Forecasts
More Ministry Mishaps. Public Calls for New Minister and Law Enforcement Leaders.
After the mass breakout of two days ago in which all Death Eaters escaped from their cells in Azkaban the cries of protest against the Minister's policies have increased tenfold. For the past two years the minister has been criticised for the increased amount of escapes from minimum security cells, however Finch-Fletchly has stood stoically by the "no dementors" policy, introduced by the "restoration of peace Minister", Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"It has already been proved, in most of our lifetimes, that dementors are not to be trusted. They deserted us once and switched sides. Remember when they swooped over our towns and cities and sucked the happiness from the world? Who wants that kind of world to return? Who puts their trust into creatures that have proven that they cannot be trusted?"
When asked whether he still stood by his policy, now, after the escapes and whether he still stood by Potter and Weasley nee Granger he said;
"Both Harry and Hermione have proven themselves to be loyal, dedicated workers who want nothing more to protect the people, as they have done for much of their lives. I cannot think of two people who I would rather put my trust in. Both have some of the biggest experience in dealing with dark magic that can be found and I will not turn my back on either of them."
Despite these strong words it does nothing to quash the rumours that Potter, and possibly Mrs Weasley, will not be returning to the same jobs when September comes and that Potter and his in-law family are a danger to those around them. It is no secret that many of the escaped convicts are seeking revenge against those that placed them there and those at the top of the list are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley.
A vocal speaker against Minister Finch-Fletchly, is Ernest Procurater, father of three and deeply concerned for their safety.
"Finch-Fletchley is misguided by his friendship with Potter and Weasley. He is therefore unable to see that they have all failed in their duties to protect the people of this country. In fact I would go as far as to say that he is compromised by his relationship with them and is incapable of making decisions that go against what they want. This means that he is failing in his duty as Minister for a Minister of Magic should be able to make, correct, independent, decisions without fear of what his colleagues might say. That is why I, for one, am calling for his resignation as Minister and a replacement that knows what is best for the people and will give it."
Procurater is not alone and there is a large group of followers gathering behind him. Many people are calling for him to be the next Minister and he is certainly not shying away from the possibility. When asked he simply said;
"If I was voted in by the people than I would not hesitate to deliver swift and decisive action. For one I would reinstate the dementors at Azkaban. I am no fool, I know they cannot be trusted so I will not leave them there alone. The guards already there will remain, except for those that were on duty when the break out happened of course. They shall be fired immediately. Secondly I believe that both Potter and Mrs Weasley have been in their posts too long unchallenged. They are both war heroes and I respect everything that they have done for us but just because they are successful at war does not mean that they are the same in peace time. We need to make sure that they are competent and right for their jobs as it does not bode well to have incompetent employees in such high positions."
There are also rumours that security at Hogwarts has been tightened to a degree similar to as when You Know Who was at large. Also the hunt for the missing convicts is underway and it is not being led by Potter but by old timer Shacklebolt. When asked about this curious decision Finch-Fletchly stated
"It was Kingsley's idea and I whole-heartedly agreed with it. He has been in the Order of the Phoenix and successfully evaded capture by the Death Eaters. Also, when the war ended, he was the leader of the task force that caught them all. If anyone knows how to catch them it's him."
Another point that Finch-Fletchly and Procurater disagree on is the Ministry's role at Hogwarts. Finch-Fletchly believes the Ministry should simply protect the students and make sure nothing untoward happens whereas Procurater believes that the Ministry should take an active role in the children's education.
"When I was at school the ministry interfered and the consequences were not pleasant. I have great faith in Professor McGonagall and the board of governors to make the right decisions for the pupils, that is their job. My own children go there and I am very happy with the education that they are getting."On whether or not he was concerned about his children's safety as his eldest is in the same year as two Weasley children and his youngest is in the same year as a Potter, Weasley and the young Malfoy who, rumour has it, is in even more danger than the Potter-Weasleys. Also Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy and their muggle-born friend Catalina Hautly have been in situations of peril two years in a row and seemed to have picked up a personal enemy, he simply remarked that;
"I believe the new defences that we have around the school should be more than enough to keep Death Eaters and Hardingly out of the school."
Procurater is not at all as satisfied by the state of things at Hogwarts making the following statement;
"It is the sign of failing school when one decides not to send their children there. My eldest should be heading to Hogwarts this year but I have decided, for their own good, that they would be safer away from the castle. Also serious questions must be asked when staff allow murderers onto school property and openly discriminate against their pupils."
All being said and done, this reporter thinks that a climatic decision will be reached before the start of the new school year at Hogwarts. It looks like an exciting couple of weeks and-
Al threw down the paper in disgust. His face was twisted into the kind of expression he would make when he found bits of onion in his food that were more than a centimetre long. Reaching up he ruffled his already abnormally messy hair up. Caly was leaning on the back of his chair, having been reading the paper over his shoulder, and James had his elbows on the table as his eyes scanned the bottom of the article.
"This is bull." said James, moving back to his place.
"Language, James." scolded Ginny. James looked up, frowning at his mother, disdain on his face.
"Mum 'bull' is not a swear word, besides Caly and Al are hardly innocent." Caly and Al both shared confused looks, wondering just what the hell James was talking about, whilst Ginny rolled her eyes at her teenage son.
"I was teenager once too you know," she said whilst brandishing her spoon at him whilst James rolled his eyes back at her. "I know what 'bull' is short for."
"Then you should be thankful I didn't say the whole word."
"Anyway." Al loudly interrupted his mum and brother's staring match. "Is this stuff true?" he indicated to the cover of The Prophet where Justin Finch-Fletchly ducked away from the cameras, his arms around Peter and Sam as he hurried them out of the path of the paparazzi. Ginny looked between her two sons and her - there was no other word for what Caly was - adopted daughter and grimaced. There was no way that the three of them would let go of this and if they didn't get information Rose and Scorpius would be working for it and they were likely to get it.
"Yes, most of it." Caly had retaken her seat, opposite James, and had folded her hands together. She rested her chin on them and stared at Ginny, a frown on her face.
"I don't understand." she began. "Peter's dad, the Minister, he's doing what people want, right?" Ginny nodded. "People don't want these…dementors, so why are they throwing him out of office because he won't bring them back? That doesn't make any sense." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"That's sort of the point. People, as you probably know, are fickle." Caly raised her eyes upwards in thought.
"Not really, in my experience people become stuck so far into a certain mind-set that they cannot look beyond that." there was a silence in which the three Potters at the table just exchanged looks and moved on.
"The point is that quite a lot of this information is true."
"People really want Peter's dad to go?" Ginny nodded but James got the response in first.
"It's called life, dumbass." Caly raised her eyebrow at Al who simply rolled his eye, being far to placid to rise to the bait. James had been in a particularly foul mood all summer. He moped around the house, mainly in his bedroom, and rarely said a kind word to anyone. When Lily had received her Hogwarts letter she had nearly screamed the house down and James, instead of congratulating her, had said
'What did you expect? A letter to Broadmoor?'- how James even knew what that was Caly had no idea because Uncle Harry only had a vague idea - 'Better start prepping for your new life in Slytherinn' before storming back to his room. This had left Lily in near tears as Harry and Caly, awkwardly, explained what Broadmoor was.
"James!" James rolled his eyes at his mum.
"What? It's obvious that Mr Finch-Fletchly is going to lose his job! Then dad and Aunt Hermione will probably loose theirs too! Enjoy and have your fun with all the suffering!" James then stormed out of the room. Ginny frowned after him but Al turned to Caly.
"He's not still mad about that." Caly rolled her eyes, a small frown creasing the middle of her forehead.
"Amongst other things, yeah." Al frowned.
"I don't get it, we didn't do anything wrong." Caly just shrugged and stared back at the paper.
"So who is the Procurator, guy?"
"It's Procurater." corrected Ginny. "And nobody really knows."
"What do you mean?" Al had folded his hands in front of his face and was staring at his mum intently.
"Well he doesn't seem to appear until a couple of years ago."
"But he said his kid was the same age as Lily."
"I know but still, he just appears out of nowhere. He never went to Hogwarts, though going by his apparent age that's not too unusual.
"How old is he?"
"Three years younger than me. He would have been in first year when I went into fourth." Al frowned, trying to think back to why he might not have gone.
"That's when people thought dad and Professor Dumbledore were crazy, isn't it?"
"Yes." said Ginny nodding. "It is and nobody wants to send their child to a school run by a 'crazy' Headmaster."
"What about the mother of the children?"
"Unknown." Caly and Al exchanged surprised looks.
"What and people don't think that's suspicious?" Ginny looked at the two of them and sighed.
"Probably but people are frightened and Procurater is giving them what they want, they don't really care about much more."
"But you don't want him in power, do you mum?"
"No Al." she said, shaking her head. "No I don't and neither does the rest of the family." Caly frowned.
"Because Peter's dad is your friend?"
"No." said Ginny shaking her head. "Well partially, but it's mainly because I don't agree with Procurater's ideas. The dementors and interfering with Hogwarts." she shook her head. "I've seen it all before and it wasn't good."
"But it ended well." the three occupants of the kitchen jumped as Harry Potter entered behind them.
Harry looked far more tired since the last time Caly had seen him. His face was scratched and pale. His glasses where hanging slightly crooked and his hair was a mess. His eyelids seemed to droop as he stumbled into the kitchen. Kreacher followed him carrying his bag and Harry collapsed down into a chair. "Thanks Kreacher." he said in a weary voice.
"It is nothing, master Harry."
"Get some rest Kreacher, you're getting too old for this kind of work."
"As you wish master." Kreacher bowed and disappeared. Harry shook his head and ran a hand over his face.
"Dad you okay?" asked Al in concern. Harry smiled at his son.
"Tired." was his reply. "Haven't slept in days." Caly tilted her head to the side.
"Why?" Harry shrugged.
"Not had the time. I'm doing my best to help Kingsley out and-" he ran a hand across his face. "-it's only a matter of time before people start dying." Caly and Al exchanged looks of sadness and concern.
"But dad you'll find them, you did last time." Harry smiled at his son's confidence in him.
"Yes we will."
"That's what I don't understand." said Caly as she swallowed the rest of her glass of her milk. "Why isn't there more information on the Death Eaters? They're so dangerous but, accept for the one that reported their escape, there hasn't been any information on them. I don't understand the logic of that." Harry snorted.
"There is no logic. It's The Prophet messing things up again, sorry dear." Ginny shrugged.
"I have very little respect for the rest of my colleagues there. Anyone willing to let Skeeter work for them has no sense." Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. Glancing at the paper he shook his head.
"Poor boys." he said. "What are they like?"
"Don't know Sam." said Al. "But we get along well with Peter." Harry nodded.
"Well I hope they're doing okay."
"Daddy! Daddy!" Lily came running down the stairs and threw herself onto her father, her long her streaming behind her. Harry let out an 'oof' as Lily impacted with him but held her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. "Are we going to Diagon Alley today, daddy?" Ginny opened her mouth to reject the idea but Harry shook his head.
"Give me an hour or two and then we'll go meet up with your cousins. We're taking Rose and Hugo, Ron and Hermione can't make it, and Billy and Dudley are coming too." Lily let out a squeal of joy and dashed off. Ginny sent him a disapproving look.
"Really? You're exhausted and you want to go shopping with Lily." Harry shrugged.
"I can't keep putting it off." he said wearily. "I'll go get a shower and lie down for a bit, can you tell the family our plans." Ginny still looked disapproving but moved off to floo call them. Al and Caly, taking their cue to exit, stacked their dishes in the sink and walked back to Al's room.
"I don't understand your strategy." said Caly from her position that was on her back on the floor. Al sighed and laid down back on his bed. He picked up his broom and used the end to point out the movements of the players again as she turned over. "Nope." she said, dropping her head onto the floor. "I don't understand what you can gain from dropping the ball into your opponent's hands." Al sighed.
"It's like sacrificing a piece in chess." he said complacently. "It's like losing your bishop to save your king." Caly tipped her head.
"I still don't fully understand but alright. How do you then get it back?"
"Easy, your beaters fly either side of them and whack a bludger at them they drop it and your third chaser is underneath them to catch it."
"And that achieves what, exactly?"
"Their players will be near our goal which leaves ours unmarked. Then it's just one on one with the goalie." Caly shook her head.
"There's too much up for chance in that. Besides, why are you doing this? You're not Captain?" Al rolled his eyes and nearly buried his head in his blankets.
"I'm not this year but its Maise's last year so the Captain's position is up for grabs next year and I want to get a head start." Caly nodded in understanding.
"I see."
"AL! CALY! We're going to Diagon Alley now!"
"YES MUM!" Al yelled back and he pulled a cover over his board, getting to his feet. Scooping up Phineas he put him back in his cage along with small cracker. Al and Caly grabbed their jackets from where they lay and threw them on as they exited Al's room.
"Al!"
"What now?"
"Go drag your brother out from wherever he's secreted himself!" Al rolled his eyes and knocked on James' door. Sticking his head he rolled his eyes.
"Empty, he must be in the attic. I'll go up and get him." Caly nodded and ran down the stairs and nearly crashed into Billy Dursley.
"Oh, hey Billy!" he looked up and practically beamed at her.
"Hey Caly!" Caly could practically feel the excitement emanating from him at the thought of going to get his books and his wand.
"Is Rose here?" she asked as Billy bounced off towards the kitchen where Lily, Harry, Ginny and Dudley were.
"No, her and Hugo are meeting us in the Leaky Cauldron." she greeted Dudley with a nod and a wave and grinned as Lily and Billy practically buzzed as they attempted to stand still. Al came thundering down into the kitchen, tripping over the bottom step he almost collided with the table before righting himself. He grinned brightly at all the rolled eyes and straightened his glasses. James came down last, his hands stuffed into the pockets of a leather jacket that looked faded and old. He had an incredibly surly look on his face and he scowled as his mum went through the process of flooing. He went first, not saying a word to anyone but when Lily went for a handful the powder solidified underneath her fingers. Harry sighed, knowing this to be an experimental Weasley product, and fixed his daughter's hand. Finding the real powder Ginny went first, presumably to have some time to shout at James, closely followed by Al, Caly, Billy, Dudley and, lastly, Harry.
The Leaky Cauldron was as lively as ever when Caly came spinning out of the fireplace and was caught by Al. Caly still hadn't got the hang of flooing and Al always made sure he went through first so that he could make sure that Caly didn't fall when she got out the other end. Rose and Hugo were sitting with Ally, Frank and their little twin siblings; Howard and Matilda, at a table near the bar playing a game of gobstones.
"Hey there." Harry walked over and put a hand on either of their backs. "You alright?" Rose and Hugo both nodded and Rose ran over to the two of them.
"You okay?" asked Al quietly as they began to move through the pub to the courtyard outside.
"Haven't seen dad in days and mum goes out before we wake up and comes back in when we're in bed. Grandma always drops by to take us to theirs and it's cool but..." she shrugged, looking stressed. "Have you seen Scor lately?" she asked as they stepped through the archway and Lily looked like she might burst with excitement. As the two of them shook their heads their conversation was interrupted by James.
"Andromeda doesn't want to let him out of her sight. She's worried about him. She thinks that he'll be killed like Teddy's parents, especially as his dad's killer, Dolohov, escaped." The three friends blinked up at him in shock.
"How do you know this?" demanded Al. James shrugged.
"Teddy told me." this seemed to baffle Rose and Al even more than his original statement.
"You guys are talking again, then?" at Rose's question James gave them all the most genuine smile that they'd seen since the end of last year.
"Yeah, we've been writing all summer."
"Oh and here was me thinking that you'd finally got a long term girlfriend." James glared at Al.
"Scorpius has been a terrible influence on you." he said, shaking his head.
"Kids!" they looked up to see Harry staring at all of them. "Try to stick close, okay. We want to get this done quickly." they hurried to catch up with the adults and soon-to-be first years. James reverted to his old posture as they entered Flurish and Blotts and Rose nearly fainted when she saw a new, leather bound, copy of The Many Hallowed Halls, a book about Hogwarts told from the perspective of the portraits.
It took a long time to get out of Flurish and Blotts, they'd nearly had to tear Rose away from the books on Ancient Runes, she was starting that subject this year, and Hugo and Billy had found a book on hexes and curses that they'd tried to smuggle into the pile. It also didn't help that Harry was getting some mixed receptions from the crowd. Many people were displeased to see their Head Auror out shopping when there were Death Eaters on the loose and one woman actually began to throw books at him. She escorted off the premises by a security guard who, it turned out, had used to work at Azkabahn. He helped get all their things rushed through and suddenly they were back out on the street.
Ollivanders was the shop that Lily kept begging Harry to take her to but Harry wouldn't budge, per usual they would go to Ollivanders last, it was tradition. It was hard to get through the robe fittings because Caly, who hadn't grown more than half an inch, was forced to sit and watch whilst James was uncooperative, Hugo and Billy threw pins at each other, Al fell of his stool and Lily fidgeted and bounced up and down. It was probably the first time that Mia Boot, a close friend of Vic's, had been glad to see the back of them as she ushered them out of the shop because they'd certainly caused a ruckus. It also became apparent that Al was developing some sort of inner ear problem with the amount of times he'd tripped and fallen over as they walked along.
Things turned ugly as they were making their way to Ollivanders at the end of the street. They were laden down with packages containing everything seven students would need for their upcoming year at Hogwarts and Caly was feeling incredibly exhausted. She didn't understand how people could shop as a hobby. She got the impression that Al, in contrast to her and Rose, quite in enjoyed going in and out of shops and he kept stopping at random intervals to inspect window displays. He did this so often that James was practically dragging him along by the scruff of his collar just so that they wouldn't get lost or separated. Rose was entertaining, or boring, Hugo, Lily and Billy with stories about how amazing the lessons were at Hogwarts and how great the homework was and how it was such a satisfying feeling when you got a top grade back. Caly could tell, by the looks on their faces, that this wasn't going to be the kind of life they were leading. Hogwarts, it seemed, was destined for three more troublemakers.
"Traitor!" Caly wasn't sure what went flying at Uncle Harry across the street but whatever it was it was breakable and sharp. Bits of what seemed to be glass rained down on the family and Caly as it smashed against a shop wall. Several people screamed and immediately began to run for cover. On the other side of the street she could just see a woman, holding more projectiles, staring at Harry with an immeasurable fury in her eyes. Her eyes were wild and her expression was feral; her teeth were barred and she seemed to be snarling at him. Her shoulders were hunched over and she seemed unaware of the panic that she was causing. "Traitor!" another missile flew at Harry. It missed, again, but this time it shattered a window and more glass came pouring onto them. Rose let out a scream and she dropped what she was holding and scooped Hugo into her arms, shielding him. Dudley grabbed Billy and held him tightly against him, also trying to shield his body from harm. Ginny forced Lily down onto the ground and Al and James both grabbed onto Caly, Al had her wrist and James had caught hold of her shoulder. All the packages and parcels tumbled to the floor and people continued to scream and run for cover. Harry had drawn his wand and he looked dangerous. He walked across to the woman on the other side but the crowd between them was causing him some difficulty. Many were forming a sort of barrier around her and he seemed unwilling to use any kind of offensive magic to get to her.
As Harry engaged in this moral battle with a crowd of angry citizens, Ginny shuffled across with Lily to where Dudley was holding Billy. Rose and Hugo edged over too and Al was beginning to move over too, careful of more projectiles. He was leading Caly and James had his wand out, even though he wasn't allowed to use magic. Their path was stopped, however, by the shrill piercing cry of a lost child reached their ears.
The little boy couldn't have been much more than five years old. He was standing in the middle of the street. There were little rivulets of blood on his face from where he'd been cut. He had snot dripping from his nose and the tears ran faster than his blood. His whole body shook as he opened his mouth again to scream. Al let go of Caly in a flash. He darted through the crowd of people to where the little boy stood. James released her shoulder and grabbed her hand instead, pulling her after Al.
Al had his hands on the little boy's shoulders. He was rubbing his arms but the boy didn't seem to be calming.
"Hey kid." said James, ruffling his dark blonde hair. "Let's get you out of the crowd." he deftly lifted up the screaming boy and carried him down a side alley. He seemed a little calmer now and he stared wide eyed up at him. James stuffed his hand his pocket and drew out a chocolate frog he handed it to the boy. He took it cautiously and ripped the packaging in a swift movement. He bit the head off and swallowed.
"Thank you."
"That's fine." said Caly, sitting cross legged in front of him. "What's your name?"
"Allen Parris."
"Well, Allen, I think it's safer for you to just sit here until the crowd dies down. Did you get separated from your mum?" he nodded. "That's fine. We'll help you find her the moment it gets safe out there."
"Thank you." he whispered and Caly handed him a tissue to dry his eyes and then they tried their best to clean up his wounds.
"Caly." said James suddenly, from where he stood over her. "You're bleeding."
"What?"
"Your head, it's bleeding." Al stood up and peered into her head.
"Here." he said taking another tissue he began to dab at the wound on her head. "I don't think it's that bad. Surprised you didn't feel it though." Caly shrugged.
"Must have grown a very high pain tolerance." James gave her a funny look.
"You really shouldn't say that so casually, it's worrying." Caly shrugged.
"I'm used to getting knocked about, James, this isn't really the best time to start getting over protective." James glared at her and Al raised his eyebrows but Caly just shrugged it away, but not before giving James a pointed, knowing, look. Allen swallowed the last of the frog before speaking.
"You're the Potters." He said, eyes wide. Caly snorted slightly because he was actually staring right at her.
"Well they are-" she gestured to the boys either side of her. "-but I'm not." He nodded and sat down on the ground.
"What was happening? Do you think mummy will be alright?" Caly smiled at him and nodded.
"I don't really know what was happening but I'm sure your mummy will be fine and that she's probably looking for you right now."
"Shouldn't I go out there?"
"No." she said, decisively. "If you do you're likely to get hurt again and we don't want that happening."
"What's going on?" whispered Al to James from where they'd moved to the end of the alley to try and gauge the situation.
"I don't know." said James, shaking his head. "I'm going out there."
"James."
"I have to make sure mum and
Lily are okay."
"Mum can take care of herself.""What about Uncle Dudley? And Billy?" Al sighed.
"I can't let you." he said. "I can't James." James shook his head once before clapping his arm.
"I'll be fine." he dashed into the crowd before Al could stop.
"Stop you hypocritical idiot!" screamed Al to the crowd. "You…" Al couldn't think of an insult strong enough so he just let out an angry huff. He looked between Caly, who was talking Allen and seemed unaware of him, and the crowd. "Oh I'm gonna regret this." he muttered before plunging into the crowd, trying to follow James.
It was chaos. People were fighting each other and the once peaceful shopping street had turned into a riot zone. Owners were allowing children and mothers to flee inside before locking their doors and charming their windows. There weren't actually many spells being thrown, instead people were preferring to engage in a muggle style of conflict.
"James!" called Al as he pushed his way between people. "James!" suddenly he saw a head of brown hair being decked to the ground. Rushing over he saw that it was indeed his brother, with a split lip, lying on the ground groaning. The man that stood over him was at least twice his size and Al felt a rush of uncontrollable anger surge through him. So this was what it must have felt like when his mum yelled at James and Caly and Scor had screamed at each other. His blood was on fire and he was seething. Letting out a battle cry he flew at the man. He smashed his fist into his face and James, from where he lay on the floor, gaped up at him in shock. Al's small stature had given him the element of surprise against his opponent. The man was just getting over the shock of being attacked by a small, skinny, thirteen year old in the time that Al had broken his nose and kicked him right between the legs. The man let out a high pitched squeal and fell to the ground. Al reached down and pulled James up. James blinked at him in shock.
"Did you just lose your temper?" he asked. "Like actually, properly?" Al rubbed his hands together.
"Yeah, I think I just did."
"Wow." said James, his eyes wide. "I have got to work harder to get that reaction out of you."
"Not now." said Al, dragging him away from the man who was getting back to his feet. They dodged through the crowd looking for their family.
"Wait a second, Al." Al came to a halt and then pulled James down so that he didn't get hit in the head by a misplaced fist.
"This isn't a good place for a chat James, especially not with someone like you."
"You left Caly on her own!" yelled James, completely disregarding what Al had just said.
"Yeah, so what? She can take care of herself!" Al pulled James once more out of harm's way, not quite sure why James was yelling at him.
"She's tiny!"
"James she's stronger than you! Or have you forgotten that!" James, however, could hear the buzzing in his ears that he normally got when his mum yelled at him.
"You left her on her own with a five year old! What kind of idiot are you?"
"What kind of idiot are you?" Al shot right back, his voice raised so that he could be heard. "You ran off into the crowd with no way of protecting yourself. You can't use magic and you're pathetic in a physical fight! What kind of idiot does that?"
"Rubbish in a fight am I?" demanded James. He threw a punch at Al and Al easily caught his fist and pulled it round behind his back so that he let out a small cry of pain. Grabbing his other shoulder he pulled James close so that he could talk without yelling.
"Stop being stupid!" he hissed into James' left ear. "We are in the middle of a riot! Focus!" Al let go of James and James straightened his jacket. His glare lessened slightly as Al offered him a tissue to dab at his lip. "Let's go!" he said, pushing James forward he guided his brother through the crowd so that they didn't get hurt.
"I think they must have gone into a shop!" shouted Al. They were near the edge now and they could hear bangs as the Ministry cavalry arrived.
"Well duh." said James. "I reckon we should try and get back to Allen and Caly." Al nodded.
"Mum's gonna kill us when she realises we went out in this."
"You're the one who ran off to the little boy."
"He was screaming his head off," protested Al, "I couldn't just leave him there crying. Have a heart James!"
"Did I not pick him up and give him my last chocolate frog? I think I've got quite a large heart, actually." Al smirked, secretly enjoying this version of his brother as opposed to the moody one that he'd endured for most of the summer.
"Hey look!" they froze in their tracks. They'd been about to re-enter the crowd when one of the people that crowded round the woman that had started it all, pointed at them.
"It's the children!" cried a woman nearby.
"Let 'em go." said someone else. "They're just kids, they ain't done anything."
"They're the reason my kids can't go to Hogwarts. They're endangering all the children there." There were murmurs of ascent from round the crowd. James drew his wand quickly and Al copied him.
"I think the Ministry might just let us off for doing magic out of school if they found out that a group of adults, including several employees, were threatening them." Al looked at him, wondering what on earth was going through his brain. He did, however, notice who he was talking about. There were two men standing near the forefront of the crowd that was focused on them that Al recognised from dinners at the Ministry and there were several women who he knew were Aunt Audrey's friends.
"But what if they don't know?" it was mark of their Gryffindor spirit's that they didn't flinch at the worse.
"Sorry mate," said James, still irritatingly casual, "but I've faced far worse than a middle aged man with a bald patch and a beer belly." Al shot James a confused look and James just grinned, completely cocky, back at him.
"You think that 'cause you've got a big shot daddy you can talk to us how you want? You think that we're the scum on the bottom of your shoe but listen to me, laddy, I work long and hard so that you can strut arrogantly around these streets like you own 'em." James shrugged.
"I don't do that 'cause of dad, I do that because I was born with a natural ability of wit, charm, good looks and desirability." Al, in front of mob that was being broken up by Ministry officials as they spoke, smacked his face into his palm. The man flicked his wand and theirs were gone, flying several metres behind them. James immediately jumped in front of Al, shielding him from harm. "Don't you dare touch my brother," he hissed. "I may have been causing you annoyance but you lay one finger on my baby brother and you will live to regret it." They never discovered exactly what the balding man thought of that because he crumpled before them. He'd had his mouth open, ready to respond, when there was a loud thud and his eyes rolled upward and he fell forwards onto his face. The surrounding crowd winced and everyone looked at the man that had been behind him.
"Uncle Dudley?" exclaimed Al and James in shocked unison. Dudley seemed to examine his knuckles for a second before smiling at his nephews.
"Come on."
"One sec." Al dashed off, down to where their wands lay on the ground. Scooping them up, he dashed back. He handed James his and they hurried after their uncle, who people were giving a wide berth. The main crowd had been dispersed by the Ministry officials who were now tending to the injured. Running over James and Al saw that his family had been hidden in small shop selling patterned tea cosies. Lily looked shaken and Rose was white, her arm clamping tightly around Hugo who looked remarkably calm. Billy was standing up, peering into the crowd and he beamed at the three of them. Running over he bounced up into his dad's arms.
"You haven't lost it then dad?" he asked and Dudley grinned at his son, ruffling his hair.
"Nope, it seems I've still got it in me."
"Sorry, got what in you?" James was looking up at his Uncle with a mixture of confusion and admiration.
"I was boxing champion in my youth," he said with a reminiscent smile. "I've being teaching Billy here and I help coaching on a Friday nights and Saturdays but I haven't been in a ring in years." James nodded in understanding but Al looked confusing.
"How would you fit into a ring?" he demanded. James laughed and slung an arm around his little brother's shoulders.
"You'll learn it all in Muggle Studies, youngling."
"Muggle Studies." said Al, slightly confused. "Is that where all those weird references have been coming from?" James nodded.
"Muggles are great Al, they think of the wackiest things ever. They're actually really inspirational. They've being giving me a lot of ideas for new pranks to play." Al groaned, and rubbed his forehead as Rose got to her feet and threw her arms around him.
"What were you thinking?" she demanded as James rubbed Lily's back as she trembled slightly.
"Sorry Rosie but there was this little kid in the middle of the street and he was bleeding and crying and…" Al shrugged, hoping Rose would understand that he'd needed to help him. Rose rolled her eyes.
"Is that where Caly is?"
"Yes." he said, looking round. "She must not be out yet, we left them in the alley." At that precise moment they heard a woman yelling over the buzz of activity.
"ALLEN! ALLEN! Allen, honey, where are you?" James and Al made eye contact and immediately dashed over to her.
"'Scuse me." said Al, walking right up to her. "But are you Mrs Parris?"
"It's miss, but yes, yes I am." She was staring down at them in confusion. "Why?"
"We know where your son is." explained Al. She nearly sagged with relief.
"You do?"
"Yes." said James with a nod. "We saw him in the street so we took him into an alley, he's with our friend now." They led her over to the alley and saw Allen and Caly sitting cross legged, opposite each other. Caly was talking very fast and Allen was hanging onto her every word. Al and James shared a small smile at the sight. They were both fine; what a relief.
"Allen!" Allen looked up at the cry of his mother and he leapt to his feet. Running down the alley he flung himself into her arms. She scooped him up and held him to her chest. "Oh love, you're safe, you're not hurt. Thank Merlin." Caly hurried up to Al and James and hugged them both.
"What were you two playing at?" she demanded in a whisper. "One moment you were there, then you were gone. I thought you'd been kidnapped! I was scared out of my wits!"
"Blame him." said James, pointing at Al. "I intended him to stay behind."
"But if I had, you'd be a pulp of bloody flesh so really you ought to thank me." They didn't get any further with their bickering because Miss Parris had swooped down on the three of them and was hugging and kissing them.
"Oh thank you. Oh you're all so brave. Thank you. Thank you!" Caly gave her small smile and Al just swung his arm around James' shoulder.
"We didn't do what any half decent person wouldn't have done." James threw his arm off and they hurried out of the alley in high spirits. Miss Parris pulled Allen, who was waving goodbye at them, over to one of the Ministry mediwizards to have him checked over and James said
"You should get your head looked at."
"I'm fine," she began to protest but Al caught hold of her wrist and began to march her off to a wizard who was treating someone with black hair.
"Dad!" Al would have thrown his arms around him had he not been quite so bloody. The three teenagers winced as they looked at him.
"Jesus, dad, what happened?"
"I got on the wrong side of a mob, same as you I think?" Harry nodded to his son's split lip and James touched it self-consciously.
"Yeah, well, we were worried about Uncle Dudley and Billy, turns out we needn't have bothered."
"Why?" asked Harry as he winced as the wizard touched his pulverised flesh.
"Turns out he's an ex-boxing champ and that he teaches it in his spare time."
"Oh yeah." Harry had a similar expression of reminiscence that Dudley had worn earlier. "Yeah I remember when he got into that."
"Take a seat Mr Potter." James ignored the wizard until Harry coughed.
"James."
"What?" he looked round at all the people staring expectantly at him. "Oh I'm Mr Potter."
"Unless you've changed your surname." muttered Harry under his breath, causing both Al and Caly to laugh.
"And now you, miss." Caly sat down and let the man fix her head wound. "Well you should all be fine, take it easy though Mr Potter, sir."
"I'll try Aaron but you know me." Aaron shook his head.
"Too well." He muttered as he moved off.
"BOYS! CALY!" James and Al winced simultaneously as Ginny came running over, the rest of the family in tow. "What were you thinking? James, you're the older brother! You're supposed to look after your younger siblings!"
"Mum," said Al but Ginny was in full flow.
"And Caly," Caly jumped slightly when she was turned on, "you're supposed to be clever and logical! Why would you run off?" Caly glanced awkwardly at Al who was still trying to get a word in edgeways.
"Ginny!" said Harry, interrupting her rant. "Ginny, I think Al is trying to tell you something." Ginny turned her blazing eyes on her middle child. Al rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Well, mum, you see, it was me that ran off." Ginny gaped at her sensible child.
"You?"
"Yeah, well, you see, there was this kid crying in the middle of the street and he was bleeding and I just, sort of, ran over to him and Caly and James followed me." Ginny looked at him, still very taken aback. "We just took him into an alley so that he wouldn't be in danger. Then James wanted to make sure you guys were safe so he ran back out and, let's be honest, James isn't the best when it comes to physical stuff so I ran after him. Then we got cornered by a load of people and they disarmed us and then Uncle Dudley punched the ringleader so we were okay."
"Oh Al." she said, her face softening. "That was such a kind thing to do." She gathered him in her arms and held him tightly. "Oh all of you, at least you didn't leave him alone." She hugged James and Caly, as well, and then released them in near tears. Harry gathered her up and muttered a thank you to Dudley who waved it away.
They were driven back in Ministry cars after getting Lily's, Hugo's and Billy's wands in a subdued silence. The Ministry had helped to find, and replace, their things and carry them through the Leaky Cauldron. Neville, who had stopped the pub getting trashed, had a hurried conversation with Harry. He had also hugged Lily tightly and Frank and Ally came over to have a quick chat to them. They inquired after their health and told them that they'd had some trouble by some people throwing bottles at their dad and the twins. They were fine but people were getting angry with them. People didn't like them sitting around whilst there was a threat out there. It seemed that, because they were old war heroes, they should throw themselves in danger instead of anybody else. They shouldn't have any qualms about sacrificing themselves even if they had families.
Teddy was sitting in the kitchen, having an incredibly polite conversation with Kreacher, when they got back. He leapt to his feet and hurried over.
"Are you alright?" he demanded. "Scor wanted to come but Grandma is freaking out of her mind. She's terrified for him, and me. She doesn't want me to be working but I'm not doing anything dangerous." Harry frowned at him.
"You're one of our best trainees," he said, confused. "Kingsley must be mad not to take you." Teddy shook his head.
"He reckons I've got a conflict of interest. He wants it all to stay professional, no vendettas. Though how he can't be conflicted is beyond me." Harry patted Teddy on the shoulder as he sat down at the table.
"Kingsley is old and professional. You're not. Besides, I think that he wants to keep your safe. He's just making it look professional." Teddy ran a hand through his hair.
"This is getting ridiculous," he muttered.
"Why?" asked Al, he'd sunk into one of the chairs nearby and Teddy blinked up at the four older children that were still standing there.
"Because the Death Eaters haven't done anything yet and we're already tearing each other apart. We're going to be fodder." James nodded, a frown on his face.
"So is there anything that you can do?" Teddy shook his head, sneaking a glance at Harry as he nursed his shoulder.
"Not a thing," said Harry with a grimace. "We'll just have to see whether Justin can hang on in there or whether he gets forced out."
"So can you just oust your Minister at any time?" asked Dudley, an interested look on his face.
"If there's enough of an outcry, same as in the muggle world. Except we re-elect the new one. There are no political parties." Dudley nodded and Harry ran a hand over his face. "Oh I'm getting too old for this."
"You're not forty." pointed Teddy. He ignored the glare that he was given by his godfather and James, Al, Rose and Caly all smirked.
"Minister Gone
Minister for Magic Justin Finch-Fletchly yesterday resigned from office after the riot in Diagon Alley. This riot, said to have been sparked by Potter's presence in the street, resulted in a several serious injuries and showed the serious displeasures felt by the general community.
Finch-Fletchly has reportedly 'washed his hands' of what happens next as he stands by his policies. Procurater, who won in the emergency poll, has already reinstated the dementors at Azkaban and has, apparently, called meetings with the Governors of Hogwarts and the Head Mistress. He is tackling the problems that the public are concerned with and he has received a warm welcome.
Kingsley Shacklebolt has been unavailable for comment but it was rumoured that he said that he was disgusted at the news that Potter boys were threatened by the crowd-"
They were interrupted from Harry reading The Prophet by Teddy's arrival in the kitchen. He wobbled slightly on his feet and he took a seat, breathing deeply.
"Teddy, you alright?" he shook his head.
"Scor's been called before the Wizengemot."