The next day, Antonio arrived early in the morning at the Ministry of Magic.
Amelia was standing at the entrance of the ministry and waved quite enthusiastically and cheerfully at him. A flicker of surprise crossed Antonio's face as he strolled toward her.
"Good morning, Lord Olario," Amelia greeted him with a small smile on her lips.
"Good morning, Miss Bones," Antonio responded. "I did not expect you to be here."
"I had promised you that I would help with all the paperwork related to the takeover of all of the Marius family positions and properties," Amelia replied. "Had I not?"
"Yes," Antonio nodded. She had indeed made such a promise during the dinner at the Bones manor.
"But after what happened the night before yesterday, I thought that maybe you would be taking a day off and resting," he said.
"Does that incident not compel me even more to keep my word to you?" she asked.
"It was you, after all, because of whom we survived. If not for your help, I doubt we would have survived the night," she added in a whisper. "I did not even have the opportunity to thank you. Helping you little in this matter is what I can surely do."
"And I am still on leave from my Auror duties. I am here to help you with the process of your paperwork."
"Then I am grateful to you," Antonio smiled.
Amelia nodded back, and both of them moved toward the Ministry.
"So, how are you doing?" He questioned. "Are you feeling fine?"
"I am fine," Amelia replied calmly. "Much better…"
"Sooner or later, I would have been forced to do this. I am auror after all. And logically, killing two death eaters who had invaded my home with the intention to kill me and would have surely committed countless other crimes is something I should be proud off rather than feeling depressed."
"True," Antonio said. "It is great that you got over from it in such a short time."
Amelia only smiled in return.
"How is everything going?" Antonio questioned further. "What has been the response from the Ministry? What are their intentions?"
"I think this entire incident has caught them completely off guard," Amelia answered. "Neither had they expected such a daring move from the death eaters nor had they expected such a ferocious reply from my father."
"Even so, their first response was to keep everything under wraps and keep the majority of people unaware of what had transpired. Even if things had gotten out, they would surely not have allowed it to become sensational. They would have treated it as just another attack. Something which had been the norm for the past some time."
"But your trick really did the work," she continued. "My father giving an interview and talking about everything, along with the pictures of the dead Death Eaters, has had a humongous impact on the psyche of the people."
"The Ministry is really pissed and frustrated," she giggled. "But they can hardly do anything. They would not want to target my father because of his status and the fact that he was a victim. And neither could they target The Magical Times, as its majority share is owned by Lord Charlus Potter. The Minister and the DMLE Head, Barty Crouch, are feeling quite helpless at the moment."
"Many of the people have surely been frightened by the daring of the Death Eaters, but the message, that they can be killed and that there are people with such capabilities has also been loud and clear. The Death Eaters and their Lord have surely been put on the back foot."
"And next time they attack some place," she added, "I would not be very surprised if people resist them and fight back instead of fleeing."
"Great," Antonio remarked.
"As for their intentions for the future," Amelia continued, "it is hard to say as of now. It has only been a couple of days since the incident, so it is difficult to predict anything."
"I have only heard that there is a lot of bickering among the higher ups and the department heads. No one has any clear idea of what is happening or what should be done."
"But one thing is certain," she said. "This time they are facing a lot of heat, and they cannot run from their responsibility anymore. The populace is becoming more aware, and the pressure on the Ministry is piling up."
"Good," Antonio nodded in satisfaction. "We need to increase the pressure on the Ministry even more. The Minister should feel that pressure. He should feel the heat and the helplessness."
"You can ask Lord Edmund Bones to speak more to the media and not let the matter die down," he suggested. "Maybe you can ask the reporters to find out the families of the victims of the people who had been killed in the attacks of the death eaters and have them recite their sufferings. Let such news be constantly on the front page."
"It should be constantly reminded to the public. And when the pressure reaches its peak, we will implement our plan. If everything goes well, then very soon we will have a new Ministry."
The removal of the Minister and replacing him with a Minister of their own choice and ideology. This had been the plan that Edmund Bones and Antonio Olario had discussed during their first meeting. And now this attack was proving to be a godsent opportunity for them.
They had gotten a real issue through which they could target the Minister more and more. They did not need to orchestrate or plot some inorganic excuse. And Antonio was determined to make the most of this opportunity.
"A good idea," Amelia nodded.
"What of the Wizengamot hearing?" He asked again. "I doubt the ministry would be fool enough to put any blame on the Bones family."
"The hearing will most probably happen in a week," Amelia nodded. "And at this point, the hearing is nothing more than a formality. They would frame no charges against us."
"A week," Antonio mumbled. "I will attend that hearing as lord then."
"That you will," Amelia smiled blissfully.
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