Cornelius Fudge left the Headmaster's office in a daze, his mind reeling with the political masterstroke Ariana had just handed him. He was clutching the proposal for a "Ministry Loyalty Oath" as if it were a winning lottery ticket, seeing it not as a tool for war, but as the perfect instrument for cementing his own power and routing out his political rivals under the guise of national security.
The heavy oak door closed behind him, leaving a profound silence in its wake. Dumbledore was looking at Ariana, his expression a mixture of deep admiration and a slight, weary apprehension at the sheer scale of her strategic mind. Professor McGonagall simply looked stunned, as if she had just witnessed a lamb calmly lecture a wolf on the benefits of vegetarianism.
It was Amelia Bones who broke the silence. She fixed Ariana with her sharp, monocled gaze, her expression one of pure, professional curiosity.
"That was," she said, her voice holding a note of grudging awe, "the most brilliant piece of political maneuvering I have ever witnessed. You handed a drowning man a lifeline and convinced him it was his own idea to build a boat." She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But my question is, why? Why help him at all? Cornelius Fudge is a fool. He is weak, easily influenced, and he has actively worked to undermine you and Dumbledore at every turn. Why save his career?"
Ariana turned from the window, her gaze calm and analytical. "Because his foolishness is a known quantity," she replied, her voice as cool and clear as her logic. "And a known, controllable variable is always preferable to an unknown, chaotic one."
She began to pace slowly, not with agitation, but with the deliberate motion of a lecturer explaining a complex theorem.
"Let us consider the alternative," she began. "If Fudge's administration were to collapse now, under the weight of his denial and incompetence, what would happen? The Ministry would be thrown into chaos. There would be a power vacuum."
She looked at Amelia Bones. "Ambitious department heads would vie for the position. The old pure-blood families, many of whom are Voldemort's quiet sympathizers, would see it as an opportunity to install their own candidate. The resulting infighting, political backstabbing, and bureaucratic paralysis would last for months. The Ministry would be looking inward, at its own power struggles, at the very moment it needs to be looking outward, at the growing threat."
Her logic was chillingly clear. "Voldemort would thrive in that chaos. An unstable government is the perfect environment for a dark lord to consolidate his power. He could recruit, plan, and strike while our own leadership is tearing itself apart. The fall of Fudge would be a strategic gift to him." Dumbledore nodded slowly, seeing the grim truth in her words.
"Fudge, on the other hand," Ariana continued, "is, as you say, a fool. But his foolishness makes him predictable. He is not motivated by ideology or a lust for power in the way a dark wizard is. He is motivated by two simple things: fear of losing his position and a desire for a comfortable, easy life."
She stopped pacing and met Amelia's gaze directly. "His current behavior is not his own. It is fueled by the whispers of Lucius Malfoy and others who wish to keep the truth buried. He is a puppet. And a puppet is a useful tool, provided you can find a way to control its strings."
"The Loyalty Oath," Amelia breathed, the full scope of Ariana's plan dawning on her. "You haven't just given him a way to save himself. You've given him a tool to purge Malfoy's influence from the Ministry."
"Precisely," Ariana confirmed. "Lucius Malfoy cannot take the oath. Many of his allies cannot take the oath. They will be forced to resign or be exposed. Fudge, in his bid for self-preservation, will inadvertently cleanse the Ministry of its most corrupt, Voldemort-aligned elements. He will, without realizing it, be doing our work for us."
She gave a small, cold smile. "And the beauty of it is that Fudge himself remains a manageable asset. He is, as you so accurately noted, dimwitted. He does not ask the right questions. We can feed him information, guide his policies, and use his office to our own advantage, and he will be too preoccupied with his own popularity and political survival to ever realize he is being manipulated. He will not be clever enough to use the intelligence we provide to backstab us. He is the perfect, controllable figurehead."
The room was silent. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Amelia Bones—three of the most powerful and intelligent figures in the wizarding world—were staring at a fifteen-year-old girl who had just laid out a plan for a bloodless political coup of the Ministry of Magic, all while framing it as a way to support the current Minister.
"You are not just saving his career," Amelia said, her voice full of a new, profound, and slightly terrified respect. "You are making him your pawn."
"A pawn is a tool," Ariana corrected gently. "And in a game with stakes this high, one must use every tool available. Minister Fudge is a tool that will allow us to prepare for the coming war with minimal political disruption. It is the most logical, efficient path forward."
She stood there, calm and serene, having just outlined a strategy of breathtaking cynicism and brilliance. She was not just playing on a school level anymore. She was moving the great pieces on the world stage, and she was doing it with a clarity and ruthlessness that was both terrifying and, they all had to admit, exactly what the wizarding world needed to survive what was coming.