Harry Potter And The Betrayal

A knock at the door interrupted Molly Weasley as she was preparing her husband's breakfast. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see a rather primly dressed wizard standing at the doorway to the Burrow.

"Molly Weasley nee Prewitt?" He asked before she could say anything.

"Yes," she confirmed her identity baffled as to why he would be asking. Nearly everyone knew who she was because of her relationship with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"My name is Darryl Mastres from the Ministry." He handed over a folded piece of parchment stamped with the seal of the Wizengamot. "This is for you."

Molly broke the seal and read the contents and became even more confused. It was an order for her to bring the goblin made tiara that had belonged to her Great Aunt Muriel Prewitt and that had been bequeathed to her at her aunt's death to the Ministry so that it could be turned over to its rightful owner. That made no sense though, she was the rightful owner and Ginny would be after her. Hoping for an explanation, she told the younger wizard, "I'm afraid I don't understand. The tiara is already with its rightful owner. I inherited it from my aunt this past year and I am the last of the Prewitts."

"I'm afraid that is not correct, Mrs. Weasley," he told her. "That tiara is one of a list of items that was confiscated from the family of Gareth Weyland after he was convicted for the murder of then Minister Alphonse Sebastian by use of the Killing Curse among other crimes as a supposed follower of the Dark Lord Grindelwald. It is listed in Ministry records as having been given to Muriel Prewitt as compensation for his crimes against her family. However when it was proven that Mr. Weyland was innocent of the crime, no attempt was made by Muriel Prewitt to return it, even when his son Kerr made a request to the Wizengamot and the Ministry to have his family's possessions returned."

"You're wrong!" Molly flared up angrily. "Great Aunt Muriel wouldn't have done that. She was an honourable woman. The tiara belonged to her and to her mother before her!"

"If you have proof of this you will need to bring it with you by no later than 10am on December 21st." Mastres was unphased by her angry declaration. "I should warn you that whatever proof you bring should include at least one photo or painting of someone in your family line wearing the tiara prior to the 1880's since there is proof of Annalysse Weyland and her mother wearing it from that time forward, so any proof you provide for your claim of ownership must be from prior to that time period. Have a good day Mrs. Weasley."

Mastres apparated out before she could say another word.

As Molly returned to the kitchen the parchment decree clutched tightly in her fist, Arthur joined her there.

"Who was at the door dear?" He wanted to know.

"Darryl Mastres," Molly told him.

"From the Wizengamot's tribunal offices?" Arthur recognized the name. "What did he want?"

"To deliver this!" She thrust the parchment into his hand.

Arthur read the parchment and commented. "I didn't know your family had received any compensation from the Weyland family in the 30's."

"We didn't!" Molly growled. "The Ministry has made a mistake. The tiara was Great Aunt Muriel's and it didn't belong to any other family but mine!"

"Someone probably just made a mistake when they were writing up the original list." Arthur attempted to soothe his angry wife. "We'll get it sorted out. You'll see."

...

As the morning mail arrived, four strangers entered the Great Hall. Three remained by the doors while the fourth walked up to the Head table and handed an envelope to the Headmaster. Those closest to the Head table saw the Headmaster pale slightly before getting up hurriedly and escorting the four visitors out of the Great Hall.

The silence that followed in the wake of the Headmaster's rather abrupt departure was almost deafening. It was quickly followed by the excited babble of the students trying to figure out what those four people were here for. From the expression on the Headmaster's face it probably wasn't anything good.

Dumbledore led the four who had been sent by the Wizengamot up to his office. Gesturing to the seats around his office he said somewhat distractedly, "Have a seat, gentlemen and ladies."

Once they were seated, a wizard who appeared to be almost as old as Dumbledore told the Headmaster, "My name is Adam Jessup. My colleagues and I are here to conduct the first of the periodic inspections the Wizengamot requested. We are from the American Department of Magical Education."

Dumbledore stared at him surprised "I have been expecting someone from the Ministry, since the hearing several months ago. Can you tell me, Mr. Jessup, why they chose to request assistance for this inspection from America?"

"It's quite simple, sir," Jessup told him. "The Wizengamot wanted to make sure these inspections were fair and impartial for all concerned, so they requested inspectors who didn't have an axe to grind with you, or who might choose to ignore things they see because of who you are, Professor Dumbledore."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding, but was not pleased by it. He had been hoping to get someone at least moderately sympathetic to him and who had gone to Hogwarts previously. "Very well, Mr. Jessup. How do you wish to proceed with this inspection?"

"Actually Headmaster, the Wizengamot has asked us to conduct this first inspection without any input from you or your staff. They have also given us full authority to do what needs to be done, including the right to get access to all areas of the castle we may need to go into." Jessup coughed as he handed over a sheaf of papers to the Headmaster. "This covers some of what we will be inspecting on this trip. Also you are not to tell anyone other than your Deputy Headmistress why we are here. We will also be visiting classes randomly. Don't worry there will be no disruption of the classes. In fact neither the students or teachers will know that we are there, that should allow us to get a better idea of the teaching methods used by the individual teachers. Once the students have dismissed for the Christmas break we will be talking to the teachers individually. We do need a list of those teachers who will be leaving Hogwarts during the Christmas break, so that we can arrange to see them first."

While Dumbledore managed to control his expression, inside he was seething. He was not pleased by this turn of events. Not pleased at all. He didn't like the idea of strangers having full access to his castle and he couldn't fathom what the Wizengamot was thinking in allowing total strangers full access to Hogwarts.

....

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