NOVEL WEB Chapter 78: Fudge Under Fire
December 24, 1995. Noon. 10 Downing Street, London. Madam Bones and Minister Fudge exited the floo into the Prime Minister's office. There waiting for them were the PM, the Commander and the General. "Good day gentlemen. My wand." She offered. "Good morning Madam Bones" replied the PM. The PM then shifted his gaze to Minister Fudge while the Commander retrieved Madam Bones' wand. There was a pregnant pause in the proceedings as they waited for Fudge to say or do anything. They all gazed at him, waiting. "Ah, yes. Good day gentlemen. Ummmm, my wand." He offered, at last. "Thank you Madam Bones, Minister Fudge. Now, what can we do for you this morning?" PM Majors asked.
They all waited a few seconds, looking at Minister Fudge. When he wasn't forthcoming, Madam Bones began "It seems that we are missing 10 of our Aurors, and the Minister believes your forces may have them." The Prime Minister looked at a shamefaced Fudge and then at the Commander. "Why would you think our forces have your missing Aurors, Minister" the Commander asked. The Minister mumbled something nobody could understand. "I am sorry, Minister, you'll have to repeat that" said the Prime Minister. Minister Fudge looked at Madam Bones and kept silent. "The Minister appears to have ordered the arrest and confinement of Miss Hermione Granger, a teenaged witch, and her non-magical parents for assistance in the murder of 20 'good citizens' of magical England" replied Madam Bones. "Ah. The fourth attack on OUR Good Citizens of non-magical England in the last month" said the Prime Minister. "The 'good citizens of magical England' that you say were 'murdered' in your press (yes I know of the 'news' you have released) all are marked Death Eaters" he continued. "Their targets were OUR good citizens who are ordinary, non-military, non-magical, plain as the day citizens." Now the PM was on a roll. "The fourth attack – on a teenage girl, who I understand is not allowed to perform magic outside of school, and her two non-magical parents, by NO LESS than 20 marked Death Eaters. That family?" asked the Prime Minister. Minister Fudge stood there, red faced. "Yes" he said meekly. "It is my understanding you monitor magic performed in non-magical areas, correct?" the Prime Minister asked. "That is correct" replied Madam Bones. "It is also my understanding you can record the magic performed by a wand, is that correct?" asked the Prime Minister. "That is correct" replied Madam Bones. "Did you compare the magic recorded by your monitors with the spells cast by the wands of the attackers?" asked the Prime Minister. "We did – they were a match". "Were there any spells cast other than those cast by the attackers?" asked the Prime Minister. "None" replied Madam Bones. "Tell me, Minister, why were these 'Good Citizens' of yours there, at Miss Granger's residence? It is my understanding that Death Eaters do not ….'like'..non-magical people, especially first-generation witches. Isn't that correct?" the Prime Minister asked. "They could not 'go shopping', as you claimed last time. I find it highly unlikely they were 'invited to dinner'. What excuse will you use this time?" he asked. "We don't know." Said Minister Fudge. "Why don't you ask them?" replied the Prime Minister. "They are ALL DEAD" said the Minister with raised voice. "They were all alive when your Aurors appeared on the scene. Did they all die while in your custody? What did they die of?" asked the Prime Minister. "They all died within hours of being transported to our hospital. Some died of blood loss while we do not know what the rest died from." Replied the Minister. "That is why Miss Granger must be arrested!" he continued. "It is also my understanding, Minister, that Midshipman Fenix was having dinner with the Grangers at the time; and that when he determined an attack was imminent, sent them to the garage adjacent to the house, and set up a defense. In other words, Minister - if the Grangers were not even present in the area of the attack, and your magical monitors did not register any magic from Miss Granger, how could they assist in any of the defense against the attackers?" he asked. After a few seconds waiting for a response from the Minister, the Prime Minister continued. "Since you were going to have Miss Granger's non-magical parents arrested and thrown into prison, what were you intending for Midshipman Fenix?" he asked. Again silence. "Surely you had some plan, Minister. If you were going to arrest 'muggles' who were not even involved, then surely you must have planned 'something' for Midshipman Fenix, who was directly involved in their defense?" he prompted. They waited a few more moments, in silence, for a response from the redder-faced Minister.
"Let me throw out what I think – I think you were hoping to catch Midshipman Fenix at the Grangers. I think you were hoping that your Aurors would kill him in the process of 'arresting' the Grangers. I think you were hoping to maybe kill the Grangers in the process of arrest so you could say you 'did something' in response to your 'good citizens' getting killed; and if they weren't killed, you would toss them in your prison, Azkaban is it? Who would know? How am I doing, Minister?" asked the PM. "That is pure rubbish!" blubbered Minister Fudge. "Is it? Minister?" prodded the PM. Minister Fudge just bobbed his head. "What about you Madam Bones?" the PM asked. "Oh, after delivering the Commander's message yesterday I just HAD to take the rest of the day off, so I wasn't involved in any of this." She commented. Minister Fudge did not look happy.
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