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🕑 Added 2022-12-23 22:10:02 +0000 UTC*****
“How do you think Harry is doing?”
Xander looked over from where he was tinkering with his bike, the worry in Hermione’s tone clear. Not that he couldn’t relate, there wasn’t anything wrong with his bike, after all.
“Don’t know,” He admitted. “He’s got support, and Dumbledore is a big gun on his side, though… combined with the aces in the hole he has…”
Xander shrugged. “He’s probably doing ok…”
“But…?” Hermione asked, leadingly.
Xander snorted, “But it’s Harry.”
“Right,” She looked sour at that, but didn’t have any response.
“If there’s a pile of a sh… crap,” Xander edited himself quickly, “Harry will find it and fall face first in it.”
Hermione snickered, trying but failing to mask it with one hand.
“Course, he also somehow comes out the other end, smelling like roses,” Xander said. “So I wouldn’t worry too much about it. No point borrowing trouble, y’know?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Wish I could be there.”
“Better we’re not,” Xander sighed. “You’re a muggle born, I’m a foreigner. We’d probably weigh in against him in that crowd.”
Hermione grimaced, but couldn’t find fault with that no matter how hard she tried.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Xander said firmly as he finished cleaning up a smudge on his bike and got up. “Then we can figure out what to do next.”
*****
Harry frowned as he thought over the information being pushed.
“A ministry representative in Hogwarts?” He asked, curious. It didn’t sound too bad.
Andromeda nodded slowly, “I wonder who they have in mind.”
“Does that matter?”
“Oh, most certainly. The last thing we need is someone like Lucius teaching at Hogwarts,” Andromeda snorted. “He’s capable, patient, subtle when he needs to be, and can plan long term. He does crack when things start going wrong around him, not a great man to have at your side in a crisis… but he’s a political animal, and a predator at that.”
Harry scowled, listening to the debating. “How do we find out?”
“We ask.” She said, reaching forward to touch a jewel inset in front of her.
It glowed and a few moments later, Dumbledore looked in their direction.
“The chair recognizes the representative of Houses Black, Potter, and Windsor,” He said, sounding reluctant.
Harry was more amused to note that Fudge looked even more concerned than Dumbldore, shooting a fearful look in his… or, more likely, Andromeda’s direction.
“Thank you, Chief Mugwump,” Andromeda said as she rose to her feet. “My Regent and I would ask who the Ministry intends to assign to Hogwarts, and the full details of their remit. We cannot in good conscience vote in favor blindly, I am afraid.”
That caught several of the others in the room by surprise and a silence fell as the room shifted, focusing on Fudge as they waited for the response.
It was clear that the Minister felt the shift too, as he looked around with a nervous sweat forming on his forehead. Not beading down or anything, but certainly visible.
“Well, Minister?” Dumbledore asked, looking over at the smaller man.
“Well, uh,” Fudge edged forward. “I believe it is paramount to the education of our children that we take this serious, yes… certainly. To that end…”
He seemed at a bit of a loss, looking around briefly, but rallied quickly.
“To that end, I believe that none other than my own undersecretary is the clear choice,” He said, his tone becoming boisterous. “Reporting directly back to me, I will be able to determine what best serves our children personally.”
He nodded firmly to the Wizengamot, seeming to sneak a glance in Malfoy’s direction, though Harry couldn’t really be certain, and then stepped back.
Harry did see the toad-like woman from earlier puffing up with pride and self importance, however. He did not like this.
“We can’t vote for this, she’s…” Harry hesitated, uncertain how to describe her. The woman was like the worst traits of his family, including Aunt Marge, distilled into a single person. He could see that.
“She’s a blood purist, and a self important petty tyrant,” Andromeda said thoughtfully. “A strange choice on Fudge’s part.”
Harry blinked, looking over at the woman, “Really? I thought she was right up Malfoy’s line? She may or may not be a death eater, but she’ll fit right in.”
“Too much,” Andromeda said as the murmurs of debate picked up again. “That woman has no sense of patience, subtlety, or any redeeming features that I’m aware of. She’s a wrecking ball, you don’t send someone like that for a job that requires a scalpel. Fudge just overplayed his hand… look, to Dumbledore.”
Harry did as he was bade and quickly frowned curiously.
“What’s he doing?”
“He’s signaling his faction,” Andromeda told Harry, “telling them to vote in favor, unless I’m greatly mistaken.”
“What? Why?”
Her face was set in stone, lips pursed into a thin line.
“Because it will be easy to give her enough rope and let her hang the Minister with it,” Andromeda grumbled.
Harry shook his head, “And that’s not… good?”
“It’s typical Dumbledore,” She sighed, “Not bad, not good… exactly. In the long run, it’ll solidify his base if it plays out as I expect it will…”
“In the short term?” Harry asked, though he was nearly afraid to.
“Temporary disruption at Hogwarts, which will impact your education,” She said wearily. “Not great, but possibly far from the worse possible outcome. Better the devil you know, sometimes Harry. Dumbledore doesn’t want to leave Malfoy and Fudge plotting where he can’t see them.”
Harry grimaced.
He didn’t like the sound of either option, but couldn’t see a third.
“Are we voting with Dumbledore then?” He asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“We’ll have to decide quickly, but it’ll depend on the room,” Andromeda said, nodding to the rest. “They’re about to start calling for votes.”
Indeed, Harry spotted Fudge stepping forward to do just that, and Dumbledore making it official. He felt a surge of panic as he didn’t know what way to vote. Beside, him, however, Andromeda just calmly watched the room as the first votes began to be cast.
It only took a few seconds before she nodded and settled back.
“Well?” He asked, at an honest loss.
“We vote against it,” She said. “It will pass despite that, however.”
Harry slumped, “Then… why vote against Dumbledore?”
“I would have likely voted with him, if he needed the votes,” Andromeda admitted, “however he doesn’t. His faction is mostly going along with this, at his order. Their votes, combined with Malfoy’s faction, will put the Minister over the top. We’re voting against it in order to appear to be the voice of reason when this blows up in the Minister’s face.”
Harry just stared, blinking.
He really didn’t get politics.
*****
Albus watched as the vote progressed, already making plans for dealing with the minister’s undersecretary and whatever she intended to bring to his school.
The move was largely unsurprising, except in that Lucius was apparently allowing it.
Curious.
Delores Umbridge would be a frustrating disruption, there was no question of that, but Albus had little doubt that if he allowed it… she would also quickly topple herself with little help needed.
He would speak out against ministry interference at Hogwarts here and there prior to the start of the session, and place himself in a position to reap the rewards when she inevitably managed that. Many of the Wizengamot would take some minor hits in popularity, including those from his own faction, but he would be certain to repair that damage in the public eye among his supporters.
The rest? Well, it would be leverage to keep them in line.
Young Harry’s vote is cast… against. Unsurprising.
He had little doubt that Andromeda had come to the same conclusions and was making the same move now that he would shortly do for himself. Albus chuckled ruefully, noting that by getting their vote out against it now, she and young Harry would be even better situated than he.
It was a pity, in some ways. Had they voted in support, he would have been able to help young Harry repair his position and gain some favor that way. Andromeda wasn’t one to give up leverage to anyone else, however, so he knew that had been a long shot from the start.
The game in the Ministry had just gained a new player, and Albus found himself… oddly eager to see how it changed the dynamics.
*****
Comments
blake anderson
Are we getting more of this one
W
Can't wait. :)
