A Different Halloween

Chapter 21

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The Prophet's editor peered up from his desk to see the outlandish figure of Albus Dumbledore standing there. "Funny, I could have sworn I told my secretary I didn't want to see anyone today? How did you get in here?"

Albus looked down at the little bald man with the middle-age spread and thought this would be easy. "Ah, Mr White. As I explained to your secretary, I am not just anyone."

Peter was not impressed by this old git's appearance, reputation or attitude. "I have no wish to shatter your self-delusion of grandeur but I certainly would include you in my description of anyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am a busy man."

Albus chose to ignore the less than subtle hints at a dismissal and carry on with his mission. "As am I Mr White. This is why I'm sure we can reach agreement very quickly on a matter I wish to raise. I need you to print a retraction to your paper's description of Severus Snape as a death eater. There are extenuating circumstances that I am unable to reveal at this time but it is imperative that this happen without delay."

Peter thought it was time someone explained the facts of life to this old fart. "Mr Dumbledore, if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – it's a pretty safe bet to call it a duck! Your boy Snape was found in full death eater regalia, a dark mark ingrained into his arm, in the company of Voldemort at the scene of two murders. You can call him any pet names you like, to me and the Prophet, Severus Snape is a death eater. You can claim extenuating circumstances but we will continue to class him as a death eater until the court tells us otherwise, a public trial is what's required here. Since you are currently standing in my office without an auror accompaniment, I will assume the Prophet has broken no laws and carry-on as normal."

Albus was beginning to lose his patience with this little prick, didn't he know the word of Albus Dumbledore was not to be questioned but mindlessly obeyed? "I am well aware off the laws since I helped draft a fair few of them, what we are dealing with here is a matter of social responsibility. Your irresponsible writing could incite the public into acts of retribution and riot, our society doesn't need vigilantes at the moment."

With timing any comedian would have been proud of, a reporter stuck his head through the doorway and interrupted their discussion. "Sorry to interrupt boss but there's a mob forming at the ministry. They've brought a rope and are demanding that the death eater be handed over to them. It looks like it could get ugly."

Albus thought this proved his point brilliantly but Peter had other ideas. "Then what are you doing still standing there? Get your arse over to the ministry and take a photographer with you. This will be tomorrows front page! Be sure to tell the photographer that, should they hang Snape, I need a picture I can print that won't scare the readers away. Horrific facial expressions and eyeballs almost popping out are not good images, we need something a bit more tasteful than that."

The reporter nodded before racing away, Albus was dumbfounded. "Does a man's life mean so little to you?"

Peter was affronted, "How dare you say that? If that mob hangs your boy, a good picture of them doing the deed could put as much as twenty percent onto our total sales tomorrow. That's not little!"

He was through listening to Dumbledore's brand of bullshit, social responsibilities my arse! The old wizard just wanted to manipulate the media to his own ends, that was the job of the Prophet's editor. "We in the media don't make the news, we just report on it. That's our job and mine is to make sure the public read it, I need to sell papers." Peter thought that sounded so good, he almost believed it himself. "That's my job and I'm good at it, I suggest you leave and do yours. With your head of Slytherin about to be hanged, I would have thought you would have more pressing needs on your time than standing there annoying me?"

Albus hated the smug look this arsehole was wearing so decided to burst his bubble. "You are of course aware that they never found a body, you also know Voldemort performed many dark rituals on himself. The only logical conclusion left to draw is that he's not gone and will return. You might want to take that possibility under consideration when writing your headlines."

Albus had hoped to install a measure of fear in this little man, instead he suddenly became all business like. Peter was firing off questions quicker than a machine gun spat out bullets. "Can the Prophet quote you on this? Is there any indication of a timetable to his return? Don't you think it makes more sense to rid our community of his followers before he returns?"

The editor understood nothing sold papers like a campaign against something or someone that the public totally agreed with, this idea could be a goldmine! Peter was thinking out loud now, practically writing his editorial as he spoke. "We should also build-up the Auror Corps to be ready for him, confiscating the required funds from convicted death eaters could easily pay for it. Thank you for dropping by Mr Dumbledore, you have given me a lot to think on. If your boy doesn't get hanged today, we might just lead with that tomorrow."

It was a totally flummoxed Albus Dumbledore who left the Prophet building heading for the ministry, hoping he had better luck there. Dashing in to save the day, and the lovely Severus, was just what he needed to cheer himself up.

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Barty had given the Wizarding Wireless Network's reporter time to set up while the Prophet snapper took photographs of the baying crowd before the head of the DMLE made his move. He conjured a platform before stepping up on it and raising his hands for silence. This was Barty's moment, when his life changed forever. This was not only throwing his hat into the ring for the soon to be vacant minister's job, Barty intended to blast any and all competitors away at the same time.

"Witches and wizards of Britain, could I have your attention please? I need to speak with you for a moment about what we hope to achieve here today."

A member of the crowd was quick to shout back, "We hope to put an end to a cowardly murdering bastard, surely you agree with that Barty?"

The crowd cheered madly before falling silent to hear Barty's answer. He kept them waiting, letting the tension build before giving his unexpected and unwelcome one word answer. "No!"

He let them rant, rave and vent for a few moments before holding up his hands for silence. "Let me clarify my position here. I don't want to put a permanent end to one cowardly murdering bastard, I want to permanently wipe out all the cowardly murdering bastards!"

A tumultuous cheer greeted this news as Barty began to play the crowd like a fine instrument, the tune they performed was music to his ears. "If we take this one death eater out and hang him then yes, we have permanently ended one threat. What about all the others? I will have this man leaking truth serum from his ears while we discover all the other death eaters he knows about. They will then be arrested and undergo the same treatment. All the trials will be public and their punishments dispensed in accordance with our laws. We've lived under the death eater's yoke of terror for too long, it's time to rid ourselves of this plague on our community. If that means facing up to hard choices, I for one am prepared to make them."

The cheering now was incredible. The masses were experiencing freedom from terror for the first time in years. That Barty Crouch wanted to make this freedom a permanent fixture in their lives was definitely something they wanted to hear, and would vote for.

Barty continued his speech, "Severus Snape is still unconscious from the injuries he received and will remain so for at least the next twenty four hours. Only when he recovers can we begin to reclaim our society from these evil people who need to hide behind masks. Go back to your homes or places of work, place your trust in the ministry to take care of the death eater problem. You have my promise I won't let you down!"

There was cheering and clapping before the crowd slowly began to disperse, many taking the time to greet Barty and shake his hand. A few words with the WWN reporter and some questions from the Prophet hack rounded his morning off nicely. That was until he noticed a fuming Dumbledore waiting on him, it would appear his speech didn't please everybody?

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