All this was achieved by paying the very low price of offering them a single vote. People who believe that they don't have a voice tend to revolt and rebel against their social superiors, and revolutions are an incredibly bloody business, often resulting in said social superiors being executed by the droves," she lectured, as he blinked in surprise.
...
"The Ministerial candidates are selected by us, the families in Wizengamot; we pick ambitious individuals of lesser families who understand their place and will serve our purposes.
Then the masses vote on the candidates we choose for them, believing the Ministerial election is their doing, their will, but it's really we who control what the masses are told, what they believe they know about the candidates through our control of the Prophet," she lectured, before looking to the viewing gallery above. "Cornelius was selected by us to be a candidate for Minster because he was controllable, hence he serves our purposes, our desire to remain in control and in power, and he was well liked by the Mob above us due to his friendly face and everyman persona.
If the Mob does not believe that the Minister is acting in their best interests, their will, the Minister is useless to us as a tool of control over them. If the Minister is useless to us, he is replaceable, otherwise the Mob may rebel against us because they believe they're being ignored, which could cost us greatly and force us to give the Mob more influence and power to calm them back into submission, back into the acceptance of their position in life."
'Father never mentioned any of this,' was his first thought, finding his mother's words hard to believe that the mob were that powerful even as his mother continued.
"The Mob wants your father's head on a platter," hand waving to the nearly full gallery above for emphasis, causing him to look at the growing mob above him with a sneer on his pale features. "And the Minister will give it to them because your father is a dark wizard, and he did serve You-Know-Who as a Death Eater, an inner circle member of a group who terrorized the masses, who ruthlessly raped, tortured and murdered their loved ones during the war.
If the Minister and the Ministry as a whole do not give them what they want then the Wizengamot's control over the country will be threatened. Before all this, your father's rumoured involvement in Death Eater actions could simply be ignored and brushed under the rug as simply rumours, of slander spread and devised by his many political enemies who wished to discredit him.
The lack of any concrete and irrefutable evidence to back up such claims helped a great deal. Of course, a great deal of gold changed hands too over the years, to help ensure that the rug was never looked under all that closely or any evidence found. This was possible because after the war's abrupt ending the political balance of power was in your father's and his allies' favour, powerful men who also wanted it all swept under the rug, and the opposition in the Wizengamot had been severely weakened by that point and were afraid that if they tried to force the issue, the war would continue on.
By that point they were also tired of war and merely wanted it to end. So an under the table deal was forged, they supported the ridiculous Imperius defence and we in turn donated huge amounts of gold to the Ministry to be used towards reconstruction efforts, and thus they were publically cleared of all charges," he nodded to show that he was still listening.
"Naturally, there had to be someone to blame, and confirmed and unrepentant death eaters who wouldn't forsake their dead master, such as my sister, were sold out by their former comrades to save themselves," she explained in a bitter tone. He realized in that moment that history was repeating itself, that the same was happening now, that his father was being sacrificed by his former comrades to maintain the status quo and keep their freedom. "That deal was maintained for the last decade."
"Wait a minute, you said that father had the advantage and that the Ministry was weak, so why didn't he just fight on when he was winning?" he interrupted, wondering why his father had agreed to such terms.
His mother smiled; it was an amused smile. "Yes, the Ministry was weak and hopelessly infiltrated at all levels, and the general population was tired and war weary, but the Chief Warlock moved very quickly after You-Know-Who's death to rally fresh support, almost like he was forewarned it would happen and had prepared ahead of time. This caused several of the Dark Lord's most valuable allies to break away, like the giants and the werewolves and the vampires. Granted, most death eaters were happy to see such foul creatures go, but it weakened them as well.
At the same time your father's comrades were unsure and divided. Some believed that the dark lord would soon return and thus they wanted to wait, others, the more ambitious members attempted to seize control in various bloody ways during the chaos, many others simply fled the country; the bottom line was that the slapped together leadership, such as it was, was utterly divided as to what to do next," she explained as he nodded again, enjoying the subject since he had never heard of the war from his father or godfather.
"You also have to understand that the Chief Warlock would always face off against You-Know-Who in an epic duel in each engagement, both leaders keeping the other busy while their respective group of followers decided the battle. With You-Know-Who gone, Dumbledore would now be free to assist his own allies in battle and would have easily turned any battle in his side's favour, despite only using non-lethal spells.
You have to remember that a lot of people joined You-Know-Who's side not because of their belief in the cause, but due to the simple fact that we were winning, and they wanted to be on the winning side when the dust settled, and frankly also out of the belief that by siding with You-Who-Who that they and their families would be safe. In terms of picking a side, if you lost a battle as a death eater, nine times out of ten you were only captured.
If you lost a battle as a member of Dumbledore's group, you were likely killed in various horrible ways. With You-Know-Who dead and gone, this large group of half-hearted, reluctant supporters immediately broke away," she lectured, her tone almost suggesting she had been involved herself, but he knew that his mother had never taken the dark lord's mark, unlike his father.
"Given enough time, the Chief Warlock would have turned the tables in his favour if the war had continued on, resulting in far worse bargaining position for your father and his allies to negotiate from, or they would all have been eventually completely subdued and imprisoned, our families ruined for all time.
Your father realized this and decided to make peace whilst he still had the advantage and still had some small amount of influence and control over You-Know-Who's now leaderless followers. He knew that after a few defeats, even that would have ended. The Chief Warlock was willing to accept this because his own followers, whilst hopeful in their eventual victory, were also weary," she explained.
...
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