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Such an absurd thought to have at such a time—he shook his head and smiled at the incongruousness of the thought paired with the situation. On the other hand, it was difficult not having such thoughts about such an absurd woman. Unfortunately, his smile had not gone unnoticed by his companion.
"…and I cannot countenance such effrontery, such disregard for the standing and honor of those of us—"
Umbridge stopped and rounded on the Minister, her chubby face turning red in her anger. "Minister!" she demanded in her typical shrill voice, which was rendered even higher by her agitated state. "How can you smile at a time like this? These… beasts are threatening our society, our way of life, and our very existence as a noble social order which must be the envy of all the world. Can you countenance this even for a moment?"
"Madam Undersecretary, I am certain you are well within your rights to be outraged by the defeat of your proposition in the Wizengamot." Actually, Fudge, not having much more than a rudimentary loyalty to anything other than his wallet, was indifferent to her schemes. What mattered was his ability to stay in power, and unless she went along with his plans, her ability to continue to forward her own agenda would also be seriously compromised—even the most fervent Pureblood fanatic, unlikely as it was that such a person could actually be elected to be the next Minister, would have a difficult time putting up with her. "However, you must consider the fact that it was by no means certain that your motion would pass, and given the state of the Wizengamot with Mr. Potter's acquittal last week, I dare say your defeat was inevitable."
Eyes narrowed, the Undersecretary stared at him with suspicion. "Do you mean to tell me that you expected my motion to be defeated?" she demanded, indignation evident in her tone.
Apparently the expression on his face told her everything she needed to know, as her expression became flinty and she sniffed at him in disdain. "In that case, Minister, I wonder why you allowed me to make a fool of myself before the Wizengamot and even encouraged me to do so."
"You need no encouragement from anyone to make yourself into the fool," Fudge thought to himself.
Out loud he merely gestured her to a chair and leaned back in his, considering the proper response that would maintain her loyalty, while allowing him to continue to employ her as his own personal attack dog to be pointed directly at Dumbledore and his annoying little lackey.
"Madam Umbridge, I am most surprised at you," he finally said with a hint of reproof in his voice. "I should have thought that a woman of your political acumen would have read the situation and understood the thrust of my allowing you to present your legislation."
Her eyes softened at the flattery, even while she appeared to become more thoughtful. In truth, the woman had no political acumen whatsoever, and was merely guided by her prejudices and wishes for a society in which her definition of what was right and proper was allowed to rule over the rest.
"I can only assume that you misread what I had seen due to your righteous indignation," Fudge continued, taking great care to appeal to her vanity. "The situation in the Wizengamot was such that a motion which would even appear to be even remotely detrimental to young Harry Potter had no chance at success. If you had perhaps been able to phrase your proposal in language which was a little more… reasonable, there may been a slight chance it its being carried, but the likelihood—now that Potter has been exonerated and publicly linked to the Veela—of it being passed was never great.
"In short, I allowed you to proceed as a distraction to Dumbledore. He and I are engaged in a power struggle for control of our government, as you well know, and if he were to be able to best me, I shudder to think what would happen to the society we all love. We would be overrun with Mudbloods and those of less than human ancestry, no doubt."
The woman was silent for several moments, though here glare did not lessen. "So you allowed me to be a… diversion!" she spat at length.
"I allowed you to create a diversion," Fudge replied with aplomb. "There is a fine distinction. You are not the diversion, but your proposal was. Dumbledore must now watch and be afraid of a modified version of your proposal being slipped past him, which will take his attention from other matters, including your coming installment at Hogwarts. You have not forgotten that have you?"
"I have not," she responded slowly.
Fudge knew he had her—she had been basking in the fact that he had entrusted her with such an important design ever since he had first informed her of it.
"Good," Fudge said, allowing his approval to be conveyed by his voice. She truly was a useful tool in that she was manic in attacking whatever he pointed her at, and he could disavow her actions if she went too far, as she was well known to be a fanatic. Hopefully, in this instance she would be able to curb her natural tendencies and accomplish the complete takeover of the school.
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