Harry Potter And Bellatrix Lestrange

Without any delay, Harry made his way to Gringotts bearing Mockridge's letter and was promptly admitted into the bank and led to Lord Gold's office by one of the goblin guards. He was not quizzed as to his motives for the visit, which showed to Harry that his alliance with the goblins was indeed intact and functioning smoothly.

Lord Gold promptly received him, setting aside any work he had been doing. "It is good to see you, Lord Polairix. What brings you to Gringotts today? Something we can help you with perhaps?"

Harry chose his words carefully. "I was hoping that you would help me with a bit of a scheme. If it goes well, a more trustworthy and competent Minister of Magic will come to power. In order for such a person to accomplish that, they must have something that will give them a bit of a claim to fame."

"Yes," Gold said, catching on almost immediately, "a wizard or witch who got the credit for negotiating a reopening of the bank would be looked upon most favorably by the Ministry and magical populace."

"Said wizard or witch would also be in your debt and feel obligated to show great favor toward the goblin population." Harry pointed out. "Not only that, you could drive a somewhat hard bargain to even reopen in the first place. They would have no choice but to accept."

Gold nodded and Harry could already tell that he was pleased with the prospects of the situation that Harry had arranged. "I assume that you already have a candidate for the office of Minister of Magic, especially now that the Ministry is in a tumult."

"Cuthbert Mockridge." Harry stated.

"A wise choice. Mockridge has always been polite to us and he is in no way responsible for the current situation." Gold commented. "Wizards and witches all over Britain would start crying 'foul' if it was just some random Ministry official. They'd suspect Voldemort rather than you, though." The goblin's voice then took on a sarcastic tinge. "After all, Goblins aren't human, therefore they must be evil."

Without wasting any time, Harry produced the letter that he had instructed Mockridge to write back in the Leaky Cauldron. "I have a letter form him asking for an audience so that he can discuss options to reopen the bank."

Lord Gold took the letter from Harry and quickly skimmed it. "Very well, then. I assume that you want this meeting to take place immediately."

"That would be very convenient." Harry said.

"That means that I need to respond as we speak then." Gold said as he gathered some writing utensils and began drafting a response. "I also assume that you want to ensure that the whole Ministry knows that Mockridge will be having this meeting with me."

"Yes," Harry nodded, "this agreement will come too quickly and randomly as it is."

Gold grinned. "I can make sure that everyone knows…"

Cuthbert Mockridge made his way back to the Ministry and entered via the Atrium. Without wasting a moment, he made his way to where the hub of the action concerning Fudge was- the level that housed the Law Enforcement department. He needed to know what the latest news was.

He arrived on the appropriate floor in record time and saw numerous witches and wizards milling about, having heated discussions or trying to do their work amongst the confusion. The largest group was congregated near Madame Bones's office and was being held at bay by her secretary.

Mockridge opted to avoid the vulture reputation and when he spotted Kingsley Shacklebolt, he quickly strode over and struck up a conversation. "What's the latest?"

"Amelia is expected to file a formal indictment accusing Minister Fudge of several crimes associated with the Granger girl." Shacklebolt replied, giving most of his attention to Mockridge. "The Aurors have already formally filed a motion of 'no confidence' with regard to Fudge's ability to fight Voldemort and Potter."

"Fudge's term is about to come to an abrupt end, then." Mockridge said, stating the obvious. "The question now concerns who his successor will be. How is Fudge taking it?"

Shacklebolt chuckled. "Not very well at all. His assistant, Percy Weasley, was down here a half-hour ago protesting everything in general and trying to restore order. He finally gave up."

"Sounds humiliating."

"He needed it," commented another voice. The speaker came closer and Mockridge identified her as an Auror named Tonks. She then addressed the two men. "So, who do you suppose will be the next Minister of Magic?"

Both men shrugged casually and Mockridge realized that Shacklebolt had his own agenda as to who should succeed Fudge just as he did. This meant he was either for Dumbledore or Voldemort or had plans for himself. He would have to tread carefully. "Someone competent, I hope."

"Bones would be an obvious choice." Shacklebolt said carefully to Mockridge and Tonks. "There's others with good reputations though. If Arthur Weasley were to leave the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, I could easily see him as Minister."

At that moment, Mockridge was sure beyond a doubt that Shacklebolt was with Dumbledore somehow. "They sound all right." he said in a noncommittal voice.

...

Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.

Free members get 2 chapters free.

Join Right Now

Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)