25 Chapter 25 - Calling a session of the Wizengamot

"Your countermeasures are certainly... effective," Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour begrudgingly praised as he looked at the devastated corpses of the attackers. As much as he disliked Ash for how their past interactions played out, he disliked actual dark wizards more.

"How did those seven over there die," the auror leading the investigation asked the one witch on his team that knew how to divine an answer to that question.

The seven corpses he pointed to were the only ones still fully intact and those mostly even looked uninjured.

The witch looked down at the parchment she wrote her report down on and paled a little at the ruthless methods of the defenses at Starkey Manor. Cursing someone with nightmares was childplay compared to the lethal countermeasures she found.

She gathered her thoughts, gulped down her saliva, and looked at Ash for a moment with disbelieving eyes. She had graduated when Ash was in his third year and would have never guessed that someone with his reputation would condone such... carnage.

"They suffocated, sir. I'd have to use some more spells to be sure, but the most likely suspect is short-term transfiguration on... sand into oxygen," she explained with a tremble in her voice.

Ash showed a pleased expression, though he didn't bother showing it to Dumbledore. Having the oxygen in your lungs and blood turn into sand must be a horrible way to die. On the plus side, it shouldn't prolong the suffering too long, provided you inhaled enough.

A magical's magic usually protected them to a certain degree from ingested transfigured material. Turning stuff into gas by accident that can be inhaled would have been the leading cause of death at every magical school on the planet otherwise.

But there was a loophole to that. Something a particularly bloodthirsty Prewett found out two generations before Eden Starkey left the family.

Elf magic worked differently from wizarding magic, so when a house elf transfigures something and a human magical ingests it, he's screwed. Especially if a house elf uses very little power for the transfiguration so that it works only for a very short time.

Ash still wondered how the Prewetts could all but die out with Molly Weasley's generation if they had insights like that going into the war with Voldemort.

They certainly had enough house elves to wipe out swathes of Death Eaters, if they just read their family grimoire thoroughly enough and were willing to do what was needed.

Too bad Molly didn't hear him out when Ash suggested one of her many sons should take her maiden name to make sure the Prewetts wouldn't die out. A different kind of foolish pride even prevented her from touching any more than the Prewett vault granted to her for the marriage.

"So that's what happened to Steggy and Finn then," Ash mumbled under his breath after realisation hit him. These two house elves were taught this particular way of magical combat and died fighting.

Ash inhaled deeply. The deaths of these attackers weren't enough for what these raiders did. He'd make all of them pay even more.

As he continued to listen to the report of how the attackers died, Ash thought about how to go from there. The reports from the aurors were just for show. Unless they found the use of banned dark or black magic, no amount of gruesome violence would place the Starkey family under scrutiny for defending their ancestral home. The fact that five of the collected sixteen left arms from the corpses had the dark mark on it was just the icing on that particular cake.

The only problem would be the headmaster who had a regretful expression on his face as he looked at the corpses of the many rather young wizards and witches that were lined up by the aurors. He'll probably reprimand Ash once more and try to order his youngest professor to seek out less lethal methods.

After all, Ash had shown quite a few combat potions that wouldn't permanently maim or kill the enemy.

The young potioneer's excuse that he can't keep reusing the same potions, lest his foes get wise on his methods, sadly wouldn't work on Dumbledore. The centennial had participated in Ash's inauguration as a potion's master and heard Griselda boast about the many battle potion recipes her apprentice refined or reinvented.

It was with a heavy heart that Ash went back toward Hogwarts with the charms professor through the floo many hours later when the aurors left as well. Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts a little earlier, likely to urge Fudge to do one thing or another through a floo call. He might have even visited the minister personally to make sure Fudge wouldn't do something stupid.

Dumbledore would either beseech the minister to punish the people behind the attack to appease Ash and his family before they cause civil unrest like the Starkeys did at the last hearing. Or he would want to find a different solution to this problem, like finding a way to make it all disappear or finding suitable scapegoats if the real culprits aren't found or are untouchable.

Little did Albus Dumbledore suspect that Victoria Starkey was no stranger to the mind arts and had long since ripped the answer on who was behind all this from those unfortunate survivors and those who were close to death anyway.

Lucius Malfoy. And of course, it was him. Him and a few of his business partners got together to teach the Starkeys 'a lesson in humility'. Yet the ponce didn't even have to balls to come himself. No, he sent yet another Avery to his death by making him lead the group. Riling him up was easy after the humilation Ash put the eldest Avery through at his Wizengamot hearing.

And while they didn't bring their A-team, Ash wouldn't mind calling it an okay outcome of the battle, since yet another man of the Flint line lost his life.

Ever since Marcus Flint tried to insinuate that Luna would make for a decent 'breeding mount', he was half a mind to declare a blood feud on that particular dark family.

The first school day for the students at Hogwarts was a Friday filled with unending gossip about what happened last night at the feast.

Yet, only the third year students saw Ash early in the morning for class, and he didn't comment much on the big headline of the Daily Prophet's morning edition.

'Tragic loss of life after misunderstanding at Starkey Manor wards'

If Ash hadn't lost his faith in the current government already, he would have lost it at the way the ministry tried to paint his family as the ones in the wrong for the body count. But it no longer mattered. They would wish they had sided with them.

That Friday, the first years received their Patronus guiding them to the class rooms of the first lessons from someone else because Ash wasn't present at breakfast to honor his own tradition. He was busy talking with the talking hat - a relic that has been at Hogwarts since it was founded.

After teaching the one double class of potions he had to teach on Fridays, where he himself loathed the fact that his lesson wasn't as fun and interactive as his lessons last year, Ash spent the rest of the day and most of his weekend outside of Hogwarts.

Seeing that no further arrests were made on Sunday, Ash called a meeting of the Wizengamot with the help of his friend, one Lord Sirius Black. They had already thought of a plan together with the Lovegoods, and a lot of it would be exposing the dark dealings of the British wizarding world in the Quibbler, Xenophilius' magazine that regaled society with obscure knowledge and conspiracy theories.

'What better platform to launch a conspiracy' was Pandora's argument, and Ash wholeheartedly agreed.

Sirius Black was one of the last living Blacks and it appeared that people forgot how cruel their family could be. Well, Sirius' late great-aunt Cassiopeia Black, who never married and instead worked tirelessly for her brother Arcturus Black to collect blackmail material on pretty much every House in Magical Britain, actively sought out Sirius at their ancestral home in the form of her magical portrait when she heard from other portraits what Ash and Sirius discussed.

To say she delivered a mountain of filth was an understatement. The extended pouch she hid in the lord's office had so many explicit pictures that Sirius hadn't stopped giggling to himself since they found it.

Hell, the woman even collected a file on the size of hundreds of purebloods to potentially exploit those insecure lords with 'smaller wands', as she put it. Cassiopeia was the textbook definition of ruthless. And Ash was glad a little relieved that she died before he finished puberty. Because he had no idea how she managed to find the data of so many wizards.

On Monday, every student had a free copy of the Quibbler waiting for him at the breakfast table, paid for by Ash. Pandora had inked a four page special called 'Pandora's Box' with a completely non-fictional story about how Voldemort's plan wasn't to eradicate the 'mudbloods' but how he was secretly eradicating one pureblood family after the other. The other stuff would be reserved for after the Wizengamot session.

The story on their 'esteemed dark lord' would paint a target on Luna's back from those inbred Slytherin students who were brainwashed by their parents, but Ash would do something about that later at the Wizengamot hearing. He would paint a target on everyone's back.

Monday was a day where he would teach both courses of the second year this school year. He once more dodged most of the questions that were thrown his way, but only his two apprentices managed to catch him for answers.

"Is Eddy really dead?" Hestia asked with tear-filled eyes.

She had won one of the competitions against her sister and 'owned' half a greenhouse at Ash's estate. Eddy was the house elf in charge of tending to the greenhouse she had chosen, and they had grown quite close in the last weeks.

"Mani told you, I suppose?" Both twins nodded at that. Mani was Eddy's brother and was tasked with making sure Luna and the twins knew the full story of what happened while Ash plotted over the weekend. With a heavy heart, Ash continued, "he died fighting, though I'd rather see a few more greenhouses burned down than lose him. He defended the Greek greenhouse and took six enemies with him. A true hero to our house."

"You're going to make all of them pay anyway, right?" Flora asked while wiping tears away from her angry eyes. "I doubt the mastermind was among those curs."

Hestia, the gentler of the two, looked at her twin with complicated eyes but didn't reprimand her for her words or her need for revenge. She didn't want this attack to go unpunished either.

"The minister clearly forgot the last hearing and decided to side against House Starkey. So yes, I am past caring for his government and will reveal everything I held back the last time. Just like what Pandora and I revealed in the Quibbler this morning," Ash explained as he reassuringly patted both of their heads. "And I'm sorry for not taking my time to instruct you or even just ask about your first days back at the school. How are the other Slytherins treating you?"

"No worries, master," Hestia quickly denied any wrongdoing from Ash. "This matter is way too important."

"Yeah, we're fine. A few older boys have been looking at us like we're spoilt meat," Flora explained with a disdainful gaze. "But nobody said anything, and most of the girls look at us with jealousy. Especially the older ones. I'm guessing those wenches from the grey faction think we're sinking our fangs into you since you're a hot piece of a-"

"Flora!" Hestia immediately hushed her sister with a bright red face.

Ash started laughing at their antics, the first genuine laugh he had since the attack happened. He knew what Flora was trying to do, and he appreciated it greatly. She might act like a tomboy and say some pretty daring things, but Ash knew how much someone with her upbringing had to force herself to do it.

"Thanks, you two. I'll make sure to be more available to you starting tomorrow. And while the house elves at Hogwarts might not like it, you can always call for Ilia and the others if you worry about them. I'm sure especially Ilia would love to hear from you. Maybe invite her to tea?"

Both of the twins nodded and left shortly after. Ash needed to get ready for the Wizengamot in peace. He had many surprises ready, and he needed to organise how everything would be coming to light that day for the biggest impact.

Shady dealings, nefarious plots, illegal rituals and artifacts, the identity of one Tom Marvolo Riddle. Unless someone cast the killing curse on him today, he would expose it all.

Well, unless Dumbledore decided to exercise his right as Chief Warlock and expel him from the session. After all, neither Sirius nor Ash decided to tell the headmaster the full story.

But even then, anything he wouldn't be able to say today would be exposed in the Quibbler. It wouldn't have the same impact, but every upcoming issue of the magazine would be free for the students at Hogwarts. And unless Dumbledore revokes his professorship, nobody could stop him from distributing 'educational material' to the students unless it was with ill intent. The talking hat had assured him of that.

Technically, Hogwarts' Board of Governors could stop him. But dismantling that cancerous blight on Hogwarts was one of the actions he would take today. They might all be opportunists and nepotists, regardless of the faction, but they would not jeopardize the education of their children. Not when presented with as many facts as he had prepared over the weekend.

"Huh, that makes for a pretty weak start, though... how about exposing the truth behind the dark mark first?" Ash mused as he put on his coat and cast a household charm to unruffle his clothing and fix his tie.

"Hehe, watch them deny the truth behind that without having a comeback. And then I'll be ruthlessly putting down Hogwarts. I bet the headmaster won't be pleased... ugh, Minerva and Pomona will surely twist my ears off, too," he muttered with a mischievous smirk as he stepped outside the school's wards to apparate to his grandmother Elizee's house in Hogsmeade. They would be going to the hearing together with Victoria and Sirius.

A few greetings and travels later, Ash found himself sitting behind Sirius in the grand hall of the Wizengamot. Most members were displeased with the summons, but House Black did command enough clout for them to convene regardless.

After Chief Warlock Dumbledore opened the session, he gave room for Sirius to address whatever issue he wanted to present while casting worried looks toward Ash.

"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, want to accuse one Tom Marvolo Riddle, the late Lord Renegast Lestrange and his two sons Rabastan and Rodolphus, as well as Lord Lucius Malfoy along with former Lord Abraxas Malfoy of attempted line theft and line eradication. But before we shall get into that, I yield my privilege to speak to my benefactor and friend, Lord Ashbert Solaris Starkey."

The room was instantly silenced before it exploded into heavy, thankfully verbal, cursing. Lucius Malfoy was gripping his cane so hard it was creaking slightly.

Since what he was accused of wasn't far from the truth, he was thinking of all the angles this could be played - he wasn't entirely sure on who this Riddle fellow was, but from the little his father, one of the first Death Eaters, told him about his Dark Lord, he highly suspected he knew who it was.

There was only one person with similar levels of anxiety in this room, Minister Fudge. He wanted to curse himself to give into Lucius' demand and have them print that headline in the Prophet last Friday. Just by looking at Ashbert's grin, Fudge felt himself getting impeached later this week.

"Esteemed Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, I have many things to say today. But I assure you, none of it will bore you. And since I want to get ahead of any slander, accusations of being untruthful, or outright attacks against my person for inciting undue unrest, I will do this," Ash began as he stood up with a wide smile.

"I, Ashbert Solaris Starkey, swear on my magic and as Lord Starkey, I swear on the magic of my family, living and future, that I believe everything I will tell you today in this room to be true. I have verified, witnessed, or otherwise corroborated every single statement or fact I am about to make and present."

He showed a casual wandless Lumos that any respectable magical would be able to replicate to show that his magic was still intact and murmurs in the room gradually escalated until Albus Dumbledore, with a deep, almost resigned look toward Ash, called for order with a loud bang summoned by his wand.

"Great, now that we established I cannot lie at all lest I lose my magic and the magic of my family, let's start with this: I know for a fact that either one of these following two statements is correct. Augustus Rookwood was and is not the only Unspeakable under the employ of the dark lord Voldemort. And if that is not the case, someone able to give the Unspeakables orders is a Death Eater or was bribed by Death Eaters. I personally believe the latter to be the case, and I highly suspect it is a group of people and not a single person."

The room was once more silenced before it exploded into the loudest shouting match of this evening so far.

And, sitting on his throne-like seat at the very top behind Dumbledore, Minister Fudge felt like his earlier guess was wrong.

End of the week? He started to doubt whether his tenure as minister would end before this Wizengamot session ended. Stopping the Starkey boy from talking would only delay the inevitable and make things worse for him, he knew that to be the case the moment he saw the deep satisfied smirk on Lady Starkey and Lady Lovegood sitting somewhere in the grey faction.

He had to find a way to push the blame onto others.