Madam Longbottom immediately set about to discover why, only to find out it was being held up in the Minister's office. Like a terrier after a rat she went on a tear throughout the Minister's office, and just wouldn't quit.
"Now, the Minister is always one for garnering publicity. And, awarding an Order of Merlin to whom the populace of magical Britain consider a hero, would be a win -win for him. He could use that to easily boost his own popularity. So, I asked myself, why is his office deliberately trying to block it?"
Harry could see the three adults hadn't thought of that. And it was making them really think.
"He was either bribed, or someone had something over him," Madam Bones mused. "Either way, he was obviously under pressure," said Madam Longbottom, now coming to understand where Harry was going.
"Irrespective of whether it's a bribe or blackmail, he was clearly under pressure to block it," said Harry. "Personally, my money is on either Dumbledore or Malfoy... or both for different reasons."
"Alright, I've got that," said Madam Bones. "But, what does that have to do with Frank and Alice."
"Getting there," he said. "Now, the Minister's in a bit of a pickle. He has to block me getting the Order, but he also knows Madam Longbottom won't quit. So, he's between a rock and a hard place. He can't go against Dumbledore or Malfoy and, if she keeps going, Madam Longbottom is eventually going to force him to make the award.
"So, he works out... or, I suspect Dolores Umbridge worked out... their only hope laid in getting Madam Longbottom to stop. But, how to get her to stop? What was more important to Madam Longbottom than her responsibility to the alliance?"
"Family..." said Madam Longbottom softly, suddenly understanding.
"Exactly," said Harry. "Now, threats were never going to work. Especially, against someone who combated three inner circle Death Eaters and another, and captured them. Nor against someone who sits on the Wizengamot and is used to the pompous blustering fool we call a Minister, and his pet pink toad of an Undersecretary. "So, what I'm horrified to suspect I'm right about," he said, carefully watching their expressions. "I think the Minister... or far more likely the Pink Toad... has known about this healer dosing Frank and Alice with that horrid potion for quite some time.
"The Pink Toad knew that Madam Longbottom would drop everything and rush to their bedsides if Frank and Alice came out of their... illness. Nothing else would be as important to her. Nor, should it be."
Harry could tell Madam Longbottom, let alone Madam Bones with her decades of investigative experience, was putting two and two together and coming up with the desire to kill a Minister and his Pink Toad.
"Now, let's put the facts together," said Harry, forging ahead. "The Minister apparently, according to him, runs an off-the-books investigation into the health of Frank and Alice, more than a decade after they were hurt. Madam Bones is unable to discover who of her aurors was involved in that investigation, if any. This so-called investigation reaches its conclusion right in the middle of when Madam Longbottom, who also happens to be the mother and mother-in-law of the two who were hurt, is on a tear through his office. This, at a time when the Minister is far too busy trying to fight off the effects of Madam Longbottom on his office to get much work as a Minister done, let alone anything else. It also happens to be the one thing, or one of the very few things, that would cause Madam Longbottom to break off her tear. And what are you left with?"
Harry could see the three adults well understood. Madam Bones was both stunned and appalled, as was Sirius. But, Madam Longbottom was definitely building up a head of steam.
"The bastards!" muttered.
Sirius
softly
but
angrily
"I'm going to kill him," growled Madam Longbottom. "I'm going to call him out; him, and that Pink Toad."
"Gus; no!" said Madam Bones, a little fearful for what her friend would do. "You leave them to me. Let the law handle this."
"He's mine!" softly snarled a now thoroughly worked up Regent Longbottom, hoping not to be heard by her children.
"No!" snapped Madam Bones. "I need him alive so I can force him to tell me who pressured him to stop your investigation. I want all the answers." "I'm going to kill him!" snarled Madam Longbottom, again and just as softly as last time.
"No, you're not!" snapped Harry. "Augusta Longbottom, you're going to stop acting like a bloody Gryffindor and listen for a few minutes. You can kill him later."
Shocked that Harry would speak to her that way, the elderly witch stopped for a moment.
"We've got him, Augusta," he said. "Him and that Pink Toad that simpers about him. If you go and kill him his replacement is likely to be just as bad.
"Fudge is only interested in four things. They are: Holding on to power, his reputation, his life, and the money he's obviously collecting in bribes; probably in that order. We can use that. With the threat of going public with what we now know, we can blackmail the shit out of him. We can force him to do just about anything.
"Threaten him with going public and he'll be forced to know, if we go ahead with it, he'll get fired by the Wizengamot as Minister, his reputation will end up in tatters, his bribe money will dry up, and those who bribe him will probably kill him for you anyway. Just kill him and he's a wasted asset.
"Plus, we don't know when he... or, rather, the Pink Toad... figured out what was going on with your son and daughter-in-law. It may not have been that long ago. Or, it might have been years ago. We don't know.
"If we threaten him and keep him where he is, he's ours to control. Amelia can still get out of him who it was who demanded he stop your investigation or block me receiving the Order. She can do it in secret. It's time to use their modus operandi against them."
"Alright!" she snapped afterwards, he's mine!"
back.
"But,
"Fair enough," replied Harry, calmer now that Madam Longbottom was not just going to immediately hare off and kill the man and his toad. "Now, I personally think this has Umbridge written all over it. If Fudge knew before now he'd have immediately used it to boost his popularity. Especially after what came out about me and Sirius a few months ago.
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