Harry Potter: Marauder at Howgarts

Almost two hours of working with Cornelius had reaffirmed Sirius's belief that he didn't like the man. But, and there was a but, he had come to have an appreciation for Cornelius's shark-like predatory instincts about politics. Cornelius knew every single member of the Wizengamot; he knew their position on the key policies and what they would and would not accept; he knew dirt on most of them, and the ones he didn't were the ones who were best at hiding it or who were far too boring to have dirt. He also had a keen sense of the power of the press and how to spin a story.

More to the point, Cornelius wasn't stupid. Not about politics and media spin. Not about the threat of Voldemort to his position, to the Ministry. He was scared and more than a bit of a coward (Sirius doubted Cornelius would ever be able to face Voldemort with any kind of dignity) and he was lazy on the details of the execution (Sirius had an unfortunate feeling that was how the awful Umbridge woman had made herself invaluable) but Cornelius wasn't stupid.

No, Cornelius's main flaw was that he operated from a strange default that doing nothing, maintaining a status quo, meant that he would remain the Minister of Magic. Conversely, when convinced that he would definitely lose his position if he didn't do something, Cornelius had a remarkable sense of self-preservation. It explained why their gambit at clearing Sirius's name and getting Harry away from the Dursleys had worked so well.

Sirius was glad that he'd thought to make Cornelius watch Harry's memories first before ever tackling the subject of Voldemort with him. He had a sneaking suspicion that the Minister would have preferred to have stuck his head in the sand like an ostrich but having witnessed absolute proof that Voldemort lived in some form and would try to regain a body, and having a political patron who would not tolerate inaction, Cornelius had had no choice but realise if something wasn't done, his days as Minister were numbered. The Minister was therefore doing his best to safeguard his own arse but Sirius didn't really mind that as it meant Cornelius actually doing his job.

In fact, Sirius had eased off the back-up plan he and Remus had mulled over of 'replace Fudge with someone competent' because it turned out Cornelius was competent in his milieu of politics and as a bonus feature was easily malleable once it was understood what he wanted (to remain Minister of Magic) and how to gain his interest (assure him that Sirius would make sure Cornelius would always be Minister of Magic if only he could do this tiny thing for Sirius in assisting him in getting rid of Voldemort and revolutionising their society).

He and Remus had underestimated Cornelius, Sirius realised, as he stepped back into Black Manor and watched as Cornelius came through the floo, his eyes wide as he took in the impressive Black crest. It was a valuable lesson to learn and one that they needed to take note of, Sirius mused. They couldn't afford to underestimate anyone if they were going to have a chance at defeating Voldemort and keeping Harry safe.

It was a lesson they should have already learned with Peter, Sirius considered tiredly.

They'd underestimated Peter when they'd confronted him at Hogwarts and he'd escaped. OK, there had been extenuating circumstances (Moony and the full moon, and Dementors!) but they'd underestimated him nevertheless. In hindsight they'd also underestimated him back when he'd betrayed them. They'd never considered Peter talented enough to be the spy; to be devious enough despite his being as much of a Marauder as any of them – Merlin, Peter had spied as a Marauder for them on their targets in the run up to some of the major pranks. They'd known Peter was smart enough when he wanted to be, he was just very, very lazy. The comments that Minerva had made at times to Peter during their school days had been very sharp and pointed, and all amounted to the same thing: could do better.

But the Marauders had fallen into the habit of thinking him less smart than the rest of them just because he'd languished in the middle of the class positions whereas the rest of them had excelled; because after school Peter had headed for a lowly entry position in the Ministry in some obscure department to do with flying carpets. And because of that blindness, Peter had betrayed them comprehensively; had sold Lily and James out to Voldemort; had set up Sirius; had hidden in plain sight for years as the Weasleys' pet rat. There was no doubt Peter was a coward and a traitor, a snivelling piece of excrement Sirius wanted to wipe off the face of the Earth, but he was sneaky and smarter than they had thought. It would be wise, Sirius thought, to sit down and seriously consider what Peter was likely to have done already to find his Master.

Sirius led Cornelius through to the front parlour where they were due to meet with Amelia Bones and Wilbert Croaker.

Penelope came and knocked on the door. "Welcome back, Lord Black. Shall I arrange for some refreshments for your meeting?"

"That would be great, but if you wouldn't mind coming in for a moment, Penelope." Sirius motioned for her to enter fully. "Cornelius, this is Penelope Clearwater, my Executive Secretary. Penelope, the Minister."

Cornelius shook Penelope's hand and offered her a warm smile. "Lovely to meet you, Miss Clearwater. I don't believe I'm familiar with your name…"

"Penelope's a muggleborn." Sirius said simply. "Top of her Hogwarts class; very smart. She eventually wants to work for the Ministry but we convinced her to help me out in the meantime."

"Well, once you're ready to make a move, you'll have to come and see me." Cornelius said smoothly.

Penelope beamed at the Minister. "Thank you, sir." She looked to Sirius who nodded his dismissal and she headed out of the room.

Kreacher popped in a moment later with the refreshments and disappeared again. By the time Sirius had finished pouring Cornelius some tea and himself a cup of very strong black coffee, Penelope was back, escorting the remaining visitors from the reception room to the parlour.

Wilbert Croaker grinned widely as he shook his hand and waved the invitation, with the location written so they could access the house, at Sirius with the other. "Lord Black! A Fidelius charm! I haven't seen one in operation since the Longbottoms! Is it part of the wards or did you set it up separately? And did you set it up or was it part of…"

"Bertie!" Amelia said sharply. She inched around her DOM counterpart and held her hand out to Sirius who shook it rather than kissing it. She seemed glad of the propriety he showed since they were meeting in her official capacity. "Lord Black, I assume?"

Sirius smiled at her. "I see Cornelius wasn't the only one who suspected the truth."

Amelia's eyes widened but she got the message quickly enough to play along with the delusion Cornelius had suspected. "Indeed," she huffed and nodded a hello at the Minister, "Cornelius."

"Amelia."

"Bertie." Cornelius greeted him with a handshake. "It's good to see you can climb out of the depths of the DOM. You never attend my meetings."

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