156Disclaimer is in chapter 1. So apparently Tenhawk has resumed posting fanfiction on one of his own sites ( t . evancurrie . ca ) and on patre on (username tenhawk).
The boy is clearly smarter than most, including myself, have given him credit for, Lucius thought with grim underpinnings while the meeting went on about him.
He knew that his Master would not be amused by this, and was mostly trying to work out how to address it to the man… if man he could still be called… without coming down with a fatal case of the killing curse.
Beyond that, he still had an assigned job to accomplish as well.
So Lucius waited until the option to open for new business came up, the clearly shaken Minister barely managing to move through his role by rote while Lucius glanced over at the newly activated seats, wondering how the three new votes would shift things.
"Is… is there any new business?" Fudge finally asked, eliciting relief from him as they finally got to the important reason for the meeting.
The boy was a distraction, or he had been intended to be used as such. What really counted was the 'new business' that could be presented at any full meeting of the Wizengamut, no matter whether it was a scheduled or emergency session.
"Yes, Minister," One of Lucius' sock puppets spoke up. "I do."
"Yes, of course, Lord Gole," Fudge said with a relieved tip of his hat, clearly happy that something was going as planned. "You have the floor."
"Ahem, yes, given how close we are to the start of a new school year," Markham Gole said seriously as he rose to his feet, "I think it behooves us to discuss the falling academic standards at Hogwarts."
That set the hounds among the foxes, Lucius noted with amusement, particularly among those on the light side of the aisle. There was no surprise there, given that many of them had been raising the alarm on just this issue for more than a few years. Only the strength of Albus Dumbledore's personal faction and the fact that Lucius had a vested interest in allowing things to continue as they were had stymied them to this point.
Now he was ready to harvest that frustrated righteous anger and turn it to his own purposes.
He doubted any of them would even stop to wonder why previously antagonistic foes would suddenly be on their side in this.
Andromeda Tonks scowled minutely, eyes roving the Wizengamot without moving her head.
"I don't like this," She said softly.
"What?" Harry asked, honestly confused. "Is something wrong with Hogwarts?"
"Something has been wrong at Hogwarts for quite some time," Andromeda responded. "A number of people on the light side of the aisle, as well as many independents, have been trying to effect changes for quite some time."
Harry still looked confused, "then why aren't you happy? You can make the changes, or try, right?"
"Because Gole is one of Lucius' puppets," Andromeda explained, "and Lucius has been stopping every attempt at fixing the issues at Hogwarts by siding with Albus every time the vote has been brought up."
That left Harry even more confused as he tried to work out why Lucius would side with Albus over anything.
"I don't get it," He finally said. "Lucius and Albus are always on the opposite sides, I thought?"
"Not always," Andromeda smirked very softly, shaking her head. "Welcome to politics, Harry. There are no real enemies or allies in this room, no matter what it really appears. You get leaders and flunkies, as well as rivals of course, but even rivals will join forces when it suits them."
"What would put those two together then?" Harry asked, having always seen the pair as opposite ends of the spectrum.
"I'm not certain," Andromeda admitted, "though it's likely that Lucius was hoping to drive Hogwarts as low as he could in the hopes of using the loss of reputation as a leverage to drive Albus out of office… or, at the very least, force him to burn some favors to ride out the scandal."
"But… why would the Headmaster do that?"
"Any number of reasons, including overconfidence stemming from earlier successes, or possibly using the school's problems to advance some other agenda," She told the boy. "You'd have to ask him to be sure, and hope he told you the truth. It's even possible that he's gotten a little senile in his old age and doesn't see the issues."
Harry had to admit to himself that was an explanation that didn't sound as far off as he might have hoped.
"So… what now?"
"Now," Andromeda said carefully, not having missed a bit of the exchange on the floor while speaking with Harry, "We listen, and we hope we spot the trap before Lucius manages to snap it shut around all our necks."
Albus could just feel the migraine coming on.
He really didn't need any of this at the moment. With Tom's return, however, it was clear that Lucius was ready… or perhaps being forced… to operate more openly in the Ministry, making moves that he normally would have eschewed as being too open and risky.
This was hardly the first time that he'd attempted to interfere at Hogwarts, of course. Getting Albus thrown out of the school had been a minor little victory the man had claimed in previous years, of course. Short lived as it had been, Albus had suffered a brief bit of political loss before he flipped it around on Malfoy and put the man cleanly back into his place with a victorious return… thanks in great part to Harry and the others, he was man enough to admit.
Now, however, Albus was not quite able to see the move in play despite it being put into motion right before his eyes.
Openly calling for reforms at Hogwarts was far out of Malfoy's normal means of operation. The man normally preferred a great deal more disconnects between his actual actions and himself. Gole alone was hardly enough to be more than the thinnest of masks, particularly among those in the Wizengamot.
For the moment, however, all he could do was listen and carefully manage to discussion that had erupted, while waiting for his chance to derail the other man's plans.
The debate was raging hotly between the conservative members of the light side and elements from the more progressive members plus Lucius' own circle of votes, much to his personal amusement. More than a few of the progressive caucus had confused looks on their faces as they shot looks over in his direction, clearly knowing that he was up to something, but being largely unwilling to let the opportunity slip past either.
Precisely what I was counting on, of course, Lucious thought as he leaned back and let his cat's paws continue as he'd prepped them, pushing just the right buttons to drag as many members into the discussion as possible.
Severus would be enraged to hear some of this, Lucius thought with amusement, but he'd long known that his friend had no real place in a school of all places. It was just to valuable to have him there, a bridge serving both sides as needed… trusted by neither, perhaps, but to important to both for them to burn down.
The time would come when Severus' career would be burned, of that Lucius had no doubts, though he doubted this was that day.
When it came, there was a potions research lab waiting for the man. Where he truly belonged, rather than teaching brats how to brew boil removing mixtures.
He wasn't the only point of discussion, of course, and in fact Lucius hadn't directed any of his people to speak against the man at all. There had been no need, it was better to let the progressives bring him up, predictable as they were.
Trelawny, Binns, Hagrid, and… crucially, the Defense position were his avenues of attack.
Severus, among others, were useful in that they were added to the pile but Lucius didn't want his people to be the only ones bringing up problems. Some natural responses were required, and Merlin knew that his friend had a talent for aggravating… well, very nearly everyone.
So, content to listen and wait, Lucious said nothing even as he noticed Dumbledore looking in his direction on occasion while the old man continued moderating the discussion and keeping things from getting out of hand, all the while gaining a more and more frustrated look as the topic continued to turn to questions of his own competence.
It was practically all he could do to keep from laughing out loud.
"We're getting close…" Andromeda whispered, eyes darting around as she followed the ongoing debate.
"Close to what?" Harry hissed back in her direction.
"Lucius' endgame," She explained. "Notice, more and more of his side are settling down. They've finished their arguments, now they're just letting the discussion continue naturally… letting the flames they've started burn all the tinder that Albus has left lying around. Lucius… or perhaps the Minister is going to shut it down soon, with a suggestion."
She took a deep breath.
"Our choice will be whether or not to side with Lucius or Albus on this matter," She said with narrowing eyes.
Harry blinked, "That's a choice? I mean, we're going to vote with the Headmaster, aren't we?"
"Perhaps," Andromeda conceded, "but it may play to our advantage to let out some rope for them to play with. It all depends on what they want to do."
"We can't let Voldemort into the school," Harry hissed in alarm.
Andromeda shook her head, "Lucius won't be that blatant. This isn't his ultimate move, it's just a step forward for him. Denying it may be our best play, but if we can trip him up when he takes it… it may bet a better option… there. Quiet now, listen…"
Cornelius Fudge regained much of his bluster as the debate amongst the Wizengamot went mostly to plan, restoring his confidence nicely after the near fiasco of Potter's trial.
Certainly he'd not expected to gain anything great over the boy, but he had certainly not expected what had exploded in his face either.
Who could have thought that the child would have gained his family's position within the Muggle monarchy?
Now, though, the plan was back on track and he knew well his role.
"Ahem," He said, rising as it was his turn to speak.
"Mr Minister, you have the floor."
"Thank you, Chief Mugwump," Fudge said, smiling widely as he looked around the entirety of the room.
Every eye was on him, and he knew that this… this was his element.
"I believe that it's clear we have some legitimate concerns with the way in which one of the pillars of our society is being handled," He said genially. "However it's clear that we cannot come to as important a decision as this in a single meeting, and without proper investigations of the facts."
Albus shifted as he heard the Minister speak, a lump forming in his guts as he spotted the trap too late to do much about it.
The debate hadn't been about making changes to his school… no, it had been about something else entirely.
He had to force himself to listen and not say anything as he listened to the Minister propose exactly what he'd both expected and feared in that moment.
Does he have the votes?
Albus was counting them out and quickly realized that neither he nor Lucius had sufficient votes to solidify their win. The debate would come down to those who were genuinely independent…
And there are three new independent votes on the floor as of today.