Sirius Black sat back as he surveyed the room. Amelia Bones, Augusta Longbottom, and Adrian Greengrass were all seated around the table talking with one another.
This is something I thought I'd never seen in my life Sirius thought.
"Alright, since we're all here lets get down to business" Sirius said.
"Oh Merlin, Sirius, you're leading this meeting" Adrian said jokingly.
"Yes I am, but I have instructions from Harry and Hermione so I'm not going in blind" Sirius said and held up a thick pack of parchment as proof.
Chuckles were heard around the table.
"Okay, first order of business is the taking over of the Daily Prophet. How's that going?" Sirius asked now in his business mode.
"Very well, it's going slow, but soon we'll have the majority of the stock" Adrian said.
"Good, Amelia, what's the situation with the Ministry?" Sirius asked.
"Not very well, Fudge is blocking every attempt I try and make with raising the auror forces" Amelia said.
"That's not good, if we don't have a force we'll be unprepared for when Voldemort strikes" Sirius said frowning.
"I'm doing my best, but Fudge won't listen to reason" Amelia said frustratingly.
"He's thick, and will only listen to those who fill his pockets with the most gold" Adrian said frowning.
"Yes, but I have a plan to stop this" Sirius said smiling.
"Oh boy, what are you scheming Sirius?" Augusta asked, she had been around the old marauder enough to know that he was planning something.
"Oh, I was just going over the marriage contract that was made between Malfoy and my cousin Narcissa and found some interesting clauses" Sirius said.
"Well out with it, what are they?" Amelia asked, not in the mood for Sirius' dramatics at the moment.
"Well Lucius has broken the contract by being branded as one of Voldemort's follower, since according the contract that he can't be marked or branded. I don't remember the clause exactly, but that what it says in a nut shell," Sirius said.
"You have to be joking?" Adrian said shocked.
"No I am not, anyway, I got a letter from Narcissa too, asking for me to find a way to break her marriage" Sirius said.
"That's something I didn't think she'd ever do or even want" Amelia said, not believing their luck.
"Cissy is smarter than you give her credit. She hates being Lucius' wife and wanted out for a long time" Sirius said.
"What about her son?" Augusta asked.
"She doesn't really care about him, his father has influenced him too much and she doesn't think that he will change" Sirius said.
"So you're going to break their marriage?" Amelia asked.
"Yup, I already did Bellatrix and her husband, I had the goblins also get back the bride price" Sirius said.
"Wow, so what will happen to Lucius when he no longer has Narcissa as a wife?" Adrian asked.
"He's going to be a hell of a lot poorer since the Malfoys get most of their money and influence from the Blacks" Sirius said grinning.
"So you're going destroy Lucius with a stroke of your quill" Augusta said.
"Yep, I have the papers all set to go" Sirius said grinning.
"That's great. With Lucius unable to pay Fudge off we can be able get things moving" Amelia said happily.
"Yeah, but it's still going to hard, I think we are going to have to replace Fudge to actually get anything done" Sirius said.
"Lets hold off on that for as long as we can, okay?" Augusta said not wanting to make that move yet.
The others nodded.
"So what else does Hermione and Harry have on that list?" Amelia asked.
"Well lets see?" Sirius said as he looked through the pieces of parchment in front of him.
/Scene Break/
Meanwhile at Hogwarts things were going well until the fifth years had their first DADA class.
"Good afternoon class" madam Umbridge said sweetly.
There was mumbled replies.
"That won't do at all, when I say 'good afternoon' I want you to say 'good afternoon professor Umbridge'" Umbridge said still in her sickly sweet voice.
The class did it again with a better, though in a forced response kind of way.
"Good. Now I'm here because of the lack of quality in DADA. I'm here to bring them back up to Ministry standards. So I'll be testing you on a daily basis" Umbridge said.
Groans were heard throughout the room.
She ignored them as she began a lecture on trying to talk your way out of confrontations. This of course made Harry restless and a few times he wanted to speak up, but Hermione took his hand in attempt to calm him. The outburst came from an unlikely source, Neville Longbottom.
"Are you trying to get us killed" he asked out loud.
"No I am not, I'm showing you another way so you can avoid a fight" Umbridge said, annoyed that she was interrupted.
Neville snorted.
"Please, Death Eaters don't listen to reason, hell they won't listen to you at all. Their goal is to kill and cause pain to as many victims they can get" he said.
Umbridge's face was now red.
"The Ministry knows for a fact that there are no more active Death Eaters left free" Umbridge said.
"Obviously Fudge, is blinded by the shiny gold that he's showered in" Neville muttered loudly.
The whole class was shocked at this, well except Daphne, Harry, Hermione, and Susan.
"How dare you slander the Minister's name, have you no respect for authority" Umbridge said who's face was now turning purple with barely contained rage.
"I have no respect for a government that lets killers go because they were able to buy their freedom" Neville said.
"Your parents were Ministry aurors" Umbridge said trying to throw Neville off.
"Yes, they were, and they would be greatly upset at how the justice system that they put so much faith in had let them down" Neville said undaunted.
"Detention Mr. Longbottom" Umbridge shouted.
"On what grounds?" Neville asked calmly.
"For slandering the name of Cornelius Fudge" Umbridge said waddling away.
"Do you realize who you just shouted at?" Susan asked speaking up.
Umbridge's eye was now twitching.
"What was that?"
"You just gave out a detention to someone who didn't even break a rule. You did even take points off first, which is standard protocol. You first deduct points then if the student is still disruptive then you give him a detention. You know what's going to happen to you once Neville's grandmother gets word of this?" Susan said.
"And why should I care?" Umbridge asked, though she contained her anger better since she knew the girl's aunt and didn't want to face an angry Amelia Bones anytime soon.
"The Longbottoms are one of the five Ancient and Noble houses" Susan said.
Umbridge furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Oh Merlin, doesn't any pureblood house give good lessons anymore?" Susan asked.
Her answer came in the form of several confused looks on the Slytherin's faces, as well as other non-Slytherin purebloods, except for Daphne and Neville.
Susan then gave an impromptu lesson on the five Ancient and Noble houses. She pretty much told them the same thing that she told Malfoy, minus the fact that the houses were not allied to one another now since she figured that was to be kept secret for now.
Neville's detention still stood and when they left the class Harry commented on Neville's newfound brazen attitude.
"Well I guess since you weren't doing anything I had to jump in" Neville said with a shrug.
"I was very tempted, but someone stopped me" Harry said and nodded to Hermione.
"You've got to keep a low profile Harry, she was only doing to get arise out of you" Hermione said.
"I know, you're right. But can't I hex her just once" Harry said.
"No Harry" Hermione said.
"Come on, please" Harry pleaded.
"No Harry" Hermione said firmly.
Harry pouted.
When Luna heard of Neville's outburst in DADA she reward him with a kiss.
/Scene Break/
Dumbledore leaned backing his chair in his office thinking about how the year was going so far. He wasn't happy with the division of the Gryffindor house, but knew that would happen. What's going to happen with the other houses would be a wait and see. But so far Dumbledore could see that Harry's friends were keeping a handle on that. He knew that Sirius was busy at the moment, but what was keeping the marauder so busy he had no idea. He was quite shocked at hearing what happened in fifth year DADA class. He never would have expected Neville Longbottom to do what he had done. But that was the old Neville. This was the new Neville that was molded by Harry and Hermione.
/Scene Break/
Lucius Malfoy could only stare at the letter that he held in his hand. His marriage with his wife was dissolved. He no longer had the Black fortune to siphon off of. The Malfoy fortune was a good size, but no where close to the Black one. Now, he had no idea that the Blacks were an Ancient and Noble family, he just the family had a lot of money, which was fine by him. He feared what his master was going to him once he finds about his financial power now.
"Goodbye, Lucius."
This brought Malfoy from his trance as he saw his former wife with bags packed.
"Where are you going?" Lucius asked dumbfounded.
"Really now Lucius, I thought you were smarter than that. My cousin Sirius has dissolved our marriage, so I have no reason to stay here" Narcissa said.
Though Lucius had the letter in-hand and is seeing his former wife with packed bags he still couldn't wrap his head around it. Narcissa left Lucius still standing stunned. She decided to stay with her sister Andromeda to catch and help to find a place for her to stay.
/Scene Break/
The Daily Prophet the next day caused a lot of conversations going on the next morning in the Great Hall. The news of the dissolved marriage between Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black had the whole hall buzzing. Malfoy was quite furious and glared at Harry and his friends. Already he was planning his revenge. Yes, Potter would learn to fear the name Malfoy.
Dumbledore read the paper with his eyes twinkling.
So that's what Sirius has been up to Dumbledore thought.
Harry and Hermione were quite pleased with what they read. This helped to get their plans moving. With Malfoy no longer dumping money in Fudge's hat that means that Amelia can get the things she needs to improve the auror force. They just hoped that it wasn't too late.
/Scene Break/
That night Neville appeared in Umbridge's classroom to serve his detention.
"Good evening Mr Longbottom, tonight you'll be writing lines" Umbridge said sweetly.
Neville wanted to punch the toad in the face, but held back. He sat down at one of the desks and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.
"I have a special quill that you'll be using" Umbridge said grinning sinisterly.
She handed Neville a black quill.
Neville blinked.
"Where's the ink?" he asked.
"You won't be needing any" Umbridge said smirking.
Neville was wary at this, but began to write. As he did that he felt his hand throb in pain. He then noticed that it was blood that was coming out of the quill.
This is a blood quill Neville thought.
He looked up to see Umbridge smirking at him evilly. He then looked down and continued. He wasn't going give the ugly toad the benefit of seeing him in pain. So he schooled his face to look impassive. And thanks to Daphne he had it down pretty well.
Umbridge watched this with a smirk that then became a frown. She was hoping that the boy would wince in pain or do something. But no, he just kept writing.
After an hour Neville left holding his hand. He got back to the Gryffindor tower to find Harry and Hermione waiting for him.
"How bad was it Neville?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"The bitch used a blood quill on me" Neville snarled.
Hermione's jaw dropped and Harry's eyes darkened. Harry then pulled out a galleon and tap his wand to it. Neville felt something heat up in his pocket and knew that Harry was calling a meeting.
Dumbledore offered Harry his own private quarters in the beginning of the year to try and make amends. Harry barely used them since he want to spend his time with the rest of his house. This was the reason why he liked to have a private quarters.
"Come on Neville" Harry said getting up.
Neville nodded as he held his hand. Hermione took out a handkerchief and wrapped it around Neville's hand to stop the bleeding. The three met Daphne, Susan and Luna just outside Harry's private quarters.
"What going on Harry?" Luna asked.
"Inside" Harry said.
The others nodded and Harry gave the password. Once inside Harry had Neville tell what happened in his detention. The group was upset by this and Luna looked like she wanted to kill the toad right now.
"Luna, anger isn't going to help Neville right now" Harry said seeing the murderous look that was on her normally serene face.
Luna nodded and called Dobby to bring her some murtlap. Once the house elf delivered it she had Neville put his hand in it.
"Now we must figure out what to do next?" Harry said.
He looked at his friends for suggestions.
"I'll write my aunt" Susan said.
Harry nodded.
"We need evidence, I'll go to the toad's office" Daphne suggested.
"Too risky Daph" Hermione said.
"Can't I just hex the bitch" Luna said furiously.
This made everyone pause, as they never heard Luna sound like this before. The usually calm spacey blond looked like she could beat a dragon single-handedly right now.
"Luna dear, have I ever told you that you look hot when you're angry" Neville said.
Luna turned to her boyfriend only to have her lips captured in a kiss. This of course eased the anger right out of the little blond as she was too focused on kissing her boyfriend.
The others knew to thank Neville later for distracting Luna.
/Scene Break/
Amelia looked up to find a snowy white owl staring intently at her. She knew it was Harry's owl and took the letter that the owl was offering. She opened the letter from her niece and about halfway through she turned red. That bitch had the audacity to use something so foul on a student. And on a soon-to-be head of an Ancient and Noble house too. The toad was going down.
/Scene Break/
At the same time Augusta Longbottom got a letter pretty much saying the same thing. She was livid. She was going to see the toad spit roasted alive.
/Scene Break/
Sirius and Adrian were sitting enjoying talking about the past when two owls came in. They read the letters and knew that this was another chance that they couldn't pass up. This would hurt Fudge even more and hopefully push their agenda long without announcing that the five have united as one.
/Scene Break/
The following days after the letters Umbridge was sacked from her position at Hogwarts and she was under investigation by the DMLE. On her way out of the castle she was hit several hexes. Now the aurors who arrested her looked at the crowd that was gathered, but none claimed responsibility. Though if they looked hard enough they'd spot a smug smile on a little blond girl as she twirled her wand before placing it back behind her ear.
The toad was so surprised by these actions that she could barely cry foul. But when she was able to find her voice she began to rant and rave. She told the investigators that Fudge put her in-charge of bringing Hogwarts in order and that she had free reign. That she couldn't be touched.
"I'll have your badges, I'm the Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic. You can't do this!" Umbridge yelled.
The aurors ignored her and kept digging through her past. Many of the toad's transgressions couldn't be brought to trial due to insufficient evidence, but that didn't mean that things couldn't be leaked. Amelia had all of Umbridge's dirty laundry shown to the world. Of course it was done anonymously.
/Scene Break/
Undersecretary's Dirty Dealings
Was the headline of the Daily Prophet. It was the same headline that appeared for several weeks as there was much that the toad had done during her time as Ministry employee. Heck, it even went back to her Hogwarts days thanks to some interview from former classmates. Now the toad couldn't be in public anymore without glares being aimed her way, as well as hexes too. She soon found out how many enemies she really had.
As for Fudge. He knew his days were numbered as along with the article about his undersecretary was ones about all the bribes he has taken since taking office. The picture of him and Lucius Malfoy being chummy pretty much killed any hope he had left. The paper revealed that Lucius was in fact a Death Eater and the proof. Of course Lucius was unable to comment as he had somehow disappeared. Harry and Hermione had a feeling that Voldemort was using Malfoy senior as a Cruciatus curse punching bag right now.
/Scene Break/
"Alright, I didn't expect the impact that the blood quills would have, but now we must figure out how to use it" Sirius said.
The others adults sat around the table along with Harry and Hermione's group. They were in Harry's quarters, which was turned into a meeting room for tonight.
"I think we should push Fudge out, he's already close. So let's give him the final nudge" Harry said.
Hermione and the rest of the teens agreed.
"Alright, but should we nominate?" Adrian asked.
"Amelia, of course" Hermione said smiling.
"What? You can't be serious" Amelia said.
"No, you can't, he's Sirius" Neville said smirking as he nodded to the head of the Black family.
Groans were heard around the table at this bad joke.
"No Amelia, you make the perfect candidate. You're smart, people trust you, and you won't buckle under pressure. Not to mention you don't mind taking the offensive when needed to" Daphne said.
"Alright fine, I give" Amelia said in a huff.
"That was quite easy, I was prepared to give you more reasons" Luna said pouting a bit.
"No, no, I know when I'm beaten" Amelia said holding up her hands.
"Good, now, what else is going on?" Harry asked.
"We've got controlling interest in the Daily Prophet now" Adrian said.
"That's good, now we can start printing the truth. I think you should give an exclusive Harry" Hermione said smiling at her boyfriend.
"Fine, but you're going to be with me so I don't put my foot in my mouth" Harry said.
Hermione nodded knowing that she would be there anyway no matter what.
"Who are you going to have do the article?" Daphne asked.
Hermione looked over at the list of reporters that the Daily Prophet have. Adrian gave her a copy as he was talking. She scanned the list then smiled.
"Penelope Clearwater" she said.
"Isn't she Percy's girlfriend?" Neville asked.
"Yes she is" Hermione said.
"Why her?" Daphne asked curiously.
"She is smart and the only one I think we can trust" Hermione said.
No one question her choice since they knew she could beat you in any kind of argument.
"Alright, it's settled" Sirius said.
They rest of the night they discussed tactics and who would be running against Amelia for Minister and what they could do to guarantee Amelia the Minister seat.