Second Place - Romance

Cornelius Fudge sat in his large taxpayer-furnished office. He was extremely pleased with the article that Skeeter woman had written following his assistant's convenient leak to the irksome creature. Normally the Minister of Magic had little use for the nosy witch as she was usually writing about him, but he was glad for once that the woman had such a talent for mud slinging. Potter and that fool Dumbledore had managed to find a way to free their pet Death Eater, but Cornelius was determined to not allow them to win. He would prevail in the end. After all, he was the Minister of Magic, and who was more powerful than he?

The pompous man leaned back in his comfortable and expensive dragon-hide covered chair. He had waged a campaign questioning the sanity and the veracity of the Boy-Who-Lived once before and he was more than willing to resort to such measures again. He would use all of the tools at his command in order to discredit the young hero and his dodgy headmaster. Cornelius smiled as he thought of how he could turn public opinion against their young hero. Really, it was his job as the Minister of Magic to protect the wizarding world from another Dark Lord and his advisor.

The man nervously paced in the small room in the visitor's section of Azkaban prison. He was waiting to see the person who had originally contracted his services. He knew he was taking a huge chance in coming here, but there were contingency plans to be made and he had finally decided it was worth the risk. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances had already derailed the situation once. Fudge had shown himself for the incompetent fool he was when he had allowed Dumbledore and Potter to snatch Snape from Azkaban so easily.

He turned at the sound of the door being opened and marveled that Lucius Malfoy could manage to look cool and elegant even while imprisoned in Azkaban prison. The aristocratic blonde gracefully seated himself while plucking a dust mote from his shirtsleeve. "Ah, so good of you to visit me here," Lucius began conversationally.

The visitor shook his head. Only Malfoy could say that like he was the lord of the place rather than an unwilling �guest'. Might as well get straight to the point. "Fudge allowed Dumbledore and Potter to take Snape out of here. Apparently, the boy decided they were soul mates and he was able to get married to Snape in absentia. Fudge didn't have the backbone to stand up to the boy and he let them get the prisoner."

A thoughtful look passed over the �guest's' face. "Well, well. Now that does present us with a problem doesn't it?"

The other man wasn't fooled by the offhanded comment. He realized that what Malfoy meant was that �he' had a problem and that �he' had better fix it. After all, Malfoy had given him a great deal of money in order to insure Snape's imprisonment. It didn't matter to the blonde that someone else had fouled up. As he was the one in charge, it was his problem. Nodding, the man worked to reassure his employer, "The Daily Prophet has already started a smear campaign against Potter and Snape. I will make sure that the press and thus the public are given more interesting tidbits about their supposed hero. Even if I have to go around Fudge, I will complete the job."

"Good," Lucius drawled. "I paid you good money to see that that traitor paid dearly for poisoning my son against me and our lord. You will succeed, or you had better start making plans for an early �retirement'."

Gulping quietly, the man mutely nodded. He understood entirely what a �retirement' constituted. Even locked up in Azkaban, Lucius Malfoy was a dangerous man. Oh, Merlin, what had he gotten himself into, he wondered. Turning to take his leave, he was stopped at the door by the imperious voice. "Oh, and Mr. Smythe, do take care that you do not come under suspicion. It would not do for you to end up in here with me, now would it?"

Brighten Smythe again nodded and hurried out of the door. He was beginning to think he had made a huge mistake.

Cornelius Fudge looked around the crowded room and allowed a small smile to touch his lips. He had called an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot and it appeared as if nearly everyone had arrived. Only one member of the esteemed group had not been summoned � Albus Dumbledore.

Standing, the Minister of Magic cleared his throat and waited for the assembled to quiet. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have called you here on a most urgent matter. I have been hearing distressing news and I feel that it is my duty as Minister of Magic to act quickly. We do not want another Lord Thingy arising, now do we?" He looked around in satisfaction as the members gasped at his announcement.

"As I am certain that most of you have seen the articles The Daily Prophet has been running these past several days, it appears that we have a problem facing us. Our supposed hero, Harry Potter, seems to be set upon becoming the next dark lord. He already has bonded to one of the former Dark Lord's servants, and he used that bonding to free the man from Azkaban. And now we are hearing that he may in fact be more powerful than we were previously given to believe. As our trusted newspaper tells us, Mr. Potter has befriended several dangerous creatures, including werewolves, giants and centaurs. It is also rumored that he has many friends among the goblins, who as we all know, have a dangerous history of turning on the wizarding world. I am also quite concerned about the true allegiance of Albus Dumbledore."

Loud murmuring broke out at the mention of the venerable wizard who ran Hogwarts. It would take a great deal to convince many that the much-respected man had turned from the side of Light. Finally, Amelia Bones spoke up. "And why should we believe the nonsense The Daily Prophet publishes in its quest to make a Galleon? Albus Dumbledore has stood by Severus Snape for years, proclaiming him to be a fighter on the side of Light and he has personally seen to the training of young Harry Potter. Are we to believe that suddenly the wizard we have so admired for so many years has turned against us? Let us not forget that he was the one who single handedly defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald years ago."

Several voices made known their support for the Hogwarts headmaster and Cornelius Fudge nervously wiped his handkerchief across his brow. "Now, see here my good people. You must understand that we have to be diligent in preventing another dark lord from rising. Even if that means we have to look at some of our respected citizens with an open mind. I am simply suggesting that an investigation be started into the affairs of Mr. Potter and his associates. I am sure that he will welcome such an investigation if he understands that it is for the common good. And if he balks, then we will have to wonder at what it is he wishes to hide." The oily politician looked around to see a few heads bobbing in agreement and he allowed his most fatherly expression to cross his face.

Amelia Bones once again took up the gauntlet. "Minister Fudge, I still fail to see why an investigation is necessary. Or are we sending the message that anyone who dares to save the wizarding world will be subjected to an inquisition? Why, I would imagine that heroes would be hard to come by from now on if this is how we treat our saviors."

At this statement the room was in an uproar and Cornelius was beginning to see that he would not be able to reason with these idiots. Support was obviously not with him today. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you would," he shouted to be heard over the noise. "Thank you. Well, I see that no one yet recognizes the danger that awaits us, but as I am the Minister of Magic, I am sworn to do my public duty. Therefore, I will bow to the request of the Wizengamot and do as you fine people vote; however, as for myself, I will remain diligent in remaining alert."

As it was, Madame Bones' fine arguments ruled the day and the Wizengamot wisely decided to allow Harry Potter his moment in the sun. That did not mean, however, that the Minister of Magic was finished in his quest of bringing down Dumbledore's Golden Boy. No, he would have to look into different ways of maligning the young man's character.

Auror Brighton Smythe, once highly respected for a good reason, returned from his trip to Azkaban. Years ago he had become disenchanted with the wizarding community and the Ministry of Magic in particular. He had been astonished when he had found how easy it was to sell his services to any interested party. It made no difference to him who was hiring him, as long as they had the Galleons in their pouch. Now, he had been hired by Lucius Malfoy to work with the idiot everyone called the Minister of Magic to bring down a Death Eater and Brighton Smythe was determined to complete the job. Immediately upon his return to the Ministry of Magic he had heard about Fudge's botched attempt in front of the Wizengamot. Auror Smythe snorted as he reflected that when it came to a battle of the wits, Fudge was an unarmed man.

The Flipside of Sanity - Chapter 15

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