The Lord Appellant 17/37

[herumtreiber]

Title:  The Lord Appellant 17/37
Chapter:  High noon at the Wizengamot 2/2
Author:herumtreiber  
Genre: Slash, romance, adventure, dark!fic
Pairing: Draco/Blaise, one sided Harry/Draco
Rating: PG-13
Warnings for the fic: It's a dark fic, rape is mentioned several times. Dementors appear and not for show. Character death (not Harry, Draco or Blaise). Evil!Ron, powerful Hermione, Pansy and Bellatrix. Sympathetic to Slytherins.
Epilogue compliant? No
Chapter length: ~2,140 words
Disclaimer:  I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from  writing  these stories.
Summary: After the events of HBP, the Minister of Magic wants to finish the Malfoys but Draco uses a Wizengamot procedure to fight back. Veelas and Siddhe appear in the story as Draco uses political means to contest the pureblood's allegiance to Voldemort.
Notes: I wrote this before DH was published, so please no picayune comments about canon.


Table of contents




16. High noon at the Wizengamot 1/2

Soon Draco was asking the Head of the Inheritance Department, Mr. Thaddeus Silvernails: "What is the main rule of inheritance, sir?"

Mr. Silvernails, "Blood is thicker than paper."

"Thicker than paper? I don't understand it."

"It simply means that heirs with the blood have priority over heirs created on paper, on wills."

Draco asked, "Is that valid in all cases?"

Mr. Silvernails, "Only when they're Muggleborn or Half-Blood. The policy of the Ministry regarding the purebloods since 100 years ago, is to strip them of rank and riches every way they can, as long as it's discreet."

Draco asked, "Is that still the Ministry's policy?"

Mr. Silvernails, "Yes, sir."

The Wizengamot was deeply torn. They could see that Draco was building a strong, waterproof case proving the institutional abuse of the law to the great detriment of the purebloods. But they also had the acumen to realize that if they agreed to this case, then there would be a snowball effect, and soon they'd have an avalanche of cases that would surely change the economic complexion of Wizarding Britain .

Being a plenary session, the members could confer with themselves, and three great groups had formed: one composed of approximately 100 people favoring Draco and purebloods, a small group of 10 who still remained undecided, and the great majority of 200 who deeply resented Malfoy and all he stood for.

The press had set up equipment so the meeting could be filmed, and heard by radio, and even sent to be watched in Wizarding computers across the world.

Draco approached the diplomatic corps and said in a loud voice, "Monsieur l'Ambassadeur de France."

The Ambassador answered, "I'm right here, Sieur. Most entertaining night so far."

Draco replied, "I just want to convey my sincerest wishes for the help the realm of France has offered my family through the last hundred years. It was only the might of France that saved my ancestors at the time of Grindelwald."

The Ambassador replied, "But we were not exactly very powerful in 1945."

Draco added, "They took you seriously enough. They also know that France is immortal, and were weary to provoke her. That was enough to save their lives."

"I have sent the Malfoy assets to France . With time, I'd like it to be the home of the Malfoys, as she was once long ago."

"Aye, Sieur. It was a dark night when your ancestors left with the Norman bastard to find a kingdom."

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Draco was at the end of his patience with the pseudo-political thugs! He challengingly quirked an eyebrow. Blaise understood his implicit meaning and went to speak to Minister Bones.

They would get to use the doomsday weapon; anyway, this had the advantage of allowing them to dictate the surrender conditions. And surrender the hypocritical muggleborn-lovers would do, or they would be attacked where it hurts the most.

Minister Bones visibly blanched and grabbed the arms of the chair. Pulling herself together with all the tricks of her cunning brain, she said stentorian, "The Minister calls for a special friend to the court, the Minister calls for Ashpeck, General Manager of Gringotts, to act as Amicus Curiae for this session."

Ashpeck entered and sat in the chair where the witnesses sat, but he was not alone: there were 6 goblins with him, carrying some sort of gruesome weapons. But they did not appear to be guarding him, but a box they placed on a chair, which when opened, yielded a black book with golden lettering.

Everyone could sense that what was in that book would prove momentous.

Before Minister Bones could say anything, Ashpeck started, "The will of the late Sirius Black, giving the entailed Black Estate to Harry Potter, should have been declared null and void, at the latest within the Department of Inheritance."

"Why it didn't, why it was allowed to proceed working against precedent, you must ask yourselves."

"But I see yonder a big group of hoodlums and hooligans, who, believing themselves the heroes of the day, would only sink this realm further into chaos." Then he pointed out to the group of 200 Draco-haters.

"I have with me something that, mayhap, may change your mind. Or at least allow you to go to your doom knowing full well what you did to deserve it."

He motioned to two of his guards, who lifted the book.

"You are watching something that is rarely seen, even by goblins. This is the Book of Transactions. It records and carries out all exchanges between the accounts of our clients."

Ashpeck pretended to be irritable, "All transactions, including the complete change of address of one of our major clients, from, let's say, England , to France ."

"Though the amount was enormous, the economy could still absorb it."

"However, I have powers of attorney from 65 pureblood families, naming me as the executor, with the power to immediately transfer their goods and estates abroad."

"Should this come to pass, after I follow the orders of my clients I will issue one myself: the closing down of Gringotts in England and Scotland ; for with 40 of our capital gone, it would not be tenable to keep open."

There was tremendous pandemonium and several fights started to break out. A slim, blond young man surreptitiously approached Draco and prepared to hit him when Draco noticed him and preemptively sucker-punched him.

Playing the precious aristocrat to perfection, and carefully noting the man's features so he could hopefully later hit him again, he sat down next to Hermione and said sotto voce: "Your analysis, Hermione?"

She replied, "You seem to have shaken them considerably. This will hurt their pocketbooks, which means they will invariably yield. I'm presuming you have more demands?"

"Yes, they've behaved like louts, and have to be treated as such. Now is the moment to taste sweet victory."

After Minister Bones had restored some semblance of order to the assembly, she asked Draco, "Do you want to give a final statement, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco replied, "Yes, Madam Bones. As this hearing has shown, law and tradition stand by my side in this affair. Yet it seems that the Wizarding World cares not for law and tradition when it can cause pain to a pureblood. You've been doing it for years, and would love to continue doing it, aye, unto your grandchildren."

"Well, if you like it so much you can do it with your own money."

Suddenly a voice yelled angrily, "What about you, Malfoy? Is your estate in that goblin's list?"

Draco replied urbanely enough, "No, it is not."

Everyone looked confused.

Draco continued, "I gave peremptory orders some time ago. This chamber wanted my family's fortune. I saw no security here, and ordered that the estate be sold and new properties and goods be bought abroad. You will no longer have the Malfoy estate to whet your appetites here, lout!"

After much shouting and jostling from the aforesaid louts, Draco went on, "We also have a list of demands we wish to present to you. If any item in that list is undone, the whole deal comes unstuck and we will leave British soil, never to return!"

Blaise could see that the people opposing Draco were angry, irate even. But he also saw them sighing, visibly preparing themselves to capitulate. What the fools didn't understand was that by opposing Draco they had brought on a whole list of veritable onerous conditions they could have avoided if they had gone on with him.

Draco was a hard taskmaster because he expected perfection, but he also gave completely of himself and sometimes had the innocence of a child, if only for a few seconds.

Draco had worked hard to put the first item on that list, it stated that all decisions of the Wizengamot and the Government affecting purebloods, since his birth, were open and could be overturned.

In practical terms, this would affect much more inheritances and civil disputes, but there was an important political step taken, "decisions could be overturned." This, more than anything else, would tell the people the kind of government they had, where decisions taken years ago had to be turned back because they were so blatantly unfair.

Blaise was sure of one thing. If Draco got his way, the pureblood cause could be proud of itself for the first time today.

There was another item on the list that Blaise was not sure about. Draco listed the many shortcomings and errors of Gryffindors and asked them to "abolish and annul the House of Gryffindor from Hogwarts."

Blaise was sure they'd fight tooth and nails to keep the dratted hypocritical house. He sensed that Draco had a plan about this, like all his plans it was probably convoluted and likely to fail at any time. It would be interesting to see. He only had to be sure to be near the exit when Draco didn't get his way.

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After Amelia had sent key people to read the list and discuss it with the others, and they had returned, she went to Draco and said, "Mr. Malfoy, there's almost complete agreement with your items. Yet there appears to be a stumbling block too hard to negotiate."

Draco replied, "And that would be, Madam Minister?"

Amelia said, "Your demand that Gryffindor be abolished. We think it would set a bad precedent, given that the other three houses, including your own, are left standing as they are."

Draco pretended to contemplate the problem, when he had already devised a novel way to approach it. He said dubitatively, "I can see your viewpoint, Amelia. Gryffindor is singled out in this proposal. So what if we make it all inclusive? Abolish the four houses."

Amelia looked dumbstruck.

Draco continued, "I believe a lot of this society's ills may come from the early separation of people of similar tendencies into houses. There is no need to have friends because you have the ones in your house. All those from outside the house are hated needlessly, you can ask Weasley. So I believe this way we will create a more open society."

"This is my final offer on this matter."

Amelia said, surprised, "You would sink the agreement because of the Hogwarts houses?"

Draco replied, "Not because of the houses, but because it deals with the future, our future."

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After discussing with her people, Amelia realized that she had the power to end the agreement, if she insisted in the Hogwarts houses, but then she remembered her niece Susan, crying because some bad boy had called her 'a stinking Hufflepuff,' interestingly enough Susan had been defended by an unlikely person: Draco Malfoy. Thus began their friendship, and retiring Susan seemed a little brighter around Draco.

This memory made her begin to realize that Draco might be right in thinking the Houses more stumbling blocks than helping hands, and she decided to do away with them.

After more palaver, they decided to sign the agreement.

Blaise was watching Draco and inwardly smirking. He'd bet that Draco was strutting, parading and posing, believing himself to be the center of the world.

Well, he was important today. Let him enjoy his rewards.

After the vote was held and the agreement was approved by 80 percent, Draco pulled the last trick of the session. He told them they had to swear a binding Wizengamot Oath, obliging themselves to faithfully fulfill the agreement, as Draco put it, "We don't want you to think that you can wiggle out of this little agreement when one of us dies in the near future, do we? We want it to be as binding as your law, er….excuse me, as binding as our tradition."

It seemed the session had extracted more energy from the members than they acknowledged, for with a heavy heart, they agreed and did as he asked.

Draco was carried on the shoulders of his friends as he got to the Manor. They were ecstatic about the triumph of the pureblood cause; they playfully kissed the ring representing his status as Lord Black.

When he was in his room and Dobby appeared with his chocolate, hugging his knees, Draco thought, "This is the reason why I do this. Not the riches, of which I have enough, nor fame and fortune, nor power. It's because of Dobby, elves like him, people like him. They need protecting, and if I don't do it then no one else can. When I needed him, Dobby was there. The least I can do is return the favor."

18. Black House