Chapter 6
Judge Wallace began describing her decision in the custody case. "Mr. Potter, Professor McGonagall has made a very generous offer indeed. Many in the wizarding world would believe that assigning Harry to her care would be the most responsible move that we could make today. On a personal basis, I happen to agree. However your parents' original wishes were not followed. The documents that Director Bones has previously presented clearly indicate that it was their request that their son be placed in the care of their friend Sirius Black in the event of their death. Pettigrew had not had his confrontation with Mr. Black until two and a half days following the Death of James and Lilly Potter."
She continued. "It is outside the scope of this hearing to understand how Harry was ever placed with his aunt and uncle, but the placement procedure was clearly violated. The overriding guidance is to be provided by the parent or guardian. Sirius Black was illegally stripped of his guardianship of Harry Potter. That much is clear. Black's wishes were to emancipate Harry in the event of his death in a document that is barely two months old."
Dumbledore had the manners not to ague the point.
She continued. "Supporting that is the Will of the people who were his appointed guardians at the time of their death, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Their wishes were to have Harry live on his own, though the muggle legal language is a bit different from that used in the wizarding world, their intent was plain."
She finished, by asking, "Harry, Professor Dumbledore has continuously argued the overriding factor of consideration is your safety. What are your thoughts on that subject?"
"It is true that Voldemort has taken an unhealthy interest in me, as he has with anyone who chooses to know me. I was attacked nearly fifteen years ago in a home protected by the Fidelius charm that the professor helped set up. My own neighborhood was no safer. Hogwarts has not been the safest place for me either."
McGonagall felt shame in her heart at his words.
Harry continued. "That said, Director Bones has provided me with the means to legally protect myself. She has also provided qualified people to help protect me from harm's way. I say help, because I believe that it is every witch or wizard's personal responsibility to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones in the event of an attack. Some may argue that it's the Ministry's job to protect everyone. I believe that it's their responsibility to inform people of the situation and to help. However I believe that people should also have a responsibility to help protect themselves." Harry realized that he'd climbed on a soapbox and felt a bit embarrassed. However she had asked his opinion on a subject where nothing was completely black or white.
Satisfied that Wizarding law had been followed, Wallace stood and said, "In the matter of custody over Harry James Potter we find that Mr. Potter has the means and the ability to govern his own affairs within the wizarding world. The Family Custody Team believes that Law Enforcement Director Bones has acted responsibly and provided a complete due diligence relating to the case. We also believe that it is prudent that Mr. Potter be provided full access to all of his financial accounts and provided Auror protection for the remainder of the summer."
After the hearing, Dumbledore mindful of needing Amelia's cooperation the next day asked if he could speak with Harry, and Hermione on matters largely related to schoolwork. Delighted that he would even think to ask, she pointed him back into the conference room where Harry was talking with Remus and Hermione and her parents were talking with Minerva. Seeing him stand patiently to the side, Minerva and Remus both left so he could have his conversation. Emma sat nearby wishing that she had the old wizard in her surgery with one of her dental probes in her hand.
Dumbledore smiled at the two teens and said, "I wish the best for you as always Harry. I do not want the mistakes that I have made in the past to cloud our future together. I have prepared a list of books that the two of you may wish to read this summer, if you have the time. They may prove more useful than simply reading ahead in your school books."
Turning to Hermione he said, "The field for the position of Head Girl when you are in your seventh year is quite crowded and you will need every advantage that you can get. Such an honor usually is worth more to perspective employers, and you should continue to work hard. I would like to see you be awarded that honor."
"Since you both have your magical practice licenses, there is no reason that would prevent you from learning to apparate. Perhaps Auror Hammer could be talked into giving you both some guidance if you so desire. You would be eligible to test this summer if you are ready."
Looking back at Harry, he said, "It is unfortunate that the prospects for Miss Tonks career within the Aurors have been dimmed by means of her attempt to ask your uncle to behave in a civil manner. Fortunately Kingsley will not be sentenced to prison for looking for you, though he most likely will lose his job."
Emma wished that she had him in the middle of an un-anesthetized root canal. 'The nerve of that man, playing on their sympathy.' In a loud enough voice to be heard, she said, "Professor Dumbledore, what does the illegal search of my home by Senior Auror Shacklebolt have to do with their schoolwork? Were you not advised to leave these two children alone this summer?"
Amelia was out in the lobby heard the shouting and put two and two together. "Dumbledore…Out! And those wards better be down on that home by the time I inspect it this afternoon."
Amelia was so angry at that infernal man. In ninety minutes, she would be asking for the shield and a year's pay from a man who, a week earlier, she had counted as her most competent Senior Auror. She understood Shacklebolt's reasoning, but he had clearly taken advantage of his position and crossed the bright red line of what could be forgiven.
Kingsley knew that he was screwed. Not because he was of Afrikaner-Boor descent. The wizarding world in Europe was virtually colorblind. He had simply tried to be thorough as always, and had taken a shortcut to try and save time in an effort to find Harry. He bore no ill will against the Grangers, Potter, Bones, or Dumbledore. He was a man of conviction, had put his money down on a gamble and lost.
He was surprised when Dumbledore approached him before the hearing, and more surprised at his words. He had faith in the man and he had not been let down. He signed the documents that Dumbledore had produced and sat down at the table.
Dumbledore had a few words with Director Bones and the overseeing Wizengamot judges. A moment later, they each nodded and walked to the table.
Director Bones looked at the document, and gave her former officer a sad smile before countersigning his resignation. He handed her his Senior Auror shield, Ministry identification card and sat down again.
Bones spoke. "Judge Street, in the matter of Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt entering the Granger household specifically looking for a student who had been reported missing, Mr. Shacklebolt has resigned his position as Senior Ministry Auror. The student in question has been found, and the Grangers have not pressed charges either in wizarding or the Queen's court. I am satisfied that Mr. Shacklebolt represents no threat to decent wizarding society and recommend that any additional charges be dropped. I also recommend that this be expunged from Mr. Shacklebolt's record, and that an honorable discharge from the Ministry be recorded."
Kingsley could hardly believe his ears. If Director Bones' recommendation was accepted, he would not be fined seven thousand Galleons which at this point represented his life savings.
Judge Street asked, "Professor Dumbledore, what is your interest in this particular case?"
Dumbledore stood to speak to an inferior grade Wizengamot Judge and said, "I am here in my role as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and am prepared to offer Mr. Shacklebolt a teaching position if there are no additional charges pending against him."
Kingsley was shocked. Dumbledore had really come through for him. He smiled at the man and said, "I accept."
Dumbledore said, "Good. You can start today if you wish, or next week if it would be more convenient."
Kingsley said, "Thank you, Professor." As Kingsley spoke the words, Amelia thought the same thing. 'Thanks Dumbledore.' He really had made the best of a bad situation.
Meanwhile, Harry had finished signing his papers. Hermione had received her very own vault key, and had taken her parents in the cart to visit it. While nowhere near the size of Harry's vault and numbered 2240, it was a fun cart ride to get to it. She was sopleased with herself. It was hers. None-the-less, her parents enjoyed the ride. She had withdrawn two hundred Galleons and was itching to go spend it at the bookstore.
Harry had been presented the keys to the Potter family vault and the Black family vault. He was unquestionably the wealthiest student at Hogwarts, but it mattered little to him. His thoughts were focused on the beautiful witch bouncing his way followed by her amused looking parents. They smiled as she took his hand as they found Auror Church and made their way out to the bookstore. The books that Dumbledore had suggested seemed to be NEWT level or beyond – conjuring, occlumency, invisibility, developing advanced wards, apparation, and first aid healing.
Emma smiled at her overly focused daughter and said, "Dear, there is a difference between getting a few books from a list, and getting the entire list. I don't see Harry with an armload of books."
Harry misinterpreted her remarks and offered to carry Hermione's books for her.
Emma smiled at the well-meaning young man. "Thank you for helping her, Harry. I meant to say, I didn't see you buying an armload of books to read."
"That's really not a fair comparison, Ma'am. I inherited a library today. I have no idea which books are in it."
Hermione recalled that the Black library was extensive and contained at least a fourth of the volumes that were found in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. "Oh Harry, there are thousands of volumes there, some really obscure. We should go over and look at…"
Dan said, "There are swimming lessons, tennis, bicycles and time to relax. You two really should make time to have a summer. If you want to go visit it later in the week we can."
He continued. "I talked with Director Bones before we left. She will have a passport issued for you this week, Harry. I would ask that you two study your magic either in the morning, or the afternoon, but not both. We should try and take the time to do things as a family before school starts again. It comes up so quickly. We need to get back now. It's been a long evening for Auror Church, and we have appointments at the surgery all afternoon."
That afternoon, Harry discovered the pleasure that a wet, white, unlined bikini can bring to a young man. The slash that McNair's weakened spell had hit Hermione with had all but disappeared, though she smiled as Harry searched for it for a very long time sat as she sat drying off by the edge of the pool with her feet in the water.
Harry did look closely. He knew that it was had been about two feet long beginning at he left collarbone going diagonally down ending above her right hip. Whether he started at the top and traced his way down or if he started at the bottom and traced it back up, his eyes always seemed to stop half way.
Hermione followed his eyes with silent amusement. She had never allowed anyone to look at her so closely, and Harry obviously enjoyed what he saw. She had never noticed Harry really check out any of the witches at school, and guessed that he hadn't. She was delighted that he wanted to look at her and even more-so that he was obviously fascinated with what he was seeing.
"Breathe Harry. It's OK to look, but you have to breathe. I'll demonstrate." As she took a deep breath, Harry discovered the beauty of motion.
She smiled at him as he stood in the water transfixed. "It's OK, Harry. I don't mind." She leaned over to kiss his forehead, and fell forward into the water on top of him. They laughed as they splashed each other. It had been a fun afternoon.
They got out and went back inside to get dressed. Afterwards Harry started dinner while Hermione cleaned a bit around the house. Harry made a split breast chicken dinner, baked in a pan with rice and a cream cheese sauce. In truth, it was a very good dinner. The dentists were very grateful to come home to a clean house and a delicious meal.
Emma brought a plate out to Auror Hammer. She smiled and thanked her, saying, "It looks like you're a very good cook, Dr. Granger. Thank you."
Emma smiled at her and said, "You are very welcome, Senior Auror Hammer, but it was Harry who made the dinner."
She looked stunned. "Mr. Potter conjured this? It's delicious."
Emma shook her head. "Actually, he cooked it in our kitchen. He's quite the cook."
Hammer was impressed. "He's had a hard childhood, that one. He chased off two dementors that had attacked him and his cousin last summer and nearly went to prison for defending himself."
Emma hadn't heard the details of that story. She asked, "Why?"
Hammer replied, "The Minister of Magic is a small-minded man. He said Mr. Potter had no right to defend himself because he was underage. The whole world's strange sometimes as far as how they react around Mr. Potter. Shacklebolt was dismissed from the force today for trying to find him when he went missing, another young Auror was suspended for telling his uncle to behave himself. Mr. Potter got in a jam last year for showing other kids how to properly defend themselves."
She continued. "With the possible exception of your daughter Hermione, it's like no one can see straight as far as he's concerned. It's like he's royalty in some folk's eyes. Now with you-know-who back, the whole wizarding world is looking to him again for some kind of a miracle. He's just a bloke who wants a bit of time to be a teenager and chat up a nice girl. Who can blame him?"
Emma had a different viewpoint of Shacklebolt, but didn't press the issue. Instead she asked, "What about the other Auror?" She had seen the confrontation at the train station and was interested in Hammer's viewpoint.
Hammer replied, "There's a regulation against using magic or threatening to use magic to intimidate ordinary folk like yourself. She knew about it and chose to ignore it."
"True," said Emma. "But there are also regulations against abusing children."
Hammer nodded. "I understand, Dr. Granger. I wasn't there at the train station. I never met Mr. Potter's relations. I never met Mr. Potter before a few days ago. Aurors are held to different standards than ordinary witches or wizards. No one else was punished for standing up to that man, just Auror Tonks. She knew she shouldn't have done it. It's just the way it is."
Emma was concerned for the young woman. She asked, "Are there long-term consequences for her?"
Hammer nodded and replied, "A black mark like that on her record, particularly one relating to Mr. Potter will follow her for the rest of her career as an Auror."
Emma asked, "If Harry were to make a statement on her behalf, would that help her?"
Hammer gave a small laugh. "It would be like having your photo taken with Lady Di and signed, Dr. Granger, Best wishes and thanks for helping me. He's that popular in the wizarding world right now. Maybe you didn't know."
In truth, Emma didn't know. She assumed that she had taken in some poor friend of her daughters, not the prince of the wizarding world. She replied, "I'm sure his fame has its ups and downs. Hermione's told me that there have been some pretty awful things printed about him too."
Hammer nodded sadly saying, "She's right about that. A year ago, the paper really went off against him. I'd best get back to work, and make my rounds. Thanks for the plate. I really appreciate it."
Back at the burrow, Arthur was explaining the no confidence vote process to Molly.
Molly listened carefully then asked, "I agree that Fudge has been doing more harm than good the last year and a half, but why youArthur? We finally are getting to the point in our lives where we have a bit of gold to spare and Professor Dumbledore asks us to risk our entire financial future to align the government closer to his viewpoint. That's asking a lot. Why doesn't he ask Amelia instead?"
Arthur had asked himself the same question, particularly after hearing from Ginny a few nights before. He replied, "Several reasons I suppose. I'm not certain that the two of them have mended fences yet and I think he is hoping that she'll endorse Amos for the head position."
Molly was not happy at the prospect. She asked, "And what about you? We take all the risk and what has he proposed for us?"
Arthur thought for a moment and replied, "Molly, maybe we should look at it from another angle for a minute. V, Voldemort is taking on supporters faster than our side possibly can. Fudge won't allow more Aurors. If Dumbledore looks to make up the difference, who is left?"
Molly looked at him with a tear in her eye.
Arthur looked at his loving companion of twenty seven years and nodded. "That's right. Our children. If we want to stand a prayer of not having this war fought by fifteen and sixteen year old children, we need to remove Fudge today. We've placed our faith in Dumbledore before; we can do it on this. I'm certain that he's already counted the votes.
Molly only wished that she was so sure.
While Molly and Arthur were steeling themselves for the job that they knew would be done, the Grangers were watching a movie, Groundhog Day together. Suddenly there was a flash and a swan size bird appeared and landed on their coffee table. It was the most beautiful creature that Dan or Emma had ever seen.
Harry watched them in amusement for a moment, before greeting the wondrous bird. "Hello Fawkes." The phoenix looked at him with its steely eyes and gave a trill. Dan shut off the DVD and continued to stare in awe at the bird.
Hermione broke the silence saying, "Fawkes is Professor Dumbledore's phoenix. Dan and Emma moved a bit closer.
Harry took the letter from the bird and surprisingly it waited. Harry explained, "He must be looking for a reply." He opened the letter and looked. It was addressed to Hermione and Harry. They opened it together.
Harry and Hermione,
While this is not strictly school business I am certain that it is of interest to you. Arthur Weasley has decided to initiate a vote of no confidence for Minister of Magic Fudge tomorrow. This is a highly unusual move, but these are highly unusual times. As you both may know, there are fifteen department and sub-department heads within the ministry. Arthur is head of one of the sub-departments – the misuse of muggle artifacts.
Any of the department or sub-department heads may initiate a petition for a vote of no confidence. A simple majority of the fifteen votes is required. If the petition is successful, a combined vote of the managers and the sixty members of the Wizengamot is taken the next day. If fifty or more votes are cast to replace, the action is passed, and the initiating author is given the privilege of nominating the successor. Since the senior undersecretary position is vacant, it is likely that Arthur would be named to fill that position if the vote is successful.
In this case Arthur would almost certainly name Amos Diggory as his choice for Minister of Magic. Given that Lucius Malfoy is currently enjoying some time in Azkaban prison, there will be much less chance of underhanded lobbying, bribes or threats.
If the petition or the vote is unsuccessful, tradition dictates that the author of the bill resigns their position. A Wizengamot judge cannot initiate the action; it has to be a manager.
If you would like to help the Weasley's in this effort, you may wish to write a well-worded letter of support that would appear in the Wednesday morning edition of the Prophet. I personally believe that the time has come to publicly take a stand against Fudge. He has refused to support the Aurors expansion plasn in this time of great need. If you would be willing to take such a public stand, please prepare your letter this evening, and let me know that you are doing so. Fawkes would be by at 8:00 AM to collect it.
I am certain that your endorsement would be enough to move a few votes and help the Weasleys. I know that they would be very appreciative of your support.
Albus, Dumbledore
Emma was watching the two teens while Dan was mesmerized by the beautiful bird. "Would it possibly let me touch it?" he asked with some hesitation.
As in answer to Dan's question, Fawkes gave a little hop and stood on the coffee table right in front of the amazed dentist and stuck out the bottom of his neck to be scratched. Harry said, "That's amazing. He allows very few people to touch him."
Back to topic, Hermione asked, "Harry, what do you think?"
Harry shook his head, saying, "I think Professor Dumbledore made the suggestion to Mr. Weasley and he's doing whatever the professor asks. What would they do if he lost his position? The professor moves people around like Ron moves his chess pieces, without considering their personal consequence. It would be nice if Mr. Weasley got a promotion, but an absolute disaster if he got sacked."
Harry put down his coke and finished, saying, "So he sends Fawkes here with a note, knowing that I'd do anything to help Mr. Weasley. They've done so much for me, I would never refuse a request to help him. I'm not saying that I think getting rid of Fudge is a bad idea. I just hate being manipulated."
Emma remembered what Hammer had mentioned, and said, "Speaking of being manipulated, Harry you may want to say something to Director Bones on Auror Tonk's behalf. Auror Hammer seems to think that her suspension will have long-term consequences for her. She may have been wrong, but she was only trying to help."
Harry felt terrible, and replied, "A lot of things got balled up that day. It never occurred to me that the wards protecting their home would come down like that."
Hermione could see that he was quickly sinking into a self-induced funk, walked up to Harry, put her arms on his shoulders, and said, "Harry, stop it. You didn't burn your uncle's home down. Death Eaters did. Tonks didn't burn their home down either. You don't blame her, so don't go blaming yourself."
Harry calmed down, thought for a minute and replied, "OK, I'll do it. How long would it have to be?"
Emma thought for a moment and said "About four to five hundred words would be best. Hermione could probably help with the wordsmithing if you'd like. Dan and I would be happy to read it over if you wish."
Fawkes made some obvious movement to be noticed. Hermione grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote, We'd be glad to help Mr. Weasley. H&H
Fawkes took the parchment in his claw, and in another fiery flash vanished.
Ten minutes later, Fawkes arrived at the burrow with a note.
Molly and Arthur,
Harry Potter has just volunteered to write an endorsement of your plan that will appear in the Wednesday editions of the Daily Prophet, and the Quibbler. That should be worth five to seven swing votes, and ensure that the vote passes easily.
Thank you for taking the lead in this action. Your words will be heard as the voice of reason.
Albus Dumbledore
Arthur thought to himself, 'I wonder how much arm bending Dumbledore did to get Harry to agree to this plan?' He knew that Harry hated publicity and had little interest in politics.
Regardless of the origin, Arthur was silently relieved that Harry had made such an offer.
Back at the Grangers, Harry thought that the Granger's home should be warded as soon as possible. He would talk with Mr. and Mrs. Granger in the morning.
Chapter 7
Dumbledore would never be comfortable with the safety measures that Amelia was able to provide for Harry, and believed that his being at the Grangers was equivalent to Harry signing death warrants for the Grangers. He summoned Severus Snape to his office. Dispensing with the usual chit chat that others would prefer to hear, Dumbledore started in. "Severus, I have a most important and most delicate job that I'd ask you to do."
Snape was a bit surprised, at his words and replied, "How can I help you, Headmaster?"
"I need to get Harry to realize that he needs to be in a safer place than where he is currently staying."
Unless Dumbledore was asking him to launch an attack against Potter or one of his little friends, Snape had no interest. "Pardon my asking, Headmaster, but why are Potter's holiday sleeping arrangements anyone's concern?"
Dumbledore looked at Snape carefully and said, "The events from June should have made that clear. Harry is involved with Riddle through the prophecy that you heard some sixteen years ago. He has had to bear incredible burdens and deserves our support and respect."
Snape scowled. "He may have his destiny, but that does not excuse his arrogance."
Dumbledore shook his head. 'Severus would never change his opinion about Harry and would carry a grudge against James to his death.' "There is no arrogance in wearing rags to school Severus. There was no arrogance in being forced to live in a cupboard and endure years of abuse from his uncle. There was no arrogance in being ridiculed and called a liar in the newspapers and magazines for a year."
Snape hadn't heard many of these things before, but they did nothing to change his personal opinion of the brat. "What would you like me to do?"
"If you are willing, I would ask you to make an appearance in Death Eater garb at the Grangers and attempt to scare them without revealing yourself, hurting anyone, or getting caught by the single guard that Amelia has placed there."
After considering the request for a minute Snape said that he would take care of it next Saturday, and not to worry about complications.
Dumbledore was relieved that Harry had agreed to help Arthur. He knew that Harry would do almost anything to help the quirky but loveable father of seven. Dumbledore's only hesitation in having Harry endorse Arthur's plan was the increased attention placed on the boy. He would feel much better when Harry was safely back at Grimmauld place.
With Hermione's help, Harry was at last satisfied with his letter to the editor of both the Quibbler and the Prophet. While it would have been Harry's preference to send the letter only to Luna's father and help them out, Hermione pointed out that in this case time was of the essence.
Harry handed the letter to Emma to read.
An open letter to the Managers of the Ministry and the Wizengamot:
It is my opinion that Cornelius Fudge is the wrong man for the job. It was my bad luck to be at the rebirth of Voldemort on 24 June 1995. Tied to a grave marker in a Little Hangleton cemetery not too far from his father's old residence, I saw him rise out of a large cauldron. I saw him call for his Death Eaters by touching a wand to the Dark Mark that had been burned into the arm of one of his followers. As they answered Voldemort's call, I watched as he greeted them by name. Miraculously when he dueled with me, I managed to escape.
When I returned to the Hogwarts school with the body of the other student that I was with, Cedric Diggory, via the portkey that we had both been tricked into using, I reported these events to Professor Dumbledore, who reported them exactly as they happened to Minister of Magic Fudge. I gave him the names of the Death Eaters that I had personally heard Voldemort name that evening.
Minister Fudge did nothing, except call me a liar, and whine to Dumbledore that "It can't be. It just can't be." No one wanted Voldemort to come back, but he had.
A year passed before Voldemort went public. What was he doing in that time? One can only imagine that he was out gathering supporters. How much was the Ministry Auror squad allowed to grow in that time? None. My understanding is that the size of the Auror department was frozen on 4 June 1995 by direction from Minister Fudge.
Minister Fudge did nothing until the evening of 28 June 1996 when Voldemort and twelve of his Death Eaters initiated a raid at the Department of Mysteries. I was there and helped capture 11 of the 12 Death Eaters. I among others watched as Professor Dumbledore personally dueled with Voldemort. Minister Fudge came in wearing his pajamas and saw it too.
What has he done since? Has he authorized the Auror team to double in size? No. The manpower freeze is still on.
Is this the man that we believe can lead the wizarding world to victory in a time of war?
I don't think so.
Arthur Weasley is taking a risk by initiating a vote of no confidence. Others will take risks in doing their part. I believe that the time has come for change in how we fight Voldemort and his followers. Witches and wizards need to be able to defend themselves. They need the skills and in many cases the authorization to be able to perform magic. They need to know that an adequate sized group of professionals is there to assist them, not simply by defending, but attacking his Death Eaters where they stand.
A good leader would be spearheading this effort, not dragging their feet at every step. I support Arthur Weasley's effort to unseat Minister Fudge and will support the man or woman who has the courage and foresight to take the war to Voldemort.
Respectfully submitted,
Harry James Potter
Emma put the paper down and thought carefully about what the two teens had just written. She could see the places where Hermione had helped Harry with phrasing or grammar, but the letter was obviously his.
She had a hard time connecting that the young man with the unruly hair who had made such a wonderful dinner had faced that horror, and even worse, that the authorities had refused to believe him. How many people had died or would die due to the minister's inaction?
She reread the part about individuals needing the skills to be able to defend themselves.
She would talk with the two in the morning.
At eight AM on Tuesday, Fawkes arrived. Harry had made three copies of his letter. He sent two with Fawkes, having previously sent the other to Mr. Weasley with Hedwig, and on Emma's advice, had kept the original.
Arthur was heartened at the powerful message that Harry had written supporting his effort. He hoped his own letter was received as well. Running out of time before work, he asked Molly to write Harry a proper thank-you note. He looked at his letter once more before leaving for the day.
Petition to initiate a vote of no confidence 16 July 1996
It is with equal amounts of sadness and conviction that I must act to call for a vote of no confidence in our Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. In my observation, he is the very worst sort of leader for a time of war. He has exhibited indecisiveness from the start, freezing budgets in the Law Enforcement group, and looking the other way when faced with obvious wrongdoings of Death Eaters employed at the Ministry.
He was swayed by the influence of Death Eater Lucius Malfoy and other Death Eaters that had been allowed back into the employ of the ministry, in some cases achieving department head status.
Due to Fudge's refusal to admit that Voldemort had returned, we have lost out opportunity to push him back before he achieved a toehold. Now we are faced with fighting a full-blown war without that aid of an Auror team that should have been a year into expansion.
Each day that passes, he is getting stronger and we are faced with the increased likelihood that we will be forced to bring our children into the war.
I believe that the time is such that we are forced to look to new leadership. As such, we the undersigned request a vote of no confidence be taken on Wednesday 17 July 1996.
Arthur Weasley – Head – Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
There were signature spots for the other fourteen signatures.
After Arthur left for the day, Molly took the time to write Harry a proper thank you note. She was so grateful that he had come to their aid, and recognized that his was the greatest endorsement that she and Arthur could have received. Her only regret was that he and Ginny had not found more time for each other. She looked it over one last time before sending it.
Dear Harry,
Arthur and I would like to offer you our deepest appreciation for you having taken the time to write such a wonderful letter of support for Arthur's effort. We simply believed it to be the right thing to do and pray that the effort is successful.
Time and time again you have come to our aid. We are so indebted to you and could never begin to repay you for your many brave deeds.
We can only offer our love and thanks.
Molly and Arthur
She sent the letter off, and prayed that Arthur would be successful in gathering the eight signatures needed to present to the Wizengamot for final vote. If successful, tomorrow would be another stressful day. If unsuccessful, Arthur would return home carrying a box containing his personal belongings from his office.
At breakfast, Emma asked Harry and Hermione about the home protection techniques that they had been studying. They decided to start with several rather simple charms - the imperturbable charm, the impervious charm and using runes to automatically create a flame freezing charm in the event of fire.
They also decided to see if they could place the house under an anti-disapparation ward, but knew that they would have to read up a lot more on the subject.
Dan had appointments at their surgery that morning, but Emma had the morning off. She visited with the other guardian of their home, Hit Wizard, Michael Wood. He knew Harry on more of a personal basis than the others as he had come to several of the Quidditch games in years past to watch his younger brother Oliver. As such, he was less in awe of Harry, and more respectful of the person.
When Hermione and Harry had finished, Wood looked at the work that they had done to the home and gave his approval.
He told Emma, "The advantage in the flame freezing charm is that few if any Death Eaters would ever notice that it was there. As such, they would spend many minutes attempting to light the house on fire with no real damage being done to the structure."
Emma nodded at his words, hoping that she would never find out just how good her daughter's work had really been.
The variation on the impervious charm that they used would act much like a shield charm and harden the home against a reducto blast or similar impact spells. Like the flame freezing charm, the intent was to slow down the effects of a potential attack, hoping to stall any serious damage until help could arrive.
By 10 AM, Arthur had acquired seven signatures and still had five more managers to talk with. He met with Holly Bruce, the new manager of Magical Games and sports. After five minutes, she signed the paper.
In the end, twelve of the fifteen managers signed the document. Arthur brought the document to Dumbledore who was in his Wizengamot office for the day.
Dumbledore had the paperwork already prepared and made the arrangements to send out the official notifications to the other judges and the managers. The vote would be taken at 10 AM. Arthur would have the opportunity to speak.
Dumbledore believed that once Fudge found out that the petition had successfully been drafted and approved, he would quickly tally up the likely votes and either prepare his rebuttal speech, or prepare a letter of resignation.
Dumbledore told Arthur that he believed the Wizengamot would currently vote 42 for his proposal with 8 voting against and 10 swing votes. With the 12 votes from the managers the vote would probably be 54 for dismissal 11 against and 10 swing votes. With Harry's published endorsement, Dumbledore believed the final vote would be 62 for and 13 against Fudge.
Fudge was livid when he found out that a petition had been circulated, and outraged when he found the vote to be held the next day. He didn't want to go down in an embarrassing vote, but believed that he possessed a much higher degree of support than Dumbledore had estimated. He estimated that he had as many as 30 votes in the Wizengamot along with the 3 from the managers, leaving a failed vote of 42 – 33, or 8 votes short of the required 50 votes.
Fudge thought about possible replacements for that muggle-loving Arthur Weasley. 'Perhaps Weatherbee should be rewarded with a promotion'.
Amelia Bones was surprised, but delighted when Arthur had come to her office with a no confidence petition with five signatures already on it. He had carefully considered (or had been coached) in selecting the order. The names read Weasley, Diggory, Hopkirk, Goshawk, and Croaker. She was happy to add her name as the sixth. They talked for a minute and Arthur left.
She called her senior Aurors to come for a short meeting. Everyone was there except Wood who was taking the shift at the Grangers. She advised them that most likely there would be a No Confidence vote taken tomorrow morning. Depending on the outcome, either Fudge or Weasley would be escorted out of the building in disgrace.
The Aurors and Hit Wizards as a group had little reason to endorse Fudge as a leader. Most of the Aurors had believed Dumbledore and Potter from the start, and realized that Fudge had done more to endanger their lives in the last year than Voldemort's ever growing band of Death Eaters.
Snape arrived at the Malfoy manor after visiting with Dumbledore. He met with Malfoy and asked him to be ready at 11 PM on Friday evening.
Malfoy asked what Snape had in mind, but he refused to give the details. Snape would have a portkey available as the location would not be disclosed.
Refusing the opportunity to stay for dinner, Snape left to consider his plan. He wanted to eliminate as many of the risks as he could.
At noon on Tuesday Arthur presented a petition to Dumbledore containing twelve signatures. Dumbledore countersigned the document and made several copies. He gave one back to Arthur, shook his hand and wished him well for the next day.
One went to Fudge, along with the official notification of the hearing and vote the next morning. He kept one for himself and sent the other with Fawkes.
Each of the Wizengamot judges were notified of the vote, as were the managers. By most estimates it would be a very close vote.
Harry and Emma were in the back garden having a lemonade. Hermione was walking out the door carrying the pitcher and some ice when the beautiful phoenix appeared.
Harry took the letter from Fawkes, stroked him once, and the magnificent bird vanished in a flash of flame.
"What did you get," inquired Emma.
"Dunno," replied Harry. "But the professor wanted us to know something." Harry opened the letter and handed it to Hermione and Emma.
Hermione smiled at him, and gave him a little hug. "Harry, this is very good. Mr. Weasley needed to collect eight signatures and got twelve. With the help of your letter in the papers tomorrow, the vote looks like it will pass."
"I hope so," replied Harry. "A lot of things could go wrong."
Dinner at the Weasley household that night was quite loud. All of the children (except Percy) were there. Arthur had told everyone what he had done. Bill, Charlie and the twins were amazed that their father had taken such a political stand.
Ginny was amazed that her father had been so manipulated to risk his entire career at the Ministry to serve as a piece in one of the professor's human chess games.
Molly didn't say much, but felt much the same as her daughter. Her Arthur had risked so very much on Dumbledore's suggestion. It wasn't until she passed around the letter that Harry had written for Wednesday's editions that the family united in their hope and prayer for a successful conclusion of the vote tomorrow.
Chapter 8
Arthur woke early on Wednesday morning. In reality, he had hardly slept. After making a cup of coffee, the owl carrying the newspaper arrived. He looked at the front page and could hardly believe his eyes.
Harry Potter Blasts Fudge's Record
Story by Rita Skeeter
In a move that was hoped for by many, Harry James Potter came out with his strongest words yet against Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. A follow-up vote of no confidence petition was circulated yesterday and overwhelmingly passed, setting up a formal vote of No Confidence today. In what is expected to be Fudge's last afternoon on the job, Fudge had no comment other than to defend his record in providing thirteen years of relative peace within the wizarding world.
Estimates of the vote range from 45 for dismissal 30 against to as high as 70 – 5 with 50 of 75 votes required to dismiss the embattled MoM. Most sources expect that Fudge will tender his resignation this morning rather than face the indignation of forcibly being removed from office.
More on Harry Potter including the full text – page 3
Likely candidates and their chances – page 5
The No Confidence procedure – page 13
Arthur was mentioned by name several times on page 13. As he was reading the paper, he felt that Dumbledore may have underestimated Harry's impact. With luck, Fudge will have submitted his resignation before the hearing even began at 10 AM
Molly read the articles along with her best friend and prayed that it would all be over by the time that her Arthur left the house. She silently reminded herself never to criticize Harry for anything, ever again. He had truly come through for them.
In Crawley, Harry and the Grangers read the paper in stunned silence. Usually letters to the editor were relegated to the back of a paper, tucked in somewhere between the obituaries and the positions available listings. None of them had seen anything like this before.
"Sort of makes you wonder if you could do the same thing with any of the other politicians," quipped Dan.
"Dunno," replied Harry. "I don't have that much interest in politics. Fudge has mostly gone off against me in the past. Payback was OK. I just hope this whole thing passes so Mr. Weasley doesn't lose his job."
"I don't think things will get that far," replied Emma. "Most politicians don't like to go down in the flames of a No Confidence vote. My guess is that he's writing his resignation letter as we speak."
Meanwhile at Hogwarts, the normally pleasant breakfast conversation was anything but. "Dumbledore, how could you?" shouted McGonagall. She had never been so angry at Dumbledore. "Harry would never have written that letter on his own, unprodded. What did you do or say to make him do such a thing?"
Eyes twinkling, the old wizard replied, "Calm down, Minerva. I did not coerce Harry into such action. I simply let him know that Arthur had begun the No Confidence petition and pointed out that he might appreciate a vote of support from him. Harry authored the letter on his own and of his own free will."
"Bullocks, Dumbledore. I've seen his papers for the last five years. That doesn't even resemble his writing style. It looks more like something that Miss…" She was so mad that she got up from the table. 'Of course. Dumbledore must have suggested that Hermione look it over first. Didn't Harry have enough on his plate without being thrust into politics at the same time?'
As Fudge's last official act, he fired Weatherbee. "No one likes a brown-noser who's never had an original thought, Wetherbee. Maybe you should take a position as a busker outside a gentlemen's club."
By 8:05 AM both men had left the building. By 8:20 Arthur and Dumbledore had both been notified of Fudge's resignation.
Dumbledore thought to himself, 'This was far easier than I had thought.' He wondered if he shouldn't have tried it earlier. He was confident that Arthur would carry out the remainder of his plan flawlessly. By noon Diggory would be sworn in as the new MoM.
According to custom, Arthur had the first shot at nominating the successor. As that person only required a simple majority to be elected, Arthur had a good chance at naming the next Minister of Magic.
Taking an unexpected detour in the way to work, he apparated to the back garden of the Granger home, greeted Senior Auror Church and knocked on the back door. Cautiously, Dan answered the door. Arthur said, "Hello Dr. Granger. May I come in and speak with Harry for a moment? I'd like to thank him properly for his help."
Dan met his eyes, decided that he was sincere and stood aside. "Of course. Come in. Please, it's Dan."
"Thank you. It's Arthur." They walked into the kitchen where Emma, Hermione and Harry were having coffee. Arthur looked at Harry and Hermione, smiled and shook their hands. "Thank you Harry. Your letter saved a vote. Fudge resigned early this morning."
"That's great news, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione, hugging Harry. She invited him to have a cuppa, and visit for a few minutes.
Having asked his questions, and hearing the answers, Weasley left ten minutes later.
Amelia had arrived at her office at 6:00 that morning. After reading the paper, she was not surprised to hear that Fudge had resigned so quickly. There was no pressing business for the next two hours. She notified the Aurors that the visitors' entrances were to be watched with extra caution that morning.
She believed that Dumbledore had masterminded Arthur's work yesterday, and expected that through Weasley, Diggory would be nominated, seconded and voted in by 10:30 that morning.
It occurred to her that she might be nominated in the unlikely event that Amos was not voted in. It was her expectation that whoever Arthur nominated, would likely receive at least 55 votes.
By 8:20, Amos Diggory had been notified that Fudge had tendered his resignation. According to Dumbledore's plan he would become the next Minister of Magic within three hours. He began rehearsing his acceptance speech.
Diggory made a note to himself that he should invite Potter to the inaugural ball. Even though he had caused a stir lately within the Order with his living arrangements, Amos knew that Potter's heart was in the right place, and he obviously had the ear of the press right now.
After Arthur left, Dan had offered to take Harry to the club for a game of golf. Hermione and Emma happily begged off, deciding that they would do a bit of shopping instead.
Harry had never played golf, but had seen it on the telley a few times. Dan loved it and was willing to be a great coach. He was grateful for a willing partner to play with, as Emma and Hermione really didn't care for the game.
The two men walked into the pro shop, where the pro greeted Dan warmly. "Good morning Dr. Granger. Who's your latest victim?"
The three of them smiled and laughed. Dan said, "Phil, this is a good friend of my daughter, Harry Potter."
Phil shook Harry's hand and greeted him warmly.
Dan told the pro that Harry would need a set of everything for the day. They spent a half hour on the driving range covering proper stance, swing basics and a good grip. Unlike most teens, Harry wasn't obsessed with the idea of distance, and could consistently hit his long irons where he was trying to place the ball. They went over to the putting green and covered the basics of a chip then practiced putting a bit. Dan was amazed how quickly Harry seemed to have picked up the basics.
They had a fun time at it, and visited with each other along the way as they played. Dan asked Harry about Fudge.
"He gets involved in little things, and chooses to ignore the big unpleasant things. There must be someone who's better qualified to help people protect themselves."
Dan nodded, hoping Harry would continue. "We watched that movie the other night about those old time American Gangsters in Chicago. Wizarding fights seem like that. They're not set place army battles, more like shootouts and murders. They're usually over within seconds."
Harry continued. "When we practiced dueling and stuff in school, we did these ridiculous spells – tickling spells, or a jelly legs jinx. The problem was that it gave the impression that if you get hit, a time out would make it OK again. When we were facing those twelve Death Eaters last month, they were playing for keeps. That guy who hit Hermione was trying to slice her in half. He was wounded at the time, and couldn't get his spell right, but he thought nothing of her life."
Walking to the eighth tee Harry said, "They're bad people, and I get really angry that the ministry hasn't done more to protect regularfamilies. None of my other friends have a 24-hour guard at their house. Fudge hasn't seen fit to even send out a basic self-defense pamphlet. Does that make any sense?"
"No," replied Dan shaking his head in sad realization that his playing partner was spot on. "Not a bit. What else can we do to protect ourselves?"
"A lot of things, I suppose. Yard lights, armor vests, more guards, having a shotgun in the house. Maybe carrying a portkey around is a better answer."
Dan nodded as he teed the ball. "Family is everything, Harry. Houses can always be replaced. You're family, Harry. I know about shotguns, but how could we get a portkey?"
"Director Bones could help us there."
As they were walking to the eighteenth tee, Dan asked, "How are things going with you and Hermione?"
Without hesitation, Harry replied, "She means everything to me, sir. She's my best friend."
Dan nodded and smiled. "I know what you mean Harry. Emma's mybest friend."
Harry, teed the ball and hit off using his 2 iron. The ball went straight and stopped about 140 yards out.
"Nice shot Harry. It's a lot more fun playing from the fairway 140 yards out than from behind a tree 200 yards out."
They finished their game, had a pint in the clubhouse and went home. As they were getting out of the car, Dan said, "Thanks for the game, Harry. I enjoyed it."
"Thank you sir. I did too. Actually I had a lot of fun. Thanks again."
"My pleasure. It looks like the girls are in the back garden."
While Dan and Harry had been coercing little white balls to fall into holes, Emma and Hermione had been shopping. Emma asked, "Are you having a good holiday, Hermione?"
Without hesitation Hermione replied, "The best, mum. Thanks for offering Harry a place to stay. I really like him."
Emma smiled at her daughter, amazed how easily those words had sprung from her mouth. "So do we, dear. He's a very nice young man. You have good taste in men."
Hermione smiled at her mum, not really blushing, but happy at Emma's endorsement at the unspoken words.
They had a nice lunch together. The women had bought new tops and had picked out new shorts for Dan and Harry. They listened politely as Dan gave them a hole-by-hole account of the morning; each silently delighted that they had hadn't been dragged out to play. Surprising both women, Harry seemed to have genuinely had a good time. He and Dan seemed to enjoy each other's company quite a bit.
After lunch, Dan and Emma went to their surgery where they each had appointments until 5:00.
Auror Hammer was grateful that the Grangers had been so inclusive. They always made an extra lunch or dinner and spent time visiting. Hammer enjoyed the assignment. There was no mountain of paperwork to fill out, and the young witch and Mr. Potter were very easy to get along with. Sometimes they visited, and she told them stories of working with Moody, or tracking down various Death Eaters. Unlike Auror Church, Hammer had fought her share of Death Eater fights and knew that the fights could be brutally swift.
After a while she let the teens be, while she looked around, checking the wards. She told them that she would talk more with them after dinner.
Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to go for a swim. The smile on Harry's face made Hermione feel good about herself. She had never really thought of herself as pretty before this summer. She knew that Harry thought the world of her and liked everything about her, even if he was less adept at expressing it than a young woman might like.
They put on their swimsuits and floated side by side, tentatively touching hands together or taking turns dunking each other. They hadn't really talked about their evolving relationship, though each was aware that it was growing.
At 3:00, Tonks came by, carrying a very large sack of mail. She was dressed in faded jeans and a form fitting top.
"Hi Tonks," said Hermione, smiling at her.
Watching their reactions closely, she greeted them. "Wotcher, Hermione? Looking good. Hi Harry."
Hermione continued smiling. "Hi Tonks. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Much better, thanks. I wanted to thank you for standing up for me with Minister Bones. That was good of you, and I really appreciate it."
Harry was momentarily confused. "Did you say Minister Bones? Does that mean?"
"Yup. Arthur gave a fifteen-minute nominating speech and the vote was 62-13. The only people who looked surprised were the professor and Amos Diggory."
"That's brilliant," said Hermione. She knew Amelia to be very fair, and it was good for any muggleborn witch to be on a first name basis with the Minister of Magic. Looking at the sack that Tonks had lugged in, Hermione inquired, "What's that?"
"Fan mail for Harry." She gave him a sly smile. "Mostly from witches, by the looks of the envelopes. We scanned them for jinxes, and curses. Hestia tossed out a couple of howlers." Hermione was stunned at the volume of mail that was in the bag. She estimated that there were well over a thousand letters in the canvas sack.
Tonks smiled at both of them and said, "Speaking for myself, Harry and Hermione, I think you both did a great thing. I know that you don't want to make a big deal of your fame Harry, but it's there and you put it to good use this week. I need to go now, but thanks."
"Tonks, wait," said Harry. "Can you stay for a coke or a lemonade?"
"Are you sure" replied Tonks, thinking that the two were still really mad at her.
"Please?" asked Hermione. She wasn't mad at the young Auror, if Harry wasn't.
"I have time. My shift is over. Are you sure?"
"No worries," said Harry, pouring her a class of iced lemonade.
Tonks had volunteered to drop his letters off with the hope of properly apologizing to Harry, and this looked like her chance. "Thanks. Harry," she said taking the glass. "I want to say a few things. Just let me finish. First, I'm sorry that I left your uncle's home to go tell Dumbledore that the wards had come down. That wasn't the best way to handle that, though my being there wouldn't have stopped the Death Eaters from coming."
She looked both of them in the eye and said, "I'm sorry for coming here last week and acting like a storm-trooper. It wasn't my right to do so, and I apologize. If the professor has issues with where you're spending your time, he should be taking them up with you himself, and not place other people in the middle."
Harry knew she was sincere and didn't need to hear any more. He looked into her crystal blue eyes and said, "There nothing else that needs to be said, Tonks. All is forgiven, and all is forgotten. I didn't want you to get into any trouble with Director Bones, er, I mean Minister Bones."
She knew that he meant what he'd said. He was a great guy. "Thanks, Harry. Thanks Hermione. I really appreciate it. By the way, the summer seems to really agree with both of you. You both look great. Harry did you grow since I saw you last?"
"Dunno, but I like swimming, now that I know how a bit."
"Would you care to join us?" asked Hermione. "I've got plenty of extra suits."
Tonks really wanted to, but the Professor had insisted that she return back to Grimmauld place after her visit.
"It's a really nice afternoon," coaxed Harry.
"OK." She could always rationalize that she was trying to see how they were.
"Great," smiled Hermione. "We'll be right back, Harry."
Tonks spent an hour swimming with Harry and Hermione. She was a good swimmer, and the two women took turns sneaking up behind Harry and tickling him. Reaching around to defend himself against Hermione's merciless efforts, Harry suddenly froze as surely as if someone had place the full body bind on him. He had accidentally grabbed something that he definitely didn't have permission to.
"S,sorry," he stammered, as Tonks who had seen the whole thing was biting her lip to keep from laughing, until she saw the impact that it had made on Harry.
Hermione, gave her best friend a warm hug, and whispered, "I didn't mind, Harry. Please don't feel bad. You didn't do anythingwrong." She knew that in spite of a few good days, he was emotionally still a very fragile young man, and had definitely not groped her on purpose. She knew that it wasn't in his nature to put any moves on anyone unless asked and guided.
Tonks could see that this would require more than a simple excuse me - no worries exchange between the two. She got out of the pool and sat by the edge to watch. Harry was such a bundle of contrasts. He might be the most resourceful fighter that she'd ever seen, but could be brought to tears by the thought of offending the young woman who so obviously cared deeply for him.
'Gods,' she thought. 'He could feel up 80 percent of the witches in his class if he wanted, and they would be delighted to accommodate him. But he never would. He's such a gentleman.'
Hermione took Harry's hands and placed them around her waist, gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, and whispered, "Everything's all right. Let's go get some lemonade."
Standing off to the side, Tonks, thought, 'Heaven help anyone who ever tried to hurt her in his presence.'
Hermione invited Tonks to stay for dinner, but the young Auror felt the need to get back to her other duties. She thanked them and left after getting dressed.
Dumbledore was not a happy man. His carefully laid plans with Amos had been dashed. Last night at this time he's been certain that Harry's letter and a good speech from Arthur would ensure a close, but favorable vote. It had not occurred to him that the Prophet would turn Harry's letter into an entire issue, causing Cornelius to resign without a fight. Perhaps he was relieved to be free of the burden that had obviously weighed him down so much the past few years.
Nonetheless, Arthur had gone against his carefully orchestrated instructions and nominated Bones to the top job. While he believed her to be a very capable Director he knew that he would have much less influence on her than Diggory. As demonstrated clearly in the last weeks, they had their differences of opinion. He was a big picture person, while she was concerned much more with individual rights and comforts. She never would have found a place for a man like Severus, even if his teaching methods were less than pleasant. She didn't care for the use of spies and would never have seen his real value.
She could be conformed later. He thought it unfortunate timing that Kingsley had been forcibly evicted from the Auror group. He would have made a very capable head for the law enforcement group. It would be interesting to see who Amelia appointed.
Tonks was over an hour late reporting in. She probably had spent the time visiting with the Senior Auror on duty at the Granger residence.
A few minutes later, she opened the back door and let herself in. Dumbledore saw her and gave her a friendly greeting. "Good afternoon, Miss Tonks. I trust your delivery was uneventful."
"Hello Professor. Everything went well. I mended some fences with Hermione and Harry, and visited with them for an hour. They invited me to go swimming with them."
Dumbledore was surprised at her response, assuming that Harry was equally mad at everyone. "Really? That is indeed good news. Did you take the opportunity to impress on Harry that he needs to leave there and move to a place of safety?"
'Gods,' thought Tonks. 'That man is a broken record.' She replied, "No Sir. I thanked Harry for taking the time to keep my career on track with my department, and watched Hermione take the time to make Harry feel good about himself." 'Has the man ever heard of empathy?'
Dumbledore knew that she was not seeing the big picture and replied, "Of course. Very well."
Draco was livid when he saw the paper and heard the news of Bones being voted in as Minister of Magic. Father had said she had no ear for their cause, and she had failed to be sympathetic when his solicitor had carefully explained that Lucius and McNair were both under the Imperious Curse at the time of the arrests.
'Potter and his letters.' He couldn't believe that the Prophet had made such a big deal of one letter. 'Father'd had many of the Wizengamot judges over to the manor for dinner or meetings.' He was sure that they'd been paid for their loyalty. 'That coward Fudge had left office without even putting up a good fight. It was all Potter's fault. I'll make him pay for the things he'd done.'
Draco hoped that Snape had something useful for him to do Friday night. He'd show them that he was ready to torch the muggle world.
Dan and Emma drove home from their surgery at 5:30. They'd only scheduled a dozen patients each that afternoon, though they both had full a day Thursday and Friday morning.
Harry had made a simple stew for dinner. It smelled delicious as Emma and Dan walked in the door. He had brightened each of their lives so much by being there. They sat on the patio table outside and invited Auror Hammer over to join them.
Hermione told them that Tonks had come over and told them that Fudge had resigned. She recapped the conversation. "Then Auror Tonks told us that Mr. Weasley had nominated Director Bones as Minister and she was elected 62 to 13."
"That's seems like a pretty wide margin. I like her," said Emma. "I'm glad that she was elected. She seems like a very fair and capable manager."
"She is at that," replied Hammer. "She put up with a lot of guff over the years to rise through the ranks as she did. She never lost sight of people's rights. She was one of the few who protested that Black should have been given a decent trial, but Director Crouch wouldn't hear of it. I thought him guilty at the time, like most people did, but he should have at least gotten a hearing to say his side o things."
Hermione had sat next to her mum and listened as they talked back and forth. Fudge's leaving office was good and she was also glad that Madam Bones had been elected, but her primary concern was for her friend. She'd find the opportunity to snog with Harry and get him comfortable with her. If Tonks hadn't been there, she'd have taken his hands and put them back where he so obviously wanted them to be.
It was raining all of Thursday. Wood was the day guard, and insisted on spending the day outside lurking in the bushes, watching for movement, like a bird of prey.
The four of them had gone through most of the letters last evening. Three fourths of them were from witches of various ages telling him that they thought he was a hero. A disturbing number of them had included highly inappropriate photos that left no doubt of their intentions. Neither Harry nor Hermione mentioned that they recognized some of the younger witches as current or recent classmates. Dan quipped that they didn't get any thank you letters and photos like that at the surgery, especially photos where the subjects moved. Emma smacked him on the back of the head and told him to throw them away.
Several dozen letters were from members of the DA, thanking him for speaking out. Most also thanked him for helping them learn some real defense last year. Those that had been in either the fifth or seventh year also thanked him for helping them do so well on their exams.
Harry seemed introspective and they both read together in comfortable silence. He still wasn't completely comfortable with what had happened yesterday and didn't know how to express the disappointment that he felt in himself to Hermione. He hadn't tried to grope her, and knew that she was just letting him off easy. He would find a way to make things up with her.
Molly was beside herself with relief that things had gone so smoothly for them. She was so very grateful to Harry. Ron had blown up over the fuss that had been made about a simple letter, not considering how badly things could have gone for their family. Ginny had seen the situation for what it really was. Like her mother, she was glad that the immediate risk had passed.
Ginny was worried about the increased attention that it had drawn to Harry. She was waiting to see what the secondary and further reaching effects would be.
Amelia sat in her new office. She had four positions that needed filling on Monday. She would be sworn in on Saturday at noon. The positions of Senior Undersecretary, personal assistant, and her current position, Magical Law Enforcement Director were vacant and needed to be filled within the week. Within the MLE group, there was a Senior Auror position open from Kingsley, which the new Director would need to fill.
By tradition, the person who nominated her would receive the highest unfilled vacancy, which was arguably he own position. She did not want to place a Dumbledore puppet in that position, and wanted to fill it from within the Auror ranks.
From what she knew of the Arthur, he was an excellent administrator, who had a love of muggle gadgets and was overly swayed by Dumbledore. The wizarding world could hardly keep ignoring technology for the next twenty years. The wizarding population was quaint enough as it was. She would place him in the Undersecretary position that Umbridge had held, and focus him on developing strategies of integrating relevant technologies into the wizarding world. Emails and cellular telephones seemed much more efficient than owls. He would probably be delighted with the work, and develop a useful strategy with coaching.
Her old position could readily be filled by Kingsley, Hammer, Church, or Wood. Kingsley was in a good position where he was going. Wood would be miffed that he didn't get the job, Church wouldn't expect it, and Hammer wouldn't care one way or the other. Hammer was the better leader of the Senior Aurors. Hit Wizards were their own breed. They honed fighting skills almost exclusively and normally held their jobs until they faced an opponent who had better skills.
She would offer the position to Hammer and ask Wood to help train the flood of Auror Trainees that would be needed to ensure people's safety. She would fund the expanded group by severely fining the convicted Death Eaters, something Fudge should have done if he hadn't been swayed so deeply by Malfoy.
With respect to Dumbledore's militia, it had arguably done its job in watching for threats when the MoM refused to. In her opinion, the best thing Dumbledore could do would be to properly prepare the children to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world. He didn't need to hold the hypothetical mantle of Minister of National defense as well.
Members of the Board of School Governors were appointed by the MoM. There currently were two open positions due to Death Eater captures. She would fill those next week. Arguably Remus Lupin would be well qualified, and as it wasn't a full time position could be scheduled accordingly. She would have to present a few needless discrimination laws to the Wizengamot for repeal first. She wished that Hermione Granger were a few years older. Rather than fill the spots with Ministry employees, she would go to the outside and try and bring in new ideas. She wanted people who would challenge Dumbledore or his successor in a positive way, not be in awe of him.
Friday morning an owl arrived at the Granger back window. Church gave a look at it, recognized the seal, and took the letter inside. The Dentists were getting ready to leave for the day, but were curious. Naturally it was addressed to Harry.
Dear Mr. Potter
You and a guest are invited to the Inauguration Ball to be held Saturday evening at 7:00 PM to midnight at the Minister's private residence. A Portkey has been provided for your use.
Dress is formal.
Hoping to meet you at last,
Malfda Hopkirk
Improper Use of Magic Office
Harry showed the letter to Dan and Emma who were considerably more interested in it than he was. "I can be back at noon, and take you two to get something to wear if you like."
Hermione knew that her mum was a half a dozen steps ahead of her friend. In a soft voice she said, "Harry, I'd be honored to go with you, if you wanted to go, and you wanted to bring me as your guest. It might be fun, and we wouldn't have to stay longer than you want."
Harry was obviously hesitating, but she wasn't sure of the reason. "What's the matter?"
Harry hesitated and replied, "I don't like the attention of a big party."
Emma said, "Harry I don't think that this is a very large gathering, probably not many more than a hundred invitations were sent out. There won't be a bunch of reporters. It's being held at Amelia's private residence. You brought down a government with five hundred words. I'm sure that she invited you because she wanted you to be there with her."
Harry was squirming in his seat. "I don't have proper robes that fit. We won't know anybody. I don't know how to dance."
She smiled at him. 'The real reason comes out at last.' In an upbeat voice she replied "Dan and I are no experts, but we will give you two a dance lesson this evening. Would that be OK?"
Harry looked at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly. "OK. I'll ask Senior Auror Hammer to take us to Diagon Alley this afternoon. I need to sign a few things at Gringotts, and we can each get something to wear. Hermione and I also need to get a few books. I thought we could barbeque tonight for dinner, and we can have a lesson after."
Emma smiled. "I'll be home at noon. We can leave right after."
McGonagall was livid. "Dumbledore rip that letter up, and don't even think of sending another. Assuming that they were invited, you have no right in the world to tell them not to go. If you're so worried about their protection, you should show up yourself and keep your eyes open. I'll go with you as your guest to keep an eye on you." She felt like batting him on the back of his head.