Dude, the ending point of this chapter was just evil

what a chapter, absolutely beautiful !

See you after a couple months, thanks for the chapter!

Great chapter. Ron's new use of the Chinese healing spell was awesome, and I can't wait for him to use it later.

I wasn't a fan of the scenes with Koch's party, or whatever it was. The descriptions were unnecessary.

Ron's descent is described very well. It's such a large difference from where he was in first year. Sad to see, but it makes for some great scenes. Though I hope he has a redemption arc.

Then the end scene with the Veela was great. Though the thing with the dogs was unhinged. So I'm glad he couldn't go through with it. I know it's been brought up quite a few times in Ron's thoughts, and in the criminal files he has. But I didn't expect him to actually try to do it.

Cliffhanger was great! Can't wait for next chapter.

The best day of every month is the day we get a FATE update! Please Mr. Postman...

You can see who has read grimdark or similar and who hasn't in the reviews of this chapter lol

Update pls

Please update soon.

Review for chapter 157 part 5

Jurgen prepared a Portkey for Greengrasses and himself. Obviously and illegal one, since legal ones are authorized by the Ministry. I wonder did he cast the spell himself, or he has a specialist in his squad for it. How hard exactly it is to create a Portkey? Apparation is relatively simple skill, as many adult wizards can do it. Portkeys on the other hand, only have been created by powerful witches and wizards: Dumbledore, Crouch, Luka, High Mother. Of course an obvious reason for this skill not being particularly wide-spread is a legal issue – every Portkey has to be authorized by the Ministry. So people can’t just walk around casting it whenever they want to. So I wonder how exactly hard to create a Portkey. Also, Jurgen decided to transport Greengrasses with a Portkey, instead of side-along apparation. Remus on the other hand apparated himself and three other men at once.

It was amusing how Daphne was trying to pretend to be in charge and order around Jurgen, only for the mercenary wait for her father to confirm the order.

Astoria did complained to Sebastian about Ron, but Daphne clarified the situation. And it seems Sebastian started to respect Daphne’s opinion more, and stopped cuddling Astoria. In earlier chapters, he and Mary showed clear favoritism o their youngest daughter and let her get away with her mischiefs. And they always held Daphne responsible for it. At least now, Sebastian started to realize that he spoiled Astoria too much, and it’s the reason for her behavior. Ron said similar things – the surrounding and upbringing influence the character of a person. A spoiled brat like Astoria would see the lack of favoritism and nepotism from Ron as a betrayal.

It seems like Astoria was orchestrated by her fellow first years on Ron’s behalf. They obviously preferred Ron to her. If Astoria follow her father’s teaching she should disregard her classmates, because they are not reliable allies. But in turn it’ll make her isolated. Friendless. Like Sebastian was in his youth.

Funny how Sebastian preaches to throw away everyone out of his life once they exceed their usefulness. But he can’t do the same with Ron. He have been doing this his whole life, but with Ron he just not able to.

Daphne also indirectly told her father that her friends sided with Ron over her in their conflict. Funny how Sebastian’s answer for it represents his character – he advises Daphne to abandon her friends and find better allies. But Daphne refuses. She wants her friends. In the first year, when Theo and Blaise left the group for a time, Daphne was following her father’s teachings and was against Ron allowing them back. Now, she stood up against his teachings. That’s some character development for Daphne! Also, Sebastian holds Cobras conflict against them, deemed them disloyal, when he is in fact the reason of their conflict in the first place. Daphne, conveniently forgot to mention that.

Hilarious, how Sebastian is trying to manage heart to heart talk with Daphne, and just don’t know how. Because he’s so bad at it. He needs heavier doses of Sirius influence.

Now, this is interesting – it seems like Sebastian is going to meet Centaurs fully expecting them to enact their revenge on him. Well, understandable, consider what he has done to them. Despite that, Sebastian is still willing to do it. He is going there, ready to die by Centaurs hands. Seems like the guilt of his crimes got deep into him. Yet he still agrees to take Daphne with him. Take her to Centaurs. Let her watch Centaurs kill him in vengeance in front of her eyes. Does he wants to traumatize Daphne for life? Seeing her father murdered in front of her at 13 is going to scar her for life. Not to mention, that Centaurs might decided to kill Daphne as well as a payback for dead children. That’s really not an intelligent decision right there. It wouldn’t be good even in different circumstances either, but at the time Voldemort is gathering armies tom unleash them on wizarding world… Letting Centaurs kill him is not going to bring any good to his family. Only leave them in more danger without his protection.

Daphne’s POV.
The Portkey got the company to the Hafren Forest near Centaurs camp. In the middle of heavy rain. It make sense for Jurgen to Portkey them the near the camp, not just inside of it. That would be way too threatening and hostile. So they should hike through the raining forest and night to the Centaurs camp. And Daphne being sheltered kid that she is, was completely unprepared for such exertion. Though, I don’t get why they didn’t used magic to protect themselves from the rain? Queenie Goldstein used a charm to make ethereal magical umbrella in Fantastic Beasts movie. It seems to be a simple and common charm, a handy one in this situation. I wish witches and wizards used magic more for mundane utility in Fate and more casually. Like, Newt were using magic left and right all the time in the movies to make his journey more comfortable and convenient.

Jurgen broke down Daphne’s illusions about Centaurs and blatantly told her what they expect Centaurs will do to Sebastian. In general, I would protest to reveal such gruesome details to a girl as young as Daphne. But in current situation, with the upcoming war that is going to affect everyone, it’s better to be informed of cruel realities and be prepared, then be caught off guard. Adequate decisions require adequate information. Though, they should have informed her earlier, before they Portkeyed to the forest. Also, it was interesting how Jurgen presented Centaurs as a threat, and dangerous savages, despite them being victims of Sebastian. I mean, stomp their enemies into a paste and then it this… mass. Hopefully, we’ll never see such scene in Fate. Jurgen on the other hand is nothing to worry about in this situation – he can turn himself into water, and Centaurs can only use physical force. So they have no way to actually harm him. Greengrasses on the other hand are indeed vulnerable. Even Daphne. In general, Centaurs has a Code not to harm children, but for a daughter of a man that killed their children they can make an exception. Or they may just stomp her on their way to her father without care. Daphne paints her perspective too much on noble Firenze, who saved Ron. But even in canon he was outlier.

Ohohoh! Sebastian, Daphne and Jurgen were ambushed by London and Ron’s mercenaries! Damn, Ron become so good with his planning! He so neatly predicted it, cornered them! Also, while Jurgen has some skills at sensing, he detected his colleagues too late. He’s no Artyom – the Russian would have noticed them a mile away and would’ve never get ambushed like this! Still, as London pointed out, Ron expected Sebastian will come with more men at his side, so he brought half of his own force to this ambush – two dozen of mercs. That’s just an overkill. What bothers me in this situation is that one squad of Death’s Hand was ready to attack another squad of the Death’s Hand. How they agreed to do it so easily? Isn’t there some rules in Death’s Hand to prevent such things? I mean, if such fight do happen, no matter which squad wins, the Death’s Hand at large loses.

Damn! Jurgen is a beast! The way he stopped rain from falling at took command over all the water around him with his free hand was so badass! Very similar to waterbending from the Last Airbender series! So cool! Hydromancy of that level is incredible! It’s also very similar to Volkov’s Blood Magic. Though I think water can’t be used as effectively as blood to shield him from incoming curses, I think. If it can, then Blood Magic is totally redundant – water can be conjured in large quantities very easily by any wizard. I’m still curious, did he learned these skills from Water tribes in the North that Slughorn was talking about at Bulgarian Gala?

Despite Jurgen’s tremendous display of magical might, London was not impressed. She was confident that a single Curse – presumably Killing Curse would be more than enough to put him down, despite his advantage. Though, I have to agree with Jurgen, it was not particularly smart of them to ambush him near the river when it’s raining. Granted they couldn’t have make them appear at different time when it was not raining, but mercs could have ambushed them before they’ve reached the river. And also they could have put a shield charm above them to cut the source of water from Jurgen. Still, even in that situation, Jurgen felt confident he could take all twenty of his opponents! Is he delusional? Or he’s actually THAT strong? No wonder I always had this unsettling feeling about him. He may not be as evil as loyalists (though he’s plenty of evil still), he is just as dangerous monster as them with his incredible Hydromancy. I wonder, is he the most powerful Death’s Hand merc magically? Certainly feels like he’s more powerful than Artyom.

Daphne has some guts to challenge London in this situation. Well, it was more her naively believe that they won’t be hurt, but still, she did has some courage to even voice her protest in such situation. Against killers for hire.

I hope London was bluffing when she said, she’s not always follow orders and may decide to kill Daphne because she pisses her off. I mean, I do believe that she not always follow orders – London is not as disciplined as Artyom, but I don’t want to think her capable of killing an innocent teenager. Especially, without proper provocation. I mean, if she have meet teenage Tom Riddle and he attacked her, then it would be okay to put him down.

Also, we have learn a little about London’s past – a Death Eater raped and killed her older sister in front of her, and cut her throat with some Dark Magic, which left her with a permanent scar. Damn! That’s awful! That’s probably happened sometime during the first wizarding war. London must have been at least a teenager herself back then. And then she somehow ended in the Death’s Hand. I remember it was said that during the first war, Death’s Hand was gathered from former Aurors, vigilantes and victims of the Death Eaters. So London probably was very young when she get into Death’s Hand herself. Why Death’s Hand work for former Death Eaters then? Because they are the only ones with money? And why Jurgen has no problem follow Sebastian?

Daphne’s perspective on this whole situation was amusing – she was so surprised Ron found and visited Centaurs before them, when he was in Hogwarts the whole time as she assumed. And he even prepared an ambush for her and her father. And even though, he was so far ahead of them, Daphne still thinks that she knew better than him, and he’s just in her way for a petty revenge. Oh, sweet summer child! Blaise was right – Ron is vastly far ahead, and they should stop pretend otherwise. And maybe learn something from him.

Funny how Daphne hoped it would be one time event – do deal with Centaurs and forget them forever. Even funnier how Daphne thought of giving Ron a piece of her mind once she’s back at Hogwarts. Oh Merlin, her naivety and delusions are so adorable!

Ron not only predicted Greengrasses will appear personally, but he forced Sebastian in a situation where he would either be at Centaurs mercy or turn back and prove him right. So devious! So smart and cunning! Quite often Ron’s temper get the better of him, and his fixation on his anger and revenge can also sway him from the most practical path… but it can’t be denied, when he’s focused and have enough information, Ron makes brilliant plans!

Good to see Ron made sure Daphne would be safe under London’s protection in this situation. He really planned it all through. Daphne is still so funny questioning who the hell is Ron to dictate his terms. Err... the guy who CAN make the terms, because he’s in control.

Centaurs Camp… was completely not what I expected it to be, to be honest. I couldn’t even imagined that the poison that Sebastian used on the crops would cause so much more damage even beyond Centaur children that were killed at the beginning. To affect so many of them so severely… even the children that were born after the tribe moved away. Nundu toxins are beyond horrible! No wonder they has XXXXX classification, if they are capable of causing THIS much damage. I’ve been pointing out Daphne’s naivety, but even after reading Fate for so long, I didn’t foresee something like that! Spartan never cease to surprise me! Brilliantly done!

Daphne found herself out her water in this whole situation. Everything was nothing as she expected it would be. And she realizes that she is really a spoiled sheltered girl playing an adult, like Ron was saying. I should feel horrible for Daphne’s shattered innocence, but oddly I feel vindicated for Ron. Daphne was criticizing him and generally badmouthing him for a long time now, and it’s felt cathartic to see her delusions shattered in such a way. At first she was so excited to there, going to amend her father wrongdoings. Cleaning his good name. Being proud of proving herself as a Greengrass heir. Working alongside with her father as an equal. And how it’s witched upside down in an instant.

Funny how Daphne can’t figured out how her mother could have possibly tolerate Sebastian, even knowing what he has done. Honey, it was because she didn’t ever witnessed with her own eyes what Daphne witnessed at the camp. Daphne herself was still loving, revering and respecting her father just a few minutes before she saw the Centaurs. Even without witnessing their suffering, Mary was very displeased with Sebastian, and forced him to make payments to Centaurs after they moved. Don’t excuse her fully, she didn’t turn him over to Aurors, but still, she was not alright with what he has done. And she didn’t even saw the results first hand. I’m curious, what Mary’s reaction would have been, if she saw the camp herself?

So Oreron has died, and Zotair took his place as a Chief. And the gold that Mary forced Sebastian to pay them didn’t brought them any good, but to a civil war in the tribe, and Argenope usurped Oreron’s place and exiling all affected by sickness. Damn, this story is even more tragic then I imagine!

Zotair has changed a lot from the brazen boy from Sebastian’s memory. He become more mature and calm, and maybe even wiser. And he of course figured out that Sebastian was behind their tragedy. Well, it was no brainer. Yet still, he didn’t kill him, even though he had a chance. He didn’t even want to kill Sebastian.

Judging by what Zotair was saying, he thinks that witnessing the horrors that Sebastian caused is going to make him a better man. One that help others. Is that a narrative hint of where Sebastian’s character development is going? I hope so. If Greengrass is spared and going continue to live, it’s better for him to become a better person. Not that Ron would care about that – he’ll still be on his kill list. But maybe, just maybe, Sebastian will bring something good to the world after this.

When Ron visited the camp, he impressed Zotair with his compassion. And unlike Greegrasses he come prepared with shipments of goods to help the Centaurs from the start. Also, as a Champion, he can’t be seen by Centaurs abilities to read the starts. Of course this extraordinary feat of Ron is not his own, but caused by Entity. Still, it’s nice to see Ron being remarkable again. The Phantom. How many nicknames he has by now?

Daphne finally adopted Ron’s point of view about choices. And she choose to do the right thing instead of being loyal to her family. She is cutting the ties with her father!

Daphne has a complete change of her world view. She’s completely disgusted with both her father AND her mother. Daphne also developed disgust for the luxury of the Greengrass manor. That’s actually very interesting how much similar she is to Ron’s view in this regard. Well, she has more reason them him in this situation – she feels guilty and ashamed, because she realized that her family luxury was bought by blood money.

Mary was trying to make excuses for Sebastian… yeah, it didn’t go well with Daphne. I wonder would she be making these excuses, if she witnessed Centaur camp herself.

Ron continues to earn popularity points with his first years. He completely wrapped them around his finger, and they openly worship him. It was funny how he lead them to magically cover all the portraits in Slytherin common room, making it impossible for them to tattle on their party. I’m also impressed Ron taught them Silencing Charm! It’s a 5th year charm, and even talented Ginny has troubles learning it. And she is in second year. To teach this spell to the first years is really impressive. Ron is extremely good at teaching magic! Would be interesting to see him continue to teach them in the next year, and how far they are going to advance.

Daphne’s talk with Ron at Sanctuary. Mother of God! Ron predicted Daphne’s reaction too! And her decision to cut ties with her parents and her decision to help Centaurs along with him! How far ahead Ron can predict and plan is incredible! He’s almost like Aizen at these moments – everything according to keikaku! Fate is the only fanfic that showcased Ron’s tactical and strategical brilliance to such extend! Amazing! And of course, Ron is only happy to have Daphne working with him on real life problems. It is wrong to get children involve in such matters, but I like this development in the story! Hopefully, one way or another, all of Ron’s friends will start to play bigger role in real world events.

Review for chapter 157 part 4

Draco’s POV.
*Cooing* Draco can’t sleep peacefully, knowing Ron can get hurt on some midnight meeting he shouldn’t be attending! He’s such a tsundere! Always playing hard to get!

Ron come back and he smells like a wet fur. Yeah, definitely was meeting Centaurs.

It was interesting to see how Ron looks when he talks with Ravenclaw!Ron and think no one is looking. Pretty disturbing to say the least. Ron is even in the best of days is quite instable and unhinged by now, and often violent and brutal. To witness such person talking to himself like this is terrifying! Poor Draco! Even knowing that Ron is not actually insane, watching him from outside was uncomfortable. Imagine, Ravenclaw!Ron just randomly phased through Malfoy’s curtains and see he’s not sleeping?

It’s a shame Ron didn’t noticed Draco eavesdrop him. Maybe if he did noticed, he would be more careful in the future, and cast Muffliato every time he talks to RavenclawRon.

From what Ron was talking “to himself”, I get that he manipulated his father to get onto Greengrass tail, and set him up to make Sebastian arrested. Or at least targeted. That was pretty devious from Ron. He should know his father is no match for Sebastian, and setting him against Greengrass, he only puts him in unnecessary danger. He also thinks that once Daphne witness Sebastian’s crimes first hand she’ll turn her back on her father. From his dialog it’s pretty clear that he wants Greengrasses to be punished, because their betrayal hurt him so much personally. And he also plans to influence Harry, probably because he’s a Horcrux.

Hermione’s POV.
As usual, Hermione come prepared – she thoroughly read a lot about wandless magic to better understand it. Hermione might be a little too naive to blindly believe in power of the books, and neglect real world experience. But I still respect and admire how much effort she puts in everything she’s focused on.

Hermione and Luna’s argument about the essence of knowledge was interesting. For someone so intelligent as Hermione is, she’s awfully rigged in her mindset. Luna on the other hand is way too gullible, and believes any crap her father tells her. Also, while I agree that Hermione lacking certainly intellectual flexibility, Luna’s claim that we should believe anything until these things are disproven is asinine. You can prove negative, but it’s almost impossible to prove non-existence. That does not mean it’s reasonable position to believe anything, until it’s disproven. Null hypothesis is disbelieve – you don’t believe the proposition, until there are good evidence that support it. In all honesty, it’s a shame that Xeno has so much influence on Luna, despite Pandora still being alive. His bizarre ideas are ruining Luna and her potential. It’s one thing to be open-minded, but completely different to be gullible. Hermione is not perfect either, but I would say she’s more down to earth than Luna.

Hermione’s wandless magic training! Finally! After so many preparations, conditioning and everything, it finally come to practice actual wandless magic!

Hermione started practicing without Ron. She still didn’t make any significant progress. This is probably the reason why wandless magic is so rare in Europe – it takes too long before the results start to appear that even hyper hard-working Hermione is discouraged to continue to practice it.

Okay, I have a split feeling about Hermione’s progress at wandless magic. I DO want Hermione, and others to learn basics of wandless magic, and even utilize it efficiently in upcoming war. But I also like so much that wandless magic is Ron’s trademark skill that sets him apart from everyone in Fate, HP fanfictions in general. I don’t want it to be usurped by other characters, yet I wand them to get stronger. Of course, it’s unlikely that anyone of current Hogwarts students will reach Ron’s level. At least until the war ends. Because Ron puts immeasurably more effort in practicing wandless magic than anyone, and he was noted several times by several characters to be the most proficient user of wandless magic they ever seen. And that was only after one year of practice. Ron is going to advance even further from here, so it’s unlikely that any other student will catch up to his level. That being said, I think Cobras and Trio should already start practicing wandless magic by now. Non of them is as physically fit as Ron, and non of them is going to practice it just as relentlessly as he. Consequently, their progress will be much slower. And the war is going to openly start in about a year or so. They still has time to learn, but if any of them is going to be using wandless magic in Fate at all, they ought to start practicing it now. Maybe then, some of them will reach Ron’s level at the beginning of the 3rd year, when he could do relatively weak Levitation charm and Summoning charm wandlessly.

I like how much understanding of magic Ron have reached by now, and how greatly he can actually teach it. He instantly figured out that Hermione’s problem with making progress is the fact she’s blindly follows instructions in the books, that do not work for her. He also figured out that book instructions are not working just as good for everyone equally, and Hermione need her own method to make it work. He even correctly figured out what exactly her “touch” for magic is – he competitive nature and sense of self-worth. It was great to see that under his guidance, Hermione finally made a leap in her progress! She has a long way, but that’s a good start! Ron excellently balance strict and encouraging methods – he almost forced Hermione to continue practice, when she was ready to give up. She even get her hand cramped. But later he manipulated her to be honest with her feelings and use them to power her wandless spell.

Even though Hermione is talented and hard-working, she probably is not going to be particularly great at wandless magic, because she’s not very athletic and don’t want to be. Consequently her body won’t be a strong conduit, limiting her abilities. Harry and Neville has more appropriate builds – Harry being generally very athletic, and Neville is a big guy who develop muscles easily. But both are not exactly keen on working out and practicing magic. Especially such unrewarding field as wandless magic. I think Blaise and Millie are going to succeed the most at wandless magic. Millie was always hard-working and Blaise recently discovered his determination. Also, both are very physically fit and work out regularly. There is also Tracey, who become physically enhanced thanks to the silver leaf, which makes her an excellent conduit for wandless magic. She also voiced desire to apply herself to become a combatant and fight against Death Eaters, before her injury.

And as Ron discussed with RavenclawRon, he used Hermione to get to Harry – he convinced his Gryffindor friend to bring Harry and Neville to their morning runs. I really hope, Ron will start to train Harry from now on – Potter definitely needs it. He wants to fight on the frontlines, but he can’t hold his own against experienced wizards. He needs a wake up call, and proper training.

Sebastian’s POV.
A Pensieve memory of his negotiation with Chief Oreron.

It seems like at that time, Greengrass finances were not particularly great, since Sebastian’s father and later funding Voldemort take a toll on their wealth. And the land that Sebastian took from Centaurs was a major step for him to replenish his family wealth and become the richest wizard in Europe. Not that he had a particular need for this – even with his father’s spending, and funding Voldemort, Sebastian still was one of the wealthiest wizards in Britain, and even in the world, with his family set for life for many generations down the line. He didn’t need these lands and these goods. It was – like Emilia put it – just his greed, and bruised ego.

The negotiations didn’t went well – both Oreron and Zotair were not willing to be swayed by Sebastian’s deal. And I have to say, Sebastian’s deal was not too bad – he suggested to give them ten percent of profits. Considered how the goods from this land boosted Greengrass’ wealth, even ten percent is astronomical money! Zotair was even so brazen he hurled insults at Sebastian with every sentence he said. I have no doubt Greengrass would force the Centaurs to be removed anyway, but I wonder would he be so cruel, if Zotair didn’t hurt his ego? The fault is entirely on Sebastian, of course – no matter what Zotair said, it was Greengrass’ decision to poison the crops. But maybe, if he was not so offended by Zotair, he would have choose less dangerous poison. Maybe not even lethal.

Chief Oreron was trying to sound wise and sagely, but I can’t help to point out - he was mistaken in many of his accretions. Ownership of the land is of course man made concept, but Sebastian was definitely able to take it’s goods. And I did brought him peace – before Voldemort’s return he was very content with his life.

Strictly from utilitarian point of view, Oreron made a huge mistake here. Even with his refusal to cooperate, Sebastian took what he wanted. But in the process, he murdered Oreron’s tribe’s children and, Centaurs didn’t even get ten percent cut of profits.

Sebastian’s henchman Aiden. A former Snatcher, that Sebastian bribed out of Azkaban to do his biding. Interestingly enough, Aiden was not particularly enthusiastic about committing a murder of Centaurs. And apparently after he did poison the crops, Sebastian got him kille. His wife was with a child, and the Centaur thing happened before Astoria was born, and Sebastian mellowed out. So I guess, we will see Aiden’s child in the future, and he should be roughly Astoria’s age. Could it be Mathew? It’ll be very ironic, if Aiden’s son and Sebastian’s daughter ended up in the same House, the same year. Or maybe, if my calculations are wrong, and these events were happening after Astoria’s birth, then Aiden’s child is one year younger then Astoria’s and we will probably see him or her in the next school year.

It was interesting to see the difference in Sebastian’s POVs through the years. In his previous ones (current time), he did have some dismissive thoughts for other people. A few times there were contempt for “Half-Breeds” when he was preparing for Veelas. Occasionally arrogance. He was somewhat bigoted, but not particularly so. In his memory’s POV, though, his mindset was exactly like Yaxley’s and Bulstrode’s. Full of hate, contempt and bigotry. He was just radiated with hate and blood-lust, ready to off anyone on his way. He did mellow out a lot, since these days, that can’t be denied. Still, other Death Eaters mellowed out too, to some degree. Or how Gaspard put it – become complacent and fat.

Sebastian has interesting introspection of his former self. He admits to himself that he poisoned the crops not out of the love for his family, but because of his hurt ego. Because of his desire to feel himself powerful and secured again after a year of forced service to Voldemort. Good to see he’s disgusted by the person he was, and self-aware enough to recognize it. He has at least some conscience. Not much, but he seems to be genuinely regret what he had done.

I can understand his concerns for bringing Daphne with him, which would destroy her innocence. And he’s right. Children should not be involved in such matters. And Daphne is a child, even if a mature one for her age. But in this situation, it’s unlikely that Sebastian could stop her from getting involved. He can leave her at the manor and not let her into Centaurs camp in this particular instance. But Daphne is stubborn, and one way or another she will find a way to get involved. Better under his supervision then alone.

Daphne shared Eric’s latter with her mother and they both urged him to help. Lord Greengrass on the other hand, coldly refused. Sebastian, Sebastian… how could you fumble so stupidly? Just a minute ago you were berating yourself for being a bad man in the past, and how your hurt ego caused so much suffering… and in the next moment you refuse to help your wife’s mother and a boy in danger, exactly because your hurt ego. Dude, learn your lesson! That was such a great opportunity to step up, and be a better man – Fate gave it to you on a silver platter… and you fumbled it so badly. At least he correctly pointed out that Mary isn’t at fault for her father’s reaction. Whatever she had done, her father’s sins are his own.

Review for chapter 157 part 3

Amelia cut down more than half of Wizengamot members, only 21 left out of 53! She had to work intensively to replenish them. And she’ll face a lot of retaliation from removed members, that’s for sure. I admire her boldness here, and approve of her desire to reform the Ministry for the better. She is right, Magical Britain has to move forward from dark ages and abandon outdated practices of the past that has no place in current times.

Once again, Amos Diggory called out Bones on her actions! Damn, man has balls! Even after Amelia’s military coup he has courage to question her in her face! He is so much more better character then in the books already! And not only courage, but also genuine nobility – according to Amelia, Amos was doing his best to represent magical folk under his jurisdiction, like Goblins, Elves and Werewolves. Ron probably should have recruit Amos into his alliance. Not for his wealth, but for his convictions and courage at very least. Interesting that Amos does have a Wizengamot seat, but Pius Thicknesse who is the Head of his Department and his superior does not have a seat for himself. That’s definitely not right.

And once again I have to agree with Amos, Oscar Fawley definitely deserved to be on Wizengamot. He might have inherited his position, but he do the work, even if not the Ministry. He is one of the most genuinely charitable people in Fate, and put a lot of effort to actually better the lives of Magical Britain people. And there were no indication he ever used his position in Wizengamot to take advantage of Magical Britain, nor that he ever broke Magical Laws (that we know of) that Amelia values so much. Unlike herself by the way. And she quickly dodged the question, shifting from Fawley to general problem of Pure-Bloods abusing their positions. Funny how Bones tried to convince Amos to continue to do his job, augmenting it that he quit, many people will suffer. Is he going to punish them out of principle? Yet, she herself was stone-walling Ron’s Alliance from rebuilding the Knockturn Alley, and consequently punished lots of people out of principle.

One by one, Amelia was able to convince the remaining Wizengamot members to continue to work with her. And her speech how desperately she wants to change the Minsitry for the better felt sincere. Though, she once again deflected the problem of her dictatorship that Edith pointed out. They – Wizengamot members – can’t “keep her honest” as she suggested, because Bones use military power to force her way on Wizengamot. They have no way of “keeping her honest”.

Amelia’s idea to make Sacred Twenty Eight pay taxes is a serious move to wrestle economical power from them, leaving them no leverage to bent the law at a whim, like they were doing since the foundation of the ministry. Oh, they definitely are going to be pissed about it. Yaxley and other Death Eaters are going to retaliate at that, for sure. Even Ron’s allies won’t take it idly. Yes, such action will take away a lot of power Pure-Bloods have over the country, but in exchange it’ll give similar amount of power to the Ministry, which it can abuse. Right now, the Ministry’s top brass more or less noble and righteous individuals. But it can easily change over time. New people will come to the Ministry, climb the career ladder and get themselves positions of immense power, and decide that they can abuse it. Or Imperiused to abuse it. The first man, Amelia decided to place into Wizengamot is Pius Thicknesse. It would be alright, but he’s under Yaxley’s Imperius Curse. By all intentions and purposes she just gave Corban a seat at Wizengamot. Which once again confirm that her fanatical believe in Magical Law will never be fully fulfilled. The new system that she tries to install seems to be better, then the current one. But it’ll be far from perfect as Amelia envision it to be.

Conclusion for the coup: I admire Amelia’s boldness and how skillfully she pulled it off. But he hypocrisy and self-righteousness pisses me off. Also, she made some mistakes here, in particular she ousted Dumbledore and Fawley, who certainly deserved to be on Wizengamot.

Dumbledore’s POV.
Funny how Snape is the most outraged at Amelia’s coup, considered he was the one who suggested to install her as a Minister instead of Fudge. He definitely didn’t expected things to turn out like this. And even he did realized that Ron was behind Bones’ bold action, but Dumbledore figured it out at the Wizengamot chambers already.

Ron claims that he didn’t planted the seeds in Amelia’s head for her revolution, and from her own POV we saw that she planned it with Rufus for some time already. But without Ron pushing her to take action, I think she would never actually initiated her revolution. Bones was working for so many years to climb her career ladder, she achieved much, and has something to lose, and because of that, she was tried to play it safe, not taking big risks. Taking the risk of bold revolution had a great chance to end in failure, but it also has chance of succeeding. Ron’ tempering showed her, that her cautious path will definitely result in failure one way or another. Which pushed Amelia to take a risk and try her best chance at coup. And no one, except Dumbledore figured it out. Especially Amelia, she’s completely clueless. It’s sad really how easily she can be manipulated – by Ron, by Yaxley (through Pius), by Harper (whatever his plans are).

Though, I’m a little concerned as Snape is. Despite Dumbledore’s slacking at his Wizengamot job, it was a great advantage to have him as a Chief Warlock. And now they’ve lost it. Ron may think this isn’t a great loss, but I have a feeling this will cause some major problem eventually.

Snape quickly figured out that Amelia would need Ron’s Quibbler to have any hope to win back the trust of Magical Britain’s people. Without people’s support, even with her gold and Aurors, she can’t run the Ministry. And ousting Dumbledore is immensely unpopular decision. Now, Amelia is forced to work with Ron, which gives him a lot of power, and opportunities to manipulate her further. Ron also oversells how dangerous Amelia is to him. Right now, he’s the only actual ally she has, she can’t afford to make a move against him, without his Quibbler, she is done. Even with the backing of American Aurors and Harper’s gold. If she arrests him, it’ll be civilian outrage. American Aurors will refuse to support her, because Ron is allied with Wilkinson and Reyes; Dumbledore will come to his rescue to save the Cycle; Ron’s mercenaries will try to do something, and there are fifty of them. For now, Bones is not a threat to Ron, not really. But she can become, when she strengthen her position Amelia might want to concentrate on taking Ron down. So it probably wise to not antagonize her further.

Ron plans to keep tabs on Amelia though Quibbler business, and Albus is planning to make Kingsley and Tonks watch her. Both were not going to be very effective, because Amelia knows she doesn’t have their full loyalty, and she’ll be on guard with them.

It seems like Moody choose Amelia and the Ministry over Dumbledore and the Order, which is odd. He of all people should have understand how vital the Order and Dumbledore is in this war, and how vulnerable and flawed the Ministry is. Yes, Amelia is going to make it better, but many weakness will still remain, and the new ones will appear. Yaxley already has his man in Wizengamot, and what is going to happen when Mulciber gets the job to infiltrate the Ministry?

Dumbledore very precisely predicted that after Wizengamot, Amelia is going to target the Order, because of it’s “vigilantism”. And once again, he’s right – Bones told Moody the same thing. It’s amazing how incredibly intelligent Dumbledoire is and how precisely he figured it all out with so little information he has. Snape on the other hand didn’t saw it coming, which made it even more confusing why he was suggesting to replace Fudge with Bones at the beginning of the 3rd year, if he knew her so poorly. Hell, Ron figured out Amelia better, despite knowing about her existence less than a year!

Ron’s solution to solve the problem between the Order and the Ministry is ingenious! Just integrate the order into the Ministry! Amelia won’t refuse to hire them, she can’t – Order members are one of the most experienced and skilled fighters in Britain, and they would be fairly loyal to her. Or at very least they won’t betray her and switch sides to the Death Eaters. After all, the Order are among the most passionate fighters against the Dark Lord. That would take are of Amelia’s problem with “vigilantism”, and the Order members could actually make a difference within the Ministry. Ron may call them sanctimonious, but Order members are among the most noble and courageous people out there, and they despise Ministry’s corruption. Now, when Amelia openly at war with corruption and is rooting it out, Order members can bring some actual integrity in the Ministry. That a one million galleon idea, and Ron come up with it on a fly! Damn, I like how this fic showcase Ron’s brilliant mind at planning and strategy!

Snape correctly pointed out that Ron becomes more and more independent in decisions he makes. He rarely consults Dumbledore and Snape before he acts, only informing them after the fact. That’s especially concerning, because after Carrows’ massacre, he was placed under Snape’s supervision and he agreed to follow his lead. But now he acts completely independently, and don’t looking for any directions from his mentors at all. At least he’s still cooperates with them sometimes. He grow so much in the last year, become so much powerful – magically, mentally, politically – but to get there he suffered so much.

Albus once again has a good judge of a character, and figured out that Ron now wants not only stop Voldemort, but also change the entire world. And he can actually do this! Ron already influenced events on national and even global scales, and he’ll continue to do so. Dumbledore is also right about Ron’s current mindset – as a ruler he would be terrifying. Probably even more tyrannical then Bones. Ron may have noble ideas, but he’s too prone to use force and violence to get what he wants. He would be forcing his ideas on the world, and crushing all the opposition with brute force. Albus even compared him to Grindelwald! Damn! I’m so glad, Dumbledore is not giving up on Ron and still fighting for his soul! Fighting to bring back his love and happiness! I have to say, Fate!Dumbledore is the best Dumbledore ever! He is so human! He’s one of the wisest, kindest and noblest characters, yet he’s not annoyingly perfect. Albus is still flawed, and makes mistakes, which has horrendous consequences, because a man of his caliber is going them. Dumbledore is one of the pillars of goodness in the story, and it’s not pretentious. I really hope he’ll succeed in his quest of helping Ron. Fate (the character) plans Dumbledore to die due Voldemort’s Curse on the ring, but screw Fate!

Blaise’s POV.
Ron shamelessly snack out of Slytherin Dorms. Presumably to meet Centaurs’ tribe that his people have found. The arrow between the eyes line gave it away. He does not even bothered to hid it from his friends, and they don’t question it much further.

Everyone noticed how differently Ron acts now, compare to how he acted previously. Even Malfoy point it out, and he was not in the group for too long. Good to see Draco is no longer shoot down by the boys. They still don’t like him, but at least they can have a civil discussion.

Ron is becoming more distant and more secretive with them. The vision he had at summer 1992, is no longer valid, but in many ways it’s still coming true – Ron lies and distances at his friends a lot, he has his meetings with Dumbledore, and sneak of the castle at nights. Ron does become a person very similar to the Ron from that vision. The person even his friends don’t know and afraid to question. This should not be happening! I really hope that somehow in the future they get back to be close again. Yes, Ron lives at war now, at he can’t go back to his relatively carefree life as he used to. But the war is going to become a public knowledge and involve everyone relatively soon. So maybe, his friends become more involved in it? I mean, their heritage makes it almost impossible to avoid at very least some involvement in it. Even Pansy – the least confrontational person in Cobras will get involved on some level, just because of her wealth.

Blaise rightfully feels guilty for threatening Daphne in previous chapter. Funny how Theo – who is probably the most cunning of the group – is advising to Blaise to be straight-forward and just apologize to Daphne in person. Theo himself would never followed his own advice, and mastermind some convoluted plot to make up with Daphne.

Daphne didn’t accepted his apology. Well, he’s not Ron after all. Blaise had an interesting introspection about the whole thing – he acted on his emotions, and he could not control himself like he used to do in the past. He lashed out in a way Ron was lashing out. I think that’s because Blaise started to feel more vulnerable ever since he cut the ties with his mother. Until that point, Blaise was secured in his future – sheltered as Ron said to Daphne – and this sense of security gave him mental strength to control his emotions well. But after he cut the ties, he become vulnerable. Naked as a nerve. Unsafe. Now he does not have the safety net that he used to from his childhood. Not only that, the Dark Lord had returned and waging war on the world, and his own murderous mother is going to target him soon, one way or another. Because of all the stress Blaise experienced lately, he become more violent. He was much more violent in his duels, and he even threatened Daphne. I think Blaise is also started to understand a little why Ron acts like he does. Ron’s problems are much more numerous and greater in scale, so it’s now wonder he was pushed over the edge.

Ron become so unhinged lately, that even his friends are not sure that he’ll not physically/magically hurt them. He never did that before, but by now he become too unpredictable. It seems his brutality at A rank Tournament shaken their faith in his a little.

Blaise volunteered to go with Pansy when she’ll confess to Ron and Daphne of her cheating. He is going to do this fully prepared to take a beating from Ron in Pansy’s place, in case Ron get violent! Damn! It seems like Blaise/Pansy ship is becoming more and more prominent, while Neville is losing his boyfriend points with Pansy. There were hints of Blaise and Pansy’s mutual attraction for a long time – a vision where Pansy was pregnant with his child is especially telling. And now, Blaise is ready to take a beating on her behalf. Blaise himself realizes that he acts more like a Gryffindor now. I think it’s a good thing. He always had a heart, but his upbringing made him more cunning then brave, and current challenges are bringing out his courage and determination.

Review for chapter 157 part 2

Barty’s POV.
Saskia is Barty Sn’s late wife and Barty Jr’s mother. An unusual name for a British woman. Is she British? She must be Pure-Blood, because Barty Jr was considered a Pure-Blood in the books.

Upon learning of Voldemort’s return Barty come home to kill his son, before he reunited with his Master and commit more crimes. And he couldn’t. That decision is going to have a dire consequences – in the original, Barty Jr was instrumental to Voldemort’s return to power. Extremely competent and extremely devoted to the Dark Lord. And once he break free and reunite with his Master, he’s going to become a problem again. Though, probably not as big one as in the books. Fate tries to be more realistic in it’s approach, and made Voldemort’s followers, especially Loyalists, actually competent and terrifying. Barty on the other hand was arrested and put to jail at 19. However talented he was, he could not have become particularly powerful at that age, and certainly couldn’t maintain his skills, while under Imperius all these years. And even if somehow could, I highly doubt he is anywhere good enough to take on Alastor Moody and have any hope to actually win.

It was interesting to see Barty’s behavior under the Imperius Curse. He has acted almost normal. He was not a mindless zombie walking around with a singular purpose to follow the command of the caster. Well, that’s understandable, victims of the Imperius Curse must have maintain some level of autonomy and independent thought processes to not be instantly discovered. Hell, Barty Jr was even doing readings and writing poetry under the Curse. It’s really interesting how much exactly free will is taken under Imperius, and how much is left. Barty Sn thinks that his son’s a little more independent then he should be, indicating that he’s fighting back against the Imperius Curse still. I wonder what will happen to his mind once he get free? It was over a decade that he was mind enslaved by his father. It can’t possibly be that he’s mentally well after this.

Can’t blame Barty Sn for not killing his son. But I can blame him for not taking measures to make sure he won’t hurt other people. The chains won’t do it. He should have turn him over to the Aurors. Or, if he so much reluctant to endanger his son’s life and his own career, he could have turn him over to Dumbledore. It’s unlikely Albus would have exposed Barty, at very least until the end of the war. And he would’ve more the likely lock up Barty Jr in a better place than Azkaban. But leaving Barty Jr as he is now, makes his escape inevitable, one way or another. Most likely, it won’t happen at the Quidditch World Cup. With Voldemort’s return, Crouch won’t let him out of his house, even at Winky’s pleading.

Amelia’s POV.
Meeting with Bellator. Amelia too noticed that Lucia dress inappropriately, but unlike Ron she didn’t figured out Bellator is doing it to distract others, letting their guard down. At least, she’s smart enough to not trust her fully, and understands that Harper has his own agenda with his offer. And Bellator is more loyal to him then to Amelia.

Ironically, how they openly discuss the upcoming coup and Amelia’s dictatorship, even calling it outright as it is, yet still Amelia acts all self-righteous.

They come up with a decent plan for to secure Magical Britain for a time being. People wouldn’t be happy to be policed by foreigners, so Americans will be tracking down Azkaban escapees. Considered how good their international intelligence is, they’ll know immediately, if any of the escapees make a contact with any criminals to get illegal wands and flee the country. While British Auror would be keeping peace on the streets, and investigating Viktor’s victims. A solid plan for now. Though the fact that American Aurors will outnumber British almost 3 to 1 is concerning. Once she seize power, Amelia should start to build her own Auror force to get at least comparable numbers of Aurors loyal to her and British Ministry.

Good to see Amelia is puts strict restrictions on American Aurors and forbids them to use their usual violent methods.

Bellator is partly right – Aurors are dealing with lawbreakers and they have to use violence for this. Violence civilians are not ready for and don’t wish to know about. However, judging by everything we know about American Aurors, they come too far with their brutality. And they don’t even see the problem with it.

Crouch come back, and he’s ready to fight Voldemort once again, and he’s on board with Amelia’s coup plan. Amelia herself is way too unfair to Barty – just in a few hours she without a warning made the most provocative declaration in Ministry for Magic history, making herself and her allies the targets of the most powerful people in Britain; then informed him about her plans of a coup and about Voldemort’s return and upcoming war. She put so much on Crouch’s plate at once and was surprised when he lost his cool. Hell, even without a secret Death Eater son, it would have been a lot to deal with. Bones herself took her time to get over her shock when she first learned the truth herself, before she started acting. But somehow she expected Crouch to get over it then and there. A very peculiar sense on entitlement the Minister has. She also has this entitlement towards her Aurors when she judge Kingsley and Tonks for not feeling comfortable about participating in coup d etat, that they did not sign up in the first place. It’s not like they were in a league with Amelia for years or even months preparing her “revolution, like Rufus. She just informed them that they are going to overthrow Wizengamot just this morning. Without warning or preparation, or any convincing on her part. She just expects they will roll over with it. I think this is where she’ll start to lose their loyalty. Even just a little.

Amelia’s confrontation with Wizengamot. Hell, even Dumbledore come at the session, after Bones’ provocative declaration to the journalists. The whole Wizengamot come together for this, except Crouch who was preparing the Aurors. Interestinglyб that Dumbledore didn’t contacted Amelia privately before the Wizengamot session. They were suppose to work together against Voldemort. Amelia’s public accusation should have picked Albus’ interest.

I have to say Amelia challenging Wizengamot members and calling them out was badass! Bones probably felt catharsis when she for the first time said what she thought of them all to their faces. Such liberating feeling, when she shouldn’t pretend and be polite to them anymore! She put everything on the line for this plan of hers. She either win, or she’s finished, but there is no coming back. Can as well let it out of her chest.

Amos Diggory is totally right to call Bones a dictator when she refuses to answer to Wizengamot and stated they should answer to her, placing herself as an ultimate authority. Without anyone to hold the Minister accountable, it’s a textbook dictatorship.

Amelia raised a valid point about several members were given seats in Wizengamot simply because it’s reserved to their families, and not because they actually suited for the job. Her speech basically parallels Ron’s speech to Astoria in previous chapter – she and Pure-Blood Wizengamot members (majority of them) feel entitled for their positions, and squander them. Taking the benefits, but not taking responsibility. Though, I’m sad seeing confrontation between Amelia and Augusta Longbottom. Augusta always was reasonable, even if her devotion to the Old Ways was outdated. And we didn’t saw her ever abuse her position and power for personal gain. On the contrary she was very helpful.

Amelia’s accusation of Dumbledore’s faults as a Chief Warlock of Wizengamot was warranted. Albus indeed ignored his responsibilities way too often. He could have done better, Ron point it out in some previous chapters too. Though, even with Dumbledore’s ignoring his responsibilities, it’s still better him holding Chief Warlock position, then Malfoy’s or Yaxley’s puppet. Despite some truth of Amelia’s accusations, I think Dumbledore was one of the main reasons why Magical Britain is not that much subjugated by the Pure-Bloods as Eastern Magical Countries. Also, I totally disagree with Bones that Dumbledore don’t deserve a place in Wizengamot. Maybe not a Chief Warlock position, but he still deserve a voting seat. He didn’t become arguably the greatest wizard that ever to live by accident. And Amelia can’t even accuse Albus of having his seat thanks to his Pure-Blood heritage, because it’s a blatant lie – he did earned it through his own merit.

There can be another reason for Amelia’s antagonism towards Dumbledore. Her brother Edgar was in the Order and was killed with his family by the Death Eaters. Technically, it happened on Dumbledore’s watch. Rationally Amelia may understand it was not Dumbledore’s fault, but subconsciously she may resent him for inviting Edgar into the Order, which resulted in his death.

It’s hilarious how Amelia claims that these who break the Magical Law are not fit to rule, yet she is breaking the Magical Law to rule unopposed. By the Magical Law she can’t remove Dumbledore from his position as Chief Warlock yet, she does. By the Magical Law, she must answer to Wizengamot, but she refuses. I\m totally behind of Amelia cleaning up the Ministry from it’s corruption and incompetence, but he overzealous, fanatical even, worshipping of Magical Law disgusts me. Because people write the laws, and they are not inherently good by themselves. In previous chapter Ron blatantly pointed out that most of the laws are shite, yet Amelia is still stubbornly proclaim her devotion to it.

Amelia claims that she does not seek unquestionable power. It may be true that she’s not power-hungry for the sake of power itself. She’s not looking for power just to enjoy it, but because it’s the means to her greater goal. Yet, still she tries to reach this unquestionable power to achieve her goal nevertheless.

Took too long for Dumbledore to sense the gathering Aurors, and when he did it was already too late. Gaspard, and maybe even Artyom and Voldemort would have detected them earlier, I reckon. These three were hyped to be the best sensors in the series so far.

The revolution has began! And damn, it began dramatically! The timing of Aurors bursting into Wizengamot chambers was perfect! Amelia’s use of the Aurors to subjugate Wizengamot greatly resembles Ron’s burning Flint’s hand to take over Slytherin to me. Until this point, both of them were played by the rules, trying to climb the hierarchy ladder. And by this point they decided: Screw this! I’m not playing by the rules, I’m making them!

In all honesty, I didn’t expected it played out like this. When Yaxley and his Death Eaters allies manipulated Wizengamot to peg Ron down, after Mungo Gala, we were shown the importance of the Wizengamot. And I though, Ron will be working to take over it by recruiting it’s most trustworthy members into his alliance and playing his other allies into it. Like placing Sirius there, because he was already invited. Placing Samantha and Pansy there on a basis that their families have a hereditary seats, and since they are now heads of their respective families and not Death Eaters, they can claim them. I thought, he with the help of Solomon will capture all Azkaban escapees, except Loyalists, and make it look like Emilia caught them. He would publish in Quibbler the news of her achievement, and also her family story, how they were wrongly disgraced by the Ministry and consequently get her a seat at Wizengamot too. But turns out he pushed Amelia to make a stand and take over! I totally didn’t see it coming!

The entire coup plan was based on the assumption that Dumbledore would not use his power to put down Amelia’s revolution. Hilarious, how Bones tried to remove from power a man, who is so immensely powerful that he can do whatever he wants, and no one – even thirty Aurors – can stop him. Just imagine Dumbledore decided not to play by the rules anymore, and force his own will! His flexing his magical pressure was enough to make all the Aurors in the room shake in fear. Even Alastor was the most tense Amelia had ever saw him. Bones also vastly underestimated Dumbledore, not as a wizard, but as her intellectual superior. He instantly realized that Ron manipulated and pushed Amelia to do this coup, while Minister herself left awfully ignorant of the fact. I’m also glad he pointed out that what Amelia is doing is a path of tyranny, despite her noble speeches.

It would have been hilarious, if Dumbledore decided to screw Bones here, stunned one of the Aurors and then surrender himself.
Dumbledore: “Oh, no! I attacked an Auror! I surrender in your custody. Now – according to the Magical Law! – I have to serve 5 year sentence in the Azkaban”.
Amelia (to herself): “Shit! If I – already unpopular Minister – put Albus Dumbledore in Azkaban, people of Magical Britain will storm my office and hang me on my own guts! Not to mention, we would lose the only deterrent against the Dark Lord!”

The way Amelia treated Kingsley makes me think that he regime is not going to be very smooth. She committed a military coup, seizes power by force, and she does not have a lot of truly loyal people by her side. Americans are loyal to Harper and Wilkinson, and now she’s has unrest in her own rankings that she does not seem to address. Oh, she does though to herself that Kingsley would must choose between her and Dumbledore. But consider how he disapproves of her actions and her treatment… the result of such ultimatum may be not what she expected.

Review for chapter 157 part 1

Amelia Bones’ POV.
Yaxley used Imperiused Pius as his mouthpiece to convince Amelia to be the first to denounce the Butchers of Birmingham. Amazing, how skillfully Corban can manipulate Bones, without anyone even suspecting it. Truth to be told, Imperiused Thicknesse arguments were convincing on their own, even without Yaxley’s agenda in place. The Butchers were becoming popular in masses, and the Ministry should denounce them for the crimes they committed on British soil. Many would say that their crimes were justified – Charlie was one of them – it’s still was illegal.

Interestingly that Amelia seems to know that Pius wants to appease the Pure-Bloods with his insistence to condemn the Butchers, even if she does not suspect him to be Imperiused. Yet, she listens to his advices, if they make sense to her.

Unspeakables sent Amelia the letter with invitation to visit them? That’s interesting. We only saw Department of Mysteries in Ron’s soul-travel into another Universe, and it was more about fighting Death Eaters then the Mysteries. So many things to explore there. And the Veil and the prophecies are probably the least interesting things there. I mean, they already has an attention in the original novels, it’s time for other mysteries to shine. Like the brains.

Amelia’s thoughts on the Department of Mysteries were informative. This place is even more secretive then in the books, as even the Minister for Magic has no idea of what is happening here. Though, the Department members are not a secret – even Arthur knows Bode and Croaker, but didn’t know what are they doing. Funnily enough, Dumbledore knows something about this place, as he knows about Hall of Prophecies, and their defenses. He also knows about the Veil and the secret room that never opens and… has love? Where he even learned that and how? That puts Amelia at severe disadvantage, because thanks to Rookwood working there, he knows a lot about the Department, and so does Voldemort. He knew about the Hall of Prophecies existence even before he freed Rookwood, though he didn’t knew about it’s defenses.

I also wonder how exactly the Unspeakables were sustain their budget from the Ministry without producing any known results? And how exactly they are poaching people from other Departments? They what, can’t be refused or something? Amelia has the right idea to learn more about their work.

Moody left the hospital before his full recovery. His stubbornness is not good for his health in this case. If he leaves his damages untreated it’ll affect his performance as an Auror. He already crippled and disfigured, there is no need to further hurt himself. I get that he achieved what he had achieved thanks to that stubbornness of his, but right now he’d better to take care of himself. All British Aurors are overworking now, and we saw at Ron’s example how damaging for the health it can be. Not to mention his (Alastor’s) recent head trauma. Too bad it seems there is no one in Moody’s life to insist on taking care of him. Dumbledore could have, but he’s too busy with the war right now. Amelia didn’t even tried to convinced him to recover.

Not only Harry was invited at the latest Order of Phoenix meeting, but also Amelia and Robards. Why don’t Madam Roberts though? They probably figured she’s too busy with investigating Azkaban escapees. That’s good that they bringing her in – the united front is going to bring better results than separated. I love these meeting where important things are discussed and planned out! And Amelia wants to bring Crouch as well. Which is logical, she long overdue the revelation of Voldemort’s return to him. Turns out, she appointed him the Head of DMLE before revealing the truth about Voldemort’s return to make sure he won’t refuse the position. That was so cold on her part. Bones might be a Hufflepuff, but she’s a real politician for sure. Can’t say I approve of such schemes. Surely, it brings results, but it’s not a way to treat your friend.

Amelia gives Barty to much credit for the First War, I think, Surely, he was an indomitable leader and Head of DMLE, and boldly authorized the usage of Unforgivable Curses for Aurors, which brought better results. Nut he certainly was not the ONLY reason Ministry didn’t fall in the war. Dumbledore played a much more significant part in it, being the only wizard to match and actually deter Voldemort himself. And in Fate he was much more active on the frontlines then in the books. Not to mention the help from the Order of the Phoenix, that he created.

Moody comes to a decision to choose the Ministry over the Order. He’s not a guy who would lie and pretend, so we can consider him genuine. I wonder how much an injury from Ron influenced that decision? I mean, thanks to that incident Moody learned that Rufus’ suspicions about Ron were right, and he’s a Butcher of Birmingham, and that Dumbledore knows and mostly supports Ron in his endeavors. Mostly. That probably shaken his faith in Dumbledore, and strengthened his faith in Rufus’ and his path.

Still he has enough loyalty to the Order to speak up on their behalf to Amelia. And Amelia… her rant pissed me off to no end when she accused Dumbledore and the Order! Aurors must save Magical Britain? Dumbledore undermine the Ministry? Not allow the Order to be hailed as heroes? Take away their wands? True justice? Damn, I’m so infuriated by her self-righteousness and hypocrisy! Right at that moment Bones greatly resembled Umbridge to me! Ministry this, Ministry that, Magical Law, Justice… where were your justice when Scrimgeour confessed to you that he broke your precious Magical Law and investigated Ron? When he bribed his Healer and illegally pole his nose into his medical records? What justice he deserved for this, and what the Magical Law says about Bones herself when she decided to cover the whole thing up? When was your Magical Law when Sirius was sitting in Azkaban for a decade without a trial? And don’t even get me started on the whole “let’s ignore Carrows crimes” situation. Undermine the Ministry? Bitch, what were you doing when you gave Ron files and used him against Fudge? How convenient that she forgot the justice and the magical law when it comes to her own crimes. I’m not mad that she have done it, but the sheer hypocrisy truly infuriates me. Everyone are wrong, and only Amelia is right because she’s brining justice and follows magical law! Only, justice is a subjective thing and everyone decide for themselves what is just, and magical law is written by people with agendas and more than once we directed to oppress people. She talks about fanatics loyal to Dumbledore, well Amelia exposed herself to be a fanatic of her idealized version of the Ministry and Magical Law!

The press conference. Amelia Bones speech was great! So bold! She openly confessed Ministry’s corruption and point fingers at the culprits – rich Pure-Bloods and their pocket Wizengamot members, the most powerful people in Britain – essentially she declared a war on them! Well, this is it, Ron’s meddling finally pushed her to this. To make a stand and take a challenge. There is no going back from it for Amelia. She can’t back off after this, or she’s done. From now on, it’s only a way forward for her. And I’m happy about it! Amelia was hyped as a real deal, a woman with iron soul, for a long time. But there were little indication of this in the story. Yes, she was competent, and relatively strong-willed, but she was pushed around and overwhelmed by her challenges so many times, it felt she’s greatly overrated. And now, Amelia finally took a stand, putting everything on the line to achieve her grand ambition and Make the Ministry Great Again! Or make It great for the first time ever! The funniest thing. It was orchestrated by Ron’s manipulations! He pushed her to this, he almost forced her to take this path, cutting off any other of her options other than giving up!

Amelia’s talk with Pius after the conference. Well, even not Imperiused, he had a right to be mad with Bones. To pull such a stunt without any heads up is just mean. Though, Bones surprisingly was right to do so, because Pius was Imperiused and if he knew he could warn Yaxley and others. So Amelia was right for wrong reasons.

And even Imperiused, Pius is right, Amelia’s plan to take over and threaten Wizengamot, if they try to sack her is a path of dictatorship, not far away from tyranny. The Wizengamot, however corrupt it is, does have the power to appoint and sack Ministers. That’s exactly how they get rid off Fudge and appoint her as a Minister in the first place. To resist their decision and throwing them into Azkaban for this is blatant usurpation of power. The thing that pisses me off about Amelia is her self-righteousness and hypocrisy! Corruption and nepotism are against the Magical Law, but power usurpation is alright as long as she’s doing it. The Order is breaking the Magical Law to do the right thing, and she plans to punish them. She breaks the Law to do the right thing, but I hardly doubt she’s going to punish herself for it. The hypocrisy! I’m mostly agree with her actions – to take a bold stand to fight against the corruption, and not just with words, but with deeds is a good thing. But her attitude makes me mad with her.

Talk with Crouch. As expected, to proceed with her plans Amelia took Harpers offer, his Aurors and his gold. Well, she didn’t had any other choice to do this otherwise, but this decision gives Americans a foothold in Magical Britain. Ron may keep in line Wilkinson and Reyes, but he still didn’t got a hold on Harper, and this guy can advance many of his plans, if being left unchecked.

Amelia actually made a valid point that the Wizengamot corruption let many of the Death Eaters get away unpunished after the First Wizarding War. But there is also an economical problem to this. It’s not the bribes that are so devastating, it’s the fact that Pure-Bloods are controlling the majority of countries’ wealth. It wouldn’t be such a tremendous problem, if Goblins didn’t guarantee safety of their gold in Grinngotts, even from the Ministry. So even if Pure-Blood criminals are convicted, the Ministry cannot confiscate their gold from their vaults in Grinngotts, because Goblins won’t allow it. And they can’t move against Goblins because they already control all the gold and it would lead to an economical collapse.

Amelia actually thought through the needed reforms for the Ministry and already has plans what and how to implement them. Copying the Americans Judge System to replace the Council of Magical Law, sounds good on paper. And it’s good that there will be a place for a jury in this. However it is not a guarantee defense against the corruption. Judges could be easily bought, as well as the jury. Still, I’m interested how it will proceed and how will be appointed as judges. There should be at least one known character to pick up the job. Maybe Percy will be one for a while, since his place at Amelia’s side is no more? Or maybe it’ll be Albert Runcorn? The Death Eaters sympathizer, who will prove that Amelia’s system is not a corrupt-proof?

Amelia is going to select Wizengamot members herself. Totally not dictatorship, indeed. Who does she think she deceives?

It was amusing how butthurt Amelia was when she listed Wizengamot members who don’t deserved a seat. All are Ron’s allies. Damn, he pushed her buttons really hard! She definitely don’t like to be challenged, and Ron challenged her most brazenly. Yet still, I was glad to see Amelia has a reluctant respect for Ron and his accomplishments. And she’s planning to ally with him, due to his Quibbler and his willingness to help people. It would be interesting to see how their partnership will proceed. Even with American Aurors and their gold, Amelia still needs the goodwill of people, and Ron can back her up with that, being Britain’s Golden Boy.

Amelia is making a revolution, and she was planning it with Rufus for some time. Yeah, judging the rate their “preparation” for this revolution had been going, you could safely say they would’ve never actually started it. And they grandiose plans would have died in vain. Bones was hesitated to initiate them, even when she was appointed a Minister and was promised support from Harper. If Ron didn’t pushed her, first with Wizengamot, and second with injuring Moody and walking away with it, I think Amelia wouldn’t dared initiate her plans at all. Ron is truly the Champion – the one who changes the course of Fate.

Also, interestingly that Amelia claims that she and Barty rise to their Ministry rankings through their own merit, and not family money like other Pure-Bloods. But Barty is a Pure-Blood, a member of twenty eight sacred families no less. Yet somehow, Barty does not seem to be outrageously wealthy, like some other Pure-Bloods. Yes, he’s well off financially, but not exactly rich. Corban Yaxley spent two million galleon to repair all roads in Magical Britain, and it didn’t make a dent in his vaults. Yet Barty didn’t even tried to fund the Ministry out of his own pocket. Which brings me to conclusion that somewhere down the line Crouch family lost it’s incredible wealth. Something like this could have happened to Greengrasses, if Sebastian didn’t killed his father and take over.

Surprisingly, Crouch greatly mistaken when he thinks it’s not the right time for a revolution. On the contrary, crisis is the best time for revolution. You can rally satisfied and appeased masses for such tremendous changes. As Aang once said: when you hit your lowest point, you are open to the greatest change.

Amelia finally revealed truth about Voldemort’s return to Barty. And as expected Crouch didn’t took the news well, and bolted to check on his son.

Sadly this is the chapter that marks the end of the story, after this chapter Ron no longer has redemption. After the sadism that Ron showed, his redemption no longer makes sense or justification. All that remains is to follow a single path to make the story darker, more perverse and violent. All hope of redemption ended in this chapter. What a sad ending, what a nice way to pay tribute to the story of Harry Potter by turning it into such a dark, violent and perverse story.

Was this chapter really necessary? What is the real purpose of this chapter? Prove that the world is sick? And that the only solution is to become just as sick? What is your intention to make Ron meaner? What is the development for the character? We already know that the world is bad. Why do you only focus on creating evil than on developing the story?, you prefer to create drama than on developing the story. I don't see a purpose for this chapter than just creating drama.