Rise of the Death Eaters [3]

Chapter 6: Last Days of Summer

"Just like that? You had no say in the matter?"

"For the bloody last time Theo, no I had no say in this," I said with a flair of annoyance. It was the evening of my arrival back to Newport and my brother had taken the news of what happened to heart. Or, maybe it was just the thrill of drama breaking from his usual boring life.

I watched through the mirror of my dressing table as my brother paced the room, looking flabbergasted, before stopping by my bed and sitting down. His hair was a ruffled mess from not grooming himself since my mother last saw him. Which to what I gathered was three days ago.

"He can't just do that-"

"Of course he can," I fumed, turning around to face my brother directly. "I mean honestly, do you expect anything less from our father?"

Theo's silence was a reply on its own, so I turned around again and started to untangle the boho braid I had attempted for the day. Theo on the other hand, remained seated by my bed, staring out at the wall, lost in his own world. Finally, he spoke.

"What possible reason could he have to move you?"

I stilled my hand, contemplating a thought. I made a silent agreement earlier on that I wouldn't tell Theo that our father used him as an excuse for the switch. While my brother acted like he could care less about anything, I knew deep down that Theo would take this deeply if he thought he was to blame.

Once my father made up his mind, he usually stuck to it.

Maybe that was why I had already felt so resigned on the matter.

"He's been using us like wizard chess pieces," my brother said abruptly, taking me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?"

My brother stood up, and started to pace the room while fiddling with something in his hands.

"He must have moved you out for a power grab of sorts. Something involving Hogwarts or the ministry. Maybe he needs all of us in the same country to compete with any backlash he's having at work..."

"Backlash?" I repeated curiously. Theo turned to look at me through the mirror and nodded.

"Damion didn't say it in so many words but he's hinted that Dad's been having a hard time at the ministry ever since this last year. I thought it was because Uncle Agilbert sent him another letter to stop biting off more than he can chew, but this-"

"Why would taking me out of Beauxbatons relate to our father's career at the Ministry?"

Theo walked closer to the mirror and stopped, his mind set.

"The ministry of any country, even a democracy like MACUSA, relies heavily on tax dollars. Tax dollars that come from schools like Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. MACUSA sent our father to Britain as an ambassador giving him an opening to send us to that country's wizarding school. Meaning the UK would get our parents money rather than the states. Following me so far?"

I nodded, though I still had trouble finding his point. Theo continued.

"Well our parents used a loop hole by placing you in a school outside of the UK. That cuts half of the profits that the British Ministry circles back to each year from the Fountaine family."

"That's stupid. One student's worth of money is not going cause such a fuss-"

"Yeah if we were middle class, sure. But let's be honest here, our parents place a ton of money into any organization that relates to us. No matter what."

"And you think it's enough to cause a stir at the ministry? That's sounds a bit far-fetched, Theo."

My brother shrugged, giving up on the argument and stepped closer to my side. His left hand placed the object he was fiddling with on my table, revealing my mother's Beauxbatons school ring. I hadn't worn it over the summer for obvious reasons so it had remained dormant on my bedside table. Until now.