Ch76. Meeting important and not so important people... again.

"Potter!"

Tom heard a whiny voice full of outrage as he walked hand-in-hand with Natasha towards the Ministry Box alongside Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys.

Turning his head, his eyes fell upon...

"Is that a puffed-up ferret?" Tom exclaimed in surprise, getting the attention of the newly appointed ferret and his family.

That definitely didn't endear him to them and when Lucius noticed who said that, his eyes slightly widened as he subconsciously gripped his cane, glaring at Tom.

He had spent the last few days trying to find out information about the ingrate only to find nothing!

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Tom hummed when he noticed the attention of Malfoys on him.

"Pretty much. Yeah." Natasha chuckled, playing along.

She really was the best sidekick Tom could wish for.

In response, Tom nonchalantly shrugged, "Oh, well. On another note, hello again, Mr. Unfaithful." He gave Lucius an easy-going smile, making the man growl and miss how Narcissa pursed her lips at the admission.

But Tom wasn't done yet. He then looked at Narcissa and his smile turned a bit more pleasant, "And you too, beautiful." He winked, pissing Lucius off even more while Narcissa's eye slightly twitched.

Having both her husband and son insulted to their faces and then being complimented by the impudent unknown man was definitely a surreal, odd, and new feeling for her, and for a second, she had no idea how to react. Nevertheless, she still gave Tom a small polite smile in return for the compliment. As was proper.

Natasha, on the other hand, gave Narcissa an interested once-over when she noticed Tom's wink, her eyes narrowing in thought.

Lucius barely refrained from drawing his wand at the impolite upstart bastard! Not only did he come out of nowhere and didn't know his betters but he also dared to flirt with his wife!

"You-!" Lucius was about to snarkily scold Tom while sneering all around but Tom was intent on proving his lack of manners because it was fun.

Instantly interrupting Lucius, Tom turned around with his entire body, making it obvious he fully intended to ignore whatever the blonde man had to say next, and started to usher Hermione and Harry forward. "Let's go kids. The mad broom sport waits for no one. You can have your pissing contest with the unfaithful junior later, Harry."

They quickly left the flabbergasted and enraged Malfoys behind, followed by the bewildered Weasleys while Harry incredulously stared at Tom as if he had just done something incomprehensible.

"That was brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes sparkling in glee. The boy no doubt already counted this one as 'his' victory over Malfoy junior.

Tom gave the ginger boy a small smile and eye-roll, "The trick in pissing these pompous and refined snobs full of manners off is to quickly throw them off balance, insult them, and walk away before they can gather themselves to react."

Alas, Arthur decided this was not something Ronald should be hearing, "Tom, I'd appreciate it if you didn't teach my youngest how to be a..." He suddenly cut himself off, looking for a way to say this politely to not offend Tom.

But Tom only chuckled, "Fair enough, Arthur."

That earned him a slightly grateful but mostly exasperated, uncertain smile from the man.

Entering the Ministry Box, the whole group witnessed a man in a green bowler hat whose eyes flashed in delight when he spotted Harry.

'Hella sus...' Tom and Natasha both awkwardly thought, pitying the small boy.

"That's Cornelius Fudge, the British Minister for Magic and the man next to him should be the Bulgarian Minister for Magic. I want you on your best behavior kids." Arthur gave his two cents, informing the group while giving his children a stern look. Especially the innocent-looking twins who received the brunt of it.

"Harry, my boy! Come here! Let me introduce you!"

The poor boy, looking out of his depth, was instantly 'grabbed' by Fudge and started to be promptly introduced to the amused Bulgarian Minister for Magic who was just trying hard not to smile and added an incomprehensible blink here and there.

It was funny for Tom to witness Fudge using various hilarious gestures in his attempt to communicate with the Bulgarian man.

Fudge eventually gave up and with a sour face, he tried to explain his ridiculous actions to Harry, "You see, the man doesn't speak English, Harry. But as a Minister of Magic, it is my duty to be welcoming." He sighed, trying to sound pitiful. Fudge then shook his head as if shaking off some thoughts and leaned closer to Harry before whispering, "He is really a weird man, my boy. Who doesn't speak English nowadays?"

Alas, his voice was not quiet enough as almost everyone in the immediate surroundings heard it. The man was too assured in the apparent inability of the Bulgarian man to understand so he was not really careful.

"Does that idiot really thinks you would come here without understanding English?" Natasha bemusedly asked the Bulgarian Minister of Magic in his native language, making him boisterously laugh.

"Apparently so. Funny people, these Brits." The Bulgarian Minister of Magic mirthfully replied in Bulgarian.

"Mhm. I agree." Natasha said in English and teasingly smirked, giving Tom an obvious look, which only made the Bulgarian Minister of Magic laugh louder when he saw their joined hands and the slight annoyance in Tom's expression.

He might not have known what they had said exactly but he had this thing called imagination. He could guess that it was nothing flattering.

Knowing what she wanted to do, Tom with a small huff let go of Natasha's hand and after she lightly kissed his cheek in an appeasing manner, she strolled towards the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, starting a conversation with the man as if he was not some important political figure she had just met but an old friend.

Nobody could accuse Natasha that she could not work her own 'magic'. She was a 'witch' in her own way...

To so easily on a moment's notice set a friendly atmosphere between herself and a foreign Minister for Magic who had no idea who she was, even Tom found it miraculous and magical how easily she wormed her way into a banter with the important man.

And now she was no doubt subtly pulling information from him as if it was nobody's business. Without him even noticing.

Natasha enjoyed doing this part of her previous job. Chatting important people with a lot of secrets up was something she found immense, almost perverse, joy in. Especially making them spill their secrets through offhand remarks without realizing it.

Shaking his head, Tom decided to speak to Fudge, leaving Natasha to her fun hobby. He had more pressing matters to deal with. He could ask about any national secret Natasha managed to pull out of the man at a later date.

Cornelius Fudge could only dimly stare between the Bulgarian Minister of Magic and the unknown redhead who came out of nowhere, his cheeks slightly flushing with embarrassment. He was trying to get the Bulgarian man to relax for almost half an hour now and was failing but the redhead managed to accomplish it in a few seconds flat.

He... really had no idea how to react to that. The most he could do was close his gaping mouth while Harry used that moment of hesitation to get away from him and return to the Weasleys.

"Please, don't be so surprised, Minister." Tom approached Fudge in a jovial manner, "It's her gift."

Fudge turned toward Tom, his eyebrows furrowing in irritation and he was about to rebuke Tom with some cheap excuse as he didn't yet forsake his attempt at making 'friends' with the temporary runaway Harry Potter, but Tom, for the second time this evening, took the initiative and spoke first.

"I am Thomas Prest. From what the goblins say after I deposited some of my wealth into Gringotts, I am now one of the wealthiest men in Wizarding Britain, Minister." Tom gave Fudge a knowing smirk when the man's eyes brightened up and became more inviting the second he heard that. "I just thought it would be prudent to introduce myself to such an important political figure of this community." He then offered a handshake to Fudge.

"Ah, yes... yes! That's only natural. Welcome, Mr. Prest." Fudge exclaimed in delight, shaking Tom's hand, Harry Potter completely forgotten for a moment. "I am happy to meet you. Maybe we should schedule a private meeting in my office at a later date? I am sure we have a lot to talk about."

Well, nobody could accuse Fudge of being slow on the uptake when his own benefit was involved...

'The greed is indeed strong in this one...' Tom inwardly mused. 'Good for me, I guess.'

If he could get Fudge on his side... read, payroll... that would make many things much, much easier in the Wizarding community. It was definitely far from a solution to all of Tom's problems but it was a significant step forward.

Unfortunately, politics were an important part of every faction or country, mundane or otherwise, and Tom had to play these games if he wanted to have an overall easier life.

"That would be lovely." Tom nodded, politely replying to Fudge's proposal. Sadly, he could see from the corner of his eyes Lucius Malfoy entering the Ministry Box and as expected, Fudge brightened up like a Christmas tree upon seeing the pompous man.

Lucius quickly approached them and looked affronted at Tom, opening his mouth...

But Tom once again spoke sooner, waiting for the perfect moment to cut Lucius off just before he was about to speak only to infuriate him some more, "I will leave you two to your talks. I wouldn't like to be insulted by Mr. Malfoy just because he is insecure about his position as the wealthiest man in Britain now that I am here. Have a good Quidditch match, Minister." He excused himself.

"Ah, yes. Thank you." Fudge replied in small dismay, realizing there was some tension between this new wealthy man and his long-time associate Lucius.

Tom had accomplished what he wanted so retreating was fine. Trying to be pushy in these matters was not very productive. Now that Cornelius Fudge knew that Tom was very wealthy and open to 'discussion', he should seek him out himself. That would both allow Tom to enter into these talks with a higher standing and give a good first impression.

Now it all depended on the man's greed.

Just as Tom was about to turn around and leave, Lucius grabbed his forearm, "You will get your due soon enough, Prest." He furiously gritted out.

"You are rude, my good man." Tom loudly exclaimed, attracting the attention of almost everyone in the Ministry Box, "I was perfectly polite to you so far and I understand your pride must be hurting but I would have never thought a man of your standing would suffer from such profound anger issues!"

Lucius could only silently seethe and flush angry red as he let go of Tom's hand, realizing he was not in a good position right now and if he pressed, his reputation could suffer.

Unfortunately for him, nobody except his family and some poor blood traitors and mudbloods saw Tom insulting him. In this situation, he really looked like the aggressor.

Tom silently chuckled, and under the flabbergasted look of Fudge and the furious glare of Lucius, he nonchalantly walked towards his seat, ignoring both of them.

Oh, he didn't forget to smile and wink at Narcissa once again as he was passing her either.

And who knows? Maybe Lucius could off himself with a heart attack before he became a problem if pushed enough?