herumtreiber

Title: The Lord Appellant 35/37
Chapter: Dealing with Dark Twits, part 2
Author:

herumtreiber
Genre: Slash, romance, adventure, dark!fic
Pairing: Draco/Blaise, one sided Harry/Draco
Rating: R
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: ~5,329 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

34. Dealing with Dark Twits, part 1

When Draco's and Ginny's bodies hit the floor, an eerie quietness descended upon those present. Blaise visibly lurched, and felt gnawing desperation, he panted and tried to regain his breath. Crabbe and Goyle staggered to the bodies and tried to search for pulses. Harry was kneeling and muttering under his breath.

The Twins, though, they were another matter entirely. Too feisty for their own good, they were full of animosity towards Draco, they made it to the bodies, and when they got there, Fred kicked Draco's body while George started spouting things like, "So this is what you planned all along, to kill Ginny, you slimy, no-good Death Eater spawn, you have fooled everyone but won't fool us, you murdering bea…." George was forced to stop after Pansy struck his face so hard that his jaw broke. Pansy calmly moved her wand toward Fred and uttered a forceful "Crucio," that had Fred writhing on the floor. Harry looked at this event worryingly, his hand itching towards his wand, only to find 3 wands directed against him.

Blaise asked, "What's it going to be, Potter? Going to destroy our alliance because your minions can't contain themselves and just blurt stupid things out like a 4-year old?"

Harry thought about all that he and Draco had achieved, well, mostly Draco, and realized he couldn't let it end this way. He also conceded that the Slytherins were right to be so peeved at the insults of the Twins, who most of the time acted like kids. He took his hand from his wand and nodded towards Blaise.

Pansy calmly intoned "Nolo curare" directed towards George's jaw and said conversationally, "Now your jaw can only be healed through Muggle methods, magic won't work. You won't be able to talk for a month. During that time, I suggest you calm your stupid prejudice and impetuosity. And before I forget, Crucio!"

Blaise took out his slim cell phone and called someone. What he got weren't good news, apparently. Blaise sighed and said, "The upper floors were under a stasis spell cast by Draco, when he fell, the spell disappeared, and the Death Eaters are pouring out. Right now there is an intense battle going on in the house. We haven't been interrupted because of Voldemort's and Draco's wards. We have to find a way out."

Harry started to pace, thinking about a way out, when he suddenly bumped against something and fell to the floor. He was surprised because he hadn't sensed anything, but his fingers felt soft fabric and something hard underneath. With his heart beating more rapidly, he uncovered what he was quite surprised to see was the Sorting Hat, and he held his Invisibility Cloak. Groaning, he took the Sword of Gryffindor and pulled it into the Hat, and for good measure, put the Hat on.

"So we meet again, Harry Potter.

What are you doing here?

You should ask that of your blond partner, it was him who took me from my slumber in Hogwarts, claiming he needed the Sword of Gryffindor and had seen that I had it.

You gave him the Sword? But only a pure Gryffindor is supposed to be able to wear it!

You were not the only difficult student to place that year at Hogwarts. He's even more of a Gryffindor than you are. Witness how many times he's thrown himself in front of Killing Curses. But if I had placed him in Gryffindor, his father would have killed him sooner rather than later. I couldn't bear to speak with him, or I would have tried to change his mind; so I sorted him immediately I touched his head.

And now, all that for nothing. He is dead.

I wouldn't be so sure, young Gryffindor. You're talking about one who has plans within plans.

It doesn't matter. Death Eaters await us outside, it's only a question of time, and the only way out is a cave that leads to the river.

You can always use the Malfoy phoenix.

Malfoy has a phoenix?

Yes, it's an ice phoenix. His name is Sylt. He'll take you to wherever you want to go, only in emergencies.

Well, that's really useful, thank you, Hat!"

Harry took off the Hat, breaking their communication, and noticed his companions. Crabbe and Goyle were cradling forlornly Draco and Ginny, and Pansy was staring menacingly and truculently at the Twins who just shuddered in fear. Blaise looked strangely calm.

Harry said, "I've been advised to use the Malfoy phoenix."

Blaise answered, "Sylt? Hopefully this time the bastard will answer."

Harry asked dumbfounded, "You know about this?"

Blaise replied, "Sylt is a relic of an era when the Malfoys worked for the Light. He's bound to the House, not to any individual, so he can disregard notifications he doesn't want. I'm sure Lucius called for him many times, but the wily phoenix never answered. Draco called him once before. He wanted to go to his mother. Sylt never answered and Draco cursed the phoenix."

"Oh, he cursed his name."

"No, physically cursed the ruddy bird. He made his feathers pink and violet."

Harry closed his eyes, imagining such a flamboyantly colored bird.

He coughed and then said in a loud voice, "Sylt. Malfoy needs you, the Light side needs you."

There was a sweet sound, the beginning of a phoenix song, and then a bright if gaudy sight was upon them. Sylt, the pink and violet ice phoenix, stood before them. Harry asked him, "Can you take us all to Malfoy Manor?"

The phoenix trilled agreeably. Harry grabbed the Cloak and the Hat, and was transported with the others. When he opened his eyes, he was in the living room at the Manor.

Crabbe and Goyle took Draco's and Ginny's bodies away. Blaise ordered that they be kept in neighboring beds in Draco's room. He took strength from his boyfriend's resources and decided the Slytherins needed a leader.

He said, "I'm going back to Voldemort's to consolidate our gains and get rid of more Death Eaters. Harry, you're in charge here, if you could get Pomphrey, that might help."

Madam Pomphrey was finishing her inventory of medical and magical supplies when she felt a presence across the wards. She looked up, being aware of where her wand was. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Hermione.

Hermione said, "Madam Pomphrey, the Light side needs your urgent services. Today there was an attack against Voldemort, but there were unforeseen casualties, Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley were affected."

Pomphrey countered, "You and Ginny, and Malfoy. I find that hard to believe, Miss Granger."

Then there was a sudden movement of someone getting rid of a certain Cloak, and a cultured drawling voice said, "My dear Madam Pomphrey, who else but Draco Malfoy could command the allegiance of Hermione Granger and Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"But we tarry too much, and the life of my only nephew is at stake here. We have dire need of you."

Pomphrey, visibly shaken by developments, agreed.

They left, and were unaware of the painting that had skulked around, listening intently to the story. It was a colossal blunder to make, especially for someone as bright as Hermione.

Madam Pomphrey finished her examination of the two bodies and commented, "You've told me that after Harry AK'd Voldemort, there was a cloud around Ginny, her eyes flashed red for a bit and calmed down. Draco ordered Harry to kill Ginny. He shot a AK at her, but Draco had time to run to her side. They both took the Killing Curse. Correct?"

Everyone nodded.

Pomphrey continued, "I don't know what is going on. Their life force is at a complete minimum. They avoid rigor mortis just barely. There is no trace of magic in their bodies. In witches and wizards, even after they are dead, there's always a magical trace. Not so with them."

"In the case of Ginny, however, there is a small residue of Dark Magic. Thanks to magical forensic analysis performed on other subjects, I can say that residue came from Voldemort. It seems there was a double of his magic and personality inside Ginny, waiting for the correct trigger. When it occurred, Voldemort threatened to take over her body. The AK prevented that. It does not seem to have touched Ginny, but when the AK hit her, the Killing Curse attacked what wasn't Ginny and destroyed it."

"Wherever Ginny is, she doesn't have to contend with Voldemort, or a complete Voldemort, at any rate. I would say it's a master plan, even the small but vital point of having Harry cast the Killing Curse."

Harry asked interestedly, "Why?"

Pomphrey replied, "So the Prophecy is fulfilled. It was your wand which destroyed Voldemort, his body, and then his image which was in Ginny."

Harry worriedly asked, "Then why are they not back?"

The nurse replied, "Wherever they are, they are alive. Mr. Malfoy's rings prove this. I have no idea of the kind of magic involved in circumventing the Killing Curse, but it appears to take time. We must keep a vigil on them."

Soon news of Voldemort's signal defeat were becoming known. Wizengamot members Joseph Peregrine, Antoine Chichester and Kurt Salisbury saw a chance to prosper when they also were assured that the upstart Malfoy was as good as dead.

They decided to proceed to dismantle the Loyal Slytherins, and one way of doing that would be to take care of elder members, who were protected by a Wizengamot plenary pardon which was valid until Voldemort kicked the bucket, which he had conveniently done.

They were free to arrest the turncoat Death Eaters, have them convicted, executed, and a signal defeat dealt to those uppity purebloods.

There was whiteness all around him. He had a feeling of peace, of wanting to stay part of the whole, if only for a little while. But a flash of green irritated him no small end. Why should this happen? Wasn't the green related to Potter? Damn Potter! He didn't know who or what Potter was, only that it vexed him so.

There were also other inconsistencies. His thoughts kept returning to a freckled visage, twisted in a fierce grimace as if hexing someone, or scowling and crying. Weaselette, Ginny, were the tags accompanying that image.

His sense of urgency increased. He felt he needed to play the host, that it was up to him to maybe construct the scenery. Maybe he could construct it out of dreams. Then he remembered a dream he'd had recently and more things kept coming into focus.

He meditated and pondered the symbolism of the dream, and slowly a path to the future opened.

He concentrated on the Shadow Realm, and slowly it appeared. There was a common room, but with beige and earth colors. Ginny was laid down in a couch, soundly asleep. Draco debated how to wake her up and decided on a loud noise.

Ginny woke up, somewhat alarmed, and asked, "What happened?"

Draco asked, "What do you remember?"

"Harry AK Voldie, and then there was a cloud in front of me. Voldemort tried to take me over but I could defend myself, then Harry launched the curse at me and you embraced me and the curse hit us. We're dead, aren't we?"

Draco replied, "No, we're not dead. We're in the Shadow Realm, it's different from other Realms of the Siddhe in that it is accessible only if you're near death. Here you can get rid of the shadows of your soul. I'll be bluntly honest with you. The purpose of the Killing Curse was getting us here, and also to get rid of Voldemort's horcrux which was somehow channeled into your body from the experience with the Chamber of Secrets. When the AK hit your body it almost destroyed the horcrux. Voldemort's only link with life lies now in the shadow of your soul. You have to consciously cast him aside as if you were exorcising him, and then he'll go to the Hell he deserves."

"Make no mistake: Voldemort has had his eye on you for years, since your First Year. He has tried to nurture the resonance or whatever it is he found in you. He wanted you weak and pliable. To that effect, he directed his efforts to influence people around you…."

Ginny asked, "You mean to tell me…"

Draco answered, "Yes, he influenced the Leprechaun and Thomas. Nothing like Imperio, but a suggestion of what a man supposedly does. The idiots followed like sheep."

Draco continued, "Apparently he expected you to be so weak, that you would welcome his strength to reach revenge."

Ginny retorted, "Is that why you wanted me to go to the Azkaban raid, so I got revenge and got satisfied?"

Draco answered seriously, "I wanted you to feel some control over your life, that you see and feel that justice is done. I remember the little girl with fire in her eyes, and I want to see her grow up into the woman with fiery eyes. Everything else follows from this."

"I will also tell you what I see: I see the girl who destroyed Voldemort. I saw the green cloud surround you, and saw the red eyes. That meant that Voldemort actually possessed you for a second or two, but you were strong and obstinate enough to thwart him. Because of that we had time to launch the AK. Ginny, if Voldemort had possessed you completely, he would've killed us instantly and the war would be lost."

"Though the history books say that Harry Potter killed Voldemort, it truly was Ginevra Weasley who vanquished the Dark Lord, and I will tell it so to the press."

Ginny cried, and sobbed, "You make me sound so heroic!"

"That's because you are."

Ginny sighed, "No, I'm not. I can never be a complete heroine, marry and have children."

Draco sighed, and said very earnestly, "Ginny, I should thwack you on the head for defective thinking processes, but as we are in a Shadow Realm, I won't do it. I only want to point out what the doctor said that your uterus could not carry a child. That is true."

"However, you could have one of your eggs impregnated and carried to term by a host mother. You would be a mother; it would be your child and your partner's."

Ginny laughed, and then cried, and then laughed again while Draco held her.

Ginny asked, "What about you and Blaise?"

Draco said, "There's a spell that can be used that would join our genetic information and bring forth a kid, we'd need a host mother, too. I want to have many kids."

Ginny said, "How much time has passed outside?"

"I don't know. We have to hurry though."

"Ok, What do I do?"

Draco replied, "Just imagine you're banishing Voldemort to hell in front of the gods and goddesses of yore." "You can do it. You'll feel it, a cleansing feeling."

Ginny intoned, "Before all present and dead, I command you to return to the nether hells where you belong, where you should have been chained for eternity, nay for ever and a day. I order you to the hell you created for other creatures, their hopelessness, their fears; they are your only provenance now. Your roads lead to desolation, like they have always done. To emptiness you return, to remember the emptiness you created in others. Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, in the end your names matter not at all, for the condemned cannot hear them, nor understand them. Return to hell in the name of the gods!"

With this a green cloud got out of Ginny, after swirling for a second in front of her, it coalesced into a miniature Voldemort. Below the representation of the Dark Lord a ring of blackness appeared which increasingly grew to include half the room. Ginny and Draco were able to follow the Voldemort figure as it entered hell.

Ginny turned to Draco and said, "I feel the cleansing, as if the problems have gone away."

Draco answered cautiously, "That's what you'll feel at the beginning. The problems will return, but with less force than before."

Ginny asked, "How do you know this? Did this happen to you too?"

"No, it's the meditation process, which is useful to fight stress."

"Good. How are we going to get back?"

Draco said, "We'll concentrate on them. Concentrate hard if you don't want to remain here!"

In the real world, Thursday turn into Friday. Blaise, Harry and the Twins were in Draco's rooms, fidgeting and trying not to hex one another. The Twins were thoroughly cowed and were very cautious when speaking, at least the Twin that could speak, that is.

Blaise had asked Harry if he could still feel Draco through the failed Bond, and when Harry looked despondent and said no, Blaise had cried. Blaise'd been magnificent during the cleanup of Voldemort's house, but now that there was time to think, he wasn't doing too well.

After lunch they were visited by Pansy. After scowling at the Twins, she said she brought tidings, though not good ones. Apparently the Daily Prophet had run a sneak edition, telling the readers about the battle with Voldemort, that Voldemort was dead, and Draco was considered near dead.

Blaise was dismayed, and took out his phone cell to talk to his comrades and mount some sort of political defense.

He muttered, "We need you now, Drake."

A voice drawled tiredly, "How many times have I told you that my name is Draco."

Blaise shouted "Draco!" And launched himself at the blond, while he held him, Harry couldn't wait anymore and also hugged him, followed by Pansy. The Twins shrugged nonchalantly and joined the group hug.

A weak voice said, "Am I being forgotten?"

The Twin shouted "Gin! Gin you're alive!" Both Twins cried and hugged Ginny.

Draco insisted in being told everything. He grunted when it came to the phoenix, Sylt, and hurriedly intoned the counter curse to the colorful plumage.

Before Draco could ask more, Hermione, who had walked quietly into the room, sent him a piece of parchment with a message:

Draco,

I found the following info in wikipedia:

A geas is a vow or obligation placed upon a person (usually a hero). Traditionally, the doom of the hero occurs because he violates the geas (plural geasa) by accident or having many and being then in a position where he must violate one to uphold another.

Later a geas took the aspect of a taboo or prohibition. A geas can also be compared to a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone placed under a geas breaks it, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death.

Draco nodded to himself and to Hermione. This cleared up some mysteries. Now he had to let the scene roll.

Blaise neared Draco's bed with a worried frown. Draco asked, "What's up, Blaise?"

"I've tried to contact Crabbe and Goyle Sr and can't seem to reach them."

Draco felt a heavy weight settle on his stomach as he pondered this. Then he asked "Dobby! Find my aunt Bella and Miss Mandy and bring them here, please."

He sat up in the bed and was Ok, but people could see that he was sick.

Dobby came back, looking harried, "They's not here, Master. Leaby says he heard Mrs. Bellatrix muttering about going to help you. I looks in her desk and found a strange letter."

Draco looked to Blaise, who took the letter and muttered some incantations over it. Blaise said, "The letter has a strong Confundus charm, cleverly disguised as a Privacy Charm. It appears to have been made by WWW. Far as I can tell, they wanted Bella out of the Manor's protection where they could get at her. Apparently they did the same to Mandy."

Pansy was growling and was on the brink of hexing the hapless Twins again, when Draco stopped her. "Don't do it, Pansy. I don't think the Twins are behind this at all. They've been here the whole time. However, I do think they lack judgment to create such wide ranging products that can be turned to awful uses. Now, won't you please get my Wizengamot files and shrink them, covering them with the Cloak?"

Then Draco stood unsteadily and said confidently, "Accio Lucius's cane!" The cane came and he leaned into it, smirking sardonically and saying, "The big bad boys want to play with me and compare me to Lucius. After today there will not be any doubts in their minds that I'm worse than Lucius!"

Draco said imperiously, "Pansy, you're in charge of my files. The Twins will stay guarding Ginny. Crabbe and Goyle, you're with me, and Blaise and Potter, I hope you'll accompany me. I can read you both like books and see that you're worried about me. Don't be! It's just what happens after you defy death! Seriously though, we need to make our way to the Wizengamot as soon as possible or they will sit there in supposed justice and order all 4 of them Kissed. Of course they have rings taking them to the Manor, but they might not be in the right frame of mind to remember them, or may in a Gryffindor trait, decide to play the innocent card to the last. At any rate, I have to save them!"

Draco continued maniacally, "We'll Apparate to the front of the Wizengamot. I know as members we can Apparate inside easily, but bear with it for now, Ok?"

At the front of the Wizengamot, they regrouped. Draco made to enter, but first he pushed the air in front of him with the cane. He'd been a little unsteady on his feet, and the cane really helped. It seemed the cane met a magical resistance, for there was a brief flash when it would meet what felt like wards.

Draco smiled coldly in triumph. They had made the big mistake of believing themselves invulnerable. He debated whether to lift the wards or not, then decided to continue with his plan.

He said, clearly and carefully, "I am Draco Malfoy Black, Lord Malfoy and Lord Black; a current member of the Wizengamot, leader of a faction. I find that my entrance to the Chamber is blocked by wards cast from those within, preventing discourse. I hereby invoke the Self-defense statute."

There was a backlash of magic as the would-be wards were dismantled and the Wizengamot Chamber made its presence known.

Law-making in the Wizarding world is completely different than the Muggle one. With magic, all a group (or an individual) would have to do is prevent the others from entering and they could enact whatever laws they wanted. The Wizengamot found that out to its chagrin very early in its history and drew the adequate conclusions.

Henceforward, if a Wizengamot member was prevented access to the building by magical means, they could invoke the self-defense statute. The Wizengamot chamber would become itself self-aware, composed of the viewpoints and consciousness of all its members, joined together to sit in summary judgment of the circumstances that brought about the self-defense statute, acting as the title implied, in self-defense.

Draco addressed the Chamber, "I'd prefer to reveal the situation myself and remain incognito a while longer." "Pansy, could you please put the Cloak over me and then all of you enter, looking sad."

They did as he asked. Some members had looked hopefully at them, but not seeing Draco, their spirits fell.

In the table where the accused sat, there were Crabbe Sr, Goyle Sr, Bellatrix and Mandy, the last two looked like they had been beaten. They were heavily laden with magical chains to prevent their escapes, and Joseph Peregrine, Antoine Chichester and Kurt Salisbury crowed over them.

Peregrine was saying, "The plenary pardon was over the second Voldemort died! You will be tried for your crimes. Mayhap you helped to bring young Malfoy down! Maybe he was dabbling in Dark Arts and that's why he's almost dead!"

A voice drawled lazily, sounding uncannily like Lucius's: "Maybe I'm right behind you, lout!"

Draco stepped out of the Invisibility Cloak. He'd arranged his hair to look like Lucius's. His posture, his demeanor, his cane, it all screamed Lucius. Two members fainted.

Blaise understood. He'd seen Lucius act in politics and seen Draco. He knew what Draco wanted. Lucius was a very dangerous man, always exuding a menacing aura. He'd hurt many people, but in politics he was mostly bark and no bite. He'd stake a position and act hostilely, and people took notice of him and then forgot him.

Draco moved by increments. Sometimes you didn't know what he wanted. If you encroached upon him, he let you know unmistakably. If you did not react, he pounced, and it wasn't nice.

People were about to learn that even though Draco Malfoy worked for the Light, he was not always a nice person.

Draco continued, "You made a mistake when you erected a Ward to keep me out, Peregrine. You all really should learn how the Wizengamot functions."

Draco said, "Chamber, let them know." The Chamber said, "I/we are the Wizengamot Chamber, composed of the consciousness of all members, I/we were called forth as the solution to a self-defense statute petition. I/we will sit in judgment of the conditions preventing the rightful entrance of Wizengamot members."

Draco continued imperiously, "I demand that these 4 persons be left free of chains, and instead their three accusers are bound with the chains."

The Chamber asked, "What would be the purpose in that?"

Draco said, "To let them know that pointing fingers is wrong, and also to warn them against crossing me."

The Chamber answered, "So be it."

In a flash of magic, the four accused were left free and the former accusers were bound in chains.

Draco neared Bella and Mandy and hugged them. He then said, "I want the person or persons who beat them up. I want them to stand up, so I know who it is." No one stood up. Draco snorted, "I guess it was a Gryffindor, all for show. Chamber, make the person stand up or we can not go any farther!"

In the side where the Aurors were, one was struggling to remain seated, and was losing that fight. Moody stood up.

Draco now showed where he differed from Lucius. Lucius would have been all bark and would have left the Auror go. Draco wanted revenge.

Draco said, "I ask the Chamber that Moody be fired from the Aurors and given a sentence of six months in Azkaban."

The Chamber said, "Isn't Azkaban a little too much?"

"No, he's a complete scourge for the purebloods. If I see his evil smirking face around I might be tempted to do something about it."

The Chamber said, "Mr. Alastor Moody is sentenced to six months in Azkaban for abusing his job of Auror. He's also discharged from said job."

Chichester exploded, "You can't do that!"

The Chamber answered, "I/we assure you I/we can, Mr Chichester. Seeing as how I/we are comprised of the viewpoints of all Wizengamot members, what I/we decide stands."

Draco had taken advantage of the delay and grabbed three fat folders. After perusing them, he drawled nastily, "I charge Peregrine with conspiring against the Wizengamot for years, receiving bribes from Death Eaters. Here is the proof," Draco pushed the envelope through thin air, where its movement was slowed and presently there were two envelopes. Draco took the copy for his files and left the original.

The Chamber remained silent for a minute, as it pondered the revelations and their implications. Finally it spoke in a grave voice, "The proofs are irrefutable, Peregrine is guilty as charged and will serve 20 years in Azkaban. Aurors, take him away!"

The Aurors took a babbling and broken Peregrine away while Draco prepared his next volley. He said, "I charge Chichester with receiving bribes from Death Eaters. Here's the proof."

Again, he was found guilty as charged and taken directly to Azkaban to serve 10 years.

Everyone thought that Draco would show leniency and excuse the last conspirator. Everyone was wrong.

Draco said, "I charge Kurt Salisbury with abusing mentally and physically his sons. I accuse him of killing them and blaming an innocent man who was Kissed as a result!"

The deliberation took longer, this time; three minutes after Draco had grabbed the copy and saved it in his archives.

Eventually, the Chamber, in its gravest voice yet, said, "He is guilty as charged. He will be Kissed immediately for his heinous crimes."

Draco said, in his most dulcet tones, "But we still have the little matter of the judgment against my 4 friends. A judgment none of you fought to delay. You did not find it strange that a day after Voldemort's supposed death; you'd be asked to rescind the guarantees made in good faith in the plenary pardons? Surely you cared, but when you realized that the beneficiaries were old Slytherins who once served Voldemort, you didn't care anymore."

Draco continued as he leaned on the cane, "I just have a question for you: who made you judge who can get redeemed or not?" "As for the judgment, I yield the floor to the members, if they wish to interrogate the prisoners. Who'll have the guts to do it? You, Weasley? But then I'd have to use that tidbit about the unlawful business…oops, sorry! You are at liberty, fellow members. Pansy, if you please be handy with my archive, I may need it very soon."

Most Wizengamot members were smiling or smirking at Draco's antics against the old codgers. Some of the Gryffindor faction were glaring at him, but were completely cowed to do anything.

So it was left to Amos Diggory to continue for the Wizengamot. He stood up and said, "If it pleases you, I'd like to ask them questions."

Draco said, "Gladly do we yield the floor to Mr. Diggory. I know he is the most honest man I've ever met."

Diggory asked the four, "Why did you decide to turn against him?" Crabbe and Goyle Sr explained their thankfulness to Draco for saving their sons. Bellatrix explained at length about realizing that the cause had been corrupted so much, and Mandy explained that she went in wanting to be a spy and do her duty for the war.

Diggory further asked them what they would like to do now. Crabbe and Goyle unsurprisingly wanted to live in their Manors and spend time with their sons. Bella wanted to spend time with family and Mandy wanted to become a Healer.

At the end, Diggory said, "I propose that the Wizengamot vote and extend an unbreakable plenary pardon for these 4 people. They erred, recognized it and protected the commonwealth when it was their turn."

After Draco concurred, the Chamber deliberated with itself for five minutes, at the end of which four parchments flew to Draco. They contained the pardons, and Draco saved them, he then picked up his people and they made their way to the Manor.

Harry felt that they were now finally able to walk out of the woods, and commented this to Draco, who snorted and said, "Are you daft, Potter? In most fairy tales, when it looks like the problems are over, they are just beginning."

36. The eternal Horcrux