The Reticulation, Part II

"It's cold in here, isn't it?" Luna asked, trying to make conversation.

Fudge ignored her and stared into the stone wall, looking very angry. She was rather scared being trapped with a man she knew was practically evil, but she was probably going to die anyway, so she might as well try talking to him. Besides, she was fascinated by how anyone ended up becoming so evil.

"What happened to you anyway?" she asked curiously. "I thought you were supposed to be an advisor of some kind." Fudge turned around so fast that it caused her to flinch.

"You want to know what happened to me?!" Fudge asked menacingly. "Huh? Do ya? Do you want to know what happened to me?"

"I s-said I did, didn't I?" Luna asked nervously. Fudge sighed and huffily walked away from her.

"It was stupid Scrimgeour," he spat angrily. "At first he wanted me to cooperate; 'oh, yes, Fudge, you can stay on as an advisor if you support me,' but oh, no, it was to much for him to actually keep his promise. He said I tainted his bloody image and got me demoted and then my new boss demoted me and, in one week, I had fallen all the way down the Ministry hierarchy I'd spent twenty-three bloody years climbing!"

"You say 'bloody' a lot," said Luna, feeling rather overwhelmed by all this. Fudge breathed angrily and looked away from her as though the plain stone wall were more interesting.

"Why're you here anyway?" she asked curiously.

"I'm part of a committee sent here to evaluate whether Minerva McGonagall was justified in murdered Dolores Umbridge."

"I'd say she was," Luna replied. "After all, she was being controlled by--"

"Did you hear me asking for your bloody opinion, you stupid girl!" Fudge shouted. "It's not up to me anyway--it's up to Madam Illyria, who's unfortunately in charge of the bloody committee!" Luna was rather thrown off balance by his rudeness, but said nothing about it.

"Isn't Madam Illyria the one who has the horde of pixies that she's trained to kill her enemies?" Luna asked curiously.

"No, but she might as well," Fudge said bitterly. "She's the most unpleasant woman on this of this bloody planet! And why do keep asking so many stupid questions?"

"My father knows all about the things they do at the Ministry," Luna explained, "and he prints them in his magazine. At least when they let us--nowadays the Ministry's been trying to stop us. They send these officials--usually Klafewons or Sepontterg--that tell us how important it is that people--"

"Do I look like I care?" Fudge interrupted. Luna looked carefully at him for a moment.

"Not really," she admitted eventually. It seemed a fair enough assessment.

"Let me guess," he said, "your father's the editor of that stupid magazine that prints every stupid story it gets its hands on?"

"No, he's the editor of The Quibbler!" Luna said proudly.

"That's what I was talking about!" Fudge shouted. Luna had no idea why he was so mad, but decided she ought to stop talking to him, so she sat down in the corner and thought about what he might be so upset about it.

"I am proud that so many have chosen to join us in serving the Dark Lord!" Zabini told all the people who had remained. They were all standing in the Slytherin common room, although some of them weren't Slytherins.

"I am ashamed that some Slytherins chose to turn their back on our lord," Zabini said in disgust, "but most did not and some from other houses have joined us as well, including our caretaker, Argus Filch, and even some members of the Minister; Rick Klafewons, Vanita Sepontterg and Xanthippe Illyria." Filch smiled nastily, but Madam Illyria, a gracefully slender woman, stood as stiffly as her mahogany hair did and let no emotion betray itself on her face.

"Now," Zabini continued, but he was cut off when the fire in the Slytherin common room burst into green flames. The letters had been successful and an army of Death Eaters filtered out of the green fire and into the darkly-lit chamber. After all the burly, powerful-looking adults, the last of them came as quite a contrast--he was a pale teenager.

"Draco!" Crabbe said happily, running forwards to greet him. Draco Malfoy gave him an ice-cold stare.

"You two are no longer of any consequence to me," he said. "Now that I'm a Death Eater in the inner circle, I have real minions and not bumbling idiots like you." Crabbe and Goyle looked stunned.

"Was he talked to us?" Goyle asked uncertainly.

"You have done well, Blaise Zabini!" they head Lord Voldemort say. "We will now build up an immense army to conquer the world. Once again, the wizarding world will follow the old ways!"