Chương 43: Chapter - 43 : Politics and Pettiness
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"Dreadful thing that whole Azkaban business, what?" Evander Macmillan said loudly to Sirius. "That Crouch completely bungled the entire thing! The Department of International Cooperation is the right place for him, I say. Let Crouch deal with the foreigners and leave Amelia Bones in charge of the Aurors. She does a much better job of it, eh?"
Sirius clearly wanted to drop the painful subject of his incarceration. He smiled vaguely in reply, pretending to be more interested in the quiet conversation going on between Cassiopeia, Melania and Narcissa Malfoy.
"She is indeed superior to Barty Crouch," Arcturus said with a sneer of deep disgust at the name. Sirius had told Harry that Arcturus loathed Crouch, since he blamed Regulus Black's death on the brutal Auror tactics the man had introduced. It was clear to Harry that if anything Sirius had understated Arcturus' dislike.
Lucius Malfoy deigned to join the conversation. "I myself find her insistence on following the letter of the law and not taking a single step outside her remit can at times be problematic." He was standing as far away from Sirius as he possibly could and was keeping Draco close by his side as if being a muggle-lover was catching.
"I don't see how it's a problem so long as you follow the law," Sirius said with a challenging stare at the Malfoy Paterfamilias.
Arcturus seemed to agree with Lucius. "Madame Bones shows no initiative. While I certainly appreciate the dedication young Orion showed in ensuring Pettigrew was captured and that you received a trail, I find it most concerning that a ten-year-old boy had to do the Head of Law Enforcement's work for her."
"Oh yes! I heard all about that, of course," Evander said, turning to Harry with a beaming smile. "Good show, lad! Family loyalty wins the day, what?"
Harry was tempted to point out that no one else in the room had shown any of that prized family loyalty when they left Sirius to rot in Azkaban, but somehow managed to hold his tongue. He supposed he didn't know all the details. Perhaps they had tried to push for a trial – who knew? Maybe they'd thought he was actually guilty and, since they hadn't managed to keep Bellatrix Lestrange out of prison, they would have had no reason to believe they'd be successful with Sirius.
Although now Harry considered the matter, it had been suspiciously easy to get Sirius out of Azkaban. He had expected the Ministry to drag it all out for months or to refuse point blank to reopen the case. Perhaps the reason why everything went so smoothly was because the Blacks had made sure of it; Arcturus was a member of the Wizengamot and no doubt had quite a bit of influence within the Ministry.
Harry's view of the Black family was turned rather upside-down by that thought, making him look at the wizards and witches around him with rather more warmth than before. Any newfound feelings of appreciation disappeared rather quickly, however, as he continued listening to the adults talk amongst themselves.
"It's wonderful to see the noble name of Black carry on into the next generation," Narcissa Malfoy said calmly, breaking off her conversation with the other witches. "Don't you agree, Lucius?"
Lucius did not look pleased by her appeal, but nevertheless answered with apparent sincerity. "I am indeed glad that the House of Black will continue," he said with a chilly smile at Harry and Sirius. "There are too few of us from the old families left."
"Yes, it truly is shocking how many previously upstanding purebloods are consorting with Undesirables these days," Melania agreed. "Why, I heard Felicia Flint just got herself engaged to a half-blood!"
"Really?" Narcissa asked in a tone of fascinated horror. "I can't believe she'd be so irresponsible! Her poor parents must be devastated."
"Understandably so," Melania said. "Any children the new couple have will no doubt inherit the father's mudblood magic, and then what? The Flint family magic will simply disappear!"
"The loss of so many bloodlines and magical talents is indeed a great shame," Arcturus said gravely. "I am relieved that our family heritage has so far remained unpolluted. I only hope it will last," he added with a pointed look in Sirius' direction.
"All this political talk must be boring the children," Cassiopeia spoke up, absently petting the purring Kneazle she held in her arms. "Ernie, Draco, why don't you give Orion a tour of the house?"
The two boys looked hopeful, plainly eager to leave the adults to their discussion. Harry, even though theoretically an adult himself, was also pleased to be given an opportunity to escape. Pureblood politics wasn't his thing and he found it hard to resist defending the muggleborns they were disparaging. That was one thing he really disliked about being a child again – the way it was impolite for him to contradict any of the adults no matter what rubbish they spouted. Harry was surprised that Sirius hadn't objected at some point though; he hadn't thought the often reckless wizard was capable of such self-control.
"Yes do run along, dears," Melania told them. "You may go play in the nursery room upstairs."
Cassie rolled her eyes behind Melania's back and winked at Harry as he followed Draco and Ernie out of the room. Harry carefully closed the drawing room door behind them and then turned to the other two boys.
"We don't really have to go to the nursery, do we?" he asked, scrunching up his face in distaste. He was much too old to for such a thing – even if people did think he was ten years old.
"Don't worry, we don't want to go near the place either," Ernie assured him.
"Yeah, we're stuck there often enough for lessons as it is," Draco agreed. "And it's supposed to be called the school room, now that we're older," he added with a slight whine to his voice. "Grandmother Melania always treats us as if we're barely five years old."
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