Politics
“I don’t understand why we are even debating this. Right of magic was invoked and magic answered! The honor duel will happen!”
Arcturus watched as Lord Lestrange’s statement was met by a flurry of yelling from the light faction. They had been going at this for more than three hours at this point. News of the honor duel and the Clearwater girl’s use of right of magic was spread quickly through Wizarding Britain.
An emergency meeting of the Wizengamot had been called and Arcturus was surprised by the number of people who actually showed up. The only seats that were empty were those of Houses that no longer had any living members. Though, Arcturus was starting to get a headache at all the yelling that his fellow Lords were doing.
Minister Jenkins seemed to be doing nothing to quell this ridiculous show. Leaving all the work to the Chief Warlock, not that he was doing anything either. Harfang Longbottom was a respectable wizard, though how he came into the position of Chief Warlock would remain a mystery to Arcturus. He was ill-suited for the role, and it showed as the rest of the Lords were acting like children.
It was like being back at Hogwarts all over again.
“Lord Black, it is good to see you again.”
Arcturus turned and watched as Titus Greengrass took a seat next to him. Greengrass was a member of the gray faction, though they leaned towards the dark. Arcturus was friends with Titus’ father and had been saddened when he died.
He had to suppress a grimace, age was getting at him, and looking at the younger man didn’t help in that matter.
“Lord Greengrass, I fear that these circumstances are far from ideal, though it is good to see you. How are the wife and children?”
Titus grimaced at that as he looked at the rest of the assembled Lords. Any Wizengamot session was chaotic but seeing as how Lord Macmillan was screaming himself red in the face about not allowing the honor duel to go through, it was better to distract oneself before they have a stroke.
Arcturus had to admit that it was a unique sight. This many Lords present, and strange alliances were being made.
“Lavinia is good, she’s taken it upon herself to… plan ahead for our daughter’s… wedding…”
“Why are you giving me that look? I’ve yet to receive any letter from Corvus declaring his intention to marry, though he is courting your daughter.”
“Yes, but Lavinia would like the wedding to happen as soon as possible and to make everything official.”
“Corvus is his own man Titus, he has all put declared his intention to marry Octavia.”
“But it is not official. I’m still receiving betrothal offers for Octavia’s hand. It would help if they could make it official so I could stop having to burn half my mail.”
Arcturus smirked at that. He remembered Alphard burning several letters a day, all betrothal offers, when Corvus was just a baby. Oh, those were the simpler days.
“We shall speak of this later Titus; it appears that Macmillan has finally finished his spiel.”
“We cannot allow the duel to happen. It will set a precedence that cannot be allowed! If this is allowed to happen then every little disagreement at Hogwarts could lead to an honor duel!” Macmillan yelled.
“Please spare me these poor excuses Lord Macmillan. The two witches engaged in this honor duel are both nearly of age. They knew about the consequences when the duel was called for!” Lord Lestrange yelled back.
“Precisely! We cannot allow the children to duel each other with impunity. We may as well throw them into a dragon den!”
“Don’t be ridiculous Macmillan. We are all wizards here, and the children can protect themselves at Hogwarts. Unless you are saying that your children don’t know basic protection spells?” Lord Bulstrode said.
“I resent that accusation! My children are not the subject of this debate.” Lord Macmillan said, getting red faced again.
“So, you do admit to them not knowing a basic protego?”
“How dare yo-”
“ORDER! ORDER! Let us get back on topic my Lords! We are here to discuss the honor duel that was called forth by Fiona Clearwater on Dolores Umbridge, not questioning about the quality of parenting of Lord Macmillan.” Chief Warlock Harfang said, his voice raspy as he spoke.
“Minister Jenkins, the Clearwater girl invoked right of magic. We cannot interfere with the duel less we bring magic’s wrath upon us.” Lord Avery said.
“That is a preposterous excuse to allow children to fight in Lethal Duels.” Lord Weasley said.
“I think you are misconstruing what I’m talking about here Lord Weasley. An honor duel is different compared to the Roman Dueling Pits.”
“Clearwater never specified the limitations of the honor duel when she invoked right of magic. For all we know, this duel follows none of the dueling regulations.” Lord Macmillan said.
“Good, those regulations are overbearing anyway. Takes all the fun out of dueling.” Lord Lestrange said.
“We are not in Italy! If you want to see two wizards fight to the death, then go to Rome!”
“Maybe we should be following the Roman method eh, they seem to be doing just fine. Two thousand years of wizarding society untouched. Seems like blood sports are the way to go.”
Lord Lestrange’s comments were met with the sputtering and shocked outrage of many Lords, from all three different factions. There hadn’t been a lethal duel in almost sixty years. The International Dueling Regulations were put in place to prevent excessive injuries and death.
Arcturus sighed as the debate shifted away from the honor duel and towards the moral ethics of blood sports. The Romans were still doing various forms of dueling, including Lethal Duels, and Arcturus had seen on more than one occasion a wizard being killed in the Roman Dueling Pits to the applause of the spectators.
It seemed barbaric, but to hear the Romans talk about it, this was just a part of daily life for them. That was certainly a chilling thought for Arcturus. The Romans were all crazy in his opinion.
“Do you have an opinion Arcturus?”
“On Roman dueling?”
“On whether we should allow the honor duel to proceed as normal.” Titus clarified.
“Right of magic was invoked. The duel must go through, though having proper oversight would help in the matter of appeasing the more… light leaning members of this body.”
“You have no problem with the precedent that this sets?”
“Hardly, this will teach them to not take magic lightly. It will make sure that the children of tomorrow respect the Olde Way.”
“Speaking of, have you heard about the Fawleys? Rumor has it that they’re holding an Imbolc celebration.”
That certainly was interesting.
Many of the light families were moving away from the Olde Way. Traditional festivals and rituals were being forgotten and all for the sake of making it easier for the muggleborn to integrate with wizarding society. It left a bad taste in Arcturus’ mouth. He wasn’t a pureblood extremist like some of the Dark Faction, but he wasn’t going to just roll over as the Light Faction discarded their traditions like nothing.
“I had thought they moved away from the Olde Way.” He said to Titus, and the other man shook his head.
“Apparently they didn’t. Lavinia heard about it while having tea with some of the other ladies. Who knows, maybe the Fawleys will join the Greys.”
“I doubt that. Its not like the Light Faction would willingly allow one of their members to go astray.”
“Well stranger things have happened. Like what I’m looking at right now.” Titus said and Arcturus followed his line of sight.
Indeed, the sight that they were met with was a strange one. Cousin Cedrella, who had been disowned for marrying Lord Septimus Weasley, was having a cordial conversation with Lord Burke’s wife. Catherine Burke is a known pureblood supremacist, she in fact tried to revive the Muggle Hunting Bill.
So why was Cedrella talking to her?
He didn’t understand what was going on. For all he knew, Cedrella had embraced the values of the Light Faction. She was in support of muggleborn rights and taught her children much the same.
So, what in Merlin’s name was she doing talking to Catherine Burke?
“Well, at least they aren’t killing each other.”
It was then that a scuffle broke out. Lord Travers had apparently said something to Lord Macmillan, and had a fist impact his chin. Macmillan, face as red as a tomato, threw himself at Travers and a fight broke out. Arcturus could only sigh as he watched the Light and Grey Factions brawl it out.
He faintly heard Lord Lestrange mutter something about the muggle of them to fight with their fists.
Chief Warlock Longbottom couldn’t be heard over the shouting and screaming. The man’s voice was already half shot, and this might just do away with the other half. Minister Jenkins decided to step in when Lord Potter delivered a kick to the groin of Lord Crouch.
A loud bang was heard, and everyone turned to look at its source.
Minister Jenkins had her wand out and pointed towards the ceiling. She looked rather disappointed at the whole scene and Arcturus had to smother a grin at the faces of his fellow Lords. They all looked like they had just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Children, the lot of them.
“We will be taking a thirty-minute break, to alleviate ourselves of any, pent of emotions.”
With that, she gestured towards the doors and the mess of bodies started to disentangle themselves. Arcturus noted more than a few bloodied noses and bruised fists. There were mutters and glares, but they all refrained from starting another brawl.
“Well, I’ll say that this was a productive session.” Titus said.
Arcturus just sighed and made his way out of the Wizengamot Chamber. The Lounge was filled with leather chairs and sofas, as well as a number of tables filled with refreshments and small finger foods.
He immediately moved towards the refreshments and poured himself a cup of tea. The way that the Wizengamot Session was going so far, he was half tempted to add some fire whiskey to the drink, if only to keep him sane during these proceedings.
Everyone converged around the refreshments table and Arcturus quickly made himself scarce. He went to the side of the Lounge and sat down in the quiet corner. Just some tea and relative quiet to hold him over until this thirty-minute break was over. That was all he wanted.
So of course, someone had to ruin it.
“Don’t look so dour Arcturus, this session is hardly the worst.”
Arcturus watched as Dorea Potter took a seat in the leather chair next to him. His cousin had all but cut herself off from the family after she married Charlus Potter, so he was mildly curious as to why she was now talking to him.
“Well, it seems to be producing some strange events. I saw Cedrella and Catherine Burke having a civil discussion. I think Catherine even smiled.” Arcturus said and shivered at that image.
“This is a unique circumstance.”
“Why are you here Dorea? We both know that a family reunion isn’t something that you desire.”
“I can’t have a change of heart?”
“It’s been over twenty years.”
“Oh alright. I just wanted to see what you knew about the situation concerning the honor duel.”
Arcturus raised an eyebrow at her.
“Now you care for my opinion?”
“Arcturus, this honor duel could set a dangerous precedent for Hogwarts.”
“I hardly think that it would be dangerous. There already is a dueling club.”
“But this duel was called for by right of magic. There are no guidelines and rules here.”
“Magic is a wild beast Dorea, all we have done is learned to control it enough so that it doesn’t kill us.”
Dorea paused at that. “That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”
“I got it from Corvus.”
“Yo-”
“Apologies for interrupting, but if I could borrow Lord Black for a moment?”
Both Arcturus and Dorea turned towards this new voice. Lord Julian Clearwater was a large man with a solid figure and a head of greying hair. He had a hard face crossed with lines and a bushy mustache that hid most of his upper lip.
“Of course, Lord Clearwater. Dorea, we’ll speak more on this at a later time.” Arcturus said and gave his cousin a look.
“I will hold you to it Arcturus.” She said, taking the dismissal and leaving.
Arcturus took another sip of his tea as Clearwater took Dorea’s abandoned seat. The lord looked more uncomfortable, and Arcturus knew that it wasn’t from the chair. The other lords and ladies in the room were milling about and the general sound of chatter filled the air. Julian spoke his next words at a near whisper anyway.
“I know that Corvus is a friend of my daughter, and that he would go to great lengths to protect her. But there are… rather… concerning points in my family’s history. Ones that had remained unknown by myself until recently.”
“I feel that this conversation should be held in a more private setting, if it concerns your family in a way that would be damaging.”
“Damaging would be putting it lightly. I fear that the consequences would be most dire should this go the wrong way.”
Arcturus didn’t like this. Whatever Julian Clearwater was talking about was clearly something bigger than honor duels and rights of magic. Something so damaging to his family’s reputation? There were few things that would warrant such a harsh description.
“We will talk about this later. I hardly doubt that whatever it is could be so damaging as you claim.”
“I don’t want to mislead you Arcturus, but we all have skeletons in our cupboards, its just that some of our skeletons are more numerous than others.”
Arcturus didn’t like that sound of that. Nor did he like the possible political problems that it would cause. He sighed as he went over Clearwater’s words. There was a bad feeling to all of this.
As the two lords sat in silence, neither of them noticed a small beetle making its way from behind the leather chairs. A beetle that had a surprisingly good memory, and very keen ears.