Another day had passed by. During that time The Ministry of Magic, specifically the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Mysteries had been using its time wisely. When the various members of the Order of the Phoenix and the Hogwarts Staff had first been brought in following the debacle at Hogwarts Castle each one had been given the opportunity to explain of their own volition exactly why they had been involved.
With the exception of the three eldest Weasleys and Nymphadora Tonks, none of them had taken the chance.
Starting at five in the morning that day, the Ministry decided to force the matter through the use of veritaserum.
The results were horrifying and a damning indictment of a man whom the Wizarding World had respected and trusted for almost a century.
It was a little after nine in the evening when Cornelius Fudge entered the office of Amelia Bones to find the Head of the DMLE nursing a glass of scotch. While he did not always get on well with Amelia or see eye to eye with her, the Minister was able to recognise the warning signs.
"That bad?" he asked.
Amelia shook her head and replied "Worse. We managed to get them all to confess but… well, those are the confessions there. Moody's is on the top."
She pointed to one corner of her desk where a stack of parchments stood.
Cornelius lifted the topmost parchment and blanched. "One muggle boy killed and one other seriously maimed by Moody's enchanted trash cans?"
"Oh yes," said Amelia. "Dumbledore managed to cover the whole thing up and from then on, Moody was his man."
"When did this happen?" demanded the Minister.
"About twenty five years ago now. Of course this means that the best Death Eater catcher we had in the Auror Force should not have even been there."
"Are they all like this?"
"Pretty much. As far as we can tell Dumbledore's main recruitment method was to help people out of a tight spot and then hold it over them. He vouched for Severus Snape during the Death Eater trials and since then Snape has worked for him. A reporter caught Filius Flitwick in a compromising position with two hags and a swamp troll the night he fought his last duel on the Professional Duelling Circuit. Dumbledore covered it up, getting Flitwick on his side. Dumbledore paid for all seven of Arthur Weasley's kids to go to Hogwarts and the whole family has been singing his praises ever since. And you know the story of Miss Tonks."
Cornelius nodded as he continued to leaf through the stack of confessions, occasionally reading aloud the damning evidence. "Poppy Pomfrey – failed her final healers' examination and so is not qualified for the position she held within the school… Mundungus Fletcher – Dumbledore helped him out when he was arrested for an instance of Muggle Baiting that resulted in three muggles losing their buttocks to carnivorous toilet seats… Sturgis Podmore – broke the International Statute of Secrecy when he got into a brawl in a muggle bar and hexed five people to have bat wings where their ears should be… Amelia these are disgusting!"
"Read Shacklebolt's," she replied. "It's the cream of the crop!"
Cornelius flipped through until he found the confession of Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Joined the Order of the Phoenix after being approached by Alastor Moody, then, on Dumbledore's suggestion he purposefully misled the Ministerial investigation into the current whereabouts of Sirius Black. Since then Dumbledore has used this to keep Shacklebolt in line."
The Minister looked up at the Head of the DMLE. "But isn't Shacklebolt the one in charge of the search operations for Black?"
"He was," replied Amelia. "Clearly he knows where the man is but he's not telling. We think he must be someplace that is protected by the Fidelius Charm as even the use of veritaserum could not make Shacklebolt tell us the location."
Amelia set her glass aside and took out her monocle to clean it on a cloth, saying as she did so "As far as we can, while the majority of the Order behaved without being influenced by magic, a good number of them were coerced."
"That does not excuse their behaviour," said the Minister.
"No, but in some cases this may be grounds to show some small amount of leniency. Arthur and Molly, for a start, did not actually take part in the Hogwarts debacle, nor is there any evidence of outright criminal activity on their part. However, there is no escaping the fact that their eldest son, Bill, was involved. Flitwick broke no laws and his actions were out of a desire to protect his reputation. Snape, Moody and Fletcher, on the other hand, are criminals who got away with their crimes because Dumbledore pulled a few strings."
Cornelius nodded before asking "And what of Minerva McGonagall? What part did she play in all of this?"
Amelia sighed. "To be honest with you, Minister, I do not fully understand what exactly is going on with that woman. But whatever it is, it's not good. Croaker has already suggested that we send her to the mind healers at St Mungo's and I'm inclined to agree with the suggestion."
"Seems a bit extreme…"
"No, what's extreme is her loyalty to Dumbledore. No, scratch that; 'loyalty' doesn't do the situation justice. 'Blind faith' would be a better way to describe it. All it took for her to take part in the travesty of a few days ago was for Dumbledore to tell her that it was for the best. She accepted it without question."
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