This is a Sirius situation! No, Siriusly! Pt. 1

Two dead, one injured. Is our law enforcement incompetent?

Two prominent members of the wizarding world were killed last night and found dead in their houses early this morning. Lord Elphias Doge, the last of his family name, was killed in the middle of his manor only an hour after Mr Xenophilius Lovegood, Owner, and proprietor of The Quibbler Newspaper, was never found and is presumed dead. Both men had influence, with Lord Doge being a special advisor to the Wizengamoat and a close friend of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Mr Lovegood being a foremost magical zoologist researcher and owner of a relatively popular newspaper.

The injured man has been named Alastor Moody after his house was burned down by the mysterious killer or killers. He survived through sheer paranoia and an impressive web of wards and alarms on his property. He noticed the intruder and escaped to his good friend Albus Dumbledore. Could there be a pattern with friends of Headmaster Dumbledore being picked off? And where were Director Bones and her department of law enforcement? Indeed the Aurors should have been aware of the obviously well-planned attack weeks before it happened. Or at least reacted well enough to catch the assassins. So how will our esteemed Minister respond to this situation? Will this be the last sticky situation he finds himself in before he gets kicked out? Or will he clutch on to power and stick around for what seems to be only the beginning of a new reign of terror?

Lord Malfoy thinks that the answer to the problem is to give more power to individual lords; maybe he is right. With Lord Peverell on the rise, he could make a competent leader in the face of this growing new threat. Want to learn more? Turn to pages 4-7.

Rita Skeeter.

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1st November 1993. DMLE Director's office.

Amelia Bones was beyond livid, her Aurors had been blamed for the entire thing, and the stupid hag had refrained from even suggesting that more funding for her department might help!

She planned to give Fudge a piece of her mind after this incident. Then, he may be more willing to increase her budget.

She would be having a word with Dumbledore as the man should have had an inkling of this and warned her, and at the very least, he would be looking for solutions now that two of his closest allies had been attacked, one killed. Not to mention what was to be done about the Lovegood girl.

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Malfoy Manor. Same time.

Lucius was sitting up in bed, reading the latest paper with glee. That had been the most fun he had experienced in years, and although he had failed to kill Moody, fear had taken a grip of Britain just as his master had wanted.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he turned to stare at his latest conquest, a witch of around her late twenties he had picked up in Knockturn Alley.

Yes, life was good serving his new master.

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Peverell Manor. Same time.

Narcissa was relaxing on her master's bed, reading the Daily prophet with great amusement.

Her master had managed to pull off something that took Voldemort years; he had successfully angered Dumbledore.

She knew the old man would be out for vengeance and might even give up on his forgiveness policy.

Wait, never mind, he would never do that.

Rolling backwards, she sunk into the bed, eager for her master to get out of school and visit her.

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Hogwarts. Same time.

Dumbledore was worried; he had not expected Voldemort to rise so quickly and was wholly unprepared for it. He was also sad because he had lost some good friends and powerful allies. Nevertheless, the Order of the Phoenix was being called together, and they would all meet tonight in his office.

He needed to sort out this Sirius Black mess first and eliminate the bloody dementors that were not helping poor little Luna Lovegood, who had been devastated to learn of her father's disappearance.

He would find the culprits and give them a severe punishment. Then after they had served their time, they could work for Luna's forgiveness.

After all, everyone deserved a second chance.

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Hogwarts. Same time.

Great Hall at Breakfast

Ares watched from the Slytherin table as Luna Lovegood was led off to see the Headmaster, no doubt to ensure she learned of her father's apparent death from him instead of the Daily Prophet.

He liked Luna, but her father was unpredictable and knew too much about the Deathly Hallows. He couldn't be allowed to act as a variable. Sh

They were a part of him, but it was easier to use them in their physical form.

The Elder wand was infused into his arm so he could do wandless magic, but for complicated enchanting spells, he required the manifestation of its physical form as a more solid conduit of his magic.

His gaze was drawn to the other end of the table, where he noticed Daphne sitting with her friends Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini.

He made his way over just as the morning papers flew in via owl.

"Daphne, I take it you have seen the headlines. Any thoughts on the matter?" Ares said with a smile, nodding at her two friends amicably.

Daphne looked up, her Occulmency shields tightening as if ready for an imminent attack.

"Ares, I apologize, but I have not yet had time to familiarise myself with Rita Skeeter's latest drivel; however, when I do, I'll be sure to give you my thoughts on the matter," Daphne replied in her driest voice.

Ares smirked at her use of language, knowing full well that she had read the article in the time it had taken him to arrive and merely did not wish to comment on the views made about Lord Peverell. She also clearly felt that talking to him was a chore, one that was not looked forward to.

No matter how good an impression someone made on you, a technically forced marriage contract will always be a source of bitterness without time to grow into something more.

Blaise blatantly didn't like him, Ares could tell from the glare he was receiving, and Tracey was too scared of his duelling prowess to look at him.

"A pity. I had thought a witch of your calibre and a future heir of House Greengrass could put aside petty views to analyze current affairs. To be expected, of course, you are merely a young girl, a child." Ares proclaimed with false remorse, deliberately digging at her maturity, which he knew she felt strongly about.

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

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Daphne was furious; how dare the bastard question her maturity and talent for politics! After sleeping on the great hall floor, she was not ready for such a crass remark. The bastard had known she was lying and punished her for it.

He had kept his distance from her this term, nodding at her in the hallways, giving her the occasional advice for homework but never really interacting.

The first time they have a proper talk in months, he has the gal to insult her!

She couldn't stop picturing his smirk as he made the dig about her most significant source of pride.

Daphne turned to Tracey and began to rant for the next ten minutes about how irritating she found him.

"You know, for a self-styled ice queen in the making, you're doing a pretty shit job of keeping your cool," Blaise said with a smile.

Daphne hit him on the shoulder.

"Ow!"

She merely stuck out her tongue in response to his pout.

"Maybe Peverell was right about your maturity," Tracey said with a massive grin.