Power Plays Chapter 63

“So sorry for the delays in making this happen,” Daphne smiled pleasantly as she invited Rita Skeeter into her home.

Rita’s simpering smile did little to disguise her curious gaze. It was a rare thing to be invited into Greengrass Manor, and her eyes flickered about like she was trying to commit every last bit of the manor to memory. “I completely understand,” she replied with a cheerful laugh. “After all, you’ve had quite the hectic schedule as of late.”

“Rita,” Harry nodded in greeting as he stood up from his seat on the sofa next to Delphini.

Honestly, even though Harry trusted Rita, Daphne didn’t. She still remembered the countless horrible articles the woman wrote about Harry back during their tenure at Hogwarts, as well as the countless other libellous articles she’d written about so many people. Naturally, she’d rarely targeted anyone truly worthy of criticism until recent years, but that didn’t outweigh the bad things that she did in Daphne’s mind.

So, it was with the utmost hidden disdain that Daphne allowed Rita to sit in a large armchair across from the sofa. As Daphne sat down on the other side of Delphini, Hobsy popped in with a tray of refreshments and snacks. She placed it down upon the table in between them and then disappeared silently.

“Isn’t this just cosy?” Rita smiled at them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Delphini.”

Daphne could see the gears turning in Rita’s head. Even if she wouldn’t ever dare write anything against Harry anymore, she was still that same weasel underneath it all. She couldn’t help but imagine herself writing a scandalous article all about Delphini’s parentage and the drama of having her live with the man who killed both of her parents.

Delphini gave a nervous smile in reply. “Hello,” she said quietly.

Harry and Daphne had both helped to prepare her for today. They’d explained the necessity of having her here with them for this interview. As much as they tried to shield her from all of the drama around who her parents were and how many people in the Wizarding World felt about her, it was impossible to isolate her from it entirely. She’d been asking more pointed questions as of late, questions that were quite difficult to answer honestly. She was far too clever for a seven year old.

“Well,” Rita sighed contently as a sheet of parchment and a quill magically floated out of her bag to hang in the air next to her. “Shall we begin?”

“Sure,” Harry said easily. “It’s your interview; go ahead.”

“Excellent,” Rita smiled toothily. “Then why don’t we get to the question that’s bound to be on everyone’s lips. I assume by now that you’ve read the article in the Daily Prophet written by my colleague who interviewed Director Amelia Bones. She had quite a few salacious things to say about all three of you. Care to comment on any of it?”

“Perhaps we should take this one topic at a time,” Daphne suggested.

When Hermione had come to her with a copy of the article, Daphne had been fuming with anger. The fact that Amelia had the audacity to come out with something like this just showed that this election was going to be difficult to get through.

“Then let’s start with her questions about Harry’s leadership abilities,” Rita replied, shifting slightly in her seat to face Harry more directly. She picked up a mug of tea and liberally spooned in a hefty amount of sugar and splashed in a touch of cream as she gave him a moment to prepare himself. “Director Bones stated that the recent attack within the Ministry against Lady Greengrass here was a direct result of insufficient planning and a poor security regiment within the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. What do you have to say to that?”

“I’d say that ignores the real issues that took place on that horrific day,” Harry replied confidently. “As Head Auror, it is true that I have a degree of leeway in dictating patrol patterns of my Aurors within the Ministry, but I am not the one who dictates the security protocols of the Ministry itself; that responsibility would fall under the purview of the Director of Magical Law Enforcement.”

Rita raised an eyebrow at him as her quill scratched down his words exactly. “Are you saying that Director Bones is the one truly at fault for that day?”

“No,” Harry smiled as he avoided getting tripped up by Rita’s question. “The real fault lies with those who carried out the attack. However, the fact that an attack like this could be carried out in the first place is due to the minimal levels of security within the Ministry itself. It is shocking that after the attack within the Ministry over a year ago and the recent attack within the French Ministry that we haven’t seen a complete overhaul of security procedures.”

“There are some who push back against additional security measures like you seem to be suggesting,” Rita pointed out. “Many would liken such actions to those taken by Minister Pius Thicknesse when he was under the Imperius Curse and being controlled by the Death Eaters.”

“Increased security does not need to equal a reduction in personal freedom and liberties,” Harry argued. “What the Death Eaters did was objectively wrong and immoral, and I am not suggesting that we repeat their actions. There are simple measures that can be performed, such as performing scans with Probity Probes around structures within the Atrium to detect any hidden magical objects that may have been placed with malicious intentions. Certain other Dark Detectors may have limited use in providing a greater degree of security. And Omnioculars could even be used to record activity within the atrium, making it far easier to identify the culprits behind any criminal activity after the fact.”

“And how much would this cost the Ministry?” Rita asked.

“With some careful accounting, several of these security measures could be done within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement’s current budget,” Harry claimed. “A minimal increase in funding would ensure that a larger overhaul could take place without issue.”

“The Ministry is still bogged down with bloat after the war,” Daphne added, joining into the conversation. “Minister Shacklebolt had the unenviable task of restoring the Ministry back to how it had been prior to the Death Eater’s rule while also helping to restore much of the damage that had been wrought by them. The Ministry’s budget far exceeds what it ought to be, and a careful restructuring program would free up space in the budgets of multiple different departments while still lessening the expenditure of the Ministry as a whole.”

“Why don’t we turn to what Director Bones had to say about you then,” Rita suggested gently.

And here they reached the crux of the matter. Before Rita could so much as utter another word, Daphne leaned forward and spoke.

“Her assertions in her article are completely baseless, as I’m sure she well knows,” Daphne stated. “All members of my staff have been thoroughly vetted before and after the incident, including through the use of Veritaserum, which Director Bones herself agreed to. The attempt on my life was not concocted or aided by any of them in any way. I was heartbroken to see that such an important member of our government would try to make such a claim when all investigations into the matter have cleared my staff.”

“Why do you think she claimed that someone on your team may have been involved behind the attack then?” Rita asked, setting Daphne up perfectly.

“Because she’s trying to erode the public’s confidence in my campaign,” Daphne answered simply. “I think it shows that she’s scared that people are finally looking for political change from younger candidates instead of older politicians who’ve been so entrenched in the political game that they fail to see what Britain actually needs.”

Rita’s grin widened at the juicy quote. “I must admit that I was quite shocked when I read her article myself. It was very out of character for Director Bones to make a political attack like that.”

“Indeed it was,” Harry nodded gravely. “As someone who’s worked closely with Director Bones for some time now and even fought alongside her niece on multiple occasions, her recent behaviour has me deeply concerned. I wish only for the best for her, but these baseless accusations are not the type of thing that I’d expect a healthy and sound Director of Magical Law Enforcement to make.”

Daphne nodded along in approval. She and Harry had agreed that the best way to deal with Amelia was to kill her with kindness, so to speak. The public’s sympathy for the attack on Daphne was still riding high, and it was best to capitalise on that good will for as long as they could.

Delphini shifted awkwardly, and Daphne placed a reassuring hand on her knee. Daphne knew from personal experience how tedious meetings like this could be—her father often had her sit in on minor meetings with his business associates when she was young so that she could grow accustomed to professional dealings.

If Daphne could’ve kept her from this, then she would’ve. But the public would never let this issue simply lay, so she and Harry decided together that it would be best to handle this on their terms.

“It won’t be too much longer,” Daphne murmured down to Delphini.

Rita took a sip of her tea and cleared her throat. “Let’s move on from the article itself then and discuss the larger topic about this upcoming election. It will be the first one since Minister Shacklebolt won nearly four months after the war ended, and, I think it’s fair to admit, that election was quite a rushed affair. This will be the first election in some time with a proper campaign cycle that will include multiple viable candidates. Right now, while they have yet to be completed or published, the Daily Prophet’s early polling suggests that Director Bones is the front runner to win the election while you, Lady Greengrass, trail in a distant second. What do you have to say to potential voters about your plans should you be made the next Minister for Magic.”

“Change,” Daphne stated. “That’s my plan. I’ve only been a part of the Wizengamot for a short period of time now, but it’s provided a tremendous amount of insight into the inner workings of the Ministry. And I must say that I am shocked by the factionalism and discord that still permeates our many departments. Each department head effectively acts as king overseeing their own independent fiefdom that is only truly answerable to the Minister and the Wizengamot. I believe that there is a startling lack of responsibility to serve the people of our nation effectively on their part.”

“Isn’t that the purpose of the Wizengamot?” Rita rightly pointed out. “They help to steer the government and ensure that it acts in the best interest of the people.”

“In theory it is,” Daphne agreed. “But the reality is that the Wizengamot is just as fractured as the government. And none of them are beholden to anyone. A seat on the Wizengamot is primarily an inherited position—other than the few instances where a family line dies out and the Minister for Magic appoints a new family to the seat. They tend to support policies that benefit themselves over the common good.”

“And you intend to change this?” Rita prompted.

“I do,” Daphne nodded.

“How so?”

“By introducing elected seats that will join the appointed families in the Wizengamot,” Daphne declared resolutely.

A wave of genuine surprise washed over Rita’s face. It was a look that Daphne knew many would have in the coming days when they heard of her plan.

In her many talks with Harry about the fundamental flaws of the Ministry that became so evident after the war’s end, one of the greatest glaring issues was that of the Wizengamot. To date, there has never been a single muggleborn member of the Wizengamot. Muggleborns make up over forty percent of Britain’s magical population, and yet they lack any true representation in their country’s highest legislative and judicial body. It’d been that way ever since its founding hundreds of years ago.

That wasn’t the only flaw with the body, of course. Half-blood witches and wizards were also grossly underrepresented and struggled with bias and discrimination even if they’d been a member of the Wizengamot for decades.

Having a body made up entirely of elected positions would be ideal, Daphne believed, but removing families who’d held seats in the Wizengamot for generations would cause an uproar among even the most progressive pure-bloods. They’d done the exact same thing when Kingsley increased the number of seats from fifty to seventy, and it was one of the greatest reasons that the Wizengamot was as fractured as it was today.

And yet, Daphne wanted even more people to join. And if she could get enough who supported her and Harry’s vision for the future of Britain, then they could finally enact some real change.

“I intend to support adding in fifty-five new members, bringing the total number of seats up to one hundred and twenty five,” Daphne continued. “These new seats will be filled by any candidate who runs in an election and will have a set term limit of five years. There would be three waves of introductions: fifteen, twenty, and twenty new members coming in at three-month intervals to help both the new and current members of the Wizengamot adjust to the changes.”

“That would be… very drastic,” Rita pointed out rightly.

“It is what our country needs,” Daphne argued. “Proper representation for all witches and wizards in our society is something that we should pride ourselves on, not shy away from when the idea is brought up.”

“This seems like quite the undertaking,” Rita said. “Overhauling such an entrenched system like the Wizengamot will take quite a lot of time and effort.”

“It will, but I’m willing to dedicate myself to the task of not only overhauling the Wizengamot but any other area within the Ministry that’s in need of reform,” Daphne said.

“And I will be there to support her every step of the way,” Harry added.

Daphne smiled. “In a more important way than anyone would expect. If I am elected Minister for Magic, I will assign Harry Potter the role of Advisor to the Minister for Magic in order to ensure that my campaign promises will become reality.”

Rita was practically salivating at this point. Whatever she’d been expecting from this interview was far less juicy than what she’d gotten. Daphne knew that she’d have to remind Harry to keep her on a short leash in the near future so that she didn’t go too wild into her old ways and make this seem scandalous. Rita was here to help Daphne and Harry’s dreams, not the other way around.

“So it’s a family affair then,” Rita grinned.

Daphne nodded. “Harry and I will stick together throughout it all, and even little Delphini here will help us by planning what snacks we keep in the Minister’s office.”

Rita laughed warmly at that. At hearing her name mentioned, Delphini perked up a bit. She put on a shy smile and gave the slightest nod of agreement.

“I must say that I’m surprised at how well behaved you’ve been, Delphini,” Rita told her. “Not many seven year olds would be able to sit through all of this boring grown-up talk so easily.”

“It’s not that bad,” Delphini said quietly.

“Delphini is a wonderfully behaved young girl,” Daphne said. “And we’re so grateful to have her in our lives.”

“But not easy, as I can imagine,” Rita said pointedly. “With all of the articles written about her…”

“I’ve been through the same thing when I was younger, as I’m sure you’re well aware,” Harry said with a playful glare that Rita had the decency to look mildly embarrassed about. “And I can say that Daphne and I are both here to help her through all of this. She’s been nothing but lovely since we’ve taken her into our home.”

“But surely you can understand some of the public’s concerns about—” Rita began halfheartedly, only for Daphne to cut her off.

“No, we can’t,” she stated firmly. “What her parents did is not a reflection upon her. Delphini knows right from wrong, and she even stood up to the Death Eaters that attacked Malfoy Manor only a couple months ago. Delphini deserves love and understanding, not bigotry based on fear and false perceptions about her.”

“I would ask everyone to stop endlessly discussing her parentage,” Harry said. “Delphini is not a reflection of either of them. We’re lucky to have her as a part of our lives.”

“Well then,” Rita said slowly, glancing down at her notes. “I think that’s everything then.”

Harry helped see Rita out a few minutes later after confirming some details about the forthcoming article. It was going to be a rush job so that the public wouldn’t have to linger with Amelia’s article in their minds for much longer. Daphne was grateful for that at least, even if the interview had been quite stressful.

“You did very well today,” Daphne told Delphini in what she hoped was a comforting tone.

Delphini didn’t respond to her right away, which was quite odd. Although she was shy in groups, when it was just her, Daphne, and Harry around, she was quite the talkative girl.

“What’s wrong?” Daphne asked her.

“My… parents,” Delphini finally managed to say.

Daphne grimaced. Narcissa had spoken to Delphini about her parents before, and they could only imagine what Delphini had been told when she was effectively being held captive. Ultimately, she knew that shying away from any difficult topics like this would be the wrong thing to do. Delphini deserved answers, even if they had to be slightly modified due to her young age. Still, she was surprisingly mature and intelligent. It was hard to remember that she was only seven.

“What about them?” Daphne asked.

Delphini seemed to wrestle with the question she wanted to ask. “Harry… killed them, didn’t he?”

And there it was. The topic that Delphini had never brought up before was suddenly out in the open. Daphne wondered if she’d somehow seen any of the recent articles talking about that exact thing.

“He did,” Daphne answered gently. “He didn’t want to though. Harry doesn’t like hurting people like that. But… your parents were hurting a lot of other people. If he hadn’t stopped them, then a lot more people would’ve been hurt… or worse.”

Delphini nodded as though she already knew the answer. “He didn’t like them though. So why is he looking after me?”

“Because as much as he didn’t like your parents, you have nothing to do with what they did,” Daphne answered honestly. “You don’t like hurting people, do you?”

Delphini shook her head.

“You’re not like your parents,” Daphne continued. “Even if you accidentally hurt Teddy when you play, you always apologise. That’s what a good person does, and Harry can see that in you. You’ve been through so much, and we want you to live a good, happy, healthy life.”

“I guess,” Delphini muttered.

“Look,” Daphne said as she slid off of the couch and knelt down in front of Delphini so that they were on eye level. “Harry grew up without having parents around. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, and they weren’t very nice to him. He’s very worried about anyone who doesn’t have parents. He doesn’t want them to go through what he had to. It’s why he wanted to help look after you at first, but you’ve shown us just what a bright, good, and sweet young girl you are. He… we both love you very much”

“I… love you too,” Delphini said after a few seconds of thought.

Daphne leaned forward and captured Delphini in a tight hug. She wiped away the tears that were forming before Delphini could see them.

It was the first time that Delphini had ever said that. She only wished that Harry had heard it.

But as she stood up and sat back down next to Delphini, she saw him standing in the doorway with unshed tears in his eyes.

With a smile, Daphne waved at him and invited him over. They were a family after all. They deserved to be together.