Expose

"Well, now, that's the part I did see coming," Khaat smiled slightly. "I presume you'd prefer my genuine thoughts and not public relations twaddle. So--here it is.

"The marriage law, in my humble opinion, is a piece of utter hypocrisy. We make great flowing speeches about how we pride ourselves on freedom, and so then we respond by regulating one of the most intimate forms of relationship that mankind has.

"That being said, whether the Ministry wants you to know this or not, I do. The law bears my father's signature, but he absolutely did not sign it. The law is dated the day after he was attacked and nearly killed. At the time when he allegedly signed this, he was in the hospital.

"So--am I telling you this law is a forgery? Absolutely, it is. And that means that someone went to great lengths to get my father out of their way to put this law into motion. The fact that the law was signed within hours of the assassination attempt on my father says to me that the law was premeditated. And--the fact that this law specifies that only my father can reverse it says they were counting on being rid of him either permanently or indefinitely. No, I don't know by whom or why. I presume its like any other sort of treachery--it either promised to pay someone off in money or power or both.

"We will find whoever has done this, and we will bring them to justice," Khaat said. "My telling you all this surely will make the culprit run a little deeper into hiding, but the public deserves to know the truth. That there is some sort of enemy in their midst--and we will find him or her out."

Wow. Pansy was hit with a bombshell, a bombshell that could lead to one of two decisions: include everything in one article or leave out this extra detail about the marriage law a week later, it would certainly keep her as the limelight reporter and perhaps add momentum to fuel the support of the Lupins and possibly strengthen the fuel in the fire against the marriage law.

Both Pansy and her quill paused for a moments thought after Khaat concluded the shocking truth. It was planned and planned to great depth. Could the marriage law and James Blood be related? Possibly not, unless it was Bloods intention all along? Make us bicker among each other, weaken the nations unity then strike to claim the country as his own. A country packed out with werewolves ready to proceed onto the rest of the world.

'Do you have any ideas who is behind the law? Ana Levski, Elijah Krum?' Pansy suggested, throwing the two most recognised names when it came to the law - after all it was those two who had carried out the meetings, threatening Azkaban sentences and ensuring the smooth running of the marriage Law.


(OOC: I genuinely raised a hand to my mouth when I read that haha)

ooc: hahahaha.  

"Not the foggiest," Khaat said. "The Ministry is a very large place, so I surely don't know everyone. I can't speak to her involvement or lack of it. There are many faces now that have risen to the forefront since my father and I were injured.  Part of that is completely expected because the Ministry does need to go on.  

"But for some reason, I don't see it as being that easy.  Its too complicated a matter for someone to take that time and energy to be so meticulous to be hidden and then merely come straight out and sign their name to it.  No, I don't think that's likely.

"I don't know Levski personally, so I can't speak to her. As for Elijah, there's no motivation there.  He doesn't need the money--he's already got it. And he doesn't need or want power.  If he did want power, he already had it at the time. He already had fame, so I don't honestly see the motivation.  

"Besides that here's the additional rub.  Whoever did this, deliberately attacked Thaor Elldir and started the whole chain reaction that followed.  No one would ever have ambushed Thaor. Thaor was a schoolmate at the same time as my father. We knew him.  No novice could have taken him by surprise. The sort of attack that struck Thaor was beyond a lot of witches' and wizards' capabilities and makes them exceptionally dangerous.

"No, I think we have at least two significant threats.  The danger from James is very real, and most people underestimate him. This new law is much the same.  I think there is something greater going on here.  

"Understand, I am certainly not endorsing that anyone break the law and place themselves in Azkaban.  Certainly not. I detest what it does to our citizens. It forces us to get involved in the deepest possible ways for what looks to me like flawed logic, and I fear it will force us to construct flawed, dysfunctional families for the sake of protecting ourselves from prison sentences.

"And as much as I detest it? My father detests it even more, but it is essential that we get to the root of whoever is responsible for this. Simply overturning the law does not help us in the long run. We must find who wishes us all this much harm and stop them."

Pansy listened. This was a lot of information she was getting down and if she were to include everything it would no doubt take the first seven or so pages of the Daily Prophet. How lovely. Of course Pansy would need more than just writing all over the place, a few photographs is Khaat was up to the task. Before she could consider asking for a picture, however, any opportunity had rose.

'You've mentioned your Father a lot.' Pansy began. 'Told us of his illness, however it has been eight months or so since his attack, he hasn't been seen in public and appears to have lost control of the Ministry to an extent. Can you go into more detail about what he is doing? How extensive are his injuries? Does he himself have a message for the nation?'

'Even if it is just background knowledge for myself. I wont include anything in the article you don't want me to.' Pansy added strongly. Khaat Lupin was good enough to sit down for a full feature interview the least the reporter could do was obey any wished that the family had.

"Do you play chess, Ms. Parkinson-Nott?" Khaat asked with a slight smile, fully intending to drop hints now rather than to come out and reveal deeper strategies. She wasn't fool enough to believe that the reporter wouldn't follow. She was counting on it.

"My father loves it. Do not underestimate him. If he had a message, that would be it. The sure way to lose a chess game is to believe that your opponent has lost control and has become hopelessly mired. Don't count him out unless he counts himself out.

"Consider for a moment," she said, trying to drop a hint, "that he is not as idle as it would appear. Yes, he is still ill, but that doesn't mean that he is home propping his feet up. Quite the contrary.

"His injuries almost killed him, but nothing has been more important to him than putting this all to rights. Nothing is more important to him than being able to get back to overturn this ridiculous law. To stop James and to protect our families."

The truth was that if Robert went back too soon, he'd never discover who was behind this, and it would only lead to some other cataclysmic problem. He wanted this person stopped once and for all. The curse that Robert suffered was quite real, but that didn't mean that Robert wasn't above using it to catch the criminal that was hurting his fellow countrymen.

Pansy's dark eyes squinted as she tried to follow Khaat. Her message was cryptic, metaphorical and for the first time in an interview really made Madame Parkinson-Nott think about what was being said. There had to be a meaning to it, something Khaat wanted Pansy to be aware of without coming out and saying it straight out.

The nation believed Lupin to be ill, extensively ill, ill beyond imagination. They figured he would soon resign from his Minister position and spend his final days with his family but from Khaat was saying Pansy didn't see that happening. It wasn't the nation being fooled it was the enemy. Lupin was simply biding his time and the longer he stayed out of sight the more fuel in the bonfire of rumors that would make the enemy more comfortable, make them more likely to show their colours then...

'He's waiting?' Pansy guessed her eyes widening. 'Wanting the enemy to become more comfortable? He's taking advantage of his ailment?' They were guesses but calculated guesses. The death eaters wanted Lupin in power, Pansy wanted the marriage law stopped and if that mean't shaping her article to fit Robert Lupin's plans then so be it.

'In the report.' Pansy began, 'What do you want me to write about your Father? Say he is still weakened? If I did that it would make the enemy more likely to come forward in an attempt to claim power, but then it could dampen the nations hopes of his return? They'd either give up or fight, start a revolution.' Pansy was no longer talking to Khaat Lupin, here eyes were darting across the notes her quill had made as she tried to connect the pieces for herself and figure out what would happen.

"Off the record," Khaat said. "What does it do for him to go back while he is not well, looking like a shadow of what anyone else thinks he is? If you were pulling some of these strings in the Ministry right now and you had every reason to believe that to get everything you ever wanted, all you had to do was to continue keeping one old man at bay?

"I think," Khaat said, "in this matter, we're on the same side, and we do not need whoever is behind all this to go any farther under a rock. I would much rather he be overconfident in his decision making.

"You surely didn't get this interview because you're new on the job. You got it because you're very capable. You know the weight of your words and how they will come across to your readers. You also know that power that has, and you know how to use it. It is part of why you're here.

"You know what's at stake here now. I'm going to have to trust you to do your job," she said. "Our people need to know the facts. But--it is perfectly permissible to hold back a card or two if it helps to end this sooner for us all. We surely won't withhold any information forever. We merely need to use it wisely and keep our eyes focused on the real problem here.

"Remember your Hogwarts history. Albus Dumbledore's strength was not in what he said. His strength was in what he didn't say. For some of us, when we fought Voldemort, we had to learn that lesson just to survive the war. The same strategy seems to me to apply here very well."

All of a sudden what Pansy had thought would be a juicy exclusive, a chance to steal some limelight within the media industry had become a gravity denfying conversation. The situation the world was in was more dangerous, more scary than the death eater could have ever imagined and she was no a part of that.

Pansy listened to Khaat's words. Normally a smile of triumph would have spread across her face at the mention of her talents and the power she held but not now. Not now she knew the facts, not now she knew how influential she could become.

The exclusive would require planning and it was a good job she had booked the entire week off from work. Perhaps she would start off with a light bite for the reader, make things seem a bit clearer for them to begin to guess themselves, then bring in the marriage law. The marriage law needed to fall and for that to happen the culprit needed to be caught.

Dumbledore. The mention of his name would have made Pansy cringe in her very clothes, internally she did - it was a reflex - but what Khaat said was true. Dumbledore had kept private on a lot of issues during her time at Hogwarts and now it seemed the Lupins were following in his footsteps. For now Pansy was an ally to that strategy, something she hadn't done before. In her past Pansy had been the gossip, the one to dish the details but now her journalism would revolve around an entire different strategy.

First Blood needed to be stopped. He was a problem and a distraction from the real issues and Pansy had the perfect idea to aid his downfall as her eyes passed over the face of Khaat Lupin.

'People know you were attacked by Blood, they know you were held hostage.' Pansy stated. 'Perhaps, if you were up to it, you would pose for a photograph without make-up? Allow our readers to see the damage inflicted on the front page. A strong image of your scars would serve well to strengthen the desire to bring him down. A picture can paint a thousand words.'

That struck Khaat coldly.  It hadn't been part of the discussions she'd had with her father.  Hadn't been brought up.  It appeared to her to be the one thing left out.

She hesitated, about to pick up her tea cup when Marcus stepped in.

"Let me warm that up for you," he said quietly.  He refilled her cup.  "Ms. Parkinson-Nott? Another cup?"

He redirected his focus for the moment on Khaat.  He knew that part of the reason she hid from the world was how badly damaged she was from Blood.

"Tell her the truth," Marcus said to her. "Tell her the rest of the reasons why you hide. Don't think he didn't know this would come up.  It was a given."  

She didn't respond for a moment, but instead, she took the teacup from him and took a thoughtful sip.

"Have you noticed," he spoke to Pansy, "the entire time you've been here, she hasn't moved her left arm? There's a reason for that.  The same night she earned those scars, he crushed her shoulder. There are some hideous scars on her shoulder too. She was, flat out, mauled.

"She was in danger for weeks of losing her arm at her shoulder.  As it is, it's completely paralyzed now, and nothing but the strongest pain potion that Robert can brew controls the pain from the nerve damage.  She's not been able to take it until the last couple of days because she was pregnant.  Now that the twins are here, she can take it again.  

"If Robert were well enough, he could heal this and remove the scars as well. But until that happens, not only does she have to worry about Blood tracking her every move, but she has her own injuries that still impair her."

He looked at Khaat. "We need to do this," Marcus said quietly, knowing how deeply ashamed she felt because of the disfigurement, knowing the deep personal pain this was for her and the memories of James it brought up for her. It made the trauma fresh in her mind every time she saw the scars.  "You are one of the best protected women in England, and he still got to you.  What about the other men and women and children that have no bodyguards? What about them?  You live because we were there.  There are a lot of people out there that don't have that option.  We have to do whatever it takes to stop him.  If you want James to be truly known for the monster he is, you give her pictures."  

"Alright," she said quickly, too quickly, regretting the word as it left her mouth.

'Yes Please, Mr Belby.' Pansy replied sweetly. She didn't need another cup of tea but the more she drank the longer the stayed and the longer they stayed the more information Pansy could use and take power over.

How delicious. An added bit of information to support the war against James Blood. Pansy wasn't overly concerned about the fact Khaat Lupin was paralysed in one arm, sure it was sad but she was alive and the death eater was secretly pleased Khaat had suffered the injury to enhance her article.

'Perfect.' Pansy replied before reaching down for her bag and pulling out a disposable muggle camera. Usually she would have brought along her photographer but seeing as the meeting was secret Pansy had purchased the muggle equipment instead, she could get someone in the Prophet to enhance the image for the front page.

Standing up Pansy looked at Khaat and Marcus.

'Would you mind taking your shoulder out from your sleeve?' Pansy asked. She herself would have helped but figure it would keep Khaat more comfortable if Marcus helped with this bit seeing as she might not be able to do it herself.