Chapter - 47 : Awakening part - 2

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"The Prophet reported that he rejected approaches from respected families, how are we to influence his decision if he continues to ignore us?"

"The boy is very friendly with a muggle born witch he met on the train, and has since grown closer to Miss Patil and Mr Longbottom. The only approaches I know he's rebuffed were from the Weasley and Malfoy boys, both were rather heavy-handed. He's mixing quite well with his peers but when anyone pushes him, he pushes right back."

This brought up the prickly issue of what to do about the senior Malfoy. "If we put Lucius on public trial, it might start the very thing we're trying to avoid - mass panic over you-know-who's return." It also went unsaid between the two wizards just how close Cornelius was to Lucius Malfoy. A public trial could also see the minister out on the street.

Albus was perfectly happy for Cornelius to retain the Minister of Magic position, provided he was doing what Albus Dumbledore wanted the minister to do. "Lucius is not a particularly powerful wizard. His main threats are his influence and money, you can seriously damage that influence Cornelius. After all, you are the Minister of Magic."

"I know this Albus but that doesn't affect his finances. He's more than spiteful enough to place his great wealth behind someone else, a rival ministerial candidate inside the ministry."

"Ah Cornelius, you're forgetting what else happened inside that classroom. Lucius Malfoy drew his wand on a young goblin, a particularly well-connected young goblin - who also has a powerful father. I feel sure the goblins could be persuaded to attack Lucius where it will really hurt him, financially."

The sly old wizard could see Cornelius liked this idea. It would get him out from under Malfoy's influence without the threat of Lucius mounting a challenge on his position as minister.

"Do you really think the goblins would assist us in this?"

If Albus was right, and he was sure he was, the goblins had planned today's entire performance in the hope of achieving an opening to do that very thing. He would quite happily take the credit in the minister's eyes because that gave Albus another lever to manipulate Cornelius in the direction he needed him to go. "I'm certain I can convince them to aid us in this matter."

It was a puzzled minister who asked the glaringly obvious question. "How can you do that Albus when you're currently banned from Gringotts?"

Albus was now really regretting how he'd handled that interview with Barchoke. Filius' assessment of the situation had been uncannily accurate. Barchoke had obviously known what was about to happen and had traveled to Hogwarts in the hope of working with its headmaster. Albus had grossly underestimated the quality of the players he'd sat down with and, as a result, found himself kicked from the game. He had no idea how much of their plans had been revealed today, though a motivated and trained Harry was certainly making a lot more sense to the headmaster than his original option. Had a Dursley raised Harry Potter arrived at Hogwarts, Albus was sure they would have found dead bodies that day in the infirmary. With three of the heads of houses clearly in Harry's corner, Albus badly needed some way of getting back to the game table.

Surprisingly, Cornelius' question gave Albus the answer he was looking for. "I have known the Weasleys for generations, and William since he was a baby. I'm positive I can convince him to aid us in this endeavour."

"He works for Gringotts Albus, the goblins don't take kindly to their employees working for someone else. You could destroy that lad's career."

"Sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices have to be made." Albus could see this didn't sit too well with Cornelius' somewhat skewed morals, he decided to make the deal more palatable for the minister. "William is a highly-skilled former Hogwarts head boy. Should he need a career change, there will always be a position available for him in the castle."

The headmaster was now thinking there could be a hidden bonus for him here. Should William lose his job at Gringotts, Hogwarts would acquire a ready-made defence professor while Albus Dumbledore would have the young wizard's gratitude. Those were the kind of schemes Albus favoured. Where everybody appears to win but he comes out on top, with information he badly needed, a new defence professor and another person left thinking they were in his debt.

With Hermione on his arm and both his friends beside him, Harry was able to walk into dinner as normal. It was already obvious that the story had spread but they decided to ignore it. Harry was filling his plate when Roger attempted to break the awkward silence that had grown around the trio. "So Harry, did you have a nice boring defence lesson?"

"Oh same old same old Roger. I had a few discussions on defence and I think I managed to get my point across."

This had Roger laughing. "Harry, you're too much. Take down Lucius Malfoy, in front of the Minister of Magic! Hogwarts certainly knew what it was doing when she made you her champion." This statement was met with general approval at the Ravenclaw table. They'd all heard the rumours concerning Quirrell and Voldemort but considered themselves safe inside Hogwarts. After all, hadn't Dumbledore chased him out the castle?

Roger then turned his attention to Hermione. "Nice handprint on Malfoy junior Hermione, you and Harry here seem determined to put some colour into his cheeks."

"Well, now he knows I've got Harry's back." Hermione's statement said a lot more than that. Every witch in Ravenclaw recognised exactly what she was saying, Hermione was not for being parted from Harry without a fight.

Padma was chuckling to herself at her friends antics'. If these two got any closer, you would soon need crowbars to separate them. The play on Harry's name kept Padma amused for the rest of dinner time. Her friends were happy so death eaters and dark wizards could be forgotten about for now. She would need to write home though, her parents needed to know that information. The Patils would not be welcome in a Britain run by people like the Malfoys.

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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