C259

(A/N: Want to read ahead of what I've posted so far? Go to my patreòn and get early access chapters.

As of this chapter, the patreòn is 6 chapters ahead at chapter 265. I'm going to try and build up chapters on Patreón again today. Patreòn schedule is usually 2 chapters a day, 6 days a week. Friday is my day off.

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Thanks for the Power Stones and enjoy the chapter!)

"I apologies for the disrespectful welcome, especially in your own home, but I need to be sure you haven't been corrupted." Tom says as the father and son look at him as if he were crazy.

""Corrupted?!""

Before they could continue their conversation, Ritz the house-elf went straight on the offensive.

Suddenly, random objects from all around the house levitated and came shooting in Tom's direction.

Waving his hand, Tom stopped every object from candlesticks to family portraits before they could reach within a certain distance from him.

With his attacks stopped mid-air, the poor elf started to strain himself and put all of his magic into moving the objects to attack Tom, who merely sat there casually.

"You should stop, little guy." Tom says as he sees sweat drip from Ritz's brow as the little elf starts to overuse his magic. "I respect your dedication to your Master, but you aren't nearly as powerful as I am. Stop before you hurt yourself."

Toms words seemed to only bolster the little elf's courage however, as it put even more magic into its attack, straining his small body even further.

Seeing that this was getting nowhere, Tom turned to his friend Charlus, who was shocked by this entire situation and has no idea what to do.

"Charlus, tell the poor elf to settle down before it hurts itself." Tom says with a sigh.

Charlus, who wasn't sure whether he should pull his wand or not, froze and watched in shock as his trusted elf Ritz continued to strain himself.

"Ritz, stop!" Luckily, Lord Potter seemed to keep his cool and took control before anything bad happened.

Soon, all of the objects floating around the room fell to the floor with a round of loud clunks, and along with them so did the little elf Ritz.

"Ritz!" Charlus exclaimed as he dashed toward the downed elf.

Casting a quick medical analysis spell, Tom made sure Ritz didn't hurt himself too much.

"He's fine. He strained his body and used up almost all of his magic, but he should be fine after a few days of rest." Tom explains and snaps his fingers, causing the downed elf to disappear and reappear safely and snugly laying on the sofa across from him. "Now sit, Charlus. We have a lot to talk about."

Hesitantly walking over and taking a seat next to the passed-out Ritz, Charlus looks at Tom with a confused and betrayed look on his face.

In his mind, whether Tom had something big to talk about or not, this wasn't the way to go about it.

"Now that everything is how you want it, can you please explain what this is all about and what you mean by corrupted?" Lord Potter asks, still strapped tightly to the armchair by golden eldritch ropes.

Nodding along with his father's words, Charlus looks to Tom expectantly, hoping whatever this is about is dire enough to warrant his behavior.

"We'll get to that in a moment." Tom says with a shake of his head. "First, Charlus tells me you've been busy lately. Tell me about it."

"Nothing you probably haven't already heard about. We've been all hands on deck since the attacks on Lord Blacks campaign started. Sadly, we haven't been able to be of much help." Lord Potter explains with a small bit of annoyance laced in his voice.

"Why is that?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why's what?" Lord Potter asked back.

"Why haven't you been of much help?" Tom clarifies.

"Well, for some reason the Minister's office has us running down leads all over the place. Just finding time for my own campaign has been impossible lately." Lord Potter explains.

"I see, so she's targeting your campaign as well..." Tom mutters as he wonders if the other candidates are being targeted without his knowledge as well.

Hearing what Tom said, Lord Potters eyes how wide with realization while his son merely sits there confused.

"You think the Minister of Magic is the one attacking Lord Black's campaign?" Lord Potter says.

"Huh? Would the Minister actually do that?" Charlus asks as he finally realizes what they're talking about.

"..." Lord Potter thought it over for a moment before answering his son. "If it would keep her in office and not fall back on her, then I wouldn't say it's an impossibility..."

"I've already found proof linking her to the attacks. The only question is whether you're working for her, but that seems to be unlikely." Tom admits.

"Then let my father go. We've answered your questions." Charlus says with a bit of heat in his voice.

"Not yet, I need to know for sure that your father and by extension the Aurors haven't been corrupted." Tom says as he turns and stares Lord Potter directly in the eyes. "Either swear an oath or I'll break into your mind and find out myself."

After a moment of thought, Lord Potter swore an oath on his life, proving himself to not be colluding with Tom's current enemy. Otherwise, he would have dropped dead on the spot.

Unknowingly, Charlus let out a relieved sigh, happy his father isn't involved with this mess Toms talking about.

"Good, so want in on this fight that's about to go down, or would you rather keep yourself and the Aurors out of it?"