Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin 90 Fear.

"So Draco, let's talk about the incidents." Fudge said looking at Draco who was sitting on the opposite side of him.

"Okay." Draco nodded, "If you have any questions, ask away."

"First of all, let me start with why you went to Romania?"

"Tourism." Draco lied with a straight face, "As you know that I am famous for my potions, I was researching on new materials and ingredients that could be tough and resilient which got me thinking about Dragons, and how could I use them to create more new potions or improve the existing ones."

"Can you explain more briefly of how the incident took place and how you got there?"

Draco then began explaining all the things that happened and how the incident took place, of course, he didn't mention the animals, the letter and left many other things untouched.

Fudge nodded but the Aurors around him weren't that impressed with the answer, they all felt that there were holes in his story here and there but they couldn't say anything.

"Let me apologize for the incident since I was the one who agreed and allowed the task-force to be created but in my defense, I didn't think any of this would happen." Fudge apologized under the watchful eyes of the pure-blood families, "I was forced to sign the application of the task force due to public pressure since you becoming a Black wasn't that well received by the public--"

Draco raised his hand stopping Fudge from going on further on his apologetic essay, "I will rather have you show your sincerity through action than words, so I hope to skip this part and get to the heart of the issue quickly."

Fudge felt disrespected as he looked at Lucius but all he got was a silent treatment from him and the other families, looking at the situation he didn't say anything back as he was clearly lacking in support in this room since everyone was siding with Draco.

"I understand." Fudge nodded as he passed on some documents, "These are all the laws you and Mr. Nott have broken in these few days from underage magic to killing."

Theodore looked at Draco when the topic of killing was raised but the latter just ignored him as he stared at the documents, which contained a list of spells they used and the damage that they have caused.

"Luckily, you two didn't break the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, so this still falls under our jurisdiction." Fudge continued, "So to show our sincerity, hereby we shall forgive all these crimes since it was all done under the state of emergency."

Draco nodded and put the paper down as he stared at Fudge. Fudge felt uncomfortable with his gaze as Draco was looking at him as if he wanted something more. Fudge fixed his bow, breathing deeply, thankfully he had other cards to play, "Pius Thicknesse, was a threat to us all and I believe we can all agree with that."

The surrounding wizards nodded as Fudge continued, "His motives were certainly questionable but we can all agree that he wanted to bring huge chaos to our wizarding community, whether there was someone behind him or not is still out for debate but the fact that Draco here was able to stop him is more than enough proof to his ability and Theodore, he was able to withstand the torment bought on to him by saving his friend, so I hereby announce that Mr. Nott will be receiving a Second class Order of Merlin award and Mr. Black will receive a First class Order of Merlin award for their effort in stopping a huge disaster."

Every wizard present there clapped, nodding as they began congratulating both Theodore and Draco.

The Order of Merlin (abbreviated O.M.) was an award bestowed upon wizards and witches who had achieved great things for the wizarding world. It had three different levels: First Class, Second Class, and Third Class. The First Class is awarded for "acts of outstanding bravery or distinction" in magic. The Second Class awarded for "achievement or endeavor beyond the ordinary." and last but not least the Third Class awarded to individuals who "have made a contribution to our store of knowledge or entertainment."

The Organization was formed in the Middle ages by Merlin himself, and the medal is known to be one of the highest honorary awards a wizard could receive but over the years the value of the award has decreased by a significant amount as the Ministry of Magic favorites seem to receive the Order of Merlin, especially the higher classes, more often than one might expect. The prime example of this is Fudge himself who awarded himself with the First Class Order of Merlin award causing a lot of controversies this past year. Due to all these reasons, unlike others, Draco wasn't that excited and happy about receiving this award as it clearly showed the desperation of Fudge to make the purebloods happy.

Draco accepted all the congratulation with a simple smile, thanking them as he looked back at Fudge.

'What more do you want from me?' Fudge cursed in his mind.

As if Draco heard him, he said, "I want to ask the ministry for two favors, one of keeping the killings a secret, my reputation's already bad as it is so I don't want people to get more wrong ideas about me."

Fudge nodded as it seemed more logical and the other wizards keenly listened to what he had to say, after the incident Draco had earned the respect of all the pureblood wizards, once and for all.

"And the second favor will require the ministry's help in it."

"What is it?"

"I want to use this situation in my favor." Draco said laying back on his chair, "The reporters have already found out about the situation so there is no point in hiding it any further, so why not use this to our advantage?"

"What do you mean, Draco?" Mr. Parkinson asked.

"We use the same medium to change people's opinion about us." Draco said as he played with his phoenix-feather quill, "We release the news but only filled with the half-truth and half-lies, like a story that's believable but still seems more of a fantasy. We leak the news about me defeating Pius who was planning on becoming a Dark-lord along with a few of his servants who were trying to take over the community by causing chaos, sprouting seed of mistrust against us pure-blood families, to weaken us. And to make this story more believable we can let them know about the information where the Imperius curse was used with proof and we can even add how Pius and the others were planning on attacking muggle towns and muggle-borns which will turn the tide against our side."

"With it, we can regain some public trust by playing the victim." Mr. Nott said nodding, "Excellent Idea!"

"Yes, and to add more fuel to the fire, we can use the name of You-know-who, portraying Pius as his follower who wanted to revive him and more, other than news with the help of Aurors we can spread the news further through rumors and gossips."

All the pure-bloods agreed with the idea as this could help them get rid of some of the pressure they were facing due to previous involvements with Voldemort. They believed with this both them and Draco could benefit as the latter was under the spotlight of becoming the next hero. Even the aurors couldn't help but feel impressed by the idea, as this sort of method could help solve a lot of problems that they were currently facing and could face in the future. They felt a sudden uneasiness in their heart as they remembered the gruesome murders and destruction in that mansion, since they were the ones who cleaned up the place all the wounds caused by Fluffy and other animals were blamed on Draco and he was portrayed to be too gruesome and cruel as he went far as to burning them to tearing them in half.

Chapter end