Unsurprisingly, Harry was exceedingly excited when he walked into the boardroom. .he loved the political scene, but only when it came to matters of real importance, and so there couldn't be enough Council meetings for the young man. .Sirius and Turnus trotted alongside and behind the green-eyed man, the latter had his nephew with him, who gave a very different picture.
"One might think you would be forced to take a lace making course by the looks of it," Lucius smirked.
."My uncle has been whining for a week," Theo announced frankly, who looked like he had to force the man into the boardroom.
"I'll be glad if you take over," he grumbled.
."No behavior you two and something like that belongs to the elite," Tatjana reprimanded the men.
"I never asked to be in the Sacred 28," the Ritual Warden grumbled.
"Who's talking about this silly list? .I am speaking of your talent and your posts, so please behave accordingly.”
"Like that old cucumber?" Sirius snorted, pointing at Albus Dumbledore.
"Siri, she said you should exude dignity. .the old one, on the other hand, kinda scares me. Is there a reason it looks like hunting has been legalized again?” Harry growled.
“Because this session will not just be a traditional one. .there are rumors about the dementors to be discussed further today. In other words, a decision is almost certain. The wizards haven't talked about anything else for weeks."
.Harry turned and looked straight into the face of Arnold von Ehrenhausen.
"So Dumbledore sells the fruit before the tree even bears fruit?"
Lydia Taylor almost laughed out loud.
"You could say it that way. Let's sit down. .Of course only if you don't mind being seen with us."
Tatjana hit her best friend lightly on the arm.
"Don't be silly Lyd, of course we don't mind."
“May we choose our seats freely? .I wouldn't be surprised if each family had their very own seat,” Harry mused.
"It used to be like that, but after some families started fighting even in here, it was better to let go of that tradition. .guess what cases it was." Sirius smirked.
"The Moodys and the Redlods, who else?" the young man sighed.
His companions nodded before they sat down next to Sebastian.
"Luc, tell me, didn't you want to bring Hermione?"
."She's coming soon, I sent her off quickly to pick someone up at the entrance."
Before Harry could ask who it was, the brunette beauty entered the room. With her came Percy and Severus.
."Ah," the green-eyed man said intelligently.
"There are no classes today," the blonde reminded his friend.
Harry blushed, since he was no longer a student himself he had somehow completely forgotten about the days off Hogwarts had.
."Let's just spread the cloak of silence over it," begged the prospective ritual guardian.
Lucius nodded smiling then they greeted the newcomers.
"And ready?" Sirius asked his husband.
He just raised an eyebrow.
."Not just me, as you can see," while he also looked at Dumbledore.
"I'm sure we'll soon find out why he's so happy," Hermione said when she saw the Minister.
As always, the greeting was short but concise. .Crouch had learned to hold back his speeches in recent years. Although he loved to ramble on about any topic, he had come to realize that doing so didn't exactly grab his audience's attention. .his new manner, on the other hand, was refreshing and people were much more willing to listen to him.
"Okay, the formalities are settled, then we can start. Actually, today would have been about the discovery of sundew. .three plants have been found in Wales. Unfortunately, it turned out that these were attacked by a very aggressive fungus and were therefore unusable. It's a pity, we wanted to set up a kennel, now we have to search again. .even the roots are gone.”
A disappointed murmur went through the room. Everyone was already looking forward to this breed and the discussions about the use of the plants were not broken off. .learning that the flowers were damaged caused many long faces.
"I can understand any of you but that's the way it is. However, our meeting today is not as useless as the flowers are, unfortunately. .many of you have approached me and asked me to advise you on the fate of the dementors today. I agreed to the request. .but don't get too excited, the Ritual Wardens have renewed the magic that hangs over this room. Should there be a vote today, the result will have to be adhered to. .I once made the mistake of believing that those present here would abide by the laws that have been passed. I won't be that stupid in the future."
"Neither of us hunted," Arthur said indignantly.
."How does he get in here again?" Tatjana hissed softly.
"He's Dumbledore's pupil," Sirius scoffed.
"Mr. Weasley, this isn't kindergarten so please don't heckle me or I'll send you back to etiquette class. .I've heard good things about your son's achievements. Also, it's not true, just because you haven't been successful in the hunt doesn't mean some haven't tried anyway. In the future, however, this will no longer be possible. .the spell also ensures that none of you can incite another to put themselves above the law. Including himself, of course.”
"And that's supposed to do something?" Amelia murmured, but was still heard.
."In this case, probably, only very few can even get close to dementors. All right, the discussion is open.”
.Dumbledore immediately rose to warn with his benevolent grandfather look of abroad and his vengeance should the dementors be destroyed. He wasn't above praying the worst scenarios to the audience. .he was certain that an end to the dementors would be an end to the country.
"Now we know why he smiled like that, he can finally feel like the great sage again who has the perspective and can guide us all," whispered Percy.
."He takes us straight back to the Middle Ages," Severus agreed with his colleague.
It was a Moody of all people who interrupted the old man:
"Now stop your pessimism. .no one wants to destroy us every foreigner would be happy if these dangerous beasts were gone, but we certainly don't have to fear their revenge."
"I was just thinking you would agree with me."
"Why should I? .yes, we Moodys are all paranoid but not stupid, or do you think we would have survived this long otherwise?” he glanced sideways at the chief of the Redlods, but surprisingly even he held back.
."Have you met the two brawlers today?" Harry asked his mentor.
He laughed softly, his apprentice of course alluded to the day they met.
."No, they're not under a ritual, but this topic seems to really get to everyone's nerves when even these nemesis can control themselves. Interesting, suddenly I'm not bored anymore."
."Dork," Tatjana promptly said, although she grinned.
"What changed your mind? You are under a spell.”
"You mean like you?" Moody grinned at Dumbledore. ."No, I wasn't hexed, but I've mastered the art of reading. Ever heard of it? Should form immensely. .apparently you and your friends are the only ones who haven't bothered to read up on the soul eaters since the last session. The rest of us did, which is why we're here after all. .it's frightening what kind of beasts we tolerated among us all along. And if someone like me says that then it should make you think”, with the words Moody sat down again.
.Dumbledore immediately rushed on but was interrupted again:
"I jumped over my shadow and went to Greece."
"Why do you have to jump over your shadow for that?" the minister wanted to know, perplexed.
."Have you ever been to one of the baths there?" It promptly came back from him.
"Only once," the man admitted.
"I can't blame you, I felt really shabby and ridiculous among these people. .I'm an ugly duckling compared to them. Mr. Potter, how did you manage not to faint with embarrassment? When I was there for the first time, I must have raised the water temperature by five degrees.”
."I could have been used as a beacon, I've been learning to wrestle ever since," Harry freely admitted.
The questioner laughed.
."I didn't really mean your fit, there's obviously nothing wrong with it, I meant more the open handling of nudity that is cultivated in the country. How did you deal with it? Especially as such a young person.”
."Aren't we going to talk about the dementors?" Harry retorted, trying to cover up his embarrassment.
"Of course, forgive an old man for being curious. .So I talked to the politicians there and had to realize how backward our country still is, even years after the last war. .well, we already knew some of that, but it's not just about the hunted and the soul eaters, it's about our views in general. We'll lose touch with time if we keep going like this. .even countries that were lagging behind us a few years ago have already overtaken us. In that respect, Mr. Dumbledore's fear is completely unfounded, no other country is out to get us. We're so far behind it's a shame. .so I would suggest we finally take a step forward and start getting rid of the dementors.”
Wild applause greeted the speaker. .this was only broken by a few dissenting voices, but they simply went under. Most of the other speakers also shared the opinion of the first men. And so it was possible to vote today. .the choice was whether to leave everything as it was or to allow the owner of the book on dementors to render them harmless.
."I remind you, should you decide to abolish the soul eaters, the owner of that knowledge is protected from now on. He is also the only one who is allowed to use it, but only to relieve us of this burden. .he or she will agree to undergo a ritual that will make it impossible to create more dementors. ..should even one wizard or witch dare to attack him, he will very quickly find himself in Azkaban. ..and since the dementors are still right there at the moment, those individuals can experience first-hand the creatures they're dying to keep," the minister explained again.
.then a vote was taken and the result made Harry almost sit on the floor. Up to ten votes, everyone had advocated finally getting rid of the dark shame.
“Wow, what a step into the future. .who would have thought that?” Harry marveled.
"And all without your wild magic," Sebastian chuckled.
“You can see what can be achieved by reading. Suddenly they're all a lot smarter,” Severus said dryly.
.he wanted to use his cool demeanor to cover up how happy he was. Finally he would be able to do something against these sinister fellows. Then Sirius would certainly finally be able to close this chapter of his life. .his husband was still plagued by nightmares from that time. At the moment though, he looked like he was thinking about a career as a Cheshire Cat. Hermione even came close to hexing the man to the chair to stop his fidgeting.
."Now who is this ominous miracle healer who is going to destroy us all?" Dumbledore hissed and received a hefty fine for this remark.
"Me," Severus answered calmly.
.immediately all eyes were on the man and wild whispering began.some claimed that a wizard who had practiced black magic for many years could hardly be trusted, but most just looked at the wizard curiously.
.“First of all, I didn't secretly seek out and stash this book on my person, as some have just claimed. My son gave it to me for Christmas years ago. .he knows how much I like to translate old languages and wanted to make me a little happy. However, the joy could not be expressed in words when I realized what I was holding in my hands.”
.Severus had stretched the truth a bit on purpose so that his son or Lucius wouldn't end up in trouble. The two were not under the magical protection that the vote secured for himself. .and at that time, according to the law, they should have reported the book found immediately so that it could have been destroyed.
"You can certainly imagine how much I would have liked to have done something against the dementors back then. .after all, it's no secret how much my husband suffered from these beings. But I held back. Even though it was difficult for me, I never intended to go against the law.”
."Since when," murmured Arthur, who had to pay next.
"If things go on like this, your order will fill the treasury to the brim today, all by itself, Mr. Dumbledore," Coruch couldn't help but remark.
."How do we get rid of these beings now? Don't make it so exciting," begged a lady with feathers on her dress.
Severus smiled.
"By making them nice."