Chapter 515: Aggressive negotiation

Chapter 515: Aggressive negotiation

(POV Fudge)

It had been headache after headache once Grindelwalds plan was revealed as we all scrambled to stop him and when that failed to preserve life. To top it all off there was the Azkaban incident that resulted in that monster being created from what was once the inner circle members of the death eaters. The new sport that was created by the Ravenclaw boy was perhaps one of the only really big wins for me and the ministry , that and the Triwizard tournament that I had managed to get accepted.-Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

That said however there was now an entirely new headache inducing situation for me to deal with thanks to the misguided actions of a muggleborn girl who somehow knew of Grindelwalds plan and sent a letter with the details on it to her parents. It was easy to understand that what she hoped to accomplish with it but her parents had tried to warn their friends as well which resulted in a domino effect that exposed the existence of magic to some government officials in the muggle government. Thankfully the damage was easily fixed and even helped to a degree as it made the muggle government work more closely with the ministry.-

A not so small problem however was that the muggleborn girl currently in custody was none other than Hermione Granger who was a very well known associate of the boys. "We have come to appeal for leniency in the case of Miss Granger on grounds she could not have known her parents would respond in such a way." Dumbledore said seriously and I could swear I saw a touch of helplessness in his eyes but I must have been mistaken. "While it is a regrettable case she broke the statute and needs to be punished." I said acted saddened.-

"What do you want?" the boy asked bluntly with a clear level of irritation visible on his face as his piercing golden eyes stared me down. "I beg your pardon!? Why I never!" I said acting offended until a chill went down my spine as the boy frowned. "Don't play games with me Fudge What . Do . You . Want?" the boy enunciated each word and I realized this wasn't a political negotiation but a forced trade. The boy was making it clear that he was not going to be lead around in this matter and won't take no for an answer.-

I was tempted to outright reject him in spite but I had a gut feeling that wouldn't end very well and capitulated. "I can't just make the charge go away and need to at least appear as though I punished the girl and that takes resources. Leverage in all the right places and frankly speaking I don't want to expend them myself." I said bluntly since the boy wants to do this quickly. To my surprise the boy waved his hand and a small bottle of golden colored potion appeared in his hand that he set on my desk.