motion to open up a mall like in the muggle world. Many smaller shops in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were complaining about the ministry rising the taxes to their lands and their rents, which is causing the prices in those shops to rise.” After the ministry was founded, the last descendant of Hengis of Woodcroft had handed the entire Hogsmeade village over to the ministry. Unlike Hogwarts, which is a semi-private institution since the school is only answerable to the Department of Education and isn’t owned by the ministry since the founders’ heirs have to hand it over unanimously, which hasn’t happened due to the missing Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff heirs during the foundation of the ministry, Hogsmeade was owned by the ministry after the last descendant of Hengis of Woodcroft had died and the line had come to an end.

Narcissa continued glancing at Pandora: “If we open up a mall on some land that is not ministry owned, then, the ministry couldn’t demand taxes and rents from the smaller shop owners since the owner of the land can decide, how much rent the shop owners had to pay and how high the taxes should be. It would stop the closure of many of these shops. Furthermore, the bigger and more successful shops like the Three Broomsticks, the Hogshead, Zonko, Honeyduke and many other well-known shops and restaurants would be able to open up a second shop and restaurant in the mall, which would expand their business in the magical world. Even the shops in Diagon Alley would have the chance to do the same and would benefit from it.” Many liked the idea and there could be an economic boom in their world.

Pandora said knowing that her Ravenclaw inheritance would help them in this matter and it would since there was still empty land that can be put to use: “There is still some land that Rowena Ravenclaw had owned on the other side of the village. There would be enough space for a mall, but doesn’t the ministry need to approve these projects and is it really possible that the ministry can’t demand taxes from these shops in the mall?”

“The Wizengamot is the one that is responsible for approving these projects, Pandora. Apart from that, do you think that anyone would be stupid enough to say no to the expanding of the businesses in our world and pass a possible chance of making a bigger profit from them.” Many shook their heads. Only a fool would miss this opportunity.

Lucius explained: “And to the tax issue, Pandora, I can tell you that the mall would be built on your land and since the land is in the possession of the Ravenclaw Family even before the ministry was founded, then, the ministry can’t demand taxes from the shop owners in the mall since this is your land and you are the landlady. They could only demand taxes from you for possessing and using the land, which wouldn’t be much from the rent that you would earn from the shop owners, but they can’t demand taxes from the shop keepers in the mall, Pandora, due to the laws.”

Pandora nodded in understanding and Cyrus agreed with Lucius. Both were rising stars in their fields, so, Pandora can trust their word.

Everyone agreed that the mall seemed to be a good distraction.

Narcissa finalised the Wizengamot meeting: “And we will nominate, when Dumbledore is distracted, to put the current anti-creature laws against all magical beings and creatures that have the affinity to fire under question. For that, we will not only use the treaty with the veelas, but also the ICW laws that are regulating the relations between wixens and magical beings that have the affinity of fire. Additionally, the laws would also help the magical community, how witches and wizards should handle magical creatures that have a fire affinity without doing any harm.” Everyone agreed. Lucius and Cyrus would get the ICW laws.

Narcissa turned her topic to the school board meeting. Arthur explained that Dumbledore was planning to remove the marking scheme from the ICW standards since it was ‘unfair’. Everyone rolled their eyes. The fool had tried the same with the potion class, but thankfully he had failed. Narcissa said: “We will use the same excuse like last time. But we need a distraction for that.” She gave the Rookwood and Rowle Lords an expectant look.

Augustus and Thorfinn were practically grinning. Augustus announced: “We have good news. The head of the Unspeakables has approved the request and is allowing one of the Unspeakables to tutor Transfiguration. She has a mastery, so, you don’t have to worry about her qualifications.”

“That’s good. Then, this will be our distraction. If we explain to the rest of the board that McGonagall didn’t do any tutoring due to her positions as deputy-headmistress and head of house, then, Dumbledore will be stuck since many would demand that he either forces McGonagall to do the tutoring, which would stretch the woman thin with the workload that she would have to do, or he hires a tutor with a Transfiguration Mastery”, Danielle explained.

Many liked the idea and Narcissa finished: “And with that distraction, we will nominate the ICW primary school curriculum for Muggle/Wixen studies. The Muggle Study class should help the wixen-raised children, how to go around the muggle world without being spotted. It teaches our children, how to hide in the non-magical world. The muggle-raised should learn, how to get around our world and learn, how the wizarding society is operating. Apart from that, it would lower the numbers of muggle-raised that are going back in the non-magical world. Do you know how many muggle-raised graduates have returned in the muggle world since the class was cancelled?” Many shook their heads. “Over 67%. These are two-thirds. No wonder, the ministry is understaffed.” Many were shocked. That class needs to pass no matter what.

“There is something else”, Pandora added quickly. Everyone turned their attention to the Ravenclaw heiress. “Professor Flitwick had written to me a proposal for his class. He requested that I nominate the ICW curriculum for Charms during the December meeting. Filius had thought long and hard about this, but at the end, he decided that it would be a good idea and the students would learn his class appropriately. This would distract Dumbledore greatly for the next six months from the potion class. Severus warned us that Dumbledore will try to lower the class again and it would be annoying not only for us, but also the other board members to go through everything a second time, in order to stop him.”

Narcissa grinned. “This is a wonderful idea, Pandora. Dumbledore would have another road blocker.” Everyone chattered a bit and agreed that this plan would work.

“Now change of topic. Cyrus, how was the divorce case last week?”, Adriana asked.

Cyrus groaned. Of course, someone is going to ask him about the divorce of the Crouchs. “It was a terrible nightmare. Listening to Wilma was bad enough, but her sister, Veronica McPatrick, was even worse and things went rock bottom, when both were screeching at the same time.” Lucius and the others chuckled. Cyrus glared at his ‘colleague’. “Don’t laugh, Malfoy. If you were in my shoes, you would have rather faced Riddle’s wand, then, listening to those two. I swear, even Voldemort would have made a run, if he had to listen to those two harpies.” Everyone laughed. Lucius somehow agreed. He would have rather been murdered by Riddle than to listen to those banshees screeching his ears off.

Corban explained: “That is the reason why, Amelia and I joined the DMLE. There is at least some action.” He continued: “If you hate this part of your job, Cyrus, why don’t you work for the prosecution office? The department is still in need of lawyers.”

Cyrus just huffed: “I wish that it was this easy, but my job as barrister helps me to represent also those that are filing lawsuits. Speaking of lawsuits, your colleague, Christina O’Neill, has filed one against the Jugsons and Alexander O’Connell.”

“Really?! That’s great. I want to see that family and O’Connell bleed for what had happened to my undercover aurors. It was a lot of work to replace all of them and the paperwork for this mess is horrifying”, Amelia said with a dangerous smile and a glint in her eyes, which caused some shivers of fear. Amelia could be scary, if she is angered.

“Don’t panic, Amelia, they will suffer for this mess”, Cyrus assured the deputy head of the auror office.

Corban just grinned remembering O’Connell’s trial. Clara huffed: “Why are you grinning, Corban?” She had a suspicion why.

“I remember the trial of O’Connell, Clara. You should have seen his face, when he was sentenced to five years in prison. He really believed that he would get a probation for what he had done and for what he hadn’t.” Corban chuckled.

“Yes, I remember that. It was satisfying”, Amelia answered with a sadistic grin.

Everyone agreed. O’Connell really thought that he would get a light sentence, but he received a nasty surprise.

They chattered for a while longer until everyone had to go home.

Wizengamot, December 20th, 2002

Narcissa was attending her second Yule meeting. This time, she had gone Yule shopping yesterday, in order to distract herself since she was nervous regarding the meeting and to make sure that she didn’t miss Yule shopping like last year. The meeting had started with Dumbledore opening the session. The first thing that was discussed, if there were any reassignments to be made. Corban rose his wand and stood up. The auror announced that he is going to make the reassignment at the end of the session, which was accepted. When it was time to make nominations, one of Dumbledore’s sheep rose their wand and he was chosen in favour over the others. Albus’ biases are also clearly shown in the Wizengamot that he is favouring his disciples. The fool made the motion to ban veelas from having bank accounts in Gringotts. Furthermore, the idiot claims that this law against the veelas should prevent the goblins from opening up accounts since the goblins need to follow their laws.

Lucius and Cyrus wanted to groan like they were in actual pain. It is painful to listen to this nonsense. These fools are so uneducated. It is unbelievable. Thankfully, they had the treaty with the veelas and the goblin treaty regarding bank accounts. This should stop them. The majority looked pale at the idea of interfering in bank business. Many goblin wars and rebellions were caused by these interferences.

When the fool was finished, Albus questioned, if there was another proposal. Pandora rose her wand and Albus chose her with a brittle smile hoping that the woman wasn’t going to make things harder for him.

Pandora stood up and proposed: “My dear Lords, Ladies, I am nominating to open up a mall in Hogsmeade, so that our businesses in our world can expand and our economy does improve. On the other side of the village, there is some land that I have inherited from my Ravenclaw inheritance and I don’t know, what to do with it, but when I was told about the malls in the muggle world, I found the idea of opening up a mall like the muggles do to be good since it allows the smaller shops and businesses a chance to open up in a better environment and the bigger and more successful businesses like the Three Broomsticks, Zonkos, the Hogshead and many more are able to expand their businesses in the mall.”

“And what about taxes? Many businesses and shops could use that to evade taxes from the ministry”, Lord Selwyn questioned.

Pandora answered: “The taxes would be my problem since the land is in possession of the Ravenclaw line even before the ministry was founded. I mean everyone here is paying taxes for their lands that they own. The shops and businesses in the mall would only be responsible for paying the rent, which would also include the taxes that I have to pay.”

Many nodded and were chattering about the motion. Narcissa was glad that the motion was seen in a positive light, but her good mood was interrupted, when a huge argument broke out in the light section. Dumbledore’s sheep were throwing tantrums about the nomination since the elder generation didn’t like the proposal one bit. The old fool tries to calm down his followers, but he was failing and the man quickly erected a privacy ward. With that, Dumbledore stepped back for the time being and Aurelia Acton took over and banged her gavel on the podium. “There seemed to be some problems in the light section, but I can continue on with the meeting.” Everyone nodded and Lady Acton asked: “Are there any other nominations?”

Lucius rose his wand. “Lord Malfoy?”

The Malfoy patriarch stood up and announced: “I have a protest to make, Lady Acton. It is regarding the first nomination that has been made against the veelas. This proposal is dangerous since we would violate two treaties. The one treaty is the aforementioned treaty with the Veela Nations, where one of the clauses is stating that we are not allowed to interfere with their businesses, which also includes bank business. The second treaty is a goblin treaty regarding the bank accounts. One of the clauses states that a bank account can’t be banned by the ministry and the Wizengamot. The ministry can request Gringotts to freeze or to seize an account, but there must be a good reason in our appeal to the goblins. The ministry and the Wizengamot would break this treaty, if we allow this nomination to pass. We would have another goblin war and the goblins would also have the support from the veelas. Do you really want to fight a war against two magical beings, which one of them is a war race?” Many swallowed hard and shook their heads.

Lucius sat back and Aurelia continued with a shuddering breath. “Are there any other protests or nominations?”

Amelia rose her wand. “Lady Bones?” The woman rose from her seat and began: “Lords, Ladies, I have gone through the treaty from 1617 line by line and compared it with our laws, bans and restrictions that have been passed recently against the veelas and what I have found is astounding and terrifying. All those bans, restrictions and laws are violating certain clauses of the treaty and they can’t remain active since they are a risk to our society. Then, I also went through the ICW laws that is regulating our relations with magical beings and our handling of magical creatures that have the affinity to fire including the veelas and compared these laws with our laws and unfortunately, we are violating many ICW laws with our laws, bans and restrictions.” The woman handed over the laws, bans and restrictions in their country and then, she dished out the ICW laws and the treaty. Amelia made sure to put a mark, which laws were violating what ICW law and what clause of the treaty with the veelas. Many were stunned and horrified. Violating the treaty is one thing, but violating the ICW laws is very dangerous since they could be kicked off and isolated by the rest of the magical world. Britain could end up as a magical version of North Korea. Amelia announced: “For that reason, I am proposing to put those endangering laws on ice for the next five years. We need to rework those laws, bans and restrictions, in order to adjust them better with the clauses of the treaty and the ICW laws. As replacement, we are going to use the ICW laws and the clauses of the treaty for the time being.” A majority agreed on that. Even the darker purebloods were not making a fuss, but the members of the Anti-Creature Party were in a blind fury.

Amelia sat down and many chatters had started. When Dumbledore was finished, he retook his podium asking: “Were there any other nominations, Aurelia?”

“Yes, Lady Bones nominated to put the current bans, restrictions and laws against all magical beings and creatures that have the affinity to fire including the veelas under question. The reason for the proposal is that many ICW laws and the treaty with the veelas would be violated by these laws, bans and restrictions”, Aurelia said hiding a smirk.

Albus was numb with shock. This couldn’t be happening. What was he supposed to do now? Going over the documents that Amelia had provided for her nomination, Albus was stuck. Protesting against Amelia’s nomination would lead to too many questions, why he wants a war with the veelas and why he would want Magical Britain to be isolated by the rest of the world. He pulled himself together and went on with the voting. His followers had made many protests that were baseless.

The first nomination failed, which made Albus and the nominee angry. This was their last chance. The second proposal passed with a great majority. The last motion from Amelia passed with a landslide vote, which infuriated Albus and his followers and made the members of the Anti-Creature Party livid. This was a giant setback.

Before the meeting could end, Albus turned his attention to Corban Yaxley. “Lord Yaxley, you have requested to reassign your seats at the end of this session.”

Corban stood up and said: “Yes. I am reassigning the Yaxley seats to the neutral fraction.” With that, Corban moved away from the dark fraction and the seat disappeared.

When Corban set his foot on the floor, where the members of the neutral party were sitting, the Yaxley seat reappeared between Clara and Cyrus Greengrass. The man retook his seat.

Albus was stunned. The dark fraction has lost some power, but this could also bite him back hard, if more people from the dark fraction like Yaxley are reassigning their seats to the neutrals. He could lose his Head Governor and Chief Warlock position due to these reassignments.

The darker purebloods were furious about the loss of the Yaxley seats. They hoped that they aren’t going to lose more members, because of Isabella and Aurelius.

With that, the meeting came to an end.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office

Albus was absolutely furious. This meeting was their last chance to put a ban on the veelas and it had backfired on them. And to make matters worse, Amelia nominated to put all the laws, restrictions and bans that he had worked so hard on under question. They are now on ice and as replacement the clauses of the treaty and the ICW laws would be used for the time being. This was his biggest setback and he wasn’t sure, if he was able to fix things.

“Albus. Is everything alright?”, Lily asked in a timid voice.

Albus took a deep breath pushing his anger down. “Everything is alright my dear. I am only disappointed about the outcome of the Wizengamot meeting.”

“Disappointing is an understatement, Albus. This was a travesty. We have not only lost, but all the laws, bans and restrictions that you have worked on so hard against all these filthy creatures that have the affinity to fire were put on ice and were replaced by that stupid treaty and these weak ICW laws”, Caradoc ranted.

An argument broke out in Dumbledore’s office. Many were trying to think of ways to fix this, but couldn’t find anything. Albus sighed. What was happening? It has been over a year since Tom was defeated by Harry. Albus knew that Harry is the one, who defeated Voldemort, since he checked up his memories again and noticed the scar. So, he had made many plans for the boy. He had announced John as the boy-who-lived, in order to prepare Harry outside of the spotlight. The boy would sacrifice himself like a martyr, so that he would be able to defeat Voldemort. But in order to make sure that his plans do work, the boy needed to be raised submissive and malleable. That is the reason why he sent him to the Dursleys. He knew that they hate magic and he is sure that they would abuse him. They would also keep him in ignorance regarding his magical heritage, in order to stop the brat from finding out about his political power. This could be dangerous.

When Harry is going to start Hogwarts, Albus would begin to execute his plans for the boy. But for now, he is asking himself, why nothing is going his way. Why are his nominations failing and why are the counter-nominations passing? He needed to find out, what is happening before things went out of control.

The argument came to an end, when Albus wanted to be left alone in his office. The man was still furious and needed to let out some steam.

When everyone was gone, Albus let his magic lash out and destroyed his office in his pure rage.

After he had calmed down, Albus fixed his office up and sat back to think. There is still the school board meeting on Monday and this meeting needs to be successful or there were going to be some corpses.

Yaxley Manor, December 21st, 2002

This year, the Yule celebration is taking place in Yaxley Manor. Corban and Clara were doing their vow renewal in front of their friends and close allies. Unfortunately, they had to deal with some unsavoury people too. Albus Dumbledore and his followers were attending the vow renewal. Among Dumbledore’s followers, there were also Stuart Fenwick and his goons, who had glares on their faces towards Corban. The blood purists had a look of pure disgust even though they were hiding their true feelings behind their masks. The Flints, Vaisleys, Puceys, Montagues and Warringtons were conflicted. At one point, they don’t like muggleborns, but on the other hand, Clara was a squibborn and had a noble title in the magical world. There is also the fact that she was accepted by the chamber’s magic as Lady Evandrus, which wouldn’t be possible, if she was a line thief.

James and Sirius were seething, when they saw Stuart’s hurt and furious look. They understood that feeling. Stuart truly loved Clara, but the woman chose a dark wizard over their friend and now, it would be official that Clara Yaxley would be now Lady Yaxley, when the vow renewal was finished. He would have liked to accuse Yaxley of binding Clara to him and making her a sex toy, but it wouldn’t work since Yaxley does the same vow like his wife binding himself to her.

After they had kissed, both sat down on their respective tables surrounded by their children and a subdued Seraphina Yaxley. The woman was a shell of her former self, and many pureblood supremacists felt bad for her since she had no one in the family apart from her blood traitor of a brother, his mudblood wife and their filthy halfblooded children. The blood purists only came here, in order to see Seraphina and how she is doing. They wished, they could do something for her, but they couldn’t since interfering in family matters is a death penalty. The Yule dinner started, but there wouldn’t be a Yule log since Dumbledore and his fools are here. There would be a Yule log after the old fool and his followers were gone. They wouldn’t remain here for long.

Stuart was eating his food in disgust. He glared at Yaxley. He muttered angrily: “That bastard. How dare he steal, what is mine! Why did Clara choose him?”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. “From what I have heard, they are soulmates.”

“I know, Arthur, but why him? Why not me? I would have made her life happy. I am sure that she is miserable with Yaxley even though they are soulmates”, Stuart finished with a determined, but pained voice.

“And we will prove it that Clara is in an abusive relationship, Stuart. At the end, you will get together with Clara and Corban would be rotting away in Azkaban. We also need to save the children from a bad father”, James said in a firm tone.

Arthur really wanted to shake his head. James can try whatever he wants, but proving that Corban is a bad husband and father is like proving that he is a blood purist.

When the dinner was finished, Albus and his followers left earlier since Stuart had gotten drunk due to his grief of losing a chance with his dream woman and the man had started some insulting rants against Corban, which embarrassed Albus. Everyone sighed in relief, when Albus and his followers left the Yule wedding. Clara ordered: “Binky!”

“Mistress called for Binky!”, the elf squeaked at her kind mistress. The Yaxley house elves adored Corban, Clara and their children since the day, they have arrived in Yaxley Manor. Corban gave them some fabrics and ordered them to make uniforms that they have to wear, when they were working. They were also given a schedule that would allow them to rest for a day and clean themselves up. They are better masters than Aurelius, Gerald, Octavia and Seraphina, who were mean and abusive.

“Bring in the Yule log. This Yule needs to be celebrated appropriately with a Yule ritual”, Clara announced in a grand voice. Binky nodded and brought the Yule log. Seraphina was startled that Clara wanted a Yule log or that she was a participant in the Yule ritual. The blood purists were thinning their lips in displeasure that the mudblood whore is daring to defile the proceedings of the Yule ritual. Only purebloods should participate in these kinds of rituals. Mudbloods and blood traitors should be excepted from these proceedings since they bring dirt due to their magic. They will not participate in the Yule ritual this year since they don’t want to sully themselves. The Flints, Vaisleys, Puceys, Warringtons and Montagues were a little bit stunned that Clara is following the old ways and traditions. They could tell that the woman is an appropriate noble witch with a good heritage.

What surprised the blood purists was the participation of Arthur Weasley and his children in those proceedings. The man has changed over the years. The darker purebloods were not stupid unlike the light fools, they had seen the changes in Arthur Weasley even though he is trying to hide it. Sometimes, slips do happen and they could see a gleam in his eyes that was very familiar, but they couldn’t put it in. But what they had missed was the fact that Molly Weasley and the two youngest were missing in the family of redheads. Why didn’t they notice this? They would have to question it.

When Arthur retook his seat, Raphael Parkinson approached the redhead carefully. “Weasley, where is your wife? I mean her voice couldn’t be overheard by anything.”

“She is at home taking care of Ron and Ginny”, Arthur answered with a smile, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that said danger.

Raphael didn’t understand why he was intimidated by Arthur Weasley of all people, but the gleam was familiar. Looking around, he saw that many were keeping their eyes on him and Raphael noticed the same gleam in Narcissa’s eyes. Then, it hit him, Narcissa is a daughter of the House Black. He had seen the gleam in Bellatrix, but how is Arthur related to the Blacks directly? Raphael answered: “I see.”

He returned back to his close friends and allies, who asked why he did retreat from Weasley of all people. He asked them: “Have you noticed the gleam on Weasley’s eyes?”

“Yes, but why is it so important?”, Willem Crabbe asked.

“Because, you idiot, I have seen that gleam from someone that made our lives hell, when we served our Lord”, Raphael nearly snapped at the brainless gorilla. He had kept his voice quiet since there were two well-known head aurors that are influential within the DMLE. Sometimes, he questioned himself, how Crabbe managed to get into Slytherin let alone earned the mark, when he is so stupid.

The blood purists swallowed. “You don’t mean…”

“Yes”, the Parkinson lord answered with a shiver.

“But how?”, Goyle questioned.

Martin Flint answered in a huff: “Do you know, who Arthur Weasley’s parents were?” Some shook their heads since they ignored the Weasleys during the war, but the others knew, but didn’t understand why it was important. The Flint lord just shook his head at the stupidity displayed by some of those fools. “Did any of you know Cedrella Weasley neé Black?”

“The hell spawn of Arcturus Black II and Lysandre Black neé Yaxley. As a girl and later, as a woman, she was vicious and dangerous, but I never understood why she would fall in love with Septimus Weasley of all people. He was the complete opposite of her. The man had a calm demeanour and unlike her and the other Gryffindors, he was a patient and silent person”, the old Lord Pucey said. Seeing the gleam in Arthur’s eyes leaving, the man barked out a laugh. “It seems like that Arthur Weasley is a mama’s boy. The Black Family Magics must be strong within him.” The darker purebloods swallowed hard. Okay, they never thought that Weasley could be dangerous. They needed to keep an eye on him. Underestimating a Black is dangerous and painful.

The Yule celebration continued on peacefully until the last guests were gone.

School board meeting, December 23rd, 2002

Another school board meeting was taking place and Narcissa was nervous again. The Wizengamot meeting three days ago was a success. She hoped that they would be successful in this meeting too. Narcissa saw the smirks on Augustus’ and Thorfinn’s faces and Pandora had a calm smile on her face, which assured Narcissa that they are ready. Oreana Burke had some conflicting feelings since she is going to reassign her seats in the school board to the neutral fraction.

Augustus and Thorfinn had smirks on their faces. Silvia Hecat is waiting in the antechamber of the Wizengamot chambers. She will be nominated after Dumbledore and his fools were finished with their motion. Pandora was prepared to update the Charms class and Oreana was a bit unsure about the reassignment in the school board. She had discussed it with her closest relatives and they agreed that it was for the best to move the Burke seat in the school board since reassigning the seat in the Wizengamot would be too dangerous due to Voldemort’s followers. But no one will make a fuss, if she moves the seats within the school governors.

The meeting started and Oreana rose her wand, when Dumbledore asked, if there were any reassignments in the school board. Albus was startled by that. “Lady Burke?” Oreana stood up and announced: “I will do a reassignment at the end of this session.” Albus nodded suspiciously, but he continued with the next order of business. The nominations. One of Dumbledore’s fools was proposing to remove the marking scheme from the history class since the scheme is discouraging students from learning and doing their assignments properly. Furthermore, the fool went on that it is limiting the students’ capability and is unfair. For Narcissa and the other members of the Grey Alliance, it was a tantrum. Seriously, their reasoning is childish and petty. They only complain since their children’s lives would get hard, when they start school. But it was time to negate this nomination.

When the idiot was finished, Albus asked, if there were any other nominations. Augustus rose his wand and Albus frowned, but regardless, the man chose him. “Lord Rookwood?” Many in the light fraction were glaring at the man. Augustus ignored those looks and began: “Esteemed members of this board, there is something that I would like to ask the headmaster.” Albus was startled by this and questioned: “What would you like to know, my boy?” Augustus tightened his jaw due to the disrespect, but remained calm. He asked: “Headmaster, I have a question regarding the tutoring of the Transfiguration class. I remember back then, when I was a student that Professor McGonagall had no tutoring sessions for her class. Why is that the case?”

“Well, my boy, Minerva has many duties to do for the school. She is teaching Transfiguration and has a lot of work to do as Deputy-Headmistress and Head of House.” Albus gave the man a grandfatherly smile.

“Did you know, headmaster, that the tutoring sessions are a requirement for the teachers since there are still some students, who are struggling?”, Augustus questioned the headmaster.

Albus swallowed hard. This was a trap. He didn’t have a choice then to say yes since the man would point the rule out in the Hogwarts charter. “Yes.”

Augustus just smiled. “Headmaster, I brought this up, because we need a Transfiguration tutor. I am not saying here that we force Minerva McGonagall to do this since she has many duties to do for the school, but I am proposing that we hire a Transfiguration tutor that could take over her duties in the tutoring sessions and for that reason, the Department of Mysteries is offering that my fellow colleague, Silvia Hecat, should take over the sessions. She has a mastery in this field and has been working in the department for two decades.” The woman entered the chamber from the antechamber and Augustus handed over the paperwork to the other members about Silvia’s CV and her qualifications and certificates.

Albus really wished that there was a way to shoot down the idea, but unfortunately, there was nothing he can do due to the charter and furthermore, an argument broke out within his followers, when James made the stupid comment against Rookwood: “We don’t need one of your death eater friends in the school corrupting the children with their dark ways. It is bad enough that Snape is teaching potions, but this Hecat woman must be a dark and evil witch like you since she is working in a department that has classified nearly every project. Not even the ministry knows, what is happening in the DoM, and no one knows exactly, what the Unspeakables are working on, which is dubious and dangerous.” It descended in a rant from the younger generation against the Department of Mysteries and the Unspeakables, who are accused of being death eater sympathisers and dark wizards and witches doing evil things, whereas the older generation knew the DoM better and tried to keep them quiet. Albus was ready to kill. Not only did James alienate the other board members, but he also caused an argument within his section.

With Dumbledore being distracted for the time being with his followers under a privacy bubble, Aurelia took over and questioned, if there were any other nominations.

Pandora rose her wand. “Lady Lovegood-Ravenclaw?” Aurelia chose the blond woman.

Pandora stood up and announced: “Two weeks ago, Professor Filius Flitwick sent me a request regarding his Charms class and because of that appeal from my former head of house, which is not a favour that I am doing for him, I am nominating to update the current Charms curriculum in Hogwarts with the ICW curriculum, so that the Hogwarts students are up to par with the rest of the world in Charms.”

Many liked the nomination from Pandora since it would allow the children to learn more, so that they are on the same level like the rest of the world.

When Pandora sat down, Aurelia managed to quiet down the other governors and asked: “Are there any other motions?”

Zachary Abbott rose his wand. “Lord Abbott?”, Aurelia announced.

The Abbott Lord rose from his seat and proposed: “For the primary school, I am nominating the ICW primary school curriculum for Muggle/Wizard Studies.” There was silence in the chambers. Zachary continued regardless that many were staring at him in shock about his nomination: “The reason why I am nominating that class is that many wizard-raised witches and wizards are underestimating muggles since the current material is outdated and many would think that the non-magicals had stopped developing in the 1950s. We need to learn, how to hide in the muggle world, if we are venturing and we would be spotted, if we don’t learn, how to hide. I remember what Arthur Weasley had shown us at the February Wizengamot meeting with the weaponry in the muggle world. In open warfare, we would lose. And then, there is the fact that muggles are still afraid of the unknown and uncontrollable.” Many agreed on that. “Then, there is the Wizard Study class. The muggle-raised need to learn, how to get around our world and how to live full magical lives.” Zachary handed out some files that had charts. “Since the class was cancelled, over 67% of the muggle-raised are leaving our world and going back into the muggle world. This can’t go on. The muggle-raised like the other witches and wizards deserve a chance to live in our world.” Many were in a full agreement apart from the blood purists.

After Zachary Abbott sat down, Albus was finished with his followers and had managed to calm them down. He was furious with James for alienating the other members in the board. Retaking his seat as Head Governor, Albus questioned Aurelia, if there were any other nominations.

Aurelia answered: “There were actually two nominations. The one nomination is from Lady Lovegood-Ravenclaw. She nominated to update the current Charms curriculum in Hogwarts. Filius Flitwick requested from Lady Lovegood-Ravenclaw the ICW curriculum for Charms, which was proposed in this meeting.” Albus was stunned. This couldn’t be happening. He is cursing Filius for making such a request. He also can’t argue against the class since he had approved the ICW curriculum. Albus asked: “And what is the other nomination?” Aurelia smiled and answered: “The other motion is from Lord Zachary Abbott, who nominated the ICW primary school curriculum for the Muggle/Wizard Study class.” Albus was shocked. No, this will not happen. He doesn’t want the muggleborns to know, how to live in the wizarding world and become independent and uncontrollable. They needed his guidance. Albus tried to argue the class, but the charts that Zachary Abbott had presented were damning. Albus had started an hour-long lecture, on how dangerous, bigoted and prejudiced the class was and how the class is showing that the wizarding world is better than the muggle world. Many were confused about his argument since they had read the contents of the curriculum and they had noticed that the class is showing the muggle and the wizarding world in a neutral aspect.

When Albus was finished, only his followers agreed with him and were glaring at the Abbott lord, but the rest was not really convinced. With that, Albus believed that he had the majority of the board convinced to vote against the class and he moved on with the voting.

The first nomination failed horribly. Albus and his followers were furious. That couldn’t be. The history class couldn’t be changed. The second nomination had a great majority. James and some other radical followers of Dumbledore voted against the hiring of Silvia Hecat and were furious, when the motion had passed. The third proposal had a majority vote, which angered Dumbledore even more and the last nomination had a landslide vote, which allowed the class to pass. This made the headmaster livid. This couldn’t be happening.

Before the meeting could come to an end, Albus turned his attention to Lady Burke and asked in a forced calm voice: “Lady Burke, you wanted to do a reassignment at the end of this session?”

Oreana stood up. Many blood purists were slightly glaring at her since she tended to vote neutral. The woman announced: “I am reassigning the Burke seat in the school board to the neutral fraction.” With that, the seat disappeared and reappeared at the neutral fraction and Oreana retook her seat, after she moved over to the neutral section. Albus was not happy. He could lose his position as Head Governor, if more dark fraction members are leaving the dark section.

The meeting came to an official end. Albus and his followers stormed out from the chambers in a fury. The members of the Grey Alliance were smirking at the furious expression on Dumbledore’s and his followers’ faces. This year was successful.

Hogwarts, Headmaster’s office

Albus was absolutely furious, when he arrived back at his office with his followers in tow. Sitting down, he gave the younger followers a disappointed look. James and the other younger followers looked down on the ground in shame. Why has everything failed? This year had been full of setbacks and failures. He doesn’t know why. The school has been undergoing slight changes and he couldn’t stop them since they were beneficial or were not interfering with his plans, but the updates of the potion, history and now the charms classes were ruining his plans.

“Albus, what are we going to do? How could everything go wrong? I thought with the defeat of You-Know-Who, we would have an advantage against the dark, but somehow, we are now losing more and more. And we don’t know, how and why”, Elphias said angrily.

“I know, my dears, but I am also not sure, what is happening. The dark is losing power. With the reassignments of the Yaxley seats in the Wizengamot and the school board and the reassignment of the Burke seats to the neutral fraction within the school governors, the dark has lost the support of two powerful families on their side. But that loss of power is dangerous to us too since the neutrals are gaining more and more power”, Albus explained.

James just waved it away. “Albus, we have the most seats in the Wizengamot and the school board. No one would be able to challenge us.”

“That is maybe true, James, but we need to be carefully that the seats in the neutral fraction are not outnumbering us”, Dedalus explained.

“Furthermore, you shouldn’t talk. You and the other younger brats have caused us a lot of trouble with your rants. I can’t believe it that you and the others were ranting, how dark and evil Unspeakables are and that they must be death eater sympathisers. Then, you have attacked Rookwood and accused him that he is a death eater. This is a political suicide. Did you sleep at the November meeting last year, where Rookwood, Rowle, Snape and Rosier were awarded the Order of Merlin First Class?”, Emmeline Vance questioned James furiously.

James glared at the woman petulantly. He will never acknowledge that Rookwood, Rosier, Rowle and Snape were awarded the Order of Merlin First Class. They are death eaters. They don’t deserve this privilege.

Emmeline continued: “Don’t look at me like that. Your childish behaviour costed us the support from the other members of the board. And now, we have the problem with the Charms class now. Do you have any idea, how many problems your rants have caused us? Multiple. We have lost a vote in the March meeting due to your rants against the homeless here in the wizarding world. In October, you have ranted against Lady Callidora Longbottom and turned not only her, but also her allies against us. The November school board meeting may not be your fault. I still blame Caradoc for the mess, but in this meeting, you are to blame for the lost vote. Why did you have to attack Rookwood out of all people?”

“But he is a death eater, who should rot away in Azkaban, and not run around free and make decisions for Hogwarts and the wizarding world. He is a clear danger”, James nearly screamed in defiance.

“Enough, James. From what I have found out, Rookwood became a death eater, in order to spy for the DoM and the ministry as a whole”, Albus said in exasperation. He was getting tired of James’ and the other followers’ attitude towards those, who are coming from dark families and were either neutral or spies for the ministry.

James just growled. Why isn’t anyone listening to him? They need to remove those dark families from the Wizengamot, so that their society can prosper. This continued corruption can’t go on. He has two sons and he doesn’t want any of his children to become corrupted by the darkness of the magical community.

Albus dismissed his followers and told them that after the New Year, there would be another order meeting regarding the Wizengamot meeting on January 6th, 2003.

After everyone was gone, Albus let his magic lash out obliterating his office in his pure rage. This entire year was horrible. All of his plans for this year were completely destroyed. He doesn’t understand why the members of the Wizengamot and the school board were so controversial now. He had never faced so many setbacks in his entire life. But this year was a complete nightmare. Nothing had gone his way. Maybe the new year would bring him some success.

Lady Magic, Fate, Destiny and Death were watching Dumbledore’s expression about the year of failure. The man will suffer losses after losses each year. His time as a rising star is over. Albus Dumbledore is going down. It will be slow and painful.

Ministry Courtroom 37A, December 27th, 2002

Manfred Jugson was sighing deeply, when he entered Courtroom 37A. He was enraged, when he received a letter from Lord Greengrass that Christina O’Neill has filed a lawsuit against him. He had thought that the case was closed and that his family would be left alone, but no, the nightmare was continuing and now, he is sued. This lawsuit could cost him his entire fortune. Manfred wanted to strangle Isabella for this mess. His family lawyer suggested that he should acknowledge that he is aware of Isabella’s and Eric’s actions since this court hearing is determining his involvement. If he was deeply involved, then, he could lose everything, but he is going to lose a lot of money regardless due to Isabella’s action and Eric’s involvement. Manfred needed to be carefully. Especially now, since Cyrus Greengrass was representing the woman.

Christina was glaring at Manfred Jugson. That man will bleed for destroying her life.

When the judge finally entered the courtroom, it was silent. Manfred looked resigned, when he had seen the judge presiding the hearing. Richard Rowle is not a fan of neither Voldemort nor Dumbledore. Looking around the courtroom, the man opened the hearing. “Today is the hearing of Lord Manfred Jugson represented by Ignatus Vaisley versus Christina O’Neill represented by Lord Cyrus Greengrass. Lord Greengrass, since your client is the applicant, you may proceed.”

Lord Greengrass stood up and started: “Your honour, we all remember the trial of Eric and Isabella Jugson. We all remember, what Isabella Jugson had done to my client on September 12th, 2002.” Cyrus handed the judge the transcript of the trial in November. “We all remember that she had tried to kill Christina O’Neill again and killed a golem instead. And we all remember that Heir Eric Jugson was indirectly responsible for the near-death experience of my client since he leaked out classified information. But what you don’t know is that Ms. O’Neill’s injuries were so grave that she is unable to work as an auror and her arms are restricted in their movements due to the nerve damage.” Cyrus gave the judge Christina’s health report from the healers in St. Mungos and the goblin healers. The man finished: “And we will prove that Lord Manfred Jugson was also involved in this and that he is also responsible for this mess. It is already well-known that Isabella and Eric Jugson were found guilty for their actions during their trials. We are petitioning the court to reimburse my client for the permanent injuries that she will have for the rest of her life.”

The judge nodded in understanding and turned his attention to Ignatus Vaisley. “Mr. Vaisley, it is now your turn since your client is the respondent.”

Ignatus stood up and said: “My client is admitting that he was aware of the doings of his children, but he wasn’t involved in this. Lord Jugson is ready to pay up recompensations for his children’s actions, but he would like to make an out-of-court agreement and not involve this court for this.”

With that, the man sat down. Cyrus rejected the appeal from Ignatus Vaisley and the court hearing began appropriately. The judge asked: “Ms. O’Neill, can you tell us about your current situation with your arms? What kind of troubles do you have with them?”

Christina let out a watery sigh. “I can’t move my arms appropriately. If I try to lift my arm up, it hurts. There is also pain, when I try to reach something like a can in a kitchen shelf. Furthermore, I have to take every second day a pain potion since my nerves are inflaming.” Christina continued to explain her issues with her arms and went into detail, how hard it is to live with the injuries.

“Thank you, Ms. O’Neill. Lord Jugson, what is your response to this?”, the judge said strictly.

Manfred Jugson had apologised many times about, what had happened to her and tried to convince her that their lawyers could discuss a reimbursement extrajudicial.

When it was time for the witnesses, Cyrus called upon Corban Yaxley as his witness since the man had a personal past with the Jugsons. Manfred withheld a growl. Of course, Corban would be called upon. That man could cause many issues. The head auror entered and took his seat, when he was called by the judge.

With the formalities done, the judge asked: “Lord Yaxley, you had a personal past with the Jugson Family. Can you tell us about your past dealings with Lord Jugson and his children?”

Corban nodded and began: “I have known Lord Jugson, when I was a toddler. My parents were close friends with the Jugsons and that’s how I became close to Ulrich, Isabella, Eric and Evelyn Jugson. There was also a betrothal between me and Isabella, but l had it dissolved since Clara was my soulmate and a soul bond has precedence. Both families didn’t accept Clara due to her heritage and were furious about the insult against Isabella, who was seen as a proper pureblood witch, but I didn’t care and chose her over Isabella, which made my former fiancée furious. During the investigation against my brother, it was noted down that he had a female accomplice. I immediately suspected Isabella since I have known her very well. It didn’t surprise me that she had helped Aurelius to break my soul bond with Clara, which would have resulted to my and my wife’s death, and tried to kill Christina O’Neill, in order to cover her tracks. Isabella was always vindictive, cruel and vicious. Eric was not that bad as his elder sister, but he was a pushover and did everything, what his family wanted since he didn’t have any self-confidence and a spine. Ulrich was terrible and a sadist. He was worse than Isabella. And then, there was Evelyn. She is like Eric, but at least, she had some self-confidence and wasn’t afraid of Isabella and Ulrich.”

The next question that was discussed was Lord Jugson’s involvement. Corban argued: “I suspect that Lord Jugson was not only aware about Christina’s position of being an undercover auror, but he was also involved in this case since none of his children can keep a secret from him.”

With that, Corban was finished with his statement.

The next witness that was called upon was Eric Jugson. Eric of course defended his father and explained that he wasn’t involved. He was aware of what was happening, but he was never involved in this mess. Cyrus and Corban knew that this was a desperate move from Eric to protect his father, but their last witness is going to dig up a grave for Manfred Jugson.

After Eric, Evelyn Jugson was called on the witness stand. Evelyn made the same statement like Eric that her father was not involved, but the girl was spiteful against her elder sister, who she blamed for this entire mess, and made sure to show her dislike towards the woman. Richard Rowle isn’t convinced about the statement of Eric Jugson, but he is convinced of Evelyn’s testament in front of the court. He is ready to dismiss O’Neill’s appeal and approve Lord Jugson’s motion of making an out-of-court agreement.

When she was finished, the judge turned his attention to Cyrus Greengrass. “Lord Greengrass, do you have another witness for your case, because due to the current evidence and the statements, I am inclined to rule in favour of Lord Jugson.”

“Yes. Nearly a week ago, I had an out-of-court agreement with Alexander O’Connell, where he had paid recompensation to my client. He is currently sentenced to five years in Azkaban, but I arranged for his temporarily release, so that he can do his statement, your honour. I also have this.” Cyrus had a file in his hand. He handed it over to the judge. “This file entails the cooperation between the aurors and Alexander O’Connell. Mr. O’Connell had given up more information regarding the case of my client and the involvement of the Jugson Family.”

The judge nodded and called upon Alexander O’Connell. Manfred and Eric were trying to hide their panic. This couldn’t be happening. Eric knew that they were screwed, if Alexander talks about his father and his involvement in this mess. Alexander knew that his father was involved in this.

The judge checked up the records of the crook and started: “Now, Mr. Connell, we are here to determine the involvement of Lord Manfred Jugson in Christina O’Neill’s exposition as an undercover auror and her attempted murder. What can you tell us?”

Alexander looked like he went through hell. Azkaban was terrible. His only reprieve was, when O’Neill came to visit him and informed him that he was sued, but she was ready to make an out-of-court agreement with him. His lawyer from his trial was again assigned to represent him and there was a goblin that would watch the proceedings since it was about the transfer of money. It was a heated discussion, but at the end, three-quarter of the money that he had gotten from Eric was taken for reimbursement. He was furious about the loss of money. His family needed that money, in order to survive. Alexander had sworn to make the Jugsons pay. He doesn’t care, what will happen to that family anymore.

The crook snarled: “I can tell you plenty.”

Eric snapped: “Shut up, Alexander!”

The judge banged with his gavel, when a commotion broke out, and ordered: “Silence, Heir Jugson, or I am going to implement some sanctions against you.”

Eric was furious, but he couldn’t do anything. Alexander is going to destroy everything.

The crook raged: “I will not remain silent. You and your family are responsible for my prison sentence and it is time to let everyone here in this court know, what is going on.” Alexander turned his attention to the judge. “Your honour, Lord Manfred Jugson was deeply involved in this mess. He was the one, who ordered Eric to break into Amelia’s office and get the files about the undercover aurors. Furthermore, when they found out about O’Neill, Jugson Sr. had ordered his son to deal with O’Neill, but Isabella did it, which was not in his plans.”

The judge asked him more in detail and Alexander talked like a canary about Manfred’s involvement. The Jugsons looked ready to throw a killing curse. That fucking bastard will cost them everything. He only had gotten five years in prison and he would be sitting in one of the lower cells, whereas Isabella will spend 50 years in a maximum security cell, where the dementors’ exposure is higher than in the lower cells. He shouldn’t be whining about his prison sentence.

When O’Connell was finished, everyone felt the fury from the Jugsons and for Corban, Christina and Cyrus, it was satisfying. Richard Rowle looked through the evidence and came to the conclusion that Manfred Jugson was indeed involved in Christina O’Neill’s ordeal. He continued with the verdict.

The verdict was that Christina won the lawsuit and gained half of the Jugson estate. This infuriated Manfred and his remaining children to no end. His family is nearly bankrupt, because of that. The goblin in the court hearing was told about the exact number of gold that would be given to Christina O’Neill as reimbursement and the transfer would be done today. Tomorrow, it would be finished. The verdict became magically binding and the hearing came to an end.

Alexander O’Connell was taken back to Azkaban. The Jugsons stormed from the courtroom in a fury. Their family lawyer just shook his head and was afraid that he would lose his position as the Jugson Family lawyer, but he doesn’t care. He would return back to work for the barrister department, but he would receive a lower paycheck. Family lawyers are better paid than normal lawyers since the families are paying them a lot of money, but since the Jugsons have lost half of the estate, it could be possible that he wouldn’t be able to continue with his position any longer due to the lack of funds. Christina was shaking Cyrus’ and Corban’s hand and was thanking them for helping her against the Jugsons. Both said that it was no problem for them of getting justice for her. It was about time that Lord Jugson suffered the repercussions.

December 28th, 2002

Today’s edition of the newspaper was the results of the court hearing of Christina O’Neill against Lord Manfred Jugson. The wizarding world was stunned that the woman had won her suit against a lord of a noble house.

The blood purists were enraged that someone lowly like Christina O’Neill had managed to take away half of the Jugson estate. How could the court rule in favour of this bitch? There must have been something fishy, but unfortunately, there was no proof of that since the representation of O’Neill was none other than Lord Cyrus Greengrass, a politically powerful man in the Wizengamot and the school board. Manfred was completely furious. He thought things couldn’t get worse, but he was wrong. Because of Isabella, he had lost half of his fortune to O’Neill. He should have disowned her, but the last words of his wife were stopping him. Eric was stunned and furious about O’Connell’s betrayal. That man will pay for destroying his family. Evelyn was ready to curse the student body in Hogwarts since they were bothering her about her family’s downfall. She also wanted to pay a visit to her older sister and make her suffer to the next millennium for this mess. Isabella and Ulrich were screaming in fury. They couldn’t believe that their family is now bankrupted. Ulrich was cursing Isabella for this mess that she had caused for his family. How could she be so reckless? Isabella was screaming obscenities in her cell, how they had no right to take away her family’s fortune and that Christina O’Neill, Corban and O’Connell were going to suffer for destroying her family’s legacy and power.

Dumbledore’s followers and the members of the Grey Alliance were excited about the outcome of the court hearing. They were glad that the Jugsons are bankrupt and would be useless for Voldemort and his cause since without money, Voldemort wouldn’t be able to fund his cause of blood supremacy.

Dumbledore was worried that one of the families that was loyal to Tom has lost half of their fortune. This was a setback for his plans for Voldemort and his followers, but he can’t do anything regarding this issue. He can only sit back and watch, how things were proceeding for now.

Great Britain, December 31st, 2002

This year the New Year celebrations were taking place in Greengrass Manor. Narcissa reflected back, what had happened during this year, and she felt happy that Dumbledore’s plans and nominations that he wanted to pass have failed. Akira was still safe with his parents in Japan and not abused by magic-hating relatives. She hoped that nothing will happen to him even though Lucius and she had a bad feeling, when they visited Akira and the Kurusus to celebrate the boy’s birthday. Their son is growing like a weed and was a happy and babbling boy. Lucius and she had thought that Draco should start to attend kindergarten after the summer holidays this year. It had its advantages and disadvantages, but at the end they decided against it. Although their baby boy could learn to socialise with other children his age, both were still afraid of the accidental magic that Draco could do in front of muggles since kindergartens are only known in the muggle world and the wizarding world doesn’t have something like this. Unfortunately, the school board is not responsible for the kindergartens since they are leaning towards the term of childcare and not education and for that reason, it had to go through the Wizengamot. But Narcissa is sure that no one would vote against the motion. It could be a good nomination during the next Wizengamot meeting, but that can wait. Now, she had a celebration to enjoy.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office and was lost in thought. This entire year had gone bad. He didn’t understand, what was happening, but nothing had gone his way. All the nominations for this year had failed. But why? What was going on? Why did the Wizengamot and the school board voted against his motions? They had allowed three classes to be updated and that was a giant setback that would take years to fix. Albus confronted Filius about the change, but the filthy half breed had the gall to say that since he had approved the curriculum back then in the 50s, he thought that it would be nice to teach the children the international standards, so that the students are up to par with the rest of the world. Albus had been ready to kill. Why did he give his approval to that dratted curriculum? He never thought that this would bite him back hard.

The next thing, he did was checking up his house elves that were guarding the horcruxes that Tom had created. He was still furious that two horcruxes were destroyed. He had killed the goblin and the house elf that were responsible for guarding the two horcruxes for their failure. His plans were threatened with the destruction of the diary and the cup, but he was thankful that the other horcruxes were still intact. The locket was still in the cave. The diadem was here in his school. The ring is still in the Gaunt Shack, and he is ready to get it, when it is needed since the wards around the shack were weak and easy to break. And Harry is still with the Dursleys, which is good since he was sure that the boy was going to be weak and malleable and easily to be controlled. His plans would work at the end.

When the countdown began, everyone started to count down the last ten seconds of this year. With that finished, the New Year 2003 was welcomed.