515 Aggressive negotiation

(POV Fudge)

It had been headache after headache once Grindelwalds plan was revealed as we all scrambled to stop him and when that failed to preserve life. To top it all off there was the Azkaban incident that resulted in that monster being created from what was once the inner circle members of the death eaters. The new sport that was created by the Ravenclaw boy was perhaps one of the only really big wins for me and the ministry , that and the Triwizard tournament that I had managed to get accepted.-

That said however there was now an entirely new headache inducing situation for me to deal with thanks to the misguided actions of a muggleborn girl who somehow knew of Grindelwalds plan and sent a letter with the details on it to her parents. It was easy to understand that what she hoped to accomplish with it but her parents had tried to warn their friends as well which resulted in a domino effect that exposed the existence of magic to some government officials in the muggle government. Thankfully the damage was easily fixed and even helped to a degree as it made the muggle government work more closely with the ministry.-

Sadly the statute of secrecy was still in effect so the girl needed to be punished for breaking it. Which brought me to the most recent headache that I needed to deal with , Dumbledore was coming to plead the girls case. Despite being minister of magic I know very well that if the old man wished it nobody could stop him from taking the girl back from the aurors. Dumbledore and I might not agree on much but both of us would rather not see him forced to that course of action. I am sure that I can lighten the punishment significantly in exchange for some favors from the old wizard thanks to our combined political power.-

At least that was what I thought until i felt it , the suppression that felt oh so similar to Dumbledores but not exactly the same , weaker I suppose? The source of this suppression was a VERY big problem however as it clearly came from the Ravenclaw boy that Dumbledore had brought to the ministry with him. "What is the meaning of this Albus?" I feigned anger but internally I was beyond nervous. The boy was an entirely different sort of creature than Dumbledore , more ruthless and unpredictable for a start.-

There were quite a few known things that pointed to him being much more of a threat to the ministry than Dumbledore ever was. A big red flag was how well the brat knew the laws of the ministry and seemed to skirt around them on technicalities and biases. Now it turns out that a truly nightmarish scenario had come to life as that same boy was openly showing his status as an archmage much like Dumbledore ,except he just turned fourteen! The boy was almost guaranteed to surpass Dumbledore and should not be angered if i could help it.-

A not so small problem however was that the muggleborn girl currently in custody was none other than Hermione Granger who was a very well known associate of the boys. "We have come to appeal for leniency in the case of Miss Granger on grounds she could not have known her parents would respond in such a way." Dumbledore said seriously and I could swear I saw a touch of helplessness in his eyes but I must have been mistaken. "While it is a regrettable case she broke the statute and needs to be punished." I said acted saddened.-

"What do you want?" the boy asked bluntly with a clear level of irritation visible on his face as his piercing golden eyes stared me down. "I beg your pardon!? Why I never!" I said acting offended until a chill went down my spine as the boy frowned. "Don't play games with me Fudge What . Do . You . Want?" the boy enunciated each word and I realized this wasn't a political negotiation but a forced trade. The boy was making it clear that he was not going to be lead around in this matter and won't take no for an answer.-

I was tempted to outright reject him in spite but I had a gut feeling that wouldn't end very well and capitulated. "I can't just make the charge go away and need to at least appear as though I punished the girl and that takes resources. Leverage in all the right places and frankly speaking I don't want to expend them myself." I said bluntly since the boy wants to do this quickly. To my surprise the boy waved his hand and a small bottle of golden colored potion appeared in his hand that he set on my desk.