Bab 169: CHAPTER {203-205}
****THE-CATASTROPHIC-AFTERMATH? (III)****
"I will punch your teeth in if you don't stop patting me!" Amelia growled while glaring at Harry balefully, but Harry simply smiled and continued to pat her back, making her even more furious, but there wasn't anything she could do as her body was still frozen.
"There is no need to look at me like that" Harry chastised her gleefully. "We might have some… disagreements, but I really care about you… Uh… You might pop a vein" Harry added worriedly when Amelia's face started to turn purple in anger. "And with how old you are, it might be really dangerous for you" Harry added mirthfully.
"I am not that old you little shit!!" Amelia snapped at him and Harry started to chuckle at her in amusement. Amelia fumed at Harry before she finally started to take deep breaths to calm herself… It wouldn't do her any good to pop a vein. Though she threw him a dirty look before she finally calmed down.
"This must be a new low for me… After all, I am getting consoled by the person who is primarily responsible for my misery" Amelia chuckled mirthlessly. She would be a fool if failed to see what Harry was trying to do… He was trying to distract her from her misery in a weird way and internally, she had to admit, it was working.
"I resent that" Harry pointed out with a mock scowl. "I might have caused the issue, but I am not the one who is going to place all the blame on you to save his own ass" Harry defended himself and even though she wanted to blame him solely, she knew that it wasn't his fault, at least not completely.
"Fine, but why are you here really? I refuse to believe that you came here to simply comfort me without any ulterior motives" Amelia asked, trying to act as stern as she could in her current condition.
"Believe me or not, but I did it purely on impulse…" Harry admitted sheepishly. "I was there when my Godfather received the emergency Wizengamot summons, and hearing him complain about it, I decided to spare him and take his place" Harry finished with a toothy grin on his face.
Ohh… He did have ulterior motives and he wanted to take a look around inside the Ministry. The last time he was here, he wasn't able to take a look, but now that the Ministry was his enemy, he wanted to know the entire layout of the place, in case he had to storm it one day.
He would have loved to pay a visit to the Department of Mysteries too, but he wasn't sure how secure that place was… According to everything he knew about the grey cloaks, they were supposed to be nutcases and he didn't want to end up being teleported inside a volcano or something like that… That would be pretty bad for his skin.
Amelia obviously didn't believe him and her expression was clear proof of that… "Hmm… I don't believe you" Amelia ended up admitting in a bland tone, only to receive an innocent look from Harry. "You know the Ministry isn't going to take the attack lying down and Bulgaria would be crying for your blood" Amelia pointed out grimly.
"I know, but there is nothing the Ministry will be able to do to me… They will obviously try, but none of the surviving Aurors or the Hit-Wizards are going to face me… Well, Alastor might. He is definitely stubborn and foolish enough to try" Harry admitted with a frown.
Amelia scowled when Harry mentioned Alastor… She had already confirmed that Alastor was found inside one of the MACUSA cells, but the President of MACUSA was trying to play hardball with her as he believed that their security had been compromised. They would eventually let Alastor go, but it would be a pain in the arse.
"And as for the Bulgarians? What are they going to do? Bleed on me?" Harry asked with an amused snort.
"Your arrogance clearly knows no bounds. If you act too unruly then the ICW might take the matter into their hands" Amelia declared with a frown. Harry Potter was too arrogant, and considering his power, his arrogance wasn't unfound, but it still irked her in the wrong way.
Harry wasn't the first one to consider himself unbeatable, but eventually, all of them lost. So, she believed that Harry would lose too, but the question was, how long it was going to take for someone to rise against him… It might be too late for Wizarding Britain by the time it happened. Well, at least, a woman could dream…
"They won't" Harry started firmly, breaking her out of her pleasant thoughts.
"Who won't?" Amelia asked while blinking in confusion. She wasn't sure what he was talking about.
"The ICW. They won't make a move… They were sitting on their collective asses when Voldemort was razing Britain to the ground and you expect to do them anything different for me? The only reason they moved against Grindelwald was because he was trying to break the Statute and he was becoming a threat to their powerbase" Harry explained with a scoff.
"Though Grindelwald is working for me, so they might make a move…" Harry admitted thoughtfully, but he just said that give some false hope to Amelia… The ICW might have won the Wizarding World War thanks to Dumbledore's intervention, but they still haven't managed to recover from the damage they sustained during the Wizarding World War thanks to Grindelwald and his army.
The ICW would like to say otherwise, but it would be simply impossible for them to amass an army as they did during the WWW. Though they would be forced to make a move if Harry started to break the Statute willy nilly as the ICW countries would start to throw in their support in fear of being ousted.
"Though even if they do attack me, how do you expect them to beat me?" Harry asked arrogantly. Though in reality, he wasn't planning to underestimate them as they would be sending a force of at least some thousands to bring him down… Alas, he would deal with them in an appropriate fashion when the time came.
"Your arrogance will be your downfall" Amelia snorted in derision. "Tyrants never last long and all of them fell due to their arrogance" Amelia added, taking a bit of petty satisfaction from her words.
"Shh… The meeting is starting" Harry shushed and pointed toward the Ministry who grabbed his gavel and started to beat it on the table to gain his attention. Harry could have said something witty to have the last word, but he decided to let Amelia stew in her own delusions.
Hearing the Minister bang his gavel everyone started to calm down… The Minister looked extremely solemn as he began to speak. "As all of you might have already heard, we are facing a great crisis… A few hours ago, Hogwarts was attacked by Gellert Grindelwald and his forces" The Minister shook his head.
If nothing else, Cornelius was at least a good actor… Well, he supposed it was necessary being a politician and all that. "The DMLE reacted immediately and it was discovered that Gellert Grindelwald and Harry Potter were working together. We had previously discovered that Harry Potter is already walking down a dark path, but our Aurors still decided to give him a chance to redeem" Cornelius explained passionately.
"Then Harry Potter used some underhanded means to kill a huge number of Ministry forces and then he used the confusion to kidnap our Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore and escape. Not only that, but they also used the diversion to free every prisoner in the high-security wing of Azkaban" Cornelius revealed and once again pandemonium broke out in the Wizengamot Chamber as not many people knew about that.
"Wow… His imagination is quite colorful" Harry admitted with a grin.
Cornelius once again banged his gavel to get everyone's attention and after a few seconds, the chamber once again became completely silent… "It is obvious now that Harry Potter was never our savior… I for one, won't let him walk away with the crimes he had committed. I say we bring down the hammer of justice on him as hard as we can!" Cornelius declared and everyone cheered.
"Excuse me, Minister!" Before Cornelius could continue someone decided to interrupt him and everyone turned toward the person who spoke, only to find Augusta Longbottom. "I am not saying I don't believe you, but where is the proof? If he is really responsible for such despicable actions then I completely agree with you, but we simply can't decide everything on your words" Augusta asked with a frown.
Hearing her words, murmurs broke out within the chamber and doubt started to appear in people's minds. "True sheep mentality at its best" Harry muttered with a grin and Amelia scowled at him.
It was clear what Augusta was trying to do… She was simply trying to sow discord and waste their time. The proof was simply inevitable and by the end of the meeting Harry was going to be declared a Dark Lord, it was simply too late to stop that, but any outspoken person could easily delay it.
Cornelius seemed to sputter for a moment as he couldn't allow the real truth to be revealed… "Of course, Auror Dawlish would be happy to recall the whole incident for everyone" Cornelius gestured toward one of his most trusted Aurors.
Augusta scoffed at that. "Everyone knows that Auror Dawlish is close to you, so he will tell us whatever you want him to tell us, but I for one want to view the memory of someone completely impartial" Augusta declared and Lord Boot stood up from his seat as soon as Augusta finished speaking.
"I second the notion" Lord Boot declared and agreements started to ring throughout the chamber and Cornelius finally started to sweat like a pig…
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****THE-CATASTROPHIC-AFTERMATH? (IV)****
Cornelius wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves as he looked around at the waiting crowd, and he started to sweat even more under their various looks… This was not a development he foresaw. To be honest, he wasn't expecting anyone to question him, but he realized that he should have… He couldn't allow the truth to come out or the Ministry would most likely collapse.
He turned toward his most trusted friend Lucius, but the said man was trying to look away from him, which made him realize that he wasn't going to get any help from Lucius. At the thought of that, he couldn't help but frown and started to remember the conversation he had with Lord Nott only a few hours ago… According to him, Lucius was compromised thanks to his closeness to Potter.
At first, Cornelius obviously didn't believe Nott, but he was starting to see the truth in the man's claims…
"We are waiting, Minister" Augusta Longbottom broke him out of his musings while looking really impatient and Cornelius cringed on the inside. The way the others were looking at him, Cornelius knew he couldn't escape this predicament by spinning some tale… He needed to give them something or they weren't going to go along with his scheme.
To be honest, he was scared even though he refused to believe the reports he saw… A fourteen year old defeating so many trained Wizards and Witches? It was completely preposterous… It must have been some sort of illusion they saw. Though if the memory was revealed to the public then there would be mass panic as everyone would realize that they can't beat Harry Potter.
Cornelius wanted to avoid such a situation at any cost…
"Then shall I presume that you don't have any proof and you simply want to use him as a convenient scapegoat to cover your arse?" Once again Augusta spoke up and Cornelius barely held himself back from swearing at her. Why the hell was she determined to mess up with his plans? Cornelius looked around the Wizengamot chamber and people were already talking, doubt clear on their faces.
"How dare you talk to the Minister in such a manner?!" Cornelius cringed again when someone screamed from his side and he knew very well who it was.
"Why are you here again you glorified pencil pusher?" Augusta asked in a bland tone as she stared at the women dressed in the repulsive pink cardigan… "I would have asked the guards to throw you out, but apparently the Minister can't even wipe his arse without you, so I am going to reluctantly endure your presence" Augusta drawled blandly, making a lot of people laugh at her words.
"Minister, can you please stop wasting our time?" Lord Yaxley complained with a frown. He knew exactly what happened as he was right there at Hogwarts and he was one of the people who had surrendered, but he wanted the truth to be revealed under the orders of the Dark Lord as they wanted to collapse the Ministry. Yaxley wasn't sure if the Dark Lord could truly beat the boy, but the Dark Lord was most certainly immortal.
"I will show my memory. The people need to know the monster we are facing" Gawain Robards spoke up as he walked toward the center of the Wizengamot chamber, surprising everyone including Harry… To be honest, he wasn't expecting anyone to step up in this situation. He turned to look at Amelia and started to wonder if she put him up to this, but he quickly shook his head as Amelia looked just as surprised as everyone else.
"No! I forbid you!!" Cornelius screamed in panic.
"Why? Is there something you have to hide?" Lord Nott asked with a frown on his face. The Dark Lord looked somewhat troubled after Yaxley showed him what happened at Hogwarts and from what he knew, Harry Potter easily trumped the Dark Lord when it came to raw power, but the Dark Lord still assured them that he would come out on top if he fought Harry Potter.
Nott would admit that he wasn't the sharpest Spell in the book, but he knew that the Dark Lord wasn't so sure… Though he wasn't planning to jump any ship. After all, the Dark Lord was most definitely immortal while the Potter was simply overwhelmingly strong. He was certain that the Dark Lord could probably come up with some sort of trap to beat the boy. So, for the time being, he would follow the Dark Lord's plan.
After that, there wasn't anything the Minister could do to stop Gawain from showing his memory to everyone… After all, no matter what he tried to say after Lord Nott spoke, it would have shown him in a bad light… So, he simply slumped down in his seat with a look of defeat on his face. Maybe, he could still salvage the situation if he managed to portray his intentions in a good way.
"Fine… Go ahead. I simply wanted to protect you people from the cruel truth" Cornelius sighed gravely when Gawain was handing over his memory to the scribe. Everyone in the room clearly heard him and those who were unaware of the incident started to wonder what the Minister was trying to protect them from.
"I have to admit, he is really a good politician, no matter how much of a coward and fool he is" Harry admitted aloud as once again the people started to speak and started to look at the Minister in a good light. Truly a sheep mentality… Alas, nothing could have prepared them for the horrible things they saw and just like the Minister expected, pandemonium broke in the Wizengamot chamber as soon as the memory stopped to play.
"Are you happy now? The Ministry no longer poses any threat to you" Amelia ground out while glaring at Harry.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but the Ministry never posed a threat to me" Harry declared as he stood up and smoothened his expensive robes. "I would have loved to stay, but all the excitement is over… Now they are simply going to declare me a Dark Lord just to look powerful" Harry revealed and even though Amelia hated it, Harry was right.
"By the way, I have left a small retirement gift for you in your office. I hope you like it" Harry said with a smile before he finally disappeared into the clamoring crowd, and moments later, Amelia could move again, but she simply sagged in her chair, with a look of defeat on her face…
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****NOT-A-CATASTROPHIC-AFTERMATH (I)****
~~DMLE, Ministry of Magic~~
"Amelia, are you alright? You don't look so good…" Connie asked, looking really concerned as she entered Amelia's office along with the rest of their group sans Alastor as the veteran Auror was still trapped in MACUSA. Meanwhile, Amelia could be seen nursing a firewhiskey bottle in her hand while an unopened official letter and an unopened package could be seen lying on her table.
"With everything going around, can you blame her?" Saul asked as he strode inside the room and plopped in one of the chairs and even though nobody said it, Gawain could feel the glares of Connie and Tonks boring into the back of his head. "So, care to share a drink?" Saul offered, and Amelia simply shrugged before she started to grab some glasses from her cupboard.
"What else would you have me do? It was the only chance I was going to get to reveal the truth" Gawain defended himself, and Connie scoffed at his words.
"I don't know, but maybe you should have talked with Saul before going off the rail!" Connie screamed at him while she threw him a heated glare, but before Gawain could scream back at her and the whole argument could turn into a fight, Amelia decided to step in and put an end to their childishness. After all, she didn't want them fighting among themselves.
Amelia wasn't going to lie… She was annoyed at Gawain too, but at the same time, she could understand why he did it… His actions made sure that no one was going to try and attack Harry Potter in a foolish attempt to gain glory, but at the same time, his actions made sure that the Ministry would collapse… She didn't expect it to happen in a day, but it was bound to happen.
"All of you have a seat, have a drink" Amelia stated firmly as she placed the empty glasses on her table. Connie, Gawain, and Tonks seemed to look around unsurely before they finally took the offered seats, and Amelia started to pour them drinks after that.
"Uh… Boss, what's in the box?" Tonks asked meekly as she accepted her drink.
Amelia seemed to grimace at the question before shrugging dismissively… "I have no idea, but this was left in my office by Harry Potter, so you can understand why I am not looking forward to opening the box" Amelia revealed and her words seemed to have left everyone in stunned silence… Well, Amelia was expecting a reaction like that, so she was quite pleased with herself.
Nobody seemed to say anything after that and except for Amelia, everyone else chugged down their drinks in one go with trembling hands… Tonks might be a part of the Lost Garden, but Harry still scared the shit out of her and after what he did in Hogwarts, he was nothing short of a nightmarish monster for her… Though a hot monster who would come to save her if anything untoward happened to the little old her.
That was really endearing, scary, and hot at the same time… Tonks started to wonder if her Black genes were finally starting to manifest… Maybe, she was just as insane as the rest of the Blacks, especially when the thought of dipping a family Wand in her cauldron didn't sound too disturbing for her or when the thought of her nightmarish cousin killing people to save her like a prince in a shining armor seemed to make her feel hot.
Maybe, she needed to have another chat with her mother before she could spiral into self-loathing depression…
"Do you suspect it to be a trap?" Saul asked as he seemed to lean away from the package without bothering to leave his seat and Amelia scoffed at his words.
"As he would need a trap to kill someone?" Amelia pointed out in a mirthless tone and the atmosphere once again became depressing. "Though you can call it a trap in a roundabout way" Amelia admitted with a sigh as her shoulders slumped down. "Karkaroff was also kidnapped by Harry and the package seems to have the correct size for a head" Amelia explained and a look of understanding dawned on everyone.
"And Karkaroff's name was on the list he gave you" Saul concluded as he understood why Amelia called the box to be a trap in a roundabout way. "So, if it turns out to be really Karkaroff… or his head in there, then there is a chance that you might give into the temptation of revenge and join him?" Saul asked, only to receive a reluctant nod from Amelia, and aghast looks from Gawain and Connie.
"You can't do that Amelia, he is a murderer! You shouldn't stoop down to his level!" Gawain exclaimed with a horrified look on his face.
"It might be our only option right now, logically speaking" Saul admitted with a grunt as he sipped his drink in a slow fashion. "The Ministry is finished. The more the Ministry would try to take control, the more they would lose… The Ministry never had any heavy hitters like Dumbledore, Voldemort, or Grindelwald, but they made it up with their numbers" Saul started to explain when he noticed the look of outrage on Gawain's face.
Thankfully, Gawain decided not to interrupt when Saul started to explain. "Even with how horrible the last War was, the Ministry was still able to stand atop because people believed in them, because everyone was ready to work within the system, because even though we were losing, the people expected us to win due to our numbers advantage, but this time it is different" Saul paused and took a deep breath.
"Thanks to your unplanned foolishness, the truth is out there… Now, everyone knows that the Ministry can't win. With Dumbledore gone, our chances drop even more… The only saving grace is that the public doesn't know about the truth yet, but they do know something massive happened and they would start looking" Saul finished with a deadpan.
"Only one of them needs to ask the right question to the right person and the truth will spread like Fiendfyre in a haystack. People will become scared and they would lose their trust in the Ministry and that would lead to riots and protests… More and more people would start to join Lost Garden because they know that they will be safe. As long as they believe that would be safe, they would keep joining Lost Garden in droves" Amelia finished the explanation and glared at Gawain.
The man gulped down in guilt and looked down at his pale and trembling hands…
"Given he accepts useless bunch in his group" Saul pointed out dryly and Amelia gave him a nod after a moment. "Not just that, most of the businesses in Wizarding Britain are owned by Purebloods and leaving the Dark Faction aside, the Grey Faction and the Light Faction would be scared out of their minds. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them have already started to move their assets to some other countries" Saul added thoughtfully.
"...Which would lead Wizarding Britain to bankruptcy" Tonks finished and everyone turned toward her with bewildered looks on their faces. Even Gawain was looking at her like she had grown a second head. 'Emotional Damage!!' Tonks screamed inside her mind. "Hey! I may not be smart like you guys, but I have my moments" Tonks decided to defend her limited intelligence, but still, everyone seemed skeptical.
Nobody had bothered to mention that today it was 'kick Tonks when she is down as much as you want' day… With that thought in her mind, she started to sulk…
"What she said" Saul grunted before taking another sip from his glass. "I am already planning to arrange a meeting so that we can negotiate our terms… Don't look at me like that, I don't like it, but it is the only option for me and the Department if we want to survive… We might have esoteric defences, but if he takes an exception to us then we are fucked from nine ways to Sunday" Saul admitted with a groan.
Gawain, who was probably the most righteous among them, turned toward Amelia. "You aren't going to say anything to that? You are just going to accept his choice, just like that?" Gawain asked and turned toward Connie and Tonks. "What about you two?" He asked with a snap, but Tonks simply looked away and Connie gave him an unsure shrug.
"Well, it is not my place to say anything anymore" Amelia grimaced before she slid over the unopened official letter toward her drink buddies.
"Boss, what's in the letter?" Tonks asked as she was one to grab the letter before anyone could. This was the first time she had an official letter except for her salary slips and that prospect excited her more than it was supposed to…
"It is my dismissal letter" Amelia admitted, making Tonks freeze and Connie gasped at the revelation while Saul simply nodded his head.
"I was expecting this… After all, someone has to take the fall and I am damn sure that the Minister and his toady aren't going to" Saul admitted sourly.
"Amelia, this can't be true right? Is this because of what I did?" Gawain asked, looking really guilty.
"No, I would have been dismissed either way and as Saul said, someone had to take the fall. At least to keep up the pretenses and you will be receiving a dismissal, a suspension, or a demotion for your actions" Amelia explained with a shrug. With how drunk she was, she was feeling completely numb and she was surprised that she could even talk clearly at this point.
"So, what now, ma'am?" Connie asked hesitantly as she didn't know what else to ask. She knew what the job really meant for Amelia and how much she had sacrificed for the job. The job practically meant the whole world to her and she couldn't help but feel murderous rage toward the Minister and his advisors. Now, she wouldn't be surprised if Amelia really went and joined Lost Garden.
Connie would obviously follow her into Lost Garden, but she left that part unsaid… Sometimes, it is better to use your actions to prove your loyalty instead of using words…
"I am not sure… Though I plan to get sloshed and maybe I might give in to the temptation…" Amelia trailed off while intently staring at the box…
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