Lord and Ladies

Vows

None of the Potters expected their presence at the Wizengamot meeting to have much effect at school, and it didn't – for a day – yet they were overwhelmed by the noise that welcomed them as they approached the great hall for breakfast, a day later. As they entered the hall, practically everybody was looking at them, and not all faces seemed friendly. That was not a surprise. What did surprise Harry, was the identity of some.

Malfoy and his supporters were clearly angry, as expected. Still, some Slytherins seemed quite content, barely hiding their mirth. Pansy, who no longer sat at Draco's side since the beginning of term, as well as Tracey, didn't look angry at all, nor was Millicent, who only looked pensive. Many sixth and seventh year Slytherins also seemed relieved, as did some of the younger students, although Harry doubted many younger children would understand the implications. He barely did.

There were some angry faces at the other tables as well, but only a few. Harry ignored them. He led his family to the Gryffindor table, as usual. He only noticed one angry face there. Cormac McLaggen actually glared at Harry with unmasked hostility. Harry wondered what made that boy act this way.

It became clearer soon enough, once the morning paper arrived. His uncle, Mr. Tiberius McLaggen, being quite high in the ministry's hierarchy, was among the first asked to give a vow, the day after the Wizengamot meeting. He felt offended by the request and promptly refused. This caused his immediate arrest for interrogation under veritaserum. The interrogation found him not guilty of any connection to the dark lord or his supporters, but also found some missing funds that were transferred to the McLaggen vault instead of their intended destinations. The man was now expected to spend a few years in prison. Harry couldn't honestly say he was sorry. Although this was much earlier than he had planned, he intended to clean the ministry of corruption, and Mr. McLaggen was only the first to be found.

Looking around, he saw that no Hufflepuff was glaring at him, although one girl was silently weeping, surrounded by her friends. He saw Marietta Edgecombe, whose mother worked at the ministry, looking furious, as well as a boy he didn't recognize. All other angry faces seemed to be Slytherin. He tried not to look too smug, but he thought things were really moving in the right direction.

The Wizengamot was called for a special meeting two days later. It was intended mainly for all members to publicly give their vow and get a report of how it was going with the ministry's staff. The Potters used the Floo, along with Dumbledore, yet made sure to arrive to the meeting room from different directions and at different times, to make their cooperation less evident.

Albus Dumbledore, as Chief Warlock, was the first to give the vow. Harry noticed that the initial wording, suggested by Lady Slytherin, had been modified by the DMLE to be even more encompassing, practically disabling any kind of cooperation with the dark lord by those who'd taken to vow.

The members were then called by alphabetic order, each giving the vow, while the ever-present press representatives documented it all. Some members, whom Harry recognized as coming from dark families, seemed less than happy to give their vow, but they all did it.

Minister Fudge then gave a verbal report of how things were going within the ministry, looking extremely unhappy. "About half the staff has already given the vow. Three refused. Two of them were found with a newly branded dark mark on their arms. The other was just offended by the request, yet his interrogation found him corrupt. He was actually stealing from the Minstry."

Just before the assembly was dismissed, Lady Hufflepuff brought another problem to its attention. "There are many people who move through the ministry who are not employees. Some are contractors, other are lobbying for one faction or another and some are donating money for certain causes. As these people have access to a lot of information and may also influence members of the staff, I suggest that they also give their vow or be denied access to the ministry, beyond what everybody has."

There were no objections to her idea, although some still seemed very uncomfortable about it.

Lucius Malfoy was extremely worried. His Master called him, asking for an explanation about what was going at the Ministry. Lucius wasn't sure he had the full explanation, though, as he had lost most of his contacts there due to the vow. He also knew that what he needed to say would make the Dark Lord very unhappy, and that unhappiness usually showed as torturing the messenger with cruciatus. He wasn't looking forward to that.

Voldemort was holding the newspapers of the last few days. "Can you tell me what this new requirement is?"

"My lord, all Ministry's employees as well as Wizengamot members, were required to give a vow to never support any dark lord in any form."

"Why didn't you prevent it?"

"There was no indication hinting at this even minutes before it happened. It's all Potter's fault. He came to the Wizengamot, got his seats, along with some girls who seemed to have inherited old titles, and they suggested doing this to assure the population of the Ministry's integrity. Not even your loyal could find a plausible reason to object, before it was too late."

"The ministry is not known for thorough work. I'm sure they left many holes in it, allowing you to circumvent the vow." The dark lord sounded worried but not too angry... yet.

"The initial wording was set by Potter, and was tightened further by some experts. I've been going over it for days, and I still haven't found any hole."

"Give me the text!"

Lucius took the parchment out of his pocket and the Dark Lord snatched it from his hand. As he was looking at the parchment, his anger seemed to rise. "How could you let it happen? Crucio!"

When Lucius was finally allowed to leave, he was so beaten, barely able to breathe, that he didn't bother to tell his Master that he had been asked to soon give that vow as well. He knew he was doomed whether he gave it or not.

Rita was enjoying herself tremendously. The corruption in some parts of the ministry was so ingrained, that people didn't even bother to hide it, making her work a snap. She enjoyed uncovering the deeds of some sneakier people even more. Malfoy was at the top of this list. She had all the information collected and sorted for quite some time already. Now she'd got the "go ahead" message from Potter and she was giddy with the excitement of airing all that dirty laundry.

It took the Prophet a few more days to cross check some crucial data and to mellow some of Rita's accusations, but once the first article was published, it was the start of a landslide. The first article didn't yet touch the top of the pyramid – namely Fudge and Malfoy. It dealt with some corruption at lower levels, where bribery let some get exclusive licenses for whatever they wanted to do, while others, although conforming with each and every regulation, were denied licenses. It didn't seem to be much, although the Malfoy name was present there, among many others.

Harry was quite impressed by the article, making Hermione smile. "It seems that she really likes airing dirty laundry, regardless of whom it might affect."

"She surely does," Susan agreed. "Aunty said it made her work much easier. Fudge is unable to restrain her, fearing for his own hide, and the public is demanding punishment for all those corrupting the ministry. Some officials even came voluntarily to tell her about bribes they had been offered, incriminating the ones who tried to bribe them."

"But Fudge is still the minister," Daphne noted sourly.

"Not for long. Rita is saving that article for the weekend, when it will have the greatest impact," Harry told her. "It's only a few more days from now."

Some people were feeling the ground starting to shake under their feet and fled right away. Flint and Pucey were missing two days after Rita started her new series, and Nott disappeared the next day. Draco Malfoy stayed, though, as did his body guards. Harry wasn't sure if the Malfoys were so sure of their position, too proud to flee or too stupid. "Lucius probably believes that his tight connections at the ministry can save him. He still doesn't understand the change," Daphne said.

Harry didn't mind it too much. Exile was just as much of a punishment as prison, and nobody could be sure to escape justice, once they returned from exile. He welcomed anything that could make Britain safer.

Voldemort was feeling lonely. With only Wormtail for company, he couldn't even crucio him too much. He could no longer summon any of his Death Eaters. They had either given their vow, fled the country or got imprisoned. He barely had enough money for food, while his supposed servants continued their lives, ignoring him. That didn't go well with his self-image. He needed to do something about it.

Lucius was in his study, trying once again to find a hole in the wording of the vow that would give him some freedom to act, when he felt the wards collapse. He didn't need to wonder who did that. There was only one who could overcome his wards so easily – The Dark Lord. He barely had time to lift his eyes to the door before it burst open, revealing Voldemort.

"Lucius, you haven't come to my summons!"

"I couldn't, my Lord. Had I tried to come, I would have been stripped of my magic. Crabble wanted to join you, when you last summoned us. He lost his magic before he could even apparate."

"And why was that?"

"We all had to vow, as requested by the Ministry. Failing to do that would have not only denied us all access to our contacts, but would have also put us under veritaserum, for interrogation. You wouldn't want us to tell everything to the aurors."

That was more than the Dark Lord could accept. "Indeed, I can't take that risk. Avada Kedavra!"

He checked the pockets in Lucius's robes and the drawers in the desk, taking any money or valuables he could find, before apparating away, leaving only the dark mark floating over Malfoy Manor.

He then tried another. Macnair was not as rich or as well connected as Malfoy, but the dark lord could not afford to be choosy. Indeed, Macnair bowed low and seemed to be honored by the visit. He even offered some food and drinks.

"What can you tell me about that Potter boy?" Voldemort asked.

"I'm not sure..." Macnair hesitated.

"You can't be afraid of that vow, now that I'm here," his master urged him.

"Of course not, my Lord. Well, it looks like Potter got himself married..."

He was interrupted as he was engulfed in a bright flash. Once the light disappeared, Macnair looked much older than before. Voldemort was appalled. That flash had been all the magic leaving Macnair's body. He was now less magical than a muggle. "Can you cast a spell? Try Lumos."

Macnair lifted his wand and said the spell, but nothing happened, not even the faintest glow. He was useless now. Voldemort lifted his wand, killing the useless squib. He still took all he could before leaving the place.

///

Dumbledore read about the two deaths and wondered. The dark mark meant it was Voldemort or one of his minions who was responsible, yet the victims were also his minions. Could it be the result of the vow? He had not given it much thought before, considering it only as a way to stop people from joining Voldemort. With the dark mark flying over the victims, even Fudge had to admit that Voldemort was back, before he would lose his position, which was now becoming a certainty.

And then, if Voldemort was killing his former supporters who had become unable to help him, was there anything Albus could do to save them? Were they even worthy of saving? Despite his public position on that matter, Albus knew that not every person could be redeemed. Some were so bad to start with, that nothing could help them. Was that true about Malfoy or Macnair?

As much as it hurt him to admit, he finally said it, if only to himself. "They're getting what they bargained for."

Harry was also contemplating the news, along with his wives. "I pity Draco," he said, making Hermione look questioningly at him.

"As bad as his father was, he was still his father, and Draco seems to adore him. Losing one's father is not something I wish for anybody." He then turned to the girls. "Are your parents protected well enough?"

"The wards on Greengrass Manor were set by the Goblins. No wizard can break them, so they promised," Daphne reassured him.

"Auntie has some of the best wards. She let several of her best aurors try to put them down and none could. Not even all of them, working together," Susan said.

"Dumbledore cast some wards on their house, but I'm not sure they're enough, and there are no wards on their clinic. Maybe we should do something for them." Hermione was quite worried.

"I think it's time for Lord Potter and Lady Potter to use some of their privileges and go to Gringotts to have it set. Let's do it immediately after breakfast," Harry suggested. "Do you think he knows about you?"

"We can't be sure. None of his former followers could disclose anything before being stripped of magic, and we made sure that only the relevant titles were mentioned in the paper, not mentioning the Potter name, except for you. I think he doesn't know yet, but being cautious is better than being sorry."

"Of course, dear. Besides, he probably knows you are my best friend. That may put you and your parents in just as much danger as well."

By the next afternoon, both the Granger house and their clinic had become virtual fortresses, without giving away any of their new fortifications to either muggles or wizards, unless using very specific spells. Harry felt much better knowing that his in-laws were well protected.