Interludes I Forgot
31 October 1994
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
6:35 P.M.
Albus, smiling as the three champions had been led towards the antechamber, suddenly frowned as the Goblet of Fire's magic flared once more, disgorging a fourth slip of paper.
"Harry Potter," Albus sighed out before looking up to address the Great Hall. "It appears that, somehow, Harry Potter's name has emerged from the Goblet of Fire. It might not be widely known, but Mister Potter has been in Thailand attending some personal business. He has been regularly in touch, and intends to arrive in Britain fairly soon. However, I must stress that Mister Potter has not been in Britain since July. I have no idea how Mister Potter's name got into the Goblet, much less emerged as a fourth competitor. But rest assured, we will be taking every step towards finding out how such a thing has come to pass."
An hour (and much complaining, shouting, and whining) later, and Albus was at the floo in his office.
In Thailand, Eshan Pembrow replied, "I'm sorry Supreme Mugwump, but Potter left Thailand about two weeks ago with the Black Lagoon Courier Service."
"Blast," Albus' head spoke through the flames. "Would you happen to know his itinerary?"
"He would most likely be in Japan right now," Eshan admitted after sifting through his paperwork. "I know he intended to take the international portkey from Tokyo either at the end of October or in the middle of November. I'd wager that to be your best bet."
Ten minutes later, he was leaning out of his floo in disappointment. No, the Japanese magical authorities didn't know where Harry was, as he had mostly disappeared from their active view after assisting with a pack of werewolves a week prior. Yes, they'd let the Portkey Authority know to hold Potter on the authority of the Supreme Mugwump, and the interdepartmental paperwork would be sent within a couple of hours.
Finally Albus was seated in his chair. He felt old, like events had finally gathered enough speed that he wasn't able to keep on top of them. Shaking his head to stop woolgathering, he began going back over the competition contract for the Triwizard Tournament. In truth, only Crouch comprehended the minutiae of it all, but Albus was certain that he could get a solid grasp of it from his experience as a politician.
"Albus!" Minerva shouted as she stormed into the office. "What are we going to do about this?"
"Be calm, Minerva," Albus replied, peering over his spectacles. "I have passed word to the Japanese portkey authorities to hold Mister Potter on my authority, and am now going over the competition contract."
"And that means what, exactly?" Snape asked, stepping out from behind Minerva.
"It means," Albus began with a sigh, "that unless Japan's bureaucracy is as mired as our own, he will be stopped from taking the portkey in Tokyo until I am contacted. I can easily portkey the both of us here. However, unless I miss my guess with all of this," he continued, gesturing with the contract, "Harry will be fine to return to Britain after the First Task. Unfortunately, the Japanese aurors don't know where he is, much less how to contact him at the moment. Otherwise I could have Fawkes flash me there, and I'd bring Harry back to remove his magical signature from the Goblet's contract. All of us Triwizard judges have this right if we vote in a majority, but it has to happen within twelve hours of the drawing."
"So keep him away until after the First Task," Severus summed up, "and he'll automatically be exempt for being on the other side of the planet. If he arrives after the task, the bindings will automatically fail, and he'll be fine."
"Correct, Severus," Albus confirmed. "Will that be all, Minerva?"
------
17 August 1994
Ministry of Magic, DMLE Offices
4:30 P.M.
Amelia Bones swore as she went through the transcripts of Harry Potter's pensieve memories, as Scrimgeour was arranging parchment on a corkboard on a section of her office that they'd expanded. She and Scrimgeour had gone through them before handing them over to the Forensic Memory people. The sheer amount of evidence was daunting, and the contents were horrifying.
"Trial In Absentia," she commented, "looking like a bribe to Bagnold from the Black accounts."
"Agreed," Rufus replied, posting another bit of parchment that they'd gotten from Gringotts. "No sign as to the briber, but Bagnold's account was made fifteen grand fatter the day before thanks to a draft from the Black accounts. Potter's legal counsel also intimated that we should look at where the Ministry placed the twenty grand for the Potter Cottage."
"Good point," she murmured, flicking through paperwork. "I'm seeing the authorization, but the destination is... missing. Who's on that?"
"Leighton, in Taxes. Potter signed off on a full audit."
"We're done there, then," she admitted. "They'll let us know when they find it. And if a Last Scion has signed, there's no bribing them away from it."
"Next we have the Kiss On Sight order for Black after his escape," Rufus offered up. "Fudge was paid twenty-five thousand the day before the Wizengamot session that authorized that."
"It's not illegal," Amelia admitted with a groan. "The laws were never updated to prevent bribery as 'Campaign Donations'. Hell, it's practically part of the pay scale."
"Fair point," Rufus agreed. "Weasley is about the only department head who won't take a bribe. He may be standing with his integrity, but most everyone thinks he's an idiot for that. Especially since the pay scale hasn't been adjusted since Albert's time."
"Didn't Queen Victoria herself require the adjustment?" Amelia asked.
Rufus shrugged at the question. "Probably. About all I remember from the histories is that Prince Albert personally delivered the edict. But it hasn't been brought to current values in about a century."
"And nobody's going to vote to make bribing officials illegal," Amelia groaned out. "What else?"
"Fudge taking pay from someone is nothing new," Rufus stated, "but this one smells like it came from Narcissa, rather than Lucius. I doubt that Lucius could successfully play the public safety angle with dementors mixed in. My money would be on her sprog inheriting the Black assets."
"Wouldn't Sirius have been disinherited?" Amelia asked.
"Should've done," Rufus admitted before tapping a bit of parchment, "but he wasn't. Since the bribe to Bagnold came from the Blacks, I'll wager that it was his dearest mum that paid out, while dear old dad had a different play, whatever that might have been."
"Good point. So, we have the possessing spirit of You-Know-Who, a great bloody basilisk and a memory of young You-Know-Who, and apparently You-Know-Who in a homunculous body with Peter Pettigrew and a spell-proof snake. And there's nothing we can do with this, is there?"
"I doubt it," Rufus admitted, finally sitting in a chair before wrapping his hand around a tumbler of brandy. "That Minister isn't going to want to listen to any of this, nor the Wizengamot. You-Know-Who is dead, and that's the official statement. I think the only person that would back us on this would be Dumbledore."
"And after the maze of terrors that a pack of first years could make it through, followed by a basilisk the next year, I feel myself having trust issues with the man," Amelia admitted, letting her monocle drop to her chest. "I'd pull Susan out of Hogwarts in a second if it wouldn't spark everyone asking questions about it."
"Another good point," Rufus responded after a sip. "Potter got Fudge to revoke the Kiss On Sight order, and everything else is rather on hold until something new comes in to tip matters."
"I always hated this part of the investigation," Amelia spoke, sipping her gin. "Crouch was always so much better at it. But yes, nothing more to be done at this juncture except for waiting on the tax people. I get the feeling that Potter's return will upend a great deal of our society. Put that up to an OWL in Divination."