"You'd be surprised how easy a man is to manipulate when you have his cock in your hand, and his own wife hasn't played with it for years," she explained, her lord's cheeks turning slightly red at her extended explanation.
"I'll take your word for it," he replied calmly, before falling silent in thought.
...
Wondering if she could make him blush more, she was just about to add some more saucy details to what happened on her mission, when he spoke up again. "Did you have sex with him?" The preteen asked suddenly, his tone curious, but at the same time reluctant, as she wondered if he had been given the talk yet.
"No, I just gave him a hand job, and a very good lap dance, if I say so myself," she replied with a grin, suddenly feeling randy and dirty at the memory of what she had done, before adding without thinking, just as he took a sip of fruit juice. "Would you like one master?" Unintentionally using the M word again.
Her well timed question had exactly the outcome she desired, causing him to both spit and choke on his juice, some of the orange liquid flying at his mirror. She allowed herself to smirk, but was also suddenly afraid he'd take her up on it someday. He vanished the choked up juice with an elegant flick of his wand.
He looked at her seriously, clearly wrestling with an internal question which suddenly put her on edge. "I might take you up on your generous offer Rita if you keep asking," he replied. She nodded, understanding the hidden message. "Send a copy anonymously to Madam Bones; the ministry assigned lawyers could use an advantage."
"I don't think that will be necessary my lord," she replied. He merely looked at her in confusion, clearly not expecting such a reply.
"Why isn't it necessary Rita?" he asked.
Realizing she now had no choice but to tell the truth, she elaborated, "I tricked him into making a magical vow; he has no choice now but to lose the case tomorrow or he loses his magic," she explained, wondering what her lord would say to her.
"I see. Tell me everything," he commanded seriously. She quickly recounted everything that had happened at the meeting hours earlier, his order forcing her to share every detail of her adventure. "Is there any chance that he can identify you? Or backtrack you to me?"
"No, I was using polyjuice and a fake name, just like you ordered me to," she answered. "The hair I used was from a random muggle I came across. I secured quite a bit in case I ever needed to make use of that form again."
"Did he realize he made an oath?" he asked.
"No, I don't think so," she replied.
"Let's hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass," he voiced, clearly not happy with what she had done.
...
'Confidence, a Lord is confident,' Harry recited to himself in the back of his mind, even as he stepped in time with his godfather Sirius. His gait was confident and purposeful, possessing an elegant feline grace that would be expected of the Lord of an Ancient and Noble household as notable as his own.
He and Sirius were accompanied by a security wizard as the small party of four moved through the imposing halls, whose architecture reminded him of imperial Rome. Everything here within the walls of ministry was purposely styled to be imposing and intimidating, most likely to suggest to the populace that the Ministry of Magic was bigger and more important than any single individual, he silently theorized. He knew such themes were common in all government structures that had to convey a sense of intrinsic authority. But the truth was, like most governments, the ministry only served and had power through the collective consent of the people. If the common wizard or witch ever decided the Ministry wasn't needed any longer, or didn't have authority to govern them, the Ministry's power would be non-existent.
He wouldn't be intimidated or scared by this tactic. Despite being only twelve years of age, he had already achieved feats of magic that many older, more accomplished wizards had failed at. He had already survived several attempts on his short life, had freed his falsely imprisoned godfather, and unknown to them all, he had found the entrance to the legendry Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, a place which most wizards and witches had dismissed as simply a fairy tale, a legend of the past. Furthermore, his ancient bloodline had helped create the original Wizengamot; his forbears had then helped to create the Ministry itself he told himself. Again, despite his age, he belonged in these ancient halls, as his ancestors had helped build them. And if he had his way his family and bloodline would still be walking these same hallways in the many centuries to come. As he had these thoughts, Sirius and their ministry appointed security escorts passed by another group of ministry officials talking in the middle of the corridor.
Both he and Sirius were wearing their traditional ceremonial robes that marked them as members of the Wizengamot, as the pair of them and their smartly dressed security escorts made their way into the heart of the Ministry of Magic, where the Wizengamot chamber was located behind a wall of security wards. Fortunately for the pair, they were quickly waved through the internal security checkpoint without any hassle by ministry security personnel, a group which was out in force today due to Lord Malfoy's highly publicized trial being opened to the public.
Lord Malfoy's trial would be beginning within the next hour and a half, give or take a few minutes for inevitable delays, assuming that everything stayed relatively on schedule. They had decided to get here early so that they could rub shoulders with the other Lords and Ladies and officials in a last minute charm campaign. He and Sirius were currently being escorted through the highly decorated and propaganda filled corridors of the ministry by a pair of MS officers, (Ministry Security) who had been charged with providing security for him for the duration of the court case, due to the lingering threat of another assassination attempt being made upon his life.
Despite how unlikely such an attempt would be, he didn't argue with Madam Bones on the issue when the head of law enforcement had insisted on the pair of them having a protective escort whilst within the Ministry, making the argument that with the ministry open to the general public for the trial that anything was possible. Predictably, the Minister had readily agreed to the idea too, rather than take the risk of yet another sandal unfolding within the heart of the Ministry if he was attacked and killed. His successful murder in the ministry would likely be the final nail in the Minister's political coffin.
Privately, he and Sirius suspected the security detail assigned to them was more likely meant to act as a buffer between the gathered reporters and the watching public, so that he wouldn't be mobbed by overzealous supporters and well-wishers. Normally, the Wizengamot Chambers and the law courts would be closed to the general public, but today they would be opened wide for the first time since the war against Voldemort had ended; the common wizard and witch would thus be able to watch the highly anticipated court case for themselves.
Frankly, he, Sirius, Ted, and Andy suspected that the Minister was using this whole open court case as a means to bolster his own damaged popularity with the public, so that he could publicly denounce Lord Malfoy in front of a large public audience, thus everyone could then publicly see the Ministry and the Minister dispensing righteous justice to the dark wizard.
After all, Fudge had publically announced that he would 'ensure' that justice was done after the massive public backlash against the skittish minister for his association with the dark pureblood lord, whom everyone now suspected was a willing death eater, and actually might have been Lord Voldemort's second in command if the rumours were true… After all, the Malfoy family had profited greatly from the war, both in the realm of political power as well as in the world of business, with several of their ancestral competitors suddenly meeting unfortunate ends or key assets being destroyed under the cover of terrorism.
All of which implied that they had been killed off on Lord Malfoy's orders, and not simply for the cause of pureblood supremacy, but because it was imminently profitable for the man's family. He personally believed that to be true. The ancestral Potter docks had been destroyed by death eaters during the war and many of those same men had profited greatly because of it in the ensuing years.
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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