MINISTRY PRESS CONFERENCE

Gideon felt confident that this was going to be the turning point of his bid for power in the Ministry. He finally had the Marriage law where he wanted it. He had the old man all but discredited. He had all halfbreed creatures properly reclassified from humans to animals, he had set in motion the wheels to have all werewolves caught or killed on sight. And he had Hogwarts right under his thumb. No one was going to ever find out what happened to the former board of governors members. Gideon saw no one who could rival him right now.

And his newest pieces of legislation was geared to unseat the old man himself. It was a new piece, geared to call on the medical fitness/competency of the old buggar and would have him permanently removed. That would guarantee that the new laws Gideon had put forth, and the other new ones that were still in the works that he hadn't shared yet, would be permanent and irrevocable.

It made all of wizarding England unquestionably in Gideon's command. He smiled, self confident, pleased with himself. He had called an open press conference to usher in his new state of "the greater good" with the increased protections that everyone seemed to be so intent upon demanding. Well, he laughed to himself, why not give the people what they think they want?

He had had appropriate banners hung in the Ministry atrium. They were magical, starting with the Ministry symbol, then changing to say promotional slogans such as "Protection for Wizarding Families," "Safety," "Security," "Health," "Prosperity for All," and the like.

He'd had an appropriate platform erected in the Atrium to make his address from. He had dressed appropriately in formal black robes--the robes of the Minister of Magic, not the Deputy Minister. The old man was about to be permanently removed from being a thorn in his side.

He double checked his appearance. It was about time for it all to begin.

It didn't seem like anyone had much of a choice anymore. Not in the Ministry's eyes, anyway. That said, anyone who was even the slightest bit concerned about the upcoming changes and whatever Gideon planned to announce had shown up to the conference. Glancing around, Avery caught sight of Keiran and wished he hadn't decided to come. But then, he had been more upset about some of the changes than she had, so he seemed to have a bit more right to being there than she did. Regardless, she knew she had to show up. Something was brewing, and she didn't like the feeling of it.

Especially after her talk with Michael about everything their Deputy Minister had been doing recently. Would Robert do anything? Avery genuinely hoped so. No one else seemed to have the power to change things anymore - not Keiran with his grand plans, or her husband and his friends in their desire to sort things out on their own. The Order and the Knights' Watch both seemed to have failed in any attempts to take Gideon down. Or perhaps they were biding there time to see what the man did first, considering she had yet to actually hear about anything from either side. Robin sure hadn't mentioned anything. Gavin and Audriana hadn't either.

Keiran caught Avery's gaze from across the room, offering a nod that clearly said he wanted to talk with her, but the situation was too tense to pretend things were normal. She just held his gaze, keeping her expression neutral, until he turned towards Millie again, curling an arm around her back.

In a flat in downtown London at that very moment, the most recent addition to the Order - their new co-Leader, in fact - was getting closer and closer to death after the vaccine trial that the Ministry had purposefully ruined. It wasn't like any of them could have known, of course, but one brunette walking into the room had figured it out. And Audriana was not ready to accept the idea that someone at the Ministry could get away with purposefully harming the Wizarding race. If that disease spread... the number of deaths would be both astounding and catastrophic. Whoever had come up with the idea would be in for quite the shock when the realized someone had caught them. So it was to the gala that she went, bringing anyone from the Order who was willing to help keep an ear out for any proof that the Ministry was behind it.

Audriana caught sight of Ariella across the room, and made her way across the main hall to greet her. It took some effort not to cross her arms over her chest when she made it there, as was her habit when she felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable. It was a defense mechanism more than anything, but most everyone who knew her had come to understand that she wasn't actually upset with the person she was talking to so much as upset with the situation.

"Thank you for coming," Audriana offered as she came up beside Ariella. "I'm convinced that whatever Oliver was given wasn't actually a vaccine. Or maybe they gave him that and something else. It doesn't make sense that he would be so sick from something like an allergy to a medicine. Not when he's got a fever, can barely move, all the rest. It's not right."

Glancing around the room, Audriana took in the sight of several other members of the Order as they ambled around, pretending to just be there to hear about the new laws. They could only hope that someone accidentally said something they shouldn't have, or that Gideon himself said something about the disease. People were being quarantined, and the word was getting out. The Daily Prophet had mentioned it, besides, so people were bound to be worrying about it already.

"If you hear or see anything that you find is suspicious, let me know. The sooner we find out who did this, the more likely it is that we can prevent anyone else from getting sick."

Lorcan arrived at the Atrium, with his wife Zada. She had gotten the time from her classes to come to the press conference. He wanted her with him today. He knew no one better with a killing curse. She was, after all, primarily an assassin.

They both knew how to look cool and poised even in the most difficult situations. He was particularly careful to reflect the money and power that was his. He was dressed in a tailored black suit, with icy buttons, cufflinks and accessories. He had a long black duster to take the chill away from the October weather.

Walking with him, Zada's tall slender form was a perfect compliment to his own. He respected the way she could carry herself as the finest in regal consorts if she needed to. She was dressed in black with a long black hooded cloak.

Lorcan knew Zada understood his outrage at Gideon Pierce. The recent laws had reclassified him, because of his half vampire heritage, as an animal. No longer was he considered human at all, in any sense. He was not given the privilges anymore of being human. He was to be under the regulations of any other animal in the wizarding world.

The Death Eater leader was livid. He wanted Gideon Pierce, minimally, out of power. But preferably, Lorcan D'Eath wanted Gideon Pierce very, very dead. As far as Lorcan was concerned, Mr. Pierce's reign needed to be terminated--with extreme prejudice and malice.

Heads would roll.

Jack was angry. With this newest law regarding magical creatures, half of her friends were now under scrutiny of the Ministry, with a large percentage of them having already been investigated into. She had snuck in, once again, and managed to steal Charlie's creature file from the Ministry, at least to buy her cousin some time, but she had not been able to do the same for anyone else. Instead, her home had been opened up for the students at the school, her werewolf pals, and... well, anyone else, just in case.

But if she could avoid packing dozens on werewolves and vampires and angsty veelas into her home and let them live their lives like the normal human beings they were... well, that worked so much better.

Jack tucked her hands into her jacket, her beanie sitting snug over her ears.Tomas was watching Lize and Sunny at home, and she had dropped a few hints to Max that some intense stuff might happen at the press conference that day. She could not, of course, just come out and say what she was doing - poor Max would become an accomplice. And she did not need yet another accomplice.

The Knight's Watch was on call. Kip's friends and Gabby were waiting out of sight to help if need be. Jack swiveled her head about and caught the blue gaze of her half-brother. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards, hanging there as she moved towards the middle of the crowd, where she knew she could affect the most people.

All she needed to start a revolution was an opening.

Michael had a knack of finding Jack no matter what. He was very glad she was here today. Michael was on a mission, and he very much felt he would need back up. When Michael needed back up, it was not at all uncommon for him to want that person to be Jack.

He was always amused at how witches and wizards thought absolutely nothing of a figure whose face was completely concealed by a black cloak. He had added a bit of a stale firewhiskey smell to the cloak, simply to ward the average wizard away from him. It was a simple ruse he rarely used, but it suited his purposes today. He carried his wand deceptively casually in one hand, and he made his way through the crowd to Jack.

He purposely jostled a person slightly behind him--a person who was already highly agitated. The wizard angrily cursed at Michael and shoved him away, jostling Michael against Jack. The instant he found himself tossed against her, he slipped a red marble into her pocket.

"Come with me," he whispered into her ear, already starting to slip away again off towards a side passage.

Lee Shepherd's position demanded that he keep as close to the inside track of what England's wizarding government did, as much as possible. It was what brought him to the Ministry Atrium today.

American was still technically an ally with England, but Lee was feeling more and more pressure to end that age old alliance if Pierce were to be allowed to continue to run roughshod over the British people. Pierce's apparent arrogance intrigued Lee. What was His High and Mightiness up to now? How far would that arrogance go?

Lee knew the strain this placed on the British people. He wasn't sure they were going to tolerate any more. He also knew, though, that while many people felt very certain that Gideon Pierce should not be in power, very little proof existed that allowed him to be unseated. Did anyone have any proof on him now, or would Pierce offer up more barbaric laws and controls?

Lee positioned himself at the back of the room, close to one of the many floos that were there. He leaned up against the black marble wall, lazily crossing one foot over the other, his hands in his gray wool topcoat pockets. In the right pocket, his right hand had a tight grip on his wand, ready to fire if he had to.

Estella did not expect to be invited to a press conference, but then again, since she worked in the ministry of magic and dealt with magical creatures, she knew a lot about what was going with them.
Honestly put, she did not like the new laws the Ministry was announcing from time to time. First the marriage law and now the elimination of werewolf students from school, not to mention that they basically declared a witch hunt on them.

Then there was another disease spreading around. Estella bit her lower lip as she opened the pack of chewing gum and put one into her mouth. Expressing her emotions would be a difficult task right now. She felt angry and relieved at the same time. Maybe now they will be given some answers, although that was doubtful. She looked at Gideon Pierce and could tell that from him they would get nothing but no good lies.

And she was angry because so many people with a great potential were now excluded from everything. Estellla Krum sighed quietly and chewed. She looked around. Although she was not affiliated with the Order or the Death Eaters, she was certain that some of the members of both of the groups were there.

She sat next to someone (Ariella):"Did I miss something?" the woman asked casually, as if she was already aware of who the other one was.