April 2003
Weasley Manor, April 1st, 2003
The twins celebrated their fifth birthday and all of the Weasley children were there for Fred and George. There were many guests from the Grey Alliance and like always Molly was furious about the dark wizards and witches that have come to celebrate the twins’ birthday. She always enjoyed the birthdays, when Arthur had behaved like a good and light wizard and there were people that she approved of being around her children, but now she despised those days since Arthur was also inviting death eaters and death eater sympathisers to her older boys’ birthdays and is allowing them to corrupt her poor babies. There must be a way to fix this mess, but how? She can’t get out of her punishment and Albus needed to know that Arthur is betraying the light to the dark. Albus’ plans are at risk, because of her husband.
Bill was enjoying a piece of cake with Fleur, who will celebrate her own birthday at the end of April. They had gone to her fifth birthday last year and it was nearly a disaster, because there were many witches and wizards that looked down on them due to their home country. Many muttered that Lady Magic made a mistake with making Bill Fleur’s creature mate and soulmate. Arthur was annoyed and had been ready to leave the party earlier, but was stopped by the Delacours, who were furious about the disrespect that their acquaintances had shown towards Arthur and his five boys. There were some thinly veiled threats against those, who looked down on Arthur and his boys, as a warning that the Delacours would cut ties with them, if they were disrespectful towards their daughter’s soul and creature mate.
Another aspect that was worrying Bill are the end of year exams. Last semester, he had his midterm exams before the Yule holidays started and he had studied really hard for them. He was glad that Professor Hecat was the new tutor in Transfiguration and she taught him everything that he needed to know on the international scale. Then, there were the Yule holidays. The first week was spent with revising for his exams and doing his holiday assignments. The second week was hellish. He had to do exams in English, Math, French, Latin, Geography, History and Science, which includes Biology, Chemistry and Physics that were examined separately. He was happy that he had passed everything with many Os and some Ees, but it had taken a lot of work. Thankfully, he had three months to study for the exams.
The spring break was more enjoyable since he didn’t have a lot of work to do, but it was hard since he had the holiday assignments to do that he had managed to finish after four days. Now, he can enjoy another relieve before he had to go back to school and prepare himself for the final exams in June.
Jaques, who had started with the other seventh years to tutor the younger years, was also a great help since the tutoring did help the seventh years to revise for their NEWTs better than everything else, but Jaques was only able to help him, when he was there and not with Anton, with whom he has been going on dates, when he had some free time.
Doge Manor, April 2nd, 2003
Albus was sitting at the head of the table and was discussing with his followers the Wizengamot meeting on Monday. This time, Albus was planning to ban all dark alchemic elixirs from their world due to their harm that they are doing to their society. In reality, the dark elixirs are mostly used for healing and for protection. One of the elixirs was also able protect the consumer from the Cruciatus exposure, but it was banned and to make matters worse, it never reached the public. The elixir would have protected the victim’s mind, but it still would have been painful, but if Frank and Alice had these protections, they wouldn’t have been tortured to insanity. They would have had problems with the mobility of their arms and legs, but their minds wouldn’t have been damaged. Arthur was going to warn his allies about this nomination.
When they were finished discussing about the proposal, Albus changed the topic to the happenings in the ministry. Most had nothing to say about the matter in the Registry Department and the Office of Ministerial Regulation much to Dumbledore’s annoyance, but there were some that were more observant. “Albus. There is something that would interest you.” The said man perked up and turned his attention to Mundungus Fletcher, who had called him out.
“Yes, Dung, is there something that you have noticed?”, Albus asked hopefully.
“Well, I have seen Amelia and Yaxley in Diagon Alley entering and exiting the bank with the same suitcase that Hestia had seen two weeks ago after they had left Crouch’s office”, Mundungus reported. He had made sure not to mention the glasses that he had used, in order to look through the notice-me-nots and disillusionment charms on the suitcase since these glasses were illegal and are only used by aurors and the magical law enforcement. Anyone unauthorised could have their glasses confiscated by the DMLE and he couldn’t risk that.
Albus was happy about this information. Finally, something useful. “Thank you, Dung. This information is useful.”
“Maybe the suitcase is entailing evidence for a new case, Albus. Aurors are using suitcases, in order to transport evidence from one place to another”, Hestia explained. “They also put notice-me-nots and disillusionment charms on these suitcases, in order to get to the bank without anyone noticing that they were carrying something. I am asking myself, why they didn’t use the floo?”
Many were confused for the time being forgetting to ask Dung, how he was able to see the suitcase that was layered with notice-me-nots and disillusionment charms, but Alastor had explained his suspicion. “I believe that they had a meeting with the Chieftain or the director of the bank and that the case is also involving the goblins. If Gringotts gets involved in an auror investigation in the wizarding world or a criminal case, then, the investigating aurors are required to use the main entrance and are forbidden from using the floos or the portkeys since it would be perceived as an attack against the Goblin Nations.”
“Then, we must act, if the goblins committed a crime in the wizarding world. We can’t sit here and allow these filthy creatures to get away with their criminal actions against us”, James growled. The others agreed since many hated the goblins with a passion, but Alastor quickly stopped the commotion. “Silence!” Everyone was silent, but many were glaring at the old grizzly auror. Alastor turned a stony glare at his former trainee. “Laddie, we are not sure, if either a goblin or a wizard or a witch is involved in this case. You should know that if I say that if Gringotts gets involved in a criminal case or an investigation, then, it could also mean that one of the human employees in Gringotts could be involved in this. Furthermore, we don’t even know, what the case is about or who is involved, but one thing, I am sure. That case must be a high-ranking one, if two head aurors are involved and Barty is keeping quiet about the investigation.”
Many were furious, but they had to admit that currently, they had nothing, but one thing is sure. There is a high-ranked case going on that two head aurors are investigating and this case also involves the goblins, which could be dangerous, if they were not carefully enough. Albus had to make sure that his more-excitable followers are not causing any problems since they could get arrested or worse cause a goblin war, which would be a bad idea.
He quickly told his followers to get him as much information as possible about the case, but he also warned them not to arouse any suspicions, so that they do not get fired.
With that, the meeting came to an end. Arthur left the office in thoughts. Maybe he should talk to Amelia and Corban first about the case that both were investigating and warn them that Dumbledore and his fools are aware of what they were doing and that the idiots are going to try to get information about the case. They need to be ready.
Bones Manor, April 5th, 2003
Before the meeting could start, Arthur sent a letter to Corban and Amelia, so that he could discuss some important matters with them that he had gathered from the order meeting and about the case that both head aurors were investigating. So, Amelia and Corban were waiting for Arthur before the meeting could start. When the floo flared, Arthur stepped through with the twins, who he had sent to play with little Susan. Whereas the children were busy playing under the watchful eye of a house elf, Arthur sat down in the lounge with the others talking.
“Arthur, you wanted to see us.” Amelia smiled at her friend in the ministry, but she knew that something was bothering him. Corban gave the man an acknowledging nod and noticed the same.
“Yes, it is important and very concerning. Amelia, Corban, I don’t want to endanger any investigations that you two are doing, but Mundungus Fletcher had seen you both going into the bank with a suitcase. Hestia and Alastor explained that this only happens, if there is an investigation going on and that this investigation is also involving the goblins. The entire order is aware of, what you are doing, but they don’t know, what is going”, Arthur explained. Corban and Amelia were slightly panicking. Great. That was the last thing that they needed. Both also swore to make Fletcher suffer. They knew that the only way, he could have seen the suitcase is, if he had used the Revelio glasses that were classified as dark artefacts since with them, anyone was able to see through glamours, notice-me-nots or disillusionment charms. They are going to make sure that the man would regret this.
Both aurors were discussing, what they wanted to tell Arthur and came to the conclusion that they should tell him that there is an investigation going on and that the case is completely classified. They both turned their attention to Arthur. “Arthur, can you make a vow of secrecy?”
Arthur nodded and made the vow. Both sighed in relief and began. “There is an investigation going on, but the only thing, I can tell you that it does involve an untrustworthy Gringotts account manager and a corruptive department head in the ministry, but this is everything that I can tell you. This case is for now classified. No one outside Bartemius, Corban and me should know about the investigation, but it seems like that there are still some leaks happening. I will have to report this to Bartemius about this leak and from there, we would be able to make Fletcher suffer. That man will spend some time in Azkaban for endangering a classified investigation and leaking out highly-classified information.” Amelia was ready to kill the crook. The man has been causing problems and they will not allow the man to continue, but they also can’t expose Arthur’s role in this since the order could become suspicious that they had another spy, who is betraying the order, and Dumbledore and his followers will try everything to find out, who it is, in order to remove the threat. So, they had to look for other ways to arrest Fletcher. Maybe there was someone, who had seen that Fletcher was using the glasses. It would help them in the long run.
After some time, both head aurors calmed down, but there was going to be hell to pay, when they get their hands on Mundungus Fletcher.
All three waited for some time until the other Grey Alliance members arrived and Arthur, Amelia and Corban made their way to the formal meeting room of the manor. When the others arrived, many took their seats and Arthur explained the order’s plan to ban the darker alchemic elixirs from their society. Augustus and Thorfinn just shook their heads. That man is a fool. Like the darker potions, most elixirs were used for healing or for protecting the body from harmful curses. There was even an elixir that could have protected Frank and Alice from going insane through the Cruciatius exposure.
“That man is even a bigger fool. Doesn’t the man realise that most darker elixirs were used for healing or for protection. One of the elixirs had the ability to protect Frank and Alice Longbottom from going insane through the Cruciatius exposure”, Augustus explained.
“WHAT!?”, everyone shouted in fury.
Callidora was completely furious. “You want to tell me that there is an elixir that could have protected Frank’s and Alice’s mind from the Cruciatius exposure and I am getting this information now. Why wasn’t it made public? The aurors would have benefited with this kind of protection during the war.”
“Because Dumbledore had it banned here in Britain and the publication about the elixir was supressed”, Thorfinn explained.
Callidora let out a curse. She will make that old fool suffer for this. “We need a distraction for that fool’s nomination and point out the benefits of the elixirs. That fool is going to regret this. I will make the protest against Dumbledore’s proposal due to Frank’s and Alice’s conditions. One of you will make a distraction.” Many liked the idea since Callidora as a grieving grandmother and great-grandmother would be able to sway the Wizengamot against Dumbledore’s motion. But they needed a distraction and Narcissa knew a perfect way, how distract Dumbledore with something that would be a threat to Dumbledore’s world, but it would be very popular within the public.
“How about, if we open up a shelter for witches and wizards and their children that are living in abusive homes. It would help many witches and wizards to escape from their abusive spouses and save many children from a bad environment”, Narcissa suggested. Everyone thought that the idea sounded to be good to be true and many made plans, how to ensure the safety of the shelter and how to make sure the staff is reliable. Narcissa suggested that the staff should sign a strict secrecy contract, where they are forbidden from exposing the whereabouts of the shelter.
With that plan in mind, they also made plans to put the current restrictions and bans against the dark elixirs under question.
Wizengamot, April 7th, 2003
Another first Monday of the month, another WIzengamot meeting. Albus was confident, when he had opened the session and when there were not any assignments or reassignments, he was able to start the session without any issues. Dumbledore nominated to ban the dark elixirs from their world due to the damage that they could do to their society. Callidora had to restrain herself from snarling at the man and his nonsense that he was spreading. The man continued to drone on for half an hour about the dangers of dark magic to their society and how it could ruin lives.
Narcissa repressed a yawn and Lucius didn’t look any better since he was ready to fall asleep. “If he continues to speak like this, I will summon a bed here to lay down instead of sitting on this hard wooden chair that is made to kill butts”, Narcissa commented.
“Yes, but it is also a tactic of his to annoy the Wizengamot members in such a way that they would vote for his nomination. We need to make sure that his proposal is failing and not passing through. And Narcissa, if you can’t sit comfortable on the seats, then, you can bring with you a seating cushion or you can use cushioning charms on the seat”, Lucius explained chuckling knowing that the seats here are really uncomfortable. He had been using cushioning charms on his seat, in order to sit comfortably. Narcissa just grumbled making a mental note to either cast a cushioning charm or use seat cushion. Lucius knew Dumbledore very well and he is aware of his tactics. He made sure to warn the others about his tactics in the Wizengamot, so that they would be prepared.
When Dumbledore was finished with his motion, he continued, if there were any other nominations. This time, Clara Yaxley rose her wand. “Lady Yaxley?”, Albus said in a fake happy tone.
The woman rose from her seat and announced: “Lords, Ladies, I am nominating to open up shelters for spouses and their children that are living in abusive homes, where they could escape from their abusive spouses and save their children from a bad environment. The staff in this shelter should ensure the safety of the victims and in order to make the staff reliable, they should sign a strict secrecy contract, so that the shelters remain secret.”
The nomination was seconded by Arthur Weasley, who explained that the muggles had something similar for spouses and their children, who were living in abusive homes and it had worked very well.
When Dumbledore noticed his followers’ reaction, he quickly stepped back from his post and quickly put up privacy and silencing wards around his followers, in order to discuss the nomination quickly and quietly without making a big scene.
When Aurelia Acton took over, she asked, if there were any other nominations. This time, Callidora Longbottom rose her wand. Aurelia turned her attention to the Longbottom matriarch. “Lady Longbottom?”
The woman rose from her seat. “I have a protest to make regarding Lord Dumbledore’s ban against the dark elixirs. Lord Dumbledore didn’t mention that most of the dark elixirs were used for healing and protection. We also banned an elixir that could have helped my grandson and granddaughter-in-law from being tortured to insanity. This elixir would have been able to protect Frank’s and Alice’s from going insane even though, their mobility would have been restricted. They would still have been harmed, but they would have been able to recognise their son, my great-grandson. Did you know that both are not able to recognise me, Augusta or Neville due to the hell, they had been subjected to? I am also blaming this body for banning the protection that could have helped them” The woman gave everyone a cold glare and waved her wand to summon the paperwork.
After everyone got the papers about the elixirs, they swallowed hard and felt a little bit guilty, when they found the elixir that could have helped Frank and Alice Longbottom from being driven to insanity. The other elixirs were used for healing and protections, which would have been useful for the St. Mungos healers and the aurors in the ministry.
Everyone knew that allowing this nomination to pass would lead to problems. Aurelia continued with the session after Callidora’s protest was taken into consideration. “Are there any nominations or protests?”
Amelia was the one, who rose her wand. “Lady Bones?”, Aurelia announced.
The female head auror stood up and began. “Lords, Ladies, I am nominating to put the current bans and restrictions against the alchemic elixirs under question with all these revelations.” Aurelia nodded and added the nomination to the docket.
When Dumbledore was finished with the argument in his section, he retook the podium and questioned Aurelia, if there were any other nominations. The woman explained Amelia’s motion, which made Dumbledore frown in disappointment. The man hoped that this proposal wasn’t going to pass with his explanation. Dumbledore moved over to the votes.
The first nomination regarding the ban of all the dark elixirs from their world failed epically. Dumbledore was stunned and furious. What is going on? That couldn’t be happening. The second motion passed with a great majority. Only the darker purebloods and his followers voted against it. The last proposal passed with a narrow majority, which infuriated Dumbledore and his followers to no end. Before there were any protests, the meeting came to an end.
James was furious that Amelia was making such dangerous nominations. That woman needed to stay away from his sons. It was a mistake to make her Harry’s godmother, but it is too late to reverse this decision. But he can make sure that the woman stays far away from his son, when they have their family reunion.
Hog’s Head Pub, Hogsmeade
Aberforth Dumbledore was less than pleased, when his brother entered his pub, in order to have some dinner. He hadn’t seen the man for two months. Aberforth never liked his brother due to his past actions and inactions. He blamed his brother for the death of his sister and his partnership with the Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald during the Global Wizarding War. Aberforth knew, what his brother was capable of and what kind of destruction, he had caused to the magical world since he was aware that Albus had been in contact with Grindelwald during the war and both had helped each other with their plans for their world. Aberforth remained quiet since he knew that no one would believe him and that his brother is manipulative cunt. He had prayed that someone would put a stop to his brother’s machinations, because he knew that Albus’ views are harming their society and it would also mean the death of magic, and it seemed like that his prayers had been heard.
Aberforth had been doing Samhain rituals since his sister had died, in order to talk with her every October 31st. But when he made another Samhain ritual in 2001, his sister informed him that a Grey Lord has been born and that according to Lady Magic and Lord Death, he and those, who will help him, will bring death and destruction to Voldemort, his brother and their followers. Finally, someone is going to make sure that Albus pays for his crimes and transgressions.
Aberforth noticed the pensive expression on his brother’s face and knew that things didn’t go his way during the Wizengamot session. He had read the newspapers about the Wizengamot meetings from last year and he is sure that this must have been a complete disaster with all these setbacks. His brother had complained about the lost votes in the Wizengamot and the school board and it was satisfying to see his world being slowly torn to pieces. He had saved the newspaper articles about Albus’ misfortune during the Wizengamot and school board meetings.
Seeing the thoughtful expression on his face, Aberforth couldn’t resist to ask. “So, Albus, another failure at the Wizengamot?”
Albus sighed deeply. He hated the jab. “Yes, I don’t know, what is going on. This time, I managed to stop an argument within my section, but regardless of my efforts, I have not only failed to make my nomination to pass, but at the same time, I didn’t manage to stop the counter-nomination to my proposal.”
Aberforth narrowed his eyes. He knew that something was going on and he is sure that there is someone or multiple someone that are stopping Albus and his plans. “Maybe next time, you will be successful”, Aberforth lied knowing that Albus’ time as a rising star has come to an end.
Albus huffed at that. Easier said than done. He is still unsure why his nominations are not passing, but he will find out and make the Wizengamot pay for their disrespect. Albus began to eat his dinner with a sigh. The man was still thinking, why everything is going the wrong way.
DMLE/St. Mungos, April 10th, 2003
Bartemius was ready to celebrate. He had managed to get the search and arrest warrants against the illegal brothels that were exposed by Patrick Selwyn’s goblin contact. The minister gave his approval to the search warrants and he filed the arrest warrants against the managers and the staff of the brothels. Furthermore, Bartemius gave both head aurors the green light to arrest any clients that they could get their hands on. But one aspect made the head of the DMLE furious and it was Mundungus Fletcher, who is endangering the investigation. He informed Amelia and Corban that they should deal with Fletcher after the May trials. For now, the focus should be on Patrick Selwyn and the three brothels and not on a crook. He quickly called Amelia and Corban to his office, in order to get ready and get back-up for the raids of the brothels.
When Amelia and Corban entered his office, Bartemius quickly told them to close the door and made motions to come and take a seat. “Amelia, Corban, the arrest and search warrants were approved by the minister. You need back-up, if you are searching the brothels and arresting the managers, the staff and the clients of the brothels. You also have to arrange mind healers for the youths and minors that were involved in this kind of business. So, you need to be carefully since this is going to be a delicate matter.”
“Yes, Bartemius, we will be careful”, Amelia answered and turned her attention to her partner. “Corban, you go to St. Mungos and prepare the mind healers. I will get the aurors for the search and I will make sure that none of them are going to be untrustworthy.” Corban knew, what Amelia’s message is. She will not choose Dumbledore’s and Voldemort’s followers in the DMLE for the searches and arrests since they were unreliable. Corban flooed from Crouch’s office to St. Mungos, in order to get the mind healers that specialised to deal with children and Amelia went to the DMLE and ordered her most trusted aurors to be ready for the storm against the first brothels.
She made sure that none of them had any allegiances with Dumbledore and Voldemort and were trustworthy. The first thing that Amelia did was to request the aurors to take a vow of silence and then, she explained the situation with the three brothels and that they have search and arrest warrants against the managers and they had the right to arrest any clients that they manage to catch. The aurors nodded and prepared themselves for a long week.
Like Amelia, Corban did the same with the mind healers in St. Mungos. They were informed that also minors were involved in the brothels and they needed every help that they could get. The reaction was a bit volatile since many mind healers were outraged that minors were used as sex workers and he could understand their anger since he himself is a father of three children.
Corban knew that everything was ready and they were ready to get to work. The mind healers were ready to take care of the children. The sexual abuse coupled with being raped would cause extensive damage to the minds of the children and youths. It would take years of therapy for the children and youths to get over this mess.
Knockturn Alley
Amelia and Corban with a team of aurors made their way to the first address and prepared themselves to storm the first brothel. Corban quickly put some anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards, in order to make sure that the clients, the staff and the manager do not escape. Amelia quickly stunned and restrained the doorman and they continued with their next phase.
Corban gave the aurors a nod that it is time to strike. From all entrances of the building, the aurors stormed the brothels and started their work to arrest the clients. Amelia and Corban entered the brothel from the main entrance and both had their wands on the manager and the staff. “You all are under arrest. Now, let’s move on.”
“You have no evidence against us”, the manager snarled.
Corban snarled back: “Oh yes, we have. One of your clients has sung like a canary. I believe that the former account manager, Halrick, told us everything, what is going on in this establishment. We can interrogate him again, if he recognises you.”
The man growled in rage. This was bad. This was beyond bad. He warned Patrick that goblins could be untrustworthy, but the man didn’t listen since he had handled everything and the DMLE would never suspect anything. Now, everything has gone to hell. He needs to warn the other brothel owners, but the aurors confiscated everything even his instruments that he had used to stay in contact with the other brothel owners. What was he supposed to do now?
Amelia and Corban had satisfied smiles, when the clients were escorted out with handcuffs. Many made threats against them that they would use their connections in the ministry to get them fired for this or that their families are going to destroy them politically, but both knew that these were only barks without any bites.
Another team of aurors were leading the children and the youths out. They were a lot gentler and were leading them to St. Mungos. Corban had seen that one of the children was the same age like his eldest and he was ready to carve those bastards up for what they had done to the minors. Amelia quickly stopped Corban from doing something stupid. “Corban, they are going to pay. Azkaban is going to be a nice stay for them.” Corban nodded and smiled knowing that those fools are going to suffer hell.
Both head aurors planned that the next brothel would be raided in three days, because they want to go through the building first, in order to look for evidence.
Hogsmeade, April 13th, 2003
In the outskirt of Hogsmeade, Amelia, Corban and a team of aurors were making their way to the second brothel that was hidden in the outskirt of the village. It is time to dissolve another brothel and arrest all those involved. Bartemius told them that Patrick’s arrest warrant would be done after the third brothel is cleared. Gerald and Bartemius came to the agreement that they would set up a trap against Selwyn, so that he doesn’t escape justice. The Selwyns had many properties around the world, where Patrick could hide and that could be risky. Gerald would write a letter, where Selwyn would be demanded in the ministry and from there, they would strike.
Reaching the address, they found a villa with many wards surrounding the place. The ministry curse breaker started to work on dismantling the wards and making sure to deactivate the monitoring charms that would alert the managers of their presence. When the wards were gone, the aurors began to work.
Like last time, Amelia, Corban and the other aurors surrounded the building and stormed it from all sides. The ministry curse breakers put up wards that wouldn’t allow the clients and the staff to flee from the building. The floos are locked and there are anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.
One of the staff members tried to use the floo, but failed since the wards blocked the floo, and the manager tried to use the portkey, but the device was inactive. The man shook it, but it didn’t work. Amelia and Corban started to throw stunners at the manager and the staff, when they tried to flee. Some tried to fight against the aurors, but they were overpowered and handcuffed. They are going to face many charges.
Like last time, the aurors led two different groups. The bigger group led the clients and the staff to the ministry holding cells. The clients made many threats, but unfortunately, there was nothing that can fix this since they were caught in the act. This group was thrown in the ministry holding cells. The smaller group led the minors and young adults to St. Mungos, where the healers would take care of them.
Bartemius was pleased. Two gone, one to go. For the next three days, the aurors are going to be busy collecting evidence against Patrick Selwyn and all those that were involved in those brothels. According to his calculation, they would arrest Selwyn before the school board meeting at the end of April. Gerald will write a letter to Selwyn that was going to be a trap and then, Selwyn would go down.
London, April 16th, 2003
Amelia and Corban let out a sigh of relief. The last three days were hellish. They had to go through a lot of evidence in the villa that was found in the outskirt of Hogsmeade. They had made many additional arrests since the youths that were off-age gave up their memories, who the clients were. Even some aurors that were connected to Voldemort were arrested and charged for sexual abuse and rape of minors. The ministry has undergone a clean-up, which ruined many lives. Nearly every arrest involved a blood supremacist. A minority were paedophiles that were a danger to society.
Now, they had to deal with the third and last brothel, which is going to be harder than the other two brothels since it is in a muggle area. They had to contact the muggle authorities and those that were in the know about the magical world were explained the situation. The muggle authorities that were aware of the magical world started to close up the surrounding area of the brothel, in order to make sure that the aurors were able to storm the brothel properly and unseen by their kind. The ministry curse breakers dismantled the wards and the raid began.
This time, the staff was even more vicious and threw some Unforgivables including the killing curse. Corban threw a dark cutting hex at one of the staff members that started to throw the killing curse at the incoming aurors. Thankfully, the aurors managed to dove behind the counter from being hit. The hex cut the man’s throat open, which made the others desperate and furious that one of their own had fallen. Amelia used the blasting curse on two of the staff members and managed to throw them off balance. Corban quickly used the banishing charm, which blasted the remaining staff away. Both aurors heard many sickening cracks of cracked bones. The remaining staff fell on the floor unconscious. Checking them up, everyone was alive apart from one. A woman died by the impact since her neck broke ending her life instantly. “Another causality. Bartemius is not going to be pleased.”
“It’s alright, Corban. Apart from that, no one was able to predict that this would happen”, Amelia said. Corban had to agree and both started to handcuff the staff and a team of aurors led them out. The clients were also arrested and some were high-ranking ministry officials that were threatening with lawsuits and dismissals from their current positions. Bagnold was not going to be happy about this.
When everything was cleared, the aurors started to collect evidence. It will take some time to get everything since the charges had to stick or the case was going to be dismissed.
Bartemius was stunned that some high-ranking ministry officials were involved in these brothels. He would have to call the minister for this mess since she had the power to remove their political immunity from them. If a high-ranked ministry official is arrested, they only had the right to hold them in the holding cells for 48 hours.
He quickly left the scene and went to write another emergency notice to the minister that he had sent off and he ordered the aurors to collect evidence against those officials.
Minister’s office, April 18th, 2003
Bartemius was sitting in front of the minister’s desk and waited for the woman to go over the evidence that the aurors had collected against the high-ranked members of the ministry before they could get out today. Bartemius had seen that Milicent looked like, she had swallowed something nasty.
The minister was sighing, when she was going over the evidence of those, she trusted. Well, so much for trusting them. This is clear abuse of power and corruption and she didn’t imagine, what this would do to her and her position as minister. The only thing that she could do was to lift the immunity of these high-ranking officials and cut all ties with them before things could get worse for her and her administration.
Bartemius knew that expression. The public would react negatively to this and the ministry would face a backlash, but Bartemius knew, how to lower the backlash. “Millicent?” Bartemius tried to get the attention of the minister, which worked. “Yes, Bartemius.”
“I know that the situation doesn’t look good, but I can give you a suggestion, how to handle this situation.” Bartemius smiled.
“I am listening.” The minister turned her attention to the head of the DMLE.
“The investigation is still classified and closed to the public since our goal is to arrest Patrick Selwyn and we are getting closer and closer with our case. The only thing, I can suggest, if you allow my head aurors to investigate your and your administration’s involvement in these brothels. With that, we would be able to weed out those that would harm your administration greatly. With that, we would be able to lower the backlash, if Amelia and Corban prove that you and the rest of your administration had nothing to do with the brothels.” Bartemius knew that this was going to be risky, but it was the lesser of the two evils. There was going to be a backlash. He was sure of that, but it could be minimised to a certain degree.
Milicent sighed deeply. This couldn’t be avoided, but with that she would be able to remove those, who are untrustworthy. Since the case is classified, no one was allowed to know about the investigation. The reporters would be troublesome, when the investigation is finished, but Barty’s idea, she would be able to minimise the damage. “Alright, I will allow you to interrogate me and the entire administration under truth serum. Would that suffice?”
Bartemius smiled and answered: “Yes.”
“Good, tomorrow, you will start with the interrogations. I will be there first.” Milicent looked at him strictly.
Bartemius nodded and left.
Leaving the minister, Bartemius made his way to his office and ordered the head aurors to come to his office. After everyone was seated, Bartemius activated silencing, privacy and secrecy wards, which made some uncomfortable. Amelia and Corban were curious about the meeting, but remained quiet. Bartemius started to explain to the other aurors in the office about the investigation against Patrick Selwyn and that the case has been highly classified. Furthermore, he told them that Amelia Bones and Corban Yaxley were investigating against Patrick Selwyn. Both head aurors were aware of the information since they were investigating the case. The other head aurors were startled by the information and some from Dumbledore’s camp were giving them slight glares. They should be the ones to investigate this case, but no, it was given to Corban and Amelia.
Amelia and Corban wanted to ask Bartemius why he was revealing the case to the other head aurors, but the man quickly explained the reason why they were called here. “But now, I am coming to the reason why I have called you all here. Amelia and Corban had caught some high-ranking ministry officials that were involved in those brothels. The minister gave the DMLE the approval to interrogate the entire administration. The interrogations will start tomorrow and you need to be discreet about this matter. I will interrogate the minister personally. Minister Bagnold agreed that she and her administration were going to be interrogated under truth serum, in order to clear the matter up.”
“For now, the case has been classified since our goal is to arrest Patrick Selwyn and we can’t risk to let him know that he is under the DMLE’s observation since he could escape, if he finds out that we are investigating against him”, Bartemius explained. Many understood the situation and prepared themselves for the next day.
After everyone left, Bartemius was glad that the secrecy wards would make sure that none of the head aurors were going to expose the investigation to the public.
Ministry, DMLE, April 19th, 2003
Bartemius dropped down on his seat exhausted. The entire day was hard. He had interrogated Milicent first and the minister was able to prove her innocence under truth serum. With that, he turned his attention to her administration and they had found some members, who were involved with the brothels. They were immediately stripped of their immunity and were excluded from the administration, which infuriated them to no end. Bartemius had taken great pleasure in hearing their protests and threats, how they were going to make sure to have him demoted from his position as head of the DMLE. He wanted to laugh since these charlatans have no idea that they don’t have any support anymore from the minister and her administration and he is sure that anyone, who was involved with them in the past, had severed all ties with them, in order to save their faces and reputations. They had been thrown in the holding cells, where they would await trial. Bartemius asked himself, what they had been thinking? Did they believe that being a high-ranking official of the ministry would protect them from persecution? Well, they were fools.
Bartemius also noticed that most of them were blood supremacists and this was good for his books to have them removed from their positions of authority.
Then, there were the victims. A majority of them were muggleborns, who had been snatched away from their parents as children or hadn’t had any career possibilities after graduation. He had asked himself why the underage children were not registered in Hogwarts until he found out that there were some wards that stopped the registration of the children in the Hogwarts registry, which explained why Hogwarts wasn’t able to reach them.
Bartemius shook his head regarding the graduates. He is cursing the lacking education in Hogwarts since the school was offering the bare minimum of classes and there were many classes that were cancelled. He was glad that there were many that wanted to improve the education of the next generation. Bartemius was not a fool. He knew that Hogwarts was lacking and that needed to change. Look at the graduates that had worked in those brothels. They didn’t find proper jobs since there wasn’t a Wizard Study class, where the students would have learned, what it means to be a witch and wizard and how to get around in the wizarding world.
Bartemius hoped that the education of Hogwarts was going to improve. At first, he had doubts since Dumbledore was headmaster and head governor at the same time and he had been limiting the curriculum and cancelling many classes. Now, he wasn’t sure since there were some changes in Hogwarts and there was Lady Malfoy’s motion to open up a primary school. Three classes had been updated to the ICW curriculum and he had been listening, how Dumbledore was working hard on limiting the curriculums, but was failing since the governors started to become contrary and were voting against his motions. Bartemius supported these changes and he is sure that soon Hogwarts was going to change to its former glory, if not greater, if he takes the primary school into consideration.
Returning his focus back to the current situation with Patrick Selwyn, his next plan of action was to send a message to Gerald Carrow to end the suspension on Patrick Selwyn, in order to get to his final phase of his plan. The arrest of Patrick Selwyn. After that was finished, Bartemius was sitting behind his desk and smiled. Soon, another blood supremacist was going to fall from grace.
Gerald Carrow received the notification from Bartemius that it was time to enact their plan to trap Selwyn and started to work on the letter that he was going to write to Patrick Selwyn, where his presence would be demanded on April 21st. He couldn’t wait to see the bastard arrested and he hoped that Patrick paid for his crimes during his trial.
Quickly finishing the letter and sending it, Gerald prepared the paperwork to have Patrick Selwyn dismissed from his position as department head and have him fired. Furthermore, he was going to blacklist the man from the ministry, so that he would never manage to get a job in one of the departments here.
Ministry, April 21st, 2003
Patrick was pleased, when he had received a letter from Gerald Carrow two days ago that his presence was demanded today. He was sure that he was going to be reinstated back to his position and he will make Gerald suffer for what he had done to him. Confidently, he made his way to the Office of Ministerial Regulation not noticing that two head aurors were following him.
Arriving at the department, he was led to Gerald’s office by the secretary. Patrick sneered at the mudblood. Soon enough, his lord would return and take control of the ministry. This unworthy filth will be eradicated from their society and he is sure that their world is going to be cleaned.
Entering the office, Patrick wore a victorious smirk on his face thinking that he was going to regain his position as department head back. Gerald was going to wipe away that smirk from his face, when he reveals that he was not only demoted, but also fired and blacklisted. The man would leave this office jobless and in handcuffs. “Mr. Selwyn. You are on time. Please have a seat.”
“Thank you, Lord Carrow.” Patrick sat down. “I believe that we hurry this up, so that I can return back to work.”
Lord Carrow wanted to snort, but managed to withhold it. That man is so full of himself, but soon enough, he will learn some humility.
“Well, Mr. Selwyn, there are some bad news regarding your expectations to get back to work.” Gerald opened Patrick’s file. “Mr. Selwyn, you are hereby fired from your position as head of the Registry Department and due to your unjustified actions, you are also blacklisted from here.”
“WHAT?! You can’t do this?!”, Selwyn thundered in rage. This couldn’t be.
“Mr. Selwyn, you violated many regulations and rules in the ministry. What have you expected? That you would have gotten away. Now, get out of my office.” Gerald hid his smile, when he had seen Selwyn’s outraged face.
Patrick was ready to storm the office. He was ready to go to the family lawyer and demand from him to find a way to fix this mess. He will not accept this. But before he could leave, Gerald gave the man a warning. “And Mr. Selwyn. There is something else. Your family lawyer had been informed of your dismissal. He had received all the information that I have gathered against you. Do not think that I am incapable of reiterating.” Patrick was furious. Things couldn’t get any worse.
Leaving the office and making his way out of the Office of Ministerial Regulation, he was stopped by Amelia and Corban in front of the entrance of the Office of Ministerial Regulation. Patrick didn’t have the patience to deal with them. “Lord Yaxley, Lady Bones, I don’t have any time left. I have an appointment with my lawyer.”
“This has to wait, Mr. Selwyn”, Corban said in an annoyed tone. “Patrick Selwyn, you are under arrest for corruption, bribery, exploitation of minors, rape, accessory to rape, accessory to sexual abuse and sexual abuse of minors as well as owning and financing three illegal businesses.”
The aurors started to handcuff the man. Patrick was infuriated. Things could get worse. “You have no proof.”
“We have a mountain of evidence against you that was provided by the goblins. Furthermore, we also found the three brothels and dissolved them. Furthermore, we found your magical signature in the buildings and the owners have confessed under truth serum that the brothels belonged to you. You are busted, Mr. Selwyn”, Corban explained with a smirk on his face. “Get going.”
Both aurors were dragging Selwyn to the ministry holding cells. The man was making all kinds of threats, but the aurors ignored him. After locking him up, he demanded the Selwyn family lawyer, which was quickly arranged. They also handed the Selwyn family lawyer the file that entailed their evidence against him.
“Patrick, there is no way out of this”, Tiberius Warrington answered with a sigh, when he had gone through the evidence that the aurors had collected against his friend. “The evidence is damning. You either plead guilty and I will manage to work on a lower sentence or you could get a life sentence in the worst-case scenario.”
“Tiberius, this is not a joke. Our reputation is endangered. You need to find a way to get me out of this mess”, Patrick hissed in rage.
Tiberius growled. “Patrick, there is no way out of this. Please, take the plea deal. You would make things worse for your family than it already is. I am saying this as your lawyer that there is no way out.”
Patrick fumed. He will not accept this lying down. The man shook his head and returned back to his cot. Tiberius interpreted this that he will not take the option of doing a plea deal, which is an annoyance. “Very well, then prepare yourself for a nice hospitality in Azkaban.” With that said, Tiberius left the holding cell. He made his way to the atrium, from where he flooed to Selwyn Manor, so that he can inform the rest of Patrick’s family of the said man’s arrest.
Selwyn Manor
Quintius Selwyn was raging, when he was informed that his brother has been arrested and to make matters worse, that fool refuses to make a plea deal with the courts. Tiberius told him that the evidence is clear as day and that there was no way out of this. Either Patrick takes a plea deal or he will spend decades in prison since the man is sure that he would be questioned under truth serum, if they manage to avoid veritesarem. Quintus knew his brother very well. He had always wanted to prove himself and was too prideful to admit that he was in the wrong.
But now, things are different. His brother’s pride could destroy everything. He could reveal that he and the rest of the family were aware of the brothels and that they did nothing. This would be enough for a lawsuit that could bankrupt the Selwyns beyond saving. He needed to stop that.
His family’s legacy is threatened and he needed to find a way to stop his brother from talking, if he is questioned under truth serum or worse under veritesarem. But what can he do? Killing his brother wouldn’t solve anything. It would only bring upon suspicions against his family and that would be the last thing, he needed. Quintus needed to think.
Hogwarts, April 23rd, 2003
Another order meeting was taking place in Hogwarts. The topic that was discussed were the duo spells. Dumbledore wanted to restrict certain duo spells in the Charms class and he had prepared a list that were too dangerous for the little children to learn. This time, it had to work since he could use that to restrict the trias spells and ban the maxima spells. He had been working hard to get the spells restricted or banned. Furthermore, Albus was annoyed that he didn’t restrict the duo spells first and worked his way up to restrict the trias spells and ban the maxima spells. So many mistakes and it had costed him nearly everything in these last months, but he knew a way to salvage this. He will fix the mess that the neutrals had caused. After all, he is Albus Dumbledore. He had been running this world for nearly half a century. He will not allow those upstarts to cause trouble for him.
Albus quickly explained the nomination to his followers and impressed upon them not to fail him this time. Many made promises not to fail.
When that was out of the way, Albus turned his attention to the ministry especially the DMLE and the Office of Ministerial Regulation. He was annoyed that most of his followers hadn’t had any information, what was happening. Only Doge and Hestia had some valuable information regarding both offices.
He allowed Doge to speak first since his great niece is working in the Office of Ministerial Regulation and she knew, what was going on. “My great niece had told me that Selwyn’s presence was demanded in Carrow’s office. The man was confident, when he entered Carrow’s office, but after he left the office, Selwyn looked ready to kill someone. It seemed like that he was either demoted or fired from his position as department head.”
“Well, we can celebrate that another death eater had been removed from a position of authority in the ministry”, Sirius said in an attempt to sound cheerfully. Many were happy, but some had a sombre tone like James.
James argued: “What should we celebrate, Sirius? That a death eater removed another death eater from the ministry. We should be doing this and get credit and not someone evil like Gerald Carrow.” Many agreed on that. They were not happy that someone like Gerald Carrow is getting credit for dealing with corruptive ministry officials. It should be them, but unfortunately, none of them was senior enough to become head of the Office of Ministerial Regulation.
Albus sighed. James was right. If dark wizards and witches like Gerald Carrow are getting credit for removing corruptive officials and Tom’s followers in the ministry, then, they would get a good image in front of the public and any accusations against them of being Voldemort’s supporters or blood supremacists would not help them since there would be a backlash from the public, if they accuse Carrow of being a death eater, which would be counterproductive. They needed to make some headway in the ministry, in order to get some credit and make sure that they were portrayed as the people’s heroes and the ones, who are fighting against corruption and blood supremacy.
It is no wonder, the neutrals were seen as more favourable than the light to some muggleborns. Amelia Bones and Corban Yaxley are members of the neutral fraction and they have gotten credit with the arrests of Aurelius Yaxley and Isabella Jugson. The public had heralded them as good people and heroes, who are fighting for justice and equality, which is angering his more radical followers, who hate anyone dark. Gerald Carrow had many connections within the neutrals and even though the man was sitting in the dark fraction, he is leaning neutral, which is an annoyance, if he wants to create a clear rift between light and dark.
“This is not the only thing that had happened, Elphias. After he had left the Office of Ministerial Regulation, he was arrested by Amelia and Yaxley. I wasn’t able to hear out the charges, but it doesn’t look good for Selwyn”, Hestia added.
Albus was frustrated. Those two are going to be the death of him. Through these arrests, Amelia and Corban are gaining a lot of influence in the ministry and are crafting an image that would gain them the public’s trust, whereas his followers in the DMLE would be invisible and wouldn’t be acknowledged.
A chattering broke out, where many theorised that there must have been another case that was classified by the DMLE. Amelia and Corban were responsible for the investigation and everyone came to the same conclusion that Crouch only trusted Amelia and Yaxley with the case, which is angering them. Why didn’t he trust Scrimgeour to help Amelia? He was a good and light wizard unlike Yaxley. Why did he trust Yaxley so much? There must be a reason that the dark wizard had gained so much trust from the head of the DMLE. They needed to find a way to destroy that, but how? Yaxley is basically untouchable, if he had the support from Crouch. Not even Rufus would be able to find a way to remove Yaxley from his position as head auror.
Albus came to the same conclusion and he was getting tired that Crouch doesn’t trust his followers in the DMLE with cases like these. Classified cases were also more high-ranked cases and it would have helped Scrimgeour to get the spot as head of the DMLE faster.
But for now, they had to see, what charges were filed against Selwyn and that was going to be difficult since the case was classified until the trials in May. Albus also noticed that some members of Milicent’s administration were missing and when he had questioned her about them, the woman only answered that they became untrustworthy and she had been forced to fire them from their positions of authority. She also explained that she had to replace them and Albus had planned to get his followers in the administration. Unfortunately for him, Milicent had also informed him that she already had selected, who would replace those, who had been removed, and when he had looked at the replacements, Albus was frustrated since only a few were loyal to him and the positions that his followers have taken were not as glamourous as the other vacant posts, which is annoying.
Albus sighed. What was going on? Why did Bagnold remove a part of her administration? What was the reason behind this? He had a feeling that Patrick Selwyn was involved in this, but he isn’t sure. He had to wait and see, what was going to happen much to his annoyance.
Malfoy Manor, April 26th, 2003
The meeting in Malfoy Manor was heated. No one liked Dumbledore’s nomination and they tried to find a new distraction. Narcissa was thoughtful about the parent consultation day and thought that the parents should be even more involved in their children’s education and there should be a parents evening, where the parents should also be informed by the staff, what the school year is going to offer. The parents would be given a basic outline, what they would be expected to do for their children. Narcissa presented the idea in front of the others and many agreed. But there were some questions that needed to be dealt with. “When should the meeting take place?”
“It should take place on every September, when the school year is starting”, Narcissa answered. Many agreed on that. They discussed the finer details until they came to the conclusion that this would be a perfect distraction for Dumbledore and his fools.
“We will make the protest and nominate the ICW primary school curriculum for Divination. The elective should be a pure theory class for everyone. Only seers should do the practical portion of the class”, Augustus explained. He knew that seers do exist, but they are rare. Many witches and wizards are able to see some glimpses of their future or see the signs that something good or bad was going to happen, but this wouldn’t be enough to do the practical portion of their OWLs and NEWTs.
After the Grey Alliance managed to build up their strategy, most turned their attention to Amelia and Corban. Amelia asked: “What is it? Is something on my face?”
Corban chuckled. “Amelia, I think that they are curious about the recent arrest against Patrick Selwyn.”
Amelia sighed. She should have known that someone was going to witness their arrest. “How did you find out?”
Narcissa answered: “Phineas told us. You were watched by Hestia Jones. I should warn you that you need to keep an eye on the woman.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Amelia really needed to keep an eye on the unstable woman. Since her soulmate died, the woman became more focused on her work and had been trying to look through old cases during the war. Amelia was sure that she was trying to find something to get Severus arrested, but it was useless. Severus received a full pardon, which means that any crimes that Severus had committed during the war was sanctioned by the ministry.
With that in mind, she informed everyone that they would have to wait for the trials at the middle of May.
School board, April 28th, 2003
Albus was absolutely furious. This meeting didn’t go the way, how it was supposed to go. He was confident, when one of his followers made the nomination to restrict the duo spells. He had thought that this time, he had managed to sway the school board to vote for his nomination, but unfortunately, Lestrange had interfered. The man introduced the parental evening that should take place on every September, where the parents would be informed about the children’s education and the on-goings in the school year. It would help that the parents are more involved in the students’ education and are better prepared for their children’s future.
From there on, an argument broke out since some of his followers were questioning the nomination and had even gone into hysterics that the motion must have a dark and nefarious reason. Albus didn’t like the proposal, but it wasn’t damaging his school and endangering his plans. But he was thankful that he was able to stop his followers from making a bad impression on the other members of the board.
It had taken nearly an hour to calm his followers down and make sure that the nomination isn’t anything dark or dangerous. When he had retaken his podium, Albus noticed that there was something in the air and he was right, when he had questioned Aurelia, if there were any other motions.
Aurelia explained that there was a nomination from Corban Yaxley to propose the ICW primary school curriculum for Divination. Albus sighed, when it was explained that the class would be theoretical, but for those, who have the sight, it would be practical.
Albus didn’t have the strength to argue and moved over to the voting. The first nomination from his followers failed epically. He didn’t understand, why it failed. What was going on? He is sick and tired that the nominations that he wanted to pass were not passing and those nominations that are not supposed to pass were passing.
The second motion from Lestrange passed with a great majority, which was irritating a little bit.
The last motion from Yaxley passed. The ICW primary school curriculum was an annoyance, but the class was a minor setback. This meeting as a whole was a setback.
Corban and Amelia may be smiling about the outcome of the school board meeting, but their thoughts were on other matters. Patrick Selwyn, the managers of the brothels and the clients may be in a holding cell, but they need to develop a strategy, how to make sure to lock them away for a longer period. Corban had theorised that the brothels were created for Voldemort’s campaign since Riddle needed money for his campaign. And what better way to gain money than running brothels and black markets. But Corban is also sure that Dumbledore had a role to play since the man’s name was mentioned in the brothels. Amelia and he knew that Dumbledore had a big role to play in this, but they weren’t sure what.
They have to wait for the trials in May, in order to find out the truth.
Returning back their focus on the results of this school board meeting, both were happy that Dumbledore’s motion didn’t pass and that their proposals got through. The protest was made by Pandora, who explained that without learning the duo spells properly, the students wouldn’t be able to do the trias spells and this could be dangerous for the students, if they start to learn the trias spell in their third year. The governors were easy to convince, if you give them the proper information and make it plausible.
Another aspect, where Corban was taking great joy in watching was Quintus Selwyn’s reaction about his brother’s arrest. The man had been thoughtful and seemed to be nervous the entire time. Corban smirked at that since the man is worrying that his brother’s conviction could destroy his and his family’s reputation.
Quintus Selwyn was lost in thought. After his brother was arrested, he had jumped into action to help him to the best of his ability. He wished that Patrick would plead guilty to the charges since his lawyer told him that the case was impossible to win. There must be a way to get Patrick to plead guilty before he could destroy the family’s reputation.
Unfortunately, his brother is too proud to admit defeat and this could cause many problems.
He needed to find a way to fix this.
Hogwarts
Jaques had a feeling that he was watched. Since the second term started, he had noticed that Fenwick’s friends were glaring at him. Especially, her two closest friends, Flora and Anna. Both girls were sending him looks of hatred, but he mostly ignored them. But the girls weren’t the only ones, who were looking at him with disdain. Fenwick had many friends in Gryffindor and they were very hostile towards him due to his betrothal to Anton or his criminal record. He was grateful that his housemates were there for him and were keeping a close watch on Fenwick’s friends.
“Hey Jaques, how are you?” Jaques was interrupted by his thoughts by a familiar voice. Looking down, he noticed William ‘Bill’ Weasley.
“I am fine, Bill. It is the same like every day. I have to study hard since my NEWTs are coming closer and closer and my final year is coming to an end.” Jaques just shrugged.
Bill gave him a mischievous grin and answered: “Well, then, good luck. I have still another five years before I am finished with Hogwarts. You only need to survive the next two months and then, you are finished with school. Apart from that, you need to be carefully around Anna and Flora. Both are planning something and I can tell you that it isn’t anything good.”
“Thanks for the warning. I am already aware that they are up to something and I am prepared for anything.” Jaques knew that Anna and Flora are not going to leave him alone and both girls would try everything to separate him and Anton, which will not happen.
Bill nodded and made his way to the Great Hall for dinner.
“Weasley!” Bill was startled, when someone called his name.
Turning around, he saw Anna and Flora making their way to him. He asked them in an innocent voice. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Stay away from that husband-stealing freak, Weasley. He is only trouble. Look what he had done to Sarah and the Fenwicks. He destroyed an alliance and brought only misfortune to the Fenwicks”, Flora snarled. Anna bobbled her head in agreement.
Bill just stared at them blankly. Those two are just delusional, but he had to deal with delusional fools that were following Dumbledore blindly in his house. Bill hoped that Charlie would not be sorted into Gryffindor. He knew that his little brother would be miserable with the lions. He argued: “But according to the Daily Prophet, the Fenwicks were to blame for the end of the Abbot-Fenwick alliance. Tamara Fenwick sent an insulting howler to the Abbotts and Sarah had attacked Anton last year. Are you sure that Greengrass is to blame solely for the end of the Abbott-Fenwick alliance?”
“Yes, the prophet has been writing lies, in order to make the Fenwicks look bad. Especially, Skeeter is full of lies. That woman never tells the truth and is making up stories. How that woman is still employed is beyond my understanding and why are there people that are believing in her stories?”, Flora said angrily. She never liked Skeeter. That woman is openly lying about everything, but no one does anything and allows her to write disgraceful articles that are ruining many lives.
Bill knew from his father that even though Rita Skeeter loves drama, she remains within the truth. He answered: “Very well, but you should not forget that Skeeter has gained a lot of influence with her articles and there are many witches and wizards that are believing in her stories.” Bill knew that this will set the girls off. Last year, when the Abbott-Fenwick alliance was terminated by the Abbotts and the reason behind the end of the alliance was made public, Sarah and her closest friends learnt, what it meant to be unpopular. Many students had distanced themselves from Fenwick and her friends due to the attack on Anton and the article.
Flora was frustrated since Weasley was right. Skeeter had a lot of influence within the press and there is nothing that can be done, but she is sure that Headmaster Dumbledore would find a way to get the woman removed from the Daily Prophet.
With that, Bill left the girls to their own thoughts. He knew that they were planning something big that would fail horribly.
After Bil left them, Anna and Flora were planning to take their own form of revenge against Jaques for ruining their friend’s chances of true love and happy marriage. They will free Anton from Greengrass’ clutches and make sure that the Abbott Family reinstate the alliance with the Fenwicks, in order to help them. They are sure that their friend and her family would be grateful, if they are successful. Both had discussed their plan without noticing that they were overheard by Severus.
The said man shook his head at the two foolish girls. He couldn’t believe, how stupid they were that this would solve everything. If Jaques came to harm due to their plan, Anton would have the right to meat out justice for his betrothed and make them suffer, for what they had done to Jaques. Not to mention what Cyrus Greengrass and his wife would do. He is sure that the current Lord Greengrass with his knowledge as barrister would make the girls pay for their attack on his nephew and this wouldn’t end up pretty. If things got worse, then, the Abbott and Greengrass families could declare both girls as enemies of their respective houses and this could ruin their lives in the magical world and it would destroy any career possibilities in the ministry.
But this wouldn’t be his responsibility since Minerva is the girls’ head of house.
Potter Manor, April 30th, 2003
This time the order meeting was taking place in Potter Manor. James was prepared for the meeting and he was sure that at the Wizengamot meeting in May, they would be successful. He was frustrated that the last meetings were failures. They are doing everything in their power to protect their world from the darkness in the magical society, but there are still some fools that are defending the dark and they are annoying. He wanted his sons protected from the dark influence in their world.
Arriving at the formal meeting room, James was glad that his close friends and allies were there. He had waited until the headmaster arrived, so that the meeting could start properly.
Charlus and Dorea were sighing deeply, when Dumbledore arrived and the meeting started with the man talking again some nonsense about the darker wards that had to be banned from their society, which would also include the blood wards. Charlus knew that the darker wards are more effective in their protections than anything else. He himself had casted them during Grindelwald’s rule of terror and those wards had done extensive damage to Grindelwald’s followers, because the wards were more volatile than the normal wards. Those fools lost either some limbs or even their lives in case, he had casted some blood wards.
Charlus still couldn’t understand that his son believes in this trash. He is wasting away his potential and Charlus could only watch, how James was turning into a fool. The man has also ruined his own core with his hatred towards anything dark. Charlus and Dorea had checked their son’s core, when he was an infant, and found out that he had a grey core. But during the years, the colour of the core changed. Before they died, their son’s core became light like it had happened with that mudblood bitch. Sirius’ condition was even worse since according to Walburga his core was dark, when he was an infant, and during his time in Hogwarts, it became light.
Remus on the other side was a werewolf that had rejected his own wolf, which is a mistake since every werewolf needs to accept his own wolf, in order to be in control of its mind and body. This is the reason why he is so dangerous in his werewolf form. To make matters worse, the idiot is consuming the wolfsbane potion, which is harming the wolf more since the potion is actually poison for the werewolves. It is exacerbating the madness in the wolf.
Both couples were forced to listen to another pointless meeting. They were sure that the newly dubbed Grey Alliance would stop Dumbledore’s motion.
Dumbledore was confident that they were going to be successful this time, but he is still cautious. “Are there any news in the ministry?” Albus changed the topic, in order to calm his followers down.
Hestia was the one, who answered: “It is the same. I have heard that Selwyn has meetings with his lawyer and his brother. I think that they are trying to find a way out of trouble, but I have heard from some head aurors that this was going to be impossible since there was a lot of evidence from Gringotts.” Many were sure that the man was going to be convicted. Even though the goblins were untrustworthy creature, they knew, how to delve into details.
Albus nodded in understanding and also annoyance. He wished that Rufus had known something, but it seems like that the man is either as clueless as he was or he was under secrecy wards, which would stop him from talking about the case much to his annoyance. Alastor said: “Maybe we should wait until the May trials. I don’t want to end up in Azkaban for leaking out classified information. From there, we would be able to find out, what is going on, legally.” Albus knew that the secrecy wards are the most likely option and, in this case, he had to wait. He doesn’t want to end up in prison for trying to information on classified cases.
Many agreed begrudgingly about this plan since getting this kind of information is difficult to get and too risky. They had to wait for the trials and see, what was going on.