Who: Atticus Avery and Tiberius Ogden When: Sunday night Where: Tiberius Ogden's house What: Imperiusing the Wizengamot members Rating: Low Status: Complete
Atticus was, admittedly, completely exhausted. As he was so prone to doing, he had completely thrown himself into his work these past weeks and was at this point running on the strength of Severus's potions alone. Between the thankfully resolved hostage situation and now the need to prepare for the Muggleborn terrorist trials in a matter of days there was simply too much work to be done and not nearly enough time to accomplish it all. The trials were set to begin in ten hours and while with Severus and Mr Crouch's assistance they had made considerable progress in preparing materials for the Ministry's case, one pressing task remained. These were not trials that would be won on the weight of evidence alone, no matter how much was fabricated to prove their case. Not in the course of a weekend, at least. Given weeks and he was confident that he could have built an overwhelming, incontrovertible case but wishing for time that he did not have was a futile exercise.
He had his reservations about relying on the imperius curse to control the trials as it seemed all too easy for something to go awry despite his carefully crafted plans. Even if the curse was not his strong suit, he was confident in his own ability to handle his intended targets as well as the rest of the Inner Circle but time and sheer numbers required that they entrust some of the other Wizengamot members to the Outer Circle and all it would take was for one to successfully fight off the curse and the entire house of cards would come crashing down around them.
Although he did not intend to be seen at all, he was still clad in his cloak and mask as he appeared behind the Ogden house with the slightest pop. Merrythought had already been dealt with and that had gone quite smoothly but now there was one more task to accomplish before he returned home for another few hours of work and then maybe even a bit of sleep.
Atticus lifted his wand and prodded carefully at the wards, testing their strength. Far more manageable than the ones he'd been dealing with lately and while there was some question as to why a senior member of the Wizengamot did not have better defences on his home, he was not going to complain. Although he might very well leave a final instruction to the man to strengthen his wards once the trials were completed. But that was to be considered later. For now he needed to remain focused on the task at hand.
Once the wards had been dismantled, Atticus slipped in through the back door of the darkened house and began slowly moving his way through the kitchen, not wanting to trip over anything on his way to the stairs. If he could cast the curse on the man while he was still asleep in his bed, all the better as far as he was concerned.
His plans, however, were quickly foiled as he turned the corner only to be met with a blasting curse that seemed to come out of nowhere. The sudden bright light of the spell was enough of a warning that he was able to duck back behind the wall and out of the spell's path but so much for getting in and out undetected. As bits of wood from the floor exploded behind him, he came back out, this time with a shield charm and a lumos that revealed Tiberius Ogden scrambling back up the stairs.
Another blasting curse came from the old man, this one neatly deflected by Atticus's shield. It would hardly do to have the old man visibly injured for the trials and so Atticus calmly responded with a silent imperius. A moment later and Tiberius was sitting calmly on the steps, waiting for instruction.
You will go back to bed, sleeping peacefully for the night. Tomorrow you will wake and report to the Ministry for work as you do every morning. You will sit and listen attentively to the cases presented against the Muggleborns who are being retried for terrorism. You know that they are guilty and that they would be a grave threat to society should they be allowed to roam freely and so you will do all you can to ensure they are proven guilty. You will question them on their ties to other known terrorists and their feelings about the Ministry so that they will have no choice but to reveal their guilt for everyone to see. And when it is time for a verdict to be rendered, you will vote to convict and see them returned to Azkaban where they belong.
Atticus ran through a few more specific details - particular questions to be asked, demeanour to be maintained - and then as satisfied as he could be under the circumstances, he lowered his wand and retreated back the way he came. He would just have to obliviate the old man once he had finished playing his part in the farce of a trial that was being orchestrated.
But for now there was more work to be done waiting for him at home.