Chapter 5
“Arthur?” Molly called out. It was the weekend, and Yule was just around the corner. The Weasley matriarch figured that, since there was an increase in her husband’s pay, reflected in the marked boost to their vaults, she’d be able to give her family a happy Yule celebration, indeed.
“Yes, Mollywobbles?” he replied with a grin as he came into the kitchen. She was baking up all of the cakes, pies and biscuits for the holiday feast, and she had flour smeared across her forehead. He fought the almost instantaneous hilarity that wanted to escape, but failed miserably as he bent double, laughter rolling around the kitchen and bringing the kids on the run. He finally got himself back under control and stepped up to his wife, a dish towel in his hand that he used to wipe the powder from her face.
“Now that you’ve gotten a raise, I thought we’d make this Yule a grand affair,” she told her husband with a fond smile. Arthur’s eyebrows snapped down over his eyes as he tried to make sense of what his wife had just said.
“I haven’t gotten a raise, Molly,” he explained carefully, confused as to how she’d come up with such a conclusion. “The Ministry has instituted a couple of much-needed new programs and offices, and they don’t have the available funds right now for raises.”
“But...but,” she stammered, confused, “our ledger balance shows that we’ve received an extra five hundred galleons monthly since...since…” Her voice faded as the newspaper article on Harry Potter’s death came back to her, and her fury hit the roof in two point three seconds flat. “That bastard!” she shrieked, scaring several years of life out of the kids and sending them scrambling back upstairs, hoping to all the gods that it wasn’t them at whom she was so angry. Ron, who was napping on the sofa in the living room, let out a startled cry and began to whimper, terrified that something was wrong with his mum. Bill quickly descended the stairs and grabbed his baby brother, spiriting him away to safety as his mother continued to rant. “First he sentences that poor little baby to a horrible death, then he steals from the child! I have half a mind to go right to that school and give him what for.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Arthur told his wife sternly. “We will contact Lord Riddle and explain that we are recipients of a payout from his deceased cousin’s vaults, and we will make every effort to pay it back.”
“Hopefully, neither he nor his husband will hold it against us,” Mrs. Weasley told her spouse softly. “Good thing I asked you about the money before I used it.”
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December 10, 1982
Lord Thomas Riddle
Frangokastello 730 11, Greece
Greetings and salutations, Lord Riddle;
We’ve never met, but I’ve been a great admirer of your policies in support of protecting magical children from their muggle abusers, as well as your efforts to see that our world remains safe from harm. My name is Arthur Weasley, and it’s come to my attention, through my wife Molly, that we’ve been receiving money from an undisclosed source. In putting two and two together, my wife and I have logically concluded that Albus Dumbledore has been stealing from Harry Potter’s vaults and paying us with the ill-gotten proceeds. My guess is that he’s doing this to curry favor with both the Weasley and Prewett clans, in hopes that we’ll support whatever legislation or plans he might have for our world.
We would like to return the funds to their rightful owner, but since the child has tragically passed and the inheritances were reabsorbed into the Peverell vaults, we are agreeable with the idea of returning those stolen monies to you and yours. We never intended to profit in any way whatsoever from an innocent child’s death; however, the money has come in rather handy in taking care of our rather large brood. Having said that, we don’t have all the money that had been taken from your cousin, so we’d like to know if you’d be willing to accept a payment plan until all of the funds have been returned.
We can’t spare much, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to make this right with you. Please let us know, at your earliest convenience, when we might meet and sign a promissory note on our magic, guaranteeing the return of the stolen monies.
Sincerely,
Arthur Weasley
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December 13, 1982
Arthur and Molly Weasley
The Burrow
Ottery St. Catchpole
East Devon EX9 7AZ, UK
Arthur Weasley;
Thank you so much for reaching out to my husband and I about the misappropriated monies that found their way into your vaults. Though we have more than enough wealth to last us several lifetimes, the fact that you are willing to make restitution to us, in spite of your struggles to make ends meet, speaks to the honor and integrity both the Weasley and Prewett lines uphold without much effort.
In exploring the Potter family tree, it appears that you were related to little Harry Potter through a variety of lines, and subsequently, that means that you are related to myself, as well. I understand that your position in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office was all for which you seemed to be suited at the time, but I think that I might be able to move you up in the Ministry, through various contacts. I can’t see someone with as much honesty and virtue that you have languishing in a department that makes ill use of your various gifts. So, I think I might be able to convince Minister Fudge to give you a leg up, as it were.
We need someone with your compassion and strength of character to be our eyes and ears in the wizarding world. Someone who could listen to all sides of an issue and cut to the heart of the matter in finding solutions for those issues. Someone who doesn’t see blood or heritage or circumstances of birth when dealing with the people. I think you’d be perfect to be the liaison between the Minister and the wizarding population. You could be the voice of reason when arguments get heated, and insults fly about. You could be the heart and soul of our world, uniting us as one people in ways that we haven’t been able to achieve as of yet. So, until Cornelius and I can make things happen for you, we will continue to allow that monthly stipend be deposited into your vaults.
Things for you are going to be rather unstable until everything is put into place, and you’ll need the extra help until the position has been established and you’ve worked in it for a while. You are a part of my family, and family always takes care of family.
Sincerely,
Thomas Marvolo Riddle
Severus Tobias Snape-Riddle
Hawthorne Thomas Riddle
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When Arthur returned home from work that day, he found his wife sitting at the kitchen table, tears streaming down her face as she stared at a letter lying open on the table. “Dearest?” he queried worriedly as he rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?” Molly didn’t say a word; she just handed him the letter to read as she pressed her sodden handkerchief to still watering eyes, stifling sobs as best as she could. Blue eyes fled over the page as Weasley’s mouth dropped open in unmitigated shock. Finally he finished reading, the missive falling from suddenly nerveless fingers as he pondered the implications.
“What does it mean?” Molly husked out, sniffling and trying to get her rampaging emotions under control. “Are we going to have to owe him for the rest of our lives? Are our children going to have to pay the debt?”
“I don’t think so, Mollywobbles,” her husband whispered as he fell into a chair. He took her hand and, as their eyes met, he smiled waveringly. “I think what Lord Riddle’s saying is that he’s welcoming us as family, since we have connected family history with his deceased nephew. I think he’s saying that he’s going to help us financially until I get a better job, and that he’s going to be the one to make sure I get a better job. He’s saying that we don’t have to pay back the money, and that we’re not in trouble for it.”
“But why?” the redheaded matriarch nearly wailed. “Albus has always told us that Lord Riddle was evil; that he doesn’t understand how to be a human being. Yet, with this single letter, he’s proven that he’s a more honorable and loving man than Albus ever was. How is that possible?”
“Remember, Molly, that the headmaster had set up little Harry Potter to die,” the Weasley patriarch explained gently. “I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but you know how the headmaster is when it comes to allegations of child abuse. Albus has something planned, and he’s creating fear of Lord Riddle as part of this plan. I’m sure that placing little Harry Potter with those muggles was also part of his plan. We’ll just have to keep an eye and ear out and see if we can figure some things out if we get the right information.”
“Darling, have you noticed that we haven’t seen or heard from Remus Lupin or Sirius Black?” his wife remarked thoughtfully. “I mean, both of them were the Potters’ best friends, and they all but disappeared right after that Hallowe’en attack. I can’t help but wonder if they might have had something to do with James’ and Lily’s deaths.”
“Don’t forget Peter Pettigrew,” Arthur reminded her quietly. “He was also part of that gang when they bullied the other kids in school. But, yes, I do agree with you. Their sudden disappearance is quite suspicious.”
“So you believe they might have been responsible for Harry's becoming an orphan, just like I do,” Molly remarked suddenly, brown eyes wide. “I know Albus always said that it was Voldemort who killed the Potters, but any investigations after that night didn’t reveal anything that would point to the Dark Lord as the culprit. But, why? Why would Dumbledore want the Potters dead? Why take that little boy out of the magical world and dump him on some worthless, abusive muggles? Why steal from him?”
“Oh!” the Weasley patriarch suddenly gasped, blue eyes wide. “I never told you about the Wizengamot meeting, did I?” At the negative shake of her head, he continued, grinning a little evilly. “Lord Riddle allowed Regulus Black to become proxy of the Peverell, Slytherin, Gaunt and Prince votes, and they were all changed to Tory. He also took control of his own seats and designated them Tory. Most of the Neutrals also changed to Tory, leaving Albus with sixteen seats aligned Whig and four seats remaining Neutral. If you couldn’t guess, Bones and Longbottom remained neutral.
“Now, Albus has both the Weasley and Prewett seats as Whig, but I’m seriously considering changing my votes to Tory, and I’d encourage you to do the same. The control of the Wizengamot was taken from him during the session, giving Chief Warlock to Regulus. I wanted to talk to you before changing our designation, but it slipped my mind. I don’t like where Albus is going with his ideas, and I don’t appreciate him voting against any legislation that would see to the safety of all magical children. What do you think?”
“I think we need to go where our hearts guide us, husband,” she told the man quietly, proud that he was showing her the man she always believed he could be. “I will give you proxy of the Prewett seats until Bill is old enough to take up the mantle of Lord Prewett. Great auntie Muriel hasn’t been a part of the Wizengamot since great uncle Maurice passed on, and I think it’s well past time for us to have our voices heard once again.”
“We’ll meet with some of the other Whig Lords and Ladies, and see if we can talk them around to switching sides,” Arthur told his wife with a mischievous grin. “I think explaining our thoughts on Albus’ complicity in the death of Harry Potter, as well as the theft of funds from his inheritance, as far as we go, could be the crack in his support base that we could wedge wider, with more information on his misdeeds and his skewed ideals. We might even be able to convince them that Lord Riddle isn’t the monster that we were led to believe he is, and hopefully get even more support for the man in the years to come.”
“He’s going to need it, if he intends on taking on Albus Dumbledore,” Molly agreed with a grimace. “We’ll be there, lending him support and strength whenever he needs it. It’s far past time that someone took that old man down a peg or two.”