Ch. 182 Minister Black

'HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED HAS RETURNED: FUDGE'S DENIAL NEARLY DOOMS US ALL!

MINISTER FOR MAGIC AMELIA BLACK ELECTED BY LANDSLIDE!

8 LORDS CAPTURED DURING THE BATTLE OF THE MINISTRY! (I know there's twelve, but only eight are actual lords, even if they don't have that much money. I mean technically Crabbe and Goyle sr should be lords. The rest are just purebloods.)

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE DEFEATS THE DARK LORD, BUT HE MANAGES TO ESCAPE!'

The aftermath of what has officially been called 'The Battle of the Ministry' has been far reaching to say the least.

The news that Voldemort was indeed back caused fear throughout the country. Thanks to my timing and preparations however, much of the chaos which would have occurred due to his return was preemptively stopped. The image of Dumbledore standing at the ready as Voldemort laid at a fountains feet looking defeated and wounded was a powerful one for the regular people. It brought hope and a feeling of safety even if they didn't know the whole truth, but that was the point this time. I wanted these people pacified during mother's transition into her new position as Minister, giving her the time she needs to properly restructure and organize the completely shit hole Fudge had made the Ministry over the years by never fixing any of the systemic problems, damages of the last war or even by passing laws which didn't directly benefit purebloods and harm pretty much everyone else.

And yes mother became the new Minister for Magic by a landslide.

Not only is her reputation basically Golden at this point, the fact that she was known to have actively fought against the Death Eaters during the last war and was said to still be capable of schooling most Aurors brought much comfort and respect, then she gets Dumbledore's endorsement, big reveal that she married a rich war hero (even if he still almost a big kid), add the support of every Department I had my people take over and the political group I formed, and you have the new Minister Black.

And boy was mother moving.

With some sneaky advice from her beloved son, she realized that delaying the trials of the dozen Death Eaters captured, of which the majority just so happen to be seat holding members of the Wizengamot, was going to help pass the urgent measures needed to have the planned reforms happen.

Incidentally, she was quite on board with just letting Lucius and his band of bigots wait in jail like they weren't even worth the bother. It made them feel like they weren't even important enough to have urgent and high profile trials put in place for them. After Tory explained that it was a psychological trick which drove people who saw themselves as important or better than others wild. Treat them like they are average prisoners of no importance and they'll rage for attention or special treatment. It's been working wonders against those high and mighty lords that's for sure.

Yeah, my girl is probably one of the leading psychologists in the world without muggles knowing about and wizards not even understanding the damage she could inflict or heal with that knowledge. It's one of the reasons I don't make my potion/healing mistress upset, even if it's not really directly dangerous for me. But she did make a great point to mother about how to handle all of this, which was to stop making Tom and his band feel like they were important and what they were doing was meaningful. These people get emboldened by the attention and believe it will help others join their cause as they show their 'strength and success'. Tory on the other hand was joining up to help mother formulate speeches on the matter, reassuring the public and subtly lowering the standing of any Death Eater.

I was so proud of her.

The both of us also helped in other places, but mother's time in office was set up to be the most productive and cohesive in the history of this country. I am not kidding about that. I really like being able to help her out like this and I'm glad years of work and planning are going to start paying off for the country as a whole. Well, after Tom is really dead but that's not really a hard thing, I just want all his buddies in one place so I can erase them with no guilt or consequences.

From what I heard of my uncle/father-in-law (no Alabama nonsense, just Sirius being with his mother figure aunty), she has actually been quite happy even if she's been busier and the Voldy situation was ongoing. She knew quite a few of my plans for what was to come, had a very loving family which supported her the entire time, her dream was on track and she was pretty proactive in showing her thanks to Sirius which served as a great de-stresser for her too. That last one I was both happy and mortified about.

Other than that, Minister Black was doing what she believed would actually protect them all from deranged fools with too much dark magic in their brains and low IQ's. Her first move was to actually fund the forces meant to protect the country, open up their recruitment which saw a good number of students who had graduated from Hogwarts and participated in the Dueling club appearing, hired James, myself, some goblins and other experts to ward and enchant the shit out of the ministry so nonsense like that last battle does not happen again, and then initiated a few of my plans which I passed to her as well as get Fortress Protection on board officially.

Yeah, Tommy boy and his bum buddies were not going to take over the ministry like canon. They were going to fucking bleed for every inch and that's if they weren't going to immediately going to run away to not get captured or killed by the reinforcements which would come after the ministry is attacked. I kind of want them to try, just so mother and I can laugh at them when they're being pounded into the dirt.

Our new and beloved Minister also began to implement what was basically an evacuation process for families with muggleborns or those who lived in Muggle communities, making the hidden town I created a semi-open secret. This was being handled methodically by trusted men and women only as they did their best to make them understand what was going to happen and what this evacuation was. I kid you not when I say that the only true detriments to changing location was basically having to kinda move and not being able to have your neighborhood friends for sometime. I set everything up so everyone would still be able to commute to work from the various magic Rec centers I had built through FIRM, we got all the British tv and phone networks properly hooked up, everything kids and adults could really need, and various rules and protocols regarding seeing friends and family since I honestly doubt Death Eaters do in depth research before attacking someone who isn't known to be a powerful wizard. All they would have to do is move to fully furnished modern/magic homes and agree to go through the security measures in place to stop infiltrators, then they are good to go and get some compensation for having to drop some of their lives.

It's as perfect as we can make it while also placating human psychological annoyances, and even then we have back up plans for this. What can I say, I try to be thorough when i do things.

Beyond the ministry, the battle also had a large effect on the students of Hogwarts.

The impact of Voldemort being alive varied from student to student, this really depended on your parental situation for the most parts.

Pureblooded students from noble families or from at least 3 generations of magical blood, were a lot less frightened but understood the impact of events more than others in general. There were even some kids showing positivity in the face of these events, telling me all I needed to know about how they were raised, but the fact that they were a small minority even in Slytherin made me feel better.

Half-bloods were probably the most negatively impacted group, due to the fact that one of their parents lived through the last war with their Muggle or magical being lovers, something which was very dangerous for them at the time. These parents have probably told them some scary stories of those times before to explain some things or even turn Death Eaters into something like bogeymen. But at least the ministry's actions were making them feel better.

And finally the Muggleborns. This group was kind of experiencing this from an outside perspective since they didn't really have anyone to truly make them understand the fear the last war engraved into this country. The smarter ones began to look things up to try and understand, others just took their friends or seniors words for it, and others just didn't even take this seriously for the most part. But the majority knew that they were the ones Voldy and his idiots targeted as the source of their problems. That was enough to put most of them on their toes.

On the whole though, a lot more students were taking my lessons seriously and Professor Flitwick, myself and the Dueling Club presidents received many, many requests to expand the club by students, teachers and even our esteemed Headmaster, so that was happening. Turns out unknown threats to their lives is what it takes to finally make some of these kids take learning magic seriously, it was about time. So we doubled recruitment and added another room under the club's name, resulting in the junior and senior sections for pre and post OWL members.

There was also students who heard about the extra lessons I was putting the Orderlings and friends through, a few were actually quite surprising.

-mini-flashback

"Alright, so as you can see we have some new members today. These are people I've judged to be serious about training and learning how to survive and fight, so get along properly." I announced as a small group stood behind me, with some members felling a bit awkward.

They were Sue Li, a young and polite Asian teen from Harry's year but in Ravenclaw. Katie Bell, a gentle and kind Gryffindor 6th year off the Quidditch pitch, but can fly around with a passion on it. One Kouta Ohnishi, a rather talented and driven 4th year Hufflepuff Susan recommended. Part of my surprise as Theodore Nott approached me to learn under me, as well as wanting help to escape from his abusive Death Eater father. The prior was due to the last addition to the group which was-

""What's Malfoy doing here?"" Harry And Ron both asked as they looked at the pale teen in outrage.

I simply stood behind him and patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile to help him out.

"That his because Draco has made the very difficult decision to not follow his father anymore, wishing to grow as individual and improve himself. Both he and Theodore have come to me in order to not be forced into becoming Death Eaters like their fathers. So although I know you four have had a bad relationship so far, I ask that you at least give him a chance to let him change." I explained as I knew a lot of those present didn't have the greatest impression of Draco due to his past behavior. Something understandable.

"But he's Draco!" Ron countered as he couldn't really put into words just how wrong it is for them to hear Draco not wanting to be a twit anymore.

"I know I have been spiteful and petty at times. But I've come to learn that many of the things I was taught were... extreme and biased. I was so desperate to receive my father's approval that I did and said things I am no longer proud of, so I would like to apologize." The blonde teen said as he looked at the golden trio and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I am sorry."

The three of them just stopped in place as Draco Malfoy apologizing to a 'mudblood, blood traitor and his nemesis' just didn't compute.

I just chuckled in amusement at the sight.

"Did the junior snake just-

Apologize to them?" The twins asked as they were also blow away.

"I am happy that his wrackspurts are going away." Luna said as she watched with a gentle smile.

"Me too. It might be hard, but apologizing can lift burdens we didn't even know we had." I said as I ruffled the girls hair a bit, something she quite enjoyed.

"You know what? I am glad you are no longer going to be a prat Malfoy." Daphne said as she had adopted Tory's attitude towards him and his followers prior to this.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry about that." He awkwardly said as he kept glancing at Daphne's little sister who stood besides her with a slight blush.

"Aedan, is this for real?" Harry asked as he finished rebooting.

"Yes. Draco took the major step of distancing himself from his father after he himself realized that much of what he was taught had been oversold. He and his mother have come under my protection to be away from Voldemort's grasp and live the lives they wish to have." I answered seriously, trying to impart the courage Draco had to step away from something he now saw as wrong even if he lost the possibility of becoming a lord.

"His mother? Aunt Andy's sister? The one she said was like a doll when they grew up?" Harry curiously asked, which kinda surprised me a bit.

"I guess so. She was freed from what was basically a slave contract after I told Sirius about messing with Voldy's finances by cutting them off of the Black family money. After that she asked for help and she convinced me. She's been doing some really good work. She also wants to try and reconnect with Andromeda, so if you could help a bit in that regard it would be great." I informed him as I also try to reunite two sisters.

"Eh, yeah sure, no problem." Harry replied in a bit of a daze from the new information.

While I was explaining things to Harry, Hermione actually put on a stern look and approached Draco which made him a bit nervous. I think it's because the last time that happened she punched him in the face.

"Are you being serious about changing?" She asked as she stared directly into his eyes.

"Yes." He answered with some nervousness.

"And you won't be harassing others or bullying muggleborns anymore?" She asked this time as she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Not after talking things out with Professor Bones. He made me understand a lot of things." He answered a bit more confidently this time.

"And did you really mean it when you said you were sorry?" She asked as she kept looking right into Draco's eyes.

"Yes. I am sorry for what I did." He answered with some guilt for this one.

"... Alright. Apology accepted." Hermione then said with a pleased nod as backed away from a slightly baffled Draco.

"Miony, are you really going to forgive him that easily?" Ron asked as he finally spoke again.

"He wants to change Ron, just like you did. So if he wants to apologize sincerely and try to be better then I say we can at least accept it." She replied, causing the redhead to falter back a bit and think.

Ron then approached Draco with his own serious look, making the chatter quiet down as everyone knew he had the highest chance of actually attacking Malfoy. It didn't help that Ron was growing a good amount of muscles as he kept getting taller, making him physically more intimidating than the majority of students.

"Malfoy, If you're serious about this then I won't say anything more. But, if this is a trick to hurt everyone here, I'll do everything I can to pay you back for breaking the professor's trust and for being a rat." Ron said with a cold gleam in his eyes as he put some pressure on Draco.

(Just so everyone gets it, Ron actually has a lot of respect for Aedan because he helped him change, improve and find a place for himself. Also, giving someone a chance to change themselves for the better is a soft spot for him because of this.)

"I am very serious about this. I don't want to be like my father anymore." Draco answered as he felt that he shouldn't back down as he stated right into Ron's eyes with some fire.

"Good. Then I accept your apology Malfoy and I apologize for the things I've said to you too." Ron said as he reached out with his hand. (Deal with it, my Ron is becoming a genuinely good person.)

Slightly surprised from getting an apology too, Draco quickly shook it off and took Ron's hand. (Do not write what I know you will think. -_-)

"Thanks Weasley. I assure you that it won't be necessary for you to hunt me down." Draco replied with a confidant voice as the two reconciled.

-End of flashback.

So yeah, I'm teaching Draco how to fight better now. He was already pretty good for his age since his father hammered stuff into him so he 'wouldn't be a disgrace should he need to duel for his honor.' Must have been the reason he could give Harry a hard time in 6th years canon.

But in general, Hogwarts was a lot tenser than usual. At least the large majority of students felt safe with the Headmaster in charge since those pictures of him triumphant over Tom were really effective. Too bad it was nearing exam season and they were going to become progressively more nervous anyway, and even the headmaster couldn't help them with this one. Without good reason anyway since the man did cancel most exams after the basilisk fiasco.

Outside of official establishments, I was busy doing some personal stuff and some stuff to avoid having to deal with a second war. You know, just in case.

If you're curious by what I mean by second war, well I'm talking about Goblins.

I don't know how they got whooped by the snake fucker in canon because those little guys can give the entire country a run for their money and still not truly lose. I mean the entire country too since all wizards teamed up during the last war in order to not get beaten and Goblins still didn't suffer any big losses, only having to sign some treaties more valuable in wizard eyes than goblin ones. My only guess was that Tom was in and out before the real goblin forces showed up or he would have been tortured for years after they broke his legs and wand for killing so many goblins and blemishing Gringott's honor.

Anyway back on topic. Since I have a good relationship with the Goblin nation and even my friend is their king's disciple, I decided to preemptively stop any thoughts of striking wizards while they're down. This came in the form of extensive bartering and me sneakily offering alternative to screw over the assholes who are joining Tom of their own volition. So food and raw materials, fun ways to mess with rich people who always look at them with disgust, a few brawls because any goblin deal making without blood is seen as insincere, and I secured peace for after the war.

Felt good letting loose with my body instead of magic for once. The name Bones-Crusher rang out in the arenas that weekend I tell you. Victoria did role her eyes when she saw what she called 'barbaric acts', but the wet panties don't lie.

It was really hard to not go at it that day. But we promised our parents and her mom will not leave until we're married just to be sure. Really hard for a girl to stay in the mood when her mom is actually prepared to interrupt.

At least our wedding is coming up soon. Which is the other thing keeping me busy.

Yeah, Tory and I are finally getting married and I actually dare Tom to try something because I will rip him and his fools to pieces saying fuck the prophecy. As long as I keep him in his body it's all good right? Harry can go Horcrux hunting and still 'kill' him after that. The only thing holding me back from trying this is destiny, but if she crosses me I will tell that bitch to fuck off. (You know, cause destiny's a bitch.)

Aside from that mental preparation, the wedding stuff was going pretty smoothly since I had a lot of it ready since Mother's ceremony. Tory's dress was made custom using the best material, my tux was ready, the rings were perfect, the venue was reserved, decorations were in storage until things could be set up, food was set, and the guest list and seating was being arranged. The only things really going on were the changes women make after a certain period of time, you know the thing where they don't like the napkins they chose a month ago, but I don't really care since I have money and we have two months before the wedding.

We are both really looking forward to it, even if we've been busy with everything lately.