kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"How is that elf working out for you, Severus?" Lucius drawled lazily, splashing some fire whisky into a tumbler.

"Fine," Snape replied shortly. "I see you managed to find your summer robes after all."

Malfoy smirked. "It gave Narcissa an excuse to go shopping. So тАУ to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"You'll recall I had mentioned an assignment?"

Lucius' expression grew wary. "YesтАж"

"I'm here to explain what I want you to do. It's quite simple, really."

Lucius' countenance didn't change. "Yes?"

"Overthrow the government."

Lucius blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and gulped the fire whisky. "Did you just say тАУ"

"Overthrow the government. Fudge's government, to be precise. I want that idiot ousted."

"But I helped install him," Lucius protested.

Snape nodded. "Precisely. So it should be all the more simple for you to remove him."

"Can I ask why?" Lucius asked cautiously.

Snape regarded his own, untouched, glass. "You need not know all the reasons, but you can know that he threatened the boy."

"Potter?" At Snape's nod, Malfoy stroked his jaw. "And so you're removing him тАж Very good, Severus. I see you do think ahead."

Snape put down his tumbler and turned towards the floo. "I prefer to think of it as consolidating my power base, Lucius, but you may term it what you will. I expect Fudge to be gone within the next few months тАУ how you achieve it is your own affair."

"And whom do you expect to replace him?" Lucius called after him. "Am I expected to arrange that as well?"

"No," Snape called over his shoulder, leaving behind a very contemplative pureblood.

TBCтАж

*Chapter 55*: Chapter 55

A fortnight passed with no word from Lucius, and Snape was beginning to get annoyed. In the meantime, Dumbledore and McGonagall had begun to make progress learning about Tom Riddle's quest to create horcruxes, though they still participated in several school-related meetings a week. At one of those, Dumbledore held up a parchment scroll and frowned at it.

"Filius, Severus тАУ during the term you will have to be alert for requests such as this one," he advised. "It will take someтАж diplomacyтАж to refuse without causing lasting insult." He looked rather pointedly at Snape, then turned to Flitwick. "Perhaps as the, ah, more senior person, Filius, you should be the one to handle these matters."

Snape rolled his eyes. If having a trollish personality ensured he had less paperwork, that was hardly incentive to turn over a new leaf.

"What is it, Albus?" Filius squeaked, looking interested as he accepted the scroll.

"The Minister has requested permission to use Hogwarts' grounds for a press conference. The castle is of course a site of some renown in the Wizarding world, and we frequently are owled for permission to hold weddings, fundraisers, and various other events here. Normally, during the summer I am a bit more receptive to such requests, but given Cornelius' behavior this past termтАж"

Snape's mind had been busily working. "What exactly does the letter say?"

Flitwick scanned it. "It appears that Minister Fudge is planning a major announcement тАУ likely something about his plans to seek yet another term тАУ and he wants to speak here, by the lake, with the castle in the background. He writes with his usual diffidence," the small wizard said drily, "that since his announcement will have ramifications for all British wizards and witches, his advisors have suggested that he should make it at a place of great historic significance." Flitwick shook his head at Fudge's arrogance. "I assume Stonehenge was booked."

Fudge's advisors тАУ that likely meant Lucius MalfoyтАж Snape pondered. Why would Malfoy choose Hogwarts? One possibility was that he wanted Snape to be front and center for whatever mayhem would ensue. Another was that Malfoy had something else up his sleeve, and rather than double crossing Fudge, he was about to triple cross Severus. Still, Snape decided, even if that were the case, better to have events occur on his home ground. "I suggest we permit it," he drawled, trying not to snicker at how every head immediately snapped around to stare at him.

"You are eager to help Fudge?" McGonagall demanded incredulously.

"Like it or not, he is our Minister тАУ at least at the moment тАУ and with the school on holiday, a refusal will be hard to couch as anything other than the snub it would be. I would prefer not to put Fudge in a position where he will be likely to demand an even greater favor during the school year."

Dumbledore looked impressed. "Well reasoned, my boy. You make an excellent point."

Flitwick nodded. "I agree with Severus, Headmaster. Better to throw Fudge a bone now than to start off the new year on bad terms."

And so it was that the following week the Minister and his entourage appeared at Hogwarts, with a noisy press corps in tow. The few faculty that were resident at the school had mostly chosen to boycott the event, but Snape, Lupin, Black, and Harry watched from the outskirts of the crowd as Fudge mounted a magically-erected platform and waved for silence.

"Da, why is he smiling and nodding like that? It's as if he thinks people are applauding," Harry observed doubtfully.

"It's because he's a wanker," Sirius replied before Snape could.

Harry snickered as both Remus and his da scolded his godfather for his language, and then Fudge began to address the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I want to thank you for coming out here today for what is a momentous occasion. As you know, I am but a humble servant of the people, and if left to my own devices, I would have happily remained but one of the many unsung officials toiling at the Ministry."

"Like Uncle Arthur?" Harry asked skeptically, eyeing the pontificating man in the bowler hat. "I can't really see him doing that, can you?"

"Ssssh," his da scolded.

"However, when called to service, even the most humble amongst us must do his part, and it is with great pride and gratitude that I contemplate my years serving as your Minister."

"I'm gonna sick up pretty soon," Sirius whispered loudly.

"I had not even realized that some people have begun to speculate upon how long I might be willing to remain in this position, but when this matter was called to my attention, well," he spread his hands modestly, "what could I do?"

Sirius pretended to barf on Harry, much to the boy's delight, and was elbowed into silence by a stern-looking Remus (whose twitching lips betrayed his true opinions).

"As you know, I do not seek office for my own sake, and so I felt it incumbent upon me to turn to my most trusted advisor, Lucius Malfoy, for his opinion on the matter. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a man who needs no introduction, Lucius Malfoy!"

As Fudge loudly led the otherwise sporadic applause, Harry turned to Snape with a puzzled expression. "That didn't actually make any sense, did it, Da?"

"Fudge rarely does, Potter," Snape replied, not taking his eyes off the blond aristocrat.

Lucius quirked an elegant eyebrow at the massed reporters. "Good afternoon. After lengthy research into this issue, not to mention careful review of the Minister's record, I am pleased to report that there is a clear and unambiguous conclusion to be drawn." He gestured and a large, furled banner rose into the sky behind him. Another wave of his wand and the banner unrolled with a fanfare of trumpets.

There was an instant of dead silence, then an explosion of sound. "Oh, Da!" Harry gasped.

Remus was gaping at his side. "Holy fu- erm, Fudge," he quickly amended.

The banner held a larger-than-lifesize photo of three wizards: Lucius Malfoy, Arthur Weasley, and Sirius Black, standing together before the Ministry building. Above their heads were the words: "On ONE Thing We All Agree". Below the men ran the flat statement: "FUDGE IS AN IDIOT".