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.
...
Along the way to the Wizengamot chamber they ran into several groups of people, most of whom Harry didn't personally know nor recognise, but Sirius did, since the dog animagus had spent a considerable amount of time courting his new peers and re-establishing old contacts since gaining his freedom. He had redoubled his efforts in the recent weeks in preparation for this day. Naturally, several business deals had also been made, to help establish some real ties and links with his newfound 'friends,' deals such as these would ensure those relationships couldn't be set aside so easily. Predictably, many had easily recognised Harry thanks to Rita's extensive public relations campaign which put him at a disadvantage during these short exchanges. Nevertheless he smiled back politely, despite hating the idea of being at a disadvantage of any kind, even as he gave them his best fake smiles and friendly handshakes whilst wondering how long it would be before he had to kiss a baby or something stupid in the name of charming some more support. Fortunately, it was easy to do despite his ill feelings about it, often answering light hearted questions about himself and his interests, with a few very discreet questions targeted at his beliefs spoken in the old fashioned double talk favoured by politicians the world over.
Thankfully, he was spared from further questioning by the unexpected appearance of the smiling Chief Warlock, who was wearing a grand set of highly decorative robes that put his normal choice of extravagant robes he wore around Hogwarts to shame. The white and gold colour star patterned robes glittered under the light, the stars shooting across the robes at various angles, the many decorative runes on the cloth seeming to glow with mystical energies, which suggested that there were some rather powerful enchantments on the robes. What they were meant to do, he had no idea at this point. The former headmaster's eyes seemed to sparkle as always.
"Good morning, Lord Black," the old wizard greeted Sirius, before turning his attention to me with a friendly smile on his wrinkled lips. "Good morning Mr. Potter. Or perhaps I should be calling you Lord Potter-Peverell now?"
'It took you long enough,' he thought, whilst offering his own amused smile. "Lord Potter-Peverell if you please, as this is an official meeting of the Wizengamot and we must follow proper procedure and tradition Chief Warlock," he replied easily, showing no discomfort at the fact that the old wizard had finally put all the little clues together. He hadn't exactly been hiding it with great effort. After all, by the end of the trial the fact that he was a dual lord already would become common knowledge. The former headmaster of Hogwarts smiled, seemingly indulgently at my answer.
"Of course," the Chief Warlock humoured me with a smile. "Let me be the first to officially welcome you to the Wizengamot. Hopefully your first time here won't be too dull, listening to teams of lawyers arguing over the word of law." I politely nodded in thanks, noticing out of the corner of my left eye a small audience was discreetly listening to our unfolding exchange.
"Now onto a more serious matter; there has been a minor problem with my reinstatement as Hogwarts' Headmaster, and I believe you may be able to help me solve this problem, Mr. Potter," subtly using the less formal address, either in an attempt to make him seem less important to those subtly listening to the exchange, or in an attempt to imply some type of familiarity between the pair of them. It could also be an attempt to underplay the problem the headmaster was having in regaining his old position, or the old wizard could have simply fallen unconsciously back on the habit of addressing him as he would any other student, rather than a dual Lord of the Wizengamot. Since there was no way to know without a great deal more experience with and a much better read on the man, he decided to let the slip of tongue go without comment, for the moment, rather than calling the Chief Warlock out. He was forced to speculate, however, on what possible problem the Chief Warlock could be having.
Then, like a light bulb turning on, it clicked, and he realized what the former headmaster wanted from him. He decided to play dumb and naive for a few more moments to help hide his intellect, which would hopefully cause the headmaster to underestimate him for a little while longer. "You flatter me Chief Warlock, but I don't see how my minor influence could be of any assistance to someone like you," he replied in a humble tone, whilst thinking, 'Just try to manipulate me you old bastard, it will cost you dearly,' even as he mentally listed the man's many crimes against him and his family.
The old wizard fell back on old patterns and gave his standard grandfatherly smile in response, one that would normally disarm other people, but one which had always inversely put him more on guard when dealing with his former magical guardian. He continued to avoid eye contact, just in case. "You see, thanks to several recent articles about you and several interviews you gave to the Daily Prophet, many parents mistakenly believe that Hogwarts is no longer safe for their children," the old headmaster explained slowly, like he was talking to an idiotic child.
He fake smiled back, "Indeed, there were many gaps and weaknesses in the vaunted Hogwarts wards that led to some serious security failures, I believe parents have right to be concern about their offspring safety" he replied. He felt the need to add to this statement and give a few reminders to his listening audience as to exactly what those failures were and under whose watch they happened under. "First, there was the 12 foot tall adult mountain troll that somehow found its way past Hogwarts' supposedly powerful protective wards and by some still unknown means found its way into the castle itself and the girl's bathroom, almost killing two young female students using the bathroom. Then there was the bewitching of Neville Longbottom's quidditch broom during a match attended by you and the entire faculty and staff; he nearly fell to his death in front of the whole school. Then there was the hungry, fully grown adult Cerberus locked behind a simple door, a door secured only by a basic first year locking charm on it; that beast could have easily killed any student that had been curious enough to open that door with a simple alohomora charm."
"That area was declared off limits at the start of the year," the Headmaster began to explain.
Cutting in before the old wizard could build up some steam and somehow convince their listeners with his honeyed words, he continued. "True, it was," he nodded in agreement whilst considering his next words carefully. "But as you should well know after so many, many years as headmaster, students are always inquisitive, nosy and often reckless. If you had said nothing, however, no students would have even looked behind that unremarkable door in the first place, especially if you had put up a simple repelling ward, a more complex locking charm, an age line, or even a notice-me-not enchantment upon it, instead students were daring each other to peek in and confront the beast," he argued in a serious tone.
"I'm sure any parent would tell you if you tell a child not to do something, they will do it anyways, just because you said not to, thinking that they know better or convinced of their invulnerability," he heard muttering in agreement behind him. "Also the point stands, why was a four X rated magical beast locked up within the school anyways? Where any young student could find it?" Of course, he knew the answer already, but the headmaster didn't know that and neither did their listeners.
...
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