(POV Fudge)
It had been headache after headache once Grindelwalds plan was revealed as we all scrambled to stop him and when that failed to preserve life. To top it all off there was the Azkaban incident that resulted in that monster being created from what was once the inner circle members of the death eaters. The new sport that was created by the Ravenclaw boy was perhaps one of the only really big wins for me and the ministry , that and the Triwizard tournament that I had managed to get accepted.-
That said however there was now an entirely new headache inducing situation for me to deal with thanks to the misguided actions of a muggleborn girl who somehow knew of Grindelwalds plan and sent a letter with the details on it to her parents. It was easy to understand that what she hoped to accomplish with it but her parents had tried to warn their friends as well which resulted in a domino effect that exposed the existence of magic to some government officials in the muggle government. Thankfully the damage was easily fixed and even helped to a degree as it made the muggle government work more closely with the ministry.-
Sadly the statute of secrecy was still in effect so the girl needed to be punished for breaking it. Which brought me to the most recent headache that I needed to deal with , Dumbledore was coming to plead the girls case. Despite being minister of magic I know very well that if the old man wished it nobody could stop him from taking the girl back from the aurors. Dumbledore and I might not agree on much but both of us would rather not see him forced to that course of action. I am sure that I can lighten the punishment significantly in exchange for some favors from the old wizard thanks to our combined political power.-
At least that was what I thought until i felt it , the suppression that felt oh so similar to Dumbledores but not exactly the same , weaker I suppose? The source of this suppression was a VERY big problem however as it clearly came from the Ravenclaw boy that Dumbledore had brought to the ministry with him. "What is the meaning of this Albus?" I feigned anger but internally I was beyond nervous. The boy was an entirely different sort of creature than Dumbledore , more ruthless and unpredictable for a start.-
There were quite a few known things that pointed to him being much more of a threat to the ministry than Dumbledore ever was. A big red flag was how well the brat knew the laws of the ministry and seemed to skirt around them on technicalities and biases. Now it turns out that a truly nightmarish scenario had come to life as that same boy was openly showing his status as an archmage much like Dumbledore ,except he just turned fourteen! The boy was almost guaranteed to surpass Dumbledore and should not be angered if i could help it.-
A not so small problem however was that the muggleborn girl currently in custody was none other than Hermione Granger who was a very well known associate of the boys. "We have come to appeal for leniency in the case of Miss Granger on grounds she could not have known her parents would respond in such a way." Dumbledore said seriously and I could swear I saw a touch of helplessness in his eyes but I must have been mistaken. "While it is a regrettable case she broke the statute and needs to be punished." I said acted saddened.-
"What do you want?" the boy asked bluntly with a clear level of irritation visible on his face as his piercing golden eyes stared me down. "I beg your pardon!? Why I never!" I said acting offended until a chill went down my spine as the boy frowned. "Don't play games with me Fudge What . Do . You . Want?" the boy enunciated each word and I realized this wasn't a political negotiation but a forced trade. The boy was making it clear that he was not going to be lead around in this matter and won't take no for an answer.-
I was tempted to outright reject him in spite but I had a gut feeling that wouldn't end very well and capitulated. "I can't just make the charge go away and need to at least appear as though I punished the girl and that takes resources. Leverage in all the right places and frankly speaking I don't want to expend them myself." I said bluntly since the boy wants to do this quickly. To my surprise the boy waved his hand and a small bottle of golden colored potion appeared in his hand that he set on my desk.
(Normal POV)
Fudge stared at the bottle Nick had placed on the desk in shock "Is that what i think it is?" he asked with a greedy expression. "Felix Felicis or liquid luck if you'd prefer. Brewed by Severus Snape and given to me in exchange for a considerable sum of potion recipes that no other than I and now he know. I will give this to you in exchange for Hermiones crime being nullified and all records of it being expunged." Nick said calmly. Salazar Slytherin never did anything by halves and so developed a great many potions with wonderous or even terrible effects.-
For example he created a potion that caused fruit trees to produce magical fruit that had random effects based on the tree itself. His proudest accomplishment with this potion was an apple tree that produced apples that had the taste and effects of fine red wine. A tree that he eagerly shared the bounty of to show off whenever he could before a freak bolt of lighting destroyed the tree. Anyways the point is the man had a lot of potion recipes that Nick could trade to a potioneering zealot like Snape.-
In truth Nick got the liquid luck for a steal if one considered the difference in value that the fifty potion recipes he gave Snape had compared to it. Then again he could understand how Snape might consider the value the same after remembering the rarity of the knowledge itself. Fudge seemed hesitant despite the very valuable offer as waving away a crime like that was something with a bit of risk to his reputation. Nick didn't press the matter however and stood there silently with Dumbledore who also chose to ignore the fact Nick was openly if a bit aggressively bribing the minister.-
If it was something politics or money alone could get the potion wouldn't be so tempting but the thing about liquid luck was that nearly every part of it's creation had luck involved. The ingredients were a matter of luck , the conditions were so strict that one needed luck to fulfill them and even if they were met if one was unlucky the potion would fail anyways for seemingly no reason. This meant that not only was it very expensive to even attempt making but required such a high amount of skill that the potioneers who did very rarely sold it afterwards or attempted it a second time after succeeding.-
"Hmm I suppose I should be able to pardon Miss Granger due to her clear love of her parents though the parents in question need to be obliviated of the whole matter of course." Fudge said with a smile as he slowly pocketed the bottle of golden potion. "Then we have no more reason to take up your time isn't that right professor Dumbledore?" Nick asked and Dumbledore smiled and nodded "Indeed , please do have a good afternoon Cornelius." he said before leading the way out of the ministers office.-
"I must admit that it is at least a small amount refreshing to see Cornelius so compliant for once. Normally it's much more back and forth before we both get something we want." Dumbledore said once they got back to Hogwarts. "Its all about presentation , first I acted as though I was threatening him to get him in a fearful state of mind then hit him with a high value offer to take advantage of his innate greed to get him to act simply and straightforward." Nick said with a grin. "He certainly seemed to dance upon your palm if nothing else." Dumbledore said with a nod.-
Nick left Hogwarts after reassuring his friends that Hermione will be fine and went to the island where he set up several protective barriers around himself in a room before entering the realm , it was time. "@*&$*$%@*" he started to speak but it was not words that came out of his mouth but strange sounds that defied comprehension. With the sound of his voice wisps of energy wafted out of his soul and body before dissipating into the atmosphere of the realm. This was the first step of binding a realm , essence dispersal.-
Binding a realm was a bit like poisoning a body one cell at a time as you first needed to convert a small area of the realm with your essence before slowly expanding that area like a corrupting influence. Once the entire realm is corrupted with your essence the next step came , true conversion. The second step was all about turning the corrupted parts of the realm into genuine parts and extensions of ones own being which was obviously not a fast or easy process. Realms innately resist this process as well much like how a body will try and fight off a disease or poison.
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