'How very original' Harry mused inwardly.
"Gaunt is it?" Arcturus inquired. "I thought the family had died out" he added with a frown.
"I am unfortunately the last of my line" Riddle sighed, flashing a family ring to prove his identity.
'Clever' Harry conceded reluctantly. 'Should have at least disguised yourself though, very arrogant as usual' he observed.
"Indeed" Arcturus intoned with a slight bow of his head.
"Well Mr. Gaunt, I think we established earlier that politically you have no chance of achieving your goals" Harry began again. "How is it you plan on being successful if you cannot do it through legitimate authority?" he questioned, pleased to see a flash of irritation cross the man's face.
"That is a good question" Arcturus acknowledged agreeably.
"Myself and my associates are very determined to reach our goals" Riddle answered cryptically.
"And that would include the use of violence I assume" Harry returned with a raised eyebrow.
"If necessary" Riddle confirmed reluctantly.
There were more than a few looks of surprises by those gathered.
"Which brings me to my next point" Harry continued. "Again it has been pointed out that not all of the pureblood families will agree with you and many will oppose you heavily, what happens if they choose to side with those you want to subjugate?" he inquired further. "You are after all, trying to preserve our traditions and, I assume in turn, our lines".
"I am indeed" Riddle agreed. "But those who side with them have no place amongst us" he stated casually.
Harry nodded and frowned.
"So you will happily see those you are attempting to preserve killed if necessary to reach your goals?" he questioned further.
"I sincerely hope that it does not come to that but yes, if it becomes a necessity" Riddle sighed in forced sadness.
"So what you are doing is not about blood at all, it is simply a bid for power for yourself and your associates" Harry pointed out.
"I believe you are misinterpreting what it is I have said young man" Riddle returned patronisingly, though Harry could see he was getting annoyed.
"Actually, what my nephew is saying makes perfect sense" Arcturus interjected with a frown.
"Ok" Harry spoke up once more. "Let us assume that I have completely misunderstood you" he offered. "But surely even you can see that the idea of attempting such a coup is foolish and completely counterproductive in preserving our respect lineages".
"How so?" Arcturus asked before Riddle could speak.
"Well as you pointed out there are 220 pureblood families" Harry began again.
Arcturus nodded.
"Well, if we are very generous and say Mr. Gaunt manages to secure the support of 100 of those, what do you think will happen between the now two factions?" he asked.
Arcturus's eyebrows rose significantly in realisation.
"War I imagine" he deduced.
"You mean like we are already seeing, Mr. Gaunt himself confirmed that he has already began work on his plans" Harry reminded him.
Arcturus frowned.
"What is your point Harry?" he questioned curiously.
"My point is that even if it is about maintaining the pureblood doctrine and traditions that the majority of purebloods will be killed in the pursuit of it, thus making it counterproductive and on top of all that there is the muggleborns and half-bloods to consider also" he pointed out. "The mudbloods are of no consequence" LeStrange growled. "We are purebloods, we are better than them" he surmised sternly.
Harry sighed.
"Even I didn't think you could be so ignorant" he muttered. "Albus Dumbledore is a half blood and I daresay one of the most powerful wizards to be seen in many generations" Harry stated, purposely using the man as an example.
"He is a muggle loving fool" LeStrange spat.
"And yet he could destroy you in a heartbeat if he chose to" Harry shrugged. "And regardless of if you believe purebloods are more powerful, the numbers would not be in your favour" he concluded confidently.
"Numbers mean nothing when you are faced with superior men" Malfoy cut in.
Harry shook his head. "That is true in some cases" he conceded. "But Britain's magical population stand at around 100,000 if I am correct" he stated questioningly.
"It is" Arcturus confirmed.
"Well, there a re 220 pureblood families and if we say there are 20 people per family on average that gives us around 4400 people being outnumbered by about 96,000" he explained. "That is almost 20/1 odds, not exactly favourable is it, but then again it is much more than that" he finished knowingly.
Arcturus looked a little overwhelmed and gestured for him to continue.
"Well as we already know, not even half the purebloods will support you" he reminded Riddle. "So the odds are less in you favour, I imagine you will have a maximum of 1000 supporters" he concluded. "Even if your belief that purebloods are superior rings true then those odds are completely insurmountable to overcome" Harry concluded thoughtfully. "But I guess a man of your intelligence has already reached that conclusion" he assumed.
Riddle stared at the teen through narrowed eyes but nodded nonetheless.
"I have indeed" he confirmed warily. "I have support from outside of Britain and we are not looking to fight in open warfare" he added cryptically.
"Ahh, so you mean you will stage strategic attacks and eliminate prominent figures from the shadows, I believe that is something the muggles call terrorism, very frowned upon, even by wizards that would be deemed disgraceful" Harry surmised.
"If it becomes necessary then that is what we shall do" Riddle stated dismissively.
Harry nodded, pleased he had the man exactly where he wanted him. "And that brings us to your overall goal of standing atop of our world" Harry continued. "If by some miracle you manage to exert your will here, how do you plan on taking over the muggle world also?" he asked, genuinely curious to know what approach he would take.
"Muggles are foolish, we are far more than they will ever be, we have wands" LeStrange broke in passionately, waving his wand dramatically to prove his point.
.
.
.
👓☕️Consider supporting me and enhance your reading experience with the ready-to-read PDFs I have on my Ko-fi.☕️👓
🎯https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling🎯