The Pureblood Coup

Lilith: Thanks for reviewing again.

Sheherazade: I am no longer upset about liking writing this stuff as I shudder to think of it in real life! Somebody on fanfiction.net calls the last cannibalism scene "sexually perverted." And this person said this story is a step down from what it used to be. I think they are wrong though, because sex is a huge part of the story, but the plot is still war and politics, in my opinion.


Continuation of….





Chapter Ten: Festival of the Pure-Bloods





Voldemort had revived himself to calm after the disaster with Bellatrix so that nobody could detect his anger. It was now pushed from his mind, sitting at the head of the table. The table was returned to its usual place in the center of the room once again. The pallor of him shone and his eyes glinted, becoming ever darker perhaps from the firelight behind him, with it's purple flames making shadows dance on the walls and floor. He rolled his wand over the table's polished surface with malaise, and thoughts of gloom spread throughout the darkness of Voldemort's mind.



The Carrows conjured goblets and poured wine in them from the two over-sized crystal decanters. Each had brought a decanter at Pettigrew's instruction when he told them Voldemort requested drinks. Amycus, the bloke of the two Carrow siblings, poured some of the blood-red wine into his first conjured goblet. Placing it before Voldemort, he said carefully “Pomegranate Elf-Made Wine, My lord.”



Voldemort did not even touch the drink, but waited. He seemed to be untrustworthty regarding the wine.



Amycus and Alecto poured themselves a fresh goblet-full and then so did Severus Snape.



Voldemort did not take a sip of the wine, but the others did. Instead, he leaned against the back of the chair, leisurely, and stretched his white hands out in front of the goblet, the emerald and silver studded forearm bracers glittering.



“Although this is only for a meeting with me regarding plans that are a month in advance, it should be clear why I have requested the three of you. Monday, the Daily Prophet will announce that you, Severus Snape, are the confirmed Headmaster of Hogwarts…”



Voldemort inclined his head rigidly towards Snape to his immediate right. It seemed he had not moved a single muscle though, as nobody could detect movement in that vicar-like collar.



Looking thoughtfully ahead into the distance across the table he continued, “The youth belongs to me, and I shall yield them to no one. Our educational system may be renowned the world over for the best, yet it is to be destroyed. Refined, yet ultimately destroyed….”



At these shocking words, Snape couldn’t help but widen his eyes indignantly. Luckily, Voldemort did not see. Finally, Voldemort’s hands were cupping his goblet, and he was taking a measured sip of the wine, as the proof it was innocuous came from the others taking their drinks originating from the same bottles.



After the stunned silence, to which he drank to, Voldemort continued, “Weakness shall no longer be tolerated at Hogwarts…Strength of character and mind, in strict terms of magical ability shall be rewarded.”



“And what of the security for Hogwarts, My Lord?”



“I shall have dementors stationed outside every entrance of the grounds to prevent outsiders. Visitors will be subjected to a thorough search. And…I know why you ask this of me, Severus. You are worried you will be killed by some angry student or staff member seeking revenge over the death of Dumbledore. I assure you, that neither the students nor the staff may threaten the headmaster’s life. For be it known, that whoever kills my…top lieutenant, I will kill… slowly - a most painful death.”



“I was not worried, My Lord,” Snape said and he added, “But, of course I shall announce your warning at the start of term speech…”



“But what about the sorting ceremony? Shall we keep that untouched, My lord?”



“For now…for now the sorting stays. Yet we shall do away with the house point system, as alternative methods of correction will suffice. Points are a trifle waste of time, and encourages discordance and competition. We shall also ban Quidditch completely, through reenacting whatever educational decree disbanded it during the ministry’s involvement in Hogwarts two years ago.



“I understand Potter…he will not return to school. He knows I am hunting him, and unfortunately he may not be foolish enough to take bait,” Voldemort added. He always seemed to bring up Harry Potter unpredictably out of nowhere.



Snape nodded heartily to those words, in total agreement. “Yes – that is true, My lord. But what of Lucius? I mean, regarding his former role as school governor. You must understand - Lucius has the school’s best interests at heart and you know his strong stance against muggleborns. I think he is very upset at being thrown off the school board…”



Voldemort cocked his head, considering for a short moment. Then his slit pupils seemed to roll up to the ceiling, the eyes bulging with anger, popping out of the lash-less lids. Intransigently he explained, “Lucius…is not to be on the school board. His influence is full of his own self-centered desires, usurping his power for further encroaching of the ministry. I am not sorry to see him go… I am currently playing a game if you will, with the Malfoys. They believe I will not allow their son, to return to school, but ultimately I shall. It matters not, their boy, Draco is useless ….”



Alecto was suddenly giggling mischievously, reacting to these words about the Malfoy’s state. Her brother, Amycus joined with a nearly identical wheezy giggle. Voldemort looked towards them expressionlessly, and finally making eye contact, they stopped laughing, Alecto starting to feign a sneezing fit.



But it was Snape who asked, “What could possibly be funny?”



“Nothing, actually. We wanted to know what our role as co-deputy headmaster will be?” answered Amycus eagerly.



“It is very simple, you are in charge of all discipline…,” Voldemort answered tersely.



Alecto, the witch tried to prevent laughing again at these words, making hiccuping noises. “Oh good…I enjoy punishment!,” she said enthusiastically.



Amycus added, constricted with less emotion than his sister, “Yes, we will make discipline a top priority there.”



“What kind of punishments do you suggest, My Lord?” Alecto breathed with wonder.

“Students are permitted, no - encouraged to punish those that have earned detentions. They should start to have a proficiency in the Cruciatus curse. Likewise, caning, whipping, the birch rod, and chaining in the dungeons should be common, just as it was during my time, with that caretaker Apollyon Pringle so long ago. Never done to me, of course…”



Amycus and Alecto gazed at Voldemort now, as if they had never seen him before. They could not imagine Lord Voldemort as a schoolboy.



“Our caretaker Mr. Filch will be manic…,” Snape muttered, but nobody seemed to have heard.



“In my time, it was of course, Headmaster Dippet who ultimately enforced this…But what say you as the Headmaster, Severus?” asked Voldemort quietly, reflecting on his past.



Snape’s eyes were glittering with a nasty smile that was more sneer around his mouth, “Do I have the last say..with the power to expel rule-breakers?”



“Yes…for serious infractions it is up to you to punish them, with of course that highest power to expel. But then again, as headmaster you may discipline through any method you like to use in order to make miscreants understand…But ideally, misbehaving students will be referred by all teachers to the Carrows…”



Alecto smiled again, and grabbed a fistful of an hors-deourves from a platter. She crunched loudly on a mouthful of artificial human fingernails that resembled Frito chips. She then proceeded to gobble the entire plate, without offering any to the others, but they did not care for them anyway.



“So..Basically there aren’t any limits, My Lord?” said Amycus, feeling as if he was being freed, getting to unleash all his pent-up fantasies.



“Anything that suits your fancy…But I must caution you not to go too far. I do not want magical blood spilt at Hogwarts, as I do not seek to have racially pure ones dead…This, however, does not forego the regimentation and comformity to the new rules. I require cohesion and cooperation.”



“So that is for the discipline…What about the curriculum, My Lord?,” said Snape curiously, interested to see what would happen with Defence Against the Dark Arts.



As if seeing into Snape’s mind, he replied, “No longer Defence Against the Dark Arts, it is now just the Dark Arts. And Amycus, you will be the professor…”



Snape swallowed hard, glaring at the man. He caught, the icy glare, looking taken aback, not understanding why Snape was staring at him with nothing less than hatred now.

Voldemort continued, “Solely knowledge of the Dark Arts is ruinious, there must be practical application encouraged daily.



“A mandatory class is what was once called, Muggle Studies. As you will recall, I ended Charity Burbage’s life just a few weeks ago, the one whom taught the class. Now it shall be a mandatory course designed to teach the children how we were driven into hiding by the muggles being vicious towards us, and explaining that the natural order is being reestablished for their own good.”



Alecto surmised, “Meaning…that muggles are stupid and dirty little animals. Right, My Lord?”



“Precisely,” said Voldemort with minor indication he was pleased. “Precisely the truth to preach, Alecto.”



“In sum, my plans for Hogwarts is basically the education of young sorcerers to be an indoctrination of my values with an emphasis on magical development. It is crucial they embrace the way of the pureblood, their values, and in the long run to prepare this generation for war. For what I have in mind extends far beyond this country. I shall need this young army, as I had wanted to build once before…Now that Dumbledore is gone, Hogwarts is finally mine. Within the next several decades, once I have amassed enough of us, we shall conquer the other magical people, who are not ours. But to do so, they must first overcome their fears through the severest tests. Out of it shall come the idealized version of the magical race, the one we have always aspired for….and hopefully being under my supervision from a young age, this shall bring me what I expect of them… ”



Voldemort rose unexpectedly from his chair, and opened the Drawing Room doors. He glided away down the corridor to survey the action going on elsewhere in the manor house.









Note: I’d like to say that the next scene has a lot of Draco in it…it is sort of an unexpected turn of events as Draco has a significant part in the plot.