[1990 Pt.6]

[31st July, 1990.]

[British Ministry of Magic, London]

Nathan and his grandmother walked through the atrium of the ministry as they walked towards one of the many elevators.

"This is pathetic," Nathan muttered as he found himself alone with his grandmother.

"What?" his grandmother frowned in confusion as she caught his words.

"The runes they are using to defend the ministry. They are too visible."

Aurelia frowned, she had never seen any runes in the atrium, "Where did you see runes, Nathan?"

"The ceiling of the ministry Grandma. Those moving golden engravings are runes that were engraved before the ceiling itself was made to move so that they can't be tampered with."

Aurelia frowned before asking, "And why is that problematic?"

"Because anybody can fly up to the ceiling and mess with the protective enchantments of the ministry entrance given enough time."

Aurelia was about to ask her grandson to elaborate when the elevator paused, and announced in a pleasant female voice, "Department of Foreign Affairs."

They exited the elevator, the topic was shelved in favour of the errand they were here for.

Nathan followed his grandmother as she walked with purpose towards the area that dealt with identification and security clearances.

They arrived in front of a desk outside an office room where a young woman probably in her late twenties, was sitting on a chair as she worked with some documents.

His grandmother said, "Mia, is your husband in?" The woman jolted before looking up at his grandmother with a frown.

She smiled when she recognised his grandmother and said, "Aurelia, he is with the minister. Just wait a few minutes."

His grandmother gave the woman an amused smirk before asking, "The former minister or the new one?"

The receptionist smiled wryly before she replied, "It is Minister Fudge. Miss Bagnold has left Britain in the early hours of the morning. Dugson was pissed when she called him for a last favour. However, he still got her identification done an hour later. He forced Scrimgeour to forego the whole process with a personal memo. She will probably never return to Britain ever again."

There was a short pause as his grandmother digested the words.

"Where did she go?"-- Nathan inwardly rolled his eyes at the gossipy turn his grandmother's voice had taken. Though he was still interested in the answer.

"Italy. Though Dugson was sure that she had some French relatives through marriage and would move there later."

"Never thought I would hear Bagnold leave Britain of her own volition. I would have expected her to contest in the next elections at least."

"I don't think she was all that willing to leave," Mia leaned forward as she looked around conspiratorially before saying, "Dugson thinks that Malfoy had dirt on Bagnold."

"Really what makes him---"

Nathan nearly growled when his further conversation ceased as the door into Dugson's office opened to reveal Cornelius Fudge and who he assumed was Dugson. Both of them had a smile on their faces that Nathan could recognise anywhere.

They both were smiling the same scummy smile he smiled when he was extremely pleased after he had fucked over someone who he did not like. The question was whether the smile was aimed at each other or Bagnold.

'Let us hope Miss Bagnold actually does reach Italy and her portkey doesn't malfunction.'

As he thought this, Nathan caught a small snippet of their conversation.

"--if you have any problems, Mr Benchworth. Remember that my door is open for you."

"I know, Minister. I know your door is always open for any good wizard that could need your help. Thank you."

The men turned their heads together towards the two women and Nathan who was looking at them with a grin.

Before any of them could greet each other, Nathan seized the initiative and rushed towards the minister at an excited pace as he asked, "You are the Minister Of Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge?! Sir, it is an honour to meet you! My name is Nathan Grey and I am your greatest fan!"

The man's eyes widened at Nathan's excitement for a moment before he blinked and the surprise was replaced by a patronizing fake smile that Nathan had donned in his previous life when he had to deal with simpletons.

"Nice to meet you, son. What can I do for you on this lovely day?"

Nathan looked at the man as if he were looking at his patron deity and said in a fanatical voice, "Can I have your autograph, sir?"

The man looked a mix between bewildered and confused as he said, "I don't have a quill on myself."

"Mrs Benchworth must have it," Nathan turned his eyes towards the horrified woman who did not seem to understand what was going on but she still nodded and said, "I do have a quill."

Nathan pulled out a small roll of parchment as Fudge was handed the quill by Mia Benchworth.

The man slowly scratched out a beautiful 'Cornelius Oswald Fudge' on the parchment before handing the quill and parchment to Nathan and saying, "Now, Mr Grey, I must leave. Wizarding Britain isn't going to run itself."

"Of course, sir. I am sorry to have taken your time, Minister," even as he said this with a smile, Nathan inwardly sneered. The idea had been spontaneous and he had never actually felt that it would succeed, but getting the man to sign a blank sheet of parchment was ridiculously easy. Cornelius Fudge had just given Nathan Grey a massive shaft to fuck him with and the man had done so with a patronizing smile.

The man left towards the elevator even as his guard followed behind him quietly.

"Aurelia! Here for the papers, are you?"

His grandmother gave Nathan a short glance before turning to Dugson and saying, "Yes, I have the security clearances from the DMLE. Cost me five galleons for four people to grease Simon's hands but the man did get it in time."

"Yeah, Simon might be a greedy bastard but nobody can say that he doesn't deliver."

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A|N:

The chapter length will go up in the coming days. Sorry I was a little busy the past few days.

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