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"Comprehensive." Cornelius looked at Brian. "Is Lord Black happy with the statement?"
"He is and he's very happy to have this matter cleared up so quickly." Brian said.
"It's a shame that we can't make a joint press conference." Cornelius said with a longing look at the statement.
"Lord Black wants full credit given to the Ministry." Brian said firmly. "He'll make a positive statement to that effect as soon as he claims his seat in the Wizengamot."
"Do we have a date?" Cornelius asked tentatively.
"Probably at the next session which is scheduled for a week on Thursday." Brian replied promptly. "He has expressed a desire to meet with you prior to that."
Cornelius smiled widely. "That would be lovely, Brian."
"Minister," Amelia cleared her throat, regaining Cornelius's attention, "there is another matter that has come to light during the investigation."
"Oh?" Cornelius looked dismayed and his gaze flickered to Brian and back to her. "Perhaps we should speak about this in private?"
"Actually, I'd like Brian to stay as the topic relates to the guardianship of Harry Potter." Amelia withdrew a second report from her bag and handed it to Cornelius. It had taken her the better part of the previous evening after her return from Surrey and most of the rest of that day to finish the report and get things sorted with Brian. "This report is highly sensitive and details findings related to Harry Potter's current situation. Broadly, it concludes that he should be removed from his current guardians due to evidence of neglect, emotional abuse and some additional minor physical abuse."
"My goodness! Surely not!" Cornelius didn't open the folder. "I mean, I know there was a problem last summer but I thought that was down to the stress of the situation with Black."
"That problem last summer, Minister, was indicative of the way his guardians treat him generally; without respect for Harry, for his parents or for our kind. The woman admitted she insulted the Potters before she was obliviated." Amelia said dryly. "Additionally, one of the Reversal Squad noted in his report that if it wasn't against the new Muggle Protection Act he would have been sorely tempted to blow the Dursleys up himself after being subjected to their prejudice and scorn."
"Amelia…"
"It gets worse, Cornelius." Amelia interrupted him. "Albus Dumbledore had Rubeus Hagrid take Harry Potter from Sirius Black on the night of the Potters' death. That was part of Dumbledore's own statement given to the Aurors. He was responsible for placing the boy with Lily Potter's muggle relations. Now, there is some evidence that he had good reasons, most to do with Harry's safety at the time, but he circumvented the system: the Wizarding Orphan Office wasn't apprised of the placement and so no follow-up visitations were performed."
"He also disregarded the will which a source today told me would have been challenged by the Longbottoms had they not been incapacitated in a Death Eater attack." Brian added. "Add to that the fact that Dumbledore was Chief Warlock when Sirius Black was denied a trial and placed in Azkaban unlawfully, and his recent unwillingness not to have insisted on due process when Black was captured at Hogwarts…one might surmise that he has ulterior motives."
"Additionally, Harry has all the signs of an abused child but the staff at Hogwarts seems to have missed them." Amelia said with exasperation.
Cornelius looked torn between panic at the Harry Potter had been abused, and glee at how badly Dumbledore had erred.
"And the Ministry doesn't come out of this smelling of roses either since the WOO should have followed up on Harry Potter's placement – regardless of Dumbledore's lack of notification, he's the most famous orphan in our world! Not to mention more should have been done to investigate the incident last summer." Amelia warned him. "Cornelius," she said strongly, "it would be a political nightmare for everyone if it came to the attention of the press that Harry Potter was mistreated by his muggle relatives and nobody in authority noticed or did anything to address the issue – especially when Dumbledore is in the thick of it and you've met the boy yourself."
Finally, Cornelius blanched as the potential ramifications for his own position hit him.
"If you would allow it, Cornelius, Amelia and I believe we have a mutually beneficial solution." Brian said quietly.
"Please elaborate." Cornelius rallied but a dull flush remained on his face.
"As you know, Lord Black was already planning to challenge for guardianship," Brian began, "and I believe his own investigations raised questions about the suitability of Potter's muggle guardians. Now that the investigation into Sirius Black has concluded and he has been cleared, Lord Black wants to push ahead with guardianship being awarded to Sirius Black as per the Potters' will."
Cornelius sat back surprised. "Lord Black will openly support Sirius Black then? As I recall Black – Sirius, I mean – was a Dumbledore supporter and considered persona non grata by the Black family."
"I think it's clear from Lord Black's initial actions here that he has a different political agenda than the family's previous reputation," Brian said, "and as Sirius is the boy's godfather, he has first claim."
"Executing the Potters' newly discovered will to reward guardianship to Sirius Black would be a relatively simple matter." Amelia pointed out. "My main concern, as I've expressed to Brian, is Black's health after his time in Azkaban and a year on the run. I would say that we would only award guardianship on the condition that he receives medical treatment."
"How do we even know the man wants to assume guardianship?" Cornelius asked, sitting back with a contemplative expression.
"Once Amelia contacted me, I immediately wrote to Lord Black. I received a reply from Sirius Black himself confirming his request that I represent him in the matter of the guardianship of his godson." Brian explained.
A flicker of suspicion infused Amelia for a long moment, long enough that she only caught the end of Cornelius accusing Brian that Lord Black had harboured a fugitive.
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