C157 Ceremony (1)

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Arriving in the floo entrance hall of the Ministry, the place was completely empty. Everyone was outside waiting for the award ceremony to begin.

The floo entrance of the Ministry is a grand hall filled with fireplaces. On a normal day at the Ministry, these fireplaces would be constantly lit with Ministry workers and citizens alike coming and going.

Today is special though. Today is the day that Tom Riddle would be arriving.

The Ministry shut down access to the floo entrances to everyone except for Tom and anyone that comes along with him.

A group of people were awaiting Tom and his guest's arrival in the Floo hall. These people are high-level members of the Ministry.

At the forefront of this group is an overweight middle-aged woman with dark hair. This is Hortensia Milliphutt, the Minister of Magic. Beside her are two tough-looking bodyguards along with other guards spread throughout the hall.

She is still annoyed about Tom's refusal to support her in the next election. That along with the closeness she has seen between Tom and Lord Black in the media has caused her to be deeply displeased with Tom.

Although she is angry with him, Hortensia can't just act against him. Especially since Tom was approved for the Order of Merlin, First Class.

Seeing as she can't do anything, the Minister decided to do her best to woo Tom with all she has.

Hence the shut down Floo entrances and the welcoming party. She even spent a major amount of time making sure the ceremony went smoothly and was as extravagant as wizardly possible.

She knew there has to be some sort of connection between Riddle and Lord Black, and only hoped to show that she is worth backing as well.

Most would say that since Tom is still a student at Hogwarts, he isn't very wise to the political world, but Hortensia would disagree.

One doesn't gain so much power and prestige without knowing a thing or two.

The ministries welcome party all looked at Tom and Druella's muggle garb and held in their sneers. All of them looked down on any sort of muggle fashion, but would never voice their bias to Tom or Druella.

Tom is far too powerful either magically or politically for them to anger. At the end of the day, the powerful get to do as they wish.

"Hello, Mr, Riddle." Hortensia greets happily with the brightest smile she could muster. "I'm so happy to be able to welcome you to your award ceremony. I've personally made sure the ceremony will go perfectly for you."

"Thank you, Minister. How have you been since our last meeting?" Tom greets back in a friendly manner.

"I've been well, thank you." She replies as her eyes roam towards Toms company. "I see you've brought guests. Hello, Lord and Lady Rosier. It's good to see you outside the Wizengamot."

The Rosiers put on the fakest smiles Tom has ever seen on them. It was quite comical to watch them act this way and greet the Minister.

"Is this your daughter? I don't believe we've met." Hortensia's eyes land on Druella next.

The Rosiers were about to answer, but Tom decided to cut in.

"Yes, this is Druella Rosier, my Fiancé." Tom reveals as he grabs her hand and holds it forward to show off the engagement ring.

The hall grows silent as the welcoming committee were stunned by Tom's proclamation.

Anyone that were to wed Tom Riddle would become the politically strongest woman, or man if he swung that way, in the wizarding world.

The name Riddle is already the most known last name in the wizarding world. Once she becomes Druella Riddle, she would have a lot of political clout to throw around.

Every Lord, Lady, and high standing member of the Ministry was hoping to wed their daughters to Tom.

Many of them here today were hoping to use this opportunity to talk him into marriage contracts. It seems that chance has long since flown out the window.

Before introducing Druella as his fiancé, they treated her and her family as they usually would, but now that the cat's out of the bag, Druella, and the Rosiers by extension, hold a lot more sway than they used to. Especially when the public finds out about the engagement.

"I'm happy to hear about your engagement. Is it a recent development?" The Minister asks happily, fishing for information.

"Yes, he proposed a few weeks ago." Druella replies with the same fake smile as her parents.

Of course, Tom is the only one that sees them as fake. He's spent enough time with Druella and her family to know this.

"This is nice and all, but is the ceremony supposed to start soon?" Tom voices his concern.

Everyone turns to check the large clock in the Floo hall and their eyes widen.

"You're right. We should get moving. It's almost time to begin." Hortensia says and starts rushing everyone out of the hall. "Please, follow me!"

Tom and the Rosiers are lead through the Ministry and to the main entrance. Throughout their trip through the Ministry, Tom didn't see a single soul. The place was empty.

When they arrived at the front entrance, the Minister turned around and addressed Tom.

"Wait here. I'll go and introduce you and you'll come out and accept the award. I'll then leave the podium and you can make your acceptance speech, alright?" The Minister asks and receives a nod in return. "Okay, wish me luck!"

As Hortensia opened the doors to step outside, Tom got a brief glimpse of an endless sea of people along with the loud bustling of the crowd.